Podbit · Last Podcast On The Left
Every King family member sends their manuscript to Tabitha first. She collapsed Joe Hill's artistic resolve with one phone call and regularly overrules Stephen after 48 hours of teeth-gnashing.
Where this was said
At 27:00 · chapter starts 25:30
With Father's Day as the episode's thematic anchor, the hosts ask which fictional father is most admired. Joe Hill's answer is disarmingly sincere: he always wanted to be Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird — calm, wise, present. Stephen's response to this is wonderfully deflating: 'Joe, you know Gregory Peck had a script.' Stephen's own parenting horror-adjacent style is revealed: he told his children bedtime versions of fairy tales where Goldilocks doesn't escape and gets eaten by the bears. He also notes that while he never weaponized Pennywise against his children, he did deploy the threat of 'ass-kicking boots' when the house got chaotic — and Joe remembers searching the closet trying to identify which pair they were.
Steven Pressfield's insight: don't wait for the commitment to feel real before acting like a professional. Set up the studio. Make the schedule. Show up. Commitment doesn't precede action — it follows it. You act like a pro first, and your brain catches up with justifications after. The action is the commitment.
Robby Hoffman isn't fearless — she's terrified all the time. The difference is she does it anyway, because not doing it feels worse than the fear itself.
John Mulaney texted Robby Hoffman out of nowhere saying he'd been a fan for a while and wanted to make a Netflix special with her. Robby called it 'shocking, horrifying, anxiety-inducing, surreal and thrilling' — and said yes.
Mulaney is buttoned-up, suit-wearing, classy. Robby is gritty, raw, and undefined. Together they made the collab nobody expected. Batman and Robin. Eminem and Dido.
Music had Pope Gregory forcing notation. Comedy has had 'magical thinking' — he's just got funny bones. But jokes work through discoverable, teachable mechanics. Writing down the rules doesn't kill the magic; it gives more people access to it.
Howard Ashman had one insight nobody else had: animated Disney films should be Broadway musicals. The third song of every great musical is the character sitting alone explaining what they want. That's 'Part of Your World.' That structure — combined with Alan Menken's compositions — generated Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, and turned Disney Animation into the most profitable creative engine in entertainment history.
The Lion King musical has been running for 30 years across Broadway, London's West End, and global touring companies. It has grossed over $11 billion in total revenue — more than Avatar, more than Avengers: Endgame, more than any album, more than any video game. It generates an average of $350 million in revenue every single year. Disney owns it outright.
The anonymous French artist Invader has hidden 1,500 pixelated mosaic artworks across Paris alone, with thousands more scattered across 80+ cities — affixed to the Eiffel Tower, the Hollywood sign, and even sent to the International Space Station. He might be even busier than Banksy.
The Flash Invaders app turns city streets into a treasure hunt, letting players scan Invader's hidden mosaics for points. Players have collectively logged over 47 million flashes. Unlike most mobile games that glue you to a screen, this one forces you to look up and engage with your surroundings.
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