We kick things off with Real Life, where Devon is suspiciously chipper and ahead on billing (don't worry, it doesn't last forever). Steven recounts The Great Lice Infestation of '25, a saga that will echo through the ages—or at least the household laundry room. Ben crowns Sektori as his game of the year, describing it as the best Dreamcast game that never existed and somehow got a remaster. If that sentence alone sells you, here's the deal-tracking rabbit hole via IsThereAnyDeal

. Bennnip.

Steven also recommends Arc Raiders, a loot-em-up that caught his attention, which leads to a discussion of an AI-related controversy surrounding the game. Ben had heard about it, and we dig into what's actually going on, pulling from this breakdown over at Game Rant:
Arc Raiders Gen AI Voice Acting Controversy Explained

Back at the table, Steven ran a Mutant Crawl Classics game where a gravitational-lensing mutant plant man absolutely stole the show. As they do.

Ben brings science to the table with a discussion on tea, coffee, and bone health. He walks us through a decade-long study of older women that found tea drinkers had slightly stronger bones, while moderate coffee consumption caused no harm. Heavy coffee intake—more than five cups a day—was associated with lower bone density, especially when paired with higher alcohol consumption. Tea's benefits may come from catechins that help support bone formation, and the researchers suggest that small daily habits can add up over time. Ben even ran the ScienceDaily article through Google LM to compare it against the original paper. You can read the summary here:
Tea may strengthen bones in older women while heavy coffee weakens them

Devon tackles a much bigger question: why consciousness exists at all. The research suggests consciousness evolved in layers—starting with basic survival responses like pain and alarm, then expanding into focused awareness and self-reflection. These layers help organisms learn, avoid danger, and coordinate socially. Birds, interestingly, display many of these traits, implying that consciousness may be far older and more widespread than we once thought. The full write-up is worth your time:
Why consciousness exists at all

Steven had nothing this week, which is honestly its own kind of achievement.

This week's discussion centers on "The Red Thread" by Sofia Samatar, published in Lightspeed Magazine. The story features strong prose, an evocative world, and a compelling narrative voice. Devon respected it but didn't fully connect, while Ben loved it and Steven greatly enjoyed the ride. You can read it here:
"The Red Thread" by Sofia Samatar

Looking ahead, next week's pick is "The Janitor in Space" by Amber Sparks, which you can find at American Short Fiction:
The Janitor in Space

—

As always, thanks for listening—and remember: drink some tea, question reality, and check your kids for lice.

Thanksgiving came and went, and somehow all three of us survived… though some of us survived more deviled eggs than others. Let's jump in.

Steven kicked things off with the tale of a very boring Thanksgiving that was only made notable by the sheer volume of deviled eggs involved. When you commit to making 36 eggs—times two—you're basically catering your own side quest. After recovering, he cleansed his palate by watching Jurassic Park with his kid, which is exactly the kind of comfort cinema the holiday demands.

Ben had a more people-filled holiday: his mom visited (hi Martha!) and there were Thanksgiving dinners with Matt (hi Matt!). Somewhere in between all the leftovers he squeezed in a rewatch of The Fifth Element, because sometimes the only thing better than turkey is multi-pass nostalgia.

Devon reported the chillest Thanksgiving of the group—Friday, low-key, nothing dramatic. Except for a family friend making chicken parm the hard way, which is an important detail because Devon would absolutely like everyone to know there is an easier way. Also: the LEGO Enterprise-D has been purchased… and may or may not have arrived. We're waiting for the inaugural "swoosh test."

Steven also tossed in that Devon watched Zootopia 2, which, according to Steven, is "about WW2." Take that claim as seriously as you should.

Ben brought a blast from the productivity past with the return of Freeter—a tool for organizing workflows, command line scripts, projects, and basically your entire work brain. It's cross-platform and designed to gather everything you need into one tidy dashboard. He's excited; we're cautiously optimistic this isn't the start of another "Ben reorganizes his life using eight apps" arc.
https://freeter.io/

Devon had nothing this week, which somehow felt on-brand after his aggressively uneventful Thanksgiving.

Steven highlighted A Doggone Shame, a study looking at CBD use in over 47,000 dogs. The data shows it's mostly used on older pups with chronic conditions, and while long-term use seems linked to reduced aggression, it doesn't do much for other anxiety-related behaviors. Also interesting: owners in cannabis-friendly states were the most likely to try CBD with their dogs.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251128050506.htm

We'll be reading "Dark Air" by Lincoln Michel — a speculative piece published in Granta.
https://granta.com/dark-air/

We dove into "Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station" by Caroline M. Yoachim, a choose-your-own-adventure-style story where your choices matter… except they don't. The story reminds you that in the clinic—just like real life—your decisions, your path, your careful strategizing… often end up being meaningless in the grand scheme of things. But weirdly, it's fun! We all really enjoyed it.
https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/welcome-to-the-medical-clinic-at-the-interplanetary-relay-station/

We wrapped with a quick chat about Stranger Things Season 5. Steven and Devon have watched a few episodes, and the question came up:
Can a modern streaming show realistically handle actors aging when production takes years between seasons?

Do you lean into it? Write around it? Pretend nothing happened? Pretend it's Zootopia 2: The WW2 Years? Hard to say.