Thoughts (loosely) based on Kate Christensen's novel Welcome Home, Stranger, the first two installments of The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, and Hamlet.

Special Guests: Billy Joel, Ween, David Tennant, Kenneth Branagh, Greta Thunberg, Marvin the Paranoid Android, Brother Maynard, William Shatner, Woody Allen, Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Queen, and The Prodigy.

Thoughts (loosely) based on Tony Horowitz's meta-mystery novel Magpie Murders.

Special Guests: The Smile, Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, Tom Hanks, and Meg Ryan.

Thoughts (loosely) based on William Zinsser's classic primer On Writing Well (and the current AI writing revolution).

Special Guests: George Carlin, Spirograph, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Simple Minds, El Guapo, Hefe, and Donald Trump.

Thoughts (loosely) based on Professor Truck's experiences teaching high school English in the age of artificial intelligence-- and his attempts at defining ethical AI usage in academic and creative settings . . . with bonus thoughts (loosely) based on three classic science-fiction novels: Theodore Sturgeon's More Than Human and The Dreaming Jewels and They Walked Like Men by Clifford D. Simak.

Special Guests: Gary Gasparov, Jimmy Kimmel, The Beach Boys, Alan Turing, The Matrix, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, ChatGPT, Bard AI, and Mark "Imprint" Zuckerberg.

Thoughts (loosely) based on James P. Carse's rather annoying book Finite and Infinite Games and Nathan Hill's excellent novel Wellness.

Special Guests: Gandalf, Morpheus, George Costanza, Jerry Seinfeld, Simon Sinek, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Thoughts (loosely, very loosely) based on the William Stafford poem "Traveling Through the Dark."

Special guests: 38 Special, Ox, and a random middle school student from Boyhood.

This episode now includes a special bonus update at the end.

Thoughts (loosely) based on Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

Special Guests: The Allman Brothers, The Eagles, Uncle Henry, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Andre Heyworth.

Thoughts on capitalism (loosely) based on three novels published in the 1980s: Carl Hiasen's Tourist Season, Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities, and Martin Cruz Smith's Gorky Park.

Special Guests: Oingo Boingo, Lloyd Dobbler, Conan O'Brien, and Anthony Bourdain.

Thoughts (loosely) based on Carl Wilson's music criticism masterpiece  Let's Talk About Love: Why Other People Have Such Bad Taste.

Special Guests: Celine Dion, Huey Lewis and the News, New Found Glory, Robert Johnson, Greensky Bluegrass, The Easy Star All Stars, Bas Gaakeer & Mireille Bittar, Joey Satriani, David Berman, Pavement, Beavis and Butthead, David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel, greasetruck, and Pythagoras.

Thoughts (loosely) based on Catherine Chidgey's psychological thriller Pet.

Special Guests: The Police, Van Halen, and The Plastics.