Stories Are Soul Food
Best-selling author N. D. Wilson and editor Brian Kohl host this podcast that explores stories as a means to shape loyalties and affections, ultimately pointing to Jesus Christ as the greatest Author. Each episode discusses literature, narrative, and how stories feed the soul.
Episodes
Is Nolan Ragebaiting? (The Odyssey & The Return of Ashtown)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com. Join Author ND Wilson and Brian Kohl to discuss Nolan's The Odyssey and the journey of the Ashtown Burial series' return. Including the legal battle over Ashtown and finishing the story of Cyrus Smith.
A Christian Filmmaker on Storytelling / Francis Annan
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Join Author ND Wilson and Director Francis Annan to discuss the importance of storytelling. What does it mean to be an artist, and how does artwork tell the story of the artist? What does it mean to tell good stories? How do directors and novelists combat storytelling?
Shortcuts Don't Make You Better
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Join ND Wilson and Brian Kohl as they discuss the dangers of shortcutting life. From performance-enhancing drugs to AI, we always seem to want to take shortcuts to victory. Is AI enhancement the same as performance-enhancing drugs? What makes AI a cop-out? And how to deal with the Pandora’s Box of
When to Risk It All: Lessons From Daniel
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.On this episode of Stories Are Soul Food, ND Wilson and Brian Kohl discuss Daniel, Prophet to the Babylonians. How to Serve Five Emperors without Losing Your Soul. Is there more to Daniel than just the Lion’s Den story? What does it mean to live faithfully under Babylon? Where do Christians fail to
Moving Beyond "What Is This Story Saying?"
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.On this episode of Stories Are Soul Food, Nate Wilson and Brian Kohl discuss the difference between what a story tells and what it does. How do stories move people? How does the audience respond? Along with insight of how to read Ashtown Burials from the author!
Why You Should Train Girls Harder Than Boys
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.ND Wilson and Brian Kohl mix parenting advice and sports stories once again. Listen for a discussion on how you can treat daughters like ladies, while still pushing them to their limits, in athletics.
Looking For Real Life Supervillains? | (Ep. 203)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Nate and Brian catch back up on the trailer for Toy Story 5, then they tackle the question "Why is everybody looking for someone to blame?"
Scene by Scene Breakdown, Children of Men | (Special Episode)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.You won’t want to miss Nate Wilson and Brian Kohl as they watch and break down Children of Men. This masterpiece has some of the most intricate and technically brilliant cinematography in movie history. See what makes it so special—and check out one scene that misses the mark.
Children of Men, a Very SASF Christmas Movie | (Ep. 202)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.You thought the Look At Moving Pictures Club was dead? LAMPC is baaaaaack, and the guys are discussing one of their favorites:
- Why Alfonso Cuaron's "Children of Men" is one of the best movies of the 21st century; - Why Children of Men is a Christmas movie (whether or not P.D. James intended it in
So What If Elon's a Lizardman? | (Ep. 201)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.The guys go through some of the best pitches so far. ("Best" is strong.) Then:
Conspiracy theories aren't your job. What is?
You have heard that Israel k*lled Charlie. Or that Elon is a lizard man. What next?
Make sure you're rooted in the God, who never changes, before you think about investigati
Revenge Movies & Masculinity | (Ep. 200)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.This week on SASF—apparently our 200th episode (who knew?)—we're diving into the massive topic of justice and mercy? From revenge-soaked movie plots to the rise of the manosphere, we explore why so many men seek utter annihilation over their enemies, and what it looks like for Christians to fight w
Writing Your Story with Self-Control | (Ep. 199)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Nate and Brian sit down to talk about the importance of self-control in writing your story. Plus, brand new pitch reviews featuring a ewe with a unique circumstance.
What Makes a Story Resonate? | (Ep. 198)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Nate and Brian return to review your pitches and break down what makes stories resonate with an audience. Plus, their takes on the Charlie Kirk memorial service through the lens of powerful storytelling.
How Propaganda Ruins Stories | (Ep. 197)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.On this episode of SASF, Nate and Brian are back to review your pitches again while tackling propaganda in Christian media. Catch them discussing the power of satire and what friendships should look like in your stories.
