Torg Stories Podcast May 2026

If you travel, why do you go where you go? I’ll bet your reasons are different from Pico Iyer’s, as explained in his essay “Why We Travel.” We pick out some lines for discussion below as well as look toward Anne’s trip to Poland that will include attending a Bad Bunny concert in Warsaw. “Why … Continue reading "“Why We Travel” by Pico Iyer and Anne i...

My sister Anne spells it donuts and I use doughnuts. We both went out and ate some for this post, and we had a good time discussing Geoff Dyer’s essay “Otherwise Known as the Human Condition (with Particular Reference to Doughnut Plant Doughnuts” as the catalyst for this week’s conversion. Sometimes donuts are trash (sometimes … Continue reading "Otherwise Known as th...

Anne and I share the stories we read or watched on this week’s Torg Stories Podcast. Check out the links to some of the stories below: Stories Anne Read or Watched the Week of June 15, 2026 “The Infamous San Antonio Love Triangle That Ended in Murder” by Katy Vine  Kylian Mbappe is Scoring All … Continue reading "Untold Epstein Story, San Antonio Love Triangle, World Cup Mbappe, W...

We discuss the stories we read and watched including articles about the Knicks winning the NBA Title, the essay “Matricide,” the film Office Romance, and the Apple tv show Widow Bay. (Check out video podcast near the end of this post) Stories Bill Read or Watched the Week of June 8, 2026 “The New York … Continue reading "Knicks Win NBA Finals, MVP Brunson, Wemby as a Villain, Mat...

We read or watched stories related to the NBA Finals, the billionaires who charter jets to the games, Spike Lee, University GenAI, Contagion, Caitlin Clark and Stephanie White, Castaway, The Bourne Ultimatum, Yellowstone, and the new Obama Library in Chicago. Stories Bill Read or Watched the Week of June 1, 2026… NBA Story: “2026 NBA … Continue reading "Stories We Read and Watched: Kni...

The NBA Finals are set: it will be the New York Knicks vs. the San Antonio Spurs. Wemby and the Spurs vanquished the defending champions Oklahoma City Thunder in an exciting game 7. Also, at the bottom of this post check out the stories I read or watched this week. At the bottom of the … Continue reading "It’s the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals"

What’s the craziest stuff that’s ever happened to you at work? Any weird interview stories? Anne and I use Thomas Beller’s piece about working at H&H Bagels at 80th and Broadway in NYC to spark our own work-themed conversation. He also inspired us to go out an have local bagels: mine in Boone, NC at … Continue reading "Best and Worst Work Stories and NYC to LA Bagel Tes...

We dive deep into Ryan Gosling’s performance in the film adaptation of Andy Weir’s sci-fi novel, Project Hail Mary. The film stars Ryan Gosling as Dr. Ryland Grace. He’s a molecular biologist who wakes up from a coma on a space ship. What grade do I give the film? Why?  My Expectations Leading Up seeing … Continue reading "Project Hail Mary Movie Review: Ryan Gosling and And...

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode, Anne and I discuss Richard Ford’s short story, “Rock Springs.” Anne, you went to Rock Springs, Wyoming with Earl, Edna, Cheryl, and Little Duke. What did you think?  Things could always be worse. You could go to the electric chair tomorrow. -Edna in “Rock Springs” Plot … Continue reading "Richard Ford’s story “Rock...

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode, Anne and I share the principles that guide us as we make playlists for our respective runs and walks. We also hope to try and bring to life for y’all where it is that we run and walk. Anne, what walk did you choose for this … Continue reading "The Art of the Music Playlist: Bill’s for a Mountain Run and Anne’s for a Los Angele...

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode, Anne and I are going to talk about the new Noah Kahan album. It’s titled The Great Divide: The Last of the Bugs.  Noah Kahan’s album The Great Divide: The Last of the Bugs was released during April of 2026. Be sure to check out my … Continue reading "Noah Kahan’s Album The Great Divide and our Favorite Musical Storyteller...

