In the Task finale, "A Still, Small Voice," TMAYF gets into three Fs that have always been at the core of the series: faith, forgiveness, and fatherhood. (Also, feathers, but this is our least bird-centric recap to date.) We also discuss Mark Ruffalo’s Phillies-cup redemption arc, say goodbye to DelCo’s saddest dads and the yawning expanses between their actions and self-awareness, and talk about the miracle of grace, even when it’s hard to find.

The one thing we don’t discuss in this, our penultimate, recap of HBO’s Task is that the title of episode 6 is a play on a line from a poem by the 13th century Persian poet Jelaluddin Rumi (sorry if you already knew that!). We just thought its meaning was self evident because there IS a river in this show.

Here’s what we do cover:

* Goodnight, snickerdoodle

* There are still more moles! Stop it! Enough!

* Tom’s search for a replacement son

* Gertie's evocation as a Lego and what constitutes an impression of a chicken

*Robbie's final moments. Golden Globe for Tom P or are we the only people watching this show?

Writer and filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat joins Elizabeth to talk about We Survived the Night, his new book about his father, Indigenous North Americans, survival, and storytelling. Listen as he reflects on his dad—found as a newborn in an incinerator at a Catholic-run residential school—and how that legacy shaped his family and his understanding of love and forgiveness.

“Vagrant,” the fifth episode of HBO’s Task, which we are recapping for TMAYF nation, is overflowing with more moles than a dermatologist’s office. And don’t get us started on the animal references in general in this episode alone: at least four different kinds of birds, a baby giraffe, the dead deer from Sam’s nightmares, Gwen Stefani’s spiderweb, and a dragonfly (which tattoos tell us is a sign of transformation). Still, this was the ep we’ve been waiting for, because those ubiquitous HBO poster images of Robbie and Tom rushing toward each other with guns drawn in the forest finally make sense, as these two dads try to reconcile the impending threat of death for both, and the inevitable pain their losses will have on their myriad children.

In this recap of episode 4 of HBO’s Task, we wonder aloud for 58 (tight) minutes about why this show isn’t actually called I’m Going to Tell You About Some Fathers, unpack Lizzie's chunky highlights, anoint Maeve, once again, as the only functioning adult in the room, and do impressions of birds that will rock you to your core. Plus, Robbie and Harper's heartbreaking conversation, fish drama, and the sweet escape of Grassodoodle.

We’ve got 3 more episodes left and we know there are more bird metaphors to come. See you next week! The best is yet to come.

This week on Operation Recap HBO’s Task, we ask why Task isn’t called Dads of Delco or Maeve of Easttown, or even, For Fifty-Year-Old Men, By Fifty Year Old Men, and actually deliver an answer that we heard on another podcast. BUT, don’t worry - you are getting fresh insights here, when we break down the major question mark of this episode: who are the moles?

Join us next week for Ep 4!

Pull up a seat with an alarmingly overstuffed hoagie, because it's time for this week's episode 2 recap of HBO’s Task!

From FBI war rooms to chicken coops (both are essentially shacks), Task keeps building its character-driven “Sons of Anarchy reject script” storytelling around the big question: who counts as family, and how far will you go to protect them?

Episode 2 maintains the dramatic anchor of Task in in its characters, through messy families and the dangerous weight of responsibility. Naturally, children are in the crosshairs, Harleys are rumblin', and there is a Pearl Jam song prominently featured. How mad is Sean Penn that he is not in this?!

Hit play and see you next week.

Welcome to our first weekly recap of HBO’s latest Sunday night prestige crime saga, Task. This Delco-set Tale of Two Sad Dads from Mare of Easttown writer-director Brad Inglesby stars Mark Ruffalo as a grieving ex-priest–turned-alcoholic FBI agent with a philosophy degree, and Tom Pelphrey as a garbage man–turned–robber trying to keep his family afloat. Sign us UP, girl!

Starting next week, our Task recaps will live on tellmeaboutyourfather.substack.com. All you have to do to hear them is hit “subscribe.” It’s free. Save your money for wooder ices. See you again next week.