Charlie's Cheerful Masculinity | (Ep. 196)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.
This SASF episode breaks down the life and legacy of Charlie Kirk. What a story:
How the devil messed up by killing Charlie, because martyrdom after Christ doesn't work.
Charlie's cheerful masculinity made him a target.
Why Charlie's "free speech" approach prevents civil war.
Crazy progre
Spotting Stories with Hidden Poison | (Ep. 195)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.How do you identify stories with poison in them? They never say "TAKE THIS POISON." They always coat it in chocolate first...- "Make Me Famous" pitch reviews segment continues with "The Ghost Train". Maybe this is the episode wherein Nate finally likes a pitch.- Then the guys turn to stories that s
Were We Wrong About KPop Demon Hunters? | (Ep. 194)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.On this episode of SASF Nate and Brian discuss the recent X controversy Nate caused, Why you should watch KPop Demon Hunters? How we as Christians should approach it and all forms of Media? How Miyazaki does anime well? and much more.
- Nate and Brian discuss how Kpop Demon Hunters is a bad pitch,
Fictional Dads To Look Up To | (Ep. 193)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.You have heard this SASF axiom: "A good dad can't be present in children's fiction." This is because if he was, there'd be no story for the kids to take care of -- BUT... there are a few exceptions...
- Brian and Nate search for those elusive MG/YA unicorns: the good and present father.
- What abou
Nate Roasts Your Story Pitch (Make Me Famous No. 1) | (Ep. 192)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.This week SASF listeners sent in their own pitches for an episode of "Make Me Famous" In this new SASF segment, Nate reacts for the first time to original ideas containing:- The Last Airbender meets Stranger Things plus reincarnation, a slave girl, and a menacing priest- A headstrong girl who awake
F1, K Pop Demon Hunters, & Netflix’s Big Mistake | (Ep. 191)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Brian Kohl and Nate Wilson discuss F1: The Movie and K-Pop Demon Hunters. Nate explains that the latter sounds terrible on paper pitch but the filmmakers really pulled it off. They also touch on the teaser for Pixar's upcoming movie, "Hoppers" and why it's just a plain old bad pitch.
Neil Gaiman, Morbidity, & Sparta | (Ep. 190)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.This episode offers a smorgasbord: Nate has never finished a Neil Gaiman book. Brian tells him why. They also discuss:- Sparta, Lycurgus, and delicacies.- Feminine vs Masculine glory.- Stoics vs Epicenes.
Nancy Drew and Soul Food | (Ep. 189)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.This episode offers a SASF smorgasbord:
Is Nancy Drew healthy soul food for a teenager?
The guys discuss syndicate writing such as Nancy Drew, Tom Swift, and the Hardy Boys.
Also on this episode: Why theater is so often gay, why Broadway is boutique, and why Shakespeare isn't a counterexample.
...
China Beats Pixar | (Ep. 188)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Brian forces Nate to watch two new kids movie trailers... one from Pixar, and one from China.
Pixar's new movie Elio flopped harder than anything that's come before.
The top-grossing animated movie this year comes from China... it's Ne Zha 2, and it's made 2.2 billion (!) dollars.
The guys talk ab
The Future of Christian Fiction | (Ep. 187)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.The guys welcome Scott Minor of Realm Makers for a cameo on Christian fiction...
Meet the Realm Makers conference: A decade or two ago, Christian fiction publishers only wanted Amish romance; but Scott's wife Betty was a Christian fantasy writer... so together they founded Realm Makers!
Nate's hea
Help Help We're Being Repressed! Ft. Nate's Daughters | (Special Episode!)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.We've got good news for you: Lucia and Ameera come on SASF to discuss HELP HELP!Yes, it's about the launch of Lucy and Ameera's new movie/book review podcast!The new podcast/show is named Help Help We're Being Repressed. (Yes, that's a Monty Python reference.)On this first episode of Help Help, Nat
Social Media Controls Hollywood | (Ep. 186)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Brian says he showed "Batman Begins" to his kids and enjoyed it; Nate goes on a rampage.Nolan's Batman earnestness necessitated the Joker to give us all some relief. "Why so serious, Batman?"Nolan is a great artisan but a terrible philosopher. "I run because they need me to run."... But it was all
Overcoming Trauma and Hardship | (Ep. 185)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.When you've been hurt, what kind of character will you be?
