Wild North Creative: A Podcast About Creative Writing

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Max and Coco have a plan to take over the world with country and western themed creative writing. This is their adventure.

Max Sparber and Courtney Mault


    • May 31, 2021 LATEST EPISODE
    • monthly NEW EPISODES
    • 1h 1m AVG DURATION
    • 77 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Wild North Creative: A Podcast About Creative Writing

    Episode 38: Food of the Gods

    Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2021 49:01


    Visiting a showcase for oddities and curiosities; a 1989 cult film based on HG Wells; a new direction 

    Episode 37: Lounge and Exotica

    Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2021 60:24


    A discussion of a cult music scene that developed parallel to the swing revival but far outlived it; also, Fast Company, a 70s racing movie by David Cronenberg.

    Episode 36: In Praise of Kitsch

    Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2021 63:27


    The pleasure of — and increasing absence of — tacky Americana

    Episode 35: May Day

    Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2021 64:48


    Absolute Bleeding Edge returns with a new episode about The Wicker Man and the process of preparing to exit lockdown.

    Episode 33: Big in the Arvand Free Zone

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2020 67:14


    Baby Boy Monaghan and Coco win their first international screenplay contest; they also acquire a piano.

    Episode 32: Sailor Martin

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 23, 2020 43:07


    The COVID spike, a relentless ratatatat, and an old ventriloquist dummy.

    Episode 31: ASMR for Dogs

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 10, 2020 71:38


    Baby Boy Monaghan celebrates a half-done project and the end (sort of) of a very troubling election 

    Episode 30: Del Rubio Decorating

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2020 48:52


    Baby Boy Monaghan and Coco discuss memoirs and Baby Boy gets an idea for home decoration from Pee-wee Herman

    Episode 29: Nicolas Cage Has Bills to Pay

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2020 52:02


    Baby Boy Monaghan buys increasingly bizarre books and records.

    Episode 28: This is Hollywood

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2020 56:34


    A new name, a sick president, and a new project.  Subscribe to Absolute Bleeding Edge here: https://www.absolutebleedingedge.com/home

    Episode 27: Switchblade

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2020 60:58


    Episode 26: High Weirdness in Minneapolis and St. Paul

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 27, 2020 50:55


    Absolute Bleeding Edge editor Bunny Sparber starts a new project: a book about the stranger creative output of artists from Minneapolis and St. Paul.   Subscribe to Absolute Bleeding Edge here: https://www.absolutebleedingedge.com/home

    Episode 25: The World's Most Dangerous Polka Band

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2020 64:09


    Absolute Bleeding Edge editor Bunny Sparber starts a weight-loss program, starts digging through old zines on Archive.org, and discusses the increasing absence of little cultural secrets.

    Episode 24: Local Music Scene

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2020 61:46


    Absolute Bleeding Edge creator Bunny Sparber is bedeviled by construction noises and discusses how the pandemic may be affecting people's activism. Subscribe here: https://www.absolutebleedingedge.com/home

    Episode 23: A Major Award

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2020 64:18


    Absolute Bleeding Edge author Bunny Sparber discusses the epochal shifts that seem to happen on a daily basis, buys new clothes for lockdown, and wins the Page One Award for arts journalism for Absolute Bleeding Edge. Subscribe here: https://www.absolutebleedingedge.com/home

    Episode 22: Streets of Fire

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 8, 2020 76:50


    Absolute Bleeding Edge author Bunny Sparber watches weird old movies while Minneapolis erupts into the largest Civil Rights protest in history. Subscribe here: https://www.absolutebleedingedge.com/home

    Episode 21: Pyramid Scheme

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2020 62:33


    Absolute Bleeding Edge's Bunny Sparber, still isolating due to COVID-19, discusses with Coco the way that capitalism is like a vast pyramid scheme that is increasingly making the creation of new art and culture unaffordable and impracticable.    Subscribe here: https://www.absolutebleedingedge.com/home

    Episode 20: Pep-peps

    Play Episode Listen Later May 15, 2020 57:02


    Absolute Bleeding Edge author Bunny Sparber is nominated for an award, talks about horror movies A LOT, and has a strange dream.   Subscribe to Absolute Bleeding Edge here: https://www.absolutebleedingedge.com/home

    Episode 19: Willing King-like Virgin Fool

    Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2020 64:15


    Absolute Bleeding Edge author Bunny Sparber welcomes May Day with his first annual podcast about the original The Wicker Man, a 1973 British folk horror movie that he watches every year, and so will podcast about every year. Show notes: Subscribe to Absolute Bleeding Edge here: https://www.absolutebleedingedge.com/home Oss Oss Wee Oss on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISO1QmG_VE4

