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We both work in academia, so we are therefore both tired, but in, like, a droll, entertaining way. Our opinions are numerous and wonderful to behold.

Each of our chats will focus on a specific book, author, or cultural trend. Talk will be wide-ranging, with other topics likely to include literary gossip, the importance of Michael Mann’s film Heat to modern culture, snack discourse, family news, philosophy of mind, confessional poetry, very funny jokes, and also much less funny jokes.

Episodes will often include interviews with working writers both well-known and up-and-coming. We encourage you to listen to this podcast when jogging or cleaning your apartment.

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Our first episode, before we even had a name for this podcast. So, it's a big question, whether reading is good. Specifically, is reading fiction inherently good, as well as instrumentally good (meaning, it’s good for some other reason, like making you smarter)? We grapple with this, mostly by talking. Also: Why do so many YA novels use orphans as protagonists?

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