Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch

With special guests Kelsie, Hannah, and Jessica from the Reading Revisited podcast, Michael and Ethan discuss “The Little Mermaid” by Hans Christian Andersen , while drinking Craigellachie 13yo Speyside Single Malt.. In this episode: First and most important: NO SNITCHING There’s no rule that says you can’t mock husbands Talking about the end first Getting what you want vs. getting something bette...

Michael and Ethan discuss the 1926 silent film Faust by F. W. Murnau , while drinking Tamdhu 12yo Single Malt. In this episode: Quintessential film bro stuff Everything is political with a small p, but some things are political with a capital P (especially in cinema of the Weimar Republic) Faust is saved (spoilers) Silent film may be the only genre less subtle than the musical Ethan absolutely gar...

Michael and Ethan discuss Jack Faust, by Michael Swanwick , while drinking Tamdhu 12yo Single Malt.. In this episode: Caliban and the Witch, by Sylvia Federici Jack Faust is Goethe’s Faust and Marlowe’s Faust and a little bit Gounod’s Faust (which is also Goethe’s Faust) Faust goes from a disciple to Pontius Pilate in one paragraph What’s behind the door?????? (it doesn’t matter) The Star Trek-ifi...

Michael and Ethan discuss Jack Faust, by Michael Swanwick , while drinking Tamdhu 12yo Single Malt.. In this episode: The End of History and the Last Man (wiki page) A theory of threads and tatters Spoilers for Office Space and Fight Club, I guess Then We Came to the End… of history? Jack Faust was published in 1997, but it makes more sense as a 2026 novel Turns out, reducing other humans to instr...

Michael and Ethan discuss the short story “Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day,” by Jonathan Howard, while drinking Tamdhu 12yo Single Malt.. In this episode: Shout-out to Jamie from the Chanhassen Total Wine Very interesting Bluetooth headphone talk A short story is somewhere between a tweet and a novel, but closer to a tweet Putting the screws to Michael Faust both is and is not a necromancer Ca...

What makes a Faust story? Michael, Ethan, and special guests Josiah & Jacob discuss this ontological question and all things Faust in this special episode. In this episode: Michael begins confrontationally. Is this episode Faust? Is this podcast Faust? Ethan is NOT in Law School. Is capitalism Faust? The Bible is inevitable. Josiah brought it up. Totally. It was Josiah. He's very smart. The Jo...

Michael, Ethan, and special guest Josiah discuss Gounod’s opera Faust while drinking Suntory Toki Japanese whisky. In this episode: We watched Opera de Lille’s production of Gounod’s Faust This is a two-intermission opera Josiah’s favorite aria How sincere is Faust? (not a Romeo and Juliet discussion) Also not The Age of Innocence podcast However, it MIGHT be the “Tragedy of Marguerite” podcast Mi...

Michael, Ethan, and special guest Josiah discuss The Memory of Whiteness, by Kim Stanley Robinson while drinking Suntory Toki Japanese whisky. In this episode: The orchestra! Lots of tree stuff, also snake stuff and lizard stuff Curation vs collage vs other art stuff We GOTTA talk about the metadrama Vertumnus, by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1591) (another trap for a date-pilled boy) At least two topolog...

Michael, Ethan, and special guest Josiah discuss The Memory of Whiteness, by Kim Stanley Robinson while drinking Suntory Toki Japanese whisky. In this episode: Accusations of cuckoo-bird-ery Is this book Faust? Is this book Alastor? Is Alastor Faust? Having a stroke, falling into a singularity: pretty much the same thing The Contexts of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Faust Translations, by Mathelinda Nabu...

Michael, Ethan, and special guest Jacob discuss the short story “The Devil and Tom Walker,” by Washington Irving , while drinking Suntory Toki Japanese whisky. In this episode: Is Michael the devil? What gives Benet the right? Pedestrian deals with the devil Faust scoreboard so far: 2 damned, 2 saved, 1 (?????) Honesty and deeper honesty God terms, devil terms, and Deadpool terms Rules, rules, we...

Michael, Ethan, and special guest Jacob discuss the short story “The Devil and Tom Walker,” by Washington Irving , while drinking Suntory Toki Japanese (gasp!) whisky. In this episode: A not-too-presumptuous new rule The Devil belongs in America American mythology creating arbitrary exclusions and inclusions… who would have thought? Landscape as character Making up theories out of whole cloth Ever...

Michael and Ethan discuss Doctor Faustus: The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkuhn as Told by a Friend , by Thomas Mann, while drinking Jura 10yo single malt. In this episode: We do start off this episode very, very similarly to how we started at least Part 3, if not also Part 2… sorry REALLY REALLY REALLY helpful: A Reader’s Guide to Thomas Mann’s Doctor Faustus , by Tobias Boes The Devil...