God gives you hardship as a Storyteller does: because readers love what happens when a character is down but finds a way to get back up;
Remember that it's in the cellars of affliction that God makes his choicest wines (Rutherford);
Be at
Fake Christians | (Ep. 184)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Time to talk about Christians in novels:+ Secular novelists love to make their villains hypocritical Christians.+ Christian novelists are very honest about their Christian characters' flaws as well.+ So don't be offended when you bump into a fake Christian in a story.+ Nate walks through the flaws
Be The Director | (Ep. 183)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Brian asks Nate what tips he'd give a teenage SASFer who wants to become a movie director. And, perhaps surprisingly, Nate's advice has nothing to do with movies. Because if you want to direct feature films when you grow up, you're the kid saying "I am gonna be an NFL quarterback." That kind of car
Stomach for the Fight | (Ep. 182)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.You're used to saying "stories are soul food" -- this episode discusses why Nate thought kids in our time especially need to read stories about corrupt institutions failing them, and how to reconsecrate an institution in its own rubble. This takes courage, strength, and determination. It takes havi
Netflix Narnia | (Ep. 181)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Brian springs an awful Aslan casting surprise on Nate, and the results are delightful. The SASF discussion of Greta Gerwig's new Netflix Narnia series ranges far afield. Planet Narnia, which book of the series is Nate's favorite, Lewis's repeated character archetypes, adaptation of books to film...
The Boys Aren't Reading | (Ep. 180)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.It's old news that the boys aren't reading. The NY publishing industry was obsessed with the idea when they first took at look at Nate's work twenty years ago. This episode of SASF features the story of the (female) editor who wanted to reach boys with Nate's manuscript of Leepike Ridge by 1) takin
Invasion of the Consumers | (Ep. 179)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.What should your decision process be when you are thinking about moving your family across the country to a new place? Well, the answer is rooted in story. Are you moving to a place where you can be a better character, where your kids can be more active, where your family can grow -- or are you rel
Animation Studio Autopsy Feat. Nate's Daughters | (Ep. 178)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Many of us remember a time when Pixar reigned supreme over the many competing Animation Studios. But now, 15ish years later, that distinction has become blurry. Can we bet on any one Animation Studio for quality? Join Nate, Amira, and Lucia as they talk about childhood movie memories and the proble
Severance Season 2 Shakedown | (Ep. 177)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.This week the guys discuss some frustrating creative decisions behind the new Season of Severance. #severance #benstiller #adamscott
House of David, Raining Frogs | (Ep. 176)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.A project Nate worked on is arriving this February: It's House of David, a serious retelling of the life of David. But Nate only worked on early drafts, and it's now a Prime Video project. The guys watch the preview; Brian criticizes vestiges of what feels like Rings of Power; Nate talks about the
Animals are Soul Food | (Ep. 175)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Yes, animals are real food -- but they're also soul food. You might think animal documentaries aren't that important, but imagine this: What if the only commentaries on the Bible were written by atheists? That's the modern-day situation we have with nature documentaries. Remember, God has revealed
Capitalism Doesn't Produce Great Art | (Ep. 174)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.As a conservative artist who's been working in the mainstream since 2007, Nate has an artistic opinion that's going to get conservative folks angry: Capitalism doesn't produce great art. Lest you join this commenter who said "this take is so dumb it got me to engage, brilliant", if you care about t
Year of the Looney Toon | (Ep. 173)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.This episode is a justification for the Stories Are Soul Food manifesto. First, Brian makes Nate react to the worst SASF episode from last year; then, Brian makes Nate react to the 2025 Golden Globes winners (The Brutalist, Emilia Perez, The Substance, Flow, etc.); and lastly Brian makes Nate justi
Mediocrity of Input | (Ep. 172)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Longtime listeners will get that particular feeling in the pit of their stomach when they hear Nate start talking about life in a particularly bleak way -- you know, the "make that heartbeat count because we're all going to die" kind of way. Brian has named this manifestation of his podcast co-host
171: Flattering Your Kids
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Nate and Brian discuss flattering your kids versus telling them the truth, what would happen if we stopped giving gifts on Christmas (it would be really really really horrible), and touch on some Christmas movie classics.
