Craft and Chaos

Necessary Fictions

TruStory FM — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 03:00:00 -0700

Your brain told you this was going to be a short project. It also told you the outline was basically done, that sleep is optional, and that this time things would be different. Your brain, it turns out, has the self-awareness of a raccoon who just knocked over a trash can — and you keep listening to it anyway, because without it you never start anything. That's the premise of this week's Craft and Chaos, and it only gets more uncomfortably accurate from there.

Pete Wright, Mandy Fabian, Kyle Olson, and Ryan Dalton each confess the lies that get them to work — the necessary fictions every creative runs on, whether or not they'll admit it. Some of those lies are aspirational. Some are borrowed from Terry Pratchett. One of them is genuinely bleak. They also name the imaginary audience living in their heads while they create, which turns out to be a surprisingly revealing question when four people actually answer it honestly.

The back half introduces "Guilty or Not Guilty," where each host confesses a creative rule they violate and then — badly — argues against themselves before the rest of the crew delivers a verdict. The arguments get personal. The analogies get gross. And someone uses the phrase "creative polyamory" in a way that makes everybody uncomfortable. If you have ever told yourself a beautiful, necessary lie in order to make something — and you have — this one's going to land.

Links & Notes

Connect with the Show

Submit your questions at craftandchaos.fun — click any episode page and hit the submit button. New episodes drop every two weeks.

(00:00) - Welcome to Craft and Chaos
(02:00) - The Creative Roundtable
(09:50) - The Lies that Get You Out of Bed
(18:17) - "Sponsor:" COP
(19:48) - Your Imaginary Avatar
(36:24) - "Sponsor:" Nostalgia
(38:41) - Guilty or Not Guilty

Against Productivity: A Manifesto in Three Acts and One Bowl

TruStory FM — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 03:00:00 -0700

Creative people are very good at turning joy into homework. We find something we love, immediately ask how it could become a career, worry that we're not doing it correctly, read seven books about it, and six months later we're staring at the thing we used to love and feeling nothing. It is a remarkable talent and we should probably stop.

This week — inspired by The Tick, of all things — the Craft and Chaos crew attempts to remember what it felt like before all that. The assignment: something you made or did or consumed recently whose only job is to make you unreasonably happy. No portfolio value. No lofty artistic ambition. Just the pure, embarrassing, uncomplicated thing.

The results are, genuinely, a lot. Pete spent months learning to use a lathe in his neighbor's garage and emerged with a camphor burl bowl so thick-walled it could survive a home invasion, and he is vibrating at a frequency that can only be described as "third-grader at a craft fair." Ryan wrote his first murder — in a genre he's never written, with a live stream, an off-camera death, and a moral ambiguity that refuses to let you off the hook — and somehow made it work without a drop of blood. Kyle has finally launched a plays page on his website (WadeIntoTheWeird.com, which is a name that earns its keep), attended four overlapping high school theater productions, and was reduced to helpless laughter by a single line delivered with absolutely no inflection whatsoever. And Mandy directed a commercial, hired her own dog, and dissolved a piece of paper in eclipse water at a crossroads to banish obstacles from her life. We are not here to judge. It worked, probably.

The episode closes with a dramatic reading of Terry Bisson's 1991 short story "They're Made Out of Meat" — two aliens assessing humanity and arriving at the only logical conclusion, which is to erase us from the records and pretend no one's home — and if you don't come away from it slightly horrified by the fact that you are a pile of thinking, dreaming, singing meat, you weren't paying attention. Pure joy, folks. This is what it looks like.

(00:00) - Welcome to Craft and Chaos
(02:24) - Things that are Creatively Satisfying
(19:25) - "Sponsor" Brevity
(20:26) - Something you Do for Joy
(51:17) - "Sponsor" Brevity

Somebody Else's Sandbox

TruStory FM — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 03:00:00 -0800

Here's a question that has haunted every creative person who ever watched a reboot and thought, "I could do that better": should you play in someone else's sandbox, or build your own from scratch and accept that no one will show up? This week on Craft and Chaos, we dig into the Original Character vs. Existing IP debate — and end up somewhere that involves Batman and the Joker as co-parenting dads.

We also talk about firsts: first book signings, first school visits, first film festival screenings with four people in the audience — all your people — and at least one legendary audition for Saturday Night Live that began with a witch-manifestation and ended with Amy Poehler's dressing room and a nervous breakdown.

Plus: the Drawer of Shame. What's still in yours? What's waiting for you to level up?

(00:00) - Welcome to Craft and Chaos
(01:32) - EC v OC?
(11:45) - A Haunted Interrogation
(32:14) - The Project Graveyard

Poser Syndrome, Chinchilla Fights, and the Art of Saying Yes Before You're Ready

TruStory FM — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 03:00:00 -0800

Here's something nobody warns you about being a creative person: at some point, you will have to decide how much of your actual life you're willing to shove into your work and then show to the people you stole it from.

