In this special, Michael and Ethan do a very serious job (without jokes or sarcasm) of analyzing Lord of the Flies, a commonly assigned AP English/college intro-level text, so that if you are assigned it, but don’t want to read it, you can just go ahead and use our very good analyses!

In this episode:

Some pretty good discussion of The Count of Monte Cristo, you’re welcome

New whiskey toys

Turns out, you can assign different names to different things

The surprising literary inspiration for various Disney and Pixar projects

Science involves words

We won’t stand OR sit for laziness, just to be clear

From Freud to Jung via borderline insults

Playground bully tactics of the ancient world

The obvious Atlantis connection

The two great teachers of our time: Ethan and Walt Disney Corp.

Next time Michael and Ethan will discuss Nobody’s Angel, by Thomas Mcguane. Join the discussion! Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line. We'd love to hear from you! And submit your homework at the Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch page.

Donate to our Patreon!

BUY A NIHILIST BLANKET!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

MUSIC & SFX:

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco. Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

"Thinking It Over" by Lee Rosevere. Used under an Attribution License.

Michael and Ethan continue their discussion of The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson, while drinking Glenmorangie 10.

In this episode:

Gaslighting Eleanor

Present-tense mothers who are dead

The real journey is the puzzle boxes we met along the way

SO MANY ATMOSPHERES

Secret fan fiction segment

Sudden Shakespeare, almost as a matter of chance

Love triangle arrows

Next time Michael and Ethan will discuss Nobody’s Angel, by Thomas Mcguane. Join the discussion! Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line. We'd love to hear from you! And submit your homework at the Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch page.

Donate to our Patreon!

BUY A NIHILIST BLANKET!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

MUSIC & SFX:

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco. Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

"Thinking It Over" by Lee Rosevere. Used under an Attribution License.

Michael and Ethan begin their discussion of The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson, while drinking Glenmorangie 10.

In this episode:

SPOOKY TIMES

A girl can be a red herring

A house can be a character

Subjective genitive, objective genitive, or plenary genitive? The debate is definitely scintillating

Ethan talks about the Ghormengast trilogy for some reason

Is someone/who is gaslighting Eleanor?

A lot about waiting, like you all will do for the next episode (this is a good joke if you’ve listened to the end of this one)

Next time Michael and Ethan will discuss matters related to The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig. Join the discussion! Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line. We'd love to hear from you! And submit your homework at the Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch page.

Donate to our Patreon!

BUY A NIHILIST BLANKET!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

MUSIC & SFX:

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco. Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

"Thinking It Over" by Lee Rosevere. Used under an Attribution License.

Michael and Ethan continue their discussion of The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig, while drinking Glenmorangie 10.

In this episode:

Ethan leads with some very specific brags

Michael follows a rule

Unofficially taboo topics that are nebulous, endless, and very important

The word Ethan was looking for around 16:00 was “counterfactual”

So much table-setting, but for a purpose?

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE IS AN ADAPTATION OF A CHRISTMAS CAROL, AND THIS PODCAST WILL DIE ON THAT HILL

Like this podcast, this book has a lot of rules

The word Ethan was looking for around 38:00 was probably “diagetic”

Eventually the plot is discussed… um, talked about… um, mentioned…

Next time Michael and Ethan will discuss matters related to The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig. Join the discussion! Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line. We'd love to hear from you! And submit your homework at the Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch page.

Donate to our Patreon!

BUY A NIHILIST BLANKET!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

MUSIC & SFX:

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco. Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

"Thinking It Over" by Lee Rosevere. Used under an Attribution License.

CONTENT WARNING: this episode contains brief discussion of suicide. The discussion begins a little past the 45:30 mark, and concludes by the 50:00 mark.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org anytime, 24/7.

—

Michael and Ethan begin their discussion of The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig, while drinking Glenmorangie 10.

In this episode:

Apologies to Matt Haig, but not to the British people

Is the Multiverse Where Originality Goes to Die?, by Stephanie Burt

Woof, Ethan squeaks past losing toward the start of the discussion

Smoothness as aesthetic

Vignettes and/or not vignettes, a Schrodinger’s Cat joint

Next time Michael and Ethan will discuss matters related to The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig. Join the discussion! Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line. We'd love to hear from you! And submit your homework at the Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch page.

Donate to our Patreon!

BUY A NIHILIST BLANKET!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

MUSIC & SFX:

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco. Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

"Thinking It Over" by Lee Rosevere. Used under an Attribution License.

To prepare for their episodes discussing The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig, Michael and Ethan spend a very special episode discussing the idea of multiverses and going over some (SOME) examples of the idea in fiction.

In this episode:

The book Ethan can’t remember is The Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book

Launches into a discussion of quantum physics in which this podcast is deeply unqualified to engage

“Entanglements,” by David Gerrold, a story half of this podcast read

“All the Myriad Ways,” by Larry Niven

“Through Road No Whither,” by Greg Bear

It’s just the science… soft science tho

“Is the Multiverse Where Originality Goes to Die?” by Stephanie Burt

Next time Michael and Ethan will discuss matters related to The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig. Join the discussion! Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line. We'd love to hear from you! And submit your homework at the Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch page.

