John Heintz 7/15/20 John Heintz 7/15/20

Looking for Love

Janine from Downers Grove returns to join Peggy and Shelly (no men allowed) for a special episode to discuss their various experiences in the murky world of online dating. Peggy is retired (never say never) from the field due to her marriage but Janine and Shelly are still out there chasing the dream!

Jim Gentile 7/4/20 Jim Gentile 7/4/20

Don’t Worry, Be Happy (Trump’s Gonna Lose)

In this episode (perhaps emboldened by the absence of Peggy Bennett and her usual calming effect on everyone) Jim doubles down on his January prediction that Trump not be re-elected in November.

For purposes of (literal) devil’s advocacy only, Shelly takes the opposite position. John, meanwhile, whines and worries and complains about the state of politics in the U.S. and the decline of western civilization generally.

This episode is our layperson version of a FiveThirtyEight podcast. Our one advantage over them is that we are not professionals and are unburdened by actually knowing what we are talking about.

John Heintz 6/20/20 John Heintz 6/20/20

Loss

This is a relatively serious episode in which we are joined by Gwenn Danet-Desnoyers to discuss our personal experiences of losing individuals close to us. Among other moments, Gwen discusses the death of his mother. Peggy talks about losing her father suddenly, Shelly reminisces about the tragic death of her very first boyfriend, Jim remembers one of his former debaters who died very young, and John discusses those people he knew who died from AIDS.

Jim Gentile 6/2/20 Jim Gentile 6/2/20

The Janina Dialogues

Janine from Downers Grove joins the gang to discuss her work at the University of Chicago and, most notably, to delve into certain intimate aspects of her life for which she is well known among her circle of friends - take that Anna Sale!

John Heintz 5/14/20 John Heintz 5/14/20

Cold Opening

In their first episode under the new title, the Gang of Four demonstrate that they are not quite in synch. That becomes obvious in the cold open. After John explains about the new title, they have a wide-ranging discussion about “opinion” v. “facts”, trust in government, comparisons of the current epidemic to the influenza outbreak of 1918 as well as personal updates and recommendations.