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Episode 216: All-Star Break and a Work-in-Progress
122 Plays4 years ago
In this all-star break edition, the top ten downloaded interviews of the year and I read from a work-in-progress titled "Raph, the Space Cadet."
This episode was made possible by Scrivener, by writers, for writers. And if you enter the coupon code NONFICTION at checkout, you'll get 20% the regular versions of Scrivener for macOS and Windows.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsor Message
00:00:01
Speaker
ACNFers, look who's back. The Creative Nonfiction podcast is sponsored by Scrivner. Scrivner was created by writers for writers. It brings all the tools you need to craft your first draft together in one handy app. Scrivner won't tell you how to write. It simply provides everything you need to start writing and keep writing. And get this, if you enter the coupon code nonfiction,
00:00:29
Speaker
At checkout, you'll receive a 20% discount on the regular versions of Scrivener for Mac OS and Windows. That'll buy you some coffee to fuel that writing sesh. So, whether you plot everything out first or plunge in, write and restructure later, Scrivener works your way.
Host's Break and Interview Tease
00:00:56
Speaker
Well hey, CNFers, how are ya? It's CNF, the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, a show where I usually speak to badass people about the art and craft of telling true stories. But not this week. Why is that? I had to kind of cut myself some slack and be a little forgiving.
00:01:18
Speaker
of the
00:01:26
Speaker
we're gonna call this week an all-star break if you will okay but what happened was I put all my research and reading eggs into an interview this week that has to be embargoed until November big fish for me big hero it's gonna be it's gonna be so cool and I'm not gonna say anything more other than that it was incredible and it was a one of those dream come true type interviews
00:01:54
Speaker
So there was nobody else this week that I could call in to line up to sort of the Hail Mary thing. So I decided, you know what? Why not let this week give you the chance to catch up on some interviews you might have missed or maybe you just want to re-listen to some. I love that. I re-listen to podcasts all the time with my little notebook. And I take notes and get inspired and it makes me actually go to the keyboard and do the thing.
00:02:23
Speaker
And so it wouldn't be an all star break, right? If I didn't give you a starting lineup. And what does that mean? Well, I'm going to give you the 10 most downloaded episodes of 2020. How does that sound? That'll at least give you something you want to see the see who they are.
00:02:41
Speaker
You know, of course, the ones that published in like January and February and even March have an edge over the ones that were published most recently. But that's the nature of the game. I'm sorry. If you were published, then you won the lottery.
Audience Engagement and Gratitude
00:02:54
Speaker
Big lottery, right? Before I get to that, keep the conversation going on social at CNF Pod. Link up to the show if you think it's worth sharing. Make the show for you, you know, digital fist bumps for those who do.
00:03:08
Speaker
head over to BrendanOMero.com for show notes and to subscribe to the monthly podcast reading recommendation, cool stuff, newsletter. You get entered into book raffles just for being on the list. First of the month, no spam. As far as I can tell, you can't beat it.
00:03:26
Speaker
And if you'd like to leave a kind review for the podcast on Apple Podcasts, we'd love to have them. Definitely helps. I might even read it, like this one from Gap Designs, titled Insightful, Up Close, and Personal. This is the one podcast I listen to regularly. Brendan's soothing voice goes well with my morning coffee.
00:03:48
Speaker
and the subjects he touches on make the listener feel like a personal experience. Little toy boat there had to read over that. Then there are his amazing guests. I've listened to his interview with Nick Flynn numerous times already. That occurs frequently and with many of his interviews when earnest or funny or pain voices describe their processes come to talk to me in my kitchen.
00:04:16
Speaker
Thank you, Brendan, for creating a place for writers of any genre to feel part of a larger group of artists. And of course, that's why we make the show. Thank you, Gap Designs. I say we, but it's me, but whatever. Royal we. If you care to stick around, there's an added bonus in scare quotes.
Creative Works: 'Raph the Space Cadet'
00:04:37
Speaker
I am going to read a work in progress essay.
