In Part 2, we move beneath the surface and explore the deeper origins of tropes , their roots in myth, psychology, and the human soul. Drawing from Jung, Joseph Campbell, and the collective unconscious, I examine how archetypes once served as living, spiritual structures of storytelling… and how corporations and cowardly trend-chasing authors flattened those archetypes into lifeless tropes.

This episode reveals the mythic, psychological, and spiritual architecture behind real storytelling, and makes the case for resurrecting fiction through interiority, courage, and genuine human depth. If Part 1 diagnosed the disease, Part 2 explains the organism that got infected... and how writers can heal it.

As always, sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Read my bestselling novel, Monsters in My Mind: https://bit.ly/431rY3U

Follow me on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Nick-Oliveri/author/B09NLBSHV5?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1737603747&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

X: @faultyharb

Instagram: @nick0liveri

In Part 1 of this two-part episode, I dissect the modern obsession with writing fiction built entirely out of tropes: plots, characters, and emotional beats engineered from formula instead of imagination. This is a precise, dryly mocking, philosophical critique of how commercial fiction became predictable, repetitive, and creatively lifeless.

I explore the rise of trope-driven storytelling, the cultural and educational forces that encourage it, the cowardice of writers who rely on formula instead of introspection, and the publishing industry’s addiction to “safe” derivative books. Part 1 is the diagnosis, or, rather, the surface-level disease.

Part 2 goes deeper into the psychology, mythology, and spiritual origins of storytelling.

As always, sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Read my bestselling novel, Monsters in My Mind: https://bit.ly/431rY3U

Follow me on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Nick-Oliveri/author/B09NLBSHV5?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1737603747&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

X: @faultyharb

Instagram: @nick0liveri

Youtube: @TheNickOliveri

In this episode, I explore the shrinking vocabularies of modern culture, our collective fear of complex language, and how the education system, digital short-form content, and cultural laziness have quietly eroded our ability to articulate thought. Through linguistic history, the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, the evolution of English, slang, neologisms, and stories from my book tours, I argue that language is limitless... but its speakers are shrinking. This is a defense of difficult words, invented words, emotional precision, and the boundless beauty of language and English in specific.

As always, sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Read my bestselling novel, Monsters in My Mind: https://bit.ly/431rY3U

Follow me on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Nick-Oliveri/author/B09NLBSHV5?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1737603747&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

X: @faultyharb

Instagram: @nick0liveri

Youtube: @TheNickOliveri

As always, sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Read my bestselling novel, Monsters in My Mind: https://bit.ly/431rY3U

Follow me on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Nick-Oliveri/author/B09NLBSHV5?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1737603747&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

X: @faultyharb

Instagram: @nick0liveri

Youtube: @TheNickOliveri

In this episode, I explore a paradox I’ve carried for years: why SpongeBob SquarePants and Dostoyevsky’s Prince Myshkin from The Idiot are, at their psychological core, the same archetype. One is preserved for laughs; the other is destroyed for being good. Through the Seven Deadly Sins embedded in Bikini Bottom, the prophetic modernity of 19th-century Russia, and the ancient Greek dichotomy of comedy versus tragedy, I examine what happens when radical innocence confronts a morally inverted world.

This is an exploration of purity, corruption, social mirrors, literary psychology, and what it means to be “the idiot” in a society that no longer recognizes goodness. If you’re interested in philosophy, character analysis, existential storytelling, or the deeper mechanics of art, this episode might resonate with you.

As always, sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Read my bestselling novel, Monsters in My Mind: https://bit.ly/431rY3U

Follow me on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Nick-Oliveri/author/B09NLBSHV5?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1737603747&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

X: @faultyharb

Instagram: @nick0liveri

Youtube: @TheNickOliveri

As always, sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Read my bestselling novel, Monsters in My Mind: https://bit.ly/431rY3U

Follow me on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Nick-Oliveri/author/B09NLBSHV5?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1737603747&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

X: @faultyharb

Instagram: @nick0liveri

Youtube: @TheNickOliveri

As always, sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Read my bestselling novel, Monsters in My Mind: https://bit.ly/431rY3U

Follow me on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Nick-Oliveri/author/B09NLBSHV5?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1737603747&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

X: @faultyharb

Instagram: @nick0liveri

Youtube: @TheNickOliveri