Episodes

  • TMR 24.3: "You Are a Punster" [Confidence-Man]
    Nov 21 2024

    [Note: If you subscribe on Apple Podcasts, please resubscribe to this feed. The other one will be going away in the near future.]

    "Grifters Gonna Grift" merchandise coming soon! This episode exposes just how useful footnotes can be as we transition from dusk to darkness, with the confidence-men being replaced by the Cosmopolitan. Under Discussion: The WWE, how nothing ever changes, the New Adam, land ownership, stripping people of their "humanity," cognative fallacies, peace pipes, and more.

    This week's music is "The Ballad of the Costa Concordia" by Car Seat Headrest.

    Next episode will cover Chapters 27-38 of The Confidence-Man. You can find the full reading schedule here.

    You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. Please rate and review! It helps more than you know.

    Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

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    1 hr
  • TMR 24.2: "Trust Me, Nature Is Health" [Confidence-Man]
    Nov 14 2024

    [Note: If you subscribe on Apple Podcasts, please resubscribe to this feed. The other one will be going away in the near future.]

    Chad and Kaija go it alone this week, talking about some of the more uncomfortable parts of the book to read in 2024, the Goneril story and the "evil touch," how almost every beat in this novel has a counterpart, the wonderful authorial intrusion discussing the "consistency" of characters, and, with glee in their hearts, the Herb-Doctor.

    This week's music is "Is This What I Have Missed?" by Jerome Blazé.

    Next episode will cover Chapters 20-26 of The Confidence-Man. You can find the full reading schedule here.

    You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. Please rate and review! It helps more than you know.

    Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • TMR 24.1: "May I Ask if You Have Confidence?" [Confidence-Man]
    Nov 7 2024

    Not the happiest day in which to record a podcast, but Chad, Brian, and Kaija speak their fears and then dive into Melville's Confidence-Man, talking about grifters, the value of footnotes, and just how modern and amazing Melville's prose is. They guess at who the "confidence man" might be, the burnt over district of western New York, Mormons, and a lot more.

    This week's music is "All Bets Are Off" by Japandroids.

    Next episode will cover Chapters 10-19 of The Confidence-Man. You can find the full reading schedule here.

    You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. Please rate and review! It helps more than you know.

    Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

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    1 hr
  • TMR Supplement #2: "Joytime Killbox" by Brian Wood
    Oct 31 2024

    After referencing Joytime Killbox on hundreds of TMR episodes, we finally break it down with the author himself! Conversation includes ideas about short stories and how they function, the nature of endings, and how Brian has grown as a writer since this collection first came out, while also examining the intent behind a number of the stories, and how they work.

    This week's music is "All My Friends" by Broken Social Scene.

    You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. Please rate and review! It helps more than you know.

    Starting next week we'll kick of Season 24, which will include both Confidence-Man by Hermann Melville and then Melvill by Rodrigo Fresán. Full reading schedule available here.

    Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad W. Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • TMR Supplement #1: "Dear Dickhead" by Virginie Despentes & Frank Wynne
    Oct 15 2024

    On the first ever one-off episode of the Two Month Review, Chad breaks down Virginie Despentes's Dear Dickhead for Kaija and Brian, a novel about . . . well, just listen. (It'll be more fun if you don't know what's coming.) This new format really digs into the book in a way that you can't in (to quote Zoé Katana) "lamestream media," and, simply put, rocks.

    This week's music is "Cannonball" by Grouplove.

    You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subscribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

    In two weeks, we'll be back with a singular podcast on Joytime Killbox, and then in November-December, we'll be talking about Confidence-Man by Hermann Melville and Melvill by Rodrigo Fresán.

    Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • TMR 23.9: "My Maps Are Out of Date" [Lanark]
    Aug 16 2024

    It all gets wrapped up with a "Catastrophe,." "Explanation," an "End," and a "Tailpiece." Chad, Brian, and Kaija discuss global capitalism, the fight for love and the be human, AI, the Bardo, and much more on this final episode of Season 23. Listen to the end for an announcement about changes to the podcast and what to look for going forward!

    This week's music is "When I Was Dying" by Dan Deacon.

    You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

    Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube. Stay tuned for announcements about forthcoming episodes!

    Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

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    56 mins
  • TMR 23.8: "The Critic Fights Back" [Lanark]
    Aug 9 2024

    From the Olympics to the most meta moment of the whole of Lanark, this week's podcast has you covered! Brian, Chad, and Kaija banter about divorce, plagiarisms versus influences, and how to read this book as a whole. There are a ton of amazing lines throughout this section of the novel, making this one of the most fun episodes of the season.

    This week's music is "Entropy" by El Ten Eleven.

    You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

    Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be discussing the last section of Lanark by Alasdair Gray.

    Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • TMR 23.7: "Not a Domestic Man" [Lanark]
    Aug 2 2024

    The reviews were right: Once you hit page 410, the Unthank sections of Lanark snap into place. Chad, Brian, and Kaija discuss that, capitalism, how terrible advertisements are, jobs, J.D. Vance and his proclivities, politics, unintended consequences, and how Deadpool & Wolverine is the Kamala Harris of film.

    This week's music is "Hollywood" by Car Seat Headrest.

    You can find all previous seasons of TMR on our YouTube channel and you can support us at Patreon and get bonus content before anyone else, along with other rewards, the opportunity to easily communicate with the hosts, etc. And please subcribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

    Tune in next week for more banter and analysis live on YouTube where we will be discussing pages 455-518 of Lanark by Alasdair Gray.

    Follow Open Letter, Two Month Review, Chad Post, Kaija Straumanis, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

    All our large images are AI generated.

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    53 mins