00:04:42
Speaker
And the title is Raph the Space Cadet. Okay, it's part of a series of essays I'm writing about middle school. Like I said, work in progress, just to show you something that's got some warts on it. Okay, you ready for the 2020 All Stars? Yeah, that's riff worthy, let's do it.
Podcast Milestones: 2020 Top Episodes
00:05:05
Speaker
All right, coming in, number 10.
00:05:12
Speaker
Ronnie Shaw, Blue Heels, Dude Hats, and Wisdom from a Humble Jellyfish. Coming in at number 9, Episode 191, Alexander Norman on the Journey of Finding Voice, Ghost Writing, and the Dalai Lama. Number 8, a tie! A tie!
00:05:35
Speaker
Episode 188 with Catherine Keith say yes to life and episode 192 Paul the sickie the book teaches you what it wants to be Coming in number seven episode 193 Allison Fallon find your voice number six episode 186 Bryn Jonathan Butler misfits status and tourist information number five
00:06:06
Speaker
at third base. Episode 187, Ander Munson, it's electric. Number four, at second base. Episode 197, Eva Holland, coping by going into reporter mode. Number three, episode 184, Christina Gaddy, flowers in the gutter and loving what's underneath it all. Number two,
00:06:36
Speaker
Adrienne Brodula on taking your story head on, loosening the grip on your narrative in her memoir, Wild Game. And that brings us to number one. Number one.
00:06:57
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episode 185, Tim O'Brien on Memory, Failure, and His Maybe Book. That's your 2020 starting lineup for the All-Star break. Pretty slick, right? All right, so those will give you some signs. I mean, of course, you could listen to any other one, but those are just the 10 most popular by download.
00:07:18
Speaker
So I guess this is the part where you get to listen to me read an essay in progress.
Nostalgic Tales: Raphael Ninja Turtle Toy
00:07:24
Speaker
Working it out as Mike Birbiglia, I can never say his last name, Birbiglia might say, comedian, writer, filmmaker. So here it is, here's my little essay called Raph the Space Cadet.
00:07:47
Speaker
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles captivated a certain class of 9 to 10 year old boy in the late 80s and early 90s. Video games, cartoons, movies with dudes inside the costumes, none of that CGI. Figurines, green reptilian plastic scattered all over the house.
00:08:10
Speaker
They fought Shredder, Krang, who was an actual brain with tentacles in a robot body. And then they had these foot soldiers and they were the foot clan. Their goal is unsure, is dominance of some kind, but the Ninja Turtles sought to fight the foot.
00:08:37
Speaker
These toys were spectacular. The anthropomorphized muscle of these turtles suggest the prolific use of PEDs. I suppose the ooze that turned them from pet store turtles into whatever it was they became was a kind of PED. I love these toys. I dreamed of pizza and ass kicking. I imagined I had the cool leadership of Leonardo, the brains of Donatello,
00:09:04
Speaker
The fun-loving personality of Michelangelo, but I was Raphael. The brooding, sarcastic turtle. The toys were always earthbound in nature, but like anything they needed to progress, leave the atmosphere, if you will. I saw a flyer for a Raphael space cadet action figure. I was pumped.
00:09:30
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We would be taking our exploits to the moon and beyond. Despite limited family funds, mom took me to the department store, Riches, as in the name Richard, called it Riches, to buy this toy for me. There would almost certainly be a trip to McDonald's after this. I mean, after all, it was on the way.
00:09:52
Speaker
I saw Raphael hanging on the metal hook. Raph the space cadet, the zero gravity good guy. I held that packaging in my hands. The drawing of Raph on the front had him saying, one giant step for turtle kind. Indeed it was. Raph was the only turtle who would go to outer space for some weird reason.
00:10:21
Speaker
I don't know why, but such was the Playmates toy company. That cardboard backing illustrated the full capabilities of this action figure. His vital quote, space-tistics, were as follows. Accessories, satellite slicing space sword, detachable helmet, and a lucky laser Luger. Favorite snack.
