Podcasts about Jack Reacher

Agatha Christie has had her works translated into more languages than any other author in history according to the most superficial of Googlings. But would she have given a monkey's? It's impossible to know and fruitless to ask so why Alan of the Surrey Borders entered her name into the Bean Machine is a mystery the likes of which even Jack Reacher would struggle to solve but we're here now so let's all make the most of it.Join our PATREON for ad-free episodes and bonus/video episodes: www.patreon.com/threebeansaladWith thanks to our editor Laura Grimshaw.Merch available here: www.threebeansaladshop.comGet in touch: threebeansaladpod@gmail.com Insta: threebeansaladpod

On this episode, Cory joins Dion, Jon, and Irv to discuss the next round of action heroes (with no superpowers) and focus on one-man armies and vigilantes. When it comes to the ultimate cinematic tough guy, who is your absolute favorite: the suit-clad, legendary John Wick, the calm and calculating Robert McCall, the primal, one-man-army John Rambo, the reluctant, everyday-guy John McClane, the wild, unpredictable Martin Riggs, or Tom Cruise's hard-hitting, nomadic Jack Reacher?

Bestselling author Lee Child joins award-winning writer Dreda Say Mitchell MBE for a live conversation at The Royal Society of Arts on the 8th of June. Together, they will explore the power of reading to shape and enrich lives and unlock opportunity for all. They will discuss what authors, institutions, and readers need to do to ensure reading remains central to culture, creativity, and human connection. From Child's global success with the Jack Reacher series to Mitchell's work championing literacy and prison reading initiatives, this event examines how books can transform individuals and communities. The discussion will be opened by Karen Napier, Reading Agency CEO, and spotlight the role of accessible publishing, including Quick Reads, in tackling barriers to reading in an age of declining attention and growing inequality. Speaker: Lee Child, Author Chair: Dreda Say Mitchell MBE, Author Donate to the RSA: https://thersa.co/3ZyPOEa Become an RSA Events sponsor: https://utm.guru/ueemb Follow RSA on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thersaorg/ Like RSA on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theRSAorg/ Listen to RSA Events podcasts: https://bit.ly/35EyQYU Join our Fellowship: https://www.thersa.org/fellowship/join

Welcome to our latest weekly episode of our podcast where today we are talking about casting hits and missed and the importance of casting in TV and films... We touch on famous miss-casting such as Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher and then also famously good casting decisions such as Robert Downey Jnr as IronMan... and as always much much more. We hope you all enjoy the chat. To get involved email the show: sam@stuffandthangspodcast.com

Tijdens haar zoektocht naar een vermiste vrouw in Parijs, ontdekt Lauren Pauling een link met Jack Reacher en belandt zelf in het vizier van een huurmoordenaar. Uitgegeven door Luitingh Sijthoff Spreker: Hylke van Sprundel

What do we mean by a “good book”? Some people choose a holiday read that demands time and attention. Others pick rip-roaring novels that require little thought. Our bookworms discuss whether art has to be improving to be praiseworthy, and give genre fiction some much-needed air time. This is a full list of the books mentioned in the show:“Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen“Red Rising” by Pierce BrownJack Reacher series by Lee Child“The Hunt for Red October” by Tom Clancy“Riders” and the other Rutshire chronicles by Jilly CooperDungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman“Middlemarch” by George Eliot“Ulysses” by James Joyce“Wolf Hall” by Hilary Mantel“The Diamond Age” by Neal StephensonThe Murderbot series by Martha Wells “The Martian” by Andy Weir“American Wife” by Curtis SittenfeldGuests and host:Catherine Nixey, culture and Britain correspondentTom Standage, Economist deputy editorAlexandra Suich Bass, culture editorAlex Hern, AI writerRosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence”Topics covered: Fiction, romance, sci-fi, crime, thrillers, fantasy, romantasyJane Austen, Jilly Cooper, Curtis Sittenfeld, Lee ChildMatt Dinniman, Pierce Brown, Neal StephensonListen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do we mean by a “good book”? Some people choose a holiday read that demands time and attention. Others pick rip-roaring novels that require little thought. Our bookworms discuss whether art has to be improving to be praiseworthy, and give genre fiction some much-needed air time. This is a full list of the books mentioned in the show:“Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen“Red Rising” by Pierce BrownJack Reacher series by Lee Child“The Hunt for Red October” by Tom Clancy“Riders” and the other Rutshire chronicles by Jilly CooperDungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman“Middlemarch” by George Eliot“Ulysses” by James Joyce“Wolf Hall” by Hilary Mantel“The Diamond Age” by Neal StephensonThe Murderbot series by Martha Wells “The Martian” by Andy Weir“American Wife” by Curtis SittenfeldGuests and host:Catherine Nixey, culture and Britain correspondentTom Standage, Economist deputy editorAlexandra Suich Bass, culture editorAlex Hern, AI writerRosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence”Topics covered: Fiction, romance, sci-fi, crime, thrillers, fantasy, romantasyJane Austen, Jilly Cooper, Curtis Sittenfeld, Lee ChildMatt Dinniman, Pierce Brown, Neal StephensonListen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we start a new series on 2005's Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. We set it in its time, talk about the Clancy of it all, and then get into the play and presentation. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: The first level or two Issues covered: missing a week, games from 2005 and UbiSoft, stealth games and how we feel about them, what it borrows from its forebears, Tim's history and love of military themes, grounding the series in real places, hard milspec, the spectrum of more or less video-gamey, Brett's history with Clancy, offputting tone and writing, the weird nationalistic lens, the military melodrama, when you can mess up the formula, black and white and the icks, systems thinking in the game vs not the narrative, finding ways to maintain the black and white, the tutorial videos, seeing the mechanics against the real missions, controlling Sam's movement speed, other interface choices, alt-fire modes, shooting everyone in the head, having multiple kill moves, having mission objectives that get canceled, whether there's an alternate version, a number associated with your performance, the weirdness of speaking to your handler directly behind a target, your advisors, informing the choice of loadout, how different games reinforce the loadout, a review, Tim's Twitch drop. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Star Wars (series), God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, Resident Evil 4, Psychonauts, Guild Wars, Civ IV, FEAR, The Undying, AC: Wild World, Guitar Hero, Mercenaries, Battlefront II, KotOR II, Lego Star Wars, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Peter Molyneux, Clint Hocking, Far Cry 2, Thief, Metal Gear Solid (series), Looking Glass, Dishonored (series), Hideo Kojima, The Division (series), Rainbow Six (novel), No One Lives Forever, Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin, Sean Connery, Doubleday (book publisher), Day of the Jackal, Tolkien, Project: Hail Mary, Ghost Recon (series), Rainbow Six (series), John Krasinski, Ben Affleck, Jack Reacher (series), Lee Child, Tom Cruise, Mark Greaney, The Gray Man, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rambo (series), Jon Bernthal, Call of Duty (series), Hitman (series), Shadowlord-72, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia.  Next time: more TC's SC:CT! Errata: It was The Cardinal of the Kremlin. We regret the error.  Twitch: timlongojr and twinsunscorp YouTube Discord DevGameClub@gmail.com 

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Send us Fan MailWelcome everyone to a bonus episode of the Cops and Writers podcast, author spotlight with bestselling author and publicist, Deborah Levison. Her first book, THE CRATE, won seven literary awards, and Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the JACK REACHER series, said, “THE CRATE is an impressive piece of work." Since then, she wrote A Nest of Snakes and recently released A Novel Crime, which has been described as “Uproariously funny, exquisitely unputdownable, and ingeniously plotted... the perfect, delicious escape." Please enjoy this wide-ranging conversation with one of my favorite authors. In today's episode, we discuss:·      Her award-winning and bestselling book, The Crate.·      Growing up as a child of immigrants who were Holocaust survivors.·      The growing antisemitic rhetoric in this country.·      Lee Child giving her a glowing review for The Crate.·      Her book launch for her newest book, A Novel Crime! Let's just say sometimes things don't always go as planned.All of this and more on today's episode of the Cops and Writers podcast.Please visit Deborah Levison's website to learn more about her and her books.Head on over to my website to learn more about me and my books!Check out my newest book! Police Stories: The Rookie Years - True Crime, Chaos & Life as a Big City Cop!What's the craziest thing you saw when you were a cop?My first week on the job, a guy running at me with a butcher knife. He'd just killed his brother over the last hot dog.That's chapter 1. There are 33 more.Police Stories: The Rookie Years just launched - available on Amazon. Search 'Police Stories Patrick O'Donnell' or click thSupport the show

Ivan ha dejado de lado su colección de sellos por un rato y se ha acercado al cine de estreno para ver "Máquina de guerra", nueva película de Netflix dirigida por Patrick Hughes y protagonizada por Alan Ritchson, el nuevo Jack Reacher. ¿Le habrá gustado? ¡Escuchad el audio para salir de dudas! También nos podéis encontrar aquí: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/52i1iqZ56ACal18GPkCxiW Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/los-tres-amigos/id1198252523 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3zK2XsnpHDGRujSTWHpL8Q Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0b56d4f-4537-47e0-a252-9dfe56b5a490/los-tres-amigos Grupo de Telegram: https://t.me/LosTresAmigos https://www.facebook.com/LosTresAmigosPodcast Instagram: lostresamigospodcast Bluesky: @los3amigospodcast.bsky.social X / Twitter: @tresamigospod Threads: lostresamigospodcast Letterbox: https://letterboxd.com/LosTresAmigos/

Reacher Beats His Neighbor's Ass: Alan Ritchson, Jack Reacher himself, got into a scuffle with his shitty neighbor and beat his ass. Which encourages Jim to pull some "Young Jim" audio where he almost got hit by an adult for being a wise ass.Justin Timberlake's DUI: We finally get the bodycam footage of Justin Timberlake's DUI. DRUMSQuadruple Amputee: Could this be the most forgivable murder due to the circumstances? A quadruple amputee who is also a professional cornhole player is arrested for murder. Also a woman is arrested for urinated on AirBnB furniture.THE BEAR!, FUCK YOU WATCH THIS!, NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW!, EARTH EXPLODES!, WEB SERIES!, GUYS ARE BETTER THAN GIRLS!, BEN FOLDS!, ARMY!, BEEN THINKING A LOT TODAY!, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS!, JIMANDTHEMIVERSE!, BIG THINGS!, ALAN RITCHSON!, REACHER!, AMAZON!, PRIME!, TOM CRUISE!, MOTORCYCLE!, NEIGHBOR!, FIGHT!, BEAT UP!, BRITISH!, ANNOYING!, GROUND AND POUND!, MALE FANTASY!, VIOLENT!, GORE!, DAD SHOW!, TMZ!, SUBURBAN JIM!, PARKING IN FRONT OF YOUR HOUSE!, DOCUMENTING THE NIGHT!, YO!, YOUNG JIM!, ROLLED WINDOW UP!, DON'T HIT ME DUDE!, BOSTONIAN!, ACCENT!, DRIVING TOO FAST!, LONG ISLAND!, STATEN ISLAND!, WHERE'S THE BATHROOM?!, YOU'RE IN IT!, BODYCAM!, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE!, NSYNC!, WORLD TOUR!, BREATHALYZER!, FAILED SOBRIETY TEST!, INTOXICATED!, LAWYER!, LICENSE SUSPENDED!, WHITE!, JOKE!, JUST KIDDING!, NEPTUNES!, QUADRUPLE AMPUTEE!, CORNHOLE!, SHOOT A GUN!, NO EXTREMITIES!, DAYTON WEBBER!, SACK OF POTATOES!, CREEPY!, SCARY!, LADDER!, NICOLETTE KEOUGH!, PISS MANOR!You can find the videos from this episode at our Discord RIGHT HERE!

