iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This week’s Scriptnotes with Aaron Sorkin is one of my favorites. In the bonus segment, we discuss his never-made Houdini musical.

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

You can also find this answer by emailing support, or looking at the FAQ.

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

The app is still available on the Mac App Store for anyone who purchased it. If you’re hitting the paywall/watermark, click Restore Purchase.

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Steph Cherrywell @stephcherrywell.com · 20/08/2026

I just finished Wolf's Belly by @johnaugust.bsky.social and Simon Estrada. It's amazing, a must read! I can picture this turned into a really killer animated film some day.

The cover of Wolf's Belly by John August and Simon Estrada. Red Riding Hood, but kinda spooky. It's very cool!

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Already bookmarked for a future segment!

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

No matter how many times I encounter it, I always forget what a huge difference color correction makes.

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Ken Tremendous @kentremendous.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Nithya now ~7K behind for L.A. Mayor. At this rate she should pass Pratt tomorrow or Monday.

L.A. Mayor vote totals. Nithya Raman is now about 7K votes behind SPencer Pratt for 2nd place, after being 21K behind him yesterday.

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Maynard Collector @maynardbrewer.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

@johnaugust.bsky.social heating the pan up in oven before reheating pizza in it is amazing. How I’ve never done this before I have no idea.

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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 16/05/2026

1. Hey folks: My pal (and recent Oscar nominee!) Pamela Ribon is making a documentary on Texas' UIL One Act Play competition, where teens compete statewide for theatrical glory. She's hoping for donations for post-production work and @scalzifamily.foundation is matching funds. www.oneactfilm.com

A photo of a bunch of students up on a stage, looking like they are about to take a bow, while the words "ONE ACT" float above them.

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Had no idea you were related. Been following her since the Tiki days.

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Oh for sure. But I read a fair number of Substacks, and they're good at getting into my inbox.

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

I’m getting so much Substack spam. First from politicians, now from investment gurus. Substack needs to add a button beyond “unsubscribe."

Unsubscribe screen from Substack with a new button labeled "Unsubscribe and Report as spam."

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

It’s mostly a conceit of the genre. In Catastrophe, Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan intentionally allow their characters to laugh at jokes.

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Hank Green @hankgreen.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Some people say we don’t build beautiful things anymore and, like, lol. Motherfuckers, we built this:

A graph from Our World In Data showing a precipitous drop in child mortality starting in the late 1800s going from an average of 48% to global rate of 27% in 1950 to the 2020 infant mortality rate of 4%, with some countries having a rate as low as 0.3%

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Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

no one is doing it like jd vance, a loser across three continents in a single weekend

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Maybe go outside and look at actual birds? Just for a few minutes. birdigogame.com will still be there.

birdigogame.com

Birdigo | A cute deckbuilder word game about migrating birds

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Jacob Sager Weinstein @jacobsw.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

This is my favorite download of 2026.

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

WGA folks, check your email for details about the 2026 MBA.

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

It’s wild we use Roman numerals for anything. “It’s a number, but you have to think about it!"

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

And: @BarnesandNoble is running a huge preorder sale. If you want to preorder Wolf's Belly and get 25% off, join their free rewards program and use code PREORDER25 at checkout. #BNPreorder www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wolfs-bell...

barnesandnoble.com

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Dave Jorgenson @davejorgenson.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

I keep thinking about the politically agnostic people in Minneapolis who were radicalized by ICE’s presence and began actively protesting them. I wonder if putting ICE in transient places, where Americans from all over can see their aggressive (and often illegal) actions, may just backfire.

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

You can listen now. No non-book spoilers

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

This week’s Scriptnotes has Drew Goddard talking about Project Hail Mary. I love the movie (10/10) and our conversation about turning beats into actual scenes. Premium episode out now. Regular episode tomorrow.

Screenshot from podcast player with episode description reading:

John welcomes back Drew Goddard (Project Hail Mary, High Potential) to ask, how do you turn the beats of your story into full scenes? Using Drew's script for The Martian, we look at how he translates moments in a book into scenes in a movie, the freedom Drew finds in a beat sheet, how beats are approached in a TV writers room, and his advice to a staff writer struggling with a draft. We also dig into Drew's process for adapting Project Hail Mary, choosing what to cut, and his eloquent defense of double-spacing in a screenplay. He's even kind enough to help answer listener questions on how to recharge your brain and how to indicate you wrote the
most on a co-written script. In our bonus segment for premium members, Drew shares his outlook on the current TV landscape, including the big mistake he sees young writers make in their spec pilots.

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Joe Baxter-Webb @indiegameclinic.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Birdigo is good, and I’ve nearly completed all of the challenges in it, I think… but also it’s made me loathe the letter J.

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Even if it’s not in the official script, the writer will often write dialogue for the scene so the actors have specific things to do and say. These could be pages handed out on the day of shooting.

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Select a letter — or two if it’s about transforming one into the other. Then tap the song you want to use. The only trick is selecting the letter(s) first.

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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

The “shield” is intolerable here as well. “Parents tried to shield their children from water. Instead they died of dehydration.” That’s what the @nytimes.com headline here says. Both “shield” and “instead” appallingly reinforce anti-vax attitudes and frames.

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Joe Baxter-Webb @indiegameclinic.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

This game is a banger. I am enjoying the inherent ridiculousness of trying to win a word game by replacing my entire deck with wildcards.

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

But seriously: If this merger happens, there are going to be so many brilliant marketing and distribution people laid off. Start a new division! Make money!

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ghost malone ergo propter bones @proptermalone.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

v early in Mamdani’s term in office but hard to escape conclusion that he’s causing a lot of snowfall

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Working on it! The game is done, but we can’t get it approved by Google.

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Birdigo, our acclaimed Wordle-meets-Balatro game, is out today on the App Store! No ads. Just pudgy birds. @gameteam6.com apps.apple.com/us/app/birdi...

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Molly Knight @mollyknight.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Melrose and La Brea is just a river right now.

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

We should send it out wider. I’ll DM you a link.

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Liam Johnson @liamjohnsontype.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

Done. This might be my new favourite book on writing. Maybe only tied with @stephenking.bsky.social’s. Very honest, very straightforward, and very practical. It’s about the job and not about dreaming of the job title. Thanks @johnaugust.bsky.social and @clmazin.bsky.social

Scriptnotes book by John August and Craig Mazin

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Did you read the bonus chapter? We cover a fair amount of that.

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Jenna Avery @jennaavery.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Just played a(nother) fun game of Swoop with our family, thanks to @johnaugust.bsky.social mentioning it on Scriptnotes. It’s a quick, easy card game, ages 7+ (officially) for 3-8 players, though you can expand up to 12 if you buy an extra deck. It’s a little like Uno. Recommended.

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Ken Tremendous @kentremendous.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

The concept of “lying under oath” is up for grabs right now. All the Trump SCOTUS judges did it about Roe. Kennedy did it to get his post. If one of these fuckers isn’t prosecuted it will be crystal clear that there are zero repercussions for doing so, and everyone will lie forever.

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krat @kwholesaler.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

No son, they are not "magically delicious." The workers made them delicious. This is a slogan meant to mystify the social conditions of labor

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

I use Safari — except for Roll20, for which we needed to use a Chrome plugin

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

We were watching for the bushes to dance the whole time

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Dave Jorgenson @davejorgenson.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

turns out when Bezos suggested "democracy dies in darkness" it was a goal, not a slogan

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John August @johnaugust.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Hooray! We checked with the UK publisher, and apparently the delay was just physically getting books to the right warehouses. Glad it finally happened!

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