It’s another, NYE Holiday Conversation Pit! Hear us share our favorite winter activities, comfort media, niche expertises, and soup hot takes. And remember, you can watch the full video of this Conversation Pit for free at patreon.com/jointhepartypod!

We’ll see you next week with a brand-new episode of Campaign 3, which will come out uninterrupted until the end of the campaign. Keep your Afterparty questions coming: a jumbo-sized one will follow the last episode of Campaign 3.

Find Us Online

- website: jointhepartypod.com

- patreon: patreon.com/jointhepartypod

- instagram: instagram.com/jointhepartypod

- bluesky: bsky.app/profile/jointhepartypod.com

- twitter: twitter.com/jointhepartypod

- tumblr: jointhepartypod.tumblr.com

- facebook: facebook.com/jointhepartypod

- merch & music: jointhepartypod.com/merch

Cast & Crew

- Game Master, Co-Producer: Eric Silver

- Co-Host (Umbi), Co-Producer, Sound Designer, Composer: Brandon Grugle

- Co-Host (Chamomile Cassis), Co-Producer: Julia Schifini

- Co-Host (Troy Riptide), Co-Producer: Amanda McLoughlin

- Theme Song: Lyrics by Eric Silver, music by Brandon Grugle. Vocals by Brandon Grugle, Lauren Shippen, Julia Schifini, Roux Bedrosian, Eric Silver, Tyler Silver, and Amanda McLoughlin. Available for purchase here.

- Artwork: Allyson Wakeman

- Multitude Podcasts: https://multitude.productions

About Us

Join the Party is an actual play podcast with tangible worlds, genre-pushing storytelling, and collaborators who make each other laugh each week. We welcome everyone to the table, from longtime players to folks who’ve never touched a roleplaying game before. Hop into our current campaign, a pirate story set in a world of plant- and bug-folk, or marathon our completed stories with the Camp-Paign, a MOTW game set in a weird summer camp, Campaign 2 for a modern superhero game, and Campaign 1 for a high fantasy story. And once a month we release the Afterparty, where we answer your questions about the show and how we play the game. New episodes every Tuesday.

Transcript

[theme]

Eric: Should all acquaintance be forgot [incorrectly sings Auld Lang Syne]

Julia: Eric started this recording being, "Hold on. I have to pull up the lyrics to Auld Lang Syne."

Eric: I thought it would be funnier to not know the lyrics, Julia. I have— you're right. I have them in front of me, and I still decided, "No, it's funny if I don't know the words."

Amanda: I thought it would be funnier if I started to sing, "Happy New Year to you. Happy New Year to you."

Eric: To you.

Brandon: Guys, should we— not to encourage binge drinking because I don't want to do that, but should we come up with some sort of fun champagne-based sipping game for this this New Year's Afterparty?

Amanda: I love this idea.

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Amanda: It is 1:00 in the afternoon.

Brandon: Okay.

Amanda: Several weeks before.

Brandon: Not for us. I'm sorry, for people listening, for people listening.

Amanda: Oh, for listening.

Julia: Hmm.

Brandon: Yeah, yeah.

Amanda: I was gonna say, I'm working on my second tea of the day. But no, I think that's a great idea. I would say, "Sip your alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage every time one of us has a deeply unrelatable opinion."

Julia: Gonna say Brandon.

Amanda: Not gonna say who.

Julia: I'll say it, Brandon.

Brandon: I love that.

Amanda: Sip if you have gone to patreon.com/jointhepartypod to watch the video of this Convo Pit for free.

Julia: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: I— okay. I love this idea, so why— so Amanda came up with mine. Now, let's each come up—

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: —with the other people's things. So for Amanda, anytime she brings up, let's say— ooh, what do y'all think, either romance novels or the, like, financials of a company?

Eric: Any financial—

Julia: So like a business jargon thing that we don't understand.

Brandon: Yeah, okay.

Julia: I think it should be both. I think we could have multiple choices here.

Brandon: Okay, okay. Yeah, then take a sip for that.

Eric: This is— this one is bigger because it's a video one, so if you're watching the video, the free video at Patreon, go get another liquid that you now need to start drinking out of. Every time you watch Julia silently react to something the three of us do— yeah, like that.

Amanda: She's very good at it.

Eric: Yeah.

Brandon: Every time Julia has a reaction, take a sip. Yeah.

Eric: No, no, you— go get another liquid.

Brandon: Oh, you need to go get another liquid?

Amanda: Oh.

Brandon: Okay.

Eric: Yeah. See, I—

Amanda: It's gonna be like 10-pin bowling up in here.

Eric: And that's what we want. We want more liquids.

Brandon: I love that.

Julia: Great.

Brandon: Let's see what should Eric's be.

Amanda: I think every time he says something like, "I've thought about this," and basically—

Brandon: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Amanda: —you're— that he has, like, a taxonomy, or a procedure, or like a theory about a thing that has never occurred to you until just now.

Brandon: I love that.

Julia: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: Yeah.

Julia: Uh-hmm.

Eric: I'll take that. That sounds good.

Amanda: Or it looks cute.

Julia: Good one.

Brandon: And then, anytime Julia says, "Stupid," take, like, three sips.

Eric: Drink the whole thing. Drink your entire hot tea.

Julia: Yeah. I think if you get a genuine, "Stupid," out of me, they have to finish their drink.

Brandon: Yeah, that's fair.

Eric: I gotta tell you, my barrier for— if I'm doing a good job is if I get Julia to emote really hard.

Julia: Yeah, yeah.

Eric: If Julia cries, I'm like, "Good job." If Julia calls something stupid, good job for me.

Julia: Nailed it. Nailed it.

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Amanda: Here is a very thought-provoking question from— oh, that's the Question Surgeon, Dr. Michelle Spurgeon, Attorney General.

Brandon: Hell yeah. Attorney General, she got promoted?

Amanda: Surgeon general? Surgeon and attorney general.

Julia: Hmm. Nice.

Amanda: Yeah.

Brandon: Ah, surgeon general.

Amanda: Surgeon General, thank you so much. So Surgeon General Spurgeon says, that's so fun to say, "What is something from the past you would like to see return, whether that is fashion, design, architecture, whatever?"

Brandon: Ooh.

Amanda: Nobody say polio. We're giving people a nice experience in this Conversation Pit. I want you to keep it nice for them.

Brandon: I thought you were gonna get a stupid from Julia on that one.

Julia: No.

Eric: That's good.

Julia: I— they're rare. They're far and few between. I know it was like almost a thing at the beginning of the pandemic that it, like, came back, but I genuinely want to see it, like, mainstream come back, and that's sea shanties.

Eric: Oh, sure.

Julia: And I'm not just saying that because this is Join the Party and—

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Julia: —you know—

Brandon: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.

Julia: —we did one. But I do genuinely think that they're very, like, cool and fun songs, and more people should be using them as inspiration for modern music.

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Amanda: Love it.

Eric: I think all electronics need to come— bring back '90s translucent colors.

Julia: Yeah.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: Yes.

Eric: I need my iPhone to come in translucent purple, atomic purple.

Brandon: Oh, dude, that would be so good. I always get black or whatever the normal is, because I don't like the colors on iPhones. But I would 100% buy that.

Amanda: Crystal?

Brandon: Yeah.

Julia: Ooh.

Eric: If there was some, or even if it was translucent and then I could put on a—

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Eric: Like, I need to see the guts.

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Eric: That's the whole thing.

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Eric: Is you got to see the guts of the electronics.

Julia: I think that Nintendo really did miss out on a huge opportunity when they didn't, like, provide a Switch cover that was—

Amanda: Yes.

Julia: —atomic purple.

Brandon: Hmm.

Eric: For sure.

Amanda: Eric tried to order, like, a third party one, but it involves, like, soldering another, like, kinky shit that Eric and I are not into, but—

Julia: Only Brandon knows that one, send it to him.

Brandon: Give me, give me.

Julia: Brandon says, give me, give me, give me.

Amanda: But if it goes bad, then you have no more Switch lights.

Julia: Hmm.

Eric: No. I don't care about my Switch lights. I don't even use it. I kind of— I should just send it to Brandon.

Amanda: Okay. All right.

Brandon: I'll do it.

Julia: I was talking about the little— I didn't even think about the Switch lights. I was talking about the Joy-Cons, but—

Amanda: That, for sure, also.

Eric: They should sell atomic purple Joy-Cons 100%.

Julia: They should.

Amanda: Yeah.

Julia: Amanda, you also bring up a great point, like, the crystal— like Pokemon crystal, like, blue, clear one.

Eric: Yeah.

Julia: I never even thought of that as, like, a color option, but that would be wild. That would be so good.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.

Eric: I mean, they're all sick, like the orange— the translucent orange, the translucent green, the translucent blue, they're all good. I just want more as much as possible. If I could buy a Mac, something, a laptop, and anything that had the shell of the old Mac computers, I would be so happy.

Julia: Yeah.

Brandon: Yeah, I was gonna say it's not out of pocket for them, because they used to do that. So, like, I don't know why they don't—

Julia: Yeah.

Brandon: They should do that for their iPhones, that’s such a good idea.

Eric: Amanda, can we— can I say your idea?

Amanda: Yes. So what I will say is that this is TM, TM. I have not yet been able to make any real movement on this idea, but if you happen to work in small home electronic sourcing, get in touch with me. Eric, go ahead.

