John and Craig look at all the pleasant, normal people around them and ask, what happened to the weirdos? They root out the causes of cultural stagnation, offer potential solutions, and explore the entertainment that still finds a way to be weird.

We also look at the tipping point between "wanting to write" and "actually writing," follow up on printer prices and billboard queens, and answer listener questions on soundtracks, adapting a podcast and feeling ownership over your ideas.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we try to remember how we construct our personal narratives, and the pros and cons of remembering our past.

Our LIVE book release show will be at Dynasty Typewriter in LA on November 30th — get your tickets now!

Links:

Scriptnotes LIVE! Book release show tickets at Dynasty Typewriter in LA
The Uncool by Cameron Crowe
Meet the Sisters Battling to Become L.A.'s New Billboard Queen by Mickey Rapkin for The Hollywood Reporter
The Decline of Deviance by Adam Mastroianni
Too Many Cooks
Happiness (1998)
Ken Russell
Community tries to figure out if Nicholas Cage is good or bad
Homecoming on Prime Video
ChannelVue
Servant of the Lake
Some People Can't See Mental Images. The Consequences Are Profound by Larissa MacFarquhar for The New Yorker
Preorder the Scriptnotes Book!
Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
Become a Scriptnotes Premium member, or gift a subscription (now with fewer emails!)
Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube
Scriptnotes on Instagram
John August on Bluesky and Instagram
Outro by Jim Bond (send us yours!)
Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

710 - What Happened To Weird?

Powered by Wave AI