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

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

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