Reacher Beats His Neighbor's Ass: Alan Ritchson, Jack Reacher himself, got into a scuffle with his shitty neighbor and beat his ass. Which encourages Jim to pull some "Young Jim" audio where he almost got hit by an adult for being a wise ass.Justin Timberlake's DUI: We finally get the bodycam footage of Justin Timberlake's DUI. DRUMSQuadruple Amputee: Could this be the most forgivable murder due to the circumstances? A quadruple amputee who is also a professional cornhole player is arrested for murder. Also a woman is arrested for urinated on AirBnB furniture.THE BEAR!, FUCK YOU WATCH THIS!, NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW!, EARTH EXPLODES!, WEB SERIES!, GUYS ARE BETTER THAN GIRLS!, BEN FOLDS!, ARMY!, BEEN THINKING A LOT TODAY!, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS!, JIMANDTHEMIVERSE!, BIG THINGS!, ALAN RITCHSON!, REACHER!, AMAZON!, PRIME!, TOM CRUISE!, MOTORCYCLE!, NEIGHBOR!, FIGHT!, BEAT UP!, BRITISH!, ANNOYING!, GROUND AND POUND!, MALE FANTASY!, VIOLENT!, GORE!, DAD SHOW!, TMZ!, SUBURBAN JIM!, PARKING IN FRONT OF YOUR HOUSE!, DOCUMENTING THE NIGHT!, YO!, YOUNG JIM!, ROLLED WINDOW UP!, DON'T HIT ME DUDE!, BOSTONIAN!, ACCENT!, DRIVING TOO FAST!, LONG ISLAND!, STATEN ISLAND!, WHERE'S THE BATHROOM?!, YOU'RE IN IT!, BODYCAM!, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE!, NSYNC!, WORLD TOUR!, BREATHALYZER!, FAILED SOBRIETY TEST!, INTOXICATED!, LAWYER!, LICENSE SUSPENDED!, WHITE!, JOKE!, JUST KIDDING!, NEPTUNES!, QUADRUPLE AMPUTEE!, CORNHOLE!, SHOOT A GUN!, NO EXTREMITIES!, DAYTON WEBBER!, SACK OF POTATOES!, CREEPY!, SCARY!, LADDER!, NICOLETTE KEOUGH!, PISS MANOR! You can find the videos from this episode at our Discord RIGHT HERE!

This week Page 7 is joined by LPN's Very Special Boy Jake Reacher (née Young) to goss' 'bout the terrors of middle school and MJ's here to SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT on his relationship with Right Said Fred, John Cena had to give TikTokist Harry Daniels a crash course in manners, speaking of which this leads into a discussion on the societal implications of the Jack Reacher videos. In lighter news, Shaq himself said Big Diesel DIDN'T send those noxious DMs to Sabrina Carpenter but Shaq Truther Jake has got some conspiracy theories since the only ones backin' him up are makin' moooooney, Jackie's just tryin' to make everyone care about the KitKat heist! Then we got a list of some good ole' Scandalous Celebrity FACTS! Blindz that demand some memory retention from last week. Next we got an international Jackie's Snackies, thanks to a very thoughtful Jackin' chatter, starting @ 1:04:01.696 (with bonus Jake Teacher info dump) followed by an MJ's Minute Munchies copy pasta from last week (also thanks for a very kind listener!) starting @ 1:10:44.609, and FINALLY a bonus Jakey's Slakeys that transcends coasts @ 1:13:49.536 all til @ 1:25:49.139, plus even more on this week's Page 7! Want even more Page 7? Support us on Patreon! Patreon.com/Page7Podcast Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of Page 7 ad-free.Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's a wild April Fool's Day on What's On Your Mind, as NDSU students Hayden Smith and Titus Queen from Turning Point USA stage a "hostile takeover" while Scott Hennen is away. The duo dives headfirst into the heavy hitters of the day: the Supreme Court's historic hearing on birthright citizenship and the long-awaited launch of NASA's Artemis II mission to the far side of the moon. Between dissecting the "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" clause of the 14th Amendment and geeking out over 6.6-million-pound moon crawlers, the team tackles the ethical minefield of AI surveillance and the controversial "disposable bees" industry. Plus, market expert David Fisher joins to discuss "de-dollarization" and why Iran is now explicitly targeting the U.S. Treasury market. Standout Moments & Timestamps [00:03:30] Conflict in Iran: The Home Stretch? The team discusses the "massive fireballs" over Isfahan and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's blunt stance that the U.S. will "negotiate with bombs" until Iran surrenders its missing 440kg of weapons-grade uranium. [00:05:40] The Jack Reacher Analogy Kevin Flynn shares a viral analogy comparing Tom Cruise's Jack Reacher to President Trump: taking out the "leader" first and leaving the "enthusiastic wingmen" (the IRGC) to realize they've already lost the fight. [00:11:30] SCOTUS & The Birthright Stare-Down A deep dive into the Supreme Court's birthright citizenship case. Legal experts analyze whether the 14th Amendment applies to "birth tourism" or was strictly intended for the children of freed slaves. [00:18:25] The Buzz About "Disposable Bees" Ag expert Bridget Riedel introduces lab-grown "Forage Bees"—robotic-assisted pollinators that work for three weeks and die, preventing them from bringing diseases like colony collapse back to the hive. [00:22:15] The USS Hornet Legacy A caller named Mike shares his firsthand account of serving on the recovery vessel for Apollo 11 and 12, recalling the moment President Nixon stepped on board to congratulate the returning astronauts. [00:25:35] De-Dollarization & Bond Stress David Fisher of Landmark Capital warns that the dollar-based system is "quickly unraveling" as yielding treasuries become targets for adversarial nations and yields flash a red alert for a global recession. [00:30:15] The Wind Turbine "Scam" Hayden, a soon-to-be electrical engineer, breaks down why he believes wind turbines are an environmental "scam," citing the unrecyclable fiberglass blades and the massive carbon footprint required to build them. [00:43:25] Artemis II: Lunar Flyby A preview of tonight's 6:42 PM launch of Artemis II. The team explores…

Welcome to episode #???… who cares! The guys kick things off by debating just how tough they really are—and whether they could survive a fight with THE Jack Reacher. From there, they dive into the origins of Evel Knievel, the sad story of the OnlyFans CEO dying, and the big question: did Spade break up with Kelly Osbourne? Plus, Dana and David react to SNL UK and The Bachelorette controversy, break down a list of cities with the most STDs, and kick off the Busboys press tour. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Britney Spears new cringy posts, Billy Idol Should Be Dead, Bill Burr is still angry, TMZ outing congressmen, Kwame Kilpatrick facing foreclosure, UConn defeats Duke, and DJ Khaled's UFL Halftime Show disaster. UConn's Braylon Mullins is the newest NCAA Tournament hero. The Final Four is set and there's no Duke. Air Canada flight attendant, Solange Tremblay, needs some money following the LaGuardia plane crash. TMZ is really taking it to congress members living it up while DHS is unfunded. Is a ground invasion imminent in Iran? Savannah Guthrie returns to the Today Show on April 6th. Their ratings have been through the roof since Nancy Guthrie went missing. Carson Daly, however, is a stiff. Britney Spears has returned to social instead of heading to rehab following her DUI. Madonna looks great for a shrinking grandmother. Kim Novak thinks she's hotter than Sydney Sweeney or something. Tiger Woods' privacy is more important than driving sober or with sitting in the passenger seat. Hulu's Billy Idol Should Be Dead is a great watch. We check in on Bill Burr to see how he's navigating life. Tim Dillon doesn't fall for the Amy Poehler podcast scam like Bryan Callen did. A TMZ poll reveals that Jack Reacher is more popular than a neighbor trying to keep his area safe. Heather Graham will be nude in upcoming episodes of The White Lotus. Paradise on Hulu is frustrating Drew. The UFL featured a halftime show with DJ Khaled. It was more phoned-in than his usual “performances”. Taylor Frankie Paul nailed her ex right before filming The Bachelorette. Equity Cards are causing havoc in Canada. Kwame Kilpatrick has no intention on paying property taxes so he might lose his home. Merch Madness! Buy it before it's gone or miss out forever. If you'd like to help support the show… consider subscribing to our YouTube Channel, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (Drew Lane, Marc Fellhauer, Trudi Daniels, Jim Bentley and BranDon)

Negligent Discharge Friday. Michael and I run through the week's headlines and somehow end up exactly where you'd expect. We kick it off with a full arsenal update — throwing stars, a blow dart gun, and the nunchucks still need names. Then we get into the Alan Ritchson body cam footage. His neighbor jumped in front of his bike, pushed him, and found out what happens when you put hands on a guy built like a refrigerator in front of his kids. No charges filed. Self-defense confirmed. A quadruple amputee professional cornhole player was charged with murder. He was driving a Tesla and shot a man in the front seat. We broke down the mechanics. We had questions. Serious ones. Also some less serious ones. We got into Trump's public comments on Joe Kent and what Tulsi Gabbard said about intelligence authority during her congressional testimony. ICE is standing around airports while TSA agents haven't been paid in six weeks. Delta pulled its congressional perks. Iran apparently sent Trump a gift — oil and gas related. No one knows what it is. Michael's daily screen time is five and a half hours. He lied about it. Twice. On camera.  Enjoy Join the Cleared Hot Email List: https://www.clearedhotpodcast.com Pickup a Copy of Drownproof: https://www.clearedhotpodcast.com/book Today's Sponsors: AG1: Go to https://www.drinkag1.com/clearedhot to get a FREE AG1 Flavor Sampler and AGZ Sampler to try all the flavors, plus FREE Vitamin D3+K2 and AG1 Welcome Kit with your first AG1 subscription order. Stash: Go to https://www.get.stash.com/clearedhot to see how you can receive TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS towards your first stock purchase and to view important disclosures.

