Episode 102: Bacon, Lettuce, Tomatoes, and Pride

John got a check in the mail for services rendered...in the future. Ed is escorting a kangaroo...with a human face. In this very spooky episode, Ed and John discuss a late-night encounter at the convenience store, when the seventies actually ended, how much patron food assembly is permissible at a restaurant, and the maximum allowable variation from the canonical BLT. Follow links to The Pond House Café, The New Deal Café, and We Want Plates.

Episode 101: Cajun Friendship Powder

Ed and John are flawlessly on-message in this episode that is firmly about literature and food, but is also about tweakers' preferred cookware, repurposed Christmas Carols, trends in boomer mansplaining, semi-legitimate use of photocopiers and folding machines, and the interchangeability of shlubs. Follow links to James Gendron's Weirde Sister,The Grandmother Book, The Poetry World Series, Gramma Press, the Formax 6102 Folder Inserter, Clyde's Prime Rib, Portland Eater, Portland's most popular dog breeds, za'atar, and Montreal steak seasoning.

Episode 100: A Lennon-Shaped Hole in the Ceiling

Ed's new bathroom is finally complete. John just finished reading an actual entire book. Together, they celebrate the centennial episode of the podcast by talking about other podcasts, the Bible, the best restaurant in Portland, and the election. Follow links to Britney Spears's "Work Bitch", Nyla's Burger Basket, Leo Kottke playing "Times Twelve", Inside Trump Tower, Beijing Hot Pot, Dinosaur BBQ in Harlem, Hubbardston Nonesuch, King of Tompkins County, Elisa Gabbert's "Why Read Novels?", Commander's Palace, Charles Phan's Vietnamese Home Cooking, Javier Marías's A Heart So White, the Naked Boy In the Garden of Gethsemane, and Elisha and the bears.

Episode 99: Everyone Was So Gross They Just Died

Welcome to Episode 99, home of dogs tiny and enormous, noodles fresh and mushy, ships lost and found, Columbuses seated and standing, and scrimshaw regular and erotic. John's a little tired of New York City, Ed's afraid his child wishes him dead, and everybody's watching TV. Follow links to Million Dollar Rooms, Bajillion Dollar Propertie$, "The Keeper" at the New Museum, Franklin's lost expedition, The HMS Terror is found, Xi'an Famous Foods, McEwan on Kotzwinkle, BTU Brasserie, Jacques Tardi's The Arctic Marauder, and Gerald Stern's "Lucky Life".

Episode 98: A Fibonacci Rib

Ed's house is under construction, John's on a writing retreat, and they discuss commas, italics, and copyediting before settling into a long chat about shame-snacking, salt overdosing, Simon Le Bon, and New York City eats. Also, Ed has a book coming out soon and will read from it in his brother's living room, and John moonlighted on another podcast. Follow links to the Fan's Notes podcast with Adam Price and Jesse Paddock, 456 Shanghai, Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, and Eataly.

Episode 97: Batsquatch Hotspots

Ed and John have returned from their hiatus to a thrilling new world of D&D magazines, animal encounters, New Haven pizza, and insect infestations. Also, get free Aimee Mann tickets! Follow links to Frank Pepe's, Rich Farm Ice Cream, Aimee Mann's "Labrador", murdering English professor, the lost Dragon Magazine scans, American Monsters, "Chicken Payback", "The Slacks", "The Crane", Foxon Park Beverages, Apizza Scholls, Mallard Ice Cream, Small Million, and Twin Peaks (the band).

Episode 96: Witness A Screen with Mandarin Patterns

Ed and John are getting ready to head to LA for the joys and horrors of AWP. But first, they sit down for a chat about parental permissiveness, workout criticism, synonyms for "walk," problematic Kansas poetry, and SoCal eats. Follow links to the Museum of Jurassic Technology, Canter's Deli, Kroll Show's "LA Deli", Under the Rainbow, The Center for Land Use Interpretation, Eggslut, Zankou (again), The Dresden, and Rebecca Hazelton's twitter.

