Prefacing this episode is Talia's prank call to the Trump Voter Fraud hotline.

This episode Talia talks to the lovely, gentle-voiced and brilliant Lili Loofbourow, a staff writer at Slate, about THE FIRST TIME WE ENCOUNTER SOME REAL LIFE WHALES in the book and the racially fraught introduction of Ahab's mysterious, hitherto hidden companions,  Fedallah and his crew. The word "swart" recurs, as does our habit of reading monologues aloud.

Theme song by Noam Hassenfeld.
Production by Ilana Weinstein.