TWIN PEAKS CONVERSATIONS #22 w/ Lost Highway: The Fist of Love author Scott Ryan (YouTube & extended PATREON)

The same week that I published my belated April episode, a discussion with the hosts of Twin Peaks Peeks, (and before I posted or was even able to mention the long-delayed Lost in Twin Peaks season three finale coverage yesterday) I caught up with the episode that should have been released in May. Aside from John Thorne (who will make another appearance eventually, wrapping up this podcast run with a bonus), Scott is the first return guest on Twin Peaks Conversations. He's already written another book after his late 2021 appearance (which was to promote Your Laura Disappeared, his study of Fire Walk With Me). This time, the subject is David Lynch's own Twin Peaks follow-up, Lost Highway. Like the previous book, Scott's The Fist of Love offers the author's own experience with the film, picks apart the musical soundtrack, and engages with numerous cast and crew members in lively interviews. In this case, the interviews compose the vast majority of the book because Scott was a relative newbie to the film, engaging deeply with it for the first time unlike with Twin Peaks (which he'd been immersed in since its 1990 debut). Our conversation touches on this surreal introduction, as a middle-aged post-Return viewer in the twenty-first century, to a world that represents his Gen X nineties youth onscreen. The first part of the interview, public on YouTube as always, focuses on his own work...

PART 1 on YouTube

And on the $5/month Patreon tier, another hour and twenty minutes of dialogue (and disagreement!), we continue to debate the pertinence of Twin Peaks to Lost Highway, the flaws of season three, and how younger generations engage with Lynch and the culture in general.

Listen to...

PART 2 on Patreon

While this is "officially" the end of Twin Peaks Conversations (I'm no longer promising the back halves as monthly patron rewards from June onward), I have several bonus episodes in various stages of planning. I've already recorded the first part of that John Thorne conversation, been in talks with Rob King to discuss his "Lynch and the West" book, exchanged messages with other potential guests, and kept in mind some people I'd like to reach out to when Journey Through Twin Peaks is more fully underway or even near conclusion. So, you'll be happy to know, we aren't quite out of those particular woods yet.

Purchase Scott's book Lost Highway: The Fist of Love 

Lost Highway Cast Panel (Natasha Gregson Wagner, Balthazar Getty with Host Scott Ryan) 2023 (video)

Listen to Scott on The Red Room Podcast & subscribe to The Blue Rose Magazine

Scott's appearance on the Twin Peaks Unwrapped podcast to discuss The Fist of Love

TWIN PEAKS CONVERSATIONS #5 w/ Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared author Scott Ryan (YouTube & extended PATREON)

I'm kicking off a year of Fire Walk With Me by cross-posting my conversation, from a couple weeks ago, with the author of a new book on the subject. Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared is written by Scott Ryan, who you're probably familiar with if you've been part of the Twin Peaks fan community over the past decade, and it observes the film from all angles. It's part personal memoir, part deep-dive technical analysis, part interview collection - including brand new discussions with the likes of producer Gregg Feinberg, co-writer Robert Engels, cinematographer Ron Garcia, editor Mary Sweeney (I'm most excited for that one) and Laura Palmer herself, actress Sheryl Lee. Scott's first interview with Lee, published in The Blue Rose magazine several years ago, blew me away with its insights and lively back-and-forth; in it, he laid out some of his difficulties with the new material late in season three, which she engaged in a thoughtful and thought-provoking manner - an issue we also discuss in the latter part of this conversation. According to Scott, this interview is even better than that earlier one so I can't wait to read it (he shared many but not all of the book's chapters with me beforehand, only heightening my anticipation for the rest).

The book is scheduled for when the film celebrates its 30th anniversary in May 2022, but you don't have to wait till then to order it; in fact, Scott is encouraging pre-orders as soon as possible for a limited batch of color editions for the same price as the later black-and-white version - a one-time order he may have to place as soon as the next few days so jump on it now if you haven't already.

The first part of our conversation, made public on YouTube, runs about an hour and focuses on the film and the details of this ambitious book project:

PART 1 on YouTube

(Embedded videos are having difficulty right now - you can jump here for this one.)

The second part, longer than the first, deals with Scott's and my questions and frustrations with season three (as well as what we appreciate about it) and then onto his very Gen X hot takes about the cinema of the nineties versus today (as well as a humorous, related story about his interview with Mary Sweeney for this book).

Listen to...

PART 2 on Patreon

For more, you can check out my earlier interview with Scott, conducted when he released his documentary film Voyage to Twin Peaks.

Purchase an early order of Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared - color edition available at same price for a very limited time

Fire Walk With Me: Your Laura Disappeared Book Trailer (video)

Also listen to The Red Room Podcast, order The Blue Rose Magazine, Moonlighting: An Oral History, Thirtysomething at Thirty, and Last Days of Letterman

My own related work

David Lynch & Mary Sweeney: Dream Souls (video essay)

Twin Peaks montage: Dark Dreams on the Radio (Journey Through Twin Peaks excerpt) (video)

Affliction review (talks about the cinematic shift in 1999)

Podcast on Mary Sweeney's film Baraboo

Voyage to Twin Peaks: an interview w/ filmmaker Scott Ryan

Last month I spoke with Scott Ryan, a man of many talents: founder/host of the Red Room Podcast (among others), author of many books (including Scott Luck Stories and an upcoming study of thirtysomething featuring interviews with the entire cast and crew), and finally, the director of the short documentary Voyage to Twin Peaks, which you can rent or buy on Amazon (online previews are here and here). Voyage to Twin Peaks begins by quickly recounting Scott's long history as a superfan before chronicling his first-ever visit to the Twin Peaks Festival in Snoqualmie, Washington (where the TV pilot & feature film were shot). The film is a charming valentine to the festival, the Twin Peaks fan community, and to the world of the show itself (including a poignant farewell to Catherine Coulson, the Log Lady, who appears onscreen here for the last time...well, except for her announced role in Twin Peaks, which may have been shot soon after). Scott and I discussed his new movie, but also much, much more about the show, the film, David Lynch, and Scott's other work and interests.