Hello all you loyal listeners! We had a minor technical catastrophe when our recording platform became sentient, attemtpted to take over the world, and corrupted several episodes of the show in the process. We have a new recording platform, for our inaugural voyage, we are returning to our favorite popular scientist, Carlo Rovelli to talk about what's on the other end of a black hole. For our sampling tonight, we are trying Keeper's Heart Irish Bourbon Whisky.

We couldn't say enough about the Cartographers by Peng Shepherd. Well, if you think about it, we really had too much to say. After all, here we are with more to say! Tonight the boys are also going to check in with their specially ordered bottle of Oak & Eden customized with 4 grain bourbon whiskey, a French oak stave, and orange essence.

In this week's episode, Stephen and Mark dive into a story about familes. The families you are born into, the familes you make, and the worlds you create together. Come explore with them as they find brave new worlds in Peng Shepherd's masterful novel, "The Cartographers". It's a long road, and the path is unclear, and so they will pair the book with Five Trail Whiskey.

How does a story drive forward? How do the connections between the characters, the setting, the author, and the reader all work in concert to weave a tale that people want to read or tell or listen? We're waxing philosophical on tonight's episode, and appropriately enough, we're sampling some West Cork Irish Whiskey to put us in the right mood.

It's another 15 minute dumpster fire, brought to you by Stephen and Mark and Starward Two Fold.

Stephen and Mark spend some time stranded on Mars with "The Martian" by Andy Weir. Surviving on a planet that is literally trying to kill you at every moment of the day can be stressful. Good thing they have their custom made bottle of Oak & Eden to help take off the edge.

As Stephen and Mark lose their minds over whales, they will spend some time sipping on St. George Absinte and Basil Hayden Toast!

What if you could live 10,000 lifetimes, and the only requirement would be to find perfection before using them all up. Do you think you could do it? Stephen and Mark are pretty sure they wouldn't make it, getting distracted by loud thoughts, like Stephen's gout toe, or France. This is the simple premise of a deceptively complex book about life, love, the self, and reaching for something perfect in "Reincarnation Blues" by Michael Poore. But one thing that is close to perfection, is a bottle of Widow Jane 10 Year Bourbon.

Tonight as the guys talk about what they forgot from All Systems Red by Martha Wells, they return to a previous bottle, Legent. This time they try it as a cocktail with an experimental mixer purchased for a magical place called the internet.

On this episode, the guys discuss the starting tale of a Scifi series with an interesting twist and viewpoint. Speaking of interesting twists, they will be sampling Jack Daniels Triple Mash.