The word is Pets, since Keith is mourning the loss of his dog Ping, while Andy is celebrating the adoption of two kittens. Speaking of cats, they finally tell the story of their visit to a cat cafe in Osaka, which they mentioned repeatedly in episode 351 but never got back to. This leads to other reminiscing about their great Japanese adventure, including discussions of their favorite high-points in various categories.
The word is Tokyo, because Keith and Andy recorded this episode during their trip to Japan! The show begins with a discussion they had on their second day, while waiting at the Tokyo train station, then jumps ahead to conversations about their day at Expo 2025 in Osaka. A couple of days after that, they recorded their thoughts after returning from Tokyo Disneyland, and the show concludes with a conversation they had at the airport, while waiting to go home the following Sunday morning.
Episode 351: Tokyo Special Edition
The word is Konniccichwa, because Keith and Andy are preparing for their big trip to Japan. But first, Andy talks about his recent trip to Burning Man, which somehow leads to a big discussion of their favorite wizards. Then Keith talks about his aunt, who’s just moved from near Portland Maine to his town of Portland Oregon. He talks about showing her the Chapman Swifts, a local natural phenomenon. Next they talk about work stuff they’re working on, including Andy’s decision to take over the cartooning work himself. Moving on to media, they discuss the start of the Alien: Earth series, and after dropping the spoiler curtain, they discuss the last few episodes of season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. (Spoiler Warning: Contains spoilers!)
The word is Pallet, because Keith and Andy have pallet-related stories to tell about their recent adventures at GenCon. Then Keith gives a few hints about the new world he’s creating for the Daggerheart RPG system. Moving on to one of their Favorite Things, they discuss their favorite vampires. Lastly, after dropping the spoiler curtain, they discuss the first 5 episodes of season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. (Spoiler Warning: Contains spoilers!)
Download #349 – A Tale of 2 Pallets
The Last Goodloe CartoonThe word is Goodloe, which is the first name of the guy who’s been drawing the doodles that illustrate this podcast for the past 347 episodes. Sadly, Goodloe is stepping down as our cartoonist, so the nerds discuss their favorite Goodloe cartoons. Then they spend most of the rest of the show discussing the new Superman movie, and the new Fantastic Four movie.
Spoiler Warning: Contains spoilers!
See also: Andy’s blog post, “Thanks, Goodloe!”
Leave Your Bummers BehindThe word is Rewatch, and the nerds start by discussing classic shows they’ve been watching again, including their favorite shows to watch over again. Then Andy invites Keith to join him for a trip to Japan, which they are planning to take this fall, along with Andy’s brother and his wife. Then Keith talks about a new game he’s been working on for a while now and is finally able to talk about: Jerry Garcia’s Cosmic Journey! He talks about how that started and how it’s going. Then Andy talks about the latest in Fluxx news and mentions a new promo card they’ll be giving out at GenCon. He also talks about dismantling a piano. Moving on to media, they discuss Murderbot for a bit, and after dropping the spoiler curtain, they talk about Season 19 of Taskmaster.
The word is Cones, and after some discussion about the different types of ice cream comes, the subject of the Cones of Dunshire leads to very long conversation about fictional tabletop games and their favorites in that category. After dropping the spoiler curtain, they review the end of season two of Andor and the start of season 19 of Taskmaster.
The word is Smartypants. The nerds talk about a web series called SmartyPants and being a smartypants in general. Then they discuss their favorite coins (and also their least favorites). Moving on to media, they spend a lot of time speculating about the upcoming Fantastic Four movie based on the trailer, then Keith gives us spoiler-free reviews of Thunderbolts and Sinners. Other media topics include Legacy of Worlds, Taskmaster, and Flow. After dropping the spoiler curtain, they discuss the first few episodes of Andor season 2.
It’s the Great Peanut, Charlie Brown!This week the word is Jeopardy and the subject of favoritism is game shows. They have a lot to say about game shows, including fictional game shows and the issue of various game-show-adjacent forms of competition. Then Keith recounts a few tales from his recent D&D in a castle travels.
Raisins Are Just Dead GrapesThis week the word is snacks, so the nerds discuss their favorite snacks. In quite a bit of detail. Eventually, after dropping the spoiler curtain, they discuss various versions of the story, Button, Button, as well as Season 1 of Paradise.
