Shows
Walter Rhein PodcastWhy Do American Films Fail to Explore the Trauma of PTSD?Hello Friends,This was a nice talk with Murphy of The Exile Files. He’s originally from Ireland, but he’s spent time in the US and it’s great to touch bases with him to get a perspective from across the pond. We started out trying to just talk about film, but the politics of America grabbed us and sucked us back in (like it tends to do lately).We ended up discussing “First Blood” and how the first Rambo movie actually deals with PTSD. The theme is completely abandoned in all the sequels, and perhap...
2026-02-031h 08
Walter Rhein PodcastMeet the Courageous Young Man Who Is Traveling the World in a Tuk TukOh my gosh! This has already been a week ago? There’s so much going on, but let me tell you this conversation was a RELIEF! Josh Porter is doing something brilliant. He’s driving all over the world in 3 wheeled vehicles. Just hearing that made me happy right in my soul.When I was 26, I did something similar. I got rid of everything I owned, grabbed a backpack, and moved to Peru. I wandered around for the next 10 years. The thing is, a life like that is surprisingly cheap. You could take a month off to work...
2026-01-261h 02
Walter Rhein PodcastA Round Up Of Little-Known Christmas Movies From Years Ending in 4Hey Everybody,This seemed like an appropriate replay for Christmas day. Brandon joined us to discuss his exploration of little known Christmas films. By complete chance, he started looking at films from years ending in 4 (1934, 1964, etc.). That seems a little random, but when you stop and think about it, it’s as good a method for doing a survey of Christmas films as anything else.He brought up ‘A Christmas Carol’ and that reminded me of my age. We were still watching the George C. Scott version when I was growing up. Today, however, that story...
2025-12-251h 05
Walter Rhein PodcastWhich Actors Are Most Overrated in Hollywood and Other Silliness--Escapist DelightsHey Everybody!I’ve been overdoing it with lives the last few weeks so that I’ll have content to post over the holidays. That way you won’t start to miss me 😊. My kids are off from school starting today, and that just accelerates the time until Christmas.Everybody’s getting homemade gifts this year.I’m always delight to talk to Murphy! He’s got a kind perspective, a great sense of humor, and a lovely accent. Also, we basically lived parallel lives. I spent a lot of years as an English teacher...
2025-12-191h 09
Walter Rhein PodcastMisogyny, Gatekeepers, and the War on KindnessHello Everyone!My conversations with Will always represent the turning point of the week. After Wednesday, I pivot to movies with Ben Ulansey and then the Friday rant with Shane Yirak and Arturo Dominguez.2025 has been an exhausting year. I’m ready for it to be over, but I appreciate how much I’ve learned and all the good people I’ve met. I finally had an opportunity to sit down with Cryn Johannsen. She’s a brilliant writer and you’d all be well served by subscribing.Much of our conversation was inspired b...
2025-12-1858 min
Walter Rhein PodcastGuilty Pleasures Like "The Housewives" and Other Suggestions for StreamingHey Everyone!Last week, Ben Ulansey sat down with me and Natasha K. to chat about film and anything other than politics. Naturally, we got stuck talking about politics too because it’s pretty much impossible when the president’s death squad is knocking at your door.Natasha had a work meeting, so Ben and I began with some thoughts about Eddington. I kept forgetting Pedro Pascal’s name. My recall starts to fail on me if I do too many lives in a week—plus I’m just getting old. Fortunately Ben is always there to h...
2025-12-101h 03
Walter Rhein PodcastShould Rational Thinkers Even Attempt to Debate MAGA?Hey Everyone!I really appreciated this conversation. We started off discussing Ben Ulansey’s wonderful article “A Trump Supporter Walked Into a Bar.” In it, Ben Struggles with a lot of the same questions I’ve had about whether it’s productive to try to reach MAGA, or whether we should just walk away.As always, Will Fullwood provides tremendous insight into this topic. I appreciate that he encourages us not to look at these kind of interactions as win/lose. Instead, all we can do is provide an opportunity for self reflection. But ultimately, it’s up to...
2025-11-071h 10
Walter Rhein PodcastHow Racism is Normalized Through American Culture and MediaHey Everyone,Last week was a big week of lives and I’m slowly getting the replays posted. I’m always delighted to chat with Allison Wiltz. I’ve known her for years on Medium, and it’s always so fun to hear her thoughts.I find that every day is a struggle to come to grips with the true horrors of American society. I didn’t want to believe that we were morally bankrupt to the point where we’d give power to sex offenders and racists, but that’s the reality of this nation. We kee...
