Book Club

Season 2 Episode 12 - My Problems Are Other People’s Dreams

🎙️ Welcome to another meeting of Book Club, where the books aren’t novels, and the club is just you and two dudes called Nic(k). And also long time listener, first time guest, Hannah McFadden.

📚 This week’s Book is fresh of the press: Do You Remember? The 21st Night of September.

So the Greeks… Hannah regales with her POV and takes us through the story of her recent proposal. But this isn't a one-sided affair. Nicky G is on hand to give his version of events, as we hear both sides of the story and find out whether they actually experienced the same proposal.

Romance, differing perspectives, and a rare opportunity to fact-check Nicky G in real time. What could possibly go wrong?

Our usual tangents also take us to toddler gang signs, prophecies, and Santana.

🗓️ Next Meeting
🎤 Hip Hop: Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer
Today in Hip Hop - 7L, Esoteric, and Inspectah Deck are back with their 2026 collab as supergroup Czarface. But this time they’re joined by Frankie Pulitzer a.k.a. Bane a.k.a. Tom Hardy in his rapping debut.

📬 Got feedback, homework suggestions, or want to tell Nicky G how much you loved his proposal?

Hit us up at [email protected]

The Free Range Sessions

Season 2 Episode 09 - EPL 2026/27 Season Preview

🎙️ Welcome to another meeting of Book Club, where the books aren’t novels, and the club is just you and two dudes called Nic(k).

📚 This week’s Book is the 2026/27 English Premier League season, and for the first time ever, we have an in-person guest at the table.

Liverpool supporter Sebastian Manickum enters the Fellowship to talk through the season ahead, defend the red half of Merseyside, and answer the important questions. Are Liverpool genuine title contenders? What should expectations be this season? Who is overhyped? Who is being slept on? And how much confidence is too much confidence before a ball has properly been kicked?

We also go around the league with our full EPL preview. Title favourites, top-four picks, dark horses, relegation candidates, breakout players, managers under pressure, and the annual Book Club tradition of making predictions that will almost certainly look stupid by October.

Plus, we check in on Manchester United, because unfortunately that is our burden, our curse, and our content.

🗓️ Next Meeting
🏀 Basketball: 1994 NBA Finals
We run it back to the year of our Nicko to look at an NBA without MJ. Featuring Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets up against Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks fighting for supremacy whilst the King is out of town.

📬 Got feedback, homework suggestions, or want to tell us why Liverpool do indeed suck?
Hit us up at [email protected]

Season 2 Episode 06 - Drake: ICEMAN, Maid of Honour, HABIBTI

🎙️ Welcome to another meeting of Book Club, where the books aren’t novels, and the club is just you and two dudes called Nic(k).

📚 This meeting, the Book is Drake. Not just one album Drake. Not just “what did he say about Kendrick” Drake. We’re talking three-album rollout Drake: ICEMAN, Maid of Honour, and HABIBTI.

🎤 Return of The Boy
We break down the full Drake Trilogy, the fan theory that Drake is H.I.M, and what each album is trying to prove after the Kendrick beef. Is ICEMAN Drake trying to win respect back? Is Maid of Honour him trying to win the room back? Is HABIBTI proof that wounded-lover Drake can still make you care? Did he stick the landing or is this just 43 songs, too much strategy, and one great album hiding inside the flood?

We also bring in a midweek phone call from a certified Drake fan to help unpack the beef, the backlash, the legacy conversation, and why Drake’s numbers are undeniable even when the reverence still feels complicated.

We share our favourite bars and ask the big question: What next for Drake?

🗓️ Next Meeting
We’re taking a short break while we set up the new booth. But the roll out for the next episodes is locked in.

⚽️ Football: 2026 FIFA World Cup Final
The World Cup is reaching its climax. Next episode we’ll break down the Final and the team’s Road to the Final and recap the tournament as a whole. Legacy’s made, the let-downs, the surprises, and what this means for the future of the sport.

🎤 Hip-Hop: Nas - Illmatic
After that, we’ll start our first History of Hip Hop book by sinking our teeth into one of the greatest albums of all time. The album that changed the game and inspired generations by your favourite rapper’s favourite rapper.

