We've just finished the fiction series, so it's time for another meta episode!

Dr. Brooke Macnamara is an associate professor of psychology at Purdue. She works on expertise, skill acquisition, and achievement, and we have a great conversation about how expertise research works (and where it falls short), talent identification, and much more.

Links:

• Dr. Macnamara's faculty page
• The Skill, Learning, and Performance Lab
• Deliberate Practice and Performance in Music, Games, Sports, Education, and Professions: A Meta-Analysis
• Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
• The Tyranny of Talent

Credits:

• Theme music: “Puzzle Pieces” by Lee Rosevere. Available for use under the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CC BY 4.0 license⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Free Music Archive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Gwenda Bond has written across a range of genres and media, alone and collaboratively, and for licensed properties including Lois Lane and Stranger Things. This week, we discuss the value of constraints and the joy of finding that one reader who connects with the story you're trying to tell.

Links:

• GwendaBond.com
• Gwenda on Instagram
• Gwenda on Bluesky
• Gwenda's newsletter

Credits:

• Theme music: “Puzzle Pieces” by Lee Rosevere. Available for use under the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CC BY 4.0 license⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Free Music Archive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Ken Liu is an author of award-winning short stories and novels, and has thought deeply about what it means to write fiction well. In this episode, we talk about language as a tool, and about the author as someone with the responsibility to use that tool to help people see things in a way they otherwise couldn't.

Links:

• Ken Liu on the web
• Ken's newsletter

Credits:

• Theme music: “Puzzle Pieces” by Lee Rosevere. Available for use under the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CC BY 4.0 license⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Free Music Archive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