Media Carnivores

Brent shares his newest project—being a digital nomad! He and his husband Michael are traveling the world as digital nomads. They do their normal writing work, except they get to do it from Miami, Italy,...

We haven’t checked in about our own writing and publishing. Brent talks about the possibility of a new Geography Club TV show and what it was like to be nominated for an Edgar Award for...

Writers exist on a sort of continuum: the best selling phenomenons at the top, and then a long tail of writers of various success as you go lower and lower on the continuum. What truly...

This special bonus episode of Media Carnivores is about Brent’s new book, The Otto Digmore Difference. Otto is a recurring character from the Russel Middlebrook series (he appears in both the original series and the...

Movies can make us fall in love all over again. But they also can show us terribly inaccurate stories about love. Brent and Erik talk about movie love stories—the good, the bad, and the fantasy. Brent and...

The Lord of the Rings was an important moment in recent cinema: the scope of its filmmaking and audacity in filming three movies at once, the elevation of the fantasy genre, its pioneering special effects,...

“Political correctness” is an unfortunately-named shorthand description for how we talk about gender, race, privilege, and more. As it applies to stories like movies and TV, questions can arise about how certain tropes, characters, or stereotypes...

How technology and science are portrayed in movies and TV is always changing. Science fiction writers have dealt with this for years, but what about non-science fiction stories. How are these things treated in stories...

Food is everywhere in movies, TV, and books. Why does the camera linger so much on a grilled cheese sandwich in the movie Chef? Why do meals create such good drama? In preparation for Thanksgiving, Brent...

In this episode, Brent and Erik talk about alien invasions—when are the aliens the monsters and when are we the monsters? We cover the fear alien invasions inspire, and the deeper issues about how aliens can force us to...

In this episode, Brent and Erik talk about how politics and power are portrayed in movies and TVs. How are US politics portrayed? How does Game of Thrones speak to our modern politics? We also talk...

In this episode, Brent and Erik talk about the choices writers face as they consider their future career. “Would you rather be a bestselling hack or a critical darling who never sells?” How writers approach...

In this episode, Brent offers up a theory about how to write something that will be successful over the long run: either write something perfect or write something with just one great thing that outweighs any...

Summer 2016 felt a little different, especially when it came to movies. Sequels bombed, and Netflix killed it with Stranger Things. So did something change? Was Summer 2016 a tipping point somehow? Brent and Erik...

Calvin and Hobbes ran for ten years from 1985 to 1995. Bill Watterson, its creator, is famously protective of his creation. He retired at the top of his career, he has never authorized any merchandising...

We’re talking about Brent’s new book, Three Truths and a Lie, published August 2, 2016, by Simon and Schuster. The YA/psychological thriller/horror is a new direction for Brent. Four teenagers go for a weekend vacation to...

Fandom brings artists and storytellers the opportunity to create art for a waiting and eager audience. Fans can be brought in to give feedback early, which helps both the fans and the creator. But sometimes fans...

It is easy to say that Steven Spielberg is the most successful American director. Just look at the box office of the movies he’s directed. But is he the best? That’s a much trickier question....

What is it about humanity that makes us enjoy watching scary movies? Why do we pay to go into a dark movie theater and watch terrible things? Brent and Erik delve into horror films and look at...

Since 2008, The Shawshank Redemption has been at the top of the IMDb Top 250 Films. It is a fixture on cable television. It is one of the most commonly cited “favorite films.” Why is...