    Episode 18: Chaos and its Pleasures

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2020 54:38


    Absolute Bleeding Edge author Bunny Sparber navigates taking his dog to a vet and sending the dog out for a sort of vacation, discusses his theory of chaotic personalities, and digs into bad taste.   Subscribe to Absolute Bleeding Edge here: https://www.absolutebleedingedge.com/home

    Episode 17: Put It Online

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2020 72:46


    Absolute Bleeding Edge creator Bunny Sparber discusses art post-pandemic and how art is moving online. He also talks about his dog and restarts a fraud psychic column that he wrote for 15 years for an Omaha newspaper.   Subscribe to Absolute Bleeding Edge here: https://www.absolutebleedingedge.com/home

    Episode 16: And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2020 65:39


    Absolute Bleeding Edge creator Bunny Sparber celebrates Passover in quarantine with a film by Pasolini; mourns the death of John Prine, and decides he can't go outside. Subscribe to Absolute Bleeding Edge here: https://abe.mailchimpsites.com/

    Episode 15: Life in Lockdown

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2020 74:35


    Absolute Bleeding Edge creator Bunny Sparber considers life during lockdown, and what it might look like afterward. Subscribe here: https://abe.mailchimpsites.com/

    Episode 14: A Bonfire of Humanity

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 26, 2020 66:52


    Absolute Bleeding Edge creator Bunny Sparber struggles to figure out how to write about the arts as news of COVID-19 grows grimmer.   Subscribe here: https://abe.mailchimpsites.com/

    Episode 13: Art During the Time of Coronavirus

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2020 63:31


    Absolute Bleeding Edge creator Bunny Sparber realizes in real-time what this coronavirus pandemic might mean.   Subscribe here: https://abe.mailchimpsites.com/

    Episode 12: Against the Algorithm

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 13, 2020 70:08


    Absolute Bleeding Edge editor Bunny Sparber tours lost cultural locations in downtown Minneapolis, discusses the Catalog of Cool, and finds something amazing at a thrift store. Subscribe to Absolute Bleeding Edge here:https://abe.mailchimpsites.com/

    Episode 11: Fear of Dentists

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2020 47:44


    Absolute Bleeding Edge creator Bunny Sparber battles the wing, takes a tour of his old neighborhood in south Minneapolis, goes to a dentist for the first time in 10 years, and has a dream. Subscribe to Absolute Bleeding Edge here: https://abe.mailchimpsites.com/

    Episode 10: Mall of Metallica

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 2, 2020 59:12


    Absolute Bleeding Edge author Bunny Sparber ziplines at the Mall of America, remembers New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina, and prepares for a staged reading of one of his plays. Subscribe to Absolute Bleeding Ege at https://abe.mailchimpsites.com/

    Episode 9: Merry Christmas from Ding Dong School

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 23, 2020 59:33


    Absolute Bleeding Edge author Bunny Sparber tries to develop some new habits, searches for a great grilled cheese in Minneapolis, and then purchases some weird crap.

    Episode 8: Yale

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2020 46:32


    Absolute Bleeding Edge author Bunny Sparber goes to Yale to speak to a 86-year-old student debate society about art and propaganda.

    Episode 7: The Cigar Box Ukulele

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2020 56:35


    Absolute Bleeding Edge creator Bunny Sparber buys a ukulele, starts to pump iron, and discusses the history of Coney Island.

    Episode 6: Polka Fun Time

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 2, 2020 58:47


    Absolute Bleeding Edge author Bunny Sparber takes a walking tour of the University of Minnesota campus, attends a polka event, and gets a pamphlet on sniffing glue. Subscribe to Absolute Bleeding Edge here: https://abe.mailchimpsites.com/

    Episode 5: Dynamite Skunk

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 26, 2020 44:12


    Absolute Bleeding Edge author Bunny Sparber reminisces about being a cult movie fan at the Guthrie theater and obsesses about anti-Irish cartoons while thinking about tattoo designs.