2025-10-211h 18
The Renegade Writer's Mouthy MusingsHigh School Movies With Walter and Ben!Hey Everyone! Here’s a video for y’all with my good friends, Walter Rhein and Ben Ulansey! We chatted about high school movies, high school experiences, and other movies and TV shows from our formative years.This shit was fun. I hope you enjoy some light-hearted conversation for once. It’s nice to take a break from that orange dick-with-ears, Tronald Dump. Visiting with my friends and y’all was just what I needed. We appreciate you lending us your ears. Let us know in the comments what high school movies and others helped shape yo...
2025-10-181h 23
The Daily WhateverThe Daily Whatever Show, Oct 8: Spooky Season Entertainment with Ben UlanseyHalloween season officially continues on The Daily Whatever Show with special guest Ben Ulansey , the sharp, funny, and deeply thoughtful writer behind The Gen Z Report. Ben joined me, Lawrence Winnerman and Dana DuBois to talk about the films, freakouts, and real-world horrors shaping this year’s spooky season — and somehow managed to make an accidental coffee-centipede incident the perfect metaphor for modern America.Ben opened with his “morning horror” — discovering a full thousand-legger in his coffee grounds — before diving into a conversation that ranged from Poltergeist to Get Out to the decline of subtlety in modern horror. Ben’...
2025-10-0858 min
Walter Rhein PodcastHow Vote Suppression Works in the USA As Explained by Greg PalastHello Everyone!Yesterday I was joined by Greg Palast for a very important and eye-opening conversation about the reality of vote suppression in the USA. Our country has a history of vote suppression and, unfortunately, this has not gone away.But those of you who are out there worried about pirate satellites and whatnot need to put your fears aside and place your focus on actionable issues. This conversation is challenging, but it’s also empowering because Greg provides the knowledge we need to effectively resist the hostile takeover we’re experiencing.I firs...
2025-10-0854 min
Walter Rhein PodcastEscapist Delights - Pulp Fiction Movie ReviewHello Friends!This was a fun time! I’ve known The Mouthy Renegade Writer for a long time and it’s always a delight to sit down and chat. We are about the same age, so talking about old movies is like a walk through the past. I like these conversations because they always reveal new things I didn’t know about people (like the fact that the Mouthy' writer’s dad didn’t allow him to watch R rated films growing up).This conversation was mainly about ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘Back to the Future,’ but we covered som...
2025-09-271h 04
The Renegade Writer's Mouthy MusingsEscapist Delights - Pulp Fiction Movie ReviewMan, that was a whole lot of fun. And a much-needed departure from constantly going on and on about the Pedo-in-Chief. We had a blast today. Walter and I are close in age; Ben is somewhat younger. But we all have a love for movies. And it’s fun getting differing perspectives on the same movies. We’re certainly going to do another one of these again, soon.I hope you enjoy this one if you missed the Live version. It was sort of in the middle of the day, so I get it. Let us k...
2025-09-261h 04
The Renegade Writer's Mouthy MusingsThe Less I Talk About Trump, the Better I FeelAs I’ve mentioned, it can be exhausting always talking about Donald Dick.It gets old. Most of the time, it makes me angry. Some of the time, I stress out. I worry about the future of our country and my loved ones. We have a mixed-race family and a daughter who’s a member of the LGBTQ community.So it can be stressful, having skin in Spray-Tan Shitler’s game. I’d love to publish only non-political humor articles. It would be wonderful to do podcast episodes, not mentioning Trump even once. Or parti...
2025-09-2528 min
Walter Rhein PodcastEscapist Delights w/ Robert DannaHello Everyone!I always appreciate sitting down with Robert Danna. We had a nice representation of generations here, and I found it really interesting to think of film through the lens of all our collected experience.My takeaway from this talk is that our society is always wrestling with various social traumas. Some of them only take a few days, while others are deeply rooted things we’ve been struggling with for decades if not centuries.It is possible for awareness to descend quickly. I feel as if we’ve entered into an era...
2025-09-171h 04
Walter Rhein PodcastHow to Oppose Political Violence With CompassionHello Everyone!Today, Ben Ulansey and I welcomed congressional candidate Laura Benjamin. You can find out more about her on her website, or by clicking on the image below:This was a wonderful talk. I’m trying to make more of an effort to encourage everyone of all ages to participate in the primaries. Remember that some of the earliest primaries start in March of 2026. As far as I’m concerned, the primaries are perhaps the best options we have for completely reforming our government.This is the second time I’ve had an opp...
