HWTBAM

John and Craig look at four tales of science, medicine and mayhem and ask, how would this be a movie? Stories include a catatonic woman who woke up after 20 years, a white supremacist transformed by MDMA, a drugged crypto lawyer, and an in-depth account of alien biology.

But first we have a very special announcement: Scriptnotes LIVE is back! We also follow-up on recent episodes before Drew and Halley look at statements John and Craig made years ago to see if either of them have changed their tune.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig discuss the changes that are coming to the world of Dungeons and Dragons with ONE D&D.

Links:

* [Scriptnotes LIVE! at Dynasty Typewriter in Los Angeles](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/scriptnotes-live-tickets-674019238687) benefitting [HollywoodHEART](https://www.hollywoodheart.org/)
* [A catatonic woman awakened after 20 years. Her story may change psychiatry](https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/300895339/a-catatonic-woman-awakened-after-20-years-her-story-may-change-psychiatry) by Richard Sima for Stuff
* [How a dose of MDMA transformed a white supremacist](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230614-how-a-dose-of-mdma-transformed-a-white-supremacist) by Rachel Nuwer for BBC
* [He Went After Crypto Companies. Then Someone Came After Him.](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/18/business/kyle-roche-crypto-leaks-satoshi.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare) by John Carreyrou for the New York Times
* [Alien biology post](https://www.reddit.com/r/aliens/comments/14rp7w9/from_the_late_2000s_to_the_mid2010s_i_worked_as_a/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email) on Reddit
* [Awakenings](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099077/) and [Lorenzo’s Oil](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104756/)
* Scriptnotes episodes [74](https://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-ep-74-three-hole-punchdrunk-transcript), [176](https://johnaugust.com/2014/scriptnotes-ep-176-advice-to-a-first-time-director-transcript), [238](https://johnaugust.com/2016/scriptnotes-ep-238-the-job-of-writer-producer-transcript) and [251](https://johnaugust.com/2016/they-wont-even-read-you).
* [The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom](https://www.zelda.com/tears-of-the-kingdom/)
* Larry Turman on [IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877274/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Turman).
* Dan Goldberg on [IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0325175/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Goldberg_(producer)).
* [Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!](https://cottonbureau.com/people/scriptnotes-podcast)
* [Check out the Inneresting Newsletter](https://inneresting.substack.com/)
* [Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription](https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/gifts) or [treat yourself to a premium subscription!](https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/)
* [Craig Mazin](https://www.instagram.com/clmazin/) on Instagram
* [John August](https://twitter.com/johnaugust) on Twitter
* [John on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en)
* [John on Mastodon](https://mastodon.art/@johnaugust)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Jon Spurney ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))
* Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt with help from Halley Lamberson, and edited by [Matthew Chilelli](https://twitter.com/machelli).

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/605standard.mp3).

**UPDATE 8-11-23:** The transcript for this episode can be found [here](https://johnaugust.com/2023/scriptnotes-episode-605-medicine-and-mayhem-transcript).

John and Craig look at another set of incredible news stories and ask, How Would This Be a Movie? Stories include an AI love service, an inventor with good intentions who doomed our planet, a fake Aretha Franklin, and a multi-million dollar nut heist.

We also follow up on heroic names and answer listener questions about researching your story.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig lie awake and wonder — what happens to our work after we die?

Links:

