In our episode previewing the March Plaidness final, we discuss the two remaining essays/songs, the outcomes of recent games, some favorite fallen essays, and our post-Plaidness playlist. Also: Justin’s hot tub experience with Skrillex, pickup truck pools, our plans for a PodVan, a very 90s conversation about what’s cool, and more!
Links: March Xness tournament site, with all the essays: www.marchxness.com
in this week’s March Plaidness episode, we start with a confession before moving onto a discussion of G.K. Chesterton’s problematicness; our plans for building a multimedia shitpost empire; our first foray into fine cinema; David’s vision for a “Pepper” video; Arlo’s production company; Dead Moon; Rusted Root; voting bots; Justin’s book’s release date; how wrong Elena was about Throwing Muses; whether Hootie would, in fact, have won; Local H kicking ass; lots of Plaidness essay shoutouts; Daylight Savings shenanigans; our picks for the rest of the tourney; Billy Joel vs. Huey Lewis; Justin makes an early plea for what song he wants to write about in March Faxness; and more!
March Plaidness: http://marchxness.com/elite8-buttholesvseverclear/
Link to “Pepper” video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1Kei03inkk&t=25s
We ran into our first recording snafu and lost the entire episode, so we enlisted the help of robot actors to help us reconstruct it from memory. In this episode, we cover the Round 2 matchups for March Plaidness, the annual essay tournament. Enjoy, because we’re probably gonna have to take this down once we get a cease & desist.
Go vote for Pepper here: http://marchxness.com/sweet16-alicevsbutthole/
In Episode 2 of our special March Plaidness mini-season, we recap most of the first-round games (including David’s win with “Pepper”). Also: lots of Better Than Ezra imitations, Arlo gives a Gen Z take on grunge, Elena tells a story about meeting a member of Nirvana, Denry makes his pod debut, we discuss March Princeness, our wah-oh contest, a mailbag, Jurassic Prom, and more!
To kick off Season 3, we discuss March Plaidness, this year’s grunge-focused version of the annual March Xness essay competition: past years, this year’s matchups, and David’s entry this year on the Butthole Surfers’ “Pepper.”
In our season finale (really this time), we debrief about season 2, discuss our essayistic Christmas plans–including what books we’re going to buy as gifts–reflect on how much we enjoy interacting with listeners, and do a holiday-themed lightning round. Also, send us your flash submissions and nominations for anthologies! See you in Season 3.
In our Season 2 finale (probably), we welcome our friend Tracy Daugherty, the author of many books of nonfiction and fiction, to discuss his recent books in both genres, as well as a trio of short essays he selected. Also: the Sixties, West Texas, a West Texas cocktail, country music, the return of David Turkel, another mystery guest who stays mostly off-mic, and a lightning round.
Send us your submissions for Elena’s flash anthology, and your essay nominations for BAE & the Pushcart! We’re at @essaypodcast on Twitter, [email protected], or in the comments section of our website: http://www.essaypodcast.com/contact/
In what is probably our penultimate episode of Season 2, we Zoom about the brand-new edition of Best American Essays, edited by our old friend from Season 1, André Aciman. We cover Robert Atwan’s intro, Aciman’s preface, and two selections from the anthology itself: Alex Marzano-Lesnevich’s “Body Language,” and Barbara Ehrenreich’s “The Humanoid Stain.” Also: reader mail, an update on our flash anthology, and we solicit listener suggestions for what essays we should nominate for Best American Essays and the Pushcart Prize.
Also, send us your submissions for Elena’s flash anthology, and your essay nominations for BAE & the Pushcart! We’re at @essaypodcast on Twitter, [email protected], or in the comments section of our website: http://www.essaypodcast.com/contact/
In Grab Bag Part 2: Grab Harder, we discuss DIAGRAM’s new tarot deck anthology to commemorate its 20th Anniversary, and Elena uses it to give us all a tarot reading. Also: an album Elena wants to nominate for the Essay Prize, we tackle the question of who’s weirder: poets or playwrights, Bonnie mentions her mother’s famous McDonald’s career, we learn the future for ourselves and our podcast, and more!
In Part 1 of our first grab-bag episode, we answer a reader question about memoirs and, in honor of MFA application season, offer unsolicited advice about MFA programs. Also: more regional-accent conversation, an appropriate cocktail, Arlo’s inappropriate song, and more.
Episode links:
Sound Tribe Sector 9, the jam band from Elena’s high school: https://sts9.com/
The grab bag version of a Long Island Iced Tea:
½ oz Triple Sec (we used Bols)
½ oz gin (we used New Amsterdam)
½ oz light rum (we used Bacardi)
½ oz vodka (we used a pint of Prazska Justin’s brother brought back from Poland in like 2003)
Sweet & sour (we made our own: 1 cup mixed lime & lemon juice, 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar dissolved)
Coke Zero
Add the liquors to a shaker over ice, shake–spilling a lot of it on your countertop–pour into highball glasses with ice, then top off with sweet & sour and a splash of Coke Zero. Drink too fast while you talk shit about memoirs, then record a double episode by accident.
