If you're a crippled Eskimo girl, would the best story you could ever read have a crippled Eskimo girl as the hero? Many book publishers and movie studios today would say YES. (The part they don't say is that the only reason they don't make more movies about Eskimos on crutches is because that demographic doesn't sell enough tickets.) Another way to ask this question: Do stories appeal because the main character represents you? Or do they appeal because you connect with the main character? Here's the takeaway: Representation is pointless; connection is the holy grail of storytelling. And the confusion of "representation" and "connection" is behind much of our worst woke storytelling today. Nate doesn't connect with a "father of five" on screen  because he himself feels represented as a father of five -- there needs to be some human connection, some shared feeling or experience, if you want a character to resonate with the audience. The SASF guys discuss the difference between, say, the generic heroine of Princess Diaries versus Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. And then they get into a discussion of character archetypes, and how, in storytelling as in a restaurant, you can have all the ingredients of a great burger and still end up with a terrible burger. You also get to hear Nate hate on Shakespeare's tragedies while Brian tries to defend them, and hear which Shakespeare play Nate has adapted into a high-school rom-com. #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #Books #Movies #NDWilson #Shakespeare #PrincessDiaries #wokestorytelling

Nate, a weather-sensitive individual with a knack for sensing atmospheric shifts, joins Brian, a prologue critic with strong opinions on storytelling. They explore the intriguing topic of filtering books for content, debating when literature crosses ethical lines. The duo also dives into a lively discussion about prologues, weighing their merits against narrative flow. Their banter leads into deeper reflections on literature's societal impact and the complexities of storytelling in both books and films.

Nate claims that talking about music is boring, but in this episode you're going to find out he has written lyrics to more than twenty (!) songs (as yet unscored). You're even going to get one scandalous title. Then Brian ambushes Nate by reading a stanza of Taylor Swift's new lyrics, and the guys discuss all the questions that come along with music. What if you're a mom who sings secular jazz to her kids at bedtime? ("You are all I long for / all I worship and adore.") More power to you! What if you're a high school girl who bops to TSwift in her car all the time? Be careful you're not using your playlist as an aid to personal fantasy. Nate makes the point that it's just as easy to fantasize while reading Bronte, but your parents may not think to object to the classics. What about young guys whose workout tracks are a solid mass of E (for Explicit)? Masculine version of personal fantasy. How do you immunize yourself to music's pop culture? Well, that's the question. To conclude, Brian laments the decline of story-telling ballads into pop music -- and Nate says they're not even on the same tree: a Taylor Swift song is more of Starbucks frappe. What is the modern ballad? THE MOVIE. #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #Jazz #Country #playlist #TaylorSwift #TorturedPoetsDepartment #Swifties #ballads

Can you name a successful Christian artist living today? Right now, to be a Christian artist means to be not a very good Christian and not a very good artist. Nate and Brian welcome the larger-than-life figure of Doug TenNapel to the SASF show to discuss this problem. Doug T. is a comic artist and video game maker who has pivoted with the times and is now reaching a monthly audience of 17 million+ via his YouTube show, Doug in Exile, where he is known for political noticing. But the guys aren't here to talk about politics -- they want to debate art and Christianity and why so many artists are deviants. Doug tells awful stories about furries: Doug's been calling out perverts in Hollywood since the late 80s, and the furries who just recently started biting kids in public schools are just one more thing that Doug T. foretold. Since artists are the canaries in the world's coal mines, we know things are bad when our artists are crazy. Nate asks Doug to name one successful artist who isn't screwed up. Doug brings up the cave art in Lascaux, and hypothesizes that this early artist might be the only one who didn't sell out. Nate says he tells young Christian kids NOT to join the art world -- books, movies, paintings-- because it's corrupt and will try to chew them up and spit them out. Doug agrees, and then offers his own solution to the twin problems of art vs morality and commerce. Nate wants the Christian artist to know the industry's demands, Doug wants the Christian artist to never think once about what his audience wants. But both of them want to protect young artists from being ramrodded into the machine, and both of them are very indie in their efforts, and so Brian asks Nate and Doug why they have moved on from the publishing world, and the guys argue about whether the goal of art is to innovate. They argue about fine art being experiential or a tradesman-like craft. The crux of the show comes when Nate tells Doug he has a little bit of "follow your heart-ness" in him. Doug objects -- sort of. You'll also hear a bit about Doug's dreams for a cardboard movie, what Nate would work on if he had ten million dollars, how Doug had to give himself grace to make art.  And of course you'll hear a bunch of great one lines: "Bulk is still a quality", "Anything worth doing is worth doing badly... so that you can learn to do it goodly," "I can't think of successful Christian artists who didn't sell out," and much more... #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #DougTenNapel #Cardboard #EarthwormJim #BigfootBill #Nnewts #DougInExile #NDWilson #CanonPress #Publishing #Art #DeviantArt #ArtDebate #ChristianArt #ChristianArtists #CavesofLascaux

