Zeitgeist
Sub Categories:
Turnings
Book & Movie Reviews
News
Culture & Politics
Genre Analysis
Zeitgeist 101
Zeitgeist: Pope Leo XIV Gives Catholic Novelists Green Light to Use AI
Explore the pope’s encyclical on AI, a profound critique urging transparency and human oversight in artificial intelligence.
Zeitgeist: Light, Fire, and Clarity: What the Latest Baby Name Data Tells Us About the Shifting Culture
Explore the trends in baby names in 2025. Discover how names reflect clarity, light, and strength and the changing zeitgeist.
Zeitgeist: Stories Made by People Who Hate Them
Stories made by people who hate them: why faithful adaptations like Epic: The Musical earn billion-stream success while Hollywood’s deconstructed reboots keep failing, and what authors can learn from the pattern.
Zeitgeist: Globalists vs. Nationalists: What the UK and Japanese Elections Tell Us About the Changing Culture
Reform UK, Japan’s landslide, and the AfD surge reveal a global culture war. Here’s what the nationalist realignment means for your books and marketing.
Zeitgeist: First Turning Noblebright vs. Second Turning Grimbright
Thomas and Jonathan map classic films onto the Noble/Grim + Bright/Dark axis, the four-quadrant version of the Strauss-Howe generational turnings.
Zeitgeist: Southern Poverty Law Center Indictment Exposes Alleged Fraud, Accelerates Vibe Shift on Racism Accusations
a federal grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama, indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on April 21, 2026. The 11-count indictment charges the SPLC with six counts of wire fraud, four counts of false statements to a federally insured bank, and one count of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.
Zeitgeist: What Do Americans Consider Immoral?
Pew Research Center Survey Exposes Deep Divides in American Views on Morality...
Zeitgeist: Project Hail Mary Rockets Past $226 Million at Domestic Box Office
Project Hail Mary has crossed $430 million worldwide at the box office. Find out what its success reveals about what readers and want and how authors can connect.
Turnings
Turnings
Zeitgeist: Steak & Shake
A fast-food company poised to do very well in the new zeitgeist. I was the fastest-growing fast-food company in the country last year.
Zeitgeist: Davy Crockett King of the First Turning
America has had two kings and neither of them were Arthur. Our kings were Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier and Elvis Presley the king of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Zeitgeist: Mary Poppins: From Grimbright to Nobledark
his conversation unpacks how stories reflect cultural “turnings” in the zeitgeist, using Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh, Marines in wartime, and superhero tales as case studies.
Zeitgeist, Dystopian Fatigue, and the Rise of Ruthless & Noble Heroes
Explore the cultural vibe shift reshaping reader preferences and learn what sells now and where fiction is headed next.
How to Write Stories Readers Will Love by Knowing the Zeitgeist
If it takes you two years to write a book, you owe it to yourself to ask the...
News
News
No ISBN Means No Copyright Protection for Indie Authors
KDP lowers print costs, AI pirates monetize stolen audiobooks, authors lose Meta lawsuit standing, the Enhanced Games flop, and Pope Leo XIV embraces AI.
The Publishing Echo Chamber Nobody Will Admit Exists
Explore the latest trends affecting authors: declining nonfiction sales and the impact of podcasts on traditional publishing.
Amazon Review Purge: The Author Survival Guide
Explore recent publishing news on imprint closures, bestseller challenges, and AI’s influence on the future of books.
Draft2Digital Confirms: Amazon Sales Reports Are Off by 50%
KDP dashboard errors, Chrome’s secret AI install, a Harvard prompting hack, the AI book flood, and how global nationalism is changing what readers want.
Audible Forces Every Title Into New Royalty Model
Audible set a hard deadline for its new royalty model. The FTC fined a self-publishing guru $1.5M for fake promises. AI screeners favor AI-polished proposals over human ones. Independent bookstores are booming with 422 new openings. And science confirmed your TikTok breaks are wrecking your writing focus.
Price Fixing at Amazon
Amazon price-fixing emails unsealed by California’s AG, a banned-book campaign that backfired into a bestseller, proposed copyright fee hikes, the latest AI model drops from OpenAI and Chinese rivals, new cover design tools from Author Media, and surprising data on where the money and readers actually are. Here’s what it all means for your writing career.
Amazon Kills Store Access for 2 Million Kindles
Draft2Digital levies a tax against the “poors,” Amazon kills millions of old Kindles and the Windows 10 Kindle app, and Barnes and Noble Press drops three policy bombs that could wipe your books from sale. Plus, an AI artist just hit number one on iTunes without a single human voice, Ukraine’s robots won their first solo battle with zero casualties, and fresh Pew Research data maps exactly where your readers draw their moral lines.
Huge Legal Wins for Authors
The Supreme Court confirms you own your AI-assisted writing, a bestselling thriller author loses his entire YouTube channel to a copyright scam but gets it back, Amazon finally ends the practice that let counterfeiters slip fakes into your book sales, and for our zeitgeist segment we’ll analyze the new movie Project Hail Mary.
Genre Analysis
Genre Analysis
Zeitgeist: Capturing a Shifting Zeitgeist of Paranoia, Betrayal, and Disrupted Domestic Normalcy
The March 2026 K-lytics report on psychological and domestic thrillers paints a picture of a genre in explosive transition. What was once a niche reflects profound changes in consumer demand and the broader zeitgeist.
Zeitgeist: Mystery Thriller Suspense K-Lytics Report
Kindle trends show that techno thrillers are up 49%. Find out what this says about current readers and publishers.
