Show overview
Secrets of Story Podcast has been publishing since 2016, and across the 9 years since has built a catalogue of 50 episodes. That works out to roughly 50 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a roughly quarterly cadence.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 48 min and 1h 12m — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language TV & Film show.
The catalogue appears to be on hiatus or wound down — the most recent episode landed 1 year ago, with no new episodes in over a year. The busiest year was 2021, with 11 episodes published. Published by The Secrets of Story Podcast.
From the publisher
Podcast by Matt Bird and James Kennedy
Latest Episodes
View all 50 episodes
The Final Episode in this Feed: Another preview of "A Good Story Well Told"!
It's another episode of Matt's new podcast, "A Good Story Well Told" with Jonathan Auxier, this time discussing "The Giver", but from now on, to get new content, you'll have to subscribe to the "A Good Story Well Told" feed. Meanwhile, this feed will remain active so you can enjoy the wonderful archives of Matt and James's content.
Introducing a new podcast: A Good Story Well Told with Jonathan Auxier
It's a special preview of the first episode of Matt's new podcast with Jonathan Auxier: A Good Story Well Told. Search for and subscribe to the new podcast to get a second episode now!
Live Show: Capturing the Nature of Children with Betsy Bird
Recorded Live at The Book Stall in Winnetka, IL, hosted by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, James and Matt welcome the legendary Betsy Bird to tackle a topic all three know something about: Capturing the Voices of Children in Your Writing. Matt argues that novels that feature truly authentic kids are by definition not children's books, and James and Betsy debate him on that.
Episode 47: The Heroine's Labyrinth with Douglas A. Burton
Matt and James welcome author Douglas A. Burton to discuss his new book The Heroine's Labyrinth! Matt blurbed it and said "The Heroine's Labyrinth is filled with profound and unique observations on the topic of story structure, no matter what the gender of your protagonist. Burton closely analyzes a wide breadth of stories and proves his thesis that Joseph Campbell missed half the story." James agrees and we dive into some of Douglas's many interesting new archetypes!
Episode 46: Organizing Chaos with Sophie Beal and Gary Dalkin
Sophie Beal and Gary Dalkin return to discuss novelists' relationship with editors, whether freelance or at a publisher. All four of us have been on one side of that divide or another, and most of us more than one, and we have a grand old time discussing it.
Episode 45: Specific vs. Generic (Or is it Factual vs. Archetypal?)
It's always good to load up your story with specifics, right? Not so fast! James talks about his decision to leave some information out of his new novel Bride of the Tornado, and Matt quibbles.
Episode 44: Putting the Secrets of Story Into Action with Torrey Maldonado
Matt and James welcome acclaimed novelist Torrey Maldonado to talk about how he's put Matt's advice into action for his books for young people (much to James's chagrin)
Episode 43: Writing Every Day with Brock Swinson
Matt and James are joined by author Brock Swinson and discuss his new book of writing advice Ink by the Barrel. All three of us agree that writers must write every day and then sheepishly admit that we don't actually do that. Download Brock's book for free at BrockSwinson.com and check out his podcast Creative Principles!
Episode 42: Mackendrick's Rules, the Epic Conclusion
Alexander Mackendrick summed up the wisdom that film schools (and MFA programs in general) hand down to writers. Is it helpful or poisonous? In this episode, Matt and James finish examining and questioning his 41 rules.
Episode 41: Mackendrick's Rules, Part 2
Matt and James once again use the rules of Alexander Mackendrick as a springboard to talk about what makes for a good story. Bonus: Matt posits his theory of what's in the case in Pulp Fiction and completely convinces James!
Episode 40: Mackendrick's Rules, Part 1
The great filmmaker Alexander Mackendrick famously passed along 41 rules of writing advice and now Matt and James are going to evaluate them all in a three-part epic!
Episode 39: Agents
James and Matt discuss their checkered history of getting agents/managers, failing to hold onto them, and getting new ones, with lots of tips for the unagented! Check out lots of supplemental materials on SecretsOfStory.com.
Episode 38: AI
Can a computer do our jobs? Matt puts it to the test and James scoffs, as is his wont.
Episode 37: Craft in the Real World
The long-awaited return! James and Matt reunite to discuss Matthew Salesses' book Craft in the Real World. Matt is worried about offending anyone and James is less so!
Episode 36: Save the Cat with Sophie Beal and Gary Dalkin
Special guests Sophie Beal and Gary Dalkin join us to debate the merits of the most infamous writing guide of all, Blake Snyder's Save the Cat
Episode 35: Co-Authoring and Transgression with Keir Graff and Linda Joffe Hull
A whopping two guests join us to discuss the feat of co-authoring three thrillers as "Linda Keir", including "The Swing of Things", which leads to a discussion of whether or not transgression need always be punished in American literature.
Episode 34: Building Character Voice
James and Matt discuss Metaphor Families, Default Personality Traits, and Default Argument Tactics. James quotes great wisdom forgetting that he's quoting Matt, and Matt heaps praise on James's new book-- It's a kumbaya love fest!
Episode 33: Niceness, Apologies and PTSD
James checks in on a prediction he made years ago (in Episode 4) that stories would start getting nicer. As it turns out, Ted Lasso proved him right!
Episode 32: Notes
Matt and James have a contentious history of giving (or not giving) feedback to each other, and they reveal some big philosophical differences on the fraught topic of how to give and receive notes.
Episode 31: Irony
Matt and James discuss 14 types of Irony and use Casablanca, Blazing Saddles and Mulan as examples.