Good Scribes Only

You don’t always need a plane ticket to travel; sometimes, all you need is a book. Fiction allows us explore worlds beyond our own, taking us out of life’s everyday tangles, and allowing us to move forward with a wider perspective. So rather than travel physically, Good Scribes Only is traveling to Europe, Africa, Central America, North America, Oceania, the Middle East, and Asia by way of literatureThis weeks book: The President by Miguel Angel Asturias is as ruthless as it is hilarious. It chronicles the tale of a cruel dictator and his plots to eliminate just about every political opponent in his path. The book has long been lauded as one of, if not the greatest, depiction of the harmful affects of totalitarianism within a country, and its people. In The President, Asturias draws from personal experience as a journalist in an oppressive time in Guatemala's history, but it's not as dark as some other books we've discussed. He uses humor, satire, and absurdism to illustrate the kinds of governmental transgressions he dealt with, and how living in a police state warps an individual’s psyche. Asturias was famously outspoken against all forms of injustice in Guatemala, and it earned him a reputation that brought both awards and imprisonment. But the man was clearly a trailblazer for his time: In his Nobel Prize for Literature acceptance speech, for example, Asturias vowed that his work would "continue to reflect the voice of the Latin American people and their problems." Part satire, part who-dunnit crime drama, part social commentary, The President is a great read for anyone interested in social commentary and/or in that bizarre (and unfortunate) moment in Latin American history.About Good Scribes OnlyHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Sometimes even traveling to a place doesn't permit you to see it for how it really is for those who live there. Fiction, on the other hand, can. And thus, season 3 is about widening our perspective. We hope you're coming along can help do the same. Be sure to check out the Episode Cheat Sheet for an overview. We hope you enjoy this discussion about The President by Miguel Angel Asturias  WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the EpisodeYou don’t always need a plane ticket to travel; sometimes, all you need is a book. Fiction allows us explore worlds beyond our own, taking us out of life’s everyday tangles, and allowing us to move forward with a wider perspective. So rather than travel physically, Good Scribes Only is traveling to Europe, Africa, Central America, North America, Oceania, the Middle East, and Asia by way of literature. Third stop, Guatemala! The President by Miguel Angel Asturias is as ruthless as it is hilarious. It chronicles the tale of a cruel dictator and his plots to eliminate just about every political opponent in his path. The book has long been lauded as one of, if not the greatest, depiction of the harmful affects of totalitarianism within a country, and its people. In The President, Asturias draws from personal experience as a journalist in an oppressive time in Guatemala's history, but it's not as dark as some other books we've discussed. He uses humor, satire, and absurdism to illustrate the kinds of governmental transgressions he dealt with, and how living in a police state warps an individual’s psyche. Asturias was famously outspoken against all forms of injustice in Guatemala, and it earned him a reputation that brought both awards and imprisonment. But the man was clearly a trailblazer for his time: In his Nobel Prize for Literature acceptance speech, for example, Asturias vowed that his work would "continue to reflect the voice of the Latin American people and their problems." Part satire, part who-dunnit crime drama, part social commentary, The President is a great read for anyone interested in social commentary and/or in that bizarre (and unfortunate) moment in Latin American history.About Good Scribes OnlyHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Sometimes even traveling to a place doesn't permit you to see it for how it really is for those who live there. Fiction, on the other hand, can. And thus, season 3 is about widening our perspective. We hope you're coming along can help do the same. Be sure to check out the Episode Cheat Sheet for an overview. We hope you enjoy this discussion about The President by Miguel Angel Asturias Episode Notes0-5 min — Intro5-15 min — Casting the movie10-15 min — Part 1 plot summary15-20 min — Why use humor?20-25 min — Depiction of totalitarianism25-30 min — Viewing culture from the outside30-35 min — Character overview35-40 min — Part 2 plot summary40-45 min — Political history in Latin America45-50 min — The power of fiction50-55 min — Plot conclusion55-60 min — Wrap up WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the EpisodeIn this episode Dan and Jeremy share personal experiences around traveling and doing business as Americans on the African continentYou don’t always need a plane ticket to travel; sometimes, all you need is a book. Fiction allows us explore worlds beyond our own, taking us out of life’s everyday tangles, and allowing us to move forward with a wider perspective. So rather than travel physically, Good Scribes Only is traveling to Europe, Africa, Central America, North America, Oceania, the Middle East, and Asia by way of literature.This weeks book: 'Paradise' by Abdulrazak Gurnah  is at once the story of an African boy's coming of age, a tragic love story, and a tale of the corruption of traditional African patterns by European colonialism. It presents a major African voice to western readers, depicting how Africans had to adjust to the new reality of European colonialism. The result is a page-turning saga that covers the same territory as the novels of Isak Dinesen and William Boyd, but does so from a perspective never before available on that seldom-chronicled part of the world.About Good Scribes OnlyHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Sometimes even traveling to a place doesn't permit you to see it for how it really is for those who live there. Fiction, on the other hand, can. And thus, season 3 is about widening our perspective. We hope you're coming along can help do the same. Be sure to check out the Episode Cheat Sheet for an overview. We hope you enjoy this discussion about 'Paradise' by Abdulrazak Gurnah.Good Scribes Only on InstagramFind Jeremy OnlineFind Daniel online WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the EpisodeYou don’t always need a plane ticket to travel; sometimes, all you need is a book. Fiction allows us explore worlds beyond our own, taking us out of life’s everyday tangles, and allowing us to move forward with a wider perspective. So rather than travel physically, Good Scribes Only is traveling to Europe, Africa, Central America, North America, Oceania, the Middle East, and Asia by way of literature. Stop two, Tanzania! 'Paradise' by Abdulrazak Gurnah  is at once the story of an African boy's coming of age, a tragic love story, and a tale of the corruption of traditional African patterns by European colonialism. It presents a major African voice to western readers, depicting how Africans had to adjust to the new reality of European colonialism. The result is a page-turning saga that covers the same territory as the novels of Isak Dinesen and William Boyd, but does so from a perspective never before available on that seldom-chronicled part of the world.About Good Scribes OnlyHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Sometimes even traveling to a place doesn't permit you to see it for how it really is for those who live there. Fiction, on the other hand, can. And thus, season 3 is about widening our perspective. We hope you're coming along can help do the same. Be sure to check out the Episode Cheat Sheet for an overview. We hope you enjoy this discussion about 'Paradise' by Abdulrazak Gurnah.Episode Notes0-5 min — Intro5-10 min — Casting the movie10-15 min — Plot Summary15-20 min — On “form” in novels20-25 min — The multiculturality of Africa25-30 min — History of Tanzania30-35 min — European and religious influences35-40 min — Plot continued40-45 min — The garden motif45-50 min — Underlying philosophies in the book50-55 min — Yusuf’s coming of age and title significance55-60 min — Conclusion and final thoughts WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the EpisodeIn this mini-episode, Daniel and Jeremy explore their personal reflections, tips, and thoughts on travel. This week's read was “Flights” by the Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk, a fascinating book in the way that mysterious, chin-scratching things are fascinating. It is sometimes a work of fiction, but also a treatise in her theories on anatomy, philosophy, and human nature, all centered around the experience of traveling, both through the world and over time in the body. About Good Scribes OnlyHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Sometimes even traveling to a place doesn't permit you to see it for how it really is for those who live there. Fiction, on the other hand, can. And thus, season 3 is about widening our perspective. We hope you're coming along can help do the same. Be sure to check out the Episode Cheat Sheet for an overview. We hope you enjoy this discussion about 'Flights' by  Olga Tokarczuk.Good Scribes Only on InstagramFind Jeremy OnlineFind Daniel online WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