2025-09-1559 min
Walter Rhein PodcastEscapist Delights in a Crumbling Democracy w/ Dana DuBoisHello Everyone!I’m sure you all know Dana DuBois! She and Lawrence Winnerman do the Daily Whatever, which is always such a fun and inviting place. Ben and I were delighted to have Dana come on and talk about the random movies and show’s she’s been watching with her kids. We mentioned Priscila Queen of the Desert, La La Land, South Park, and Big Mouth. I also got into a nice story about an English teacher who hated me but liked a story I wrote.I hope you enjoy this talk!Than...
2025-09-081h 05
Walter Rhein PodcastIt's a Privilege to Have Conversations With Brilliant Writers and ThinkersHello Everyone!I posted the above picture as a note a few weeks ago, but maybe some of you missed it. The story is that there’s a woman who works the drive through at Burger King who once gave my dog a piece of bacon. Ever since that day, whenever we pull up to the window, he sticks his head out to demand his piece of bacon.Anyone who doesn’t think dogs can communicate is fooling themselves.He’s a good boy… but you can’t blame a dog for wanting some bacon...
2025-09-0203 min
Sick of this PodEscapist Delights in a Crumbling Democracy w/ Nick ParoThank you Brandon Ellrich, Noble Blend, Sunny, Lisa | We Are The Third Estate, Millicent, and many others for tuning into my live video with Walter Rhein and Ben Ulansey!Join me for my next live video in the app.Nick’s NotesI'm using poetry and Live discussions to discuss the intersections of politics, veteran's issues, men's issues, mental health, technology, and so much more. This is a reader supported publication where engagement is encouraged and transparency is key — please consider becoming a paid subscriber today and grow the community!An Unex...
2025-08-311h 10
Walter Rhein PodcastSunday Paper for the Week of August 22-28Your support keeps me in the fight and is greatly appreciated!Hello Everyone!I wanted to try something a little different this week. I thought it might be fun to provide you with a listing of all my articles so that you can peruse them like you would a Sunday newspaper.I realize I overwhelm your inboxes with content. My objective is to respond to the tidal waves of lies and misinformation that’s constantly shoved in our faces. It can feel like an overwhelming task, but I’ve seen some evidence that it’s...
2025-08-3103 min
Walter Rhein PodcastEscapist Delights in a Crumbling Democracy w/ Nick ParoHello Everyone!These movie talks are starting to feel like a day at the spa. Once a week, Ben Ulansey and I get together and try to deliberately not talk about politics (which is impossible… but we do pretty good).The nice thing about talking about movies is that it allows for a distraction. I’ve been on a lot of lives with Nick where we discuss our frustration with what’s going on in the USA today. But until this live, I didn’t know about his musical background!I always enjoy talking...
2025-08-301h 10
Walter Rhein PodcastEscapist Delights in a Crumbling Democracy w/ Maggie JonHey Everyone!This was a big week of lives! I really love this collaborative aspect of Substack. I just wrote an article about it for The Writing Cooperative that should be published on Monday the 25th of August.This week we had Maggie Jon who had tons of wonderful insights! Also, Brandon Ellrich and Robin Wilding made an appearance. They came creeping in from real life to pester Ben, and it was a nice intersection point between the digital realm and reality.Gosh… sometimes I wonder what reality is at all. We...
2025-08-2359 min
The Daily WhateverThe Daily Whatever, Aug 21: On ObergefellIt’s always a pleasure when Mr. Troy Ford joins us all the way from Sitges! Today we chatted about the first three months of his novel, Lamb: a novel in snapshots, being released in the world. He shared his successes, his favorite reviews, and his plans for a sequel (!!). We also chatted about the potential overturning of Obergefell, and how Europeans DGAF about what’s happening in the US, even as most of them are horrified at the prospect of Americans losing marriage equality.It was a lively discussion, and Troy is such a gem...
2025-08-211h 06
Walter Rhein PodcastEscapist Delights in a Crumbling Democracy w/ Peter MarkhamHello Everyone!What a fascinating conversation this one turned out to be! I’m always delighted with the people Ben Ulansey manages to find for our movie talks. Peter Markham is an amazingly accomplished individual. You can check out his film credits on his IMDB page!You can read his work here:I enjoyed how the love of film just rolled out of him, and the fact that he was one of Ari Aster’s teachers is just amazing. If you like film, you can’t miss this one! I hope you enjoy this c...