170: A Judeo-Christian Christmas
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Listeners of this podcast know that when Christmastime rolls around, the SASF podcast likes to focus on the less appreciated Bible stories that lead up to the birth of the Christ:. You may remember past Advent episodes on the Levite's concubine, Onan, and Tamar. This year, the guys discuss the plac
169: Undermining Gladiator's Nobility
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Under duress, Brian admits that Gladiator (the original) is still his favorite movie, having stayed atop the BK Movie podium since Brian was a teenager. Nate attacks Brian for his bashfulness at recommending what is, in fact, an all-time great movie, and the guys have a pleasant reminiscence of Rus
168: Bored of That Hideous Strength (feat. Calvin Robinson)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.
Get The Things of Earth today: https://canonpress.com/products/the-things-of-earth-treasuring-god-by-enjoying-his-gifts-2nd-ed
167: All Fiction is Fantasy
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.The guys make a oliphaunt-sized announcement -- the 1977 animated Hobbit is now streaming on Canon+ (along with the cartoon Return of the King!). Naturally, it's our next LAMPC pick (Look At Moving Pictures Club, for those of you who don't know). The discussion of the Rankin-Bass cartoon Hobbit lea
166: Potty Talk and Shrek Fulfillment
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Yes, these two topics are both related, but not in the way you're thinking. Brian asks Nate a vital parenting question for anyone with boys -- how do you deal with kids talking about gross things? Nate points out that it's God who made the world with poop, pee, and barf in it, but it's also God who
165: The Beauty Pageants of Babylon
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Around election time people get addicted to bad stories, downing them cocktail after cocktail. And that's because presidential elections, which are the beauty pageants of babylon, usually turn on this simple storytelling question: Who can tell the most compelling tale about their opponents? Harris-
164: The Gospel of Story
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Public perception of Christianity has soured in the past decade -- and so has most of the famous "Christian" nonfiction -- titles such as The Shack, Love Wins, Blue Like Jazz, Love Does, Wild at Heart have aged like milk. In contrast, Brian asks Nate why his own nonfiction seems so well suited for
163: A Soul Food Challenge
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.See if you can guess this author who has sold over 200 million copies: His comic work consists of nonstop adventure featuring a boy-faced hero and his little white dog. Yes, this Stories Are Soul Food episode is about Herge, Tintin, and Snowy (or Milou, if you're Belgian, and want the dog to be nam
162: Taking Down Churchill
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.The internet is still smoldering from the aftermath of a Tucker Carlson interview in which Darryl Cooper of the pop history podcast Martyr Made called Winston Churchill "a chief villain of World War 2." Brian asks Nate about historical heroes, the great wars, whether Winston Churchill is hero or vi
161: How to Fake the Shroud of Turin
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Did you know that N.D. Wilson found a method that would have allowed a medieval to fake the Shroud using glass and paint, including photo negativity and all? This Stories Are Soul Food episode has the entire scoop -- including: Nate's impetus for the whole experiment (a professor discarded the Bibl
160: 8 Million Copies
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.After a quick discussion of Brian's decision to shout more at Nate to please a few vocal liseners, the SASF guys discuss what it takes to sell more than 8 million copies of your books. Turns out, if you published in the 2010s, putting "Girl" in the title pretty much did it. If you follow publishing
159: Living Forever
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Will we tell stories in heaven? Nate says the answer is so obvious it's a dumb question. Brian tries to make him answer anyway. Instead, Nate talks about a sci-fi story he is working on in which nobody lives past age 18. Turns out storytelling is fundamental to humanity, and we should be living lik
158: Fast Starters Who Fade
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Prepare for a very convicting episode of Stories Are Soul Food. Jesus warns of one kind of seed that springs up fast but quickly withers away. It's this kind of character the SASF guys discuss today, with Brian asking questions about Saul and Judas. Nate identifies one fundamental error such charac
157: The Boy and the Heron (feat. Crispin's Rainy Day)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Nate and Brian invite Forrest Dickison on to make sure he takes first place as SASF'S Most Invited Guest. But really they want to discuss Forrest's debut picture book, Crispin's Rainy Day, a story about a boy who wants to join a crew of pirate frogs -- but only if he can escape from his little sist
156: Trump Survives
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.How do we, the members of a rotting democracy, read the story of the botched assassination of President Trump? God put a few more minutes back on the clock when DT turned his head to look at that immigration chart. Not only did we get a key character moment from Trump -- courage after being shot ca
155: Unsung Heroes
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.
