In which we answer listener questions about patron saints, fictional meals, and more.

Gretchen and Julia talk character design, ambient mermaid music, and creative discipline.

Why cheap art (yes, again!), our favorite torture scenes, and which one of us is which Mantle brother.

We talk about "bad" sex writing and what people are revealing about their relationship to sex when they titter at anything more outlandish than missionary. Excerpts read from The Virgin Suicides, Smilla's Sense of Snow, Lolita, and The Name of the Rose.

On the merits of indie publishing, loved ones with terrible taste, and refusing the red pill.

On Manhunt, transmisogyny, pushing through shame, and the fallacy of "good" and "bad" ideas in making art.

On reassessing art, the joy of shopping, Richard Nixon, television fandom, and the infinite power of Sharon Stone.

On Madonna, Tommy Wiseau's The Room, "bad" art, and where and how we work.

On gendered socialization, alien intelligences, keeping your self-loathing shit locked down, fatness on television, comparative vulnerability, and the value of weird sex writing.

On Smaug and Gollum, the care and feeding of crocodiles injured by boat collisions, rich people's bad taste, and the non-existent difference between porn and art.

On Dracula, mid-century firefighting, love stories, how we experience attraction, and friendship.

On Messalina's sex life, Ray Bradbury, clitoral erections, and the nature of delicacy.

On ghosts, I, Claudius, genocide, THEM, going to Hell, and where Dr. Doom got his degree.

Gretchen and Julia talk about public wallowing, tit names, Jean-Luc Picard, Mortal Kombat lore, and the writing of Miss Manners.

Listener questions, the art of bullshitting confidence, and the delicate eroticism of wrapping a skinless woman in bandages.

Gretchen and Julia talk about David Lynch's use of disembodied voices, the historical and cultural importance of voice and breath, and a bunch of other smart-sounding shit.

We answer listener questions.

In which we discuss the pros and cons of human sacrifice, The Wicker Man, the desire to impart meaning to meaningless suffering, the reasons humans self-harm, and Gretchen cries a little bit if you listen close. (Julia's sound gets fucked up at the end of this one. We deeply regret the error but will be doing nothing to correct it.)…

"Art" and "content" have become interchangeable concepts not just in the corporate world, but among artists themselves. How did the term become so ubiquitous, where did its modern usage originate, and does it matter which word you use? Lucky for you, the smartest bitches on the block are here to pick it apart for you.…