2025-08-171h 02
Walter Rhein PodcastEscapist Delights in a Crumbling Democracy w/ Jim MercurioHello everyone!This was a fun talk with Jim Mercurio in which he shared his thoughts on the best films of the 21st century. I liked his list, it was very honest and included quite a few films I’d heard of but haven’t seen. There’s a difference between a list that’s designed to sound “elitist” and a list that is genuine. Jim’s list was genuine and I appreciated that.We had another one of our tangential talks that bounced all over the place. I’ve given up on trying to keep track of th...
2025-08-031h 02
The Daily WhateverThe Daily Whatever, Aug 2: Karaoke Party 🎉We had the best time today, celebrating the milestone of hitting 50 paid subscribers with a good, ol’-fashioned karaoke party for the ages. THANK YOU to everyone who helped get us to this milestone, and who helped us celebrate today!We love this community, and we (tho’ highly biased) think that The Daily Whatever has the best Substack morning show community of anyone out there. Take that Coffee with the Contrarians!* Dana karaoked the classic Baby Got Back in the voice of Richard Nixon!* Lawrence sang Material Girl in the voice of Henry Kiss...
2025-08-031h 06
Walter Rhein PodcastEscapist Delights in a Crumbling Democracy w: Philip OgleyHey Everyone!Today we had the pleasure of chatting with Philip Ogley. I know Philip from his work on Medium and his regular show with Peter William Murphy. Philip was born in the UK but is currently living in France. I always appreciate getting an international experience.Over the years, I’ve found that much of how we interpret literature comes from our cultural assumptions. So, I always find it really interesting to ask people how certain stories land. Philip provided some excellent insights.I hope you enjoy this conversation, you can follow Ph...
2025-07-251h 04
Walter Rhein PodcastEscapist Delights in a Crumbling Democracy w/ David GroverHello Everyone! This was an excellent discussion with David Grover. David is an independent filmmaker who helped to create Kill Mode and Psychonaut. It was really cool getting his perspective on making independent film, plus hear his comments on some new and old favorites.I hope you enjoy the conversation. You can follow David here:https://substack.com/@david894719Thank you Brandon Ellrich, Ma Wilkinson, and many others for tuning into my live video with David and Ben Ulansey!You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your...
2025-07-191h 05
Walter Rhein PodcastHow Superman Continues to Be an Enduring Symbol of HopeHello Friends,This was another wonderful talk with a guest that I’ve been excited to have a conversation with for a long time. I know Simon Dillon from his work on Medium. He’s always got insightful comments on movies, and we share the same love for Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits (1981).We had a wide ranging conversation about the various Superman films and their cultural impact. As always, we tried to make the discussion more about film than politics, but let’s face it, it’s impossible not to talk about politics these days.
2025-07-161h 12
Walter Rhein PodcastEscapist Delights in a Crumbling Democracy w/ Dash MacIntyreHello Folks!It was really nice to have Dash from The Halfway Cafe as our guest this week. He’s responsible for some of the best satire on Substack. The thing that’s kind of remarkable about his satire is that it’s consistently funny and easy to recognize as satire. Neither of these things is easy to achieve within our dystopian reality.I’ll often read fake news that I mistake as true and it makes me angry. Dash’s work always makes me smile. I’ll take it. I’m in need of more smiles...
2025-07-1259 min
The Daily WhateverThe Daily Whatever, June 30: Reunited!It’s so good to be home!I returned to Seattle late Saturday night, to the best treat ever—Lawrence is in Seattle! Yesterday we celebrated our reunion by purchasing a shit-ton of olives and devouring them Live, alongside a bottle of delicious pale French rose. The resulting “Olivepolooza” was an outrageously delicious good time. We can’t believe Ben Ulansey and Brandon Ellrich haven’t weighed in with a rebuttal.But that’s not all Lawrence and I are up to… We’re here IRL, scheming our schemes, hatching plans to grow genXy and The Dail...
2025-07-011h 02
Walter Rhein PodcastEscapist Delights in a Crumbling Democracy w/ Lawrence WinnermanHey Everyone!Today our special guest is Lawrence Winnerman from “The Daily Whatever.” We had a blast, and I got to get Lawrence’s pick for the definitive Gen X movie.I should come up with a question for every episode and have everyone write down their answer for the big reveal. That was kind of fun.I was just reflecting with Ben as to how much I enjoy these talks. It’s great to have an open topic such as film/shows/video games to form the basis of a discussion with all thes...
2025-06-281h 00
Walter Rhein PodcastWhy You Should Never Feel Bad When You See Somebody Blocked YouHello, friends,Today, I want to spend a few minutes talking about the misconceptions and the misunderstandings that can easily transpire in our digital world. A couple of weeks ago, I tried to message Ben Ulansey. Those of you who follow me know that I do a weekly live with Ben where we bring in a guest and we discuss film and other ideas. We try not to talk about politics one day a week, but that’s becoming increasingly difficult in these dystopian times.I was preparing for our weekly meeting when I...