Julia: Hmm.

Eric: Okay. Amanda wants to create a line of smaller Crock-Pots that have translucent outsides and with fake wiring on the inside to make it look even more sick.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: Cool.

Julia: That's pretty cool, Amanda.

Brandon: Okay.

Julia: I don't hate that.

Amanda: Like, think of the Instant Pot. It doesn't have to be all-in-one, Instant Pot is done. It's not a slow cooker like my grandma gave me because that weighs 30 pounds and has 10 quarts of space. It is a, like, personal slow cooker that—

Brandon: Just a little warmer, yeah.

Amanda: Yeah, basically. And you can, like, do a little stew, if you're meal prepping for yourself for a couple of days, if you're feeding two people for, like, a day, and little leftovers, that kind of situation.

Brandon: Uh-hmm. They have small Crock-Pots.

Amanda: They do.

Julia: Yeah.

Amanda: But they don't look like this.

Brandon: Yeah. But they don't look that, yeah.

Julia: They don't.

Eric: And they're all matte black.

Amanda: They are.

Julia: Hmm.

Eric: Which is Amanda's kryptonite.

Julia: Hmm. You're so hard to please.

Amanda: Yep. I saw a matte black Tesla yesterday and thought, "Haaaaa."

Julia: Yeah.

Amanda: Hate it.

Julia: Yeah.

Eric: That's why Amanda and Binging with Babish are in a fight.

Amanda: We are. You think you can get fingerprints off a matte black Dutch oven?

Julia: You can't.

Eric: No.

Julia: Can't do it.

Eric: No.

Amanda: Can't. It's not possible.

Julia: No.

Eric: Not possible.

Julia: No.

Amanda: I would like to see from the past, the tradition of, like— so the way pockets used to be is, it used to be just slits in your—

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Amanda: —skirt or your pants, and you wore, typically, women would, a pocket, like, tied around your waist like an apron, but the—

Julia: Yeah.

Amanda: —pocket is, like, dangled under your clothes.

Brandon: Yeah.

Amanda: And I think—

Eric: That's cool.

Amanda: —pocket technology needs to keep evolving. This is basically like wearing an apron, or, you know, a fanny pack, or, like, a tool belt at all times, but it's under your clothes and, like, you could just reach in that little pocket, anything you want could be in there. Like, imagine—

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Amanda: —if we're wearing a full length skirt, that pocket could be four feet long.

Brandon: Yeah.

Amanda: Not four feet long. Two and a half feet long, three feet long, that wasn’t right.

Julia: Four feet long, four feet long.

Brandon: It could be four and a half feet.

Julia: They’re at my shoulders.

Amanda: Yeah.

Brandon: It could be four feet long. You'll just drag it behind you. It's fine.

Amanda: Yeah.

Eric: Think of all the Pringles I have in my pockets.

Amanda: I can spit a good three, four cans of Pringles in there.

Eric: Yeah.

Amanda: Yeah.

Brandon: Okay. I love your Crock-Pot idea, but I think this idea might have more legs.

Amanda: Oh.

Brandon: What if you made, like, tights or whatever, with, like, sewn-in pockets, like that, like you're describing? Or whatever.

Eric: It's almost like a slip, but it's for—

Amanda: Yes.

Brandon: Yeah.

Eric: —a person.

Brandon: Or a slip.

Amanda: Yes.

Julia: Hmm.

Brandon: It’s a slip, yeah.

Amanda: I mean, I love like a bike, short, with like a pocket for your phone built-in.

Eric: Yeah.

Amanda: Like, that's great.

Eric: Yeah, that would be good.

Amanda: But I think there's room to evolve.

Eric: This feels very cyberpunk to me. I don't know what it is—

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: It does.

Eric: —of, like, needing to build your own pockets because institutions have failed you in pockets.

Amanda: Yes.

Julia: Hmm.

Amanda: Yeah.

Brandon: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.

Eric: Yeah.

Amanda: Very Ren Fair. Yeah.

Brandon: Yeah, I love that.

Eric: No, no, no, but it's cyberpunk.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Eric: Like, it's modern future.

Amanda: I love it.

Brandon: We should have Ren Fairs, but cyberpunk.

Eric: I— I'm sure they do.

Amanda: I'm sure they have.

Julia: Well, they have time traveler day at the Ren fair, typically, and—

Amanda: Oh, really?

Julia: —so people do, like, Star Trek or Dr. Who.

Brandon: Oh, that's fun. I like that.

Julia: Or cyberpunk-y kind of stuff.

Amanda: Like, yes, cyberpunk specifically, there was a— Weren't we, Eric, in Philadelphia? Somebody was like, "Oh, yeah. We asked our friends, so if you have recommendations of places to get ramen," because it was very, very cold. And she's like, "All right, this is my favorite place. This one is closer. This one is good, but I'm gonna warn you, it's Blade Runner aesthetic." And we said, "Sophia, what do you mean?" And then we opened up Google Maps, and it was, like, neon pink and white. And I was like, "Oh."

Eric: I don't know—

Julia: I don't hate that.

Eric: —if I could be that, like, assaulted with the future when I'm—

Amanda: Yeah.

Eric: —eating a ramen egg. I don't know if I want that.

Amanda: Yeah.

Julia: Hmm. Okay.

Brandon: Uh-hmm. Fair.

Amanda: It was a lot. Instead, we went to a very traditional ramen place, and it was delish.

Eric: Oh, I didn't— I don't know if I told you this. I got green curry ramen.

Brandon: Ooh. That sounds good.

Eric: The broth was— tasted like green curry.

Brandon: That sounds good.

Eric: It was incredible.

Brandon: Yes.

Julia: I think we need to add an additional one where it's Eric describes a very wild food that he had that was amazing.

Brandon: Oh, yeah, that's true.

Julia: Because I think that happens more frequently.

Brandon: That's a good one.

Julia: So take a sip if that happens again in the future.

Brandon: Yeah, take a sip.

Eric: Oh, Brandon, can you play the theme song of Eric describes wild food?

Brandon: Yeah. It goes like Eric describes wild food.

Eric: And thank you to Arcade Fire for doing the theme song.

Amanda: Amazing.

Brandon: Okay. Mine—

Julia: Vampire Weekend did an alternate cover, so—

Brandon: The thing I want to—

Eric: Tenenenenenenene. Yeah.

Brandon: The thing I want to bring back from the past is a proletariat revolution.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Eric: Brandon, it already happened.

Julia: It's coming.

Eric: It's already happening.

Julia: It's coming.

Amanda: It's coming.

Brandon: That's the thing. So—

Julia: Cool.

Brandon: —kill all billionaires, bring back the guillotine.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: No justice, except for class justice.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: Let's go.

Eric: I'm not worried that Brandon has put on the fake name Luigi, and it's gone around doing stuff. That sounds like something Brandon would do.

Julia: Brandon used to have that eyebrow game, though. No offense, Brandon.

Eric: That's true. That's true.

Julia: You just don't have it.

Eric: Yeah, maybe it's fake. Maybe that's all part of the fugazi.

Amanda: We don't know.

Julia: Maybe.

Eric: Yeah.

Amanda: We don't know.

Brandon: Yes. Who knows?

Amanda: Anyone else, design, architecture? I'd love orangeries to come back. I know they were sort of like a—

Julia: Yeah.

Amanda: —you know, a colonial, kind of import from India to Britain.

Brandon: What's that?

Eric: Now, Brandon doesn't know what that is. I know what that is, but describe it for Brandon.

Amanda: It is a greenhouse specifically made for growing oranges so that the—

Brandon: Oh, yeah.

Amanda: —Brits could have oranges not imported from—

Brandon: Right.

Amanda: —their colonized territories.

Julia: Brandon, Brandon, add it to the rich people list.

Eric: Orangeries.

Amanda: I mean, obviously.

Eric: Yeah, that’s one for sure.

Brandon: Well, that's an obvious one.

Julia: But is that—

Amanda: That's rich.

Julia: —rich or is that rich people brain rot?

Amanda: No, that's--

Brandon: Baw, waw, waw, waw, waw, waw, waw. Y'all mentioned it, so I have to say it. My dad has emailed me, and I must share it with y'all—

Eric: Oh.

Amanda: Yes. Tom.

Brandon: —today at 5:32 AM. I got—

Julia: What time is at his time, though.

Brandon: 7:32 AM.

Julia: Okay, that's not too bad.

Amanda: Still early.

Eric: It's still funny. It's still funny.

Brandon: I got an email from Thomas A. Grugle. That's right, his middle name is A, that said— that just said, "And glove— and because gloves are for rich people." And it was a screenshot. It was like— so I attached it with a screenshot, so I have no idea what it says. I'm gonna quickly go ahead and—

Julia: You haven't even opened it yet.

Brandon: Oh, no, I have, but—

Julia: Okay.

Brandon: —can I share my screen on this?

Julia: Yeah, you can.

Amanda: Yeah.

Eric: I need people to— we have not done a Patreon drive for Join the Party in a little while since we brought back No Bad Tuesdays.

Amanda: That's true.

Eric: I need you to join the Patreon and enjoy Brandon's discussion that we've done two episodes of, a tier list—

Julia: It's—

Eric: —of if things are for rich people or not. I need you to do it.

Julia: I think it's the best Patreon content we've created.

Eric: 100% multiple, for sure.

Amanda: Multiple people have commented, "I joined just for this. You got me."

