5AM StoryTalk Coffee Reading: Issue 1
A compilation of arts-related articles (and podcasts) you might've missed...as well as an update about some changes to this newsletter
Good morning, fellow art and coffee lovers!
A little housekeeping first…
What I’m doing with this newsletter is not a how-to guide. It’s about passion and it’s about art and it’s about trying to inspire readers to think about what they’re creating, what other people are creating, or the artworks they thought they understood in new ways. Not necessarily my way or better ways — but new ways, different ways. Art is the story of us, except we’re all active participants in it. So, as I like to say, please, pull up a chair, pour yourself a copy of coffee, and join me for some more 5AM StoryTalk. And if I’m lucky enough to already have you here, thank you for joining the conversation!
That said, it would appear I was…ambitious…in my hope to publish four articles every week. I’m producing some pretty epic pieces here, from my artist-on-artist interviews such as this one with Oscar-nominated screenwriter Meg LeFauve, to in-depth journalism like this popular piece “Why AI Is the Most Important Issue in the Writers' Strike”, to screenwriting resources such as “50 Great Screenplays by Women to Download and Study for Free”. These take time. A lot of time. And as much as I love these chats and taking such deep dives into art and creative issues I’m passionate about, it’s difficult to do that entirely for free. There are two solutions to that:
As I don’t want to turn on the subscription feature if at all possible, I encourage those who read this newsletter and find real value in it to “buy me a coffee”. It’s even possible to get a membership to do so once a month. In this way, those with more resources will help keep the newsletter free for the dreamers who can’t afford a subscription - and help justify me putting more time into it.
The other solution is more pragmatic. I’m going to cut back from four articles a week to three. My full-time job is as a screenwriter and novelist, and I need to shift more of my energy back to finishing up work in these mediums - in particular my fiction writing, as there are books and book proposals to finish at the moment. Also, frankly, it’s just better for my mental health.
I will occasionally post a fourth article going forward, but these will be much shorter and primarily focused on sharing interesting arts articles I’ve read, quick thoughts on films or TV series I think you should be watching or music you should be listening to, and other arts observations or news that inspired or concerned me in some way or another. Which brings me to the point of what you’re reading right now:
The first 5AM StoryTalk Reading List (since this originally posted, rebranded to 5AM StoryTalk Coffee Reading)!
Not sure if that exclamation point is necessary there, but try to stop me.
Anyway, find below a list of articles I’ve read or reread lately that I think you might find interesting, too. I’ve included any arts podcasts I listened to and found incredibly valuable.
We’ll start off with four different ones I jokingly call “The David Zaslav/GQ Saga” about how the thin-skinned CEO of WB Discovery used his influence over the editor of GQ to have an article critical of him tossed in the garbage. It’s followed by several arts reads I enjoyed, as well as some recommendations about publications on here I think are worth subscribing to.
If you react to anything you read here, please say so in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.
Thanks for being part of this conversation!
Cole
THE DAVID ZASLAV/GQ SAGA
How Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav Became Public Enemy Number One in Hollywood
By Jason Bailey; archive of the pulled GQ article
A series of maneuvers from the executive has kept the film community in a state of shock and anger
GQ pulls article slamming Warner Bros. Discovery CEO Zaslav after complaint
By Will Sommer; The Washington Post
The writer said he asked to have his byline removed after GQ made extensive changes after publication. The magazine removed the story instead.
GQ Editor Who Pulled Critical David Zaslav Story Is Producing Movie for Warner Bros.
By Tatiana Siegel; Variety
David Zaslav kills everything he touches, including GQ
SFGATE columnist Drew Magary unpacks the latest in the saga of the HBO-slayer
By Drew Magary/SF Gate
I haven’t laughed this hard in some time.
OTHER ARTS READING/LISTENING (THAT DOESN’T INVOLVE THE DISMANTLING OF ONE OF THE GREATEST FILM/TV STUDIOS IN WORLD HISTORY)
Note: Italics are publisher subheadings.
It’s High Noon in America
In our popular culture and in our politics, we’re returning to the Old West
By Noah Hawley (screenwriter); The Atlantic
This is an essential read!
Last surviving gaslit cinema in world to reopen in Leeds
Exclusive: £4.8m refurbishment, which has taken eight years, will include extension to building, restored interior and 50-seat second screen
By Robyn Vinter; The Guardian
Tony McNamara: How writing ‘The Great’ on the go saves lives
By Tony McNamara (screenwriter/playwright); LA Times
Authors file a lawsuit against OpenAI for unlawfully ‘ingesting’ their books
Mona Awad and Paul Tremblay allege that their books, which are copyrighted, were ‘used to train’ ChatGPT because the chatbot generated ‘very accurate summaries’ of the works
By Ella Creamer; The Guardian
Il Maestro
Federico Fellini and the lost magic of cinema
By Martin Scorsese (director); Harper’s
‘Highly unusual’: lost 17th-century portrait of black and white women as equals saved for UK
Exclusive: Unknown artwork was barred from leaving the UK after surfacing at an auction in 2021
By Dalya Alberge; The Guardian
Script Apart Podcast: BABYLON with Damien Chazelle
However you felt about the film - and I loved it - this podcast goes deep into the inception and writing of it
How Samuel R. Delany Reimagined Sci-Fi, Sex, and the City
A visionary novelist and a revolutionary chronicler of gay life, he’s taken American letters to uncharted realms.
By Julian Lucas; The New Yorker
Scriptnotes Podcast Episode 596: McQuarrie on McQuarrie
The vigorous debate between Christopher McQuarrie and Craig Mazin about film today, the role of filmmakers, what kind of films should be being made, and more feels vital to me. Two brilliant storytellers just going at it. I’d be curious who you agree with more.
SUBSTACK RECOMMENDATIONS
I enjoy reading the following Substack newsletters about art. Maybe you will, too.
Chuck Palahniuk's Plot Spoiler from
Story Club with George Saunders from
In the Writing Burrow from
LegalDispatch from
Thin Ice from
The Cavletter
Inkygirl from
Re:Writing from
The Audacity. from
The Extant Storytech R&D Report from
If this article added anything to your life, please consider buying me a coffee so I can keep this newsletter free for the dreamers who couldn’t afford it otherwise. You can also purchase a membership to buy me a coffee every month.
PSALMS FOR THE END OF THE WORLD is out now from Headline Books, Hachette Australia, and more. You can order it here wherever you are in the world:
Thanks for the shoutout, Cole! Just bought you a coffee. :-)