Webserial authors Daystar Eld and Alexander Wales talk about the craft of writing stories that make sense, and examine writing tropes and media through the lens of the Rational and Rationalist genres.
Intro and Outro music is G.A.T.O. Must Be Respected, by Tim Yarbrough
To contact us, please email daystar721@gmail.com
Episode 70 - Defending Alex's Characters from Alex
Daystar has noticed a trend in Alex's writing, and the two get into what it actually means to be a "bad" vs a "good" person. It doesn't exactly start as an intervention, but it arguably gets there by the end.
Hosted by Daystar Eld (https://daystareld.com/) and Alexander Wales (http://alexanderwales.com/).
With thanks to Tim Yarbrough for the Intro/Outro music, G.A.T.O Must Be Respected (http://amzn.to/2pnwPsP)
23 Mar 2026
Episode 69 - Political Violence in Fiction
Daystar and Alexander talk about the various pitfalls, contradictions, and complications in writing heroes or villains who commit political violence... or don't, as the case may be.
Hosted by Daystar Eld (https://daystareld.com/) and Alexander Wales (http://alexanderwales.com/).
With thanks to Tim Yarbrough for the Intro/Outro music, G.A.T.O Must Be Respected (http://amzn.to/2pnwPsP)
5 Nov 2025
Episode 68 - Red Heart (Guest: Max Harms)
Daystar and Alex invite Max back on the podcast to talk about his new novel, Red Heart (https://amzn.to/4mPj0ii), a modern sci-fi thriller that follows an American spy sent to a Chinese AI lab to investigate how far ahead their capabilities are compared to the US.
Max works at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, and has been thinking about the state of AI Safety for over a decade now. He's also written the Crystal Society trilogy, which we discussed in episode 66.
https://maxharms.com/redheart (https://maxharms.com/redheart)
Co-hosted by Alexander Wales (http://alexanderwales.com/)
With thanks to Tim Yarbrough for the Intro/Outro music, G.A.T.O Must Be Respected (http://amzn.to/2pnwPsP)
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Spotify
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3 ratings
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