Duck Town

John interviews Andrea Nolen about her book Lincoln's Counterfeiters, which details the story of the Bonelatta Gang, a Wisconsin-based counterfeiting ring that secretly helped fund the Union during the Civil War. This criminal network laid the groundwork for the Chicago mob, including connections to figures like Al Capone.

SPOILER SPECIAL Alex and Emily discuss Paul Thomas Anderson's new movie ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, loosely adapted from Thomas Pynchon's 1990 novel Vineland.  Bob is a washed-up revolutionary who lives in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited and self-reliant daughter, Willa. When his evil nemesis resurfaces and Willa goes missing, the former radical scrambles t...

John and Emily discuss their Summer project where they added a twist to their weekly Song & Story Time. What if they plugged in and played live songs on the electric guitar? What songs should they play? How should they rehearse? What was the reaction like from the kids? What did the adults think? John and Emily discuss these topics and more!

Alex and Emily make playlists out of Bob Dylan's critically-reviled 1970 double album SELF PORTRAIT. They also bring in tracks from Bootleg Series 10: Another Self Portrait (2013), which includes songs that were recorded in sessions for Self Portrait, but never included on the official release.

Emily and Alex chat about the TV series Nathan For You, starring Nathan Fielder. They discuss Nathan's personality and the peculiar psychology of the show, while also sharing what's funny about the episodes and what's deeper than you might expect from dramas. 

Andrea and Emma discuss the Oscar-nominated animated film Flow (2024): a story of a cat, capybara, dog, and ring-tailed lemur journeying through a rapidly flooding world. Is this film an adventure story or a deeper parable? Who represents the id, ego, and superego? Tune in to hear the discussions of struggle, fear, choice, friendship, and beached whales. Flow (Latvian: Straume ) is a 2024 animated...

John and Emma discuss the classic novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. They talk about morality, nihilism, existentialism, their favorite characters, their favorite scenes, what it's like to re-read the book, and much more.

Alex, Andrea, and John talk about their top 5 songs they listened to in 2024. Country, rock, ambient, metal, folk, pop, fusion, and more!

Alex and John discuss The Apprentice, a 2024 biographical film about Donald Trump, his relationship with Roy Cohn, and his rise as a real estate businessman in New York in the 1970s and 1980s.  Sebastian Stan plays the role of Donald Trump. Jeremy Strong plays Roy Cohn. Maria Bakalova plays Ivana Trump. The movie is directed by Ali Abbasi. It was written by Gabriel Sherman. Cinematography from Kas...

Alex and Emma each offer their top 10 scenes from Netflix's crime thriller Mindhunter. Mindhunter debuted in 2017 and ran for two seasons. The series follows the founding of the Behavioral Science Unit in the FBI in the late 1970s, and the beginning of criminal profiling. It stars Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, and Anna Torv. It's based on the 1995 true-crime book Mindhunter: Inside the...

Alex and Emma discuss Cormac McCarthy's landmark western novel Blood Meridian. They discuss the violence, the mythology, the strange aesthetics of the novel, the dark humor, the Judge, the Kid, the themes of fate and destiny, divination, the symbol of fire, the dance, the game, and so much more. 

Andrea and Emma discuss the 2024 action adventure epic Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the prequel to 2015's innovative Mad Max: Fury Road. Is this film better than the groundbreaking 2015 film? What's with all the religious symbolism? Is this movie steeped in medievalism? That and much more. 

Alex, Emma, and John discuss two movies from 2024: the first chapter of Kevin Costner's movie Horizon and the third installment of the Quiet Place franchise called Quiet Place: Day One. 

Andrea and Emma talk about graphic novels and recommend some of their favorites. 

Alex and Emma talk about what's new, what they're reading, and then discuss the Esquire piece "Is It A Betrayal To Publish Dead Writers' Books" by Alex Belth. 

Alex and Emily shine a light on what's going on in the library and behind the scenes in this crazy shelf life of ours. The topic this week: Why don't straight men read novels? 

"If you know it in one podcast, it's legendary / What we thought was for all time was momentary" Alex and John are back creating their individual playlists of Taylor Swift's latest album The Tortured Poets Department (2024). What are their favorite songs? What are the surprises? What are the cringiest lyrics? What do they choose and why?  0:30 to 4:00 -- Minnesota Vikings talk...

Alex, Emily, and John discuss Christopher Nolan's 2023 movie Oppenheimer. They also discuss Taylor Swift's cultural omnipresence, Emily's ranking of the Jurassic Park franchise movies, the idea of "You Must Watch This..." as a future podcast theme, and the genre of science fiction.

Andrea and Emily discuss two albums of alternate rock band Death Cab for Cutie:  Transatlanticism (2003) and Asphalt Meadows (2023). An episode 6 months in the making, they talk about these albums that are separated in time by 20 years but are connected by many themes. Topics include: our punk roots, the pandemic, the Beatles, glove compartments, and more! Intro music: Bossa In My Heart by SergeQu...

Alex and Emily discuss two of the big movies released in 2023: The Killer (David Fincher) and Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese). They start the conversation with a short discussion of the band The Killers, and Alex gives a top 5 of songs with the word "Killer" in the title.  Music discussion at the start "The Killer" discussion starts @ 11:00  "Killers of the Fl...

Vince Breunig and Bryan Bilse stop by the library to talk about the Lodi Pride Campaign, which aims to create a sense of unity around the wonderful things happening at the school and in the broader Lodi community. The theme this year is "Guardians of Lodi Pride" and it is the 10th anniversary of the pride campaign.  Vince Breunig is the District Administrator of Lodi and Bryan Bilse is t...

Alex, Andrea, Emily, and John share the meaningful songs of their lives in five year increments until the present day. 

Andrea and Emily discuss The Super Mario Bros Movie (2023)! Does it live up to the hype? Is it better than the 1993 live-action Super Mario Bros.? Find out as they touch on topics of voice acting, story structure, adaptation, plumbing, and more. Intro music: Bossa In My Heart by SergeQuadrado. Outro music: Life of a Wandering Wizard by SergeQuadrado.

 Alex, Emily, and John discuss Iain Reid's psychological thriller I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS (2016).  What did you think the book was about when you first saw the title? Is the book funny? Is it frightening? What was your reaction to the end of the story? Are dramatic twists just storytelling gimmicks or do they add complexity to a story?   In addition to the book, Alex, Emily, and Jo...

"Monday, I'm all high Get me out of FLA In school, yeah I fooled ya Now I know I made a podcast" Alex and John create individual playlists for Wilco's 1996 alt-country double album "Being There," discussing country music, Uncle Tupelo, unease with Tweedy's lyrics, and more!