Cindy and Harrison face a barrage of random conversation starters from a website Cindy found. Harrison receives an exemplary poking stick. Cindy multitasks. Harrison comes to terms with gendered bath wipes.

Cindy and Harrison discuss the Luminate 2026 Midyear Report, via Billboard's summary.

Harrison leads Cindy through the weird and wild journey of a cancelled early-'90s "Hellraiser" video game. We have such sights to show you!

In this episode:

"Bible Adventures" (video game, 1991) by Wisdom Tree

"Doom" (PC game, 1993) by id Software

"Golly! Ghost!" (arcade game, 1990) by Namco

"The Hellbound Heart" (book, 1986) by Clive Barker

"Hellraiser" (film, 1987) dir. by Clive Barker

"Super 3D Noah's Ark" (video game, 1994) by Wisdom Tree

"Wolfenstein 3D" (PC game, 1992) by id Software

Music used during cold open:

"SCP-x1x (Gateway to Hell)" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In observance of Independence Day, Harrison reads an appeal delivered to Parliament by William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, in 1775. Happy Fourth, everybody!

Cindy leads Harrison on a deep dive into the romance genre and its many, many subgenres! Dukes and Skarsgårds abound. A cowboy demonstrates nominative determinism. A fortune-telling session takes an uncomfortable turn.

Harrison shares some updates and reads "The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage" and "Fundevogel"--two German folktales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and published in 1812.

Harrison, Cindy and superstar volunteer Olga delve into the concept of "hauntology" and how it applies to culture, society, and music.

In this episode:

"Etched Headplate" by Burial

"Everywhere at the End of Time" by The Caretaker

"На Дне" by Molchat Doma

"Redline" by Lazerhawk

"Хочу перемен" by Kino

Harrison and Cindy begin a two-episode trek into the Backrooms, and the concepts, history, and artistic movements that dwell within their endless corridors.

In this episode:

Backrooms (film, 2026) (IMdB)

Kane Pixels (YouTube)

r/LiminalSpace (subreddit)

Cindy and Harrison observe Memorial Day. Harrison introduces some new whale science. Vowels merge. Formants emerge from phonic lips. Pinchy abides.

In this episode:

Beguš, et al. (2026). The phonology of sperm whale coda vowels. Proc Biol Sci, 293(2069). https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.2994

Dominica Sperm Whale Project

Fleet of Flowers

Sperm whale sounds (from Voices in the Sea)

Content Warning: This episode discusses sexual assault, violence, death, and war.

This week, Cindy and Harrison discuss the rather harrowing books they've recently finished. Yes, you read that correctly: Harrison actually finished a book!

In this episode:

"Big Old Boats" (YouTube channel)

"Brick Immortar" (YouTube channel)

"The Gales of November" (book, 2025) by John U. Bacon

"The Quiet Librarian" (book, 2025) by Allen Eskens