Roger and Tom are joined by the excellent Patrick Beja from France. They discuss video games, foreign perception of the US, taxation, health care and gay marriage.

Get the show at this link: http://www.archive.org/download/EastMeetsWest141/eastmeetswest141.mp3

P.S. If you like East Meets West you’ll probably love Patrick Beja’s The Phileas Club podcast

Tom and Roger talk health care, education, racism, and Tom gets in a shot at the electoral college.

Listen to this podcast at this link: http://www.archive.org/download/RogerChangandTomMerrittEastMeetsWest140/eastmeetswest140.mp3

Tom has picked our next book! It is Memoirs Found in a Bathtub by Stanislaw Lem. Here’s a bit of a summary:

Set in the distant future, Memoirs Found in a Bathtub is the horrifying first-hand account of a bureaucratic agent trapped deep within the subterranean bowels of a vast underground military complex. In a Kafkaesque maelstrom of terrifying confusion and utter insanity, this man must attempt to follow his mission directives of conducting an “on-the-spot investigation. Verify. Search. Destroy. Incite. Inform. Over and out. On the nth day nth hour sector n subsector n rendezvous with N.”

But we have more than just that to talk about this week! Tom and I have also been reading Pattern Recognition and Spook Country, both by former S&L author William Gibson. Have you read either of them? What are your thoughts?

And we have sad news… author Michael Crichton has passed away. Join the discussion on the forums about his life and works.

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Check out Audible!
Journey to a world beyond words with Audible Sci-Fi & Fantasy. Check out Audible for exclusive access to your favorite sci-fi and fantasy authors and exclusive commentary.  In addition, the new imprint, Audible Frontiers features new and sometimes previously unavailable audio books made available for the first time in audio.  Click here for a free trial offer and get your first audio book free.

Tom and Roger (with special guest correspondent Josh Lawrence) go long with their election special. They even call the election two days in advance. Plus solve the energy crisis thanks to Sean.

Listen to the podcast at this link: http://ia311217.us.archive.org/1/items/EastMeetsWest139/eastmeetswest139.mp3

Tom and Roger (with special guest correspondent Josh Lawrence) go long with their election special. They even call the election two days in advance. Plus solve the energy crisis thanks to Sean.

Long show tonight, so I’ll keep the blog post short! In case you haven’t finished the book yet, there are SPOILERS in this podcast for Neal Stephenson’s Anathem, so beware! Don’t forget to take a look at the ever-growing Wikia page for Anathem.

We also want to congratulate Michael M., who won the last contest (and wins a Logitech headset!). Here is his winning closing sentence:

“With palpable relief Schuman slumped over the rail waiting for the pool of magma to close over the briefcase and reflected to himself that he still hadn’t had a cup of coffee.”

That’s a book I’d like to read! We also want to remind you of our special offer from Audible for the first story in the original audiobook, METAtropolis!

We’ll be going back to a regular weekly or bi-weekly format now, so look for Tom’s pick for the next book soon!

Check out Audible!
Journey to a world beyond words with Audible Sci-Fi & Fantasy. Check out Audible for exclusive access to your favorite sci-fi and fantasy authors and exclusive commentary.  In addition, the new imprint, Audible Frontiers features new and sometimes previously unavailable audio books made available for the first time in audio.  Click here for a free trial offer and get your first audio book free.

Tom and Roger try not to talk about politics and fail. But they do talk about pirates. So they have that going for them.

Listen to the show at this link: http://www.archive.org/download/RogerChangandTomMerrittEastMeetsWest138/eastmeetswest138.mp3