This week Brian has abandoned Nate to attend the birth of his daughter, so Nate strikes back by having two of his own daughters on the pod instead. The discussion begins with what books the girls, Lucy and Ameera, are reading, and why Lucy hates detective novels and green food. Lucy is
154: Innocence in the Postapocalypse
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Today's Stories Are Soul Food episode covers two new dystopian tales, a book and a show. The book is Leif Enger's "I Cheerfully Refuse", which Brian cheerfully despised for Leif's overly luminous characters and bass-playing giant protagonist. The show is Amazon Prime's "Fallout," which Nate skipped
153: Not All Burgers Are Equal
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.If you're a crippled Eskimo girl, would the best story you could ever read have a crippled Eskimo girl as the hero? Many book publishers and movie studios today would say YES. (The part they don't say is that the only reason they don't make more movies about Eskimos on crutches is because that demo
152: Filtering Bad Books
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Nate talks about his ability to sense changes in the weather, and proceeds to roast Brian for his opinions on prologues. But that's not the occasion for this wandering episode: If you're a regular SASF listener, you'll know that the guys are big proponents of filtering films for family movie night
151: Taylor Swift and Playlist Trouble
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Nate claims that talking about music is boring, but in this episode you're going to find out he has written lyrics to more than twenty (!) songs (as yet unscored). You're even going to get one scandalous title. Then Brian ambushes Nate by reading a stanza of Taylor Swift's new lyrics, and the guys
150: The Great Debate: Art vs Morality & Money (feat. Doug TenNapel)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Can you name a successful Christian artist living today? Right now, to be a Christian artist means to be not a very good Christian and not a very good artist. Nate and Brian welcome the larger-than-life figure of Doug TenNapel to the SASF show to discuss this problem. Doug T. is a comic artist and
149: Two Students Defy Columbia Mob
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Breaking news: Nate's son Rory is a senior at Columbia University where, late last night (Monday April 29th), a mob of professional protestors advocating intifada and abolition of Israel climbed through dorms and tried take possession of a university building. Only Rory and his friend Charles stood
148: Demon Possession
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.FACE YOUR FEARS: If this week's "Soul Food" discussion is a sandwich, the first slice of bread is advice for helping your children face their fears, the other slice of bread is how moms and dads fail to face their fears as adults, and the mystery meat in the middle is delightful discussion on demon
147: Doug on Tucker, Weak Big Eva
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Nate and Brian discuss Doug Wilson's gospel-filled appearance on the Tucker Carlson Network. Turns out, this isn't Doug's first big media rodeo, and it makes perfect SASF fodder to discuss the different characters that come out of the woodwork after such an event. The guys discuss the "I don't agre
146: Worldview of Stories
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.This episode starts with a discussion of woke adaptations and ends with a discussion of the unavoidability of fiction in shaping your life. Would Nate be fine with having "woke" elements in a major adaptation of his films? His answer might surprise you. You'll hear war stories about ancestor worshi
145: Shawshank Revisited (SASF LAMP Club)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Would you say Shawshank Redemption is "a movie with a happy ending"? Years ago as a young husband, that's what Brian picked to watch when his wife made a request for just such a film with a happy ending. (Spoiler: Shawshank Redemption was not the kind of movie she had meant.) For this momentous 145
144: Dune 2: Making Chani Great
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Prepare yourself for the Dune-versation! (Sorry.) The guys liked Dune 2 and Denis Villeneuve proved that he "got" what made Dune great. But of course, the fun of a movie discussion is often in what you hate: Brian really disliked pouty Zendaya and the northern "modernist" Fremen. But Nate says ther