Michael and Ethan discuss Doctor Faustus: The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkuhn as Told by a Friend , by Thomas Mann, while drinking Jura 10yo single malt. In this episode: REALLY REALLY REALLY helpful: A Reader’s Guide to Thomas Mann’s Doctor Faustus , by Tobias Boes There are at least two ways to assassinate someone with a piano Michael lies about his dogs Notes of realism The Devil I...

Michael and Ethan discuss Doctor Faustus: The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkuhn as Told by a Friend , by Thomas Mann, while drinking Jura 10yo single malt. In this episode: REALLY REALLY REALLY helpful: A Reader’s Guide to Thomas Mann’s Doctor Faustus , by Tobias Boes Lots of baffling passages in this one, sorry Musical forms in 1930s Germany were political (a thing that never happens t...

Michael and Ethan discuss Doctor Faustus: The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkuhn as Told by a Friend , by Thomas Mann, while drinking Jura 10yo single malt. In this episode: All digressions and fallings-apart are intentionally reflective of the novel under discussion and are not us doing a bad job Talking about books by talking about other books (aka, this is actually us reading Tristram...

This episode is kid-friendly, and recorded by kids! Wyatt, Samuel, and Isabell share two poems and a short spooky story to bring you some Halloween fun! In this episode: “The Witches’ Song,” from Macbeth by William Shakespeare - read by Wyatt (6) “Jack-o’-Lantern Song,” from The Topaz Story Book: Stories and Legends of Autumn, Hallowe’en, and Thanksgiving - read by Samuel (6) “Golden-Rod and Purpl...

Continuing the release of spooky stories and poems from classic literature, read by the hosts and friends, this episode: The story “The Mystery of the Semi-Detached,” by Edith Nesbit. A young man in love sees the worst thing he could ever imagine - but was it what it seemed? Can he save those who seem marked by death? We’re in the midst of our “Year of Faust” : Join the discussion! Go to the Conta...

For the month of October, we’ll occasionally release some spooky stories and poems of classic literature, read by the hosts and friends. This episode: The poem “The Kraken,” by Alfred Lord Tennyson. Drawing on imagery of the Leviathan from Scripture and other legends and mysteries, Tennyson draws a picture of the mythical Kraken which will sleep at the ocean floor until the world ends in fire. We’...

Michael and Ethan discuss Faust, by Goethe, both part 1 and 2, while drinking Balvenie Doublewood 12yo single malt. In this episode: Dynamic in a pastoral way Baffling talk of forms, mothers, material, and reality (and keys?) The Apocalypse has been happening since 1789 This is roughly what Ethan is talking about regarding courtly love In case the references to “Walpurgis Night” are confusing, thi...

Michael and Ethan discuss Faust, by Goethe, both part 1 and 2, while drinking Balvenie Doublewood 12yo single malt. In this episode: Self-flagellation Translation Abridgement Bets vs bargains Lost in the weeds vs taking the scenic route Striving vs Gretchen This podcast (Michael) casually speaks German, nbd Goethe wasn’t JUST a creepy old man Excellent lecture by Dr Michael Sugrue on Goethe’s Faus...

Michael and Ethan, along with special guests Maren Boucher and Benji Inniger , discuss The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe. Michael and Ethan are drinking Balvenie Doublewood 12yo single malt; Benji is drinking Oban Little Bay; Maren is drinking Lagavulin 11. What a mess. In this episode: Bethany Lutheran College Production of Doctor Faustus! (Direc...

Michael and Ethan, along with special guests Maren Boucher and Benji Inniger discuss The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe. Michael and Ethan are drinking Balvenie Doublewood 12yo single malt; Benji is drinking Oban Little Bay; Maren is drinking Lagavulin 11. What a mess. In this episode: Bethany Lutheran College Production of Doctor Faustus! Good Kro...

Michael and Ethan discuss James, by Percival Everett, while drinking Glenfiddich 12. In this episode: Discourse on decade-old BBC show “Rev” Duels/debates (aka, Nat tease) If we didn’t already know, which we did, now we would know The Cross and the Lynching Tree, by James H. Cone James as atheist/agnostic Biblical prophet The fragility of power, or, shotgun = virility??? Tarnation For reference: t...

Michael and Ethan discuss James, by Percival Everett, while drinking Glenfiddich 12. In this episode: Yanking the timeline 30 years into the future It’s really hard to make a book James’ style is either noirish, or journalistic, or both We do give away the one real spoiler in the book Prognosticating Twain’s reactions, ahistorically Make sure to take Michael’s many manifold meanings Excellent Elec...

Michael, Ethan, and special guest Jacob discuss Way Station, by Clifford D. Simak, while drinking Glenlivet 12. In this episode: It’s nice to be at the point in civilization where we know how all the letters should sound First pages, first paragraphs, first lines: seems like a trap for Ethan Pay attention to sound Obligatory references to The Dying Earth (one) and Star Trek (many) Michael is almos...