Literary It girl Caroline Calloway joins Erin Hosier and Elizabeth Thompson to talk about her father's tragic suicide amidst her viral public shaming in 2019, her obsession with the late Prozac Nation memoirist and Gen X agent of chaos Elizabeth Wurtzel (who Erin knew well as EW's first assistant in 1999), and the generational legacies left by their unknowable fathers (particularly Wurtzel's secret bio dad Bob Adelman). Caroline interviews Erin about the making of Wurtzel's 2001 advice book, Radical Sanity - which is the inspiration for Caroline's latest - and the three discuss the fallout of the daddy issues complicated women inherit from complicated men. 

[1:00–12:00] Becoming Caroline Calloway

The rise of Caroline’s Instagram-era fame, her viral captions, and the internet culture that turned her into a lightning rod. Caroline shares how grieving her father led her to a midnight pilgrimage to the Harvard library, connecting with the version of him she loved most.

[12:00–20:00] Scammer and SurvivalCaroline leans into the “scammer” label and reframes it.

[20:00–36:00] Father Fallout

TW: A frank discussion of Caroline’s father’s suicide, mental illness, and the parallels the hosts draw from their own paternal losses.

[36:00–53:00] Ghosts We Can LoveCaroline reads from Scammer, reflecting on the “younger version” of her father she grieves and how memory can be redemptive.

[53:00–1:03:00] The Wurtzel ConnectionErin recounts her friendship with Elizabeth Wurtzel and the confessional literary era of the 90s that reshaped women’s writing, and the tragic true story of EW's secret father

[1:03:00–1:14:00] Literary LineageCaroline explains her obsession with Wurtzel, the artifacts she collected, and why “messy women” matter.

[1:14:00–End] Mentorship, Madness, and MeaningA spirited discussion of mentorship, fandom, and finding beauty in complicated legacies.

Author Aatish Taseer, whose new book A Return To Self: Excursions in Exile comes out this week, did not meet his father, Salman Taseer, the former Governor of Punjab, Pakistan until he was 21 and their relationship was, to say the least, complicated. In 2009, he wrote a book about the experience, Stranger to History, about his journey to meet his father that was also an exploration of what it means to be a Muslim in the 21st Century. Shortly after Aatish made contact with his father, in early 2011, Governor Taseer was assassinated by his own bodyguard for pardoning a woman who had been sentenced to death for allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammed. On this episode of Tell Me About Your Father, Aatish Taseer talks with Matt Phillp about his new book, the complicated response he continues to have to his father’s violent assassination, the value and beauty of going on a pilgrimage, what it means to identify with a nation, and how it feels to have been ejected by one.

1:24 – Stranger to History & Aftermath. The journey to meet his father, writing Stranger to History, and how the book was used in the trial of his father’s killer.

4:06 – Exile from India & Dual Identity. Losing Indian citizenship after criticizing Modi, and grappling with home, identity, and belonging.

5:10 – Pilgrimage & Spiritual Encounters. Travel, grief, and spiritual moments in Morocco and Mongolia — including Aatish’s first adult prayer and an eerie experience in the Sahara.

 21:43 – "Venus & Serena" and royal racism. Aatish recounts his relationship with Lady Gabriella Windsor and the story of Princess Michael of Kent’s black sheep named Venus and Serena.

25:23 – Fragility of Privilege & Royal Absurdity. Reflections on British aristocracy, EasyJet royalty, and being exiled from elite circles.

33:41 – The Power of Ritual. Burning Man, sacred spaces, and the shared human need for grief and connection.

39:28 – Pilgrimage as Memory. A Mongolian shamanic ritual leads to insights on memory, loss, and reconciling with the past.

53:21 – Fathers, Futility & Freedom. The complicated relief after his father’s death, and commentary on liberalism, values, and the West.

1:00:07 – Family, Writing, and What Remains. On estrangement, inheritance, finding home with his husband, and the writer’s role in making sense of it all.

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