by J. Alexander Greenwood
Explore the world of creativity and writing with Mysterious Goings On with J. Alexander Greenwood. Named a 2022 Top 5 Literature Podcast by CrowdUltra and a "New & Noteworthy" show by Apple Podcasts in 2016, this show is a magnet for top-selling authors and creative minds. Subscribe to embark on an enthralling journey through the world of creativity and literature. Website: https://mgopod.com/ Become a Paid Subscriber: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/j-alexander-greenwood/subscribe
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Publishing Since
1/31/2016
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June 20, 2026
Alex Greenwood explores a Civil War reunion, the disappearance of the letter T, and Anthony Bourdain's lessons on awareness in this insightful episode.
May 16, 2026
<p>This week, two essays about mondegreens and eggcorns—those moments when the brain mishears something or rewires a phrase to make it fit better. How we confidently get language wrong in ways that make perfect sense.</p><p><strong>Featuring:</strong></p><ul><li>"There's a Bathroom on the Right" — On misheard song lyrics and why the brain prefers coherence over accuracy</li><li>"In One Foul Swoop" — On eggcorns, language evolution, and why getting it wrong is sometimes getting it better</li></ul><p><br></p><ul><p><strong>Book J. Alexander Greenwood for keynotes, panels, podcasts, and live conversations!</strong></p><p>J. Alexander Greenwood speaks on work, writing, media, and the systems people navigate every day, drawing on real-world experience as a writer, communicator, and podcaster.</p><p>If you’re interested, you’ll find everything you need here<a href="https://jalexandergreenwood.com/book-alex%2Fcontact">: <strong>jalexandergreenwood.com</strong>.</a> </p><p>---</p><p><strong>Celebrating 10 Years and hundreds of episodes! </strong><strong>Alex needs a coffee. Or ten: </strong><a href="https://alex715.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=896a6242&utm_content=180191561" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><strong>Become a paid subscriber!</strong></a></p><p>If you’ve enjoyed the essays and want to see more of them, here are two simple ways you can help:</p><p><br></p><ol><li><strong>Become a paid subscriber.</strong> Paid support keeps this work sustainable and helps me devote the time and energy it deserves. If you’ve subscribed before, please consider re-subscribing under the new system and <a href="https://alex715.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=896a6242&utm_content=180191561" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><strong>take advantage of this 25% offer.</strong></a></li><li><strong>Spread the word.</strong> If a paid subscription isn’t right for you right now, you can still make a big difference by sharing posts with friends, on social media, or anywhere you think they’ll resonate.</li></ol><p><br></p><p><a href="https://alex715.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=896a6242&utm_content=180191561" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><strong>👉</strong> <strong>Join today and lock in 25% off your first year.</strong></a></p><p><strong>Your support—financial or otherwise—is what keeps this going. The best work is still ahead, and I’d love for you to be part of it. —Alex</strong></p><p><strong>CONNECT:</strong></p><p><br></p><ul><li><a href="https://alex715.substack.com/p/le-sens-des-noms" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><strong>All the Fits That's News on Substack (Free or Paid)</strong></a></li><li><a href="https://jalexandergreenwood.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><strong>Alex's Author Website</strong></a> <a href="https://mgopod.com/f/our-digital-alexandria"></a></li><li><a href="https://amzn.to/4iuHtXT" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><strong>Buy a Book!</strong></a></li><li><a href="https://killingcitypod.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><strong>Going to Killing City...Alex's True Crime Podcast</strong></a></li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Enjoy this episode? </strong>Please leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice, and don't forget to subscribe for more literary journeys! <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mysterious-goings-on/id1080474124"><strong></strong></a><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mysterious-goings-on/id1080474124"><strong>LEAVE A REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS</strong></a> </p></ul><p><br></p><ul><p><br></p><p>This Mysterious Goings On Podcast episode was recorded and mixed at Green Shebeen Studios in beautiful Kansas City, Missouri. Copyright 2026 all rights reserved. No reproduction, excerpting, or other use without written permission.</p><p><br></p></ul>
April 5, 2026
<p><strong>In this episode, Alex reads his latest essay from </strong><a href="https://alex715.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><strong>All the Fits That's News</strong></a><strong> — a piece that starts with a </strong><strong>Star Trek</strong><strong> argument and ends somewhere considerably less comfortable.</strong></p><p>The essay traces what happens when group membership stops being a background feature of how we live and starts running the cognitive show. Drawing on Henri Tajfel's social identity theory experiments from the 1970s, it looks at how we sort ourselves into groups, absorb those groups into our sense of self, and then quietly let them do our reasoning for us — in politics, in media, in workplaces, and yes, in fandom.</p><p>Also: Sting, sunk cost fallacy, and at least one book Alex wishes he could take back.