• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

John August

  • Arlo Finch
  • Scriptnotes
  • Library
  • Store
  • About

What Happened To Weird?

Episode - 710

November 4, 2025 Scriptnotes

John and Craig look at all the pleasant, normal people around them and ask, what happened to the weirdos? They root out the causes of cultural stagnation, offer potential solutions, and explore the entertainment that still finds a way to be weird.

We also look at the tipping point between “wanting to write” and “actually writing,” follow up on printer prices and billboard queens, and answer listener questions on soundtracks, adapting a podcast and feeling ownership over your ideas.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we try to remember how we construct our personal narratives, and the pros and cons of remembering our past.

Our LIVE book release show will be at Dynasty Typewriter in LA on November 30th — get your tickets now!

Links:

  • Scriptnotes LIVE! Book release show tickets at Dynasty Typewriter in LA
  • The Uncool by Cameron Crowe
  • Meet the Sisters Battling to Become L.A.’s New Billboard Queen by Mickey Rapkin for The Hollywood Reporter
  • The Decline of Deviance by Adam Mastroianni
  • Too Many Cooks
  • Happiness (1998)
  • Ken Russell
  • Community tries to figure out if Nicholas Cage is good or bad
  • Homecoming on Prime Video
  • ChannelVue
  • Servant of the Lake
  • Some People Can’t See Mental Images. The Consequences Are Profound by Larissa MacFarquhar for The New Yorker
  • Preorder the Scriptnotes Book!
  • Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
  • Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
  • Become a Scriptnotes Premium member, or gift a subscription (now with fewer emails!)
  • Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube
  • Scriptnotes on Instagram
  • John August on Bluesky and Instagram
  • Outro by Jim Bond (send us yours!)
  • Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.

Related Posts

  1. Various locations
  2. How to Write a Movie (Encore)
  3. Scriptnotes LIVE! at Dynasty Typewriter in LA

Primary Sidebar

Each week, screenwriters John August and Craig Mazin discuss screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters, everything from the craft to the business to the best ways to get yourself writing.

The most recent 20 episodes are available for free on this site and Apple Podcasts. The entire 430+ episode back catalog, plus bonus content and episodes, are available to Premium Subscribers.

Where to Find It

  • Apple Podcasts
  • Spotify
  • RSS

Scriptnotes Premium

  •   Bonus segments and episodes
  •   Early access to events
  •   450+ episode back catalog
  •   Use your favorite podcast player.

Join now

Scriptnotes Shirts

Every Scriptnotes shirt is available on-demand from Cotton Bureau. 14 designs and counting.

All-time listener favorites include Scriptnotes Midnight Blue, Three-Act Structure and the Scriptnotes Tour Shirt.

These high-quality tees are super soft and available in all sizes, including children’s and hoodies.

Browse the catalog

© 2025 John August — All Rights Reserved.