2025-06-2308 min
The Daily WhateverThe Daily Whatever, Jun 20: Fucked-up Friday with Frederic Poag & Walter RheinI always knew this day would come.As many of you know, I’m a west-coaster and a night owl. So a 7am daily podcast requires discipline as well as a loud alarm. Guess which one I forgot to set this morning?It was a delight to realize how much concern you all had for me—so many messages!—and a relief my amazing guests Walter Rhein and Frederic Poag were such good sports about it all. We still had a rowdy chat and such amazing conversation about all the fucked-up news of the we...
2025-06-201h 17
Walter Rhein PodcastEscapist Delights in a Crumbling Democracy w/ Abby ParadisHey Everyone!As always, our conversation skips across movies like stones in a stream. This was a fun talk. Also, stay tuned for the moment I spilled my coffee all over myself. Abby is pretty new to Substack, so you can check her publication here:I hope you enjoy it!Thank you Sara Niles, Somo, valeriep🇨🇦, Dr. James C Collyer, Robert e carroll, and many others for tuning into my live video with Ben Ulansey and Abby Paradis! You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have paymen...
2025-06-201h 09
Walter Rhein PodcastAnother Movie Chat Where We Try to Take a Break From PoliticsHello Friends,It was nice to have Peter William Murphy join us again. I’m getting a kick out of his chaotic Monday podcast. He’s been pulling out all the stops and he’s the first Substack user I’ve seen to openly parody the idea of a livestream. I guess Ben is their next guest, so I’ll be sure to tune in to that.We can’t take ourselves too seriously… lord knows there are enough jerks out there who take themselves too seriously.This week, we went all over the place with...
2025-06-151h 00
Walter Rhein PodcastTalking Movies, Bob Dylan, Kubrick, Horror, and Sailing Around the WorldHey Everyone!I keep saying that one of the joys of Substack is that it allows the opportunity to have conversations with writer friends I’ve known only through their work. It’s really cool to read somebody’s articles and then discover how much they exceed your expectations when you have a conversation with them.I wish I lived in a town and had all these people as my neighbors. Imagine that! Imagine if we could go for coffee and there would be Cory Vinny or Brandon Ellrich or Sarah Paris or all the other...
2025-06-051h 17
Walter Rhein PodcastEscapist Delights in a Crumbling Democracy w/ Brandon EllrichHello Friends!Ben and I were delighted to have Brandon Ellrich come and give us his thoughts on some of his favorite films last Thursday. You can subscribe to his newsletter here:I chatted with Brandon after the talk and we discovered that technology played a little trick on us. We occasionally dropped our connection and that made us lose parts of the conversation. He mentioned how he saw in the replay that I asked him some questions that he didn’t hear during the live. The same thing happened from my end, so there is...
2025-05-311h 04
The Daily WhateverThe Daily Whatever, May 27: The Dating Show with Frederic PoagThere’s no business like show business, amirite? And what a show we had today! Thanks to the always loquacious and irresistable Frederic Poag whose wild hair presaged a wild time talking about dating, sex, desire, and a whole lotta nonsense!If it ain’t clear, Frederic is ALWAYS welcome to talk to us, and when the topic is as spicy as today—well, we might just have to make that a thing! “The GenX Dating Show with Frederic, Dana, & Lawrence!” Smash the heart button ❤️ on this post if you’d like to see that weekly show, friends!W...
2025-05-271h 05
Walter Rhein PodcastIs Film an Insider's Club that Refuses to Offer True Poverty Representation?Hello Friends!Well, this was just a delightful conversation with special guest Sarah Paris. She told us about how she spent some time working on scripts in Hollywood, so it was fascinating to get her perspective on that experience. This conversation kind of goes all over the place. As always, we deliberately tried to avoid talking about politics, but these days a little bit of political commentary seeps into almost everything you do.We were having so much fun we went over by about 10 minutes. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I...
2025-05-261h 10
Walter Rhein PodcastHow Short Videos and Live Conversations Have Become Useful Growth ToolsHello Friends!When I was in school I wanted to be a cartoonist. This was back in the era of the Sunday morning comics and that seemed like the best thing in the world to me. I used to sit in my classes and doodle in my notebooks. This annoyed the teachers even though I always got my work done and got good grades.When I became a father, I realized how good kids are at listening even if they’re apparently engaged in some other task. I found this out after reading a chapter of...