This week on Productive Conversations, we're diving into one of the wildest mixes of pop culture, viral moments, and real-life debates yet.We kick things off with Alan Ritchson — yes, Jack Reacher himself — getting into a real-life tussle with a neighbor after a bike incident. Action star energy off-screen too?Then, the wizarding world is back as the first look at the Harry Potter reboot drops — and we break down whether this revamp is exciting… or completely unnecessary.Comedy meets controversy as Druski goes viral again with his latest sketch poking fun at conservative women — but is it just jokes, or is there more to unpack?We also get into a surprisingly respectful moment where John Cena politely shuts down an influencer/singer, plus a nostalgic Hannah Montana reunion that has fans feeling all the emotions.And in one of the more random headlines of the week, Shaquille O'Neal clears the air on those rumored DMs to Sabrina Carpenter… yeah, they're not real.Of course, we bring it back to real life with Dating Moments of the Week, followed by some thought-provoking Questions of the Day:Are people too quick to cut each other off nowadays?Is being “busy” actually a flex… or a problem?What's a petty reason you got the ick?And we wrap it all up with our signature Nuclear Opinion — no filter, no holding back.Join the conversation and let us know where you stand.Tap into Episode 713 of the Productive Conversations Podcast—available now on all podcast platforms and YouTube_____Jack Reacher Gets in a Tussle (2:45)Harry Potter Revamp (9:30)Druski's Conservative Women Sketch (21:50)John Cena Politely Shoots Down Singer (36:15)Hannah Montana Reunion (40:15)Shaq and Sabrina Carpenter (48:32)Dating Moments of the Week (52:35)Questions of the Day (1:09:12)Nuclear Opinion (1:42:12)------#trending #sports #news #entertainment #culture #popculture #podcast Best way to contact our host is by emailing him at productiveconversationspodcast@gmail.com or mbrown3212@gmail.comThis show has been brought to you by Magic Mind! Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/productive-conversations-with-matt-brown/id1535871441 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7qCsxuzYYoeqALrWu4x4Kb YouTube: @Productive_Conversations  Linktree:https://linktr.ee/productiveconversations

Chandler was just getting home from a DJ gig at The Cosmopolitan when he heard something… is that a tiny baby kitten, crying in the bushes!?!? OH NO!!!! Chandler to the rescue!!!It's OPENING DAY!!! The 2026 MLB season is underway!!!! Meh… Chris is still completely focused on hockey…Did you see video!?? Jack Reacher just beat the crap out of his neighbor!!! AWESOME!!!!Chunga LOVES his cassettes!!  He real likes listening to them while he works!  Now there's a new “Walkman” style player that's so popular, it keeps selling out!!!CHUNGA POLL: What is your favorite gadget from your youth!?  Post your answers below!!!!!PLUS, Gregg has a classic double feature for his Unemployed Movie Shout-out!!!  Listen NOW!! It's on www.radioronin.com and everywhere you get your podcasts!!!

Tonight on Kiefer Than Therapy, the news cycle somehow got even weirder… and we're here to make it worse.We start off with a Bachelor/Bachelorette contestant who apparently thought reality TV drama wasn't enough and decided to add a little domestic violence DLC to their storyline. Roses are red, flags are redder.

Chandler was just getting home from a DJ gig at The Cosmopolitan when he heard something… is that a tiny baby kitten, crying in the bushes!?!? OH NO!!!! Chandler to the rescue!!!It's OPENING DAY!!! The 2026 MLB season is underway!!!! Meh… Chris is still completely focused on hockey…Did you see video!?? Jack Reacher just beat the crap out of his neighbor!!! AWESOME!!!!Chunga LOVES his cassettes!!  He real likes listening to them while he works!  Now there's a new “Walkman” style player that's so popular, it keeps selling out!!!CHUNGA POLL: What is your favorite gadget from your youth!?  Post your answers below!!!!!PLUS, Gregg has a classic double feature for his Unemployed Movie Shout-out!!!  Listen NOW!! It's on www.radioronin.com and everywhere you get your podcasts!!!

Practicing Minions preparednessWhich Fullcast hosts are actively evil? DiscussWhich Hand In The Dirt host would you want to ride out the Purge with?Spencer takes a musical journeyTailgate at the Jack Reacher trial, save the dateMorally cleansing ollies at Augusta NationalThe Shutdown Fullcast is on Patreon. This is how we pay our producers, and occasionally ourselves. If you'd like to help with that, give us $4 a month (or a larger, funnier number of your choosing) and we'll give you bonus episodes. As of this recording we have delivered 27 (twenty-seven) bonus episodes since launching in August. We think this is a pretty good deal (for you)Now through March 31, 100% of proceeds from all PTKU merch sales will be donated to TransVisible Montana. Visit preownedairboats.com to purchase BRAND-NEW BLUE SHARKS GEAR #EXCLUSIVEShutdown Fullcast is produced by Michael Ray SurberFullcast theme variant arranged and performed by Becca LynchDID YOU KNOW: Spencer and Holly write Channel 6, a year-round newsletter that is mostly about football, until it's notBefore the world ends (again), treat yourself to Jason's critically praised novel and other workTravel in your mind palace to Phantom Island, Ryan's new show with Steven Godfrey, which is not a college football show because another simply cannot existCheck out Surber's band, Killer Antz

Hour 1: Savannah Guthrie did a sit down interview with Hoda that will air Thursday and Friday. She is set to return to the Today show next month. Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski just resigned for 3 more years of Morning Joe. Another Yellowstone spin-off is here. It's Opening Day for the MLB, and it's all happening at Oracle Park (and Netflix) at 5pm. A sad story about a woman who just wanted a bigger butt. In Alaska, once you get drunk you need to leave. Do you dream in black and white? Hour 2: What's on TV tonight? An anaconda, a crazed monkey, and a serial killer! Survivor is on tonight. Matty's loving Sarah's recommendation of ‘Steal' on Amazon. How exactly will Thing from ‘Wednesday' be throwing the first pitch? More footage from the Jack Reacher altercation is changing the story… a bit. Should TV go back to one episode per week? The average cost of an MLB game for a family of 4 is WAY up. Eat your hot dog and shut up! Meta IS NOT doing enough to protect children. And it's not just children! Adults are stuck in the death scroll. Service workers are sharing the wildest things they've seen in people's houses. If you're coming to the city tonight, consider public transportation! Hour 3: It's time to play Bridge The Gap! NBC Bay Area's Scott Budman is BACK for GenX to battle Zillennial Sam Lubman from 957TheGame. This is a battle of the generations you won't want to miss. Then, we dive into all the tech news with Scott Budman. PSA: Rent in SF is insane. Apple is turning 50. Sarah still remembers the first time she met someone with a Mac. Young people on the internet are claiming they may not be paying their taxes this year in protest of ICE and war. Now is the best time to buy an electric car. The airport is using a humanoid AI agent. Hour 4: Sarah's catching us up on the Billboard Hot 100. Bob thinks Harry Styles should be higher in the Top 10. KPop Demon Hunters has teamed up with McDonalds. Dave Grohl is opening up about his intense commitment to therapy after fathering a child outside of his marriage. Barry Manilow is cancer free! Boredom used to be real! Bay Area lawmakers propose new ebike regulations. Sarah and Vinnie believe we need them.

What's on TV tonight? An anacondas, a crazed monkey, and a serial killer! Survivor is on tonight. Matty's loving Sarah's recommendation of ‘Steal' on Amazon. How exactly will Thing from ‘Wednesday' be throwing the first pitch? More footage from the Jack Reacher altercation is changing the story… a bit. Should TV go back to one episode per week? The average cost of an MLB game for a family of 4 is WAY up. Eat your hot dog and shut up! Meta IS NOT doing enough to protect children. And it's not just children! Adults are stuck in the death scroll. Service workers are sharing the wildest things they've seen in people's houses. If you're coming to the city tonight, consider public transportation!

Chappell Roan complains about her fans, Taylor Frankie Paul Cop Cam breakdown, Meghan Markle's Australian grift, The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother Hillel, Jack Reacher body cam, and Scottie Pippen's still bitter. It's the 40th anniversary of Van Halen's 5150. Keven McGonigle has made the Detroit Tigers Opening Day roster. Max Clark and his tattoos are sent to Triple-A Toledo. We dump way too many facts about Rick Monday. Will Disney dump ABC? Delta Airlines sticks it to members of Congress. TSA is not to thrilled with ICE at the moment. Trump and Iran. That's it. Nobody knows. Erika Kirk grieves differently. RIP OnlyFans owner Leo Radvinsky. Dead at 43 of cancer. His memory will live in through countless whores. RIP Seth Peterson. Meghan Markle is gearing up to grift Australia. Jack Quaid seems to hate her. Taylor Frankie Paul cop cams have been released. She's digging herself in a deeper hole. Britney Spears has been seen for the first time since her DUI. Drew watch Necessary Roughness last night. The Red Hot Chili Peppers have a new documentary on Netflix. Chappell Roan claims she does not hate children. Boy George is NOT a fan. She has quite the history of complaining about her fans. Spring Break 2026 is chaos. Jack Reacher was wearing a bodycam when he beat the crap out of his neighbor. Trudi remains committed to Alan Ritchson. JLo looks disgusted when she's hanging with her daughter. Pronouns are so 2020. Scottie Pippen is still being salty about Michael Jordan. Check out his latest commercial with Mr. Pibb. Jackie O is the Ryan Seacrest of Australia… without the views. Merch remains available. Buy it before it's gone or miss out. If you'd like to help support the show… consider subscribing to our YouTube Channel, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (Drew Lane, Marc Fellhauer, Trudi Daniels, Jim Bentley and BranDon)

Actor Alan Ritchson caught on video pummeling his neighbor, Bill Cosby loses in court, Bieber v. Usher, Hawk Tuah explains herself, Paris Jackson mad at Michael's estate, Kathy Ireland ripped off, and Gypsy Rose jokes about killing her mom. March Madness: Iowa Hawkeyes sink the defending champion Florida Gators. Lyla is a strain on Drew's wallet. What vaccinations should she get? Denise Richards got a facelift and is open about it. Lori Loughlin is looking sexy. Her daughter, however, remains insufferable. An Air Canada airplane and a fire truck collided at LaGuardia. The unfortunate ending of JFK Jr.'s life has been spoiled for BranDon's wife. Sad. Savannah Guthrie is finally going to return to The Today Show. Hoda Kotb, meanwhile, is ramping up Joy 101 for failure. Justin Timberlake should have used better examples of fame to get out of that DWI. Where is the Britney Spears mugshot? Justin Bieber and Usher are beefing. Check out the Sponge Pub Crawl! Bill Cosby loses in court and may owe up to $19M. Screaming George is the star of the latest cop cam we watch. Hailey Welch (Hawk Tuah) did an interview to explain the memecoin madness. Kathy Ireland has lost all her net worth thanks to shady business partners. Some people are saying she could have paid better attention to her finances. Cat Cavelli claps back at Chappell Roan for being mean to her child. Paris Jackson is complaining about her father's money. Check out this fantastic interview with Craig Melvin and The Pussycat Dolls. Murderer Gypsy-Rose Blanchard thinks it's funny to do TikTok's about her mother… who she murdered. Dayton Webber doesn't need limbs to be a murderer. Jack Reacher star, Alan Ritchson, beats the crap out of a neighbor. Trudi still has his back. Merch remains available. Buy it before it's gone or miss out. If you'd like to help support the show… consider subscribing to our YouTube Channel, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (Drew Lane, Marc Fellhauer, Trudi Daniels, Jim Bentley and BranDon)

