The pals talk about burnout with reading and writing and the toll work (and just life really) can take on creative and literary pursuits. Recorded in February, if only they had know COVID was coming...

In part 2, the babies commemorate 100 episodes by creating a list of the 25 less-essential reads for personal pals--much of it categorized as "Aaron's Sadness."

The babies commemorate 100 episodes by creating a list of the 25 essential reads for personal pals.

UPDATED (Nico's audio was desynced in the original upload)

The pals share what they've been reading: The Cockroach, by Ian McEwan; Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman; Far from the Tree, by Robin Benway; The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides; Fall, or Dodge in Hell, by Neal Stephenson; The Bridge of San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder; Ironweed, by William Kennedy; Go All the Way: A Literary Appreciation of Power Pop, by Paul Myers (ed); House of X / Powers of X, by Johnathan Hickman; 20XX, by Johnathan Luna and Lauren Keeley.

A slightly different gang this time around, thanks to COVID-19 quarantine. Brick talks with Nico and wife Kathleen about the Witcher games, books, and Netflix show, as well as the fantasy genre.

The pals discuss reading books for professional purposes and how that changes their critical approach.

The pals talk about the faded genre of movie novelizations.

The gang chats about that voice in your head, especially what is sounds like when you are reading or writing.

Nico and Brick discuss a video game that maybe wants too much to be a book: critical darling magical-realist postmodern adventure game Kentucky Route Zero.

The pals checked in earlier on this year about their personal reading and writing goals for 2020. Stay tuned for the eventual coronavirus update.