This SASF episode breaks down the life and legacy of Charlie Kirk. What a story: How the devil messed up by killing Charlie, because martyrdom after Christ doesn't work. Charlie's cheerful masculinity made him a target. Why Charlie's "free speech" approach prevents civil war. Crazy progressives in public high schools and universities only "reproduce" because of your children. Live like Charlie by faithfully "raking the gravel" in your life. Watch Charlie Kirk's entire Man Rampant episode with Do...
Sep 16, 2025•1 hr 2 min
How do you identify stories with poison in them? They never say "TAKE THIS POISON." They always coat it in chocolate first... - "Make Me Famous" pitch reviews segment continues with "The Ghost Train". Maybe this is the episode wherein Nate finally likes a pitch. - Then the guys turn to stories that start out sweet but conceal poison in the end. - Harry Potter and The Hunger Games both start a story with something admirable (the underdog, self-sacrifice). That's the chocolate. - But once you like...
Sep 08, 2025•35 min
On this episode of SASF Nate and Brian discuss the recent X controversy Nate caused, Why you should watch KPop Demon Hunters? How we as Christians should approach it and all forms of Media? How Miyazaki does anime well? and much more. - Nate and Brian discuss how Kpop Demon Hunters is a bad pitch, but done well - Why Kpop Demon Hunters is a better movie for girls to watch than the Disney Classic Beauty and the Beast - Why Kpop Demon Hunters isn’t a coming out movie. - Where viewers have prejudic...
Aug 25, 2025•43 min
You have heard this SASF axiom: "A good dad can't be present in children's fiction." This is because if he was, there'd be no story for the kids to take care of -- BUT... there are a few exceptions... - Brian and Nate search for those elusive MG/YA unicorns: the good and present father. - What about To Kill a Mockingbird's Atticus Finch? Jeremiah Land from Peace Like a River? Guido in Life is Beautiful? In these stories, the good dad becomes the protagonist. - Uncle Frank in 100 Cupboards? Nate ...
Aug 18, 2025•46 min
This week SASF listeners sent in their own pitches for an episode of "Make Me Famous" In this new SASF segment, Nate reacts for the first time to original ideas containing: - The Last Airbender meets Stranger Things plus reincarnation, a slave girl, and a menacing priest - A headstrong girl who awakens an ancient evil - Narnia fanfiction - a determined goat trying to succeed at roarball; - and much much MORE, including the elements of a good pitch. If you still have an idea, send it! We'll likel...
Aug 13, 2025•50 min
Brian Kohl and Nate Wilson discuss F1: The Movie and K-Pop Demon Hunters. Nate explains that the latter sounds terrible on paper pitch but the filmmakers really pulled it off. They also touch on the teaser for Pixar's upcoming movie, "Hoppers" and why it's just a plain old bad pitch.
Aug 04, 2025•44 min
This episode offers a smorgasbord: Nate has never finished a Neil Gaiman book. Brian tells him why. They also discuss: - Sparta, Lycurgus, and delicacies. - Feminine vs Masculine glory. - Stoics vs Epicenes.
Jul 28, 2025•35 min
This episode offers a SASF smorgasbord: Is Nancy Drew healthy soul food for a teenager? The guys discuss syndicate writing such as Nancy Drew, Tom Swift, and the Hardy Boys. Also on this episode: Why theater is so often gay, why Broadway is boutique, and why Shakespeare isn't a counterexample. ... with a chaser of why you should still, probably, be writing and directing plays (on your way to making a movie).
Jul 21, 2025•44 min
Brian forces Nate to watch two new kids movie trailers... one from Pixar, and one from China. Pixar's new movie Elio flopped harder than anything that's come before. The top-grossing animated movie this year comes from China... it's Ne Zha 2, and it's made 2.2 billion (!) dollars. The guys talk about why Ne Zha 2's trailer is better than Elio's. But it still kinda stinks: The last couple years for children's animation has been very poor. Artificial Intelligence makes you dumber, but it will soon...
