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Writer and filmmaker Kevin Smokler returns to the pod to talk about his discussions with 25 different women filmmakers.About our guest:Kevin Smokler is a writer, documentary filmmaker and event host focused on our relationship as human beings with pop culture. His most recent book BREAK THE FRAME: CONVERSATIONS WITH WOMEN FILMMAKERS contains 24 career-retrospective conversations with directors behind box office phenomenon like Captain Marvel, Oscar winners like Free Solo and the filmmakers who launched actors such as America Ferrera, Paul Rudd, Ryan Gosling and Jennifer Lawrence. His previous books, BRAT PACK AMERICA is a love letter to teen movies of the 1980s. His 2013 essay collection PRACTICAL CLASSICS is a 50 book attempt to reread one's high school reading list as an adult.His feature length documentary film VINYL NATION on the American renaissance of the vinyl record, won ten awards and screened at 50 film festivals worldwide. His new documentary MIDDLE GROUNDS, about coffee shops and civic dialogue will be released this year.
This week Kevin Smokler drops in to talk about The Breakfast Club, the Brat Pack, John Hughes, and the legacy of 80s teen movies. About our guest:Kevin Smokler is a writer, documentary filmmaker and event host focused on our relationship as human beings with pop culture. His most recent book BREAK THE FRAME: CONVERSATIONS WITH WOMEN FILMMAKERS contains 24 career-retrospective conversations with directors behind box office phenomenon like Captain Marvel, Oscar winners like Free Solo and the filmmakers who launched actors such as America Ferrera, Paul Rudd, Ryan Gosling and Jennifer Lawrence. His previous books, BRAT PACK AMERICA is a love letter to teen movies of the 1980s. His 2013 essay collection PRACTICAL CLASSICS is a 50 book attempt to reread one's high school reading list as an adult.
Send Car-Chum a TextIf you liked Rustival 1, you'll love Rustival 2. And this time Car-Chum made it onto the stage. With permission! Here's Tony and Mike's doing what they do - all hosted by Practical Classics' Danny Hopkins.Support the show
Page One, produced and hosted by author Holly Lynn Payne, celebrates the craft that goes into writing the first sentence, first paragraph and first page of your favorite books. The first page is often the most rewritten page of any book because it has to work so hard to do so much—hook the reader. We interview master storytellers on the struggles and stories behind the first page of their books.About the guest author:Kevin Smokler is a writer, documentary filmmaker and purveyor of pop culture. He's the author of the four books Brat Pack America: A Love Letter to 80s Teen Movies (2016), the essay collection Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 Books you Haven't Touched Since High School (2013) and worked as the editor of “Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times,” A San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book of 2005. His essays and criticism have appeared in the LA Times, Salon, Fast Company, BuzzFeed, Vulture, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Decider and on NPR. He is also the co-director and co-producer of the documentary film Vinyl Nation about the contemporary renaissance of vinyl records in America. Kevin has lectured and taught at Comic Con, MIT, South by Southwest, The LA Times Festival of Books and The Commonwealth Club of California. He serves as a Creator-in-Residence for The Battery in San Francisco and sits on the board of Zyzzvya Magazine. Kevin holds a Bachelor's degree in Writing Seminars from Johns Hopkins University and a Masters in American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, he lives in San Francisco with his wife. His most recent book, BREAK THE FRAME: CONVERSATIONS with WOMEN FILMMAKERS comes out next year from Oxford University Press. You can find and follow Kevin on Twitter @weegee and his website kevinsmokler.comAbout the host:Holly Lynn Payne is an award-winning novelist and writing coach, and the former CEO and founder of Booxby, a startup built to help authors succeed. She is an internationally published author of four historical fiction novels. Her debut, The Virgin's Knot, was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers book. As an author and writing coach, she knows that the first page of any book has to work so hard to do so much—hook the reader. So she thought to ask your favorite master storytellers how they do their magic to hook you. Holly lives in Marin County with her family and two Labrador retrievers, and enjoys mountain biking, hiking, swimming and pretending to surf. To learn more about her books and writing coaching services, please follow her on IG + X @hollylynnpayne or visit hollylynnpayne.com.Tune in and reach out:If you're an aspiring writer or a book lover, this episode of Page One offers a treasure trove of inspiration and practical advice. I offer these conversations as a testament to the magic that happens when master storytellers share their secrets and experiences. We hope you are inspired to tune into the full episode for more insights. Keep writing, keep reading, and remember—the world needs your stories. If I can help you tell your own story, or help improve your first page, please reach out @hollylynnpayne or visit hollylynnpayne.com.You can listen to Page One on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher and all your favorite podcast players. Hear past episodes. If you're interested in getting writing tips and the latest podcast episode updates with the world's beloved master storytellers, please sign up for my very short monthly newsletter at hollylynnpayne.com and follow me @hollylynnpayne on Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads, and Facebook. Your email address is always private and you can always unsubscribe anytime. The Page One Podcast is created at the foot of a mountain in Marin County, California, and is a labor of love in service to writers and book lovers. My intention is to inspire, educate and celebrate. Thank you for being a part of my creative community! Be well and keep reading.