Really True Fiction

In this episode we dive into the fabulous 2016 film Arrival; directed by Denis Villenueve and based on a short story by Ted Chiang. In this episode we discuss the contextual nature of language, seeing the big picture, education and learning, fractal reality, the importance of failure, the importance of excellence, foresight, choosing the hard path, and having an existential meta awareness of death...

Big thanks to Graham King for joining me on episode 90!   In this episode we chat about the great film Boogie Nights (1997) by Paul Thomas Anderson. In this episode we wrangle with notions of: The essence of Faustian bargain being that you don't even ask for what you really want, and the isolation that comes with not knowing what you want The importance of apologies Exploitation The desire to make...

Welcome to a bonus episode of Really True Fiction. Those with a keen eye will have noticed that our last two episodes were on 1984 and Brave New World. So, for a bonus, Dan and I do a bit of a compare and contrast between them; seeing as they are both very famous and of a similar ouevre. In this bonus episode we talk about: 1984 being a better novel, sociopathic vs. beaurocratic evil, what is a mo...

Welcome to part two of our double bill on famous dystopia! In this episode Dan Holder and I delve into the 1931 novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. While disecting Huxley's vision of a dys(u?)topia, we chat about:  How this should've been an essay Is this even dystopia? Boring mantra and cliches; and how they are the death of thought The passing of fads vs art Hedonistic "happiness" Ignorance...

In this episode my friend Dan Holder and I dive into maybe the most referenced/least read book ever: 1984. In this episode we chat about Orwell's favourite pub, paying attention to the little things in life and how thought crime makes us lose those things, how Winston is attracted to all the little things that will get him in trouble with the Party, post truth and how word manipulation unmoors us...

Finally, we made it. I was very grateful to once again be joined by Dan Holder, Lydia Rollinson and Graham King to finish off the Harry Potter books. In this last instalment of the series we talk about: Students becoming more excellent than their teachers, changing your opinion of someone because they can change, believing in the cause, accepting help from others, leaving your safe havens for the...

Welcome to the first foursome for Really True Fiction! A big thanks to Dan, Lydia and Graham for joining me to chat about the (best?) sixth Harry Potter book. In our conversation we cover such ground as: Relationships as status vs feeling, the monster in the chest, Ginny's subtle art of not giving a fuck, being blinded by bias, humanized villains, evil downstream of fear, what happens when you ref...

Jump on the Hogwart's Express! We are going to back school!   I'm very pleased to be joined by Dan Holder (who joined me on the Master and Commander episode) and Lydia Rollinson to talk about the fifth Harry Potter book. It was a total blast to have two Brits on to talk about a very British, as well as very archetypal, story. Talking about Order of the Phoenix we discuss the clash between Harry Po...

For this episode of Really True Fiction I am pleased to have Stuart Kaija and Graham King on as guests to discuss the 2013 novel The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson (winner of the Pulitzer prize). I had never heard of this book before it being introduced to me for this episode and I thorougly enjoyed it. It is, broadly speaking, about the experiences of a young North Korean man through his ris...

Welcome back!   In the first new episode in over a year, I was very happy and enlightened with sit down and chat with my friend Dan Holder. When I asked Dan what story he would be most interested in talking about for RTF he quickly replied Master and Commander.   As I learned, Master and Commander is a 20+ book series on the adventures of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. As such, we condensed the...

In this episode we are discussing Franz Kafka's The Trial; written in 1914 but not published until 1925. This is an incredible and seminal work in modern literature and should be read by everyone. In this episode we talk about: - The style of a story that puts the audience in touch with the feelings of a character - If you don't know what you have done wrong than everything comes to mind and it is...

Welcome to our second foray into the world of F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this episode we discuss his first novel This Side Of Paradise. We talk about: - How it might feel to have peers die on mass, Eros and Thanatos, egoism vs. narrcacism, the resentment of educated people towards those who make more money than them, hedgehogs vs foxes, butthurtedness, definite optimism and pragmatism, speed and velo...