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode, Anne and I are discussing the David Foster Wallace essay titled, “Derivative Sport in Tornado Alley.” Anne, if Wallace was a less creative writer, he could have called this “Playing Tennis in Central Illinois.”  Acceptance is its own verve -DFW Breaking down the title: Discussion questions:  … Continue reading "David Foster Wall...

Have you heard about HBO’s television show The Rooster? On this episode, Anne and I discuss episode 1 of the show that stars Steve Carell as the writer Greg Russo. He’s a bumbling, gold-hearted author who says he writes the kind of novels people like to read at the beach. The show follows Greg as … Continue reading "Steve Carell stars in HBO’s Rooster. Is it worth watching?...

In this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast, my sister Anne and I discuss the men’s and women’s basketball Final Fours. It was a Big Ten takeover as both Michigan and UCLA won national titles, though the headlines were just as much about some of the coaches as they were about the games. We dive … Continue reading "NCAA Basketball Final Four Podcast"

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode, Anne and will talk about the second weekend of both the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments. But first Anne, I received some good news! My (very) short film titled The Valle Crucis Park was accepted to the Indie Vegas Film Festival. Bad news: we have … Continue reading "NCAA Basketball Tournament: From the Sweet Sixteen to Final...

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode, Anne and I look back on the men’s and women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament first rounds and look ahead to the second. Anne, by my count there were 96 NCAA tournament games televised in the last five days. That’s a lot of basketball!  Where does the NCAA … Continue reading "Men’s and Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament First...

On this episode we’re discussing Anton Chekhov’s marital affair themed short story, “The Lady with the Little Dog.” We’ve got the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments coming up and we invite you to join the Torg Stories Bracket Challenge. We’re doing that through the ESPN website, and I’ve got links on the post for this … Continue reading "A Marital Affair Story: Chekhov’s “The Lad...

Our Academy Award Best Picture Oscar picks: One Battle After Another, Sinners, Sentimental Value, Helios, Epic Universe

The high school women’s basketball team I coach in Boone, North Carolina just had their season come to an end when we lost during the third round of the state playoffs. The game also marked the end of a thirteen year run where every year but one I coached one of my daughter’s on a … Continue reading "Our High School Season Comes to an End Podcast"

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode, Anne and I try to bring to life for you some places we know well. Bill’s Places He Knows Well  Anne’s Places She Knows Well  Honorable Mention:  Thanks for listening to this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. Today, Anne and I are talking about 5 things we know a lot about. Anne, when I pitched you this idea, you sounded like you weren’t sure there were 5 things you know a lot about. How did it go?  In my courses at App State, we do an … Continue reading "5 Things We Know A Lot About"

Welcome to the Super Bowl LX Podcast. We started this episode at 10:27 EST. I’m podcasting like I get paid to do it!   In this episode, we talk about the pregame, the Green Day Performance, some of the main plays from the Seahawks 29-13 win, the Bad Bunny halftime show, and rank our favorite commercials. … Continue reading "Super Bowl LX Podcast: Seahawks, Patriots, and Our Commercial Rankin...

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. This week, Anne and I share our top 10 most meaningful athletes. We’re recording on Sun Feb 1, 2025. Here outside of Boone, North Carolina, it’s 15 degrees and we’ve got at least 6 inches of snow.  Torg’s List of Most Personally Meaningful Athletes: Some other athletes I considered: … Continue reading "Most Meaningful Athletes Podcast"

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. Anne and I will talk NFL Conference Championship Games. We’ve got a big ice storm here in Boone. No school on Monday. No face to face classes on Tuesday. My wife Megan is doing a remodel on our pantry and four of Charlotte’s teammates from Lees McCrae are staying … Continue reading "Patriots and Seahawks to the Super Bowl Podcast"

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. Anne and I are recording as we wait for the Hoosiers to take the field in Miami to face off vs. the Miami Hurricanes for the College Football National Championship. Anne, I checked out those Indiana Coach Cignetti cigarette pack themed shirts, and they are pretty cool.  Let’s go … Continue reading "NFL Divisional Round: Games Down to the Wire, Big Of...