Have we arrived at Thomas Pynchon’s single best piece of writing so far? We three may very well think so. Get the ladder—because this one’s going up in the rafters next to Mondaugen’s story and Oedipa’s dark night of the soul.
Next time, Gravity’s Rainbow Episodes 3.12, 3.13, and 3.14, or pp. 440-476 in the U.S. Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition.
Support the show and get access to monthly bonus episodes at patreon.com/pynchonpals and follow us @pynchonpals.bsky.social.
For the month of August’s Patreon-exclusive bonus episode, we’re watching Fritz Lang’s The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933).
Show Notes:
The Creative Mind: Myths and Mechanisms,by Margaret A. Boden (https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Creative_Mind/6Zkm4dz32Y4C)
“The Kekulé Problem,” by Cormac McCarthy in Nautilus (https://nautil.us/the-kekul-problem-236574)
“Were you a mail carrier or mayor at Exchange City? Kansas City, tell us your stories,” by Eleanor Nash in The Kansas City Star (https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article289893189.html)
Exchange City on r/LiminalSpace (https://www.reddit.com/r/LiminalSpace/comments/11vmvvj/exchange_city/)
“The Children’s Republic: A Scale-Model City in Argentina,” by Agustina Iñiguez in ArchDaily (https://www.archdaily.com/1128117/the-childrens-republic-a-scale-model-city-in-argentina)
“Gunther von Hagens, Creator of Polarizing ‘Body Worlds’ Exhibits, Dies at 81,” by Clay Risen in The New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/science/gunther-von-hagens-dead.html)
Content warnings: strong language, physical and sexual violence, racism, misogyny, antisemitism, xenophobia, genocide, pedophilia, incest.
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Featuring Patrick Fiorilli, Andrew Tillett, and Duri Long.
Produced and edited by Patrick Fiorilli (www.patf.io and @patfio.bsky.social).
Our theme music is “Horology,” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license on the album Polygondwanaland.