Palm Beach Pete is stealing the hearts of America, Parks' school play was a beautiful disaster, this guy SUCKs, an update on the Alan Ritchson situation, and the conclusion of Bit Madness, Round 1. Support us on Patreon and receive weekly episodes for as low $5 per month: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.patreon.com/circlingbackpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Watch all of our full episodes on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.youtube.com/washedmedia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Shop Washed Merch: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.washedmedia.shop⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ • (00:00) Fun & Easy Banter • (14:30) Palm Beach Pete • (24:30) Parks' School Play • (35:10) This Guy Sucks • (42:50) Update on Jack Reacher • (48:05) Bit Madness Round 1 Support This Episode's Sponsors: - Rhoback: Go to ⁠https://rhoback.com/⁠ and use code LUTES20 for 20% off your first order - Squarespace: Check out ⁠⁠https://squarespace.com/steam⁠⁠ for a free trial, and when you're ready to launch, use OFFER CODE: STEAM to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. - BetterHelp: Our listeners get 10% off their first month at ⁠https://betterhelp.com/circling⁠ - Poncho: Go to ⁠https://ponchooutdoors.com/STEAM⁠ for $10 off your first order and free shipping. - Fitbod : Get 25% off your subscription or try the app FREE for seven days at ⁠https://fitbod.me/steam/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Tuesday! Happy anniversary to Man & his wife, we chat about firing your coach to inspire change, CBJ fans will be scoreboard watching tonight, Jack Reacher had a dispute with his neighbor, we chat about different types of self-defense disciplines, we go Inside the Buckeyes, chat with Jen Winters, do some Rapid Fire & have some Timmy Time with Game Show Tuesday.

Tuesday - We talk: Junk mail, Philly cheese steaks, reality TV, Spiderman, Jack Reacher, Door Dash and fuel prices, and more on Jim's planned tattoo. Greg Higgerson from the 2nd Harvest Foodbank joins us to discuss the need of TSA workers. We review a video about our garbage problem for WYDTN. It's Only Money with Scott Brown with Edgewater Family Wealth. Plus, JCS News, JCS Trivia & You Heard it Here First.

Tuesday - We talk: Junk mail, Philly cheese steaks, reality TV, Spiderman, Jack Reacher, Door Dash and fuel prices, and more on Jim's planned tattoo. Greg Higgerson from the 2nd Harvest Foodbank joins us to discuss the need of TSA workers. We review a video about our garbage problem for WYDTN. It's Only Money with Scott Brown with Edgewater Family Wealth. Plus, JCS News, JCS Trivia & You Heard it Here First. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

0:00 - Yesterday, we broke down Nuggets playoff scenarios. Would you rather the Nuggets face the Spurs before the Thunder? Or vice versa? Which team would you rather face earlier? Vic would rather face OKC as late as possible. Coach and Raj disagreed with that take. Get it out of the way sooner. Today, Raj came on our show to debate Vic.14:40 - The Broncos won't make a pick in the NFL Draft until the 2nd round. 62nd overall pick. Who should the Broncos target with that pick? 32:54 - Oh, by the way...lots of former Broncos QBs are still in the NFL. Oh, by the way...Alan Ritchson (aka Thad Castle and Jack Reacher) pulled a Nick Tarnasky and went full BANG BANG BANG on one of his neighbors. Oh, by the way...a quadruple amputee professional cornhole player was arrested for shooting a guy. Yep, you read that right.

TUESDAY HR 3 Monster Sports - Orlando Magic horrible loss to the Pacers. MLB Biggest Dumbest Argument Who wins this fight? Jack Reacher in a fight See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TUESDAY HR 3 Monster Sports - Orlando Magic horrible loss to the Pacers. MLB Biggest Dumbest Argument Who wins this fight? Jack Reacher in a fight

23MAR26 ICE in Airports, Crash, Omar Fraud, Mueller, Jack Reacher Assault, Green Tie Doocey And More. Hosts: Matt & Olivia Call In Live: +1 (276) 200-2105 Be Heard. Be Bold. No Censorship.  Watch Us Here: linktapgo.com/thedumshow thedumshow.com #TheDUMShow #DontUnfriendMe #DUMShowLive #DUMNation #DUMFans #CallInShow #LivePodcast #ConservativeTalk #AmericaFirst #VeteranVoice #MilitaryPerspective Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-dum-show--6012883/support.

Don't mess with Jack Reacher. Unarmed and dangerous. Johnny only wants pudding and Matlock.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 1: Remembering Chuck Norris, the iconic action/meme star. Sarah and Matty saw ‘Project Hail Mary' over the weekend. Can Sarah keep the gang's streak going? The Bay isn't the only place getting record temperatures. If you find yourself getting wound up by your sleep score, is it really helping you? Here are some tips that might actually help you sleep. Even retired people hate Mondays. Vinnie is loving the feeling of a job well done. Who is the worst person to sit next to on a flight? Hour 2: ‘Sentimental Value' is now on Hulu. Matty is jealous of Punch. The owner of OnlyFans has passed away from a long battle with cancer. Some of the men from Taylor Frankie Paul's lost season of ‘The Bachelorette' are suing ABC. People don't believe Sarah Jessica Parker. Dear God, will someone please help Shia LaBeouf. Is Speed-Friending actually the secret to finding love? How many dresses has Vanna White worn? The Teddy Bear doesn't need to worry about possums stealing their thunder. Hour 3: You don't want the man who plays Jack Reacher on your bad side. AI is resurrecting Val Kilmer - oh boy. Kevin Hart is up next to be Roasted. Tom Holland's new Spider-Man trailer broke an unbelievable record. Nick Cage is taking on a Spider-Man noir. Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson are teaming up with Jason Bateman. The next generation has another Scooby Do remake in the works. Vinnie and Matty are proud of their March Madness brackets so far. Need a sign that you're in a healthy relationship? Vinnie's got you. Hour 4: The footage from Justin Timberlake's DWI arrest has been released! Did Chappell Roan make a little girl cry? Keith Urban is doing an album of covers. What is Yacht Rock anyway? Two pilots were killed when an Air Canada plane hit a fire truck on the runway. The iconic Bay Bridge lights are BACK! PSA: You should pay your taxes. What do Pepe Le Pew and a meteor have in common? Plus, When Did That Happen?

You don't want the man who plays Jack Reacher on your bad side. AI is resurrecting Val Kilmer - oh boy. Kevin Hart is up next to be Roasted. Tom Holland's new Spider-Man trailer broke an unbelievable record. Nick Cage is taking on a Spider-Man noir. Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson are teaming up with Jason Bateman. The next generation has another Scooby Do remake in the works. Vinnie and Matty are proud of their March Madness brackets so far. Need a sign that you're in a healthy relationship? Vinnie's got you.

HR3 - Falcons trading for Sydney Brown could pay off in more ways than one In hour three Mike Johnson, Beau Morgan, and Ali Mac quickly touch on some of the biggest headlines around the local and national sports scene, continue to talk about the Sweet 16 being set in the NCAA Tournament, continue to recap and react to all of the NCAA Tournament action that happened over the weekend, continue to react to the Atlanta Falcons acquiring safety Sydney Brown in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday in a deal that also included a swap of fourth and sixth-round draft picks, explain why they think the Falcons may use Sydney Brown as an extra box defender in the run game, react to 'Reacher' Star Alan Ritchson Allegedly attacking his neighbor In front of his children, talk about the Atlanta Hawks getting their 11-game winning streak snapped on Friday when they lost to the Houston Rockets in Houston 117-95, but bouncing back at home on Saturday when they beat the Golden State Warriors at home 126-110, explain why they think the Hawks must beat the Memphis Grizzlies tonight if they expect to avoid the NBA Play-In Tournament, talk about what their plan would be to beat Jack Reacher in a fight, and then close out hour three by answering people's questions about anything in the Morning Mailbag!

Mike Johnson, Beau Morgan, and Ali Mac talk about what their plan would be to beat Jack Reacher in a fight, and then close out hour three by answering people's questions about anything in the Morning Mailbag!

The Brothers discuss the new Netflix movie War Machine starring Alan Ritchson. This is what happens when you take parts of other movies and mash them together. Enjoy Two ordinary brothers discussing extraordinary ideas... and some random shit. Email- thebrothersrandomv@gmail.com Check us out on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/@thebrothersrandom      

