Episode Details

Tonight I sit down with award-winning novelist Gerald Everett Jones for a wide-ranging conversation on history, storytelling, and the hidden forces that shape our world. We dive into his new novel, Jonathan’s Journal, which springs from a real 1919 soldier’s diary and unravels a lesser-known front of World War I across Mesopotamia, Palestine, and India. Gerald walks us through the “Eastern Question,” the Berlin-to-Baghdad railway, the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and why sea lanes and warm-water ports still drive geopolitics today.

We also swap notes on film craft, acting, and how close observation—Le Carré-style—helps readers see between the lines of both fiction and history. Beyond the pages, we talk creative origins, research rabbit holes, and the personal stories that inform Gerald’s work—from family histories touched by two world wars to Hollywood lore and the evolution of media. If you’re curious about the threads connecting past and present, and how a discovered diary can challenge the way we think about cause and effect, this episode’s for you.

Resources and links: GeraldEverettJones.com • Gerald Everett Jones on Substack • Jonathan’s Journal (releases April 14) • LA Times Festival of Books appearance (Writers & Publishers Network booth) • Get Published Radio podcast.

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Special thanks to:

Executive Producer Wayne Rankin
Executive Producer Rosanna Rankin
Executive Producer Carolina Jimenez
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Executive Producer Angela Wetuski

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(00:00:48) Live from the Asylum: Opening, music throwback, and show setup

(00:03:15) Weekend recap, Bible study series, and platform shift to Rumble

(00:04:58) History is happening now: Framing tonights conversation

(00:07:12) Guest intro: Award-winning novelist Gerald Everett Jones

(00:08:16) Icebreakers: Calculus, hair, and humor before the deep dive

(00:12:21) From early awards to choosing writing over acting

(00:20:34) Film craft insights: Stars, speeches, and modern pacing

(00:23:28) Shakespeare on screen and the lost art of long dialogue

(00:23:35) Turning to history: Researching art, archives, and mystery

(00:26:28) The found 1919 diary that sparked Jonathans Journal

(00:31:47) Making fiction from facts: A COVID-era professor investigates