Lunch Box Podcast

Castro's dead, Trump's president, and everything's falling to pieces. What better time to read actor Michael Paré's fan mail? That's what Ed and John do, as well as discuss the diners of New England, the seafood of Seattle, favorite skillets, how to get good customer service, and how to hang out with deer. Follow links to the 15 best diners in New England, "Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other)", Eddie and the Cruisers II, Dear Michael, the best skillet, Finex cookware, Commander's Kitchen, the Tabard Inn, steamed cheeseburgers, geoduck, Omega Ouzeri, Porkchop & Co, Joule, Red Oaks, Catastrophe, John Beer's Lucinda, and Japanese Westworld.

John got a check in the mail for services rendered...in the future. Ed is escorting a kangaroo...with a human face. In this very spooky episode, Ed and John discuss a late-night encounter at the convenience store, when the seventies actually ended, how much patron food assembly is permissible at a restaurant, and the maximum allowable variation from the canonical BLT. Follow links to The Pond House Café, The New Deal Café, and We Want Plates.

Ed and John are flawlessly on-message in this episode that is firmly about literature and food, but is also about tweakers' preferred cookware, repurposed Christmas Carols, trends in boomer mansplaining, semi-legitimate use of photocopiers and folding machines, and the interchangeability of shlubs. Follow links to James Gendron's Weirde Sister,The Grandmother Book, The Poetry World Series, Gramma Press, the Formax 6102 Folder Inserter, Clyde's Prime Rib, Portland Eater, Portland's most popular dog breeds, za'atar, and Montreal steak seasoning.

Ed's new bathroom is finally complete. John just finished reading an actual entire book. Together, they celebrate the centennial episode of the podcast by talking about other podcasts, the Bible, the best restaurant in Portland, and the election. Follow links to Britney Spears's "Work Bitch", Nyla's Burger Basket, Leo Kottke playing "Times Twelve", Inside Trump Tower, Beijing Hot Pot, Dinosaur BBQ in Harlem, Hubbardston Nonesuch, King of Tompkins County, Elisa Gabbert's "Why Read Novels?", Commander's Palace, Charles Phan's Vietnamese Home Cooking, Javier Marías's A Heart So White, the Naked Boy In the Garden of Gethsemane, and Elisha and the bears.

Welcome to Episode 99, home of dogs tiny and enormous, noodles fresh and mushy, ships lost and found, Columbuses seated and standing, and scrimshaw regular and erotic. John's a little tired of New York City, Ed's afraid his child wishes him dead, and everybody's watching TV. Follow links to Million Dollar Rooms, Bajillion Dollar Propertie$, "The Keeper" at the New Museum, Franklin's lost expedition, The HMS Terror is found, Xi'an Famous Foods, McEwan on Kotzwinkle, BTU Brasserie, Jacques Tardi's The Arctic Marauder, and Gerald Stern's "Lucky Life".

Ed's house is under construction, John's on a writing retreat, and they discuss commas, italics, and copyediting before settling into a long chat about shame-snacking, salt overdosing, Simon Le Bon, and New York City eats. Also, Ed has a book coming out soon and will read from it in his brother's living room, and John moonlighted on another podcast. Follow links to the Fan's Notes podcast with Adam Price and Jesse Paddock, 456 Shanghai, Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, and Eataly.

Ed and John have returned from their hiatus to a thrilling new world of D&D magazines, animal encounters, New Haven pizza, and insect infestations. Also, get free Aimee Mann tickets! Follow links to Frank Pepe's, Rich Farm Ice Cream, Aimee Mann's "Labrador", murdering English professor, the lost Dragon Magazine scans, American Monsters, "Chicken Payback", "The Slacks", "The Crane", Foxon Park Beverages, Apizza Scholls, Mallard Ice Cream, Small Million, and Twin Peaks (the band).

Ed and John are getting ready to head to LA for the joys and horrors of AWP. But first, they sit down for a chat about parental permissiveness, workout criticism, synonyms for "walk," problematic Kansas poetry, and SoCal eats. Follow links to the Museum of Jurassic Technology, Canter's Deli, Kroll Show's "LA Deli", Under the Rainbow, The Center for Land Use Interpretation, Eggslut, Zankou (again), The Dresden, and Rebecca Hazelton's twitter.

John has finally gotten rid of the skunk, he thinks. Ed's pet goat turns out to be a human child. They talk about the death of the era of internet doodad chat, Rhian's grease refuse recollection, recently ingested tasty pizzas, and how to organize a collection of literary artifacts. Follow links to How to Approach and Release a Skunk, Fredonia, NY's P*Dubs, Andrea Hovet's misguided P*Dubs review, Enuff Z'nuff, chicken reviews, Portland's Hogan's Goat Pizza (which contains no goat), and Chicago's Girl and the Goat.

Ed and John are joined by former ice cream maker Alice Bolin for this Very Special Episode about old cars, angry towns, truck stops, waiting in line, Italian sexual-harrassing cousins, and the continuity errors of Scooby-Doo and its progeny. Follow links to Jahalha's Justin Beiber [sic] poem, the Rainbow Bagel, The Onion on grad students, KISS pinball, Gus's not-recommended jerky, Web of the Dreamweaver!, and Ithaca's The Rook, featuring duck nuggets, duck fat Chex mix, and duck cracklin' crostini.