What makes a character so compelling that readers will forgive almost anything about the plot? How do you move beyond vague flaws and generic descriptions to create people who feel pulled from real life? In this solo episode, I share 15 actionable tips for writing deep characters, curated from past interviews on the podcast. In the intro, thoughts from London Book Fair [Instagram reel @jfpennauthor; Publishing Perspectives; Audible; Spotify]; Insights from a 7-figure author business [BookBub]. This show is supported by my Patrons. Join my Community and get articles, discounts, and extra audio and video tutorials on writing craft, author business, and AI tools, at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn This episode has been created from previous episodes of The Creative Penn Podcast, curated by Joanna Penn, as well as chapters from How to Write a Novel: From Idea to Book. Links to the individual episodes are included in the transcript below. In this episode: Master the ‘Believe, Care, Invest' trifecta, how to hook readers on the very first page Define the Dramatic Question: Who is your character when the chips are down? Absolute specificity. Why “she's controlling” isn't good enough Understand the Heroine's Journey, strength through connection, not solo action Use ‘Metaphor Families' to anchor dialogue and give every character a distinctive voice Find the Diagnostic Detail, the moments that prove a character is real Writing pain onto the page without writing memoir Write diverse characters as real people, not stereotypes or plot devices Give your protagonist a morally neutral ‘hero' status. Compelling beats likeable. Build vibrant side characters for series longevity and spin-off potential Use voice as a rhythmic tool Link character and plot until they're inseparable Why discovery writers can write out of order and still build deep character Find the sensory details that make characters live and breathe More help with how to write fiction here, or in my book, How to Write a Novel. Writing Characters: 15 Tips for Writing Deep Character in Your Fiction In today's episode, I'm sharing fifteen tips for writing deep characters, synthesised from some of the most insightful interviews on The Creative Penn Podcast over the past few years, combined with what I've learned across more than forty books of my own. I'll be referencing episodes with Matt Bird, Will Storr, Gail Carriger, Barbara Nickless, and Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer. I'll also draw on my own book, How to Write a Novel, which covers these fundamentals in detail. Whether you're writing your first novel or your fiftieth, whether you're a plotter or a discovery writer like me, these tips will help you create characters that readers believe in, care about, and invest in—and keep coming back for more. Let's get into it. 1. Master the ‘Believe, Care, Invest' Trifecta When I spoke with Matt Bird on episode 624, he laid out the three things you need to achieve on the very first page of your book or in the first ten minutes of a film. He calls it “Believe, Care, and Invest.” First, the reader must believe the character is a real person, somehow proving they are not a cardboard imitation of a human being, not just a generic type walking through a generic plot. Second, the reader must care about the character's circumstances. And third, the reader must invest in the character's ability to solve the story's central problem. Matt used The Hunger Games as his primary example, and it's brilliant. On the very first page, we believe Katniss's voice. Suzanne Collins writes in first person with a staccato rhythm—lots of periods, short declarative sentences—that immediately grounds us in a survivalist mentality. We care because Katniss is starving. She's protecting her little sister. And we invest because she is out there bow hunting, which Matt pointed out is one of the most badass things a character can do. She even kills a lynx two pages in and sells the pelt. We invest in her resourcefulness and grit before the plot has even begun. Matt was very clear that this has nothing to do with the character being “likable.” He said his subtitle, Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love, doesn't mean the character has to be a good person. He described “hero” as both gender-neutral and morally neutral. A hero can be totally evil or totally good. What matters is that we believe, care, and invest. He demonstrated this beautifully by breaking down the first ten minutes of WeCrashed, where the characters of Adam and Rebekah Neumann are absolutely not likable, but we are completely hooked. Adam steals his neighbour's Chinese food through a carefully orchestrated con involving an imaginary beer. It's not admirable behaviour, but the tradecraft involved, as Matt put it—using a term from spy movies—makes us invest in him. We see a character trying to solve the big problem of his life, which is that he's poor and wants to be rich, and we want to see if he can pull it off. Actionable step: Go to the first page of your current work in progress. Does it achieve all three? Does the reader believe this is a real person with a distinctive voice? Do they care about the character's circumstances? And do they invest in the character's ability to handle what's coming? If even one of those three is missing, that's your revision priority. 2. Define the Dramatic Question: Who Are They Really? Will Storr, author of The Science of Storytelling, came on episode 490 and gave one of the most powerful frameworks I've ever heard for character-driven fiction. He explained that the human brain evolved language primarily to swap social information—in other words, to gossip. We are wired to monitor other people, to ask the question: who is this person when the chips are down? That's what Will calls the Dramatic Question, and it's what he believes lies at the heart of all compelling storytelling. It's not a question about plot. It's a question about the character's soul. And every scene in your novel should force the character to answer it. His example of Lawrence of Arabia is unforgettable. The Dramatic Question for the entire film is: who are you, Lawrence? Are you ordinary or are you extraordinary? At the beginning, Lawrence is a cocky, rebellious young soldier who believes his rebelliousness makes him superior. Every iconic scene in that three-hour film tests that belief. Sometimes Lawrence acts as though he truly is extraordinary—leading the Arabs into battle, being hailed as a god—and sometimes the world strips him bare and he sees himself as ordinary. Because it's a tragedy, he never overcomes his flaw. He doubles down on his belief that he's extraordinary until he becomes monstrous, culminating in that iconic scene where he lifts a bloody dagger and sees his own reflection with horror. Will also used Jaws to demonstrate how this works in a pure action thriller. Brody's dramatic question is simple: are you going to be old Brody who is terrified of the water, or new Brody who can overcome that fear? Every scene where the shark appears is really asking that question. And the last moment of the film isn't the shark blowing up. It's Brody swimming back through the water, saying he used to be scared of the water and he can't imagine why. Actionable step: Write down the Dramatic Question for your protagonist in a single sentence. Is it “Are you ordinary or extraordinary?” or “Are you brave enough to love again?” or “Will you sacrifice your principles for survival?” If you can't answer this with specificity, your character might still be a sketch rather than a person. 3. Get rid of Vague Flaws, and use Absolute Specificity This was one of Will Storr's most important points. He said that vague thinking about characters is really the enemy. When he teaches workshops and asks writers to describe their character's flaw, most of them say something like “they're very controlling.” And Will's response is: that's not good enough. Everyone is controlling. How are they controlling? What's the specific mechanism? He gave the example of a profile he read of Theresa May during the UK's Brexit chaos. Someone who knew her said that Theresa May's problem was that she always thinks she's the only adult in every room she goes into. Will said that stopped him in his tracks because it's so precise. If you define a character with that level of specificity, you can take them and put them in any genre, any situation—a spaceship, a Victorian drawing room, a school playground—and you will know exactly how they're going to behave. The same applies to Arthur Miller's Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, as Will described it: a man who believes absolutely in capitalistic success and the idea that when you die, you're going to be weighed on a scale, just as God weighs you for sin, but now you're weighed for success. That's not a vague flaw. That's a worldview you can drop into any story and watch it combust. Will made another counterintuitive point that I found really valuable: writers often think that piling on multiple traits will create a complex character, but the opposite is true. Starting with one highly specific flaw and running it through the demands of a relentless plot is what generates complexity. You end up with a far more nuanced, original character than if you'd started with a laundry list of vague attributes. Actionable step: Take your protagonist's flaw and pressure-test it. Is it specific enough that you could place this character in any situation and predict their behaviour? If you're stuck at “she's stubborn” or “he's insecure,” keep pushing. What kind of stubborn? What kind of insecure? Find the diagnostic sentence—the Theresa May level of precision. 4. Understand the Heroine's Journey: Strength Through Connection Gail Carriger came on episode 550 to discuss her nonfiction book, The Heroine's Journey, and it completely reframed how I think about some of my own fiction. Gail explained that the core difference between the Hero's Journey and the Heroine's Journey comes down to how strength and victory are defined. The Hero's Journey is about strength through solo action. The hero must be continually isolated to get stronger. He goes out of civilisation, faces strife alone, and achieves victory through physical prowess and self-actualisation. The Heroine's Journey is the opposite. The heroine achieves her goals by activating a network. She's a delegator, a general. She identifies where she can't do something alone, finds the people who can help, and portions out the work for mutual gain. Gail put it simply: the heroine is very good at asking for help, which our culture tends to devalue but which is actually a powerful form of strength. Crucially, Gail stressed that gender is irrelevant to which journey you're writing. Her go-to examples are striking: the recent Wonder Woman film is practically a beat-for-beat hero's journey—Gilgamesh on screen, as Gail described it. Meanwhile, Harry Potter, both the first book and the series as a whole, is a classic heroine's journey. Harry's power comes from his network—Dumbledore's Army, the Order of the Phoenix, his friendships with Ron and Hermione. He doesn't defeat Voldemort alone. He defeats Voldemort because of love and connection. This distinction has real practical consequences for writers. If you're writing a hero's journey and you hit writer's block, Gail said, the solution is usually to isolate your hero further and pile on more strife. But if you're writing a heroine's journey, the solution is probably to throw a new character into the scene—someone who has advice to offer or a skill the heroine lacks. The actual solutions to writer's block are different depending on which narrative you're writing. As I reflected on my own work, I realised that my ARKANE thriller protagonist, Morgan Sierra, follows a hero's journey—she's a solo operative, a lone wolf like Jack Reacher or James Bond. But my Mapwalker fantasy series follows a heroine's journey, with Sienna and her group of friends working together. I hadn't consciously chosen those paths; the stories led me there. But understanding the framework helps me write more intentionally now. Actionable step: Identify which journey your protagonist is on. Does your character gain strength by being alone (hero) or by building connections (heroine)? This will inform every plot decision you make, from how they face obstacles to how your story ends. 5. Use ‘Metaphor Families' to Anchor Dialogue and Voice One of the most practical techniques Matt Bird shared on episode 624 is the idea of assigning each character a “metaphor family”—a specific well of language that they draw from. This gives each character a distinctive voice that goes beyond accent or dialect. Matt explained how in The Wire, one of the most beloved TV shows of all time, every character has a different metaphor family. What struck him was that Omar, this iconic character, never utters a single curse word in the entire series. His metaphor family is pirate. He talks about parlays, uses language that feels like it belongs in Pirates of the Caribbean, and it creates this incredible ironic counterpoint against his urban setting. It tells us immediately that this is a character who sees himself in a tradition of people that doesn't match his immediate surroundings. Matt also referenced the UK version of The Office, where Gareth works at a paper company but aspires to the military. So all of his language is drawn from a military metaphor family. He doesn't talk about filing and photocopying; he talks about tactics and discipline and being on the front line. This tells us that the character has a life and dreams beyond the immediate scene—and it's the gap between aspiration and reality that makes him both funny and believable. He pointed out that a metaphor family sometimes comes from a character's background, but it's often more interesting when it comes from their aspirations. What does your character want to be? What world do they fantasise about inhabiting? That's where their language should come from. In Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a spiritual hermit, but his metaphor family is military. He uses the language of generals and commanders, and that ironic counterpoint is part of what makes him feel so rich. Actionable step: Assign each of your main characters a metaphor family. It could be based on their job, their background, or—more interestingly—their secret aspirations. Then go through your dialogue and make sure each character is consistently drawing from that well of language. If two characters sound the same when you strip away the dialogue tags, this is the fix. 6. Find the Diagnostic Detail: The Diagonal Toast Avoid clichéd character tags—the random scar, the eye patch, the mysterious limp—unless they serve a deep narrative purpose. Matt Bird on episode 624 was very funny about this: he pointed out that Nick Fury, Odin, and eventually Thor all have eye patches in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Eye patches are done, he said. You cannot do eye patches anymore. Instead, look for what I'm calling the “diagonal toast” detail, after a scene Matt described from Captain Marvel. In the film, Captain Marvel is trying to determine whether Nick Fury is who he says he is. She asks him to prove he isn't a shapeshifting alien. Fury shares biographical details—his history, his mother—but then she pushes further and says, name one more thing you couldn't possibly have made up about yourself. And Fury says: if toast is cut diagonally, I can't eat it. Matt said that detail is gold for a writer because it feels pulled from a real life. You can pull it from your own life and gift it to your characters, and the reader can tell it's not manufactured. He gave another example from The Sopranos: Tony Soprano's mother won't answer the phone after dark. The show's creator, David Chase, confirmed on the DVD commentary that this came from his own mother, who genuinely would not answer the phone after dark and couldn't explain why. Matt's practical advice was to keep a journal. Write down the strange, specific things that people do or say. Mine your own life for those hyper-specific details. You just need one per book. In my own writing, I've used this approach. In my ARKANE thrillers, my character Morgan Sierra has always been Angelina Jolie in my mind—specifically Jolie in Lara Croft or Mr and Mrs Smith. And Blake Daniel in my crime thriller series was based on Jesse Williams from Grey's Anatomy. I paste pictures of actors into my Scrivener projects. It helps with visuals, but also with the sense of the character, their energy and physicality. But visual details only take you so far. It's the behavioural quirks—the diagonal toast moments—that make a character feel genuinely alive. That said, physical character tags can work brilliantly when they serve the story. As I discuss in How to Write a Novel, Robert Galbraith's Cormoran Strike is an amputee, and his pain and the physical challenges of his prosthesis are a key part of every story—it's not a cosmetic detail, it's woven into the action and the character's psychology. My character Blake Daniel always wears gloves to cover the scars on his hands, which provides an angle into his wounded past as well as a visual cue for the reader. And of course, Harry Potter's lightning-shaped scar isn't just a mark—it's a direct connection to his nemesis and the mythology of the entire series. The rule of thumb is: if the tag tells us something about the character's interior life or connects to the plot, it's earning its place. If it's just there to make the character visually distinctive, it's probably a crutch. Game of Thrones takes character tags further with the family houses, each with their own mottos and sigils. The Starks say “Winter is coming” and their sigil is a dire wolf. Those aren't just labels—they're worldview made visible. Actionable step: Start a “diagonal toast” notebook. Every time you notice something strange and specific about someone's behaviour—something that feels too real to be made up—write it down. Then gift it to a character who needs more texture. 7. Displace Your Own Trauma into the Work Barbara Nickless shared something deeply personal on episode 732 that fundamentally changed how I think about putting pain onto the page. While starting At First Light, the first book in her Dr. Evan Wilding series, she lost her son to epilepsy—something called SUDEP, Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy. One day he was there, and the next day he was gone. Barbara said that writing helped her cope with the trauma, that doing a deep dive into Old English literature and the Viking Age for the book's research became a lifeline. But here's what's important: she didn't give Dr. Evan Wilding her exact trauma. Evan Wilding is four feet five inches, and Barbara described how he has to walk through a world that won't adjust to him. That's its own form of learning to cope when circumstances are beyond your control. She displaced her genuine grief into the character's different but parallel struggle. When I asked her about the difference between writing for therapy and writing for an audience, she drew on her experience teaching creative writing to veterans through a collaboration between the US Department of Defense and the National Endowment for the Arts. She said she's found that she can pour her heartache into her characters and process it through them, even when writing professionally, and that the genuine emotion is what touches readers. We've all been through our own losses and griefs, so seeing how a character copes can be deeply meaningful. I've always found that putting my own pain onto the page is the most direct way to connect with a reader's soul. My character Morgan Sierra's musings on religion and the supernatural are often my own. Her restlessness, her fascination with the darker edges of faith—those come from me. But her Krav Maga fighting skills and her ability to kill the bad guys are definitely her own. That gap between what's mine and what's hers is where the fiction lives. Barbara also said something on that episode that I wrote down and stuck on my wall. She said the act of producing itself is a balm to the soul. I've been thinking about that ever since. On my own wall, I have “Measure your life by what you create.” Different words, same truth. Actionable step: If you're carrying something heavy—grief, anger, fear, regret—consider how you might displace it into a character's different but emotionally parallel struggle. Don't copy your exact situation; transform it. The emotion will be genuine, and the reader will feel it. 8. Write Diverse Characters as Real People When I spoke with Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer on episode 673—Sarah is Choctaw and a historical fiction author honoured by the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian—she offered a perspective that every fiction writer needs to hear. The key message was to move away from stereotypes. Don't write your American Indian character as the “Wise Guide” who exists solely to dispense mystic wisdom to the white protagonist. Don't limit diverse characters to historical settings, as though they only exist in the past. Place them in normal, contemporary roles. Your spaceship captain, your forensic scientist, your small-town baker—any of them can be American Indian, or Nigerian, or Japanese, and their heritage should be a lived-in part of their identity, not the sole reason they exist in the story. I write international thrillers and dark fantasy, and my fiction is populated with characters from all over the world. I have a multi-cultural family and I've lived in many places and travelled widely, so I've met, worked with, and had relationships with people from different cultures. I find story ideas through travel, and if I set my books in a certain place, then the story is naturally populated with the people who live there. As I discuss in my book, How to Write a Novel, the world is a diverse place, so your fiction needs to be populated with all kinds of people. If I only populated my fiction with characters like me, they would be boring novels. There are many dimensions of difference—race, nationality, sex, age, body type, ability, religion, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, class, culture, education level—and even then, don't assume that similar types of people think the same way. Some authors worry they will make mistakes. We live in a time of outrage, and some authors have been criticised for writing outside their own experience. So is it too dangerous to try? Of course not. The media amplifies outliers, and most authors include diverse characters in every book without causing offence because they work hard to get it right. It's about awareness, research, and intent. Actionable step: Audit the cast of your current work in progress. Have you written a mono-cultural perspective for all of them? If so, consider who could bring a different background, perspective, or set of cultural specifics to the story. Not as a token addition, but as a real person with a real life. 9. Respect Tribal and Cultural Specificity Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer on episode 673 was emphatic about one thing: never treat diverse groups as monolithic. If you're writing a Native American character, you must research the specific nation. Choctaw is not Navajo, just as British is not French. Sarah described the distinct cultural markers of the Choctaw people—the diamond pattern you'll see on traditional shirts and dresses, which represents the diamondback rattlesnake. They have distinct dances and songs. She said that if she saw someone in traditional dress at a distance, she would know whether they were Choctaw based on what they were wearing. She encouraged writers who want to write specifically about a nation to get to know those people. Go to events, go to a powwow, learn about the individual culture. She noted that a big misconception is that American Indians exist only in the past—she stressed that they are still here, still living their cultures, and fiction should reflect that present reality. I took a similar approach when writing Destroyer of Worlds, which is set mostly in India. I read books about Hindu myth, watched documentaries about the sadhus, and had one of my Indian readers from Mumbai check my cultural references. For Risen Gods, set in New Zealand with a young Maori protagonist, I studied books about Maori mythology and fiction by Maori authors, and had a male Maori reader check for cultural issues. Research is simply an act of empathy. The practical takeaway is this: if you're going to include a character from a specific cultural background, do the work. Use specific cultural details rather than generic signifiers. Sarah talked about how even she fell into stereotypes when she was first writing, until her mother pointed them out. If someone from within a culture can fall into those traps, the rest of us certainly can. Do the research, try your best, ask for help, and apologise if you need to. Actionable step: If you're writing a character from a specific culture, identify three to five sensory or behavioural details that are particular to that culture—not the generic version, but the real, researched, lived-in version. Consider hiring a sensitivity reader from that community to check your work. 10. Give Your Protagonist a Morally Neutral ‘Hero' Status Matt Bird was clear about this on episode 624: the word “hero” simply means the protagonist, the person we follow through the story. It's a functional role, not a moral label. We don't have to like them. We don't even have to root for their goals in a moral sense. We just have to find them compelling enough to invest our attention in their problem-solving. Think of Succession, where every member of the Roy family is varying degrees of awful, and yet the show was utterly compelling. Or WeCrashed, where Adam Neumann is a narcissistic con artist, but we can't look away because he's trying to solve the enormous problem of building an empire from nothing, and the tradecraft he employs is fascinating. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, readers must want to spend time with your characters. They don't have to be lovable or even likable—that will depend on your genre and story choices—but they have to be captivating enough that we want to spend time with them. A character who is trying to solve a massive problem will naturally draw investment from the audience, even if we wouldn't want to have tea with them. Will Storr extended this idea by pointing out that the audience will actually root for a character to solve their problem even if the audience doesn't actually want the character's goal to be achieved in the real world. We don't really want more billionaires, but we invested in Adam Neumann's rise because that was the problem the story posed, and our brains are wired to invest in problem-solving. This connects to something deeper: what does your character want, and why? As I explore in How to Write a Novel, desire operates on multiple levels. Take a character like Phil, who joins the military during wartime. On the surface, she wants to serve her country. But she also wants to escape her dead-end town and learn new skills. Deeper still, her father and grandfather served, and by joining up, she hopes to finally earn their respect. And perhaps deepest of all, her father died on a mission under mysterious circumstances, and she wants to find out what happened from the inside. That layering of motivation is what turns a flat character into a three-dimensional one. The audience doesn't need to be told all of this explicitly. It can emerge through action, dialogue, and the choices the character makes under pressure. But you, the writer, need to know it. You need to know what your character really wants deep down, because that desire—more than any external plot device—is what drives the story forward. And your antagonist needs the same depth. They also want something, often diametrically opposed to your protagonist, and they need a reason that makes sense to them. In my ARKANE thriller Tree of Life, my antagonist is the heiress of a Brazilian mining empire who wants to restore the Earth to its original state to atone for the destruction caused by her father's company. She's part of a radical ecological group who believe the only way to restore Nature is to end all human life. It's extreme, but in an era of climate change, it's a motivation readers can understand—even if they disagree with the solution. Actionable step: If you're struggling to make a morally grey character work, make sure their problem is big enough and their methods are specific and interesting enough that we invest in the how, even if we're ambivalent about the what. 11. Build Vibrant Side Characters Gail Carriger made a point on episode 550 that was equal parts craft advice and business strategy. In a Heroine's Journey model, side characters aren't just fodder to be killed off to motivate the hero. They form a network. And because you don't have to kill them—unlike in a hero's journey, where allies are often betrayed or removed so the hero can be further isolated—you can pick up those side characters and give them their own books. Gail said this creates a really voracious reader base. You write one series with vivid side characters, and then readers fall in love with those side characters and want their stories. So you write spin-offs. The romance genre does this brilliantly—think of the Bridgerton books, where each sibling gets their own novel. The side character in one book becomes the protagonist in the next. Barbara Nickless experienced this firsthand with her Dr. Evan Wilding series. She has River Wilding, Evan's adventurous brother, and Diana, the axe-throwing research assistant, and her editor has already expressed interest in a spin-off series with those characters. Barbara described creating characters she wants to spend time with, or characters who give her nightmares but also intrigue her. That's the dual test: are they interesting enough for you to write, and interesting enough for readers to demand more? As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, characters that span series can deepen the reader's relationship with them as you expand their backstory into new plots. Readers will remember the character more than the plot or the book title, and look forward to the next instalment because they want more time with those people. British crime author Angela Marsons described it as readers feeling like returning to her characters is like putting on a pair of old slippers. Actionable step: Look at your supporting cast. Is there a side character who is vivid enough to carry their own story? If not, what could you add—a specific hobby, a distinct voice, a compelling backstory—that would make readers want more of them? 12. Use Voice as a Rhythmic Tool Voice is one of the most important elements of novel writing, and Matt Bird helped me think about it in a technical, mechanical way that I found really useful. He pointed out that the ratio of periods to commas defines a character's internal reality. A staccato rhythm—lots of periods, short sentences—suggests a character who is certain, grounded, or perhaps survivalist and traumatised. Katniss in The Hunger Games has a period-heavy voice. She's in survival mode. She doesn't have time for complexity or qualification. A flowing, comma-heavy style suggests someone more academic, more nuanced, or possibly more scattered and manipulative. The character who qualifies everything, who adds sub-clauses and digressions, is a different kind of person from the character who speaks in declarations. This is something you can actually measure. Pull up a passage of your character's dialogue or internal monologue and count the periods versus the commas. If the rhythm doesn't match who the character is supposed to be, you've found a mismatch you can fix. Sentence length is the heartbeat of your character's persona. And voice extends beyond rhythm to the words themselves. As I discussed in the metaphor families tip, each character should draw from a distinctive well of language. But voice also encompasses their relationship to silence. Some characters talk around the thing they mean; others say it straight. Some are self-deprecating; others are blunt to the point of rudeness. All of these choices are character choices, not just style choices. I find it useful to read my dialogue aloud—and not just to check for naturalness, but to hear whether each character sounds distinct. If you could swap dialogue lines between two characters and nobody would notice, you have a voice problem. One practical test: cover the dialogue tags and see if you can tell who's speaking from the words alone. Actionable step: Choose a key passage from your protagonist's point of view and read it aloud. Does the rhythm match the character? A soldier under fire should not sound like a philosophy professor at a wine tasting. Adjust the ratio of periods to commas until the voice feels right. 13. Link Character and Plot Until They're Inseparable Will Storr made the case on episode 490 that the number one problem he sees in the writing he encounters—in workshops, in submissions, even in published books—is that the characters and the plots are unconnected. There's a story happening, and there are people in it, but the story isn't a product of who those people are. He said a story should be like life. In our lives, the plots are intimately connected to who we are as characters. The goals we pursue, the obstacles we face, the same problems that keep recurring—these are products of our personalities, our flaws, our specific ways of being in the world. His framework is that your plot should be designed specifically to plot against your character. You've got a character with a particular flaw; the plot exists to test that flaw over and over until the character either transforms or doubles down and explodes. Jaws is the perfect example. Brody is afraid of water. A shark shows up in the coastal town he's responsible for protecting. The entire plot is engineered to force him to confront the one thing he cannot face. Will pointed out that the whole plot of Jaws is structured around Brody's flaw. It begins with the shark arriving, the midpoint is when Brody finally gets the courage to go into the water, and the very final scene isn't the shark blowing up—it's Brody swimming back through the water. Even a film that's ninety-eight percent action is, at its core, structured around a character with a character flaw. This is the standard I aspire to in my own work, even in my action-heavy thrillers. The external plot should be a mirror of the internal struggle. When those two are aligned, the story becomes irresistible. Will also made an important point about series fiction, which is where most commercial authors live. I asked him how this works when your character can't be transformed at the end of every book because there has to be a next book. His answer was elegant: you don't cure them. Episodic TV characters like Fleabag or David Brent or Basil Fawlty never truly change—and the fact that they don't change is actually the source of the comedy. But every episode throws a new story event at them that tests and exposes their flaw. You just keep throwing story events at them again and again. That's a soap opera, a sitcom, and a book series. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, character flaws are aspects of personality that affect the person so much that facing and overcoming them becomes central to the plot. In Jaws, the protagonist Brody is afraid of the water, but he has to overcome that flaw to destroy the killer shark and save the town. But remember, your characters should feel like real people, so never define them purely by their flaws. The character addicted to painkillers might also be a brilliant and successful female lawyer who gets up at four in the morning to work out at the gym, likes eighties music, and volunteers at the local dog shelter at weekends. Character wounds are different from flaws. They're formed from life experience and are part of your character's backstory—traumatic events that happened before the events of your novel but shape the character's reactions in the present. In my ARKANE thrillers, Morgan Sierra's husband Elian died in her arms during a military operation. This happened before the series begins, but her memories of it recur when she faces a firefight, and she struggles to find happiness again for fear of losing someone she loves once more. And then there's the perennial advice: show, don't tell. Most writers have heard this so many times that it's easy to nod and then promptly write scenes that tell rather than show. Basically, you need to reveal your character through action and dialogue, rather than explanation. In my thriller Day of the Vikings, Morgan Sierra fights a Neo-Viking in the halls of the British Museum and brings him down with Krav Maga. That fight scene isn't just about showing action. It opens up questions about her backstory, demonstrates character, and moves the plot forward. Telling would be something like: “Morgan was an expert in Krav Maga.” Showing is the reader discovering it through the scene itself. Actionable step: Look at the main plot events of your novel. For each major turning point, ask: does this scene specifically test my protagonist's flaw? If not, can you redesign the scene so that it does? The tighter the connection between character and plot, the more powerful the story. 14. The ‘Maestra' Approach: Write Out of Order If you're a discovery writer like me, you may feel like the deep character work I've been describing sounds more suited to plotters. But Barbara Nickless gave me a beautiful metaphor on episode 732 that reframes it entirely. Barbara described her evolving writing process as being like a maestra standing in front of an orchestra. Sometimes you bring in the horns—a certain theme—and sometimes you bring in the strings—a certain character—and sometimes you turn to the soloist. It's a more organic and jumping-around process than linear writing, and Barbara said she's only recently given herself permission to work this way. When I told her that I use Scrivener to write in scenes out of order and then drag and drop them into a structure later, she was genuinely intrigued. And this is how I've always worked. I'll see the story in my mind like a movie trailer—flashes of the big emotional scenes, the pivotal confrontations, the moments of revelation—and I write those first. I don't know how they hang together until quite late in the process. Then I'll move scenes around, print the whole thing out, and figure out the connective tissue. The point is that discovery writers can absolutely build deep characters. Sometimes writing the big emotional scenes first is how you discover who the character is before you fill in the rest. You don't need a twenty-page character worksheet or a 200-page outline like Jeffery Deaver. You need to be willing to follow the character into the unknown and trust that the structure will emerge. As Barbara said, she writes to know what she's thinking. That's the discovery writer's credo. And I would add: I write to know who my characters are. Actionable step: If you're stuck on your current chapter, skip it. Write the scene that's burning in your imagination, even if it's from the middle or the end. That scene might be the key to unlocking who your character really is. 15. Use Research to Help with Empathy Research shouldn't just be about factual accuracy—it's a tool for finding the sensory details that create empathy. Barbara Nickless described research as almost an excuse to explore things that fascinate her, and I feel exactly the same way. I would go so far as to say that writing is an excuse for me to explore the things that interest me. Barbara and I both travel for our stories. For her Dr. Evan Wilding books, she did deep research into Old English literature and the Viking Age. For my thriller End of Days, I transcribed hours of video from Appalachian snake-handling churches on YouTube to understand the worldview of the worshippers, because my antagonist was brought up in that tradition. I couldn't just make that up. I had to hear their language, feel their conviction, understand why they would hold venomous serpents as an act of faith. Barbara also mentioned getting to Israel and the West Bank for research, and I've been to both places too. Finding that one specific sensory detail—the smell of a particular location, the specific way an expert handles a tool, the sound of a particular kind of music—makes the character's life feel lived-in. It's the difference between a character who is described as living in a place and a character who inhabits it. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, don't write what you know. Write what you want to learn about. I love research. It's part of why I'm an author in the first place. I take any excuse to dive into a world different from my own. Research using books, films, podcasts, and travel, and focus particularly on sources produced by people from the worldview you want to understand. Actionable step: For your next piece of character research, go beyond reading. Watch a documentary, visit a location, talk to someone who lives the experience. Find one sensory detail—a smell, a sound, a texture—that you couldn't have invented. That detail will make your character feel real. Bonus: Measure Your Life by What You Create In an age of AI and a tsunami of content, your ultimate brand protection is the quality of your human creation. Barbara Nickless said that the act of producing itself is a balm to the soul, and I believe that with every fibre of my being. Don't be afraid to take that step back, like I did with my deadlifting. Take the time to master these deeper craft skills. It might feel like you're slowing down or going backwards by not chasing the latest marketing trend, but it's the only way to step forward into a sustainable, high-quality career. Your characters are your signature. No AI can replicate the specificity of your lived experience, the emotional truth of your displaced trauma, or the sensory details you've gathered from a life of curiosity and travel. Those are yours. Pour them into your characters, and they will resonate for years to come. Actionable Takeaway: Identify the Dramatic Question for your current protagonist. Can you state it in a single sentence with the kind of specificity Will Storr described? Is it as clear as “Are you ordinary or extraordinary?” or “Are you the only adult in the room?” If you can't answer it with that kind of precision, your character might still be a sketch. Give them a diagonal toast moment today. Find the one hyper-specific detail that proves they are not an imitation of life. And then ask yourself: does your plot test your character's flaw in every major scene? If you can align those two things—a precisely defined character and a plot that exists to test them—you will have a story that readers cannot put down. References and Deep Dives The episodes I've referenced today are all available with full transcripts at TheCreativePenn.com: Episode 732 — Facing Fears, and Writing Unique Characters with Barbara Nickless Episode 673 — Writing Choctaw Characters and Diversity in Fiction with Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer Episode 624 — Writing Characters with Matt Bird Episode 550 — The Heroine's Journey with Gail Carriger Episode 490 — How Character Flaws Shape Story with Will Storr Books mentioned: The Secrets of Character: Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love by Matt Bird The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr The Heroine's Journey by Gail Carriger How to Write a Novel: From Idea to Book by Joanna Penn You can find all my books for authors at CreativePennBooks.com and my fiction and memoir at JFPennBooks.com Happy writing! How was this episode created? This episode was initiated created by NotebookLM based on YouTube videos of the episodes linked above from YouTube/TheCreativePenn, plus my text chapters on character from How to Write a Novel. NotebookLM created a blog post from the material and then I expanded it and fact checked it with Claude.ai 4.6 Opus, and then I used my voice clone at ElevenLabs to narrate it. The post Writing Characters: 15 Actionable Tips For Writing Deep Character first appeared on The Creative Penn.

