After a decade of working in Hollywood on shows like “Arrested Development” and a project with Danny DeVito and Jeff Goldblum, writer Jake Korell took what started as a “truly awful adult animated TV pilot,” then transformed it to a podcast series and finally into his first novel, “The Second World.”

“Mars has declared its independence from Earth. But building a country takes more than a new flag, an arena-worthy anthem, and naming Pluto the donkey the national animal. As the Red Planet spirals into political upheaval, Flip Buchanan—the irreverent, reluctant son of the most powerful man on Mars—stumbles through two tumultuous decades of alien discoveries, killer clones, and the chaos of a new nation still working out the kinks.

Always second-best in a family obsessed with being first, Flip must grapple with the absurdity of Martian society and the gravity of legacy to step out of his father’s shadow and define self-worth on his own terms—a feat that can feel as impossible as climbing Olympus Mons.”

In this episode, Jake talks about the origin of this “truly awful” story, how he adapted it to a podcast, and the ‘ah-ha’ moment when he knew he had a book on his hands. He talks about the main character, Flip Buchanan, how he came to be and his role in the story. Jake also shares some parallels between the world he treated on Mars and the one we still live on.