Best Craft Works Dialogue Podcasts (2025)

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First Draft - Angela Flournoy 59:27

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2h ago59:27

59:27

Angela Flournoy’s debut novel The Turner House was a finalist for the National Book Award and won the VCU Cabell First Novel Prize and was a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and an NAACP Image Award. Her new novel, The Wilderness, was long listed for the National Book Award and was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize. Her nonfictio…

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#17 The #1 Reason Agents Reject Your Middle-Grade Novel 8:56

3h ago8:56

8:56

What's more important for your novel: great language or great story? If you answered 'great story', you've got it right! While great language is important too, it won't carry your story idea through a full-length middle-grade novel and, by itself, it's not a story. If you submit a novel to an agent without solid story structure, it will be rejected…

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Staying Relevant: How to Have a Long Career as a Screenwriter 55:56

3d ago55:56

55:56

Hollywood moves fast, and even the best careers can fade. Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman share ways to stay relevant as a screenwriter and keep your career thriving. Plus... TWIW! Questions / Comments: [email protected] Edited by the GREAT Paul LundquistBy Tasha Huo & Josh Hallman

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#047: Hara Allison Chose Art Over Chemo And Found Peace 1:02:35

3d ago1:02:35

1:02:35

What if your creative practice wasn’t a side note, but the reason you get out of bed? We sit down with Hara Allison—graphic designer, photographer, and founder of Dream Studio—whose mantra “make love and make art” is both a rallying cry and a roadmap. She talks candidly about living with incurable cancer, why she declined more chemo after it stole …

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First Draft- Jonathan Parks-Ramage 57:09

7d ago57:09

57:09

Jonathan Parks-Ramage is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter and journalist. He is also the author of the novel Yes, Daddy named one of the best queer books of 2021 by Entertainment Weekly, NBC News, The Advocate, Lambda Literary, Bustle, Goodreads and more. He is the Co-Creator of the Big Gay Jamboree, an Off-Broadway musical, nominated for five …

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First Draft - 12th Anniversary Best Of - Ben Okri 53:41

10d ago53:41

53:41

Ben Okri is a poet, novelist, essayist, short story writer, anthologist, aphorist, and playwright. He has also written film scripts. His works have won numerous national and international prizes, including the Booker Prize for Fiction. His newest book is a short story collection called Prayer for the Living. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit …

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The Art of Language: Daniel Temkin Reveals The Inner Workings of Esolangs 30:40

7d ago30:40

30:40

In this episode of the Arts Management and Technology Lab, Daniel Temkin and Luna Lu discussed the artistic possibilities of code, focusing on esoteric programming languages (esolangs) and how they can function as a medium for art and human expression. Temkin explained that his interest began with experimenting in existing esolangs (like Brainfuck)…

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Tech Exec // Oliver Shanahan, Group Head of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure at BetMakers Technology Group 57:32

12d ago57:32

57:32

From a childhood without electricity to co-founding a listed betting company, Oliver Shanahan’s story is a masterclass in technical grit and commercial pivots. As the Group Head of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure at BetMakers Technology Group, Oliver traces his path from wiring up early ISPs and mining ERPs to building TopBetta from a two-person L…

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#16 Use Story Type to Unlock Your Middle-Grade Novel 13:37

9d ago13:37

13:37

You have a great story idea but you don't know how to turn it into a fully developed middle-grade novel that publishers want to buy and readers will love. What to do? This episode on the ten universal story types will help you: identify your novel's story type find a way into your story get past your story's murky middle craft an effective characte…

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Politics and Portrayal: The Impact of AI and Our Lives 25:18

9d ago25:18

25:18

In this episode of the Arts Management and Technology Lab, Melida Hernandez and Christine Rivera dive into the intersections of technology, identity, and representation in digital spaces and media. Melida explores how AI-based recognition systems, often trained on biased datasets, misclassify transgender and non-binary individuals, which impacts th…

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How to Write Great Villains | Halloween Special for Screenwriters 50:17

