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Episode 86: Time to Play the Feud

Literary feuds, aging pro-wrestler memoirs, Labatt Blue, Henry James’ classic story “The Middle Years,” wondering if we’ve done enough with our lives … it’s just another day at WITTScast HQ. Come join...

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Episode 85: Fiction Off the Top Rope

Philip Roth! To Jon’s delight, the boys spend the bulk of this episode ruminating on the style, method, and subject matter of Philip Roth, using the opening of The Human Stain as the springboard for...

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Episode 84: True Refreshment Comes From Within

Brian’s got a new coffee shop across town, Ben’s got heavy equipment next door, and Jon’s got the path to enlightenment right down the street. Despite the distractions, the guys are writing,...

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Episode 83: Continuing Education

It may be the end of summer, but the WITTScasters aren’t letting the dog days get them down. Brian is writing, Jon is revising, and Ben is submitting. One of them is even going back to school, which...

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Episode 82: “Joan of Arc With a Skunk” and Other Titles

Pour a glass of fine scotch and sit back while the boys tackle the peaty stench of inspiration, titles, dictionaries, flash fiction, and more. Then they turn to a lively discussion of that writer’s...

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Episode 81: Honest Fiction

It’s been a hell of a summer in WITTSville, and the guys are still trying to get their shit together. Brian is now a husband, Ben is now a landowner, and Jon is now a father. Amid all the turmoil, they...

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Episode 80: Marriage! Kids! Houses! (or, “Bring the Darkness”)

Ben, Brian, and Jon didn’t get to the story they’d planned this week. But it’s fine, it’s fine — instead, they set aside some time to talk about all the big, new milestones in their lives right now,...

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Episode 79: How to Be a Husband

Get an attic. Buy your wife a loom. Marry a spicy Canadian. Recycle. Communicate about your depression. Leading up to Brian’s wedding, the guys turn to literature to see what fiction has to say about...

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Episode 78: Summertime

It’s summertime! Time to plan our vacation reading and, in Jon’s case, figure out what books are best to read to a newborn. In Episode 78, the guys talk summer reading, infant language development,...

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Episode 77: Things Neglected

In episode 77, the WITTScasters try to build a list of the things most commonly overlooked by fiction writers–including why characters don’t get sick, how some stories seem to be set nowhere, and what...

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Episode 76: Transforming Place

In which Jon argues that the “South” (and regionalism at large) doesn’t exist. In which Ben takes him to task and brings out exhibit A, Jon’s “southern” novel. In which Brian says, “It’s not the region...

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Episode 75: Memory and Truth

It’s AWP time again, but instead of joining the dance party in Minnesota, the WITTScasters are at home reliving AWPs past and comparing notes on their aging memories. Then a discussion of R.T. Smith’s...

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Episode 74: Bad Reviews

They say two out of three ain’t bad, and the WITTScasters sure hope so, because one of them didn’t finish reading the story for this episode. But that doesn’t stop all three from weighing in equally on...

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Episode 73: Survivalist Wells

Join the boys as they host their very first guest: the construction workers constructing a patio/firepit/well in Jon’s neighbor’s backyard. Beyond the hammering and saws, the boys manage a fine...

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Episode 72: Schlock for Schloozers

In Episode 72, Ben’s been building his students up to a completed short story, Brian gets a pocket notebook to make him observe the world like a writer, and Jon adds the Millenials to his shit list....

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Episode 71: Talent

How much of being a good writer comes from raw talent and how much from hard work? What do you do after you’ve mined all the “low-hanging fruit” of your life for material? What does empathy have to do...

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Episode 70: The Spine of Fiction

How do you make stuff up? Where does fiction come from? What’s the secret to it all? The imagination gives us plot and characters, but the boys debate whether fiction writers actually do anything more...

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Episode 68: Getchu a Bowl

It’s the first show of 2015, and the new year brings new writing questions. Ben’s looking to cast off the shackles of traditional fiction, Brian’s wondering how to fit larger-than-life subject matter...

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Episode 67: Write With the WITTScasters

You know what? Writing is about writing, not talking about writing. In a special holiday episode, the WITTScasters put that mantra to work and take an hour to write on-air (with the requisite...

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Episode 66: There Is No Solace

Get ready for some SUPER HOT ACTION! The WITTScasters, in discussing their current work, admit some occasional self-doubt. Searching for solace, they find none. They do, however, find enjoyment in Ron...

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