Mandy's writing a book for her teenage daughters and discovering that words, frustratingly, do not arrive pre-edited. Ryan's twelve thousand words into a thriller and has realized he is constitutionally incapable of writing a scene without at least one silly billy. And Kyle just got tracked down through Instagram by someone who wants to produce one of his plays — which is both a beautiful story about good work finding its audience and a cautionary tale about maybe putting your contact information on things. We're all works in progress. Some of us more literally than others.

This week we're talking about truth — where it shows up in creative work, how much of it you actually need, and whether "based on a true story" is a promise or a threat. Pete's deep in a film series about fraud and discovers that the best true stories are the ones about liars. Kyle argues — compellingly — that he doesn't want historical accuracy at all, he wants you to lie to him beautifully, and cites Better Man (the Robbie Williams movie where Robbie Williams is a CGI chimpanzee) as possibly the most emotionally honest biopic ever made. Mandy confesses she once showed her mom a deeply autobiographical short film and offered to never screen it publicly, which was, and she will admit this, an absolute lie.

The takeaway is something like: the facts don't have to be true as long as the feeling is in creative works. Which is either profound or the motto of every con artist in history.

We also dig into fake it till you make it — that specific flavor of creative terror where you say "yes" to something you cannot yet do and then sprint toward competence before anyone notices. Ryan's been calling himself a writer since he was a kid, years before he was actually doing it professionally, which turned out to be less of a lie and more of a very patient prophecy. Pete walked into rooms full of people asking "what is a podcast" and answered "I'll tell you tomorrow," which is apparently a viable business model. And Kyle talks about the moment Mandy told him he was actually good at interviewing — after he'd spent an entire podcast series convinced he was faking it. Turns out most of us are faking it. The ones who make it are just the ones who kept showing up anyway.

Plus: the crew breaks down what makes them laugh — from the Zucker Brothers hiding A-list jokes in the background of hospital scenes, to Rose Matafeo's Horndog, to a comedian named Kurt Braunohler doing five minutes on 120,000 bees that plays like Shakespeare wrote a set at The Comedy Store. And our beloved fake sponsors return: The Other Orange wants your gambling money (they might train owls), and The Last Apple would like to buy everything you own and rent it back to you at a reasonable, eternal monthly rate.

We remain the only podcast either of them sponsors. Probably for good reason.

Films & Shows Discussed:

Better Man (2024) — Robbie Williams biopic with CGI chimp, dir. Michael Gracey
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) — Lee Israel forgery story
The Hoax (2006) — Richard Gere as fake Howard Hughes biographer
Shattered Glass (2003) — Stephen Glass / New Republic fabrication scandal
Quiz Show (1994) — Charles Van Doren quiz show scandal, dir. Robert Redford
Big Eyes (2014) — Margaret Keane painting credit story, dir. Tim Burton
Rocketman (2019) — Elton John biopic
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) — Queen / Freddie Mercury biopic
Baby Reindeer (2024) — Netflix limited series (NOT Baby Driver)
Baby Driver (2017) — Edgar Wright film (NOT Baby Reindeer)
The Orville (2017–2022) — Seth MacFarlane sci-fi comedy series
Shrinking — Apple TV+ comedy series (current season at time of recording)
Will & Grace (1998–2006, 2017–2020) — NBC sitcom
Saturday Night (2024) — SNL origin story film

The Theranos Movie:

The Dropout (2022) — Elizabeth Holmes tries to be Steve Jobs and goes to jail.

Press Your Luck Documentary:

The Luckiest Man in America (2024) — about Michael Larson breaking Press Your Luck (verify exact title)

Comedy Specials & Clips Referenced:

Rose Matafeo: Horndog (2020) — stand-up special
Kurt Braunohler — "120,000 Bees" bit
Alex Edelman: Just for Us (2023) — HBO stand-up special
Demi Adejuyigbe Is Going to Do One Backflip — Dropout special
John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in L.A. (2024) — Netflix live talk show
Bob Reese — "AI Videos Are Getting Too Good" YouTube parkour series
The Naked Gun (1988) — Zucker Brothers; "Mrs. Nordberg" hospital joke
Bo Burnham — Oh you know... just a pioneer of multimedia/tech-forward comedy specials

Comedians & Writers Mentioned:

Patton Oswalt
Sean Hayes
Megan Mullally
Max Mutchnick — Will & Grace creator/showrunner
Mike Birbiglia — Referenced as storytelling comedy style influence
Monty Python
Jack Benny — Referenced as old-school one-shot comedy style

Books & Writing Projects Mentioned:

You're Okay, Go Play — Mandy Fabian's book in progress (nonfiction, for her daughters)
This Last Adventure — Ryan Dalton's previous novel featuring family stories and Alzheimer's themes
Unapologetically ADHD — Pete Wrigh...

