What can screenwriters learn from Christopher Nolan's THE ODYSSEY? In the latest edition of 5AM StoryTalk, I break down the storytelling decisions that transformed a 2,700-year-old myth into a devastating study of our own civilization's collapse. ✍️ Read more at the link in the first comment...

The latest edition of 5AM StoryTalk's monthly rundown has dropped. It's about my life as a professional artist in Australia, art lover, and human being trying to survive the 21st century - good and bad, hilarious and stupid. This month, things have taken a turn…for the better?

☕ 5AM CoffeeTalk: August 2026

A monthly rundown about my life as a professional artist, art lover, and human being trying to survive the 21st century - good and bad, glorious and frustrating, hilarious and stupid

colehaddon.substack.com

Dinah Washington killing time on the drums as she waits for rehearsal to start, 1958. 📸 Ted Williams.

“I think about the reader. I care about the reader. Not ‘audience.’ Not ‘readership.’ Just the reader.”  —  Jeffrey Eugenides

Emily Wilson, the renowned translator of Homer's THE ODYSSEY, penned a takedown of Christopher Nolan's adaptation that *intentionally* misses the point...so why did she do it? Read: colehaddon.substack.com/p/emily-wils...

What is the hidden thread connecting all great stories? DR. DACHER KELTNER - psychologist, author, and leading expert on awe - explores the surprising science behind timeless storytelling. 🎙️🎬 Listen/watch the full 5AM StoryTalk conversation with Dacher at the link in the first comment!

I just love this independent poster for THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964). I mean, look at the expression on Vincent Price’s face — the disgusted, resigned commitment to the task in front of him. Art by Joel Herrera.

From the making of FIRST BLOOD (1982): Sylvester Stallone tries to escape the cops. 📸 Unknown.

What can screenwriters learn from Christopher Nolan's THE ODYSSEY? In the latest edition of 5AM StoryTalk, I break down the storytelling decisions that transformed a 2,700-year-old myth into a devastating study of our own civilization's collapse. ✍️ Read more at the link in the first comment...

“I want to touch people with my art. I want them to say 'he feels deeply, he feels tenderly.'” — Vincent Van Gogh

Bill Pullman and John Candy yucking it up for the camera during the making of SPACEBALLS (1987). 📸 Unknown.

“There is nothing harder to estimate than a writer’s time, nothing harder to keep track of. There are moments — moments of sustained creation — when his time is fairly valuable; and there are hours and hours when a writer’s time isn’t worth the paper he is not writing anything on.”― E.B. White

A reminder: Mads Mikkelsen is an international treasure.

Robert Evans, Ali MacGraw, and James Caan at THE GODFATHER’s premiere, 1972. 📸 Unknown.

“Try to read your own work as a stranger would read it, or even better, as an enemy would.” — Zadie Smith

Writer-director GREG MCLEAN ('Wolf Creek') has thoughts on why indie horror creators are capturing the cultural zeitgeist right now. From ‘Backrooms’ to ‘Obsession’, the playbook has changed. 🎙️🎬 Listen/watch the full conversation with Greg McLean at the link in the first comment!

Thanks to everyone who's shared this piece, including those who did so to insult me. You've helped more people find Emily Wilson's review and my rebuttal, which I think is a good thing. The arts require vigorous public discourse, given how they're under siege. Keep talking about them!

Cole Haddon@colehaddon.bsky.social · last wk.

Emily Wilson, the renowned translator of Homer's THE ODYSSEY, penned a takedown of Christopher Nolan's adaptation that *intentionally* misses the point...so why did she do it? Read: colehaddon.substack.com/p/emily-wils...

“Every scene should be able to answer three questions: Who wants what from whom? What happens if they don’t get it? Why now?” — David Mamet

My brother just shared a Chat GPT pic of him with our dead dad, whom he has thousands of real photos with. Dad is 4 inches shorter than him when he was actually taller. The name on my brother's uniform is wrong. And my brother is John Travolta. He texted, "This made me cry." I'm still laughing.

"As far as I can tell, this review was written by someone who brought the same interrogative curiosity to bear on this artwork as I do to the nutritional summaries on the back of a cereal box."

Cole Haddon@colehaddon.bsky.social · last wk.

Emily Wilson, the renowned translator of Homer's THE ODYSSEY, penned a takedown of Christopher Nolan's adaptation that *intentionally* misses the point...so why did she do it? Read: colehaddon.substack.com/p/emily-wils...

David Lean talking with William Wyler during the making of BEN-HUR (1959). 📸 Unknown.

Emily Wilson, the renowned translator of Homer's THE ODYSSEY, penned a takedown of Christopher Nolan's adaptation that *intentionally* misses the point...so why did she do it? Read: colehaddon.substack.com/p/emily-wils...

Tracy Chapman, 1992. 📸 Lynn Goldsmith.

Netflix’s biggest shows have been losing 30-70% of their audience between seasons 1 and 2. Executives are in a panic because they can’t figure out why, but the answer is probably pretty damn obvious to anyone who’s paying attention.

The (Not So) Curious Case of Netflix's Shrinking Audience

Why the streaming giant loses up to 70% of its viewers between seasons - and the obvious reason why executives refuse to believe it

colehaddon.substack.com

Australian Sen. Fatima Payman opens up about the devastating loss of her father at just 47, and how navigating that grief completely transformed her approach to politics, mental health, and living without regrets. 🎙️🎬 Listen/watch the full 5AM StoryTalk conversation at the link in the first comment!

Dennis Hopper on the set of APOCALYPSE NOW (1979). 📸 Mary Ellen Mark.

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” — Douglas Adams

Linda Ronstadt, 1975. This was used as the cover to her seventh studio album Hasten Down the Wind. 📸 Ethan Russell.

“It is not the job of artists to give the audience what the audience want. If the audience knew what they needed, then they wouldn’t be the audience. They would be the artist. It is the job of artists to give the audience what they need.” — Alan Moore

I am followed on here by a bunch of journalists, and like… y'all. What the living hell is anyone doing going to the correspondents' dinner, in any other capacity than to loudly, visibily, pointedly protest this administration to its face? And I'm not talking fucking coordinated pocket squares 🙄

hannah gais@hannahgais.bsky.social · 4mo ago

I’m sorry, if you’re a journalist and you’re still going to the White House Correspondents Dinner this year, genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, fuck off.