143: Harold's Conversion in Chariots of Fire (SASF LAMP Club)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.In this episode you'll get to hear Nate sing (!) the unofficial English national anthem "Jerusalem"... but there's lots more: In England 1924, the sport of "sprinting" is in tension between faith and secularism, amateurism and the pros, and the nation versus world. Chariots of Fire is a tale of two
142: Real Life Comedy
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.As regular listeners know, Nate is a high school basketball coach, and for the first half of this episode he updates the SASF crowd with all travail his team has gone through -- the worst having to do with lies being told about his guys. This leads to valuable lessons for these young men, and has a
141: The Most Interesting Man
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Did you think we were dead? Brian apologizes for the long break between episodes and Nate does not. They then open the new year with a banger about being boring. Let's face it... most of us don't live what could be called "interesting" lives. We don't travel extensively, kill and then circumcise de
140: Dressing Like Vader
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.What should parents do if their six-year-old son wants to dress up like one of the most murderous bad guys, Darth Vader? It's fine -- and the key lies in a weakness in the story itself: Luke is a vanilla protagonist (at least until he gets his own robot hand). 2D good guys aren't inspiring to your
139: Les Mis is Lying to You
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Brian reads the hate-mail after SASF fired a few shots at Les Miserables. For some reason, Les Mis has become untouchable: one guy wrote that critics like Brian and Nate "will miss God's grace, for they do not have the capacity to receive it." Always willing to hear criticism themselves, the SASF g
138: Dark Christmas Stories, Onan the Embarrassed
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.As longtime fans may remember, it's a Christmas tradition here at the SASF headquarters to take the worst Bible Stories and turn them into Christmas fodder... because that's what they are: they are the dark before the Light came down at Bethlehem two thousand and twenty-seven years ago. Today Nate
137: The Holiness of Victimhood
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Christmas is coming, so as a gift Brian lights the fuse and Nate destroys Dickens and Les Miserables. But first, the guys discuss whether “It’s a Wonderful Life” mishandles George Bailey’s depression -- does the movie pat him on the back and tell him what a good boy he is, when it should be handlin
136: Bringing Watership Down to Life
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Were you, like Nate and Brian, somewhat scarred by Watership Down -- and loved it because of that fact? Stories Are Soul Food welcomes on Joe Sutphin, the illustrator whose stellar pen & ink drawings you might recognize from Little Pilgrim's Progress, Word of Mouse, and the Wingfeather Saga. Jo
135: Girly Sports
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.The guys open this episode with a brutal question: how do you deal with a family member who claims they're trans? The discussion wends its way into how to love that family member, and how to protect your own family at the same time. And that doesn't involved being "nice" to sin. The bulk of the epi
134: Picking Fights
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.The nice part about living in Moscow, ID is that you get pickled in conflict, meaning you start to become immune to troubles that stress other people out. And it's key that you teach your kids to be comfortable being different -- and being seen as disagreeable. A great way to do that is through --
133: Alejandro Monteverde's Sound of Freedom (SASF LAMP Club)
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.Have you ever thought about how difficult it would be to make a movie about child trafficking that anybody would watch? Alejandro Monteverde, director of the hit indie film "Sound of Freedom," thought of little else for the past five years as he searched for the right partners. The SASF guys talk w
132: Israeli Wars & Star Wars
IT'S HERE! Pre-Order the 4th installment of the Ashtown Burial Series at ashtownburials.com.A dozen years ago, Nate had lunch, in Jerusalem, with a Palestinian, an Arab, and an Israeli. The three locals all agreed that Israel wouldn't exist in ten years as a nation state -- and the Palestinian said it was because he wanted every f-ing Israeli to die. Tune in to hear the rest of the story