Donate to our Patreon!

BUY A NIHILIST BLANKET!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

MUSIC & SFX:

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco. Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

"Thinking It Over" by Lee Rosevere. Used under an Attribution License.

Michael and Ethan begin their discussion of the graphic novel The Sherriff of Babylon, by Tom King, while drinking the Glenlivet Nadurra cask-strength bottling.

In this episode:

The August referenced in the opening is a friend of Michael and Ethan’s. This is not properly set up because Ethan didn’t know he was telling this anecdote for an audience (ie, it’s Michael’s fault).

Spoilers for Tom King’s graphic novel The Omega Men (sorry)

Ethan is allowed to talk about film noir (sorry again)

The cowboy to detective to sherriff ancestral connection

We are fully aware that The Maltese Falcon came out pre-WWII, don’t @ us

Ambiguous ambiguites

Confrontations that fizzle magnificently

A teaser! Actually a few

You can tell at least how much earlier this episode was recorded vs released because the hosts still talk about Twitter like it’s a real thing

Next time Michael and Ethan will continue discussion of The Sherriff of Babylon, by Tom King. Join the discussion! Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line. We'd love to hear from you! And submit your homework at the Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch page.

Donate to our Patreon!

BUY A NIHILIST BLANKET!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

MUSIC & SFX:

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco. Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

"Thinking It Over" by Lee Rosevere. Used under an Attribution License.

Michael and Ethan begin their discussion of the graphic novel The Sherriff of Babylon, by Tom King, while drinking the Glenlivet Nadurra cask-strength bottling.

In this episode:

The August referenced in the opening is a friend of Michael and Ethan’s. This is not properly set up because Ethan didn’t know he was telling this anecdote for an audience (ie, it’s Michael’s fault).

Spoilers for Tom King’s graphic novel The Omega Men (sorry)

Ethan is allowed to talk about film noir (sorry again)

The cowboy to detective to sherriff ancestral connection

We are fully aware that The Maltese Falcon came out pre-WWII, don’t @ us

Ambiguous ambiguites

Confrontations that fizzle magnificently

A teaser! Actually a few

You can tell at least how much earlier this episode was recorded vs released because the hosts still talk about Twitter like it’s a real thing

Next time Michael and Ethan will continue discussion of The Sherriff of Babylon, by Tom King. Join the discussion! Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line. We'd love to hear from you! And submit your homework at the Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch page.

Donate to our Patreon!

BUY A NIHILIST BLANKET!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

MUSIC & SFX:

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco. Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

"Thinking It Over" by Lee Rosevere. Used under an Attribution License.

Michael and Ethan conclude their discussion of The House on Vesper Sands, by Paraic O’Donnell, while drinking the Glenlivet Nadurra cask-strength bottling.

In this episode:

There must be no change

Ethan loses! Michael fails to notice, or at least to call it out. Will Ethan confess in the future?

Good thing Ethan avoids sounding pedantic, now or ever

The unmooring of the book

Good thing Michael avoids sounding pedantic, now or ever

Either a mystery, or just vibes

Thankfully the section vs. book vs. part discussion gets resolved

Again with the Gene Wolfe, sorry

We have to rage against the cage in which we have bound ourselves

“It” is an ambiguous pronoun

Next time Michael and Ethan will continue discussion of Gargantua and Pantagruel, by Francois Rabelais. Join the discussion! Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line. We'd love to hear from you! And submit your homework at the Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch page.

Donate to our Patreon!

BUY A NIHILIST BLANKET!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

MUSIC & SFX:

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco. Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

"Thinking It Over" by Lee Rosevere. Used under an Attribution License.

Michael and Ethan begin their discussion of The House on Vesper Sands, by Paraic O’Donnell, while drinking the Glenlivet Nadurra cask-strength bottling.

In this episode:

A fearful Scotch

Some deeply inside jokes

The Gothic Genre: A TEDm&e Talk

The term “sensibility” is used a lot of times for a podcast not discussing Jane Austen

The term “vibes” is used a lot of times for a podcast run by two millenials

Sorry Bronte fans, Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre don’t count as Gothic

Sorry to Bram Stoker and Wilkie Collins fans too, we guess?

It had to be noted at some point: YES there is a massive The Shining reference in this novel, and NO we never think to discuss it

Next time Michael and Ethan will continue discussion of Gargantua and Pantagruel, by Francois Rabelais. Join the discussion! Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line. We'd love to hear from you! And submit your homework at the Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch page.

Donate to our Patreon!

BUY A NIHILIST BLANKET!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

MUSIC & SFX:

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco. Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

"Thinking It Over" by Lee Rosevere. Used under an Attribution License.