Idea Factory Giveaway

A truly astonishing set of circumstances prevented us from recording these episodes with Will, but because we believed in ourselves, we persevered: behold the fruits of our delayed but no less invigorated labor!!!!!

Let's not mince words on this point: all of our guests are great and I would gladly have them on again at any time, but what Amy brings to this show cannot be easily replicated, which makes her a singular and valuable resource not just to the makers of this show, but to the nation at large.

I couldn't stop thinking about the idea of a podcast deliberately engineered to appeal to MAGA dumbshits by someone who really, really wants to run a cheap grift on them but can't quite muster the energy needed to disguise his weary, bottomless contempt for his target audience. I give you: Buck Mustang and the podcast he can't even bother to namedrop properly.

Jenna's previous episode was great, but is this one ........ better? HIGHLY POSSIBLE. There's only one way to find out!

Listen, if there's anything we can count on to remain constant in this world, it's that cats live to kill, German shepherd puppies are adorable, and Yuri is an absolute top-tier guest.

In which Jenna, one of our favorite guests, makes a triumphant return, this time with an idea file of her own that turns out to be full -- full! -- of untold treasures.

We recorded this one a while ago, but because she's goddamn fantastic, Yuri picked some real bangers, including a hopefully very timely one that I hope we're all able to relish in a few weeks.

As always, Gary delivers. Also, I feel like I'm in fairly exalted company, having had (some time ago) an idea along the same lines as something Becky Chambers put into one of her books.

Arlette's latest appearance delivers some quality booze notions and at least one kind of d6 that I would -- no kidding -- really like to see.

What's the minimum acceptable level of grift? Is the snack food idea we had subtle genius or absolute horror? Who WOULD be the most (in)appropriate orgy sponsor? Gary helps us wrestle with all of these questions and more.

Would any of the Weyouns make a good housemate? Which Starfleet doctor is least suited to being in quarantine? Which character will end up with a quar-times baking habit? Combadge Club also discusses the objective best possible paintjob for a Romulan warbird.

Arlette returns for another high-quality installment; how do you know it's high-quality? Three words that will make more sense to you after you've listened to it: "Tactical Polly Pocket."

I don't care if I've said it before: Ken's idea file is a true trove of treasures, and I look forward to recording these episodes immensely. Everyone should have a Ken in their social circle! There, I said it!

This one is packed with high-quality notions as usual, but I also tell the story of a very good, extremely fake business I took part in; we also set up what might sound like a highly exclusionary echelon of Star Trek fandom that actually has an almost trivially low barrier to entry.

One of Ken's ideas is an amazing app but also just a new cultural practice for quarantine that we could start doing RIGHT NOW and it would be amazing. Seriously!

Did we have a system when this podcast started? Kinda sorta! Would it have helped? Possibly! Do we have fun looking at the data anyway? Absolutely!!

Never forget that while occasional acting co-host Jen is wonderful for many reasons, her food ideas are nothing short of monstrous.

Never has an episode whipsawed so violently between mildly terrifying and utterly adorable mental imagery as we have done here, but perhaps that's to be expected when Amy (who's rapidly ascending the list of Idea Factory Giveaway MVPs) ends up in the mix.

We get into a brief but surprisingly deep corner of Star Trek lore on this one, folks.