Jul 14, 2025•48 min
The guys welcome Scott Minor of Realm Makers for a cameo on Christian fiction... Meet the Realm Makers conference: A decade or two ago, Christian fiction publishers only wanted Amish romance; but Scott's wife Betty was a Christian fantasy writer... so together they founded Realm Makers! Nate's headlining at Realm Makers in two weeks: So Nate asks Scott about fantasy authors' greatest strength... and their greatest weakness. The guys discuss the future of Christian fiction, including Christian fi...
Jul 10, 2025•54 min
We've got good news for you: Lucia and Ameera come on SASF to discuss HELP HELP! Yes, it's about the launch of Lucy and Ameera's new movie/book review podcast! The new podcast/show is named Help Help We're Being Repressed. (Yes, that's a Monty Python reference.) On this first episode of Help Help, Nate and the girls discuss writing female characters badly (and goodly). Subscribe to their new podcast wherever pods are podded! This and much more on this special episode of SASF....
Jul 08, 2025•1 hr 3 min
Brian says he showed "Batman Begins" to his kids and enjoyed it; Nate goes on a rampage. Nolan's Batman earnestness necessitated the Joker to give us all some relief. "Why so serious, Batman?" Nolan is a great artisan but a terrible philosopher. "I run because they need me to run." ... But it was all worth it for LEGO Batman. How long can Hollywood's obsession with superhero movies continue? Apparently forever. Is "Down with Hollywood" a good rallying cry? Why AI is the strangler fig for all tha...
Jun 23, 2025•46 min
When you've been hurt, what kind of character will you be? God gives you hardship as a Storyteller does: because readers love what happens when a character is down but finds a way to get back up; Remember that it's in the cellars of affliction that God makes his choicest wines (Rutherford); Be at once tender and merciless with your own victimhood; Stop assuming nobody else at church has the dark backstory of trauma and abuse that you do. Take heart from Grandpa Jim, who used to "get chose" to fi...
Jun 03, 2025•32 min
Time to talk about Christians in novels: + Secular novelists love to make their villains hypocritical Christians. + Christian novelists are very honest about their Christian characters' flaws as well. + So don't be offended when you bump into a fake Christian in a story. + Nate walks through the flaws of his Christian protagonists (Niffy, Rupert, etc.). This episode dissects Christians and their character flaws on the page... and in real life.
May 27, 2025•52 min
Brian asks Nate what tips he'd give a teenage SASFer who wants to become a movie director. And, perhaps surprisingly, Nate's advice has nothing to do with movies. Because if you want to direct feature films when you grow up, you're the kid saying "I am gonna be an NFL quarterback." That kind of career wish has everything to do with whether you're the kind of person who could manage someone else's million-dollar investment. That doesn't just happen for wanting. Are you ready to convince the rich ...
May 20, 2025•38 min
You're used to saying "stories are soul food" -- this episode discusses why Nate thought kids in our time especially need to read stories about corrupt institutions failing them, and how to reconsecrate an institution in its own rubble. This takes courage, strength, and determination. It takes having stomach for the fight. It takes a leader who refuses to sabotage himself by turning around. It takes becoming immune to the stress of conflict... but also being willing to let love cover it when it ...
May 06, 2025•45 min
Brian springs an awful Aslan casting surprise on Nate, and the results are delightful. The SASF discussion of Greta Gerwig's new Netflix Narnia series ranges far afield. Planet Narnia, which book of the series is Nate's favorite, Lewis's repeated character archetypes, adaptation of books to film... this one has all things Lewis. Including Nate's claim that Edmund / Eustace / Digory all behave the way they do because CSL had thumbs that couldn't bend.
Apr 07, 2025•41 min
It's old news that the boys aren't reading. The NY publishing industry was obsessed with the idea when they first took at look at Nate's work twenty years ago. This episode of SASF features the story of the (female) editor who wanted to reach boys with Nate's manuscript of Leepike Ridge by 1) taking out the treasure, 2) taking out the father figure, and 3) making the book about the relationship between the boy and his widowed mom. The industry at large moved on to graphic novels to try to get bo...
Mar 31, 2025•47 min
What should your decision process be when you are thinking about moving your family across the country to a new place? Well, the answer is rooted in story. Are you moving to a place where you can be a better character, where your kids can be more active, where your family can grow -- or are you relocating yourself merely to consume the products that are brought to you by this new community? Don't be a hummingbird, be an ant. Jump on the moving walkway and start running. This discussion of commun...