Zeitgeist: Hormonal Birth Control May Quietly Change What Romance Readers Crave in Male Heroes
Prescription medications are changing women’s preferences, from who they find attractive to what kind of heroes they want to read in their fiction.
Zeitgeist: Romance Dominates Kindle But Shows Signs of Maturing
Highlights of the romance genre based on the new k-lytics report.
Zeitgeist: Conservative Art
Why do conservative and Christian authors struggle with creative fiction while Tolkien and C.S. Lewis created timeless classics? This video explores the critical difference between identity-based storytelling and character-driven narratives that resonate with readers.
Zeitgeist: K-lytics Cozy Fantasy
Cozy Fantasy is surging with unprecedented demand that far exceeds supply, creating a massive opportunity for authors who understand this genre shift.
Zeitgeist: Christmas Romance vs. Paranormal Romance
Thomas Umstattd, Jr. and Jonathan Shuerger cover highlights from the K-lytics report showing trends in the Christmas and Paranormal romance genres.
Zeitgeist: Female Readers & The Hero’s Journey
Is the hero’s journey story arc different for male and female readers?
Book & Movie Reviews
Reviews
Zeitgeist: First Turning Noblebright vs. Second Turning Grimbright
Thomas and Jonathan map classic films onto the Noble/Grim + Bright/Dark axis, the four-quadrant version of the Strauss-Howe generational turnings.
Zeitgeist: Project Hail Mary Rockets Past $226 Million at Domestic Box Office
Project Hail Mary has crossed $430 million worldwide at the box office. Find out what its success reveals about what readers and want and how authors can connect.
Zeitgeist: One Piece Passes Superman as Best-Selling Comic with 600 Million Copies
One Piece has officially hit 600 million copies in circulation worldwide, matching and effectively surpassing Superman’s nearly 90-year sales record in under 30 years.
Zeitgeist: AI as Metaphor: Corporations, Pagan Gods & the Managerial State
For the past 40 years, AI villains in fiction have been metaphors for the soulless managerial state that stripped human agency throughout the 20th century.
Zeitgeist: Davy Crockett King of the First Turning
America has had two kings and neither of them were Arthur. Our kings were Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier and Elvis Presley the king of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Culture & Politics
Culture
Zeitgeist: Light, Fire, and Clarity: What the Latest Baby Name Data Tells Us About the Shifting Culture
Explore the trends in baby names in 2025. Discover how names reflect clarity, light, and strength and the changing zeitgeist.
Zeitgeist: Globalists vs. Nationalists: What the UK and Japanese Elections Tell Us About the Changing Culture
Reform UK, Japan’s landslide, and the AfD surge reveal a global culture war. Here’s what the nationalist realignment means for your books and marketing.
Zeitgeist: Southern Poverty Law Center Indictment Exposes Alleged Fraud, Accelerates Vibe Shift on Racism Accusations
a federal grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama, indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on April 21, 2026. The 11-count indictment charges the SPLC with six counts of wire fraud, four counts of false statements to a federally insured bank, and one count of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.
Zeitgeist: What Do Americans Consider Immoral?
Pew Research Center Survey Exposes Deep Divides in American Views on Morality https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAdsjkcq9XA Thomas: A Pew Research study just came out about what Americans view as moral and immoral. This matters for authors because every novel has a...
The Cultural Zeitgeist Shift That’s Making Indie Authors Rich
Discover the cultural shift in zeitgeist that reflects the changing preferences of American readers.
Zeitgeist: Hormonal Birth Control May Quietly Change What Romance Readers Crave in Male Heroes
Prescription medications are changing women’s preferences, from who they find attractive to what kind of heroes they want to read in their fiction.
Zeitgeist: AI Could Trigger an English Language Reset Like the Norman Conquest
AI and tools like ChatGPT and Grammarly are fundamentally transforming the English language. This deep dive explores how AI writing is changing us.
Zeitgeist: White House Uses Video Game Hype to Market War to Young Men
The Trump administration is selling the war very differently from past conflicts.
Zeitgeist 101
Zeitgeist 101
Zeitgeist: Pope Leo XIV Gives Catholic Novelists Green Light to Use AI
Explore the pope’s encyclical on AI, a profound critique urging transparency and human oversight in artificial intelligence.
The Cultural Zeitgeist Shift That’s Making Indie Authors Rich
Discover the cultural shift in zeitgeist that reflects the changing preferences of American readers.
Zeitgeist, Dystopian Fatigue, and the Rise of Ruthless & Noble Heroes
Explore the cultural vibe shift reshaping reader preferences and learn what sells now and where fiction is headed next.
The Sci-Fi Zeitgeist Has Shifted: What Authors Need to Know
Dive into the essentials of writing a sci-fi novel amidst evolving themes like population collapse and AI advancements.
How to Write Stories Readers Will Love by Knowing the Zeitgeist
If it takes you two years to write a book, you owe it to yourself to ask the...
How to Write Enduring Bestsellers with the Two-Act Chiastic Structure
Struggling to write your three-act story? Discover another story structure from ancient history that will satisfy your readers and help you finish your book.
How to Write Novels Men Want to Read
Explore the reasons why men may not be reading novels published by big publishers. Find out how this product-market mismatch affects male readership.
How to Write for American Readers – An Author’s Guide to America’s Regional Cultures
To write for American readers, you must understand which American readers you’re targeting. Learn how American culture differs by region so you can write what resonates.