00:10:44
Speaker
freeze-dried pizza favorite number 2001 favorite saying the turtle has landed I kept reading
00:10:56
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Boldly going where no turtle has gone before, Wrath's ready to take the foot to the final frontier. Equipped with his specially designed sewer space suit, Wrath's prepared for those pressureless moments, like when he has to blast ol' Krang in Dimension X.
00:11:15
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Wrath's suits... Wrath's suits saturated with all kinds of clever contraptions. From two-way long-range radio to dual retro reptile rockets. Armed with his satellite slicing space sword and lucky laser Luger, Wrath's ready to blast off and knock the Foot Clan clean out of orbit.
00:11:45
Speaker
I couldn't wait to tear the plastic from that backing and hold that toy. I wanted to parade it around the other toys, intergalactic style, have it soar, kick ass.
00:11:57
Speaker
My mother asked if that was what I was looking for, and I said, yes, Mom, it is. She was very happy. We walked to the checkout line, briskly, as one does with the new toy. It was then that I picked my head up from a toy-induced stupor. I saw Nick. He approached with a speed only comparable to a Ninja Turtle. Nick was a Michelangelo.
00:12:22
Speaker
I saw him closing the distance. Nick was definitively in the cool camp. He was cool, athletic, good looking. Though short, the girls loved him. I was not a cool kid, but I was somewhat athletic, my saving grace, as it gave me some degree of protection. This granted me a sort of work visa into their country. He liked me enough. That was like, you know, pretty cool, I guess.
00:12:52
Speaker
I suddenly realized something. I was holding a Ninja Turtle action figure. Nick looked at the toy in my hands. I got the sweats. My face turned red. He asked about it and the way that cool kids ask you about things. This tone made you question your choices. I stammered, I like to collect them. I lied.
00:13:21
Speaker
He smirked. He might have believed me. I hoped he believed. We parted ways. Mom wrote a check that I thought of as magic money. Handed it to the cashier and bought me the toy. But the magic died. This once perfect thing lost its pulse. DNR. It was only molded plastic in the shape of a turtle, grounded by NASA.
00:13:50
Speaker
I was torn between my mom, who would love me no matter what, would buy me Ninja Turtle toys for as long as I wanted them, and Nick, someone who, with a simple look, cast me down. In that moment, in any moment like these, the gears of growing up really start to grind.
00:14:11
Speaker
It was no longer cool to be 10 or 11 years old and play with action figures. Even if the box says 4 years old and up. I was up. And up had a limit. Of course I opened it when I got home. It had no meaning anymore. I outgrew Ninja Turtles faster than I can say Cowabunga.
00:14:33
Speaker
I often wondered what my mom must have thought in that moment. She must have seen me backpedal under the peer pressure. At one point, the toy and her buying me that toy gave me joy, a kind of joy a parent might call priceless. But what it was, was a $4.99 plus tax piece of plastic.
00:15:02
Speaker
in the sad reality that her son was growing up.
Conclusion and Future Content Teasers
00:15:18
Speaker
Hey hey, well I hope you enjoyed this All Star Break edition of the podcast. I promise you there will be one next week. Well, I'm not gonna promise, but there is definitely one lined up to take place and it should happen. And she's badass. And when you, when it's in the canyon, that hits your feet next week. You're gonna be like, holy shit.
00:15:42
Speaker
Yeah. So in any case, hope you enjoyed this all-star break edition of The Pod and my little essay in progress. I know you didn't sign up for that, but maybe you dug it, maybe not. Hey, let me know. By emailing me or pinging me on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, I'd love to know what you thought.
00:16:00
Speaker
not maybe of the essay per se though you can you can certainly tell me what you think of it but if you like the idea of essays being read on the show why not right we're all writers let me know if that's something you dig um you know it kind of like let me show you that i'm in the mud with you we're in this this slog together
00:16:24
Speaker
So I might be working on, you know, the baseball book and some essays. But the fact of the matter is, if you can't do interview sale.
00:16:48
Speaker
you