14d ago50:17

50:17

Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman chat with horror writer and Friend of the Podcast, David Levinson (Welcome Home), about their favorite movie villains and how they were written to make a lasting impression. TWIW: How do you manage the financial realities of being a spec writer? / What are Tasha, Josh and Dave dressing up as for Halloween?? Question…

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#046: What If The Work Isn’t What You Do, But Who You Become With Maddox & Dwight 46:38

10d ago46:38

46:38

What if the most powerful upgrade to your creative life isn’t a new tool, but a new identity? We’re expanding our platform with a third pillar—becoming—and opening up a candid, behind-the-scenes conversation on choosing who you grow into and why that choice changes everything. We unpack the myth of arrival and the trap of quick fixes, then move int…

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First Draft - Jaquira Diaz 1:03:37

14d ago1:03:37

1:03:37

Jaquira Díaz was raised between Humacao, Fajardo, Puerto Rico and Miami Beach. She is the author of Ordinary Girls: A Memoir, winner of a Whiting Award, a Florida Book Awards Gold Medal, a Lambda Literary Awards finalist, an American Booksellers Association Indies Introduce Selection, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection, an Indie …

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Tech Exec // Matt Vitale: Executive Director at New Dialogue 1:01:08

15d ago1:01:08

1:01:08

In this episode of Tech Execs, James MacDonald heads to Melbourne to sit down with Matt Vitale, former co-founder of Australia’s largest equity crowdfunding platform and now Executive Director at New Dialogue. Matt traces his winding path from nightlife promoter and sugarcane juice tinkerer to financial services lawyer, then startup pioneer, where …

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Bonus: Get to Know Your Ideal Reader with Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie 11:28

17d ago11:28

11:28

In this bonus episode, I will take the eight key questions we looked at in the last episode on how to get to know the ideal middle-grade reader for your novel, and apply them to Kate DiCamillo's middle-grade novel Because of Winn-Dixie. This episode will show you what the process of fleshing out your ideal middle-grade reader looks like in action, …

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Ready or Not? How You Know Your Script is Ready 31:14

20d ago31:14

31:14

Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman discuss a listener question -- When do you know your script is ready? TWIW: Good Boy, the horror movie from the POV of a dog and how Tasha hated it and finally learned to feel / Tasha & Josh are donating a 30-minute notes session for charity at Cause for Entertainment, a charity to support Breast Cancer Research and…

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#045: Sabrina Handal Finds Her Purpose Isn't in Her Head... It's in Her Heart 52:01

17d ago52:01

52:01

Ever feel like you're creatively stagnant, pulled in different directions, and overthinking every possible path forward? You're not alone. In this vulnerable coaching conversation, we sit down with Sabrina, a graphic designer searching for greater fulfillment while struggling with perfectionism and the pressure to have everything figured out. The s…

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First Draft - Peter Orner (Pete for the 5-Peat) 51:06

21d ago51:06

51:06

Peter Orner is the author of seven acclaimed books including Maggie Brown & Others, Love and Shame and Love, Esther Stories, finalist for the Pen/ Hemingway Award, and Am I Alone Here?, finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His work has appeared in the New Yorker, the Paris Review, Best American Stories, and been awarded four Pushcar…

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Tech Exec // Victoria Aspden: Executive General Manager - Digital & Transformation at Ampcontrol 1:05:52

22d ago1:05:52

1:05:52

Victoria Aspden, Executive General Manager - Digital & Transformation at Ampcontrol has had an unconventional career journey. Initially choosing technology for its earning potential, she managed to work her way through the field when recruiters valued her relationship-building skills over pure technical credentials. This pattern of people taking ch…

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Networking Dos and Don’ts & Are You Excited: October 2025 Edition 1:13:36

28d ago1:13:36

1:13:36

It’s Austin Film Festival time! Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman tackle the art of networking - a word that makes most writers shiver. They share how to approach it authentically, spark conversations, and avoid the common pitfalls that kill a good impression. Plus, a new round of Are You Excited? - where they dig into the month’s releases. Question…

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#044: The Science Behind Why Everyone Can Create and Thrive With Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle 48:05

