Dave Siegel was my roommate for two years. He actually signed two different leases with me! That second lease was like George Bush in 2004 – you might forgive that first mistake, but then you don’t correct it, so it’s hard to elicit sympathy in the international community.

At the point of this recording, Dave was the only person in the world who could claim to have listened to all three of the previous episodes, so who better to evaluate my performance thus far? We also talked about improv and giving it up, moving away from home and moving back, and I’m mocked roundly for asking a stupid question.

Patrick Link is a playwright who lives in Manhattan. I sat down with him in his home to try to figure out why the hell he’s doing that.

Aside from an uncomfortably drawn-out demand for Patrick to justify his existence, we talked about his creative process, how he develops new material, how to get a play produced in New York City, and innovations in the theater. Or theatre? (I should have asked him.)

My younger brother Jeff visited for Memorial Day weekend, and I took the opportunity to talk with an honest-to-goodness veteran in my backyard while the barbecue was slowly doing its thing.

Jeff served for ten years in the United States Navy, and his tour ended earlier this year. He shared some memories of serving in the Persian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the ports he visited along the way, how he should have the Navy Lifesaving Medal (and why he doesn’t), his work in improvised explosive devices, and how to defeat an insurgency.