How to Survive Being Quote-Tweeted by Strangers

TruStory FM — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 03:00:00 -0800

When your work gets traction, people don’t just consume it—they build a little civilization around it. In this episode, Pete Wright, Mandy Fabian, Kyle Olson, and Ryan Dalton talk about the first time strangers made their work feel real (and slightly terrifying), from festival reviews and elevator recognition to fan-made dioramas and grandparents reading novels aloud together.

They dig into what creators owe their communities, how to set boundaries without killing the joy, what “seeding” iconic objects really means, and what music helps them write without their brains wandering off to watch Star Wars in their head. Also: an unexpectedly sincere love letter to pencils, France’s finest export (ennui), and a rapid-fire fandom game that proves no one should be trusted with a t-shirt press.

Links & Notes

Kyle's Twenty Twenty Mix Playlist

(01:11) - The Moment You are the Center of the Fandom
(34:25) - "Sponsor" • Ennui
(36:30) - Music
(46:56) - Kyle's 202Mix
(49:01) - "Sponsor"• It Starts with Trees
(50:59) - Who is YOUR Favorite Creator?
(54:32) - Tell me you're a fan!

Permission Granted: Skip the Hard Part and Come Back Later

TruStory FM — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 03:00:00 -0800

Look. We're back. New year. New host. And we opened the show with Ryan reading the dictionary definition of the word "we," which is either a bit or a cry for help — the line is thin and we're not here to judge. The point is: Mandy Fabian is here now, Misty is off surviving life at full speed, and we're all still pretending we know what we're doing creatively. (We don't. That's the show.)

Here's the thing about creative work that nobody tells you until you've already panicked about it seventeen times: you don't actually have to know what happens next. The writers of Star Trek: The Next Generation — a show that ran for seven seasons and won actual awards — would literally write "tech the tech" in the script when they didn't have the specific quantum warp polaron nonsense figured out yet. Grey's Anatomy? "Medical, medical, medical." These are real strategies used by professionals who got paid. The details came later. The momentum mattered now. This is permission. Take it.

We also answer a listener question that hits painfully close to home: what happens when you suddenly have all the time in the world to be creative and your brain immediately responds by doing absolutely nothing? Turns out "I can do anything" metabolizes into "I can't do anything" faster than you'd think.

We talk egg timers, scheduled creativity, and why imposing fake limitations on yourself might be the only way to survive unlimited freedom. And then, because we are who we are, we spend the last chunk of the episode pitching wildly different plays based on the same prompt — a veterinarian's office, three actors, and the opening line "Do you want the honest version or the one that'll let you sleep tonight?" Somehow we ended up with alien kittens, a ketamine heist, and a sentient skin rash that makes people act out telenovelas. This is the show. We're so glad you're here.

Smart People Who Said Smart Things:

Ronald D. Moore — The "tech the tech" guy
Shonda Rhimes — The "medical, medical, medical" queen
Madeleine L'Engle — "Inspiration more often comes during the work than before it." Correct.
Don Roos — Screenwriter behind the one-hour egg timer method: commit to one focused hour, let it grow if it wants to
Steven Pressfield — Author of The War of Art, originator of "the resistance" as a concept for that voice in your head that tells you you're garbage

Places That Let Creatives Do Weird Things on Deadlines:

Muse Fest at Space 55 (Phoenix) — Nine muses, nine responses, one week, no stakes, maximum creativity
Phoenix Theater's 24-Hour Theater Project — Kyle wrote a 15-page script overnight and it was about a sentient skin rash. We'll explain.
Series Fest / Tribeca / Frameline — Festivals Mandy is submitting her pilot to

Projects You Should Know About:

StorySprawl — Pete's invite-only collaborative writing project where you never write what comes next, someone else does, and it's apparently liberating as hell
You Are Here — Mandy's indie TV pilot, shot micro-budget over three days. Coming soon?
The Black Cape Saga — Ryan's upcoming words! Mark your Goodreads!
Go Help Yourself — Misty's podcast. Still running. Go listen if you miss her. We do.

Tools for People Who Need Structure:

Obsidian — Kyle is migrating his notes here from Zoho Notebook and found a file from eight years ago that just said "This is where the good ideas go." Still waiting.
The One-Hour Egg Timer Method — One hour. No phone. No errands. If it turns into three hours, great. If not, you did the hour. That's the whole thing. Sean Carlin has a good write-up here.

Public Domain Watch (From the Fake Sponsor):

Nancy Drew, Miss Marple, Sam Spade — All entered public domain January 2026. Do something interesting with them. Please. No more horror movies.