Julia: Yeah, yeah. All right. Oop.

Brandon: This is what he sent me.

Julia: Uh-oh.

Eric: This is so funny. Okay.

Amanda: So, Eric, yeah, can you take a stab at this?

Julia: What is happening?

Eric: I want to— this is a political cartoon.

Brandon: It's not political. It's a comic.

Eric: Okay. It looks like a political— it's drawn like a political cartoon.

Julia: It's a dog, though.

Brandon: It's a comic strip called Pluggers if you've never seen it.

Eric: Okay.

Julia: Oh.

Eric: And it's Pluggers winter gloves are long sleeves pulled down over their hands.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Eric: And I love— there's so much going on on here, because I also have pluggermail@aol.com looking at me in the face.

Amanda: Prominently displayed.

Eric: And this was like something that was written in by Ramona et al from a town in Minnesota. And I—

Julia: I don't think you're like— you're doxing her when she sent this to a newspaper.

Brandon: Yeah.

Julia: So—

Amanda: Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota.

Julia: Yeah.

Eric: But what— but there is a dog who is an a— anthropomorphic dog that is standing in for a Midwestern dad.

Amanda: Yep.

Eric: I assume that's what Pluggers are.

Brandon: Yeah. It's like— you know, like you might be a redneck if.

Eric: Yeah.

Brandon: But it's like he might be a plugger if— yeah.

Amanda: Are they from Minnesota?

Eric: I assume it is a Midwest style thing.

Brandon: I think that's probably a good representation, but I think it's really just kind of like, you know, any dad that's in this vein is like--

Amanda: Hmm.

Eric: I have real, like, residual Tim Walz energy from this.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Eric: So I think that's why I jumped to him.

Brandon: Yeah, yeah.

Amanda: Midwest Core.

Brandon: Midwest Core, yeah.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Julia: And also, Ramona is from Minnesota, so yeah.

Amanda: Yeah.

Eric: Right, right. And this anthropomorphic dog dad is pulling his checkered shirt over his cold fingies—

Amanda: Yep.

Eric: —as his gloves.

Brandon: Yep. And because, as my dad said, gloves are for rich people.

Amanda: I do just want to point out to you that this comic was published today that we're recording, so your dad woke up—

Brandon: Oh, shit.

Amanda: —saw the paper, said, "I gotta get on this."

Julia: And he said, "I need to send it."

Amanda: And then sent it to you right away.

Julia: I also like that he was clearly on his phone, because this is labeled as a screenshot.

Brandon: Yeah.

Julia: Yeah.

Amanda: Incredible.

Brandon: He also sent me— he was watching— I don't know if you also watched this, but he was watching Only Murders in the Building last night, and there was an episode where Selena Gomez realizes that she's a podcast producer. There's a scene where she's like, "I'm a podcast producer."

Amanda: Nice.

Julia: Hmm.

Amanda: I'm like, "Selena, tell me what it means, because no one knows." This is great. Eric also loves to pull his fingies inside his coat, and I— it looks like a little adorable turtle.

Julia: I like that, too.

Amanda: And then I like the bottom of the sleeve, so that drafts get up there.

Julia: Yeah. I'm doing it right now. Look.

Eric: Wow.

Brandon: There you go.

Amanda: Yeah.

Julia: Fingies.

Brandon: So everyone agrees that I'm right. Thank you.

Julia: No.

Amanda: Damn.

Julia: No.

Amanda: Good stuff.

Julia: Okay.

Amanda: That was a worthwhile news bulletin. Thank you. If you want to be like Tom A. Grugle, be a patron. He's our oldest patron.

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Julia: Hmm.

Brandon: He is.

Eric: There are— the two groups of people who know my work the most outside of the three people here is Brandon's dad and, like, people who hate woke Dungeon and Dragons on Reddit. Those are the people who are looking into my work the most.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Julia: We did it, gang. We did it.

Eric: I don't think about how, like, on a like an— like a Gamergate adjacent subreddit, there— that is probably— they had— they posted an article that I was in on like Screen Rant from like, years ago. And I'm like, "That's definitely my most— with my most discussed art ever is that Reddit post."

Amanda: Uh-hmm. Well, let's give a little pairing to that thought, Eric, because Mixelle91 wants to know, "What is something you're really proud of at the moment?"

Brandon: Ooh.

Julia: Oh.

Amanda: Question for the crew.

Brandon: What a great question. Thank you for asking that.

Amanda: Thank you, Mixelle.

Julia: Yeah.

Brandon: Not that— they're all great, but it's a nice question.

Eric: I want to shout out Mixelle, who also— we don't have a cool nickname for them, but they do also submit quite a number of questions for this stuff, and for the Afterparty.

Amanda: They're the X Factor, Mixelle.

Eric: Oh, Mixelle the X Factor.

Julia: There you go. Wow.

Brandon: Amanda, oh.

Julia: Wow,

Brandon: Oh.

Amanda: Thanks, bud.

Brandon: Beautiful.

Eric: Signing off.

Amanda: Thanks, bud.

Eric: Mixelle, the X-factor. Simon Cowell presents Mixelle The X-Factor. I don't have one yet, obviously— and I can keep thinking about mine. But isn't it crazy? We did the Rolling Bones Tour this year.

Amanda: That is pretty astonishing here on the last day of the year.

Brandon: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.

Julia: Eric, is it not your incredible published tabletop RPG that you wrote and now has physical copies of it?

Eric: I was— yeah. Say— Model Our Nations is up there, for sure.

Amanda: jointhepartypod.com/mercy.

Julia: I'll put it out there for you.

Eric: That's good. Yeah. If you want to pick it up, Model Our Nations is out there. I— you know, selling it at PAX U, it being at my local game store that has been a sponsor of join the Party for years, at Twenty Sided Store in Brooklyn, New York. And now it's distributed with indie press revolution to, hopefully, get to more cons and bookstores and stuff out there. It's been really nice. But— so—

Brandon: Hell yeah, dude.

Eric: Go pick it up. It's pretty. It's— I think it's pretty.

Amanda: I've been pretty proud of our office layout. Eric and I spent the last few months, like, kind of redoing the office. We've been here almost next year, six years in the spring.

Eric: God, that is wild.

Amanda: Which is wild. And so lot has changed in those six years, and we've sort of reconfigured and, like, decluttered and, you know, redecorated the office to make sure that it's working well for us as we use it now. And, like, the other day, we had our friends over for, like, a friend gift exchange. We had, like, a last-minute Thanksgiving dinner here, because, like, a bunch of family plans changed. So it's nice just to have the extra space where it's not like our very narrow apartment to, like host, you know, more than one person becomes a bit of a problem.

Eric: Yeah.

Amanda: And I just— it's cozy. Today is very rainy and chilly and blustery outside. And I walked in and I was like, "This is great. I want to be here. I want to spend time here."

Julia: Yeah.

Brandon: That's nice.

Julia: That's really nice. Good for you.

Brandon: I'm trying to think of things that, like, specifically aren't work-related. Nothing terribly specific. I'm proud of my garden.

Eric: Hell yeah.

Brandon: I have currently— I'm in the, like, the overwintering phase of things, so I have some—

Julia: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: —onions that are overwintering, some garlic, and shallots that are over wintering. I have some kale plants that will be fine over winter.

Amanda: Cool.

Brandon: And I have some fava bean plants for the first time—

Amanda: Nice.

Brandon: —that are growing super well. So— and my relationship with the crows has never been better.

Eric: Nice.

Amanda: Yes.

Eric: Huge.

Brandon: And I have been working on guitars recently. I just sort of fixed up that guy.

Julia: Ooh.

Eric: Ooh.

Amanda: In the video, patreon.com/jointheparty.

Julia: Very pretty.

Brandon: There's a space heater in front of it, but—

Julia: Ah.

Brandon: —you can see it.

Julia: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: My next project is going to be— I'm going to— I don't have the tools or the space right now to do actual woodworking, so I can't, like, make the body myself. I have to buy the— I'm going to build a guitar, but I have to buy the body kit. So just the body and the neck—

Eric: Oh.

Julia: Hmm.

Brandon: —because I don't have the tools for that right now.

Eric: Can you rent, like, the woodworking space?

Brandon: But— you can, but I don't— then I have to, like, talk— meet people and shit, and I don't want to do that.

Julia: Brandon doesn't want to meet anyone.

Eric: It's fair.

Brandon: I don't like to leave my house, you know?

Julia: Yeah, no.

Eric: That's a good point. That's a good point.

Brandon: So that's— I'm gonna do that next and I am— I'm gonna, like, do the finish. I'm gonna do a hand-rubbed finish on it. I got my nice bottle of Everclear here for that.

Julia: Nice. Hey, Brandon.

Eric: Brandon, where'd you get that?

Amanda: Okay, guys, sit.

Julia: Hey, Brandon, if you don't use all of it, you can make some lemon cello.

Brandon: That's true.

Amanda: Every time Brandon reveals a new solvent.

Julia: Brandon, I'll send you our lemon cello recipe so you can make it at home.

Brandon: Yeah, please do.

Julia: Yeah.

Eric: That's good stuff.

Amanda: Cute.

Brandon: Yeah. I use that— I use Everclear, because you can use, like, normal alcohol, like 99%, but the fumes just, like, destroy my brain, so—

Amanda: Yeah.

Brandon: —Everclear doesn't smell bad.

