Daniel and Jon discuss how Forrest Gump handles positivity. They examine the strengths and flaws of its philosophy and examine the idealism and romanticism in the story.

Daniel and Jon begin their next cycle with a discussion of positivity in stories. In particular, they focus on just how important a story’s positive aspects are for driving the plot forward and adding emotional weight.

In the last of Daniel and Jon’s episodes on time travel, Jon reads Daniel’s short story, City of Cycles. The two of them then break down the story and discuss why Daniel made the writing choices he did and how City of Cycles relates back to things discussed in the previous episodes.

Daniel and Jon continue their cycle on time travel stories with an episode on the 2014 film, Predestination. They examine the unique way the movie tells a tragic and mind-boggling story through paradoxes and linear time travel.

Daniel and Jon take a look at a pair of Japanese series that both feature time loops very heavily. Through their discussion, they explore the types of stories that time loops are good for telling and why those stories are so impactful. They also get to geek out about some of their personal favourites.

Daniel and Jon return from their break with the first episode of both a new season and a new cycle. This time around, they discuss one of the oldest plot devices in science fiction: time travel. What are the different types of time travel story and what are they good for?

Daniel is joined once more by Jay and Jon to finish both their special cycle of episodes on Star Wars but also season one of the podcast with a look at the Knights of the Old Republic games. They examine themes of redemption, when you should and should not be heavy-handed in your storytelling and the narrative impact of deconstructing and questioning the philosophy of your own universe.

Daniel, Jay and Jon discuss Disney’s interwoven Star Wars television series. They investigate some of the complaints the fanbase have raised and take a look at the many things they do right in expanding the worldbuilding of the universe and bridging the gaps between movies.

Daniel returns with Jay and Jon Coenan to continue the special Star Wars cycle of episodes. This time around, they take a look at the much maligned sequel trilogy and examine why it left a sour taste in the mouths of much of the fanbase as well as the things it actually did right.

Daniel, Jay and Jon return once again to a galaxy far far away to discuss the once-maligned and now memed Star Wars prequel trilogy - The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. They discuss how these films deepened and greatly expanded upon the mythos and philosophy of the Star Wars universe and attempted to tell a much more layered and complex story than that of their predecessors.

May is upon us and that means it’s Star Wars month. In this episode Daniel, Jon and Jay go back to the beginning - that’s not the beginning of the timeline - and examine the original trilogy of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. They discuss all the things that make Star Wars great and the way the original movies laid down the foundations for an ongoing multi-media universe.

To conclude the cycle on genre blending, Daniel and Jon take a look at Smiling Into the Dark, a short story written by Daniel and break down why he wasn’t particularly happy with the end result, what could be done to improve it and what elements should be kept the same.

Daniel and Jon explore the genre blending madness that is Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s 2022 film, Everything Everywhere All at Once. They unpack the philosophy and themes of the movie while attempting to unravel the chaotic, yet masterfully interwoven, mess of genres it embodies without unravelling themselves.

Daniel and Jon discuss Josh Thomas’ dramedy, Everything’s Gonna Be Okay. They look at how it makes use of juxtapositions to highlight the beauty, tragedy and insanity of human existence and explore how it does representation right.

Daniel and Jon talk about playing Frankenstein with genres, how and why writers combine different genres together and how some genres even struggle to function independently of another.

Listen to Daniel’s short story, Raising the Stakes and a follow-up discussion where he and Jon examine friendship dynamics between villains and how change and loss affects a group.

In this episode, Daniel and Jon focus on Eleceed, a Korean action webcomic created by Jeho Son and ZHENA. They explore the various friendship dynamics on display in the story and analyse how organic feeling friendships can elevate a story and change how it feels to the audience.

Daniel and Jon discuss graphic adventure game, Life is Strange (2015). They discuss how the friendships portrayed within impact the story for better and for worse and examine how to handle toxic relationships in a narrative.

They battle sleep deprivation, the flu and a never-ending chorus of crickets but they do it in the name of friendship… or they would if they were in one of the stories discussed in this first episode of the new theme cycle. Daniel and Jon take a look at what the friendships between characters mean for the stories they exist in.

Listen to a reading of Daniel’s short story, Heavy Void, by Blake and then a follow-up discussion. They take a look at how the concepts discussed over the previous three episodes manifest in the story and why Daniel made certain decisions about the plot