J. R. Thornton was born in London and graduated from Harvard College in 2014, where he studied history, English, and Chinese. He later competed for Harvard as an internationally ranked junior tennis player on the men's professional circuit.

Shortly after graduating from Harvard, J. R. published his first novel, Beautiful Country, loosely inspired by experiences he had living in Beijing as a teenager. The novel became a best-seller in China, and the film rights were subsequently purchased by WME/IMG.

J. R. returned to China in 2016 as a member of the inaugural class of Schwarzman Scholars, earning an M.A. from Tsinghua University. He lives in Milan, where he works for AC Milan. Lucien is his second novel.

Lucien is described as an incendiary literary work about a gifted artist on financial aid at Harvard who falls victim to the manipulative control of his wealthy, enigmatic roommate. Drawing inspiration from the true crime stories of Christian Gerhartsreiter (a.k.a. "Clark Rockefeller") and Adam Wheeler, Lucien is an immensely entertaining novel that will appeal to fans of The Secret History, The Incendiaries, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Saltburn. This is complicated, toxic friendship and dark academia at its best.

We talk about how he got started writing, lessons learned playing professional tennis, how he got his first agent, his writing routine, becoming immersed in his novel while writing it, maintaining discipline, writing in alternate places, where the idea for Lucien came from, developing the main character, publuishing, books and authors we love, cultivating creativity and curiosity, writing a screenplay, advice for writers, time travel, and we discuss I highlights I took from the book.

links are on the podcast shownotes page

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PJ Glassey started personal training in 1987 and successfully grew his business over the following 11 years, training clients in their homes and at local area gyms. With the help of these clients as test subjects, and armed with his degree in Exercise Science, PJ invented his "multi-protocol" concept and refined it through 1998, when he founded the X Gym. He is also the author of the book "Cracking Your Calorie Code" and the inventor of his Brain Type Test, which helps people achieve health and fitness results much faster through specific brain wiring techniques tailored to their unique brain type.

We talk about his unconventional training method, which focuses on toning and defining instead of bulking muscles and taking less time and being less dangerous, muscle size vs strength, muscle density instead of girth, endurance and strength training, sets to complete muscle failure, intensity, the equipment in his gym, comfort and the downward spiral of staying in your comfort zone, exercise goals, TRX, diet, alcohol and aging, breakfast, intermittent fasting, why aging comes from the relentless pursuit of comfort, avoiding dementia, brain training and body training, the value of discipline, the biggest mistake of New Year's resolutions, doing business based on Jesus Christ (and morals and ethics), sharing happiness, asking God for inspiration, beating writer's block, and more.

Links are on the podcast shownotes page

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Douglas Ell grew up in Connecticut, and graduated early from MIT, where he double majored in math and physics. He then obtained a masters in theoretical mathematics from the University of Maryland. After graduating from law school, magna cum laude, he became a prominent attorney. His legal training and work, combined with his academic science background and a lifetime of independent study, has given him a uniquely grounded approach to science, religion, and philosophy. He is a proponent of Intelligent Design and takes the Bible literally.

We talk about math and art, physics and how it led him to God, the three laws of thermodynamics, the universe and time, the fine tuning of the universe, why anything exists at all, atheism, Christianity, how all life runs on code (DNA), SETI, evolution and natural selection, entropy, deep time, Carbon-14 dating and rediometric dating, quantum entanglement, intelligent design, suboptimal design, his book Counting to God, the James Webb Telescope, cosmology, and more.

links are on the podcast shownotes page

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Lorie Kleiner Eckert is a slice-of-life blogger, motivational speaker, and author of five books. Her latest is Chai on Life (pronounced "High on Life") and is a collection of 36 short stories or memoirs with themes of gratitude, happiness, family, and self-help. It's a delightful book, and Lorie is a wise and delightful person with lots of insights on life to share.

We talk about her book, finding gratitude even in difficult situations, avoiding the intrusiveness of modern technology, writing, happiness and how to find it, sobriety, meditation, chasing numbers, solitude, avoiding the covid lockdown in The Bahamas, family, reinventing ourselves, rewarding yourself, journaling and blogging, finding friends, art, books, and more.

Links are on the podcast shownotes page

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This February marks ten years without smoking marijuana and eleven years without drinking alcohol for me. In this episode, I talk about how I quit, and why I quit, both of these addictive drugs.

Links and photos are on the podcast shownotes page

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Poetry by Paul Trammell, read by the author.

click on this substack link to get a short story every month, as well as poetry and book reviews

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Links are on the podcast shownotes page

Cheryl Drury, a lifelong reader, is on a misssion to read a long list of classic books which she found on Ted Gioia's Substack page. She now has her own Substack page that features her podcast "Crack the Book" about classic books.

We talk about The Great Gatsby, The Red Badge of Courage, Romeo and Juliet and other works of Shakespeare, The Odyssey, David Foster Wallace, James Joyce's Ulysses, Swann's Way, Les Miserables, Louise May Alcott's Little Women, Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice, reading on a Kindle vs hardcopies, things we learn about life and human nature from reading classic books, Great Expectations and Charles Dickens, Gentleman in Moscow, Dead Souls, Fathers and Sons, The Brothers Karamazov, The Death of Ivan Ilyitch, characters, taking notes while reading, Dante, what makes a book a classic, Bleak House, Blood Meridian, The Road and Cormac McCarthy, Canticles for Liebowitz, Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad, reading aloud, poetry, Pablo Neruda, writing every day, why we love to read, Breakfast at Tiffany's, In Cold Blood, Brave New World, Blood Child, This is How you Lose the Time War, Isaac Asimov, classic science fiction, Don Quixote, The Golden Ass, and more.

Links are on the podcast shownotes page

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Just Like Meat, or Prosthetics, is a sci-fi short story by Paul Trammell (the host).

If you like short stories and want to receive one of mine on the first of every month, for free, sign up for my Substack "newsletter"

You can support the podcast through Patreon

More info can be found on the podcast shownotes page

Kepp an eye out for my latest novel Identity Crisis releasing March first, available for preorder now.

Remember to alway stand on the side of love, and that relentless peaceful protest is what won the Civil Rights Movement.