‘funny,’ not funny

Julia Tenney joins us for what we are pretty sure is the 100th episode of our obscure podcast. Depending on how you count, considering that Jim forgot to press record on episode 2 of Season 1 (so, not counted) and there were some encore episodes (so, not counted) this one should be the actual 100th. We start by talking about Jim’s new apple watch and then veer perpendicularly headlong into P...

This week we talk about The Midnight Library by Matt Haig . Suggested by Julia Tenney, this book deals with regrets we've felt throughout life and wishing we could go back and fix things. Lionel contrasts this book with The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Nighttime by Mark Haddon . The conversation turns to a book Jim wants to write about acceptance and meditation. We finish up by talking...

This week, we welcomed Bing Broderick as our guest. Bing Broderick comes to justBook-ish after years in marketing, community organizing, and nonprofit management. Early in his career, he marketed and sold music into niche outlets across the country (including bookstores) as Director of Special Marketing for the Cambridge-based record label, Rounder Records . Mid-career, Broderick shifted his focus...

Lionel talks about The Three Body Problem , both the novels by Liu Cixin and the Netflix series . We contrast the style of this series with our recent reads. Lionel contrasts the tv show with Red Queen on Prime. Back to The 3 Body Problem again, we discuss the ideas of Alastair Reynolds (not Ian) and killer alien traps. We then launch into an enervating discussion of doing taxes and finding a gene...

Dar joins the pod to tell us about her experience writing What I Found In A Thousand Towns, her songwriting and creative process, her experience in Beacon New York with Roger Ailes, the remarkable Jaimie Raskin, our relationship to art, the environment, and each other, Active Citizenship, and so much more. I could not find the live performance of The Mark Rothko song. If someone knows where it is,...

Lionel and Jim start by inexplicably talking about oat and almond milk. Lionel talks about how he considers upstate New York New England as per American Nations by Colin Woodard . We run through some of the "Nations" again. They touch quickly on tax season before Jim talks about his read of Burn Book: A Tech Love Story by Kara Swisher . Naturally, this leads us to Calvinism in America. Jim asserts...

We start by talking about the possible death of TikTok in the USA and move on to introduce Julia Tenney and marvel over her pysanky eggs , the methods for their creation, and their Ukrainian and eastern European roots. Lionel discusses the historical Piranesi and his sketches. This leads us to talk about dreams and their origins and consequences. We launch into a discussion of Dune, the books by F...

Discussion of Bram Stoker ’s Dracula starts with Jim trying to do a Boston Brahmin accent , and talks about his daughter’s inexplicable accent when she was younger. They move on to talk about xenophobia in the book, alongside the treatment of the other in Frankenstein . We return to Mary Shelley ’s work repeatedly to compare and contrast. Lionel mentions all the new technology oc...

Jim opens with a thread sent regarding the previous episode on Frankenstein. They incongruously launch into a debate about artificial sweeteners. We get back on track discussing the Transcendentalist movement and what came after, as written about in The Metaphysical Club . Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. is one of the main characters. Lionel asserts that he is  the father of legal positivism, but t...

Sarah Elkins joins us to discuss the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley . We start with a Filk song to the tune of Funiculi funicula . What is Filk ? Victor spent His teenage years pursuing all the lore of alchemy (alchemy) Then he went Away to college and he switched to modern chemistry (chemistry) He was bent On secret science studies in the lab A descent: His obsessive glory-seeking grab! Let&r...

After some audio problems at the start, we start talking about Valentines Day and the variety of items available and not available at Trader Joes, and not unlike the olds that we are, we stop just short of listing all the items in our freezers. We quickly move on to our admiration of Katherine Ellis and her character Concordia Shwarma-McGraw on TikTok. We move on to a couple of additions to our li...

Lionel tells us all about the Garbage Plate at a restaurant in Rochester, NY. Apparently, it’s like Poutine. We talk a bit without fact checking ourselves about the creation of the Erie Canal and Dewitt Clinton , it’s creator. Somehow this references the demise of the Pony Express due to the advent of the telegraph. We continue in this fashion, touching on a myriad of subjects. Here is...

Shawn Peters joins us to talk about his adventures in the publishing world and his two books out on Harper Collins The Unforgettable Logan Foster and The Unforgettable Logan Foster and The Shadow of Doubt . We talk about his writing origins, the creation of these two books and plans for future novels. The Unforgettable Logan Foster is a middle grade superhero story that deals with neurodivergence,...