Julia: Yeah.

Amanda: So, Brandon, what's—

Brandon: Yeah.

Amanda: What is different— what can you do now that you couldn't do a year or two ago? Like, in terms of being proud of yourself and your guitar stuff.

Brandon: I'm much.

Amanda: It's more you, like, made time for it.

Brandon: Yeah. I— so I did the hand rub finish on an acoustic guitar that looks great, and everybody will do that. It's called French polishing. It's like a shellac-based polish.

Amanda: Nice.

Julia: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: I'm much better at electronics, like soldering and understanding. I'm still not there. It's— honestly, circuits and electronics design is still really difficult, but I'm getting better at that and understanding it. I know you guys can't see, but I have, like, white shelves all around the room that are just, like, filled with pedals, guitar pedals.

Eric: Cool.

Brandon: I think I kind of have, like, 110, I think, I want to say or something like that.

Julia: Wow.

Eric: That’s a lot of pedals.

Brandon: I built a good like 80 of them.

Amanda: Wow.

Brandon: So that's good, but yeah. Yeah.

Julia: Nice.

Amanda: Love it.

Julia: My joke answer is when I spoke to my therapist last, she ended the session by saying, "I'm very strong and brave." And I—

Eric: Nice.

Julia: —said, "Thank you, Emily. I'll see you in a month." My real answer is I've been trying to dedicate a lot more time to, like, writing and stuff like that, and the people that I have shown what I've written to have said it was good, and so I'm proud of that.

Eric: Ooh.

Brandon: That's exciting.

Amanda: Yay.

Julia: We did it, gang.

Brandon: Yeah.

Eric: Folks, we did it.

Julia: We did it.

Amanda: Eric, do you have another answer? Because We sort of nominated— we voluntold you about Model Our Nations.

Julia: Uh-hmm.

Eric: Yeah.

Julia: I like the phrase voluntold.

Brandon: I mean, your ice cream game—

Amanda: It's not really.

Eric: Yeah. I mean, it would be—

Brandon: —is strong.

Eric: —ice cream stuff. I mean, the things I've already talked about here would be ice cream, Model Our Nations. I'm really happy we did the tour. It— it's crazy that it feels like it took so long for it to happen, and then we just all— did all of it, and then it was, like, at the beginning of this year. And then we're like, "Let's do it again." And then things— life changed.

Julia: Yeah.

Eric: So now that we're not gonna go do live shows and stuff again, it's just like not doable.

Brandon: We'll do another tour.

Amanda: Sure.

Eric: We're not gonna do like— we'll figure it out. But no, I don't know. Just the things— the— it's all about just, like, keeping momentum up, I think. It's— the hardest thing is just getting to do the thing that you want to do, and then getting started ,and doing it. But now, I feel like—

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Eric: —there's a lot of momentum behind me to, like, do a lot of the stuff that I want to do. So it was really nice doing Model Our Nations and feeling like I've done that to start in, like, no designers and no people who can help me with those things. And, you know, we— I started teaching again this year with— teaching podcasting and I'm going to be teaching undergrads in January, which is going to be fun.

Brandon: Cool.

Julia: Cool.

Eric: I bought my— I bought my car this year, which was cool. And even though it was really busy, I'm glad I did it and knowing that, like I had the finances to do that was nice. We also named the car. I've settled on it. It was Amanda's suggestion, but it is Donkey Car.

Julia: Nice. Solid.

Brandon: Oh, fuck— Amanda just fucking batting a thousand over here.

Amanda: Thank you.

Eric: That's good.

Julia: Beautiful.

Eric: And that's when we got Anthony Belluci's pizza. That was the first thing we did with the car, which was sick. But no, I don't know.

Brandon: RIP. RIP.

Eric: Just trying to keep doing things in— just trying to keep momentum up and keep everything moving. Like, there's a lot of stuff that I'm excited about that should happen early next year, too. But, you know, I mean, who knows what the future is going to look like now, so it's like, I don't know.

Brandon: Yeah.

Eric: But really, just trying to stay in the present and just keeping every day, you know, moving forward.

Brandon: Yeah. I love that.

Amanda: Yeah.

Julia: Yeah. Yeah.

Amanda: I'm— I— that's a very good thing to be proud of, is keeping momentum up despite, you know, the horrors and the uncertainties.

Eric: Yeah, yeah.

Julia: Uh-hmm.

Eric: And no one trying to make it easier. Just— it's— just— how is this— is things gonna be a little bit more difficult than I anticipated or not, so—

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Julia: Yeah.

Brandon: I love that.

[theme]

Amanda: Hello, it's Amanda, where I have graduated from just an electric blanket to electric blanket with heating pad and fuzzy socks. That's right. I am as cozy as it is possible to be. If you have joined our Patreon in the last two weeks, thank you so much. We're gonna thank you next week by name, because right now, we are all taking some time off and sipping on some seasonal beverages. However, Multitude is never going to let you pass some time unaccompanied by voices in your ears, hanging out with you while teaching you things, because Pale Blue Pod is an incredible astronomy podcast that is a member of the Multitude podcast collective, and really designed to help people that are overwhelmed by the universe, be the universe's friend anyway. And don't you want to be that? Astrophysicist Dr. Moiya McTier and a new guest each week demystify space one topic at a time. By the end of each episode, Dr. McTier's promise to you is that the cosmos is going to feel a little bit less scary and a lot more cool. So look up Pale Blue Pod in your podcast app, or go to palebluepod.com to read more about the show. We are sponsored this week by Catan. Yes, the publishers of Settlers of Catan, a board game that if you know people and then you say you're into board games, you're like, "Oh, I played Catan once." Like, that's incredible, and it is such an important entree into board gaming for so many people. But they have way more than just Settlers of Catan. Okay? They have an incredible game called Starfarers, which is an epic science fiction board game. It involves some of the, like, randomized roles and event cards, and like playing out diplomacy that you may love from, you know, I don't know, D and D or this podcast. But they also have so many more things. They have standalone games, they have variants, they have this incredible thing called New Energies that keep selling out. And they're kind of annoyed about it, because they're like, "Oh, my God, it's selling out so much." But it's so much fun. And they also have Catan Junior, by the way, a family game where both adults and younger children can have fun together. There are so many things to explore, and they were kind enough to give us a discount code for Join the Party listeners. So if you go to catanstudio.com and use the code Join the Party, you can get 10% off your order. That's catanstudio.com, the promo code is Join the Party. And now let's get back to the show.

[theme]

Amanda: This was a prompt that I found very fascinating from NoHugsJustBugs among some of the top tier usernames in our Discord, by the way. "If y'all could do a thesis on a very specific niche topic or argument, what would you want to do and become the leading expert on?" And then bugs adds, "Currently preparing for my preliminary exam, so it's literally all I can think of. Oops."

Brandon: Hmm.

Julia: Here's my hot take, I don't think I want to be the leading expert on anything.

Brandon: Why not?

Julia: Because the idea of like— think of any leading expert, like, on the internet in something, Brandon.

Brandon: Well, you don't have to be on the internet.

Julia: I know, but like, you probably are, right? That's just the nature of who we are as people right now.

Eric: Julia, let's reframe it. What if, like, you were a grand maester of something, like from Game of Thrones, or you lived at the top of a mountain, there's someone needed to consult with you—

Amanda: Yes.

Eric: — in a monastery?

Julia: Hmm.

Brandon: Yeah, that— yeah, yeah.

Julia: I think, then, my answer is, what I always say, my mundane superpower I would want to be is, which is like plant identification, like, being able to look at a plant—

Brandon: Hmm.

Julia: —immediately know what the plant is, and then also know, like— this is what you can use it for. This is what it's like folk tradition medicine is used for. This is what it like, you know, represents in certain folk tradition. Like, that's the kind of stuff that I would be like. And I could eat this or it will kill you. Like, immediately know exactly what I can do with that.

Brandon: I love that.

Amanda: Love it.

Eric: You'll know what Chartreuse is made out of.

Julia: Yeah. I can just look at it and be like—

Eric: And then you can tell me.

Julia: —I know all the 130 herbs and spices that went into this.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Julia: Uh-hmm.

Eric: That's a lot of herbs and spices.

Julia: Yeah.

Brandon: That's what KFC started as, and then they pared it down, too.

Julia: Yeah. They were like, "We can't rely on a recipe from just two monks. We gotta pare it down, if we wanna go nationwide."

Amanda: Well, here is your bingo card. You can sip as I talked about the finances of a company that you guys don't know about, which is I can very much picture, like a slide from the Boston Consulting Group or something that, like, essentially costs like $4 million to commission a study. And then the slide is like 131 ingredients, no. Streamline, four ingredients, yes. You're like, "The cost savings, the cost savings, the efficiencies!”

Brandon: I love that. I think mine would be pizza dough. I think I would be the world's leading expert in pizza dough.

Julia: Hmm.

Amanda: Great.

Eric: I find it very funny that it's just you in Seattle. While everyone in Italy’s pissed at you about it.

Julia: Yeah.

Brandon: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.

Eric: That would be pretty great.

Brandon: Goddamn right. All right. Hot take, best pizza? It's here. Best pizza dough, it's here. It ain't in Italy.

Eric: Ooh.

Amanda: In the US or in Seattle?

Eric: Where? Where?

Brandon: In the US, in the US.

Julia: You're not talking about— I was like, "You're not talking about like Seattle, are you, Brandon?"