~Holly~ Thank you for listening to the Page One Podcast, where master storytellers discuss the stories and struggles behind the critical first page of their books. If you liked this episode, please share it on social, leave a review on your favorite podcast players and tell your friends! I hope you enjoy this labor of love as much as I love hosting, producing, and editing it. Please keep in touch by signing up to receive my newsletter at www.hollylynnpayne.com with the latest episodes each month. Delivered to your inbox with a smile. For the love of books and writers,Holly Lynn Payne@hollylynnpaynewww.hollylynnpayne.com
Jon and Andy went wild in the halls of the NEC with the newly acquired podcasting machine (thanks coffee buyers..) gathering together a wonderful and eclectic collection of earliest car memories from many different show goers. The quality is ok considering we recorded these stood up surrounded by hundreds of other people talking! So go easy on the critique!If you were one of the 'lucky' people we spoke to - thanks so much for your time, we really appreciate it. Normal service will resume with Season 4 kicking off soon. But for now, enjoy these little nuggets!Support the showWe'd love you to hear and share your stories, please tag and follow us on social media. www.instagram.com/mydadscar_podcastwww.Facebook.com/mydadscar podcastwww.buymeacoffee.com/mydadscarIf you'd like to support the podcast and are able to, you can ‘buy us a coffee' which will help towards costs of hosting and purchasing equipment to allow us to record guests in person, rather than just on zoom. Get in touch with us direct - MyDadsCarPodcast@gmail.com
Car-Chum's on the road yet again this week, this time to the Practical Classics Restoration Show at the NEC. Tony and his Car-Chum, Mike, have tools on the mind…Support the show
After pulling a few strings (and featuring Danny Hopkins, the editor of Practical Classics in a previous episode) Andy and Jon have secured media passes for the show on Sunday 24th March, and will be wandering the halls of the NEC in a bid to meet as many people as possible.On top of that, equipped with the crowd funded Zoom Podtrak machine, there will be the potential to record some audio for another episode whilst there too. Add into the mix of this bonus, a discussion on the Bromley Pageant of Motoring, a Christmas day car show in London and Porsche 911 Targa that left a lasting impression with Jon's eldest half brother. Hope you enjoy this short and sweet bonus episode. Normal service resumes next week. If you are going to be at the show - please get in touch! Support the showWe'd love you to hear and share your stories, please tag and follow us on social media. www.instagram.com/mydadscar_podcastwww.Facebook.com/mydadscar podcastwww.buymeacoffee.com/mydadscarIf you'd like to support the podcast and are able to, you can ‘buy us a coffee' which will help towards costs of hosting and purchasing equipment to allow us to record guests in person, rather than just on zoom. Get in touch with us direct - MyDadsCarPodcast@gmail.com
Car-Chum doesn't do Special Editions; we leave to Peugeot and Ford in 1992. If we did though, this episode would be one such example. And so much more than just a tilt-only glass sunroof to make it special. Join Tony and Mike at the Beaulieu Autojumble 2023 as they rummage for treasure with Matt Richardson from Furious Driving, Steph from Lancaster Insurance (and I Drive a Classic, of course), Danny Hopkins of Practical Classics fame. The Chums also get a guided tour of the Autojumble from Beaulieu's Ben Coleman. Oh - and they also ride the Monorail. Well, it'd be rude not to.Support the show
Hello and Welcome to The Passenger Seat Podcast, a podcast designed to fill your passenger seat with chat about classic cars, usually all recorded from my 1968 Morris Minor, Peggy.Today's episode, its a quick one to tell you about "Coffee with a Cause" and the lovely cars and people we got to see there! My socials are Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thepassengerseatpodcast/?hl=en Twitter - https://twitter.com/PassengerSeatP Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ThePassengerSeatPodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This episode I am joined by Craig Cheetham of Practical Classics magazine, amongst many other things. Craig came over to visit for a shoot involving the plucky little Renault 5, and being the opportunist I kidnapped him for an hour to sit down and chat. A brilliant episode fun of interesting stories and insights into the motoring journalism world. Keep an eye out for the Takona feature in Practical Classics Magazine.