Jim begins by listing his mistakes in the previous podcasts, creating new errors as he goes. A "detraction" is actually a term from Christian theology. Jim should have said "retraction."It reminds Lionel of something he saw at the Newseum in Washington, DC. Jim talks about his recent move from his old office to the new one upstairs, listing some of his Uncle's old books and collectables. Nota...

We launch into the pod by talking about a short Punch and Judy animation by Jan Švankmajer , Czech filmmaker and artist, which leads us into a talk about The Brothers Quay and then into reflections on Ridley Walker by Russell Hoban which leads into thoughts on Philip Glass, which leads to Lionel mentioning Kraftwerk, and electronic processing of found sound and spoken word when Jim says he...

Jim starts talking about the transparent OLED display at the current CES . We move on to keyboards you stick on your iPhone and the new round of visors .Lionel is inspired to go on 2 rants. The first is about youtube reviewers who get free gear. His second rant is about a story that shows how AI can be used to get around restrictions imposed on AI . Jim compares this to the Heartbleed exploit of t...

In our final episode of 2023, we talk about Trust by Hernan Diaz and the pulitzer prize, The Future by Naomi Alderman , and families as cults. Lionel talks about his visit to Jim's childhood home in Peter Cooper Village, where a scene from Three Days on the Condor was filmed. Jim talks about going to the Speakeasy Open Mic on MacDougal Street when it was run by Dave Van Ronk .Lionel recalls h...

Catherine Pilfrey returns to the podcast to talk about her new creation: The I Ching Oracle card deck : a 64-card illustrated deck and guidebook. Catherine Pilfrey is a designer, and meditation teacher who has been consulting the I Ching Oracle for 25 years. We start talking about the death of Norman Lear and increasingly long life spans for some people. Catherine talks about the process of creati...

Jim begins by talking about Kung Fu Hustle and suggests Lionel watch it. He then moves on to the AI songwriter that’s going around the socials. Lionel remembers the song David Wilcox got an AI to write. Jim says that songwriters are the canary in the coal mine. Lionel likens the current situation to the loss of work for the U.S. autoworkers in the 1980s. Jim and Lionel dispute Shel Silverste...

We start with Hewitt retelling his favorite joke as told by his friend Jan Luby . Jim actually snorts. We resume the interview from part 1, and Hewitt talks about his reaction to his listening of Utopia Revisited . Hewitt then shares a story of his part in the origin of Jim’s band name Jim’s Big Ego . As punishment, Jim plays another clip from Hewitt’s album, The Only Drowning Go...

Just a note: Hewitt was recording into his tablet and there are lots of digital glitches that Jim could not remove. We begin with Lionel’s favorite part of the podcast which we almost never capture: the sound check before we press record. Obviously, we pressed record this time. Jim launches in with a tweet from Elon Musk and we reminisce about the movie Stripes . Jim introduces Hewitt Huntwo...

Dave Herlihy is an Intellectual Property/Entertainment Lawyer, a Teaching Professor on the Music industry at Northeastern University , a songwriter, and the leader/vocalist/guitarist of O Positive . We talk about his return to songwriting, his hits with the band, working with limited time, in both the daily sense and life sense, and how Dave instructs his classes in leading a musical life. We begi...

Leigh joins the pod with a conversation about their work at The Brooklyn Public Library and their pioneering program Books Unbanned. They are the Collections Manager and a librarian. This was a marvelous conversation, and like a great librarian, they have provided a bounty of references, which I'm including here:All Things Brooklyn Public Library - Brooklyn Public Library Books Unbanned page...

Karaugh Brown joins us to talk about her return to the creative life after years of pursuing a career in Museum patron management at The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum , The Guggenheim , The Frick Collection , and currently, her role as Vice President of Development and Partnerships at World Monuments Fund . We talk about balance between our professional and creative lives. We listen to her past...

Jim starts by talking about a candy bar he’s eating. Lionel references The Simpsons . Jim talks about feeling under the weather and needing some sugar energy. We talk about putting our show on YouTube ( some episodes are there now .) Lionel talks about visiting Sacramento. Lionel talks about his favorite cafe Recess Coffee . Jim recalls a music venue called Happy Endings and Lionel mentions...