Send a textToday's show will be especially helpful for you writers out there, or if you are curious to see what makes a full-time thriller author tick. On the show today, we have award-winning and bestselling author Nick Petrie, who just released his 9th book in the Peter Ash series, The Dark Time.His first novel, The Drifter, won the ITW Thriller and Barry Awards and was nominated for Edgar, Anthony, and Hammett Awards. He won the 2016 Literary Award from the Wisconsin Library Association and was named one of Apple's 10 Writers to Read in 2017.  Apple Books named Light It Up the Best Thriller of 2018. Both Light It Up and The Wild One were shortlisted for the Barry Award.Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher novels, said. “Lots of characters get compared to my own Jack Reacher, but Petrie's Peter Ash is the real deal.”Nick is the quindecennial blue-collar author. He has an impeccable work ethic forged with years of working as a carpenter and other trades, which has paved his way to becoming a full-time, bestselling author. Please enjoy my conversation with one of the nicest guys I know in the business, Nick Petrie. In today's episode, we discuss:·      What has changed in the publishing business in the last two years since he released his last book? Luck finds people who show up for work every day. ·      Artificial Intelligence and the publishing business.·      Best marketing practices for authors.·      How his former professions and life experiences have helped him in his writing career.·      Pros and cons of writing in a series.·      His advice for new or newer authors looking to break through. All of this and more on today's episode of the Cops and Writers podcast.Visit Nick's website to learn more about him and his books.Check out my newest book! Police Stories: The Rookie Years - True Crime, Chaos & Life as a Big City Cop!My first week as a rookie cop, I had to decide whether to pull the trigger on a man running at me with a butcher knife. He'd just killed his brother over the last hot dog.That was my introduction to policing in Milwaukee.From Wall Street Journal-featured author Patrick O'Donnell comes a memoir of rookie years on Milwaukee's streets.Support the show