Subjects covered Kevin Smokler is an author and filmmaker. Kevin's documentary Vinyl Nation, is the study of the comeback of vinyl records in America over the last 12 years, the diversification of vinyl fans, and what it means for America in this divided time. Kevin explained that records have come back because we use music and its physical manifestation to seek human connection with others. When asked about the current state of some of the themes discussed his book, Brat Pack America, a Love Letter to 80s Teen Movies, Kevin explained that he was fascinated by how much pop culture from the 80s is a talking point for contemporary issues that are discussed more now than they were then, i.e., Molly Ringwald’s piece in The New Yorker about watching John Hughes in the era of #metoo. Kevin expressed his belief that it's important to submit things we grew up with (and might have loved) to a process of continual reexamination. Kevin is also the author of Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 Books You Haven’t Touched Since High School. Kevin shared some of the process of how the book came about and discussed what it means to designate a book as a classic. He also noted that the best books do two things: pull time forward and carry with them all of the children and grandchildren that they've birthed in the meantime.
Jonny has been driving the Toyota GR Yaris but can only talk about it in code. Also in this episode, fat Stig driving a dumper truck, Richard's I-Pace struggling for breath, the secret of Jeremy Clarkson's success, car filming lingo, unexpected parachutists, a dumped Subaru, unusual minicabs, the melancholy of Practical Classics magazine, and how do you pronounce PHEV? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
On this episode we speak to Editor of Practical Classics Magazine, Danny Hopkins as the popular magazine celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Danny is a serial MG owner as well as being a great supporter of the MG Car Club. He also shares his very heartfelt memories of meeting Don Hayter and also the day he bought Lord Montagu's MGB!Plus, Wayne and Adam discuss MGs in trialling such as the Kimber Classic Trial run by the club's South - West Centre. We announce that MG has launched in Mexico and also Adam finds an early invite for the press to test the Twin - Cam MGA.
The San Francisco Writers Conference Podcast: THREE QUESTIONS ABOUT.. Meet Kevin Smokler, the "unofficial educator" for the San Francisco Writers Conference. Kevin was the founder and publisher of Central Booking, which grew to serve nearly 50,000 bibliophiles worldwide and was praised by media outlets such as Wired, USA Today, and Forbes, which referred to it as the "Paris Review of the 21st Century.” He is a writer, public speaker and performer based in San Francisco. He writes about technology and culture, is the author of several books including Brat Pack America: A Love Letter to 80s Teen Movies, Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 Books You Haven’t Read Since High School, Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times and The Customer is Always Wrong: The Retail Chronicles. Listen in as host Alex White asks Kevin three questions about the publishing industry today. Lots of great insight.