About the EpisodeYou don’t always need a plane ticket to travel; sometimes, all you need is a book. Fiction allows us explore worlds beyond our own, taking us out of life’s everyday tangles, and allowing us to move forward with a wider perspective. So rather than travel physically, Good Scribes Only is traveling to Europe, Africa, Central America, North America, Oceania, the Middle East, and Asia by way of literature. First stop, Poland! “Flights” by the Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk is fascinating in the way that mysterious, chin-scratching things are exciting….It is sometimes a work of fiction, but it is also a treatise in her theories on anatomy, philosophy, and human nature, all centered around the experience of traveling, both through the world and over time in the body. The narrator, an unnamed Polish writer is a modern-day hunter-gatherer: she has an unending need for exploration, picking up ideas and filling them into a book of many strange parts: there are mini-essays on airports, hotels, travel psychology, guidebooks, ruminations on language, excursions into historical figures like Chopin. Some less than a page, while the fictional tales stretch 20 plus pages, all over the world and time periods. Flights is a book unlike any we've read, and if you can make it through this episode, it’s definitely worth your time.About Good Scribes OnlyHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Sometimes even traveling to a place doesn't permit you to see it for how it really is for those who live there. Fiction, on the other hand, can. And thus, season 3 is about widening our perspective. We hope you're coming along can help do the same. Be sure to check out the Episode Cheat Sheet for an overview. We hope you enjoy this discussion about 'Flights' by  Olga Tokarczuk.Episode Notes0-5 min — Intro5-10 min — Movie Casting10-15 min — On Flights’ form and structure15-20 min — Fragmentation, exploring cultures, and the human body20-25 min — Authenticity in travel25-30 min — Plot discussion30-35 min — Network state and technological confusion35-40 min — Discussion of the author40-45 min — Anatomy and the human body45-50 min — The spiritual side of travel50-55 min — Favorite passages55-60 min — Conclusion and rating WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