(00:00) - Welcome to Craft and Chaos
(02:45) - Creative Hijinks
(23:00) - Sponsor: Jess Plus None • A Film by Mandy Fabian
(27:03) - You Don't Have to Have All The Answers Right Now
(44:12) - Listener Question
(57:23) - "Sponsor:" Nancy Drew & The Public Domain
(58:58) - When You Have No Time At All

How to Kill Dynamic Ad Insertion with Kyle Olson, Pete Wright, and Horses

TruStory FM — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 03:00:00 -0800

In this Very Special Episode, it’s just Pete and Kyle pulling the curtain back on one of the show’s most reliably chaotic features: those “ads” that don’t so much sponsor the show as wander into it, sit down uninvited, and start making sustained eye contact. The spark is a listener question—who on earth is making these things?—and the answer turns into a funny, slightly unsettling tour of how Craft and Chaos builds its weird little universe without losing the thread of why it exists in the first place.

What follows is less “inside baseball” and more “inside the raccoon’s head,” as they talk about the creative logic behind a recurring bit: how surprise keeps reactions honest, why the show’s structure makes the interruptions land the way they do, and how the team balances absurdity with affection so the joke doesn’t curdle into cynicism. It’s a conversation about craft, yes—but also about restraint, collaboration, and the particular joy of making something that’s small, strange, and clearly made by people with fingerprints.

And if you’ve ever wondered why certain “sponsors” feel like returning characters, why others show up like weather, or why some interruptions feel suspiciously… polished… this episode gives you just enough context to appreciate the chaos more without robbing it of its best trick: catching you off-guard.

You Still Have a Tongue (But Not the Way You Think)

TruStory FM — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 03:00:00 -0700

It all begins — as so many creative disasters do — in a tavern. Not a real tavern, because this is 2025 and nobody can afford to drink anywhere that isn't their own kitchen. No, this is a fictional tavern, conjured by Kyle Olson in an attempt to make Dungeons & Dragons seem exactly as sophisticated as it actually is. And there they are: Pete Wright, sage of sighs; Misty Stinnett, who claims the episode title in minute five like a boss; and Ryan Dalton, wizard of words and human embodiment of, “I’m fine, actually." They're here to discuss beginnings — that thing you agonize over for weeks before giving up and starting with someone waking up in a daze. Misty brings the skull-cracking horror of Verity and the pajama-clad Celine Dion catharsis of Bridget Jones's Diary, proving you can pivot from blood spatter to "All By Myself" without a map. Ryan obsesses over The Dark Knight's opening heist with fantasy-football-lineup energy, then reads from The Gone-Away World about the irony of fire. Pete shows up with Blade Runner because of course he does, and Kyle brings Clive Barker's story about sentient, revolutionary hands, because every D&D party needs someone who makes everyone else wonder ...what?

But this isn't just about great openings — it's about what happens when you hand your tender, unfinished creation to another human and they look you in the eye and say, "What if this took place in space?" Misty got that exact note on a script about Black backup singers in the 1960s civil rights movement. Space. Kyle once took script notes from a twelve-year-old. Pete has a "little red wagon of despair" full of projects he won't share because he's terrified of feedback. And Ryan — beautiful, unshakable Ryan — basically shrugs and says criticism can't hurt you... not like knives can. The takeaway? Feedback is brutal and necessary. Choose your readers carefully. Don't ask for notes from people who don't understand your medium. And for god's sake, don't take it personally when someone suggests your heartfelt drama should "maybe happen in space." They’re really saying that they want to be in space. It’s a them-problem.

And then, because all good stories must end, they talk about endings. Misty's still haunted by Inception's spinning top (every other day). Pete defends Whiplash's nine-minute drum solo with pizza-topping-argument passion. Ryan ugly-cries over "My friends, you bow to no one" in Return of the King despite having seen it a hundred times. And Kyle drops the mic with Kurosawa's Yojimbo — a samurai stands in a street full of corpses and says, "Town should be a lot quieter now. I'll see ya," then walks off into the credits. It may be the most perfect mic drop in cinema.

So here we are. The end of Season One. It started in a tavern and ends with the gang leveling up, earning a long rest, and reminding you to go make weird art. Start strong. Take your notes. Cry a little. Ignore the bad ones. Keep going. And when you reach the end, make it count. Now go. Make something strange. And whatever you do, don't let the hands win.

Works Mentioned

(In order of appearance, because we care about beginnings too)

(00:00) - Welcome to Craft and Chaos
(02:16) - Beginnings
(21:49) - "Sponsor" Clouds
(22:56) - Taking Notes
(01:01:06) - "Sponsor" Coalition of Procrastinators
(01:02:26) - Endings

The Lorem Ipsum of Our Future

TruStory FM — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 03:00:00 -0700

This week on Craft and Chaos, Pete, Misty, Kyle, and Ryan take a running jump into the boiling cauldron of AI, authorship, and the existential dread of wondering if your book draft is secretly moonlighting as training data for Skynet’s moody younger cousin. Pete opens the show mourning the discovery that Google Docs is essentially that roommate who “borrows” your clothes without asking—except instead of your hoodie, it’s your creative soul. Kyle yanks all his writing off the internet faster than you can say “Blue Harvest.” Ryan insists on contractual AI abstinence clauses like he’s starring in the world’s least sexy prenup. And Misty? She just admits she’s given up—then immediately delivers a sermon on theft, cognitive diminishment, and the performative weirdness of social media that makes you wonder if Instagram is actually just a giant gaslighting experiment.