Rosamund Pike! What a woman. Famed for her portrayals of razor-sharp, morally complex and deliciously unpredictable characters, she brings that same intriguing duality to this conversation. Thoughtful and quietly rebellious, she reflects on a career that has defied neat narratives from the very beginning. After taking a year out from studying English at University of Oxford to pursue acting, she graduated and stepped straight into the global spotlight as Bond girl Miranda Frost in Die Another Day. From there came a string of unforgettable movies: Pride & Prejudice, Jack Reacher, A Private War and Saltburn. Her chilling performance in Gone Girl earned her an Oscar nomination and she took home a Golden Globe for I Care a Lot. In 2025, she returned to the stage for the first time in 15 years in the National Theatre's production of Inter Alia. In this episode, she talks about her ‘failure' to get married, the realities of raising two sons and her decision not to read a single review of her work for the past 25 years. Plus why she's ‘constantly in battle' with her own fear, her failure to be an action movie hero, her miserable attempt to cook a rabbit and whether or not she's ‘cool'. ✨ IN THIS EPISODE: 00:00 Intro 03:18 No reviews rule 06:57 Early perfectionism and stage craft 07:58 Inter Alia and modern womanhood 10:09 Luminate meditation mask 12:42 Failure to learn Chinese 19:09 Onstage mishaps and acting roles 28:59 What Cool Really Means 29:26 Cool Girl vs Amy 32:21 Failing at Being An Action Star 36:52 Failure to Get Married 45:17 Mothering Two Boys 47:28 Smells and Teen Hygiene 48:44 Rabbit Dinner and Being Enough

