We've just finished the fiction series, so it's time for another meta episode!

Dr. Brooke Macnamara is an associate professor of psychology at Purdue. She works on expertise, skill acquisition, and achievement, and we have a great conversation about how expertise research works (and where it falls short), talent identification, and much more.

Links:

• Dr. Macnamara's faculty page
• The Skill, Learning, and Performance Lab
• Deliberate Practice and Performance in Music, Games, Sports, Education, and Professions: A Meta-Analysis
• Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
• The Tyranny of Talent

Credits:

• Theme music: “Puzzle Pieces” by Lee Rosevere. Available for use under the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CC BY 4.0 license⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Free Music Archive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Gwenda Bond has written across a range of genres and media, alone and collaboratively, and for licensed properties including Lois Lane and Stranger Things. This week, we discuss the value of constraints and the joy of finding that one reader who connects with the story you're trying to tell.

Links:

• GwendaBond.com
• Gwenda on Instagram
• Gwenda on Bluesky
• Gwenda's newsletter

Credits:

• Theme music: “Puzzle Pieces” by Lee Rosevere. Available for use under the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CC BY 4.0 license⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Free Music Archive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Ken Liu is an author of award-winning short stories and novels, and has thought deeply about what it means to write fiction well. In this episode, we talk about language as a tool, and about the author as someone with the responsibility to use that tool to help people see things in a way they otherwise couldn't.

Links:

• Ken Liu on the web
• Ken's newsletter

Credits:

• Theme music: “Puzzle Pieces” by Lee Rosevere. Available for use under the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CC BY 4.0 license⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Free Music Archive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This week, we're talking to Chris Huisjen, who writes serial fiction online under the pseudonym Aest Belequa.

We discuss the difference between serialized fiction and traditional work, how he's built his writer's toolkit, the importance of receiving and, especially, providing feedback, and exploring themes and tropes.

Links:

• Aest Belequa on Royal Road
• Aest Belequa on Patreon
• Magical Girl Undergrad book 1: Heroics 101
• The Halcyon System
• Dungeon Tour Guide
• Scholomance book 1: A Deadly Education

Credits:

• Theme music: “Puzzle Pieces” by Lee Rosevere. Available for use under the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CC BY 4.0 license⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Free Music Archive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This week's conversation is with Andrea Phillips, novelist and storyteller across prose, games, and immersive experiences.

We talk about the importance of the audience in good writing, the value of commercial speech, writing across different media, and collaboration, among other topics.

Links:

• Deus ex machinatio, Andrea's blog
• A Creator's Guide to Transmedia Storytelling
• The Daring Adventures of Captain Lucy Smokeheart
• America, Inc.
• The "you might be the killer" Twitter thread → movie, discussed

Credits:

• Theme music: “Puzzle Pieces” by Lee Rosevere. Available for use under the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CC BY 4.0 license⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Free Music Archive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

The fiction series begins! First up, we hear from Dr. Eric Schwitzgebel -- professor of philosophy at UC Riverside, but also the author of short stories that explore philosophical themes.

We discuss the necessity of considering the audience when thinking about good fiction, formula in genres, and the challenges and power of speculative fiction, among other topics.

Links:

• Dr. Schwitzgebel at UC Riverside
• The Splintered Mind
• Themes and Aims of My Science Fiction
• "How to Remember Perfectly"
• "The Turing Machines of Babel"
• The Weirdness of the World
• Philosophy Through Science Fiction Stories

Credits:

• Theme music: “Puzzle Pieces” by Lee Rosevere. Available for use under the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CC BY 4.0 license⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Free Music Archive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Ten Thousand's first meta episode! Dr. Barbara Gail Montero is a philosopher (and former professional ballet dancer) who works on expertise. We dig into the prospects for a general theory of expertise and her work on conscious control and attention.

Links:

- ⁠On the Philosophy of Mind

- Philosophy of Mind: A Very Short Introduction

- Thought in Action: Expertise and the Conscious Mind

- Continuous Improvement: Intertwining Mind and Body in Athletic Expertise (with John Toner and Aidan Moran)

Credits:

- Theme music: “Puzzle Pieces” by Lee Rosevere. Available for use under the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CC BY 4.0 license⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Free Music Archive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This episode is a conversation with Dr. Johnathan Flowers, assistant professor of philosophy at California State University Northridge.

We talk about philosophy for the public and for the academy, and how what it means to do good philosophy is tightly bound to the audience.

Links:

- on ⁠Bluesky⁠

- Faculty page at CSUN

Credits:

- Theme music: “Puzzle Pieces” by Lee Rosevere. Available for use under the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CC BY 4.0 license⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Free Music Archive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