But this isn’t all doom and gloom! The crew pivots from paranoia to possibility, arguing that the one thing AI can’t replicate is weirdness. Distinct human mess. The sentences with too many M-dashes. The sketch about sperm redistribution. The Shakespearean play about late-night TV hosts fighting for the throne. The legendary giant squid of Lancashire. This is the content the robots can’t touch, and it’s glorious. Then, as if that weren’t enough chaos, they unleash The Working Titles Game—where Hollywood’s real, baffling project code names are guessed, mocked, and improved. “Starbeast” becomes Alien. “Rory’s First Kiss” turns out to be The Dark Knight. And everyone learns that “Group Hug” is somehow The Avengers.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re a “face” or a “hands,” if you’ve contemplated anonymity as artistic freedom, or if you just want to hear Pete suddenly turn a sketch character Jewish halfway through, this episode has everything. It’s part therapy session, part roast, part TED Talk on weirdness, and part game show fever dream. By the end, you’ll either feel inspired to go make something beautifully strange… or just jealous that you’re not the one writing a half-hour comedy called Sperm Robin Hood.

Links and Notes

People & Creators:

John Scalzi
Austin Kleon
John August
Ursula K. Le Guin Daily Writing Routine
Miranda July - Author of All Fours
White Hot Heist (2022) - the one where Bowen Yang does that thing with that stuff.

Articles & Resources:

"So Your Kid Wants to be a Twitch Streamer" - Wired article discussing "faces vs. hands"
"Downton Arby's"
“Night of the Squid”

Creative Works & Projects:

Tools & Platforms Mentioned:

Wattpad - Early writing platform, later acquired and data concerns raised
AutoPod/AutoCut - AI-powered podcast editing tools for multi-camera switching

Concepts Discussed:

(00:00) - Welcome to Craft and Chaos
(02:40) - How have you changed because of AI?
(12:07) - "Sponsor:" Headstone with Pete Wright
(14:04) - MAJOR SEGMENT ALERT
(01:09:26) - "Sponsor:" The Audio Fiction Convention
(01:10:57) - Working Title Game!

Dying to Cobble

TruStory FM — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 03:00:00 -0700

This week on Craft and Chaos, Misty wrangles the chaos as the team dives into the comfort of cozy mysteries, the horror of genre snobbery, and the existential unraveling that occurs when you go viral and absolutely nothing happens.

We kick off with a round of “what are you enjoying,” which—shockingly—turns into a love letter to Murderbot, Idris Elba, and Helen Mirren solving crimes while wearing cozy cardigans. Pete accidentally reboots his Apple TV algorithm. Ryan makes new famous friends. Kyle shares a Netflix recommendation so charming it may cause spontaneous Britishness. And Misty just got back from Edinburgh Fringe with a play that involved one tire and possibly a direct hotline to the gods of storytelling.

Then we take on a deceptively gentle listener question: “How do you find a supportive creative community when yours has turned toxic?” Cue the most emotionally validating roundtable since that time you cried in your car after improv class. The crew gets real about vibe checks, class-based writing groups, running far away from bad energy, and possibly forming a new community by declaring “you’re in my group now” to strangers in a bookstore café.

We have a rousing round of Craft Confessions this week and we unpack a brutally honest essay from Amy McNee, whose appearance on a massive podcast should have led to skyrocketing book sales. It didn’t. At all. And that leads us into a real conversation about what success actually looks like when the “big break” doesn’t break anything.

Finally, we ruin classic movies. Bet you’ll have Little Women: Too Little, Too Women. living rent free you-know-where when it’s over.

Links & Notes

Shows, Movies, and Books

Hijack
Only Murders in the Building
High Potential
Knives Out / Glass Onion / Wake Up Dead Man
Thursday Murder Club (based on the books by Richard Osman)
Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
Murderbot Audiobooks via GraphicAudio
Sandstorm by James Rollins
A Letter to Lyndon B. Johnson or God, Whoever Reads This First by Xhloe and Natasha

Writers & Creators Mentioned

Bonus D&D Reference

Deborah Ann Woll explains D&D to Jon Bernthal

(00:00) - Welcome to Craft and Chaos
(01:04) - What are you enjoying right now?
(09:57) - Listener Questions!
(23:22) - "Sponsor" The Other Orange
(24:54) - Craft Confessions
(37:15) - What's the Bump? Tell me what's a-happenin' ... How do you define success?
(57:48) - "Sponsor:" Your Favorite Comfort Show
(58:59) - The Terrible Sequel Generator

Build Your Own Weather

TruStory FM — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 03:00:00 -0700

Ryan opens with a philosophical gauntlet: if a podcast intro is just a throat-clearing, why does it somehow set the weather for everything that follows? Consider this episode a field test in micro-moods and momentum—the kind where vibes double as both a bit and a manifesto. From there, the conversation becomes a collage of modern creative survival: the strange dignity of being the “control group” in a gym commercial; the emotional origami of querying gatekeepers who want both your voice and your compliance; and the quietly radioactive question of whether the world owes artists anything besides indifference and, occasionally, a polite clap.