Mar 24, 2025•39 min
Many of us remember a time when Pixar reigned supreme over the many competing Animation Studios. But now, 15ish years later, that distinction has become blurry. Can we bet on any one Animation Studio for quality? Join Nate, Amira, and Lucia as they talk about childhood movie memories and the problem with animation today.
Mar 18, 2025•1 hr 2 min
This week the guys discuss some frustrating creative decisions behind the new Season of Severance. #severance #benstiller #adamscott
Mar 11, 2025•40 min
A project Nate worked on is arriving this February: It's House of David, a serious retelling of the life of David. But Nate only worked on early drafts, and it's now a Prime Video project. The guys watch the preview; Brian criticizes vestiges of what feels like Rings of Power; Nate talks about the vision for the project, and (even if he were to have quibbles about the final result) talks about what success for this series would do: Reignite some interest in telling faithful Bible stories. He tal...
Feb 10, 2025•54 min
Yes, animals are real food -- but they're also soul food. You might think animal documentaries aren't that important, but imagine this: What if the only commentaries on the Bible were written by atheists? That's the modern-day situation we have with nature documentaries. Remember, God has revealed himself in two huge ways -- through the book of Scripture AND the book of nature. But for the past hundred years, it's only the atheists who tell stories about animals...and of course they hate the Aut...
Jan 27, 2025•49 min
As a conservative artist who's been working in the mainstream since 2007, Nate has an artistic opinion that's going to get conservative folks angry: Capitalism doesn't produce great art. Lest you join this commenter who said "this take is so dumb it got me to engage, brilliant", if you care about this topic, you need to listen to the whole episode. Nate's argument is that the incentives of capitalism reward the MOST entertainment, for the MOST people, for the MOST money. But actual greatness of ...
Jan 21, 2025•1 hr
This episode is a justification for the Stories Are Soul Food manifesto. First, Brian makes Nate react to the worst SASF episode from last year; then, Brian makes Nate react to the 2025 Golden Globes winners (The Brutalist, Emilia Perez, The Substance, Flow, etc.); and lastly Brian makes Nate justify the importance of story in a time when everybody else seems to be crazy. Kinda seems like we should be focusing on more important stuff than narrative, right? Nate describes 2025 as the year of livi...
Jan 14, 2025•42 min
Longtime listeners will get that particular feeling in the pit of their stomach when they hear Nate start talking about life in a particularly bleak way -- you know, the "make that heartbeat count because we're all going to die" kind of way. Brian has named this manifestation of his podcast co-host "Black Pill Nate." For today's episode, Black Pill Nate goes on a rampage against those who desperately hope for excellence of output while inputting mediocrity. There are a million ways to drive off ...
Dec 31, 2024•41 min
Nate and Brian discuss flattering your kids versus telling them the truth, what would happen if we stopped giving gifts on Christmas (it would be really really really horrible), and touch on some Christmas movie classics.
Dec 23, 2024•45 min
Listeners of this podcast know that when Christmastime rolls around, the SASF podcast likes to focus on the less appreciated Bible stories that lead up to the birth of the Christ:. You may remember past Advent episodes on the Levite's concubine, Onan, and Tamar. This year, the guys discuss the place of the Jewish people in the Christmas story. Why? Well, nobody needs a reason to talk about the Gospel, but in addition (if you're on X), you've definitely noticed a certain vocal minority who loves ...
Dec 16, 2024•48 min
Under duress, Brian admits that Gladiator (the original) is still his favorite movie, having stayed atop the BK Movie podium since Brian was a teenager. Nate attacks Brian for his bashfulness at recommending what is, in fact, an all-time great movie, and the guys have a pleasant reminiscence of Russell Crowe and 2000's Gladiator, remembering all the great parts and forgetting all the supporting actors' names. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and it turns out they just released...
Dec 06, 2024•42 min
Get The Things of Earth today: https://canonpress.com/products/the-things-of-earth-treasuring-god-by-enjoying-his-gifts-2nd-ed
Nov 26, 2024•48 min