Eric: I was like, why is there a sick pizza in Seattle?

Amanda: Why haven't we been yet? Yeah.

Julia: Brandon, next time—

Brandon: Well, except from my— on my roof.

Julia: Yeah. Next time, you're in New York, we have to go to go to Stretch, which is the Wylie Dufresne pizzeria.

Amanda: Yeah.

Brandon: Well, I went, remember? I told you. I went with—

Julia: Oh, I forgot about that. I'm so sorry, nevermind.

Brandon: Yeah, it wasn't boring. It was very, very good, yeah.

Julia: It's really good.

Brandon: But I will go again.

Julia: Yeah, they're doing slices in December like— as, like, a little, like, pop-up selection, and you can get, like, a bunch of different types of slices. And then also, you could up charge and just get freshly sliced black truffle on top.

Eric: Oh, my God.

Brandon: Fuck yeah, man.

Julia: And I said, "Wylie Dufresne, you crazy for this one."

Brandon: Yeah. The thing that I think—

Eric: There's one in Williamsburg now. I think it's opening, yeah?

Amanda: Yeah.

Julia: Cool.

Amanda: Soon.

Eric: Okay.

Amanda: If not now.

Eric: Okay.

Brandon: The thing that normal people don't know about pizza dough and, like, the stuff that only insane people read about, it's like, there— there's a pizza forum called pizzamaking.com, I forgot what's called. But it's like just people—

Julia: Creative, innovative.

Brandon: —who make pizza. It looks like it's from '96.

Julia: Great.

Brandon: But, like, there are— there's, like, hardcore science in this. Like, there's like— people have gone to, like, measure the thickness of dough, cooked dough, per style. So it's like, you know, if your New York is, you know, a couple millimeters off, it's like, you're out of style and, like—

Julia: Hmm.

Brandon: There's, like, lots of stuff about this that, like— yeah, it's really fun and interesting. I'm gonna open a pizza restaurant. Just wait till I'm old.

Eric: That'd be cool.

Julia: Hmm.

Amanda: Sounds great.

Julia: I always joked that that would be Jake and I's, like, little retirement project, is we'd—

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Julia: —open one of those, like, mobile pizza trucks that you could, like, hire for weddings and parties and stuff.

Brandon: I love that. Yeah.

Julia: It'd be really fun.

Amanda: That's awesome. And that is a good way to frame this question, like a version of this question too, is like, what niche forum from the late '90s that still has, like a .net in it? Would you be a regular or a moderator in?

Brandon: Every one of those forums has, like, a legend that—

Amanda: Oh, yeah.

Brandon: —so, like, you would be that legend.

Amanda: Yeah.

Julia: Yeah.

Amanda: Or, like, in Speed Running, they'll, like— they'll name different moves, and, you know, ways that you can shave time off in—

Eric: Oh, yeah.

Amanda: —discoveries after specific streamers. And I— it's just, like, an adorable, like, taxonomy that I love to overhear.

Brandon: Yeah, that's great.

Julia: That's very cool.

Amanda: How about you, Eric? The thesis, you know, world record holder hermit at the top of the mountain?

Eric: Oh, that's a good question. I don't know. The thing is that I feel like I do that already with our jobs and I think—

Amanda: You're the best GM in podcasting.

Eric: Yeah, being best GM in podcasting. So it's like, you know, dealing— taking care of ourselves as a business, as a creative business, as a media business, and dealing with podcasting, especially with the pivot to video. You know, trying to stay strong and tell people about that.

Brandon: Wait, wait. Is this what you're choosing to be an expert of all-time in?

Eric: No, I'm saying I'm already that, Brandon, and—

Julia: Ah.

Eric: —I feel like that I've scaled back on my other things that I care about—

Brandon: But—

Eric: —and don't— and are not pursuing, like, total enlightenment in those things.

Brandon: But I think the spirit of the question is, like, what niche interests— I know podcasting is niche, but you know what I'm saying. Like, what's the niche— it's not, like, business, you know? Like, what's the niche thing that you're into? Yeah.

Amanda: Yeah. I don't think that has to be realistic. I don't think it'd feel bad that it's not something you're pursuing right now. Like, if you wanted to be the, like, Frogger world record holder or whatever.

Julia: I just said I had the superpower to look at any plant and know what's up.

Eric: Yeah, that was cool. That's pretty good.

Julia: Yeah. I'm just saying, like it doesn't have to be, like, a thing—

Brandon: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Julia: —that you're currently skilled at right now. Like, I'm okay at identifying trees.

Amanda: Yeah.

Julia: I can do, like, any plant.

Amanda: Recently, in the Join the Party patron-only Discord, which you can join at patreon.com/jointhepartypod, someone was like, "Hey, Eric, I'm gonna write about, like, golems and how they relate to, you know, robots and, like, an early art, like, recommendations." And you were like, "Hold my beer."

Brandon: Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
Amanda: So, like, I think that is a good example.

Eric: I have to do that. I never came back to that.

Julia: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: Now, did everyone else just think about Julia going outside and saying, "That's a tree. That's a tree."?

Eric: "That's a tree."

Brandon: "That's a bush."

Julia: I thought I could identify different types of trees. Goddamn it.

Brandon: "That's a plant, that's a tree."

Julia: That's grass.

Eric: I would love— I would like to be known for the ability to determine structural integrity of sandwiches.

Amanda: Yes.

Brandon: Yeah, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Amanda: There we go. There we go.

Eric: I need to be brought in as a consultant to tell people when they're putting too much sauce on sandwiches.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Julia: Too wet, too dry.

Brandon: That would be such—

Eric: Too wet— oh, it's always too wet, Julia. It's always too wet.

Julia: I would debate that it's sometimes too dry.

Eric: I wish I could—

Brandon: What are we talking about?

Julia: Sandwiches.

Amanda: Sandwiches.

Eric: Sandwiches.

Julia: Famously, I don't like sandwiches, and it's because a lot of times they— either too soggy or too dry. Never in between.

Eric: I feel like they're almost always too wet. It's like— I feel like I'm a coroner in, like, CSI Miami. It was like, "No one calls me in for good news." No one calls me in when sandwiches are too dry. They always call me and be— when they put three sauces on something, and then the whole thing explodes.

Brandon: That would be a really cool job to be, like, the sandwich consult— anytime, anyone opens a restaurant or sandwich shop, they call you and like, you and like, you go in, and consult on the menu and then peace out.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Eric: Yeah. And I'm like, "You don't have to call me, but don't come crying to me when everyone has—"

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Eric: "—coleslaw in their laps."

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Julia: Hmm.

Amanda: Exactly.

Eric: And then I put my glasses on and go, "Yeah!"

Brandon: Yeah!

Julia: Yeah!

Amanda: That's a very good one. I'm trying to think—I don't know if I have an answer. I think— so we all know about Mr. Fornino, the man from which I get all my tomato seeds every spring.

Julia: Yes.

Amanda: And he is like a tomato expert. He has, like, hundreds of tomato varieties that he grows. Some of which are original to him. He's in this whole, like, postal network of, like, exchanging seeds so people can, like, grow them and, like, make them more hearty without, like, waiting for individual grow zones in their homes.

Eric: He plays tomato by post.

Amanda: He does. And I think it'd be really fun to be that for a different kind of food, because, like, tomatoes, that's been well-trodden. It's my babe's favorite food. That's why I grow them. But I feel like— maybe like citrus, like a weird, new citrus or something.

Brandon: Yeah, true.

Julia: Hmm.

Amanda: Or, like, pomegranates, but—

Julia: Hmm.

Amanda: —having, like, the Amanda cultivar of that plant, and knowing that, like, people are like, "Oh, you got to get this one." And—

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Amanda: —it's— you know, like, has life beyond me, you know, in, like, hundreds or thousands of people's gardens all around the country or the world. That would be very cool.

Julia: I like that. Yeah.

Brandon: Yeah, that's great.

Julia: Yeah.

Brandon: I like that.

Eric: Hey, let's try to get like a— like a lemon named after Amanda.

Amanda: Right?

Eric: Let's do that.

Amanda: That'd be awesome.

Julia: Amanda, an apple, have you considered?

Brandon: Don't do that.

Amanda: Ooh, I have an apple.

Brandon: Don't do that.

Eric: Amanda. Just give, like, $5,000 to Cornell, and I think you'll be fine.

Amanda: I think I— yes, you're right.

Julia: Yeah.

Brandon: Amanda— my— Ama—

Amanda: Amapple.

Brandon: Amindor lemon. Miranda, Miranda Lemon.

Julia: McLapple

Eric: Meyergloughlin Lemon

Brandon: Oh.

Julia: McLapple.

Eric: McLapple.

Brandon: McLapple.

Julia: I'm sticking with it.

Amanda: It's pretty good. I wonder what Riverside Captions will do to that.

Julia: Ooh.

Brandon: I have my first lemon coming very shortly, very soon.

Julia: Ooh.

Amanda: That's crazy

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Amanda: That's amazing. You should make limoncello with it.

Eric: Like ever in your life—

Brandon: Ooh.

Julia: Hmm.

Brandon: What'd you say, Eric?

Eric: Like ever in your life, you're gonna try— are you gonna—

Brandon: Ever—

Eric: Is Lauren gonna take a video of you but as, like, one of those babies try lemon for the first time?

Amanda: Weh.

Eric: And Brandon will go like, "Hmm, yee."