* [The Man of Your Dreams](https://www.thecut.com/article/ai-artificial-intelligence-chatbot-replika-boyfriend.html) by Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz for The Cut
* [The Brilliant Inventor Who Made Two of History’s Biggest Mistakes](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/15/magazine/cfcs-inventor.html) by Steven Johnson for The New York Times Magazine
* [Pennsylvania Woman Who Disappeared in 1992 Is Found Alive in Puerto Rico](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/04/us/pennsylvania-woman-found-puerto-rico.html?smid=em-share) by Eduardo Medina for the New York Times
* [The Counterfeit Queen of Soul](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/counterfeit-queen-soul-180969340/) by Jeff Maysh for Smithsonian
* [The Curious Case of the Disappearing Nuts](https://www.outsideonline.com/food/nut-job/) by Peter Vigneron for Outside
* [A History Professor Takes On Hollywood](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/10/style/natalia-petrzela-fitness.html) by Katherine Rosman for the New York Times
* [This Isn’t Going to End Well: The True Story of a Man I Thought I Knew](https://www.workman.com/products/this-isnt-going-to-end-well/hardback) by Daniel Wallace
* [Posthumously](https://slate.com/culture/2023/04/posthumous-writing-randall-kenan-novel-survivors.html) by Daniel Wallace
* [The Last of Us: Soundtrack From the Series](https://milanrecords.com/release/the-last-of-us/) by David Fleming & Gustavo Santaolalla
* [Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!](https://cottonbureau.com/people/scriptnotes-podcast)
* [Check out the Inneresting Newsletter](https://inneresting.substack.com/)
* [Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription](https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/gifts) or [treat yourself to a premium subscription!](https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/)
* [Craig Mazin](https://www.instagram.com/clmazin/) on Instagram
* [John August](https://twitter.com/johnaugust) on Twitter
* [John on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en)
* [John on Mastodon](https://mastodon.art/@johnaugust)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Orpheus ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))
* Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by [Matthew Chilelli](https://twitter.com/machelli).

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/594standard.mp3).

**UPDATE 5-11-23:** The transcript for this episode can be found [here](https://johnaugust.com/2023/scriptnotes-episode-594-bindles-and-gold-pans-transcript).

John and Craig discuss a doppelgänger murder, the true life of a Hollywood rebel, an unexpected roadtrip, and more in this week’s installment of How Would This Be A Movie, where we analyze how stories in the news would translate onscreen.

We also follow up on Chat GPT, Celebrity Jeopardy, and writing in other people’s voices. We then answer an embarrassed listener’s question on unfavorable movie reviews.

In our bonus segment for premium members, we discuss overpowered characters in D&D and how character strengths factor into our own writing.

Links:

* [‘Doppelganger murder’: Woman accused of killing Instagram lookalike in plot to fake her own death](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/doppelganger-murder-woman-killed-instagram-lookalike-fake-death-rcna68318?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma) By Andy Eckardt and Aina J. Khan for NBC
* [The Godfather, Saudi-Style](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/29/mbs-v-mbn-the-bitter-power-struggle-between-rival-saudi-princes) by Anuj Chopra for the Guardian
* [The Last Days of Nikki Finke](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/21/style/nikki-finke-hollywood-journalist.html) by Jacob Bernstein for the NYT
* [The Nun and the Monk who fell in Love and Married](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64125531) by Aleem Maqbool for BBC
* [13 stranded strangers went on a road trip. Here’s what happened](https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/chance-encounters-canceled-flight-van-road-trip-13-strangers/index.html) by Francesca Street for CNN
* [‘Nothing, Forever’ Is An Endless ‘Seinfeld’ Episode Generated by AI](https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjkyxp/whats-the-deal-with-nothing-forever-a-21st-century-seinfeld-that-is-ai-generated) by Chloe Xiang for Vice
* [Manta Sleep Mask](https://mantasleep.com/)
* [Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!](https://cottonbureau.com/people/scriptnotes-podcast)
* [Check out the Inneresting Newsletter](https://inneresting.substack.com/)
* [Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription](https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/gifts) or [treat yourself to a premium subscription!](https://scriptnotes.supportingcast.fm/)
* [Craig Mazin](https://twitter.com/clmazin) on Twitter
* [John August](https://twitter.com/johnaugust) on Twitter
* [John on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en)
* [John on Mastodon](https://mastodon.art/@johnaugust)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Timothy Lenko ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))
* Scriptnotes is produced by [Megana Rao](https://twitter.com/MeganaRao) and edited by [Matthew Chilelli](https://twitter.com/machelli).

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/587standard.mp3).

**UPDATE 3-16-23** The transcript for this episode can now be found [here](https://johnaugust.com/2023/scriptnotes-episode-587-toldja-the-nikki-finke-movie-transcript).