    Episode 4: The Wolf

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2020 71:33


    Absolute Bleeding Edge creator Bunny Sparber discusses the intersection between avant-garde art and Judaism, searches Minneapolis for book and record stores that carry the sort of oddball content he craves, and explores the legacy of tattoo artist Sailor Jerry.   Subscribe to Absolute Bleeding Edge here: http://abe.mailchimpsites.com/

    Episode 3: Difficult Listening

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2020 59:22


    Absolute Bleeding Edge author Bunny Sparber starts 2020 floating in a sensory deprivation tank. Once his senses return, he starts scouring the Twin Cities for very strange records, starts writing a British mobster film, and contemplates a new tattoo, as you do. Absolute Bleeding Edge Magazine can be subscribed to here: https://abe.mailchimpsites.com/

    Episode 2: Teaching Birds to Welcome the New Year

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 2, 2020 68:34


    Bunny Sparber, editor of Absolute Bleeding Edge magazine, buys a record album consisting entirely of humans repeating simple phrases for birds to memorize, as well as preparing for the start of a New Year. Sign up for Absolute Bleeding Edge here: https://abe.mailchimpsites.com/

    Episode 1: Rich Old Man from a 1960's Romance Comic

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 28, 2019 51:27


    Bunny Sparber, creator of the Absolute Bleeding Edge magazine, gets a Carnaby Street tie, sees the Christmas noir film Blast of Silence, goes to a secret, free movie theater in Minneapolis, and buys a book about the psychology of prostitutes. With Coco Mault and a one-eyed chihuahua named Burt. Subscribe to Absolute Bleeding Edge here: https://abe.mailchimpsites.com/

    Episode 40: Get Out There and Jam

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2019 69:35


    A late episode. Updates from Max and Coco. 

    Episode 39: Hemp Life

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2019 66:53


    Max and Coco throw themselves into the world of hemp supplements, which maybe works? And definitely makes them a little spacey? Plus: a new wardrobe for Max and trying to understand the Disney film Watcher in the Woods.

    Episode 38: Ten Thousand Weird Lakes

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 18, 2019 72:03


    Max and Coco try to get back on track after overpartying. They also discuss the strangest lake names in Minnesota and a 1973 movie called Arnold involving a corpse, a bride, and a series of strange deaths.

    Episode 37: 108 Year Old

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 26, 2019 84:54


    It's 2019, and Max and Coco have made some changes to the podcast -- unfortunately not included getting rid of the crackling noise, which they're working on (sorry!). Also in the episode: Hitting reset on brainstorming, a 1970s film about a satanic motorcycle gang, and a New Year's party with a 108-year-old woman.

    Episode 36: Hoppin Juan

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 13, 2019 119:09


    It's our end of 2018 wrap up, where Max and Coco discuss what they accomplished in their first year of writing creatively (a lot!), as well as do various New Year's traditions from around the world.

    Episode 35: Cheeta and Paper

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 22, 2018 89:05


    One quick tip from Max and Coco: Don't say no for other people. Max and Coco revisit their cheers moments, which really seems like an excuse for them to drink a lot more. Max talks about "Build Your Own Ladder," where he tries to figure out his art career by stealing other people's. Finally: Max helped a child write a play, and Coco tries to describe it.

    coco finally max coco don't
    Episode 34: The Condo that Sprayed Blood

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2018 88:44


    Topics: The importance of just showing up; Max and Coco wrote a Christmas play (come see it!); foods invented in Minnesota; when doing something out of spite turns bad; The House that Dripped Blood.

    Episode 33: Habideficit

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 22, 2018 58:27


    Max and Coco discuss creativity as a habit, Minnesota Christmas movies, and the horror movie Slumber Party Massacre.

    Episode 32: Call Us Peter MacNicol

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 8, 2018 39:09


    Max and Coco dress their dog as a lumberjack, Max works on a theater project for children, and the two repeatedly get sidetracked discussing actor Pete MacNicol.

    Episode 31: A Place by a River

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2018 68:00


    Max and Coco have another retreat, in which they fantasize about living by the Mississippi. They also go to Octoberfest, discuss the German history of Minnesota, and talk about Monster Squad.

    Episode 30: Frankenstein Party

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2018 53:25


    Max and Coco explore local Frankensteins, of which there are a lot. They also discuss Minnesota's own monsters and revise their own horror screenplay.

    Episode 29: The Triangle

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2018 56:19


    Max and coco discuss the process of submitting work, Max proposes his "triangle theory" of getting work produced or published, and they struggle to describe an odd, marvelous slasher film from the 80s.

    Episode 28: Deep Fried Spam Curds

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2018 55:06


    Max and Coco discuss self-care for the artists, which, in their care, includes going to the Minnesota State Fair. Also, somehow they wrote an entire screenplay between the last episode and this one.

    Episode 27: It's a Major Award

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 16, 2018 63:52


    Max and Coco are delighted to discover they have won a major screenwriting award. They also introduce a couple of new games into the show: Four lies and a truth, in which Coco must determine which of four statements about Minnesota festivals is false; and Wild Loglines for Wild Movies, in which Coco must concoct a two-sentence summary of one of the strangest horror films ever made, 1979's Tourist Trap.

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