2025-05-1905 min
Walter Rhein PodcastThunderbolts, Game Theory, The Ocean's Films, AI, Bandersnatch, and Separating the Artist From the ArtHello Friends,Ben was kind enough to bring his dad Ken to join us for a conversation. I thought this was a lot of fun. We ended up discussing how video games often overlap with reality and are becoming an increasingly important mechanism for longform storytelling. This conversation ends up tying together rather neatly (David Harbour gets an assist for that).Oh, and we also spend a significant amount of time on depression. Wouldn’t it be great if somebody could make a 2 hour movie, or video game, or AI assistant that would lead you ou...
2025-05-171h 01
The Daily WhateverThe Daily Whatever, May 16: Fucked-up Friday with Frederic PoagIt’s always an amazing day when Frederic Poag joins your Live.Even when it’s Friday, so it’s time to talk about the fucked-up news of the week.For those of you new to GenXy, each Friday we invite a guest to join us—and all three of us present our pick for most fucked-up news story of the week. Here were our respective picks:* Frederic: Kristi Noem Wants Migrants to Compete for Citizenship on New Reality Show. Like “The Long Walk” or “The Hunger Games,” only real life! So fucked-up!* Lawrence...
2025-05-1652 min
The Daily WhateverThe Daily Whatever, May 10: Is GenX Feral? with Robin Wilding!What an absolute delight to welcome Robin Wilding of Wilding Out onto The Daily Whatever this morning/ afternoon! We had a great conversation with her about a multitude of things, and we got to shout out that our little Substack venture here is only two months old, and The Daily Whatever is really only two weeks old.CONFIDENTIAL TO ROBIN: Next time we have you on, we’ll do a better job of prepping questions in advance and, you know, share them with you beforehand, too. 🙈🙈🙈Hey, we’re learning over here, and we cannot tha...
2025-05-101h 06
Walter Rhein PodcastA Boisterous Discussion About Anime, Thunderbolts, The Iron Claw and a Kiss ConcertHello Friends!I always enjoy these chats with Ben on Thursday. He’s finding excellent guests. The real power of Substack is taking the opportunity to chat with all these wonderful content creators. There are so many rational and insightful people out there—why does the mainstream media have such a hard time elevating reasonable people (is it because the mainstream media doesn’t want to broadcast reasonable perspectives?).Anyway, I tell the famous Kiss story in this interview, and provide a great parenting idea about how you should show your kids Yojimbo, followed by a Fist...
2025-05-101h 05
The Daily WhateverThe Daily Whatever, May 9: Fucked-up Friday with Ben UlanseyWe were so excited to welcome Ben Ulansey from The Gen Z Report to The Daily Whatever this morning! Ben is an amazing writer, with opinions on everything from politics to popular culture, which means he’s a great add to the genXy fam. He may be two generations removed from us, but clearly, he’s one of us in spirit and vibe. We mean that in a GOOD way, Ben! 😜Today was Fucked-Up Friday, and as per the rules, all three contestants entered the ring with a story that they could credibly argue was THE most fucked...
2025-05-0959 min
The Daily WhateverThe Daily Whatever, May 8: Speculative fiction “The Book of Deek”One of the great things about having a daily podcast with your bestie, Dana DuBois, is that you get to focus entire episodes on featuring each other’s writing! Yesterday we spoke about Dana’s piece on her lifetime love affair with the band The Cure, and today we dug into the nuts and bolts of my latest spec-fic piece, The Book of Deek.Dana is a great interviewer, and so we dug into everything from my friendly non-binary Muse, who shows up and delivers stories to me, fully formed, to the themes that permeate the story, as w...
2025-05-081h 12
Walter Rhein PodcastThe Revenge of the Sith, South Park, and America the Motion PictureHello Friends!It was our pleasure to bring along Peter William Murphy this week. He had excellent commentary (and a funny story about ‘The Lion King’). I hope this episode gives you all a little bit of a break from these anxiety inducing times!Thank you Yolanda D., Brandon Ellrich, Larry C. Brown, Joyce Jordan, cheryl mcgrady, and many others for tuning into my live video with Ben Ulansey and Peter William Murphy!“I'd rather Be Writing” exists because of your generous support. If you have the means please consider upgrading to a paid spo...
2025-05-0459 min
Walter Rhein PodcastHow Medium's Boost Program Helped Make Me a Better WriterHello Friends,I hope you all had the opportunity to get rested and recharged over the weekend. It was warm enough yesterday that I was able to go out on a bicycle ride with my daughter. I appreciate those moments. It allows us to chat and I get caught up on the stuff that’s going on in her life.My daughters are becoming powerful and that’s so wonderful to see. We played Pictionary last night, and it was delightful to see how sharp their minds are. It’s becoming obvious that I can no lon...