Amanda: Yeah. And again, another excellent silent reaction from Julia.

Brandon: Uh-hmm. Yep.

Amanda: So I hope you're sipping along at home.

Eric: So you have three drinks now. Three drinks.

Julia: Uh-hmm.

Amanda: Yep. Speaking of which, similar to the question we began with in our last Conversation Pit, but this is Helen's question about your favorite seasonal thing to do during the winter. And I am just going to get up on my conversation pedestal for a minute and say that I think it's very important to lean into winter activities, especially Post New Year's, because it feels like you got through all the holidays and from, like, back to school to Halloween, to US Thanksgiving, to winter holidays, like they're all in a row. And then January rolls over, and can be really easy to be like, "Oh no. Like, what luck."

Julia: It's bleak.

Eric: Yeah.

Amanda: So I think it's especially important to focus on, like, fun seasonal things that you can do during the winter.

Brandon: So sorry, say the question one more time for me.

Amanda: What is your favorite seasonal thing to do during the winter? From Helen.

Julia: Hmm.

Brandon: Seasonal thing during the winter, okay.

Eric: I'm gonna—

Brandon: So not necessarily post-holiday, but okay.

Eric: I'm gonna go ahead and say wear layers.

Julia: hmm.

Eric: Go buy and wear winter things.

Amanda: Great.

Eric: And things you can only wear when it's cold out, because then you'll have cool fashions for all seasons.

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Eric: New thing as an adult, you need to have fashions for all seasons. And— because then you'll feel good, and then you're not just waiting for time to pass, for you to have good fashions in the seasons that you have.

Julia: Uh-hmm.

Eric: You need to have cool sweaters just as much as you have cool sheer tops and tank tops.

Amanda: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.

Julia: I was trying to think of like an outdoor activity, because my biggest hurdle whenever it's winter is I hate being cold.

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Julia: It's my least favorite thing in the world. I am a— I would always rather be too hot than too cold kind of person.

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Julia: I know it's a controversial statement, I know.

Eric: I didn't think that Julia would be the one saying something totally insane, but take a drink, everybody.

Julia: However, there is one outdoor activity that I love to do when it's cold, and it's a specific Long Island activity, and it's going to see the harbor seals over by the beach.

Eric: Wow.

Julia: It's the only time I will go hike out in the freezing cold. It's because the harbor seals are most active when it's cold in our area, and they're so cute when they pop their little heads out of the water and they're like, "Oh, oh, oh."

Brandon: Oh, oh.

Julia: Oh, oh.

Eric: That's cute.

Amanda: Cute.

Brandon: That's really cute.

Julia: Yeah.

Brandon: Oh, it's difficult, winter time activity.

Amanda: Mine—

Brandon: I mean, like a good Christmas mark— or, like a, you know, holiday market where you walk around, get some hot chocolate or cider, or whatever, mulled wine. Look at all the wares. Get some fun foods. That's always good.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: I like skiing for, like— I like skiing, but I ski for, like, an hour or two and then I get tired.

Julia: Hmm. Yeah, yeah.

Eric: Brandon, you could always sit on—

Brandon: I'm not good at it, so I fall.

Eric: You could sit on a couch in front of a fire.

Amanda: You could after a ski.

Brandon: Yeah. I could after a ski, and I could before ski, too.

Amanda: Exactly.

Brandon: Yeah. That's probably— I mean, yeah, baking, obviously.

Amanda: Okay. Yeah. My answer is definitely, like, involved multi-hour or multi-day cooking and baking projects.

Brandon: Yeah.

Amanda: Like making chicken stock, or, you know, doing recipes. We did stuffed cabbage a couple years ago. We should do that again.

Eric: Oh, it was sick.

Amanda: Of just like, you know, things that can take a couple of days, and—

Julia: Hmm.

Amanda: —you know, making sourdough or whatever it is.

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Amanda: Our apartment, like most, heats up a lot in the summer, and it feels so wasteful and just like a bad idea to crank the oven when, you know, it's hot outside. So especially when it's dark, especially when— rather, when it's cold, and also when it's dark outside. And I'm going to be in my home, because my body says, "Go be safe in your den."

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Amanda: But it's like five o'clock, and I want to do something. I can, you know, spend a whole evening, like, making, you know, an elaborate focaccia, or, you know, stock, or something like that, soup.

Julia: Yeah. Soup season, stew season is, oh, so good.

Brandon: Oh, here's a hot food take, do y'all like soups?

Julia: Drinks?

Brandon: Do y'all like soups?

Eric: Yeah.

Amanda: Yes.

Julia: Yes, we're pro soup.

Amanda: Yeah.

Brandon: You're all pro soups? Okay.

Amanda: Uh-huh.

Brandon: Okay.

Julia: Are you just saying we're wrong?

Eric: So judgmental.

Julia: Are we just saying you're wrong? What's happening here?

Eric: Do you not like soups?

Amanda: Brandon—

Brandon: I do like soups.

Amanda: —you don't like soups, right?

Brandon: Well, I must prefer a stew, for sure.

Amanda: Okay.

Brandon: And if I'm making something that's going to be a stew, because I like the chunks.

Eric: Yeah.

Brandon: I don't not like soup. Like soup, objectively, is delicious. Soup as a food, it, like, doesn't make sense to me. It's like a—

Eric: Okay.

Brandon: It's like a liquid that—

Eric: Sure.

Brandon: —I'm eating, and I don't really enjoy the joy it.

Amanda: Uh-hmm. Is it because you have to eat it with a spoon out of a big bowl that dissipates heat really quick? Not out of a cup?

Brandon: I don't know. It's like— I think it's the form. It's like— it's a liquid versus a solid thing that I don't like.

Eric: That's fair.

Brandon: Maybe it's just not satisfying enough or something, but—

Eric: I don't like blended soups because it's not chunky, so I'm with you all the way.

Brandon: Yeah. I like the chunks.

Eric: I like the chunks as well, for sure.

Brandon: Yeah.

Amanda: In patreon.com/jointhepartypod. Join the Party, Julia is giving big question brows. Now, guys, the point of soup is to dip bread in it.

Eric: That's true.

Julia: Uh-hmm.

Amanda: So—

Brandon: Yes. I— yes, I agree with that completely.

Amanda: I— in no world would I ever eat a soup without a bread or bread product right next to it.

Julia: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: I— if that's the case, then soup is delicious.

Amanda: Yeah.

Brandon: I like it. Yeah.

Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.

Eric: I'm now having a thought that I've been realizing this entire time, that I've never been bold enough to say.

Amanda: Okay.

Eric: Amanda, we need to buy some Chinese style soup spoons to have in our house.

Amanda: That’s a great idea, yeah.

Julia: Like a ramen spoon or something like that.

Eric: Ramen spoon, yes. Because it's— I think that's part of it and I—

Amanda: Yeah.

Eric: Especially like we got really good Pho and really good ramen in Philly when we were there for PAX U and we— and I just had Roberto, which Amanda made for me, which is—

Amanda: We had hot pot recently.

Eric: And hot pot as well.

Amanda: Yeah.

Eric: Roberto is the—

Julia: You can't— yeah, I was gonna say, you can't just say Roberto, like, without explaining what the fuck that is.

Eric: Roberto is the name of a soup invented by food writer Helen Rosner, that is a sausage, tomato, kale, white bean soup. It's really, really good.

Brandon: She invented that?

Eric: Yes.

Brandon: What? That's crazy.

Amanda: It's like a distillation of many kinds and genres of food. It's like a very beautifully written recipe. It won, like, a lot of awards. And to this day, you will see a girly walk into a supermarket and say, "I need kale and hot spiced Italian sausage." And I go, "You're making Roberto. I know you are."

Eric: Every time. Yeah.

Brandon: That's great.

Eric: And I wish that I had a bigger spoon.

Amanda: Okay.

Eric: And, like— it's like I needed fork and spoon in the same time, or if I need, like—

Amanda: Hmm.

Eric: —spoon and chopsticks, even for any soup.

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Amanda: We can do that.

Eric: I think that's part of it.

Julia: Hmm.

Eric: So I think that getting Chinese style ramen— ramen spoons might help there.

Amanda: Love it.

Julia: Yeah, yeah.

Brandon: It's— for me, it's not an apple situation where, like— apples don't taste bad, but apples are boring, and I would prefer not to eat them raw.

Eric: You’re so wrong but okay.

Amanda: Okay.

Brandon: And, like, I— but I love the flavor of them. Like, I think, like, an apple flavor thing is one of my favorite things.

Eric: I don't understand. It's—

Amanda: Go on.

Eric: The more you explain, the more confused I am.

Julia: Or it makes just no sense, yep, uh-huh.

Brandon: Although apple pie is probably my least favorite pie, but—

Julia: Hmm.

Brandon: —pie is still better than all cakes, so—

Julia: Yeah.

Eric: Can we move on—

Julia: Brandon said one thing I agreed with, it's okay.

Eric: Can we move on now? This is— Brandon is intentionally goosing everyone's champagne.

Julia: Well, he's making everyone drink their champagne.

Brandon: No. These are my honest takes here.

Julia: Yeah.

Amanda: I believe you, is the scary thing.

Brandon: It's not that situation for soup. Soup is always— well, assumed it is made good. Soup is always delicious. I just don't— it's never satisfying to me.

Amanda: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Eric: I agree with that.

