

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

Sep 22, 2025 • 57min
How Propaganda Ruins Stories | (Ep. 197)
On this episode of SASF, Nate and Brian are back to review your pitches again while tackling propaganda in Christian media. Catch them discussing the power of satire and what friendships should look like in your stories.

Sep 16, 2025 • 1h 2min
Charlie's Cheerful Masculinity | (Ep. 196)
This SASF episode breaks down the life and legacy of Charlie Kirk. What a story:
How the devil messed up by killing Charlie, because martyrdom after Christ doesn't work.
Charlie's cheerful masculinity made him a target.
Why Charlie's "free speech" approach prevents civil war.
Crazy progressives in public high schools and universities only "reproduce" because of your children.
Live like Charlie by faithfully "raking the gravel" in your life.
Watch Charlie Kirk's entire Man Rampant episode with Douglas Wilson for free on Canon Press's YouTube:https://youtu.be/bL4DxMZXNIA?si=tWcFKiIZ9XI_Ycc8

Sep 8, 2025 • 35min
Spotting Stories with Hidden Poison | (Ep. 195)
How do you identify stories with poison in them? They never say "TAKE THIS POISON." They always coat it in chocolate first...- "Make Me Famous" pitch reviews segment continues with "The Ghost Train". Maybe this is the episode wherein Nate finally likes a pitch.- Then the guys turn to stories that start out sweet but conceal poison in the end.- Harry Potter and The Hunger Games both start a story with something admirable (the underdog, self-sacrifice). That's the chocolate.- But once you like the chocolate, an author *can make you eat anything after that... even poison (self-pity, dissatisfaction, ungratefulness, victimhood mentality).- To demonstrate how a true underdog story works, Nate reframes the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors (not what that is).

Aug 25, 2025 • 43min
Were We Wrong About KPop Demon Hunters? | (Ep. 194)
On this episode of SASF Nate and Brian discuss the recent X controversy Nate caused, Why you should watch KPop Demon Hunters? How we as Christians should approach it and all forms of Media? How Miyazaki does anime well? and much more.
- Nate and Brian discuss how Kpop Demon Hunters is a bad pitch, but done well- Why Kpop Demon Hunters is a better movie for girls to watch than the Disney Classic Beauty and the Beast- Why Kpop Demon Hunters isn’t a coming out movie.- Where viewers have prejudice against the movie because it’s in an Anime format, How Miyazaki does good anime while telling a good story. - How you shouldn’t be legalistic against a movie because it’s on Netflix

Aug 18, 2025 • 46min
Fictional Dads To Look Up To | (Ep. 193)
You have heard this SASF axiom: "A good dad can't be present in children's fiction." This is because if he was, there'd be no story for the kids to take care of -- BUT... there are a few exceptions...
- Brian and Nate search for those elusive MG/YA unicorns: the good and present father.
- What about To Kill a Mockingbird's Atticus Finch? Jeremiah Land from Peace Like a River? Guido in Life is Beautiful? In these stories, the good dad becomes the protagonist.
- Uncle Frank in 100 Cupboards? Nate explains why he'd never call Uncle Frank a good father figure.
- Heading further afield: what about Mustafa from The Lion King? Bandit from Bluey? Gomez Addams??
- Finally the guys turn to real life: Ralph Moody's father, Pa Wilder, Bible characters including Nate's pick for best dad in the whole Bible: Jesus's earthly father, Joseph.

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.