Dirtbag

Dirtbag: Epilogue New Year’s Eve Setlist: Bird of a Feather: Billie Eilish. “He’s here!” my daughter yells from the living room. “Who? Pannah?” I yell back from the kitchen. The dog skitters across the linoleum floor to see if whoever just arrived will pet him. “No, it’s Cassander!” “Who?” “My boyfriend, Dad. Get the net.” I choke on my beer, and it drips from my nose into the casserole I just pul...

PART 2 A Return to Form Chicago, November–December 2025 Set list: Hotel California, The Eagles—or Bossa Bros Thinking Out Loud, Ed Sheeran Landslide, Fleetwood Mac What a Fool Believes, The Doobie Brothers House of the Rising Sun, The Animals The Wire, HAIM You Are the Sunshine of My Life, Stevie Wonder “You’re up early for a Sunday?” My wife comes into the kitchen. I can hear her open the cupboar...

Content Warning: This episode contains violence against children and explicit language. Cambodia 1975 Set list: Simon & Garfunkle, The Sound of Silence After a moment, we compose ourselves and muster enough courage to stand around the crater that used to be a dog and a land mine. “Goodbye, Samnang. You were a good boy.” Meng is crying, leaving the eulogy to Siem, who is wringing sweat from his bla...

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Cambodia 1975 Sophomore Slump: The Weiner-man Cometh. Setlist: * I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You, Elvis Presley * Love Will Keep Us Together, Captain and Tennille * Stand by Me, Ben E. King We walk for a whole day to a farm that serves as a basecamp for the teenaged Army. I trudge alongside the boy who used to wear glasses. His name is Siem. Once settled in our new home the leader of the cam...

Part 1 Cambodia 1975 “ ch’kai!” Blood splatters the machete wielding commander as he hacks the head off a man who used to sell cassette tapes in the market. A boy next to me pockets his glasses and squints back toward the mess. “The dogs have been put down! A new era begins with you!” The children around me chant: “Angkar! Angkar! Ankar!” Kids at my school called me ch’kai because I grew up in the...