This week I'm joined by Autumn Greer and Evan Jones Thorne to talk about the first part of Stephen King's original magnum opus: The Stand. It's a massive sprawling book, so we can only introduce characters and talk about the early days of their journey. Come along with us to hear about the superflu, survival in a world devoid of people, and the nascent stages of a battle between good and evil.

Nice try, attempting to get more orcs past us.

This one's from the "weird and slight" column, not the "bad" column.

A classic and a cutie.

Kole, Ben, Dennis, and David talk about Steam’s Fake Game Problem, the Evil Within, and we ask you for your unconventional game problem solving stories.

• The Witness released for iOS.

• A smattering of Breath of the Wild mods.

• Destiny faction showdowns.

• Steam and Fake Games.

• Unconventional problem solving.

• David: Destiny 2.

• Dennis: Destiny 2. X-COM 2: War of the Chosen.

• Ben: Rocket League.

• Kole: The Evil Within. Dino Crisis. Metroid: Samus Returns. Danganronpa V3.

Tune your bat radios to our bat frequency to hear your bat thoughts.

Support Watch Out for Fireballs!

R.E.M. pulls out of its nosedive with an album whose title also serves as its mission statement. It was lauded as a return to form for the band, compared to Lifes Rich Pageant, and talked up as the album that Monster was supposed to be. But does it stand up on its own merits, or does it only succeed because it follows Around the Sun?

Angry slimer reaches out for some human contact.

Kris and Kole talk about tourism, hooks, and escape acts.

ALSO: Lotsa travel. Tales from the MLK museum. Tattoos by length or volume. It sandblasted the skin from their bones. I’m being doxed by Blue Traveler. Everything is gonna be fine. The shittiest escape act.

The big bird swooped up an elephant snack.