This week, Brian reports back on his assignment: the first five chapters of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones (Cort’s new literary obsession and Brian’s long-standing one). Turns out, loving Jones on the page may or may not mean loving his work performed directly into your ears. Brian’s early take? Cautiously optimistic.

Marin Ireland does fine. Owen Teale … well, Brian isn’t convinced he wants an entire book read to him by "Welsh Gravel Goliath." But then enters Shane Ghostkeeper, voicing Goodstab, and suddenly Brian is handing out two thumbs up like he’s Roger Ebert at a Fellini festival.

From there, the conversation drifts into Stranger Things Season 5, where opinions are shared, and Brian demonstrates that even confident opinions can be wrong. Cort finally gets a chance to see Leslie Odom, Jr. return as Aaron Burr in Hamilton, and he absolutely did not throw away his shot. Both hosts also caught & Juliet at the Orpheum, resulting in a predictable difference of opinion between a guy who's a theater geek and a guy with a massive intellect firing on all cylinders (whether necessary or not)..

They close things out by taking Rolling Stone firmly to task over its end-of-year lists, which somehow manage to be wrong in every possible direction at once ... an achievement that deserves recognition, if not praise.

Settle in. It’s a ride. A slightly combative, extremely opinionated ride.

Brian’s Assignment from Cort: 📖 The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones Narrated by Shane Ghostkeeper, Marin Ireland, and Owen Teale https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Buffalo-Hunter-Hunter-Audiobook/B0DD52VDNL

📖 Explore Stephen Graham Jones’ work: https://www.demontheory.net

🎶 Theme Song: Cyrus Oh Cyrus — The Flying Scrub Jays https://open.spotify.com/track/3S9T5HUS4cwky1922WhF1J?si=6fcad8771f724492

Brian assigned Cort An Awesome Wave by Alt-J… and Cort actually loved it. The album’s layered production and a unique approach to the rhythm section landed squarely in his wheelhouse, especially since the lyrics mattered approximately not at all. Brian had thoughts too, of course, and they compare notes on how the album hits two very different listeners.

Brian also reports back from seeing Nuremberg, and the guys generally discuss their recent watching habits. Cort assigns the first five chapters of the audiobook The Buffalo Hunter Hunter to Brian. There is other stuff too (I'm pretty sure opinions were shared. Probably.)

🎧 An Awesome Wave — Alt-J https://open.spotify.com/album/6k3vC8nep1BfqAIJ81L6OL?si=CC7wU3IqSICZTlBkOwwsFg

🎶 Theme Song: Cyrus Oh Cyrus — The Flying Scrub Jays https://open.spotify.com/track/3S9T5HUS4cwky1922WhF1J?si=1b5008d6d0a14170https://open.spotify.com/track/3S9T5HUS4cwky1922WhF1J?si=6fcad8771f724492

Brian and Cort are at it again in Episode 69 of Listeners Like You, the podcast for listeners by listeners, in which Brian and Cort pretend sharing their extremely ordinary media consumption habits are a public service.

In this episode, Brian and Cort heroically attempt to discuss the end of Chuck Wendig’s latest book, Staircase in the Woods, without sounding like literary snobs holding Wendig to some unattainable standard of storytelling. Brian picks apart the plot, the narrators, and his own fan-casting of the yet-to-be-made movie version of the book.

Cort covers The Mash Up, a whiskey podcast. Brian unveils his “Battle of the Birthdays” game.

We also detour into Stephen King adaptations, again, cult documentaries, and the philosophical question of how long two 52-year-old men can walk without dying.

Finally, ask yourself this question: Does Brian contain multitudes? Listen and find out!

Cort takes on Bones by Rainbow Kitten Surprise, a band whose lineup and sound have seen some serious evolution. We also recount our recent night out at an MJ Lenderman show (with our first ever guest, Hanson Tipton), dive into the Neil Diamond jukebox musical A Beautiful Noise, and debate what actually makes something a “jukebox musical”.

Ariana Grande somehow makes an appearance (don’t ask), Brian saw Weapons, and Major League Baseball’s Shohei Ohtani gets some airtime as the Dodgers continue to dominate (at the time of recording). Plus — Cort might finally listen to the Random Podcast pick, The Mashup. You should come back next time if for no other reason than to see if the man can follow through on any promise.

Bones – Rainbow Kitten Surprise Cyrus Oh Cyrus – The Flying Scrub Jays

This week, the guys revisit The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig as Brian continues his audiobook experiment and reiterates his position that nothing shatters immersion quite like a narrator trying to do both male and female voices. Cort, meanwhile, listened to the podcast My Wife Hates Video Games and wondered if that's all she hates. The conversation meanders through actors, including talk of the AI generated Tilly Norwood, and then on to music when Brian brings some excellent new album recommendations:

Jeff Tweedy – Twilight Override Amanda Shires – Nobody’s Girl Jason Isbell – Foxes in the Snow

Thank you as always for the use of our theme song: “Cyrus Oh Cyrus” by The Flying Scrub Jays

And if you're interested in a link to the audiobook of The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig (Audiobook), there you go!

This ep, Cort listens to Another Fine Day by Golden Smog, Brian tries his hand at instant home brewing, and the guys talk about Memphis’s shifting soccer scene. With the loss of 901 FC almost ancient news at this point, Brian rejoices the arrival of a new semi-pro team.

🎶 Album: Another Fine Day – Golden Smog 🎵 Theme: Cyrus oh Cyrus – The Flying Scrub Jays

Just when we think we've got this podcasting thing figured out, we get thrown a curveball. So now we're throwing curveballs too! Brian’s assignment was the first eight chapters of the AUDIOBOOK of Chuck Wendig’s A Staircase in the Woods—about an hour of listening pleasure. Brian, ever the overachiever listened to double the assignment, and Cort, as the self-proclaimed audiobook-o-file of the podcast and not to be outdone, finished the whole thing. We talk about the listening experience (pros, cons, and how to fit audiobooks into real life) and the book itself (with only the mildest of spoilers). Brian realizes that unlike his own children, he may not have been read to as a child, but he likes it. Give the full ep a listen for all the details and introspection.

Quick hits (because we're not just an audiobook podcast): Cort discussed his very late-to-the-game exposure to Arctic Monkeys’ Humbug and beyond that he decided he might need to give some once-dismissed pop hits a new listen. That detour leads to TV-music chatter (yes, Paradise with Sterling K. Brown gets mentioned). Then it’s back to the reason we're all here, podcasts of course, with TIME’s “Top 100 Podcasts of All Time,” where the guys agree that they very much disagree with TIME.

Theme song: Cyrus oh Cyrus by The Flying Scrub Jays Don Henley: New York Minute Audiobook: Chuck Wendig's A Staircase in the Woods

Cort listened to Brian’s Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats setlist-turned-playlist assignment. Brian spent a week in Colorado going to concerts and is ready to talk about it! Brian is still watching shark movies ... good ones, even. The guys also get into Memphis’s craft brewery scene, and Cort waxes nostalgic about one of his favorite beverages, which is all followed up by Brian mentioning the bizarre saga of Walmart's possibly radioactive shrimp.

Also in this episode: a bean-based app that’s somehow revolutionizing ADHD productivity. And in breaking news Cort finally gets Brian to accept his first audiobook assignment.

Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats Playlist (Brian's assignment to Cort): Spotify Amazon Music

Cyrus Oh Cyrus – The Flying Scrub Jays (theme music): Listen on Spotify