2025-04-2805 min
Walter Rhein PodcastHow Can You Enjoy Superheroes When America No Longer Respects Justice?Here’s my favorite quote from the conversation.“I had no idea what changed in the snowman’s heart to make him go on that killing spree!”—Ben UlanseyTune in to find out the context of that statement, it’s kind of funny.Thank you Rich Dornisch 🏳️🌈, Baz, Polly Walker Blakemore, Brandon Ellrich, Kenyon, and many others for tuning into my live video with Eric Pierce and Ben Ulansey! Join me for my next live video in the app.Thank you for listening! This publication is reader sponsored. Your support means the world to me...
2025-04-261h 13
Walter Rhein PodcastEscapist Delights in a Crumbling Democracy w/ Walter Rhein, Ben Ulansey, and Courtney SenderHello Everyone!Thank you Peter William Murphy, Karen Marie Shelton, Yolanda D., Joe Walker, Brandon Ellrich, and many others for tuning into my live video with Courtney Sender and Ben Ulansey!This is the first time doing our movie talk with a guest and I hope Courtney can become a regular contributor. She’s very insightful and I look forward to reading more of her work.As always, we hope this discussion gave you a much needed break from the issues we currently face as a nation. Thanks for tuning in!“I'd...
2025-04-171h 17
Walter Rhein PodcastMovie Break: Tick, Tick... Boom! The Electric State, Yellowjackets, and White Lotus (again)Hello Everyone!Thank you Baz, Jeanne Elbe, Yolanda D., Jonathan Harvey, Michelle Maisner, and many others for tuning into my live video with Ben Ulansey! I’m a little late in getting this posted. Today was basketball day but we got rained out. Still, I managed to get in about a 50 minute practice with my daughter. Then I had to drive the other girls home. It’s all good, it beats time fretting on the cell phone.Ben and I were having all sorts of technical problems. It’s probably the fault of my cel...
2025-04-111h 04
Walter Rhein PodcastMovie Break: We Discuss Don't Look Up, Transformers One, Walking Dead, The Men Who Stare at GoatsHello Friends!Thank you Baz, Polly Walker Blakemore, Zuri Stevens, Brandon Ellrich, Robert Danna, and many others for tuning into my live video with Ben Ulansey! Join me for my next live video in the app.As always, we love reading your comments as we chat away. I always do my best not to get too much into politics, but it’s pretty difficult with the way the world is going to pieces.Sigh…Still, this is our life and we have to find enjoyment and relief any way we can. Than...
2025-04-0358 min
Walter Rhein PodcastHow to Resist Corruption and Help Create a Better WorldHey Everybody!I always appreciate talking to Zuri! It makes me feel better. It makes me feel like we have a chance to take our country back. Thanks to all of you who joined in to listen and leave your wonderful comments!WRThank you Ben Ulansey, Robin Wilding, Marwa, Rusty, 9070, and many others for tuning into my live video with Zuri Stevens! Join me for my next live video in the app.This publication is reader supported. Your generous sponsorship keeps me going! Here’s a discount code because yo...
2025-03-281h 00
Walter Rhein PodcastThursday Movie Break! We Discuss Dexter, Time Bandits, Katamari Damacy, and Big Trouble In Little ChinaHello Friends!Thank you Earl Brownlee, Lucy Hanson, Brandon Ellrich, Sam samuelson, Ian Huntington, and many others for tuning into my live video with Ben Ulansey! Join me for my next live video in the app.Here’s where you can find our other discussions[Psst: If you’ve got a tutorial for how I can neatly insert a google docs spreadsheet into a Substack post, please share it in the comments]The Boys, First Blood, Severance, Man Vs. Wildhttps://walterrhein.substack.com/p/live-with-walter-rheinA Brid...
2025-03-2757 min
The Renegade Writer's Mouthy MusingsTalking Humor and Politics With Robin and JadeHey Everyone!We had a hell of a cool Substack Live. It was the first time Robin Wilding and had a guest! Thank you to my hometown buddy Jade Jesser for joining us tonight. We had a great time chatting about humor, politics, and travel. I’m planning a family trip this summer to Canada, so it was nice getting Robin’s perspective on what to expect. We chatted about politics, the bullshit our two countries are going through, and even TV shows we enjoy to help us forget about the political nonsense for a minu...