📬 Got feedback, homework suggestions, or want to tell us why our bias has blinded us?
Hit us up at [email protected]

Season 2 Episode 05 - World Cup Group Stage 2026

🎙️ Welcome to another meeting of Book Club, where the books aren’t novels, and the club is just you and two dudes called Nic(k).

📚 We stop and chat about this year’s Fifa World Cup being held in Canada, Mexico, and the USA. The winners, the losers, who is showing Championship Season energy, and who are the frauds.

⚽️ 2026 FIFA World Cup Group Stage
Elijah Just and the All Whites are going home, the giants are starting to separate themselves, and the expanded format is already giving us proper tournament chaos. Records have already begun to tumble, but who will emerge victorious?

We tangent into World Cup culture, watch one of the greatest Nike football ads of all time, check out the latest Coke World Cup ad, and dive into the new sleeve patches being worn by teams and players at the tournament.

🏀 The Offseason of Dreams
No rest for the wicked as the NBA silly season starts early. Giannis Antetokounmpo finally get’s his trade, LaMelo Ball’s shock move, all while LeBron James has parted ways with the Los Angeles and once again enters free agency.

Le Decision Volume 2. The one question that refuses to die and does the rounds every year: could LeBron actually team up with Steph and his former nemesis in the Golden State Warriors?

We talk landing spots, legacy moves, chaos trades, and whether the Warriors have one more absurd timeline left in them.

🗓️ Next Meeting
🎤 Hip-Hop: The Drake TrilogyWe finally sink our teeth into the first Hip Hop book of the season. Join us as we unpack Drake’s latest solo project Iceman, as well as the 2 surprise accompanying albums Maid of Honour and Habibti.

📬 Got feedback, homework suggestions, or want to tell us why Messi is, in fact, not the G.O.A.T?Hit us up at [email protected]

Season 2 Episode 04 - NBA Finals 2026

🎙️ Welcome to another meeting of Book Club, where the books aren’t novels, and the club is just you and two dudes called Nic(k).

📚 We continue our live watch of this year’s NBA Finals with our fastest ever turnaround from event to episode. Both teams come into this one with Championship Season storylines, but there can be only one.

🏀 2026 NBA Finals - San Antonio Spurs vs. New York Knicks

After reaching the Finals for the first time since 1999, the New York Knicks are looking to end a 53-year championship drought. Leading the charge is Jalen Brunson, the man everyone seems happy to doubt right up until it is time to actually be better than him.

Standing in their way are Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs, fresh from dethroning the defending champion Thunder and looking to kickstart another Spurs dynasty.

We go game by game through a Finals series that was tighter than series score suggests. From Brunson’s control and the Knicks’ comeback magic, to Wemby’s first taste of the biggest stage, the Spurs’ missed chances, and the moment the Statue of Liberty finally got her crown back.

🗽 New York, Stand Up

The Knicks are champions again. Brunson gets his Finals MVP moment, New York gets its long-awaited parade, and Book Club has to ask the important question: how many times does Jalen Brunson need to prove people wrong before we stop acting surprised?

We talk legacy, heartbreak, dynasty warnings, MVPooS, the rise of Wemby, whether this was a Spurs failure or learning experience.

🗓️ Next Meeting

🎤 Hip-Hop: The Drake Trilogy

Next meeting, we move from Finals drama to Drake drama as we dive into Iceman, Maid of Honour, Habibti, and whatever exactly is happening in the latest chapter of Aubrey’s ongoing main character arc.

📬 Got feedback, homework suggestions, or want to tell us why our Brunson takes are reactionary?

Hit us up at [email protected]

Season 2 Episode 03 - Champions League Final 2026

🎙️ Welcome back to another meeting of Book Club, where the books aren’t novels, and the club is just you and two dudes called Nic(k).

📚 The new format Book Club is in full swing as Nicko and Nicky G revisit the recent final of this year's Champions League.

⚽️ 2026 Champions League Final - Paris Saint-Germain vs. Arsenal

After finally getting the monkey off their back and winning their first Premier League title in 22 years, can Mikel Arteta, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel, and Arsenal reach the promised land?

