It's time for some high fantasy hijinks as William and Jacob dive in to their first of three episodes about The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman. Kinch Na Shannack has luck on his side (sometimes) as he works to pay off his debt to the Taker's Guild by joining up with a mysterious and badass warrior on a quest to investigate the threat of invading giants in a land wartorn by goblins. There's a lot of world building, a fantastically original voice, and a driving plot–what's not to like?

But first, your hosts provide dispatches from the realms of entertainment as Jacob recounts his latest forays into scifi and fantasy TV (A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy), William visits the 28-o-verse in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, and both hosts have a religious experience with The Testament of Ann Lee.

William and Jacob are diving back into What We Can Know by Ian McEwan, where a metatextual twist blows up all of 2119 scholar Thomas Metcalfe's assumptions about 2014 poet Francis Blundy and his wife, Vivien Blundy. The 'truth' is far juicier and melodramatic than Thomas ever imagined, and your hosts are strangely moved, even if they can't fully put their finger on the why.

But first... a spoiler-free review of Pluribus season one, thoughts on The Traitors jumbo-sized season premiere, and William shares what came home with him from a reptile expo.

It's a new year and a new season for DRAGON'S DADDIES DEEP SPACE! William and Jacob are kicking off 2026 with a foray into literary fiction with a speculative twist, as they discuss Part One of What We Can Know by Ian McEwan. In the year 2119, human society has been utterly transformed by global warming, nuclear war, and the great Derangement. Narrator Thomas Metcalfe doggedly pursues one of mankind's great mysteries (at least in his own mind)–a long poem that was read aloud by its author in 2014 that was never read or heard again. It's literary, it's dense, it's kind of mind-blowing.

But first...William just doesn't know how to quit The Wandering Inn, Jacob gives quick hit book reviews of what he read over the break (The Blade Itself, Flesh, The God of the Woods and Demon in White), all while your hosts linger in the upside down shadow of Conformity Gate (it's not real, folks).