For this eigthieth episode of RTF I am pleased to be joined by Alex Cormier to talk about the Kubrick film The Shining. Alex and I co-host a radio show called Full Spectrum Cinema, and you can find the link for that posted below. In this episode we discuss: - Stephen Kings horror is better shown in his human monsters vs his supernatural ones - The different ways Wendy and Jack fail as parents, and...

A update minisode for RTF. This is all about why there haven't been as many new episodes and what the future will be. Part of the reason are the new creative projects David and I have embarked on. Please see links for those projects. The Canadian Story https://www.thecanadianstory.com/ The Liberal Soul https://theliberalsoul87.libsyn.com/ Nothing To Fear https://anchor.fm/nothingtofear Full Spectr...

Welcome to our only tradition at RTF: a Christmas episode. For our third foray into traditional Christmas tales we tackle the Frank Capra classic It's A Wonderful Life. Additionally, as per our prerogative of doing a classic cartoon as well, we wax our thoughts on the Frosty the Snowman animation. In this episode we talk about imagination coming back to help us in hard moments, shifting perspectiv...

Thanks for joining us into our first foray in Chinese Sci Fi. The Three Body Problem is a 2005 novel by Cixin Liu. It is the first part of a trilogy; which we will do eventually. This novel is partially about the three body problem in physics, and partially about many other things. Some of the things we chat about in this episode are: how cool it is to read a Chinese take on Sci Fi, what the ethos...

Welcome back once again to the fourth installment in the Harry Potter franchise. We all grow up a bit with this one. In this episode we talk about things existent and varied such as: the first time you travel and being to get over some of your inborn solipsism, the uncomfortability in knowing someone's fate when they don't, not needing universal popularity, finding the similarities between ourselv...

Welcome to a very special bonus episode of Really True Fiction. This bonus is a follow up to episode 73 where we talked about the novel Dune. With the release of the massive Denis Villeneuve film last month, we got the gang back together to give our thoughts on the movie as well as a few more broad perspectives on the story. David and Luke are super pleased to be joined once again by friend of the...

We're back baby! After a lengthy hiatus we are super pumped to be bring you a new episode of Really True Fiction. In honour of the fact that The Matrix 4 is coming out this December, and also of the fact that this movie is just made for RTF, we are doing the 1999 film The Matrix. In this episode we discuss the importance of archetypal stories and the somewhat inscrutable human need to know things,...

This episode is a little bit more personal than most of the previous solo ones. In this episode, I discuss the Greek myth of Prometheus. I subsequently talk about my concept of a Promethean and how they relate to the liberal soul. After, I relay a few honorable mentions, plus my top five Prometheans that have given me fire in my life. There is no source text for this episode (other than the myth i...

Welcome back to another episode of The Liberal Soul. For todays episode I was happy to be joined by Alex Cormier. Alex and I cohost a show on local radio called Full Spectrum Cinema; and in every episode we choose a movie and talk about it for an hour. Naturally, Alex seemed like a perfect guest for the podcast. We talk all about movies; why we love them and what they have meant for us in our live...

In this episode I give a very introductory opening to the idea of Pragmatism; the first American philosophy. I have come to think about Pragmatism and it's relationship to Liberalism by its adherence to reality and practical, real world effects. For this introduction, I discuss some of the lectures of Pragmatism by the great psychologist and philosopher William James. Some of the points I discuss...

I was pleased to be joined by some friends from high school, Russ Fountain and Eric Wahn, to discuss their love and affinity for all things mountain biking. We talk about how they first came to love mountain biking, some of the influences on that passion, the love/hate relationships they have with trail building, how mountain biking allowed them to go to Germany to help out with some trails there,...

Here is the conclusion of my four part series on the book The Open Society And Its Enemies by Karl Popper. This episode finishes up Popper's observations on Marx as well as his general overview on how we should best think about history. In this episode I discuss Popper's thoughts on: - How upon success revolutionary leaders become the new ruling class - and how there are many different classes; no...

*Mild spoilers for season two of House of Cards in this episode* Welcome to part three of a four part series on the book The Open Society And Its Enemies by Karl Popper. If you haven't listened to the first two parts yet I would highly recommend that you do, as the book builds through the parts and I will make references in todays episode that will have more context if you are familiar with the pr...