Steve reacted to these classic essays with "meh," throwing Kelly into a Jesus-like rage that resulted in an upset table and a smashed iPhone 16 Pro. Just kidding about the last part but Kelly is audibly annoyed and spends the episode trying to shame everyman Steve, who fails to be ashamed. Is this the best podcast episode ever? No. Will you learn something you didn't already know about Orwell, the absurdity of colonialism, and the strange shame and appeal of capital punishment? Unlikely. Will the voices keep you company as you walk the dog, fold your laundry, drive across town, or use the elliptical at the gym? Hell yeah.

Thanks to the Orwell Foundation for making these essays free and accessible. Check out their website for a wealth of content.

https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/a-hanging/

https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/shooting-an-elephant/

Superstar friend of the pod, Sarah, meets the fellers in Ciudad Mexico (a bar in downtown LA), for some more hijinks. Agenda: Bukowski's Barfly and a couple of beers.

https://www.sarahkaingutowski.com/

Episode two from La Cita de los Angeles features novelist, story writer, professor, and Substacker Christine Sneed, who met the fellas at a coffee joint slash wine bar for some Shirley Jackson action. Subject: "The Lottery," a story about small town values. Other topics include LA, Chicago, Christine's many books, and her forthcoming writer's retreat in Bordeaux. An excellent time was had by all, and will be had even more by you, dear listener.

https://www.christinesneed.com/

Da boys went down to Lalaland for the big annual creative writing conference, and who should they meet? Well, a bunch of folks, including Kimberly the poet, who really didn't know what she was in for when she agreed to join the podcast. At her request, they talked old, old movies, specifically, Gilda and Gaslight. The discussion, in DTLA's amazing CDMX bar, was scintillating, profound, hilarious, and touching. Now buy Kimberly's latest book!

https://www.kimberlyannpriest.com/books

Steve just returned from a work trip in India, and Kelly has been going to Venice every summer for years, so why not discuss a kind of groundbreaking and fun autofictional novel about the extremes of excess and deprivation? If you haven't read Geoff Dyer's book in question, get on it.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/mar/29/jeff-venice-geoff-dyer-review

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/books/review/Iyer-t.html

Jones and Daniels are on the same page in this peaceable episode. The movie started strong and fell apart, the inverse of the convo, which improves with age (and beer).

Steve doesn't like the story about the alcoholic poet who is brought against his will up to see the volcano. The volcano, and the poet, and the other characters, and the situation, are kind of metaphors for this or that, and Steve doesn't like metaphors. Steve does like the other story though, the non-metaphorical thriller about a bunch of doped out amateur drug smugglers who are just not really pulling it off on their sailboat in the Caribbean Sea. Kelly likes all the stories in Robert Stone's "book of a lifetime," Bear and His Daughter, but then again, Kelly's a professor, and as such, unreliable and unrelatable. Whether you're a Stone superfan or never heard of the guy, there's plenty here for you in this contentious episode.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/1997/11/telling-america-its-nightmares/

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/04/20/reviews/970420.20wood2t.html

https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/bear-and-his-daughter-by-robert-stone-book-of-a-lifetime-a6867281.html

A little kid has a grownup day, and a big kid enjoys a few minutes of adulthood before... Well, no spoilers in this description. Join the brohams as they discuss the king broham himself.

Check out this entertaining and informative video two nice guys sent Dude One and Dude Two while recording at headquarters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlxEKOscu0M