Stories Are Soul Food
Canon Press
Best Selling Author N. D. Wilson and Editor Brian Kohl host the Stories Are Soul Food podcast! The podcast that helps feed the right kind of loyalties and shape affection for the first and the greatest Author, Jesus Christ. This podcast is made possible by support from the Great Homeschool Convention and the team at Canonball Books.
Great Homeschool Conventions are the Homeschooling Events of the Year, offering outstanding speakers, hundreds of workshops on today’s top parenting and homeschooling topics, and the largest homeschool curriculum exhibit halls in the USA. We believe passionately in the God-given right and responsibility of parents to train and educate their children.
Great Homeschool Conventions are the Homeschooling Events of the Year, offering outstanding speakers, hundreds of workshops on today’s top parenting and homeschooling topics, and the largest homeschool curriculum exhibit halls in the USA. We believe passionately in the God-given right and responsibility of parents to train and educate their children.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Aug 13, 2025 • 50min
Nate Roasts Your Story Pitch (Make Me Famous No. 1) | (Ep. 192)
This week SASF listeners sent in their own pitches for an episode of "Make Me Famous" In this new SASF segment, Nate reacts for the first time to original ideas containing:- The Last Airbender meets Stranger Things plus reincarnation, a slave girl, and a menacing priest- A headstrong girl who awakens an ancient evil- Narnia fanfiction- a determined goat trying to succeed at roarball;- and much much MORE, including the elements of a good pitch. If you still have an idea, send it! We'll likely do another episode of "Make Me Famous" in the future.
Aug 4, 2025 • 44min
F1, K Pop Demon Hunters, & Netflix’s Big Mistake | (Ep. 191)
Brian Kohl and Nate Wilson discuss F1: The Movie and K-Pop Demon Hunters. Nate explains that the latter sounds terrible on paper pitch but the filmmakers really pulled it off. They also touch on the teaser for Pixar's upcoming movie, "Hoppers" and why it's just a plain old bad pitch.
Jul 28, 2025 • 35min
Neil Gaiman, Morbidity, & Sparta | (Ep. 190)
This episode offers a smorgasbord: Nate has never finished a Neil Gaiman book. Brian tells him why. They also discuss:- Sparta, Lycurgus, and delicacies.- Feminine vs Masculine glory.- Stoics vs Epicenes.
Jul 21, 2025 • 44min
Nancy Drew and Soul Food | (Ep. 189)
This episode offers a SASF smorgasbord:
Is Nancy Drew healthy soul food for a teenager?
The guys discuss syndicate writing such as Nancy Drew, Tom Swift, and the Hardy Boys.
Also on this episode: Why theater is so often gay, why Broadway is boutique, and why Shakespeare isn't a counterexample.
... with a chaser of why you should still, probably, be writing and directing plays (on your way to making a movie).
Jul 14, 2025 • 48min
China Beats Pixar | (Ep. 188)
Brian forces Nate to watch two new kids movie trailers... one from Pixar, and one from China.
Pixar's new movie Elio flopped harder than anything that's come before.
The top-grossing animated movie this year comes from China... it's Ne Zha 2, and it's made 2.2 billion (!) dollars.
The guys talk about why Ne Zha 2's trailer is better than Elio's.
But it still kinda stinks: The last couple years for children's animation has been very poor.
Artificial Intelligence makes you dumber, but it will soon replace this level of bad production.
Find out what an AI future might look like on this episode of Stories Are Soul Food.
Jul 10, 2025 • 54min
The Future of Christian Fiction | (Ep. 187)
The guys welcome Scott Minor of Realm Makers for a cameo on Christian fiction...
Meet the Realm Makers conference: A decade or two ago, Christian fiction publishers only wanted Amish romance; but Scott's wife Betty was a Christian fantasy writer... so together they founded Realm Makers!
Nate's headlining at Realm Makers in two weeks: So Nate asks Scott about fantasy authors' greatest strength... and their greatest weakness.
The guys discuss the future of Christian fiction, including Christian fiction "stars" like Mike Nawrocki (Veggie Tales), Katie Lee (Connie from Odyssey), and S.D. Smith (Green Ember).
Jul 8, 2025 • 1h 3min
Help Help We're Being Repressed! Ft. Nate's Daughters | (Special Episode!)
We've got good news for you: Lucia and Ameera come on SASF to discuss HELP HELP!Yes, it's about the launch of Lucy and Ameera's new movie/book review podcast!The new podcast/show is named Help Help We're Being Repressed. (Yes, that's a Monty Python reference.)On this first episode of Help Help, Nate and the girls discuss writing female characters badly (and goodly).Subscribe to their new podcast wherever pods are podded!This and much more on this special episode of SASF.
Jun 23, 2025 • 46min
Social Media Controls Hollywood | (Ep. 186)
Brian says he showed "Batman Begins" to his kids and enjoyed it; Nate goes on a rampage.Nolan's Batman earnestness necessitated the Joker to give us all some relief. "Why so serious, Batman?"Nolan is a great artisan but a terrible philosopher. "I run because they need me to run."... But it was all worth it for LEGO Batman.How long can Hollywood's obsession with superhero movies continue? Apparently forever.Is "Down with Hollywood" a good rallying cry?Why AI is the strangler fig for all that's real.What could end the entertainment industry in America? Social media may already have done it.This and much more on this episode of SASF.
Jun 3, 2025 • 32min
Overcoming Trauma and Hardship | (Ep. 185)
When you've been hurt, what kind of character will you be?
God gives you hardship as a Storyteller does: because readers love what happens when a character is down but finds a way to get back up;
Remember that it's in the cellars of affliction that God makes his choicest wines (Rutherford);
Be at once tender and merciless with your own victimhood;
Stop assuming nobody else at church has the dark backstory of trauma and abuse that you do.
Take heart from Grandpa Jim, who used to "get chose" to fight the bullies every day after school.
What kind of wine will you be?
May 27, 2025 • 52min
Fake Christians | (Ep. 184)
Time to talk about Christians in novels:+ Secular novelists love to make their villains hypocritical Christians.+ Christian novelists are very honest about their Christian characters' flaws as well.+ So don't be offended when you bump into a fake Christian in a story.+ Nate walks through the flaws of his Christian protagonists (Niffy, Rupert, etc.).This episode dissects Christians and their character flaws on the page... and in real life.