Julia: Hmm. Big disagree. Big disagree.

Amanda: All right. Julia, tell me about your favorite soups. What are elite soups for you?

Julia: Oh, I'm a big fan of all soups, really. I am huge into ramen and something like the ramen equivalent. I love a tom kha kai which is like a coconut chicken soup with little chili oil and usually—

Brandon: Uh-hmm.

Julia: —some sort of like mushroom or something like that. I make a— I can never pronounce it in the Greek, but the lemon chicken rice soup—

Eric: Oh, yeah.

Julia: —that you can find at most—

Brandon: Is it Avgolemolomento, something?

Julia: It's something like that. I'm not going to try to pronounce it.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Julia: But it's super good.

Eric: Brandon, you said that and the guitars are levitating behind you.

Julia: Interesting. I love a traditional like— the Anthony Bourdain like cream of mushroom soup. I'm a huge fan of that one.

Brandon: Hmm.

Julia: I like a French onion soup as well. Classically, my one, like, meal that I would eat for the rest of my life is Progresso macaroni and bean soup. I have since like—

Eric: Wow.

Julia: I've elevated that as an adult, but it was like the one, like, safe food that I had as a kid. So I still occasionally—

Brandon: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.

Julia: — like, just have cans of it in my cabinet, in case it's like a "I have no energy day, but I need to eat some food."

Brandon: That's sweet, yeah.

Julia: Yeah. But, yeah, I just— soup, man. Fucking soup.

Brandon: Soup.

Julia: Good shit.

Amanda: Julia, you have, in fact, invoked the X Factor, because Mixelle91 would like to know, "If you could only eat one dish for the rest of your life, what would it be?"

Brandon: Oh.

Julia: Progresso macaroni and bean soup.

Brandon: Yeah, this one—

Amanda: Mine would be chicken Pad Thai with a— or probably tofu Pad Thai, actually, with, like a shitload of peanuts and bean sprouts.

Julia: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.

Brandon: Are you and Lauren the same human?

Julia: Yeah.

Amanda: No. We're different sizes.

Eric: You two are similar. You two are the most similar people on this show. Brandon and Amanda.

Brandon: Although, Lauren hates bean sprouts, so she does not want the bean sprouts. But she does specifically like extra peanuts. Like, she, like, drowns in peanuts.

Amanda: I mean, it's the best— that's the best part of Pad Thai.

Brandon: And her favorite— one of her favorite foods is Pad Thai.

Amanda: Yeah.

Brandon: It probably is her favorite food, yeah.

Amanda: So good.

Julia: And you guys just did an episode of—

Brandon: I know.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Julia: —on the MultiCrew channel, Join the MultiCrew, multicrew.club.

Brandon: Uh-hmm. And I made it.

Eric: We are plugging so much in this episode. I'm so sorry.

Julia: That's fine. It's fine. It's a new year. It's a new year.

Brandon: It's a new year, yeah.

Amanda: Eric?

Brandon: Yeah, Eric?

Amanda: Brandon?

Brandon: Oh, I have my answer then, while I was thinking. Number one with the bullet, no question, macaroni and cheese. Would eat that every day, every meal, if it wasn't horrible for me.

Amanda: Brandon, that was— that's the question I would ask a clone to figure out which of you to shoot.

Brandon: That's why I always say I'm not gonna make it— well, I don't always say, but in my head, I'm like, "I don't think I want to make a pizza restaurant. I want to make a cheese restaurant."

Julia: Hmm.

Eric: Hmm.

Amanda: Ooh.

Brandon: Where it's like— it's a pizza restaurant, but I also have macaroni and cheese and, like grilled cheese, and like cheese plates, and like—

Amanda: Great.

Brandon: It's like a haven for cheese, you know?

Amanda: Love it.

Eric: The thing is, I could do, like, 10 different dishes for the rest of my life. I really could. You could give me pizza, you could give me sushi, you could give me burgers, you could give me ramen. Like, I could just do it. You could— I could do a sandwich. I can do an— I don't even like it that much, but I'm like— if I had to eat an Italian sandwich every day for the rest of my life, I just do it. It's fine.

Brandon: You don't like an Italian sandwich that much?

Eric: I feel weird about pork products still. I do not—

Brandon: Oh.

Eric: I don't know how to process them very much so.

Brandon: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Eric: So I still think that, like, if you give me an Italian sandwich that doesn't have the proper amount of dressing and vinegar to combat the amount of Italian meats you put on—

Brandon: Sure.

Eric: —I'm like, "I don't— no, thank you."

Brandon: Yeah, I get that.

Eric: But it's— so, like, I think I'd be all right with a bunch of stuff, honestly. Like, I don't— I wasn't even complaining to you about this because, like, I don't even, like, burgers that much anymore. Drink, everyone drink.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Eric: But because the smash burger—

Brandon: I'm sorry, shut the fuck up. I'm crazy for the apple thing and you just said, "I don't like burgers."

Eric: No, no, no, no, no.

Amanda: That much.

Eric: Let me finish. Let me finish. The smash burger craze, now, everyone is doing smash burgers, and really all they do is taste like grease, if you do them badly. Where— they're more concentrated—

Brandon: Oh, no, burger grease. It tastes so bad.

Julia: Oh, no. The worst flavor ever.

Eric: But it just tastes like grease. I don't want it to just taste like grease when I'm eating my big sandwich, a burger.

Julia: He's just not that big of a John Travolta fan.

Eric: I would much rather— at this point, with everyone doing it, I'd much rather come back and get, like, a third of a pound of a burger, a big, chunky burger than—

Brandon: You don't like a Pops Subs burger kind of thing?

Eric: Yeah, than the smash burgers—

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Eric: —because they're all— they're super, super greasy. Even, like places that are, like, well-known in New York City for doing a really good job. I'm like, "I— this tastes just like burger grease. I can't. I honestly can't."

Brandon: It's just like a different—

Amanda: And I say, "One more, please."

Julia: Mhm, yummy yum.

Brandon: Yeah, you have to give me both of them. Yeah.

Eric: But even, like, you know, I do fried pickles, too. I do—

Brandon: You would eat fried pickles for every meal?

Eric: For every meal. I would eat tuna salad, I could do as well. There's a lot of stuff I could do.

Amanda: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.

Julia: Oh, my God.

Brandon: Take a sip, Julia did a---

Julia: Jesus.

Amanda: All right.

Eric: Sounds great. Salmon’s great. Yeah.

Amanda: Let's— everybody, answer. Let's back away from the ledge here, my friends. And—

Julia: No. Dive, dive.

Amanda: —a question from Ginger, "Do you have a comfort media that you think more people should know about?"

Brandon: Hmm.

Amanda: So, music, movie, TV that you put on, or book, I guess, and you think more people should know about it. And I like the framing of this question too, because it's not like, "Oh, the thing that, like, obviously all of us put on when we're, you know, feeling whatever. Like, what do you do that you think more people should know about?

Brandon: Good question.

Julia: I think mine— I go through different cycles of, like, thing that I'm like, "This is gonna make me feel better right now." It's the anime, Haikyu!!

Eric: Oh, yeah.

Amanda: Classic, Julia.

Julia: Because it's just like the stakes are so low. It's so formulaic. I can, like, pay attention, but not really pay attention to it. But it's just like uplifting in the way of, like, "Yeah, they might have lost, but they're still, like, doing okay and, like, you know, they're just boys living out their dreams."

Amanda: And you're like, "Stop, stop, stop. Yes, thank you."

Julia: You're like, "Uh-huh. Yeah."

Eric: I love this volleyball anime so much.

Julia: Yeah. It's so good.

Eric: So funny.

Julia: It's so good.

Eric: I would like to treat everyone to actually watch Adventure Time. Actually, go watch it.

Julia: Yeah.

Eric: Because I think also with the IP-slopification of everything, we've talked about that quite a lot. Adventure Time is super popular, but I think it was at the advent of act of IP turning into product where, like, you know, how hot topic has so much of it, and, like, so many of these, like, Instagram shops have, like, Adventure Time clothing and—

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Eric: —whatever. And they're also going on Tumblr. I want to entreat people, it's just sitting on HBO, go watch it. Just wa— actually watch it. It is so weird and so good that if you haven't returned to it, or you think that it's been claimed by fandom too much, I would encourage people to actually go watch the show.

Julia: I also think that it's— I think more television shows should be, like, 32 episodes a season, but each episode is like—

Brandon: Yes.

Julia: —10 minutes.

Eric: Exactly.

Brandon: Oh, no. That's wrong.

Julia: Like— well— Brandon—

Eric: Brandon, Supernatural pills. Remember, he loves—

Brandon: I need 28 episode seasons, but not 10 minutes each.

Julia: Keep in mind, they're— no, I said 32 episodes, but—

Brandon: I know.

Julia: —keep that in mind, when you have that, that's 16 episodes, which is still, like, pretty good for a season.

Brandon: It is good, but not enough episodes.

Eric: Brandon wants 100 episodes and each one is 48 minutes long. I know what you want.

Brandon: Look, look, anyone who's not the age of 30 plus or whatever, TV seasons used to be like— I think it was 26-episode seasons.

Julia: Like 24, yeah.

Brandon: 26 episodes!

Julia: There was a reason—

Amanda: A lot—

Julia: —that they had a television show called 24 because they would do hour-long episodes of a 24-hour period.

Amanda: That's true. It's pretty good.