Standing in their way are the defending champions PSG and their star-studded lineup featuring Ousmane Dembélé, Vitinha, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, led by the legendary Luis Enrique.

We talk through the league phase of this season’s Champions League, both finalists’ roads to the final, and the clash between the chaos and excitement of Paris and the undefeated consistency of London.

⚔️ The Debate Floor is Now in Session

Strap in as we debate the merits of both teams. The beauty and thrill of the free-flowing PSG against the pragmatic determination of Arsenal. 

The chat gets heated as we argue sports-washing vs one of football’s oldest clubs. Can football survive the money in the game? Can it thrive when anti-football is sometimes the smartest way to win?

We reach out for expert opinion to help us settle the debate.

🗓️ Next Meeting

🏀 Basketball: 2026 NBA Finals

As it looks like this year’s Finals won’t make it to 7 games, we watch live as the New York Knicks return to the Finals for the first time since 1999 and look to win their first Chip in 53 years. In their way: Wemby and the San Antonio Spurs, looking to kickstart yet another dynasty. 

📬 Got feedback, homework suggestions, or want to share your take on foreign ownership?

Hit us up at [email protected]

Season 2 Episode 02 - NBA West Conference Finals 2026

🎙️ Welcome to another meeting of Book Club, where the books aren’t novels, and the club is just you and two dudes called Nic(k).

📚 Season 2 continues with the first Book of the new era. After reopening the club in Episode 019, Nicky G and Nicko jump straight into the 2026 Western Conference Finals, as the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder the rising San Antonio Spurs.

🏀 2026 Western Conference Finals - Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs

The Thunder arrive as the reigning champs, led by back-to-back league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, and one of the deepest young cores in the league. Waiting for them are the Spurs, unanimous DPOY Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and a team that looks ready to drag the NBA timeline forward by force.

We go game by game through a seven-game Western Conference classic, from Wemby’s monster Game 1, to OKC’s championship response, a series that constantly went back and forth, to San Antonio forcing Game 7 and winning the West on the road.

⚔️ The Flame of the West

Wemby vs Chet. Shai vs the Spurs machine. Thunder dynasty dreams vs the Spurs prophecy arriving early. We talk through the key performances, turning points, tactics, MVP, MVPooS, and whether this series was the official beginning of the Wembanyama era.

🗓️ Next Meeting⚽ Football

2026 Champions League Final and Road to the FinalWe’ll look back at the biggest club match in Europe, how both teams got there, and where the final sits in the modern Champions League story.

📬 Got feedback, homework suggestions, or want to tell us why our Wemby takes are too dramatic?

Hit us up at [email protected]

Season 2 Episode 01

🎙️ Welcome back to another meeting of Book Club, where the books aren’t novels, and the club is still just you and two dudes called Nic(k). 

📚 Season 2 begins here. After almost exactly a year away, Nicky G and Nicko return for a new era of Book Club: back in New Zealand, recording in person, weekly meetings, and cracking open one book at a time. Join us for a re-pilot, a comeback, a catch-up, and a reset before the first proper Book of the new season drops tomorrow. 

⚽ Premier League 2025/26 Arsenal are champions. Manchester City win the cups but lose the crown, while Pep abdicates. Liverpool’s title defence falls apart. And Manchester United produce one of the most bipolar seasons imaginable: Amorim out, Carrick in, and Champions League football restored. 

We recap the season, settle the long-awaited Book Club Premier League bet, talk through the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Community Shield, and give the full United fan therapy session from early-season chaos to Carrickball hope. 

🏆 Football Catch-Up: Cups, Scandals & World Cup Drama. We also talk Pep’s looming exit, England’s World Cup squad selections, and like everyone else, we chat Tim Payne. 

🗓️ Tomorrow’s Meeting 

🏀 NBA: 2026 Western Conference Finals, Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs 

The birth of a dynasty or is the future now old man?

📬 Got feedback, homework suggestions, or want to tell us why our football takes are wrong? Hit us up at [email protected]

🎙️ Welcome to another meeting of Book Club - where the books aren’t novels, and the club is just you and two dudes called Nic(k).

📚 Join us this week as we crack open three new books and rant about subscriptions, spatial awareness, and all the other things we think should be illegal.