</p><p><strong>Referenced in this episode:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Henri Tajfel and social identity theory </a>— foundational research in social psychology on group behavior and in-group favoritism</p><p><a href="https://amzn.to/3O5n7ew" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Star Trek: Deep Space Nine</a> — still the best of the lot</p><p><a href="https://amzn.to/4bXR5cg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Sting / The Police</a> — inventive, worth your time, not above criticism</p><p><a href="https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/the-sunk-cost-fallacy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Sunk cost fallacy</a> — the tendency to keep investing in something because of what you've already put in, rather than what it's actually returning</p><p><strong>---</strong></p><p><strong>Book J. Alexander Greenwood for keynotes, panels, podcasts, and live conversations!</strong></p><p>J. Alexander Greenwood speaks on work, writing, media, and the systems people navigate every day, drawing on real-world experience as a writer, communicator, and podcaster.</p><p>If you’re interested, you’ll find everything you need here<a href="https://jalexandergreenwood.com/book-alex%2Fcontact" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">: <strong>jalexandergreenwood.com</strong>.</a> </p><p>---</p><p><strong>Celebrating 10 Years and hundreds of episodes! </strong><strong>Alex needs a coffee. Or ten: </strong><a href="https://alex715.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=896a6242&utm_content=180191561" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Become a paid subscriber!</strong></a></p><p>If you’ve enjoyed the essays and want to see more of them, here are two simple ways you can help:</p><p><br></p><ol><li><strong>Become a paid subscriber.</strong> Paid support keeps this work sustainable and helps me devote the time and energy it deserves. If you’ve subscribed before, please consider re-subscribing under the new system and <a href="https://alex715.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=896a6242&utm_content=180191561" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><strong>take advantage of this 25% offer.</strong></a></li><li><strong>Spread the word.</strong> If a paid subscription isn’t right for you right now, you can still make a big difference by sharing posts with friends, on social media, or anywhere you think they’ll resonate.</li></ol><p><br></p><p><a href="https://alex715.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=896a6242&utm_content=180191561" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>👉</strong> <strong>Join today and lock in 25% off your first year.</strong></a></p><p><strong>Your support—financial or otherwise—is what keeps this going. The best work is still ahead, and I’d love for you to be part of it. —Alex</strong></p><p><strong>CONNECT:</strong></p><p><br></p><ul><li><a href="https://alex715.substack.com/p/le-sens-des-noms" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>All the Fits That's News on Substack (Free or Paid)</strong></a></li><li><a href="https://jalexandergreenwood.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Alex's Author Website</strong></a> <a href="https://mgopod.com/f/our-digital-alexandria"></a></li><li><a href="https://amzn.to/4iuHtXT" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Buy a Book!</strong></a></li><li><a href="https://killingcitypod.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Going to Killing City...Alex's True Crime Podcast</strong></a></li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Enjoy this episode? </strong>Please leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice, and don't forget to subscribe for more literary journeys! <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mysterious-goings-on/id1080474124"><strong></strong></a><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mysterious-goings-on/id1080474124" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>LEAVE A REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS</strong></a> </p><p><strong>Announcer:</strong> <a href="mailto:mmckennakc@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Mary McKenna</strong></a><strong>.</strong> <strong>Original theme music "Mysterious Goings On" by Jamie Green.</strong> Want your own cool score for your podcast or website? Contact Jamie at <a href="https://greenhousekc.com/"><strong>Greenhouse Consulting.</strong></a> <strong>Check out Jamie's interview on the show</strong> <a href="https://mgopod.com/f/jamming-with-jamie-green?blogcategory=Interviews" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>here.</strong></a></p><p><a href="https://mgopod.com/f/jamming-with-jamie-green?blogcategory=Interviews" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Intro music: "Half Mystery" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a></p><p>This Mysterious Goings On Podcast episode was recorded and mixed at Green Shebeen Studios in beautiful Kansas City, Missouri. Copyright 2026 all rights reserved. No reproduction, excerpting, or other use without written permission.</p><p><br></p>
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Explore the world of creativity and writing with Mysterious Goings On with J. Alexander Greenwood. Named a 2022 Top 5 Literature Podcast by CrowdUltra and a "New & Noteworthy" show by Apple Podcasts in 2016, this show is a magnet for top-selling authors and creative minds.
Subscribe to embark on an enthralling journey through the world of creativity and literature. Website: https://mgopod.com/
Become a Paid Subscriber: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/j-alexander-greenwood/subscribe
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