Episode 95: The Buttons Were Too Close Together

John has finally gotten rid of the skunk, he thinks. Ed's pet goat turns out to be a human child. They talk about the death of the era of internet doodad chat, Rhian's grease refuse recollection, recently ingested tasty pizzas, and how to organize a collection of literary artifacts. Follow links to How to Approach and Release a Skunk, Fredonia, NY's P*Dubs, Andrea Hovet's misguided P*Dubs review, Enuff Z'nuff, chicken reviews, Portland's Hogan's Goat Pizza (which contains no goat), and Chicago's Girl and the Goat.

Episode 94: Trying to Decrease the Value of this Rollercoaster

Ed and John are joined by former ice cream maker Alice Bolin for this Very Special Episode about old cars, angry towns, truck stops, waiting in line, Italian sexual-harrassing cousins, and the continuity errors of Scooby-Doo and its progeny. Follow links to Jahalha's Justin Beiber [sic] poem, the Rainbow Bagel, The Onion on grad students, KISS pinball, Gus's not-recommended jerky, Web of the Dreamweaver!, and Ithaca's The Rook, featuring duck nuggets, duck fat Chex mix, and duck cracklin' crostini.

Episode 93: Blood-Covered People Childishly Enjoying a Snowflake

John has suffered a Skunk Incident and Ed is trying to remember how to be a writer. They talk about pop stars' DIY reality shows, eyebrows, how much time it takes to ranch, the joy of unmarked pastries, beets that are actually pig blood, and a five-minute poetry anthology. Follow links to Hall & Oates, Jack Ryan's Wildlife Removal, Catherine LaSota on Burning Man, Glendale Farm grape juice, Vanilla Ice goes Amish, Patisserie Claude, Teo Bun Bo Hue, My Brother's Crawfish, Good Taste Noodle House, Black Wings Has My Angel, Flings, Mislaid, The Undiscovered Room, All Of It Singing, and "Skunk Hour."

Episode 92: You Are Your Own Lone Gunman

Another new year, another new patriotic action on so-called "government" land. Ed and John discuss their efforts to liberate America from America, and also revision again, goose jerky, podcasting on horseback, The Force Awakens, novelizing and poemizing, and the origins of ketchup. Follow links to podcasts for writers, John Linnell's "Oregon," the Montana Freemen, machete order, the E.T. novelization by William Kotzwinkle, other good novelizations, La Moule, and Stammtisch.

Episode 91: What Does Goofy Taste Like?

John's depressed, Ed realizes he is trashy, and the two discuss what Flavor Flav owes Johnny Cash, getting stabbed to death, lit fun in Miami, winter dining habits, and meeting Paul Giamatti at three in the morning. Follow links to Heavenly Creatures, The Onion on Biden, indie rockers The Laughing Hyenas, the Bali Cafe, The Corner, and books by Michael Clune, Kevin Brockmeier (sorry if we've already talked about this one), the other Adam Phillips, Angela Flournoy, and Frenchy Brouillette.

Episode 88: Makin' Sauce with an Old Flame

What's this? Ed and John are back? In this rather truncated episode, they discuss guns, the scoundrel Cal Ripken, the arrival of the lunchman, pop singers, and eating at a golf course. Follow links to the University of Iowa Shooting, Jo Ann Beard's essays, Alice Bolin on Britney Spears, Miley's tongue slide, Ohana Hawaiian Cafe, Sayler's Old Country Kitchen, Killer Burger, and the Rose City Golf Course.

Episode 87: Thin Meat and a Shitty Car

This episode is boring, but luckily, it is also long. After endlessly droning on about mailboxes and childcare, Ed and John mercilessly pivot into panic attacks, how Johnny Cash almost died, and the awfulness of Bill Cosby; then they finish strong with patty melts, grilled scallions, and other grillable delights. Follow links to Nicole Cliffe's burger recpie (it's all about the cumin), the Pilot Rock charcoal grill, The Sweethome's charcoal roundup, cebollitas, and grilling brussels sprouts.

Episode 86: Satchmo and the Gooch

John has quit his book group over dirty teacups, and Ed is spending most of his time at the zoo. Nevertheless they manage to find things to say about the most respected profession, a very special subgenre of metal, the pleasures of Queens, and whether they or their friends are narcissists. Follow links to the narcissist quiz, the big quake, Mac Sabbath, the Noguchi Museum, Louis Armstrong House, the LIC Reading Series, and Luis J. Rodriguez's Always Running.