The guys discuss stories of war, peace, betrayal, anguish, frustration, high expectations, self-doubt. Topics range from Russian literature to black American playwrights to Nigerians in the UK, John Brown & Harriet Tubman, TikTok, Marriage Story, Tony Soprano and Mike's novel in progress.

Show notes:

• Wink’s “The Touch of the Russian Novelist”
• The First Chapter of Mike’s Novel
• David Kern’s “One Line to Rule Them All: Vote Now in the Elite 8!” in Close Reads HQ
• Douglas Murray’s “Things Worth Remembering: How Boris Pasternak defied Soviet tyranny with a Shakespeare sonnet” in The Free Press
• Celia Farber’s “What They Said: Boris Pasternak” in The Truth Barrier
• Izabella Tabarovsky’s “The American Soviet Mentality” in Tablet Magazine