Description Go for the gold with us as we dive into the ultimate 80s/90s Trivia-lympics, battling it out in Movies, Music, TV, Sports, and Pop Culture for pure glory. Play along and see if you deserve a participation trophy, or a gold medal! This week we also cover big geeky news, share what we're enjoying lately, spotlight Jay's latest article, and take a Sci-Fi Saturday trip into a tense dystopian thriller.   News Rogue One: Cassian Andor – Marvel celebrates ten years of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story with a new one-shot comic following Cassian on a dangerous mission before the events of the film.   Toy Story 5 – The new trailer teases Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the gang facing a modern challenge to playtime when electronics enter the picture.   We look at some really cool projects coming this month  Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 – More giant monster intrigue stomps onto screens.   Ted Season 2 – The foul-mouthed teddy returns for more misadventures.   Young Sherlock – A new take on the early life of the legendary detective arrives.   Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 – Matt Murdock continues his gritty return to the MCU streets.   Project Hail Mary – The sci-fi survival epic blasts into theaters this March.   Check out our TeePublic store for some enjoyable swag and all the latest fashion trends What we're Enjoying Shua has been laughing his way through Bloom County Boys, the new comic strip by Berke Breathed, a continuation of some of his characters from the classic strip. Available now on Patreon. Jay dove into Killing Floor by Lee Child, the first Jack Reacher novel. He's enjoying the stripped-down, gritty storytelling and the quiet intensity that makes Reacher such a compelling drifter-hero.     Sci-Fi Saturdays -  This week on Sci-Fi Saturdays Jay looks at a forgotten story from 2017, What Happened to Monday. In a future where strict population control laws allow only one child per family, seven identical sisters secretly share a single identity to survive under government scrutiny. When one of them disappears, the others must unravel a dangerous conspiracy while staying one step ahead of authorities determined to enforce the rules. Jay especially enjoyed the strong performances and the gripping dystopian premise. Read his article on RetroZap.com. And make sure to play around with the interactive map on MCULocationScout.com. Plus, you can tune in to SHIELD: Case Files where Jay and Shua talk about great stuff in the MCU.   Enjoy Trivia!  This week, Jay and Shua lace up their mental sneakers and compete in the first ever Trivia-lympics, using a retro 80s/90s trivia game picked up at the legendary "World's Largest Truck Stop" in Iowa. With five categories, Movies, Music, TV, Sports, and Pop Culture, the battle for two correct answers in each category sparks laughs, debates, and plenty of questionable memory recall. It's a fast-paced, nostalgia-fueled showdown that invites listeners to play along at home and see if they've still got that championship-level brain power.   How did you do with the questions? Let us know! First person that emails me with the subject line, "I'll take retro trivia for 1,000" will get a special mention on the show.  Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to EnjoyStuff@RetroZap.com 

Throwback Thursday time!This week, we are taking you back to a chat with another one of our brilliant guests. Back in 2022, we sat down with the wonderful Matt Green to discuss a film of his choosing, Jack Reacher.Give it a listen to hear our thoughts!Original air date: 22/02/2022· Please note, this is an un-altered release of the original episode. All references and content are accurate and relevant as of the original release date but may now be out of date.Links to the pod and our social media can be found here. Just select your link of choice!https://linktr.ee/justfilmsandthatpodIf you'd like to get in touch for anything or even suggest a film for us to look at, the email is filmsandthatpod@gmail.comWe're on all the usual social media platforms if just search for Just Films and that and you should find us. Alternatively, all out social media is also linked above!Give us a follow on Letterboxd!https://letterboxd.com/justfilms_that/If you want to hear more from Matt then click the link below and check out his brilliant stuff!· https://www.mattgreencomedy.com/If you want to support us then you can do so via our Kofi page which is linked below:https://ko-fi.com/justfilmsthatAnything you donate to us will be massively appreciated and will go straight back into the cost of running and growing the podcast!Cheers!The Just Films & That team Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nick Petrie: whiskey on the rocks  Nick reveals the sage advice CJ Box gave him at the reception for the Edgar Awards that he's held onto ever since, explains how his work as a building inspector meeting veterans who were buying a first home became a driving force for his debut novel, tells the meaning behind the character name Peter Ash, identifies the key differences between being a full-time or part-time writer, names the two possessions of each writer.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

** Come see us record in New York! January 24 & 26! Tell everyone you know! **Politics, high fashion, and trivia– it must be Go Fact Yourself!Ashly Burch is a YouTuber and voice actor, who was a recent guest on episode 177 of Go Fact Yourself. She joins us as guest co-host.Al Madrigal is an actor and comedian. He's known for sitcoms like “Lopez vs. Lopez” and his many appearances as Senior Latino Correspondent on “The Daily Show.” He'll tell us about some of the scrutiny that title came with. Everything he does now is a big step up from one of his first jobs, where he was forced to fire people on a regular basis.Mary Lynn Rajskub is a comedian and actor, previously seen in “24.” She'll tell us about the triumphs – and difficulties – of the show. These days, she's seen on the Netflix series “North of North” – an incredibly important showcase of Inuit culture; and her son says she's perfect on the show as “the white lady.”Areas of Expertise:Al: U.S. Latino politicians, San Francisco's Mexican restaurants, and Jack Reacher.Mary Lynn: The city of Iqaluit, Canada, the movie The Florida Project, and Cybill Shepherd's wardrobe in “Moonlighting.”What's the Difference: Flying SaucerWhat's the difference between an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) and an Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon (UAP)?What's the difference between gravy and sauce?With Guest Experts:Blanca Pacheco: Former mayor, city councilwoman, and current member of the California State Assembly.Glenn Gordon Caron: Award-winning writer, producer, and director who created the show “Moonlighting.”Hosts: J. Keith van StraatenAshly BurchCredits:Theme Song by Jonathan Green.Maximum Fun's Senior Producer is Laura Swisher.Co-Producer and Editor is Julian Burrell.Additional editing by Valerie Moffat.Seeing our next live-audience shows by YOU!

Lee Child is a writer who is best known for his series of bestselling novels featuring Jack Reacher. Reacher is an enigmatic 6ft 5in, 17-stone ex-military police major who rights wrongs before disappearing off into the sunset. The books have sold in their millions around the world and have inspired two films starring Tom Cruise and a television series.Lee Child was born James - Jim - Grant in 1954 and grew up in Birmingham. He studied Law at the University of Sheffield and then joined the presentation department at Granada Television where he was a shop steward and became a thorn in the side of the management. At 40 he was made redundant and sat down to write his first Reacher novel Killing Floor. He found himself an agent and the novel was published in March 1997 - the franchise was up and running. In the UK Lee outsells both Stephen King and John Grisham and worldwide he sells between 12 and 15 million copies a year.In 2020 Lee announced that he was handing over the Reacher franchise to his younger brother Andrew Grant. The two brothers have worked on several novels since then and the thirtieth Reacher title features both brothers' names on the cover.Lee Child was appointed CBE in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours. He lives in the Lake District with his wife Jane. They have one daughter.DISC ONE: She Loves You - The Beatles DISC TWO: (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones DISC THREE: So What - Miles Davis DISC FOUR: Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23: I. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso – Allegro con spirito. Performed by Stephen Hough (piano) and Minnesota Orchestra, conducted by Osmo Vänskä DISC FIVE: Joe's Blues - Joe Pass DISC SIX: The Lemon Song - Led Zeppelin DISC SEVEN: Für Elise (Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor) Composed by Ludwig Beethoven and performed by Lang Lang DISC EIGHT: Delibes: Lakmé / Act 1: "Sous le dôme épais" (Flower Duet) Performed by Renée Fleming (soprano), Susan Graham (mezzo soprano), Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Sebastian Lang-Lessing BOOK CHOICE: Killing Floor by Lee Child LUXURY ITEM: A mechanical wind-up watch CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: So What - Miles Davis Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Andrew Child is the co-author of the Jack Reacher series, one of the most successful and recognizable modern thriller franchises in the world. Working alongside his brother Lee Child, Andrew became responsible for continuing and evolving a character known for discipline, restraint, moral clarity, and decisive action. Before joining the Reacher universe, Andrew spent years developing his own voice as a novelist and journalist, with a background that shaped his approach to structure, clarity, and storytelling. Stepping into an already iconic series required understanding not just the character, but the values and principles that made Jack Reacher resonate with millions of readers globally. Andrew now carries the responsibility of maintaining the integrity of a cultural archetype — a lone figure guided by competence, accountability, and an uncompromising sense of right and wrong. His work has helped ensure the Jack Reacher series remains relevant, grounded, and consistent while continuing to grow its audience across books, television, and film. Today's Sponsors: Black Rifle Coffee: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com Helix: Go to https://www.helixsleep.com/clearedhot for 27 percent off Sitewide. Brunt: https://www.bruntworkwear.com Use code "clearedhot" for 10 dollars off at checkout