Creativity here is a set of rituals that smuggle you back to yourself: five-minute sprints, a piano you only half-remember how to love, a kitchen dance that resets your nervous system, a mantra that lets your brain slip past security. Regret shows up, as it always does, wearing the cologne of “what if,” and gets gently escorted to the door by the older, kinder realization that showing up late is still showing up. We even run a cultural Turing test—romance novel or death metal band?—and discover that genre is just marketing in a studded leather jacket.

There’s also a quiet benediction tucked inside the jokes: creativity keeps working in the back room even when you can’t get to the front. Life surges, rooms empty, kids drive themselves, and the noise floor drops. So you learn to build your own weather. Print your own book if you must. Bless your past self, absolve the cringe, and keep making weird things for the weirdos who will find them. That’s the show: not a lesson plan... a permission slip.

(00:00) - This is a Craft and Chaos Intro
(01:10) - Pete his hired as "Before"
(03:11) - Listener Questions
(03:22) - What is a Query?
(12:36) - Does the world owe you an audience?
(19:42) - "Sponsor:" The Other Orange
(20:40) - How do you create when life is full... and possibly a little boring
(39:34) - "Sponsor:" It's All Good.
(40:38) - The Games Portion: Romance V Death Metal Band
(53:00) - Marker 10
(54:20) - A Writer's Rec

Brooksie Skittles and the Great Granite Glow-up

TruStory FM — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 03:00:00 -0700

If you’ve ever thought “My life would be so much easier if I just changed my name to Wanda Milkshake,” then you already understand the energy of this episode. Kyle has an existential crisis about his last name, which, as it turns out, is basically a bureaucratic cover-up from Ellis Island. Misty makes an airtight case for Lucille Ball not just as a comedy legend, but as the secret godmother of Star Trek. Pete reveals that Steve Jobs personally ruined his ability to touch a Windows machine without crying, and Ryan teaches us why Spider-Man should never give a TED Talk while being punched in the face.

Along the way, we invent an entire pulp noir character—Brooksie Skittles—because apparently none of us can be trusted with free time. We also discover that your true adult-entertainment name is your grandmother’s first name plus the last dessert you ate, which is both hilarious and a devastating reminder that you’ve been eating Pop-Tarts for dinner.

But beneath the jokes, there’s a point here: inspiration is weird, inconsistent, and often arrives from places that make no sense at all. Whether it’s bittersweet sitcoms, Brené Brown’s radical vulnerability, or Prince literally existing as a one-man thunderstorm, these are the figures chiseling away at our creative DNA. And if that means our Mount Rushmore ends up looking less like granite and more like a fever dream carved out of pudding, well, at least it’s honest.

Mentioned in the Episode

Scrubs (TV series)
Mission Impossible 3 (film)
The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway
Spider-Man comics (assorted runs)
John & Hank Green (Vlogbrothers, authors)
Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)
Prince (musician, icon)
Steve Jobs (Apple)
Frances Marion (screenwriter)
Lucille Ball (I Love Lucy)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Killing Eve)
Brené Brown (Daring Greatly, shame research)
Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing)
Dirk Maggs (audio drama producer)
Peter David (comic/Star Trek novelist)
Jane Espenson (Buffy, Battlestar Galactica)
Dying for Sex (Hulu series & podcast)
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
Adults (Hulu/Disney+)
The Residence (Netflix)

(00:00) - Welcome to Craft and Chaos!
(00:54) - What's In a Name?
(18:38) - "Sponsor:" Sitting in the Dark — A Horror Podcast
(20:04) - Your Rushmore
(55:36) - "Sponsor:" Problem Attic!

You Are A Most Important Tool

TruStory FM — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 03:00:00 -0700

Let’s be honest: most creative podcasts want to sell you the idea that if you just buy the right thing, you’ll magically become a creative genius. Which, to be clear, is absolute nonsense—because if that were true, this entire episode would have been recorded by a $700 Remarkable tablet and a foam ball named Chaotica, not four humans with questionable impulse control and deeply specific opinions about keyboards. But instead, it’s us: Misty, Kyle, Ryan, and Pete—offering an unfiltered digital show-and-tell of the actual tools we use to write novels and plays, make podcasts, and summon demons via cursed potatoes. Some of us love long walks, others rely on mechanical keyboards, and one of us edits audio like a gremlin in the night using software that no longer legally exists.