Eric: I love downing all of them. It's nice. Go watch it.

Julia: Yeah.

Brandon: I— It's tough for me to answer, because I am not a big rewatcher—

Julia: Hmm.

Brandon: —excuse me, at all.

Julia: But your media can be like music. Like, is there an album—

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Julia: —that you put on as a comfort thing or, like—

Brandon: The only comfort albums I have are like, I'm feeling very genuinely depressed, and I don't want to feel better albums and, like—

Julia: Hmm.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: —I don't know that I want to share those.

Amanda: Fair.

Julia: That's fair. Hey, that's fair. That's private.

Amanda: That's allowed. Some things are just for us.

Brandon: Yeah. But I think something that is genuinely very comforting is— and I know it's not unique, but rewatching the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Eric: It's a good one.

Julia: Yeah.

Brandon: There's something really nice about— it really does take you out of reality. Like, it's really immersive, which is wonderful. And the good guys win—

Julia: Hmm.

Brandon: —and the evil is, like, evil. There's no complexity.

Julia: Hmm.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: Like, sometimes it's nice to just be, like, good guys win, the little guy wins, and the evil is evil. And, yeah, it's just beautiful— it's beautiful to watch. And it's—

Julia: Yeah.

Brandon: —you know, let me see, 12 hours long.

Amanda: Love it. That's awesome.

Eric: Sometimes you just want to watch a siege on a city.

Brandon: Yeah.

Julia: Yeah. Like you do.

Eric: Like you just want action— give me action movie thing. Give me this massive, epic thing.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Eric: For sure.

Amanda: And for me, it's probably rewatching TV shows in my youth, so that'll be like CSI—

Brandon: Yeah.

Eric: Yeah.

Amanda: —House, X-Files, many seasons, many episodes. You get to sort of like have it on, but my main one—

Brandon: 26-episode seasons, 24-episode seasons?

Julia: Yeah.

Amanda: Something like that, yeah. And my main one is, obviously, Elementary, the greatest detective procedural of all-time, that everybody should watch.

Julia: Yeah.

Brandon: Honestly, I need to watch that, but I would like it.

Amanda: It's very good.

Brandon: Yeah.

Eric: Hey, did you guys know that it was called House MD? Because his name is House, and needs like Sherlock Holmes.

Brandon: And he lives in Maryland?

Julia: And he lives at 221B Baker Street?

Eric: You know it actually is because it's Sherlock Holmes, right?

Julia: Yeah.

Brandon: Yeah. Wait, what do you— what's the— so what—

Eric: So his name is Dr. House and— because it's like Sherlock Holmes.

Julia: House and Home.

Brandon: Oh, oh, oh, oh, yeah. Okay. Yes.

Julia: Yeah. You did know that? Okay. Amanda didn't know that.

Brandon: No, I did know that. I was just confused about what Eric was saying.

Eric: It's because Amanda didn't know that and I liked saying it.

Julia: Amanda texted me while in Pe— in Philadelphia, was like, "Did you know?" I'm like—

Amanda: In the restaurant bathroom.

Julia: —"Yes, sweetheart. Yeah, girly pop."

Amanda: And Julia was very kind. She's like, "I'm so glad you know this now."

Julia: Yeah, I—

Amanda: She was like, "I know."

Julia: I said, "That's such an Amanda fact," and you're like, "But I didn't know." I'm like, "But now you do, so it's such an Amanda fact. "

Amanda: Yes.

Brandon: That's really cute.

Amanda: You did a great job in a difficult situation and I was so mad.

Eric: It was really funny. Amanda was pissed.

Amanda: Yeah.

Eric: They told her to— she had to take a few minutes.

Amanda: Yes.

Brandon: Pissed and peeping.

Eric: Wow.

Amanda: It's true.

Eric: Wow. I didn't tell her while she was in the bathroom.

Amanda: No, no, no.

Brandon: No, you didn't, but she told— she told Julia while she was in the bathroom.

Amanda: Yeah.

Julia: Yeah. Yeah.

Amanda: I said, "Hang on. Got a text, a group chat of me and Julia, about what's happening right now." Incredible. And then I thought we would close on, again, new us, new year, looking for things to fill the void in the days. "Who are your current favorite musicians/songs?"

Brandon: Hmm.

Amanda: Is a question that moss, a sentient rock wants to know.

Brandon: Great question.

Julia: Hmm.

Amanda: I have been on an extreme rap, hip-hop kick recently, Dulce, Kendrick Lamar, Tyler, The Creator, all these artists have put out incredible albums just in the last few months. And I would say, I highly, highly recommend listening to any and all of them. But I love, like, Frank Ocean. I love, obviously, Childish Gambino who's, like, a little bit, you know, on the fringes. But I love it so much, and those are albums that I listen to, start to finish, and don't like pop around different songs.

Brandon: Oh, that's a good question, too. Must say if you're an album listener or a song— or, like, a playlist solo— what do you call— single, single listener.

Amanda: Yeah.

Eric: Hmm.

Amanda: I'll do all kinds of playlists of, like, Chappell Roan, millennial adjective, go—

Julia: Uh-hmm.

Amanda: —and with, like, whoever shows up on that playlist as well.

Julia: Yes, that's fair. That's fair.

Eric: I will always shout out the mountain goats, of course. And especially because when you buy vinyls and you can actually hear— the mountain goats are the ones where— especially with more modern albums that are now being pressed on vinyl now, that vinyl is like a thing. You can actually hear that it sounds different on the vinyl. And I know that, like, Spotify is— audio quality is garbage, I know that, but it's really hard for me to hear with some other— maybe just from the way— and Brandon can explain it to you. But I really find that The Mountain Goats' final sound different, and I really like that.

Amanda: Their early work, they also like recorded on to tape decks and like, made it sound shittier, so to speak, and so— especially, like all of that noise, you definitely hear way better on vinyl.

Eric: You hear the guitars and the pianos more.

Amanda: Yeah.

Eric: Like instead of it being kind of mix together.

Brandon: Probably because you're listening on speakers as opposed to headphones, but— yeah.

Julia: Yeah. That's fair.

Amanda: Nice.

Julia: Sabrina Carpenter. Just played a lot of Sabrina Carpenter on repeat in my household. Chapell Roan, of course. I got into a girl in red recently, which I'm—

Brandon: What's that?

Julia: —very enjoyable. Just an artist. She— she's done a couple cool songs. I like her stuff quite a bit. I also really like a band called Kid Sistr, but there's no—

Brandon: Good name.

Julia: There's no E at the end of the Kid Sistr, so it's Sistr but with a TR.

Amanda: Nice.

Julia: They're very fun. They have a song that— oh, God. I think it's called like Kid Sister or something like that. And it's very fun and very cute. And I— it's very like queer punk, girly rock band out of California.

Brandon: Oh, that’s' fun.

Julia: They're adorable.

Amanda: Nice.

Brandon: For me, I'm listening to this band called Michigander, sort of in the vein of, like Manchester orchestra type vocals, but like pop, Poppy or rock. It's good. You should listen to it.

Amanda: Nice.

Brandon: There's a band called Inhaler. They have an album coming out called Open Wide that's sort of U2-y in a modern way, which is fun.

Julia: Hmm. Cool.

Brandon: Obviously, GNX, Kendrick Lamar, Jesus Christ. The album is so fucking good.

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: The Cure came out with a new album, which was wonderful.

Eric: Oh, weird.

Amanda: Ooh.

Brandon: Songs of a Lost World. Surprisingly good.

Julia: Damn.

Brandon: A band called Wilderado that I found that— or I didn't find them, but, you know, I heard them.

Julia: You discovered.

Brandon: No. An album called Talker, which is a very good album. Sort of— not quite alt-country, but in that sort of, like, folky, alt-country vein. And then my love— my one love Winsor, which I've been listening to, Winsor and Briston Maroney. Very good.

Julia: Cool.

Amanda: Hell yeah, dudes.

Eric: Nice.

Brandon: One of my best albums of the year, I guess— well, not from this year, but my— one I listen to the most and I think one of my favorites is— you guys remember Shakey Graves who did—

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: —that one song that everyone knows?

Amanda: Uh-hmm.

Brandon: He has an album called Movie Of The Week that was—

Julia: Cool.

Brandon: —supposed to be a soundtrack to an indie movie that he was making. Like he was hired to do the soundtrack for it. The movie didn't end up being made, so he just took, like, those fragments of ideas and songs and made an album with it. And it's like—

Eric: That's cool.

Brandon: —this, like, really beautifully cohesive album with, like, really strange, interesting ideas, and— but also being, like, hugely emotional. So a really good album. I would definitely recommend that, if you're looking—

Amanda: Oh.

Brandon: —for an album listening experience.

Julia: That's really dope.

Eric: Nice.

Brandon: Yeah.

Amanda: Well, folks, I hope this gives you all kinds of new music to be listening to as you celebrate the new year. Sip safely, be responsible. We are so grateful that you spent so much of your 2024 with us, and look forward to spending many, many more hours together as we give you, I'll say, some of the best podcasts we've ever done coming this 2025.

Brandon: Wee.

Eric: Wow.

Julia: Woo. Dang.

Brandon: Hell yeah.

Amanda: Happy New Year, everybody. See you soon.

Julia: Happy New Year.

Brandon: Happy New Year.

Eric: Bye.

Amanda: Bye.

Brandon: May all the so–

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