I had the opportunity to spend some time chatting with author and speaker, Kevin Smokler (Brat Pack America, Practical Classics). Our discussion ran the gamut from Batman & James Bond to favorite 80s movies and great places to eat in Chicago! Check out Kevin's website here: https://www.kevinsmokler.com/ Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/weegee
Today our podcast reconnects with Kevin Smokler, 2016 The Plaza Literary Prize Judge. Kevin is the author of “Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 Books you Haven’t Touched Since High School” (2013) and a forthcoming book on 80s movies. His cultural essays and criticism have appeared in Salon Vulture, Buzzfeed, The LA Times, Fast Company and on NPR. He lives in San Francisco. Producer: Jon-Barrett Ingels and Kevin Staniec Manager: Sarah Becker Host: Jon-Barrett Ingels Guest: Kevin Smokler
Kevin Smokler is a dear friend who changed my world when he asked me to be part of his panel at South by Southwest (SXSW) years ago, and since then our paths continue to cross. His latest book, Brat Pack America: A Love Letter to ’80s Teen Movies, has him visiting the actual locations where many of our beloved movies were filmed. If you enjoy The Goonies, The Breakfast Club, or Back to the Future, this book needs to be added to your must-read list. During the podcast, we discuss his love of writing and why it’s his preferred form of creative expression even though he tinkers with others. Kevin is the author of the essay collection Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 Books You Haven't Touched since High School, and we chat a bit about the books he was assigned to read in school but only appreciated later in life. Classroom Connection Kevin's book about "the classics" is written for adults who look back on books they read in school and consider reading them again later in life. Have students write a letter to a future-self about a book they've recently read in school, telling that future-self what the book means to them now and forecasting why it would be a good book for an older version of themselves to read. His work has appeared in the LA Times, Fast Company, BuzzFeed, Vulture, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Publishers Weekly, and on National Public Radio. In 2013 he was Book Riot’s first ever Writer in Residence. As a performer, he’s told stories onstage at events in San Francisco, Austin, New York, and Boston. Since 2007 he's been the host of Fray Cafe, SXSW's annual evening of live storytelling, which I’ve had the pleasure of attending as an audience member several times. Every time I chat with Kevin, I learn something new and leave inspired. I hope that after you listen to our conversation on this episode of #WhyIWrite, the same will be true for you as well.
From the fictional towns of Hill Valley, CA, and Shermer, IL, to the beautiful landscapes of the “Goondocks” in Astoria and the “ time of your life” dirty dancing resort still alive and well in Lake Lure, NC, ‘80s teen movies left their mark not just on movie screen and in the hearts of fans, but on the landscape of America itself. Like few other eras in movie history, the ‘80s teen movies has endured and gotten better with time . In Brat Pack America, Kevin Smokler gives virtual tours of the legendary movies from that time and why the places they happened are a tribute to their permanence, why we love them still. Including interviews with actors, writers, and directors of the era, and a Trapper Keeper- full of interesting facts about your favorite 80s movies, Brat Pack America is a must for any fan of the Breakfast Club and Back to the Future, of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Pretty in Pink and Dead Poets Society. Smokler went to Goonies Day in Astoria, OR, took a Lost Boys tour of Santa Cruz, CA and in the present visited retro arcades, mov- ie theaters and record stores. His exploration of highways and main streets of “Brat Pack America” remind of why we love the teen movies of the 1980s so much and, three decades later, still do. Kevin Smokler (@weegee) is the author of the essay collection "Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 Books you Haven't Touched Since High School" (Prometheus Books, Feb. 2013) which The Atlantic Wire called "truly enjoyable" and the editor of "Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times," A San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book of 2005. His work has appeared in the LA Times, Fast Company, BuzzFeed, Vulture, The San Francisco Chronicle, Publishers Weekly and on National Public Radio. In 2013, he was BookRiot's first ever Writer in Residence. - See more at: http://www.kevinsmokler. com/ Praise for Practical Classics “In this engaging survey of 50 books commonly assigned to teen readers, [Smokler] advocates revisiting them from an adult perspective. Even books we loved in our formative years… may have sailed right over our heads, suggests the author, who argues that only time and experience can prepare us to appreciate them fully.” —San Jose Mercury News “[F]ull of wit and candor... Putting literature to practical use is not a new invention, but what’s refreshing about the practice in this light is how Smokler pits this sort of practical gifting-as-guidance against the reduction of literature to ‘a letter grade and a dusty old obligation.’” —Fiction Writers Review “[S]o much fun…[It] offers a truly enjoyable trip down one’s personal memory lane of books. It’s also a love letter to the act of reading, to continual learning, and to making an effort to slow down and savor the good books in life.” —The Atlantic Wire “If you have been thinking about revisiting the books of your youth or those you have promised yourself to read, but haven’t, this entertaining book provides practical, real-world reasons by you should read them.” -Alan Caruba, Bookviews “[A] fine guide for any adult reader who would return to the classics with a different perspective in mind.” -The Bookwatch “In the short and beguilingly engaging essays that make up Practical Classics, Smokler shows how these works can be relevant and even useful to grownups. Most impressively, he manages to pull this off without sounding stuffy or self-important.” -The Rumpus “Possibly the first self-help book to use literature as its prescription, Practical Classics serves as a primer for personal development, demonstrating how one may apply various literary tinctures to the more trouble- some areas of the Human Condition.... [Smokler] holds forth with confidence and a good slathering of wit about coping with our common, human plight.” -Austin Chronicle
Kevin Smokler – Literary enthusiast, speaker, author of Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 books you Haven’t Touched Since High School. When you hear the name Holden Caulfield, does it trigger any memories? Perhaps you get a nervous, jittery sensation that runs down your spine as you reminisce about an old book report gone...