We kick things off with Kyle’s philosophical rant about the tyranny of software subscriptions and his never-ending quest for open-source purity. Misty shares her evolution from USB mic amateur to Rodecaster Pro sorceress, while Ryan maps out how a good chair, a great playlist, and noise-canceling headphones can turn a coffee shop into a cathedral of inspiration (as long as there’s no beer involved). Pete, naturally, has turned his studio into a voice-activated spaceship, powered by Hue lights, Obsidian, and a potato that literally shocks people. Also, somewhere in here, someone gets electrocuted and someone else quotes Clarissa Pinkola Estés, which pretty much sums us up.

We wrap with our “Worst Then Best Advice” roundtable, where each of us confesses the terrible guidance we’ve received (hello, “rewrite your script from memory”) and the wisdom we’ve clung to when the work gets hard. The truth is, no matter what tools you use—expensive or scrappy, analog or pixelated—the most powerful tool is you. Which, yes, sounds like a motivational poster from a dentist’s office, but in this context, it’s also deeply true.

Some of the Tools, Services & Shiny Things Mentioned:

Hardware:

Software & Services:

Honorable Mentions:

(00:00) - Welcome to Craft and Chaos
(01:14) - A Heartwarming Story of Disappointment
(12:36) - "Sponsor:" That Song
(14:13) - The Craft of Craft
(55:30) - "Sponsor:" Wall
(56:52) - Worst... then best advice

Dressage for the Creative Soul

TruStory FM — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 03:00:00 -0700

This week on Craft and Chaos, we asked a simple question: how do you keep making things when the world feels like it’s melting into a fine mist of hopelessness, bad headlines, and that one guy in your group chat who just did that one thing with that one person and now won’t shut up about it? Misty takes the hosting reins and invites Pete, Kyle, and Ryan to explore what it means to create during a time when existential dread has gone from a background hum to a full-blown dubstep remix.

We begin with a trip to Phoenix Fan Fusion, where Ryan’s book sold out, Kyle got to unleash his inner Marvel nerd, and apparently Hayden Christensen is still drawing a crowd. Then we dive straight into the emotional lava pit: Pete confesses to skipping the premiere of the short film that got him his first job (because self-doubt is a sneaky bastard), Misty reads poetry that is wonderful surely didn’t come from the pen of someone who claims not to be a poet, and Kyle shares a fan fiction stage script that accidentally found a moment of grace in the middle of a ridiculous showdown involving electric pencil sharpeners. Yes, that sentence was real. Finally, Ryan brings a punk rock script for public reading and it goes about as punk rock as you can imagine it would with... you know... us.

Also: haunted British girls endorse self-help podcasts. There’s a tangent about dressage that spirals out of control. And we all admit that five-star reviews are less about algorithmic reach and more about soothing our delicate, trembling egos.

So if you’re out there wondering whether any of this creative nonsense actually matters—whether your fanfic, your sketchbook, your unfinished novel or weird little voice memo has value—the answer is yes. Because it matters to you. And maybe, just maybe, it will matter to someone else too. Even if it takes them ten years and a random internet stumble to find it.

Go ahead. Make something weird. And for the love of God, review the podcast.

(00:00) - Welcome to Craft and Chaos
(03:52) - The Phoenix Fan Fusion Report
(15:15) - "Sponsor" The Other Orange
(16:50) - How DO You Make Art When The World is On Fire?
(39:42) - "Sponsor" Go Help Yourself Podcast!
(41:49) - The Proudnesses

Touching the Wily Breadbasket

TruStory FM — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 03:00:00 -0700

Rejection. It’s what’s for dinner. And breakfast. And sometimes, if you’re lucky, brunch. In this episode, Ryan, Misty, Kyle, and Pete dive headfirst into the creative gauntlet of being told, in increasingly poetic ways, that their babies are ugly. Kyle kicks things off with a rejection letter so well-crafted it deserves its own rejection from the Pushcart Prize. Misty breaks down the unglamorous labor of being a gatekeeper at Lionsgate, Ryan shares a deeply relatable five-minute sadness rule, and Pete reveals he processes pain through footwear and paper products. As one does.

From there, we launch into the writer’s block TED Talk no one asked for but everyone needs. Ryan makes a compelling case that writer’s block isn’t a real thing—it’s just fear in a trench coat—and the gang explores the odd rituals, inner critics, and coffee shop migrations that accompany the daily quest to get words on a page. There’s talk of NaNoWriMo (RIP), vomit drafts, and why sometimes you just need to write the worst possible version so Future You can come in with a cape and fix it.

Then, like any respectable artistic salon, the episode devolves gloriously into chaotic Mad Libs. First, Misty guides the group through a make-your-own creative process confession. Then Pete unleashes a faux-pretentious artist statement so disturbingly accurate it may have been plagiarized from a Brooklyn gallery wall. It includes polyester, Marco Polo, Aunt Pat’s canning club, and the philosophical meaning of “baby squirrel and rollerblades.”

Plus, you’ll hear two new “Sponsors”—one from the return of The Other Orange and another featuring Gandalf’s Discount Used Automobiles, because of course. If you leave this episode feeling totally normal, congratulations: you’re doing it wrong.

