Michael and Ethan discuss Jack Faust, by Michael Swanwick, while drinking Tamdhu 12yo Single Malt..

In this episode:

The End of History and the Last Man (wiki page)

A theory of threads and tatters

Spoilers for Office Space and Fight Club, I guess

Then We Came to the End… of history?

Jack Faust was published in 1997, but it makes more sense as a 2026 novel

Turns out, reducing other humans to instruments of pleasure is extremely dehumanizing

Leaf, by Niggle, by JRR Tolkien

Ethan fails to call Michael out for using Latin, but here’s the phrase he uses (nerd)

Fiction writers across the board agree: don’t try to make yourself God

Speech from The Great Dictator

Tap into Poetry

Next time Michael and Ethan will continue discuss Jack Faust, by Michael Swanwick! Join the discussion! Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line. We'd love to hear from you! And submit your homework at the Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch page.

Join us on GoodReads!

Get on our Substack!

Donate to our Patreon!

MUSIC & SFX:

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco. Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

"Thinking It Over" by Lee Rosevere. Used under an Attribution License.

(Links to books & products are affiliate links.)