CraftLit - Serialized Classic Literature for Busy Book Lovers
Charlotte Brontë's , Chapters 22 and 23. Our reader, continues to rock Jane Eyre for us! If the CraftLit iTunes feed ever goes down, please head over to the . To help you navigate this chapter: A allows passage through a fence or boundary. is the phosphorescent light found hovering over swampy ground at night. Our Sponsors: February Incentive - Thank you to everyone who commented on the February show notes.Congratulations to ... Tara! by Sarah Anderson Here's a link to . Here's a link to my own . Incentive donated by . Crafty News: Isn't Nanette's Zentangled Sugar Bowl (pictured at right) lovely? The eMag is now available (PC/Mac/iPad). has an article on sock customization. The second volume of the series. , is very close to publication. There's a signup form to join the mailing list to receive news about interviews with designers, sneak peeks, and freebies below. You can also preview all the patterns on or . Please ! I have a new little coffee cozy pattern which you can buy now or from our . The second issue of is now available! Knit Edge is a magazine published by our good friend, . Yours truly has a podcasting column in it! has a fantastic article on socks. There's by . There are many , please check it out! The in Portland Oregon is this weekend, Feb 28 - March 3, 2013. Sign up for the WWMDFK newsletter for interviews, previews, and freebies! General Newsy Bits: , Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 Books You Haven't Touched Since High School. Want more Kevin? For your listening pleasure, 's Podcast . Watch and Read: Petition to raise awareness about the need to update and fix the VA: and . has been receiving some much needed attention and we are now able to offer downloads of the books -- audiobooks with benefits. More payment options beyond paypal will be available very soon. If you are looking for a book from that we did years ago, please hang in there. We're reprocessing for better audio and cutting some of the extra stuff so it's a nice streamlined download. As those are ready we'll add them to the shop. originally available free to are now available for purchase. is also available for purchase. If you want to subscribe to support the show, you can and discover the simplicity of listening to CraftLit on-the-go on your iPhone/iTouch/Android for free. Now playing... ! More options on the way for those of you without US credit cards, without a credit card at all, and for those of you who simply prefer to stay off the grid and use checks. More as soon as it's set up! Please feel free to join our . I'm done, but starting another (color me gluttonous). Interview with Kevin Smokler starts at 6 minutes. Book talk starts at 24 minutes. grab the code
Colin Marshall sits down in Westwood, Los Angeles with Kevin Smokler, author of Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 Books You Haven't Touched Since High School. They discuss what makes him think of Holden Caulfield as a Bing user; why we study novels in high school at all, and what it might have to do with Renaissance classics scholarship; how we got turned off to these books the first time around, and the radical notion that we now have time to properly absorb them; his hymn to his obnoxious teenage self, when he felt he possessed many abilities, yet none worked in concert with one another, and all lacked context; how these curricular books interact with the teenage impulse to rail at unfairness; whether Jane Austen represents the triumph of content over form or form over content; what, exactly, is the matter with The Scarlet Letter; David Foster Wallace's notion of challenging the reader in the act of seduction; books now fashionably disliked, such as A Separate Peace; our onetime love of Dead White Males, our swing too far away from them in the early nineties, and the ambiguous DWM-relative position in which we now find ourselves; how he earned a lasting reputation at his high school for deeming Shakespeare "trite"; those moments where the necessary context for a work floods in all at once; The Day of the Locust, and how he read it only after coming to Los Angeles at 19 to supplicate before the altar of cinema; high school readers' tendency to gravitate to the freaks and the outcasts, and whether his home city of San Francisco still welcomes such people; Rebecca Solnit's lament over Google, and how the city's future belongs to them rather than to the Grateful Dead; the life of a coffee-shop based San Francisco writer; and his next book, on music, which will go looking for a universal cultural experience in the particulars of his own adolescence.