(00:00) - Welcome to Craft and Chaos
(02:20) - The Sweet Sound of Rejection
(20:52) - "Sponsor:" The Other Orange
(22:41) - My Wily Breadbasket
(28:28) - Writer's Block
(45:41) - "Sponsor:" Gandalf's Fine Somewhat Used Discount Vehicles
(48:30) - ANOTHER Mad Lib

TV’s Patrick Duffy Has Entered the Chat

TruStory FM — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 03:42:00 -0700

In this episode of Craft and Chaos, the team barrels past the sophomore slump and directly into a full-on identity crisis, complete with pseudonyms, fake sponsors, and a trivia contest where the prize is fractional horse ownership. Kyle Olson hosts Misty Stinnett, Ryan Dalton, and Pete Wright in a wildly meandering conversation about creative resilience, the dangers of scorpions, and why “bookmark” might be the most emotionally accurate verb of 2025. They debate the ethics of banana bread espionage, perform a cold read of a sewage-plant noir mystery written under the influence of neurotoxins, and invent a sponsor who promises not just goods and services, but also existential dread. Somewhere in there, Misty becomes a certified coach, Pete learns about Jeff Bridges’ jazz career, and Ryan achieves his dream of invoking TV’s Patrick Duffy for absolutely no reason at all.

It’s absurd. It’s sincere. It’s exactly what happens when creative people try to talk about their work and end up inventing a shadow organization called The Other Orange. Pancakes are eternal. Footnotes are emotional. And yes, creative survival is still possible—even if your leg is on fire.

Subscribe wherever chaos is allowed. Support the show at https://trustory.fm/join, and we’ll send you the rest of the horse.*

*We will not.

(00:00) - Welcome to Craft and Chaos
(00:54) - Introductions... again.
(05:07) - New Rules: Footnotes and Bookmarks
(10:52) - SPONSOR: Pancakes
(13:27) - Misty's Trivia Corner
(23:24) - *Footnote: What can we learn about TV's Patrick Duffy?
(26:50) - Storytime with Kyle

Practice In Public

TruStory FM — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 03:30:00 -0700

Welcome to Craft and Chaos, the podcast that dares to ask: what if a bunch of creative overachievers decided to work through their deep-seated psychological baggage… into a microphone? In this first episode, Misty, Kyle, Pete, and Ryan gather around the digital campfire and do the unthinkable—start something new, on purpose. What follows is a freewheeling, earnest, and often hilarious journey into imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and the strangely comforting fact that Julia Child didn’t publish her first cookbook until she was 49. You know. For the rest of us.

Pete confesses his creative process is fueled by dread and French teachers long dead. Kyle relives his artistic awakening via a Shakespearean pep talk from Lawrence Fishburne. Ryan, the most emotionally stable of the bunch (suspicious), calmly denies imposter syndrome exists while quietly dominating the author game under two names. And Misty—a princess by day, TV writer by night—drops the mic on late bloomers, Cinderella in a parking garage, and what it means to create when there’s no safety net, just drive, deadlines, and cheap wigs.

Along the way, you’ll hear ads from mysterious sponsors (we think?), deeply human moments wrapped in neurotic punchlines, and a shared promise: this show might not make us rich, but it will be real. And occasionally, it’ll be about ducks à l’orange.

So pull up a chair, bring your weirdest ideas, and enjoy the slightly lumpy, gloriously flavorful start to a podcast that honors the chaos of creation—and the creators still figuring it out in public.

(00:00) - Welcome to Craft and Chaos
(00:54) - Kyle Olson is Dramatic
(01:20) - Ryan Dalton is Acclaimed
(02:07) - Misty Stinnet Produces
(03:04) - Pete Write has Podcast and Book
(05:44) - "Sponsor" The Other Orange
(07:23) - Pete's Thing: The Aire of the Imposter
(29:38) - Late Bloomers!
(36:32) - Buy "This Last Adventure" by Ryan Dalton
(38:07) - Perfectionism
(01:00:25) - The Visit
(01:03:06) - Reach Out! https://CraftAndChaos.fun

Welcome to Craft and Chaos, Weirdo

TruStory FM — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 03:00:00 -0700

How do you make art when the world feels like it’s on fire?

Welcome to Craft and Chaos, the podcast for creative minds trying to thrive in the madness. Whether you write, paint, build, perform, or daydream ideas that keep you up at night, this show is your companion through the wild ride of making something out of nothing.

Join Misty, Pete, Kyle, and Ryan — a ragtag team of creative types — as they dive into the joy, frustration, and beautiful mess of the artistic process. From the spark of inspiration to the reality of “I actually made this,” they’ll share honest stories, epic wins, total flops, and the weird, wonderful chaos that comes with being possessed by a new idea.

This isn’t just about craft. It’s about surviving the noise, embracing your weird, and making cool stuff anyway.

Wherever the strangest podcasts are found.