Breaking news: Nate's son Rory is a senior at Columbia University where, late last night (Monday April 29th), a mob of professional protestors advocating intifada and abolition of Israel climbed through dorms and tried take possession of a university building. Only Rory and his friend Charles stood up to bullies at the door of Hamilton Hall, defying hundreds of protestors, some professional antifa types, slinging threats and trying to pull them away with human chains and the crush of the crowd. Nate calls this moment of bravery Rory's "true graduation", and describes how he and his wife couldn't be prouder as parents. When campus security and actual police failed to respond, other Christian friends pulled the students away and the Hall was taken, windows smashed, and the protestors barricaded themselves inside. But the moment -- two calm students facing a mob of masked protestors in shemaghs -- was a perfect example of flipping the script and making a lie of the pro-Palestinian bullies' claim to be the oppressed. Nate and Brian break down the whole event, including how Christians can learn from radicals like Saul Alinsky by applying Doug Wilson's Rules for Reformers. When you see a bully, you shouldn't be doing "wuss calculus" about whether you will win. That kind of math can happen later. To quote Nate's novel Dandelion Fire, "Sometimes standing against evil is more important than defeating it. The greatest heroes stand because it is right to do so, not because they believe they will walk away with their lives. Such selfless courage is a victory in itself." Congratulations on your graduation, Rory! #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #BreakingNews #ColumbiaUniveristy #ProPalestine #Intifada #NDWilson #DouglasWilson #TuckerCarlson #ProudParents

FACE YOUR FEARS: If this week's "Soul Food" discussion is a sandwich, the first slice of bread is advice for helping your children face their fears, the other slice of bread is how moms and dads fail to face their fears as adults, and the mystery meat in the middle is delightful discussion on demon possession, Jesus and Legion and the pigs, why demons seem to hate water, and why exorcisms happen more in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox communities than, say, Presbyterian ones. There's some speculation in that middle section -- but also a dose of biblical interpretation about Jesus as the strong man in Mark 5, and how he fulfils David's story in his rescuing of the demons. You'll also hear why most horror movies are dumb and why it's more helpful to look for scary stuff in Flannery O'Connor's short stories of hypocritical, self-obsessed grownups. #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #demons #exorcism #FaceYourFears #FlanneryOConnor

Discussion of Doug Wilson's appearance on Tucker Carlson, the different reactions from viewers, and the concept of Tiny Eva. The conversation evolves to include tips on being a good father and ends with a reminder to 'go hard, suffer, keep the Sabbath.'

This episode starts with a discussion of woke adaptations and ends with a discussion of the unavoidability of fiction in shaping your life. Would Nate be fine with having "woke" elements in a major adaptation of his films? His answer might surprise you. You'll hear war stories about ancestor worship in Hello Ninja (the show), the importance of a team with different strengths, and more war stories from the movie industry. Then they turn their attention to a claim from a pastor that "No work of fiction should ever change our worldview. As a Christian, my worldview is shaped by Scripture alone." Turns out, the Bible is full of stories, and (cue the Grey Havens opening music) -- STORIES ARE SOUL FOOD. How you handle the stories of the Bible will determine how you handle your own life stories. Try to get away from modernist thinking and start thinking like Solomon: add instead of remove. The episode ends with a strong endorsement of a life of imagination.#SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #HelloNinja #Netflix #imagination #metaphors #ScriptureAlone #WorldviewOfStories

The hosts discuss the unexpected success of Shawshank Redemption, the misinterpretation of the Last Supper scene, and the movie's popularity despite an initial flop. They touch on Christian symbolism, atheist interpretations, and the impact of timing and cultural relevance on film success.

Prepare yourself for the Dune-versation! (Sorry.) The guys liked Dune 2 and Denis Villeneuve proved that he "got" what made Dune great. But of course, the fun of a movie discussion is often in what you hate: Brian really disliked pouty Zendaya and the northern "modernist" Fremen. But Nate says there was nothing wrong with Chani's character that couldn't be fixed (and in fact, an amazing character might exist on the cutting room floor). If only Paul had chosen to implicate Chani in his decision to become Lisan al-Gaib, instead of relying on the deus ex machina of her saving him! They discuss scenes that were great (opening scene), scenes that fell flat (Feyd Ratha fight), prophecies, and everything in between (Frank Herbert's obsession with peyote and Lawrence of Arabia). The guys also announce the next LAMPC (Shawshank Redemption), how the Boys in a Boat movie was fine on its own but really disappointing if you had read the book, and how we live in a place where airplanes have their wheels fall off mid-flight. #SASF #StoriesAreSoulFood #Dune #Dune2 #Zendaya #Chani #FrankHerbert #LisanAlGaib #Stilgar