25d ago48:05

48:05

What if everything you thought about creativity was wrong? Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, senior research scientist at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and author of The Creativity Choice, challenges our assumptions about what it means to be creative. Forget the notion that creativity belongs only to artists, designers, and “creative types.”…

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First Draft - Jane Hamilton 58:58

28d ago58:58

58:58

Jane Hamilton lives, works, and writes in an orchard farmhouse in Wisconsin. Her short stories have appeared in Harper's magazine. Her first novel, The Book of Ruth, won the PEN/Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award for best first novel and was a selection of the Oprah Book Club. Her second novel, A Map of the World, was an international bestseller. He…

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#15 Getting to Know Your Ideal Middle-Grade Reader 12:26

28d ago12:26

12:26

If you want to be the type of middle-grade writer who creates books with characters who feel like real people, and transports kids out of their own world into the imaginary one you have created in such a way that they lose themselves and actually feel some sort of grief when the book ends… … then you need to start with understanding who middle-grad…

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Tech Exec // Andrew Cresp: CIO At NGM Group 45:11

1M ago45:11

45:11

On the first episode of NTP’s Tech Exec podcast series, James MacDonald sits down with Andrew Cresp to talk about his journey through financial services technology leadership, from early days in the insurance industry, moving through major roles in banking, before landing as CIO at NGM Group. Having grown up in country South Australia, Andrew revea…

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Write Better Dialogue: Tasha Huo's Secret Hack 43:00

1M ago43:00

43:00

Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman discuss Tasha's dialogue hack to quickly improve your dialogue and trim pages. TWIW: What does it mean when a manager or agent "hip-pockets" you? / Tasha had a MIGHTY NEIN screening at SCAD and now she wants to go to there / The difference in approach between being a fan of an IP and just taking an IP job. / Storyte…

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#043: When You Believe in Yourself, Everything Becomes Possible With Laetitia Bouffard-Roupe 50:50

1M ago50:50

50:50

By Maddox & Dwight

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First Draft - Ada Limón (Returns Again) 1:02:11

1M ago1:02:11

1:02:11

Ada Limón is the author of seven books of poetry, including Startlement: New & Selected Poems; The Hurting Kind, which was a finalist for the Griffin Prize; The Carrying, which won the National Books Critics Circle Award and was a finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award; and Bright Dead Things, which was named a finalist for the National Book Aw…

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How do you write for animation? Interview with Francisco Angones (THE LEGEND OF VOX MACHINA, DUCK TALES) 1:03:33

1M ago1:03:33

1:03:33

Hosts Tasha Huo and Josh Hallman sit down with Francisco Angones, the creator of DUCK TALES (2017) and Co-EP on THE LEGEND OF VOX MACHINA (S4, S5) to discuss what a Screenwriting career in animation can look like, share stories on its challenges and how to manage them, and share his day-to-day as an animation writer/creator. Questions / Comments: A…

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#042: Douglas Lewis Struts Past the Haters: When Fashion Becomes Armor 52:34

1M ago52:34

52:34

From the confines of his grandmother's office—the very space where his creativity was first nurtured—Douglas Lewis takes us on a transformative journey from bullied youth to fashion revolutionary. Douglas's story begins with childhood memories of assembling photo albums alongside his grandmother, absorbing fashion history that would later become hi…

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First Draft - Jason Mott 1:06:32

1M ago1:06:32

1:06:32

Jason Mott is the author of two poetry collections, including We Call This Thing Between Us Love and five novels including The Returned, which was a New York Times bestseller and was made into a TV series that ran for two seasons. His novel Hell of a Book was named the winner of the National Book Award for fiction. He has a BFA in fiction and an MF…

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#14 Writing Middle Grade: How Do I Start? 10:05

1M ago10:05

10:05

So, you want to write a middle-grade novel. Maybe you have an idea that just won't let you be. Or maybe you've spent years writing picture books, and you'd like to try something different? But when you sit down in front of your computer… well, you don't quite know how to start. That's why, in this episode, we're taking a deep dive into how reading …