<description>&lt;p&gt;John and Craig gather our listeners' favorite news articles and ask, How Would This Be a Movie? Stories include an underground network delivering menstrual supplies in Minneapolis, a millennial travel group, how the US hacked ISIS, and a fake college squash team.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;But first we follow up on modern comps, email issues, teaching screenwriting, and what it means to be undeniable. We also answer listener questions on querying reps with a published book and whether writers really need to repeat the plot for a second-screen audience.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;In our bonus segment for premium members, what do we do with all our old CDs and DVDs? We weigh the pros and cons of physical media.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Links:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;ul&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href= "https://www.npr.org/2026/01/21/nx-s1-5682120/12-year-old-immigrant-need-minneapolis-launched-underground-operation"&gt; How an errand for a 12-year-old immigrant in Minneapolis became an underground operation&lt;/a&gt; by Jasmine Garsd and Sarah Ventre for NPR&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href= "https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/20/magazine/women-friendships-travel-morocco.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share"&gt; I Went on a Package Trip for Millennials Who Travel Alone. Help Me.&lt;/a&gt; by Caity Weaver for The New York Times&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href= "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/26/763545811/how-the-u-s-hacked-isis"&gt;How the US hacked ISIS&lt;/a&gt; by Dina Temple-Raston for NPR&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href= "https://squashmagazine.com/2025/11/whitman-college-the-best-college-squash-team-in-history/"&gt; Whitman College: The Best College Squash Team in History&lt;/a&gt; by James Zug for Squash Magazine&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href= "https://harpers.org/archive/1996/01/shipping-out/"&gt;Shipping Out&lt;/a&gt; by David Foster Wallace&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.mail-tester.com/"&gt;Email deliverability tester&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href= "https://www.anthropic.com/research/disempowerment-patterns"&gt;Disempowerment patterns in real-world AI usage&lt;/a&gt; by Cornell University and Anthropic&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPKHKkylciI"&gt;The world's greatest song that simply shouldn't exist&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://scriptnotesbook.com/"&gt;Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href= "https://cottonbureau.com/people/scriptnotes-podcast"&gt;Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://blog.quoteunquoteapps.com/"&gt;Check out the Inneresting Newsletter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/"&gt;Become a Scriptnotes Premium member&lt;/a&gt;, or &lt;a href= "https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/gifts"&gt;gift a subscription&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/@ScriptnotesPodcast"&gt;Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Scriptnotes on &lt;a href= "https://www.instagram.com/scriptnotespodcast/"&gt;Instagram&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@scriptnotespod"&gt;TikTok&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;John August on &lt;a href= "https://bsky.app/profile/johnaugust.bsky.social"&gt;Bluesky&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en"&gt;Instagram&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href= "http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros"&gt;Outro&lt;/a&gt; by Gloom Canyon (&lt;a href= "http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed"&gt;send us yours!&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Scriptnotes is produced by &lt;a href= "https://www.drewmarquardt.com/"&gt;Drew Marquardt&lt;/a&gt; and edited by &lt;a href="https://www.matthewchilelli.com/"&gt;Matthew Chilelli&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; &lt;p&gt;Email us at ask@johnaugust.com&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;You can download the episode &lt;a href= "http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/725standard.mp3"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Scriptnotes Podcast

John August and Craig Mazin

725 - Torn from the pages of Squash Magazine

FEB 17, 202656 MIN
Scriptnotes Podcast

725 - Torn from the pages of Squash Magazine

FEB 17, 202656 MIN

Description

John and Craig gather our listeners' favorite news articles and ask, How Would This Be a Movie? Stories include an underground network delivering menstrual supplies in Minneapolis, a millennial travel group, how the US hacked ISIS, and a fake college squash team. But first we follow up on modern comps, email issues, teaching screenwriting, and what it means to be undeniable. We also answer listener questions on querying reps with a published book and whether writers really need to repeat the plot for a second-screen audience. In our bonus segment for premium members, what do we do with all our old CDs and DVDs? We weigh the pros and cons of physical media. Links: How an errand for a 12-year-old immigrant in Minneapolis became an underground operation by Jasmine Garsd and Sarah Ventre for NPR I Went on a Package Trip for Millennials Who Travel Alone. Help Me. by Caity Weaver for The New York Times How the US hacked ISIS by Dina Temple-Raston for NPR Whitman College: The Best College Squash Team in History by James Zug for Squash Magazine Shipping Out by David Foster Wallace Email deliverability tester Disempowerment patterns in real-world AI usage by Cornell University and Anthropic The world's greatest song that simply shouldn't exist Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member, or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by Gloom Canyon (send us yours!) Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli. Email us at [email protected] You can download the episode here.