🏀 ⁠2025 NBA Finals: New Champions⁠ [05/06/2025 - 22/06/2025]

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren look to cap off one of the greatest regular seasons of all time and finally bring a championship to the Oklahoma City Thunder. But who’s standing in their way? Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, and the Indiana Pacers on the back of one the historic playoff runs in NBA history. This one has it all as we enjoy the first 7-game Finals series since 2016, and watch a franchise win their first chip.

🎧 History of Hip-Hop: ⁠Midnight Marauders - A Tribe Called Quest [09/11/1993]

We take a stroll down the electric relaxation of one of the smoothest, smartest, and most beloved albums in the history of rap. Tribe’s 3rd album caps off one of the great runs in the annals hip-hop. We go track-by-track, decode standout lines, and appreciate why this one still lives on over 2 decades later.

🔥 Today in Hip-Hop: Joey Bada$$ vs. The West [01/01/2025 - 22/05/2025]

The Brooklyn MC fires shots westward... and the West shall answer. We recap the 2025 JoeyBada$$ beef that dragged in Ray Vaugh, Daylyt, Reason, Ab Soul, and every other rapper trying to make a name for themselves. Who said what, when, and how? What started it? And where do things stand now? Get ready for bars, breakdowns, and Book Club court rulings.

We break down an abridged version of the beef, but you can find the whole list of curated tracks here: JoeyBada$$ vs. Everyone

🗓️ Next Meeting: Homework       

HOHH: Doggy Style - Snoop Dogg [23/11/1993] 

TIHH: Auditorium - Mos Def feat. Slick Rick [09/06/2009]

Victory - Slick Rick [13/06/2025]

NBA: 2020 Finals - Los Angeles Lakers vs. Miami Heat [30/09/2020 - 11/10/2020]

🎶 Want to follow along with us?       

Follow along with our run-through of the ⁠History of Hip Hop⁠

Check out our Spotify playlists:

⁠History of Hip Hop 1990-1994⁠ 

⁠Today in Hip Hop 2025⁠

📬 Got feedback or homework suggestions? We’d love to hear from you! Hit us up at ⁠[email protected]

🎙️ Welcome to another meeting of Book Club - where the books aren’t novels, and the club is just you and two dudes called Nic(k).📚 Join us this week as we crack open three new books, talk football heartbreak, the AI Revolution, as well as our usual tangents and shenanigans.

🏀 2019 NBA Finals: The fall of a dynasty [31/05/2019-14/06/2019]Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Kevin Durant lead the Golden State Warriors into their fifth straight Finals appearance, but face a new challenger: Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam, Serge Ibaka, and the hungry Toronto Raptors, making their first-ever NBA Finals appearance as a franchise.This one’s got injuries, iconic moments, the end of an era, and one burning question; is basketball coming home?

🎧 History of Hip-Hop: Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) [09/11/1993]We revisit one of the greatest Hip-Hop albums of all time. From Shaolin to your stereo, this 1993 masterpiece by RZA, GZA, Method Man, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa changed the game forever.We go track-by-track, bar-by-bar, Wu-Tang-style.

🔥 Today in Hip-Hop: Wu-Tang Clan - Black Samson, the Bastard Swordsman [12/04/2025]Fast-forward 32 years to Wu-Tang’s newest release with Mathematics on production. We talk evolution, sound, and whether the Clan still reigns in the new era.

Check out Dissect Podcast’s breakdown of Kendrick's Super Bowl Show as we briefly mention it in this episode.

🗓️ Next Meeting: Homework       

HOHH: A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders [09/11/1993] 

TIHH: ⁠Joey Bada$$ vs. The World - shots fired from both coasts     

NBA: We take a break from our regular scheduled programming to bring you breaking news: a live watch of the 2025 NBA Finals as the Indiana Pacers take on the first seed Oklahoma City Thunder. We witness history as a franchise will win their first ever NBA championship.

🎶 Want to follow along with us?       

Follow along with our run-through of the History of Hip Hop

Check out our Spotify playlists:

History of Hip Hop 1990-1994 

Today in Hip Hop 2025

📬 Got feedback or homework suggestions?We’d love to hear from you! Hit us up at [email protected]