2025-03-211h 18
Walter Rhein PodcastThursday Movie Break: We Discuss Jurassic Park, For All Mankind, Ladyhawke, and The Secret KingdomHello Friends!Thanks to Caro Henry, Ollie - if Only i, Brandon Ellrich, Kate E, Jonathan Harvey, Peter William Murphy and many others for tuning into my live video with Ben Ulansey! In addition to the movies listed above we also spent quite a bit of time on Robocop, Blade Runner, and others.Here’s where you can find our other discussions[Psst: If you’ve got a tutorial for how I can neatly insert a google docs spreadsheet into a Substack post, please share it in the comments]The...
2025-03-201h 03
Walter Rhein PodcastThursday Movie Break: We Discuss 3 Body Problem, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, White Lotus, and HoosiersThank you Caro Henry, Susan Fourtané, Jonathan Harvey, Earl Brownlee, AlbanianQueen, and many others for tuning into my live video with Ben Ulansey! Join me for my next live video in the app next Thursday at 1 PM CST.During the chat, Jonathan provided his pick for the worst movie line from all time. He typed it in just as we were shutting down.His choice: “You think that just because you’re scientists, you can break the laws of Physics and get away with it.”Haha, that is pretty funny.Please comment...
2025-03-131h 07
Walter Rhein PodcastThursday Movie Break Replay--Suspense, War Movies, and SuperheroesThank you Zuri Stevens, Peter William Murphy, Jeanne Elbe, Yolanda D., Mary J Hunt, and many others for tuning into my live video with Ben Ulansey! Join me for my next live video in the app.Hello Everyone!For the last few weeks, Ben and I have been taking a break from our dystopian reality to just have a lively chat about movies and shows. To be honest, we do this to familiarize ourselves with various multimedia tools, and to gain more experience doing live chats.This time I figured out that I...
2025-03-071h 06
Walter Rhein PodcastLive Movie and Travel Chat with Walter Rhein and Ben UlanseyThank you JR Roessl, Philip Ogley, Dr. Richard Francis Hogan, Cory Vinny, Basta, and many others for tuning into my live video with Ben Ulansey! Join me for my next live video in the app.With my wife at Machu Picchu:“I'd rather Be Writing” exists because of your generous support. If you have the means please consider upgrading to a paid sponsorship. I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year. I'm so happy you're here, and I'm looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.Upgrade at 3...
2025-02-2848 min
Walter Rhein PodcastHow We Must Focus on the Positive During Anxious and Uncertain TimesHello Everyone!The people I mention in my podcast today are Will Fullwood, Zuri Stevens, and Ben Ulansey. I’ll be posting my interviews with them over the next few days.Here’s a teaser of the podcast I did with Ben:Also, you all need to read this book. Loretta Ross quotes me three times in here! THREE!“I'd rather Be Writing” exists because of your generous support. If you have the means please consider upgrading to a paid sponsorship. I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars...
2025-02-2818 min
The Hidden EggDo You Anime? Do You Weeb?For the Penultimate Episode of Season 5, our Hidden Egg protagonists delve into their own psyche, and the anime that shaped it. TAM and mort discuss their fav anime from the past and present, in this off-topic episode. So, if you do happen to anime and/or weeb, come along and hear us nerd out! XDCheck out the articles that we shouted out during the episode:The Lasting Legacy of Avatar: The Last Airbender by Ben UlanseyI’ve Been Selected to Speak at Medium Day by The Sturg (Gerald Sturgill)Re...
2024-08-1352 min
The Hidden EggFrom Democracy to DictatorshipWell, Eggheads, do we have a deep topic to cover today. And, it barely matters since the events of the 13th. In the light of the Supreme Court's ruling on the former president's immunity, we decided we wanted to voice our thoughts and those of several impassioned writers on Medium! Which I will list now:The Discord Among Democrats Is Only Natural and Makes Me Proud to Vote Blue by Ben Ulansey This Country Is Screwed by TAMWith fear for our democracy by Dan Canon*It’s Worse Than You Think by Robert W Ahrens*21st Century Divine Ri...
2024-07-1645 min
The Hidden EggBoosted 62 Times And Counting - Interview With Ben UlanseyFor the first time in the history of The Hidden Egg, TAM and mortal welcome special guest, Ben Ulansey!! (applause noises here)We talked with Ben about his experiences with Medium since he started on the platform. As someone that has been recognized by the platform many times, we wanted to get to know the writer and what his art meant to him. We went a few different places with our first interview, discussing Ben's views on technology and the internet and what it all means for our futures and touching on some of the articles he...
2024-05-2154 min