Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode, Anne and I discuss Richard Ford’s short story, “Rock Springs.” Anne, you went to Rock Springs, Wyoming with Earl, Edna, Cheryl, and Little Duke. What did you think?  Things could always be worse. You could go to the electric chair tomorrow. -Edna in “Rock Springs” Plot … Continue reading "Richard Ford’s story “Rock Springs”"

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode, Anne and I share the principles that guide us as we make playlists for our respective runs and walks. We also hope to try and bring to life for y’all where it is that we run and walk. Anne, what walk did you choose for this … Continue reading "The Art of the Music Playlist: Bill’s for a Mountain Run and Anne’s for a Los Angeles Walk"

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode, Anne and I are going to talk about the new Noah Kahan album. It’s titled The Great Divide: The Last of the Bugs.  Noah Kahan’s album The Great Divide: The Last of the Bugs was released during April of 2026. Be sure to check out my … Continue reading "Noah Kahan’s Album The Great Divide and our Favorite Musical Storytellers"

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode, Anne and I are discussing the David Foster Wallace essay titled, “Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley.” Anne, if Wallace was a less creative writer, he could have called this “Playing Tennis in Central Illinois.”  Acceptance is its own verve -DFW Breaking down the title: Discussion questions:  … Continue reading "David Foster Wallace’s “Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley”"

Have you heard about HBO’s television show The Rooster? On this episode, Anne and I discuss episode 1 of the show that stars Steve Carell as the writer Greg Russo. He’s a bumbling, gold-hearted author who says he writes the kind of novels people like to read at the beach. The show follows Greg as … Continue reading "Steve Carell stars in HBO’s Rooster. Is it worth watching?"

In this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast, my sister Anne and I discuss the men’s and women’s basketball Final Fours. It was a Big Ten takeover as both Michigan and UCLA won national titles, though the headlines were just as much about some of the coaches as they were about the games. We dive … Continue reading "NCAA Basketball Final Four Podcast"

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode, Anne and will talk about the second weekend of both the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments. But first Anne, I received some good news! My (very) short film titled The Valle Crucis Park was accepted to the Indie Vegas Film Festival. Bad news: we have … Continue reading "NCAA Basketball Tournament: From the Sweet Sixteen to Final Four"

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode, Anne and I look back on the men’s and women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament first rounds and look ahead to the second. Anne, by my count there were 96 NCAA tournament games televised in the last five days. That’s a lot of basketball!  Where does the NCAA … Continue reading "Men’s and Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament First Round Reactions"

On this episode we’re discussing Anton Chekhov’s marital affair themed short story, “The Lady with the Little Dog.” We’ve got the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments coming up and we invite you to join the Torg Stories Bracket Challenge. We’re doing that through the ESPN website, and I’ve got links on the post for this … Continue reading "A Marital Affair Story: Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Little Dog”"

Our Academy Award Best Picture Oscar picks: One Battle After Another, Sinners, Sentimental Value, Helios, Epic Universe