Website TikTok Instagram YouTube Newsletter Jeremy's Website Dan's Website

Episode Cheat SheetHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Season 2 focuses on the cardinal vices and virtues: Lust and chastity, gluttony and temperance, greed and charity, sloth and diligence, envy and kindness, wrath and patience, pride and humility.Oftentimes, fiction books can take us out of life’s everyday tangles and help us see reality with new eyes. To further explore your own relationship with all Virtues and Vices, look no further than Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. We hope you enjoy!Good Scribes Only on InstagramFind Jeremy onlineFind Daniel online0-4 min — 😂4-10 min — Romanticism, “westerns”, and introductory thoughts10-18 min — Casting the TV Series15-20 min — Plot summary20-25 min — Realism in the novel25-30 min — What sets this book apart30-35 min — Can we read the author’s intentions?35-40 min — Gnosticism and Evil in Blood Meridian40-45 min — Discussing an important passage45-50 min — Thoughts, metaphysics, and the human mind50-57 min — Is there redemption?57-64 min — Story’s conclusion64-67 min — Jeremy and Daniel’s rating WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

Episode Cheat SheetIn this mini-episode, Daniel and Jeremy explore takeaways, tips, and how Joyce Carol Oates' novel, Blonde, relates to everyday life. Hosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Season 2 focuses on the cardinal vices and virtues: Lust and chastity, gluttony and temperance, greed and charity, sloth and diligence, envy and kindness, wrath and patience, pride and humility. Oftentimes, fiction books can take us out of life’s everyday tangles and help us see reality with new eyes. To further explore your own relationship with Envy and  Charity, look no further than Joyce Carol Oates' novel, Blonde. We hope you enjoy.Good Scribes Only on InstagramFind Jeremy OnlineFind Daniel online WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website

Episode Cheat SheetHosted by novelists and entrepreneurs Daniel Breyer & Jeremy Streich, Good Scribes Only is a podcast for curious minds to explore, challenge, and think differently through books. Season 2 focuses on the cardinal vices and virtues: Lust and chastity, gluttony and temperance, greed and charity, sloth and diligence, envy and kindness, wrath and patience, pride and humility. In this episode, Daniel and Jeremy discuss Gluttony and Temperance in Joyce Carol Oates' Blonde.Oftentimes, fiction books can take us out of life’s everyday tangles and help us see reality with new eyes. To further explore your own relationship with Gluttony and Temperance, look no further than Joyce Carol Oates's Blonde. We hope you enjoy!Good Scribes Only on InstagramFind Jeremy onlineFind Daniel online0-5 min — Introductory thoughts5-10 min — Gluttony and Hollywood10-14 min — Marilyn Monroe’s Life14-21 min — Casting Our Actors21-25 min — Initial Plot Summary25-30 min — Norma Jeane ‘before’ Marilyn Monroe30-35 min — Transformation of Norma Jeane35-40 min — Manipulation of Marilyn by men40-45 min — Monroe’s unappreciated skill, Joe Dimaggio45-50 min — MM’s growth as an actress50-55 min — Acting and mental deterioration, Arthur Miller55-63 min — Fall from grace, John F Kennedy63-70 min — Tragic ending and conclusion WebsiteTikTokInstagramYouTubeNewsletterJeremy's WebsiteDan's Website