43: Pack Mule with a Checkbook

The main topic this week is Dad Stuff. Dad Jokes, Dad Hats, and Dad…everything. In particular, when did Dad Jokes become a thing, and exactly what part of that label is supposed to be so bad and insulting?

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This week, John won’t talk about his job, Merlin has jury duty (yes, again), and your hosts do some follow-up on documentaries. The disappearing of classic episodes of older PBS shows is lamented.

John finds a lot to like about true Dad humor, while Merlin finds himself overwhelmed by a rapidly-widening aperture.

Following a bracing blast by an increasingly contextual spoiler horn (1:25:58), John and Merlin float into the epic, three-to-five-dimensional world of Christopher Nolan's 2014 science fiction epic, Interstellar.

(Recorded on Tuesday, January 3, 2017)

Seven years after vanishing from her home, a young woman returns with mysterious new abilities and recruits five strangers for a secret mission.JOIN FREE FOR A MONTH

Many dad jokes may be considered anti-jokes, deriving humour from an intentionally unfunny punchline.

Rockschool was a television series aired by the BBC and PBS in 1985. The series explored the history of rock music and gave instruction in popular performance techniques.

"In 1928, the writer Father Ronald Knox created a "Ten Commandments" of plot devices (Knox's Decalogue) that more or less codified the rules of the Fair-play whodunnit:"

Four friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.