This week, John and Danielle are joined by one of their favorite recurring guests in the NQGB (Zencastr) studio, Lilly Goren! Together, they tackle The Americans 5x9, “IHOP.” They consider the developments in this ep and the season more generally through the idea of ‘the return of the repressed’ - this helps highlight the connections between Henry’s demands, Martha’s encounter with Gabriel, everything with Tuan, and more. Your hosts unpack who is the repressed and what the implications of their return are in each of the different beats of the ep. Of course, Danielle dons her tinfoil hat in the Dossier to chat about Tuan, and Lilly and John indulge her here. In Glas, there’s a lot of spycraft, some set design notes about Martha’s Moskva apartment, and Father Andrei. Lilly gets her first dose of Marx SZN with the Communist Manifesto, and offers some awesome anecdotes to accompany the trip into the Cave. Your hosts end with a robust round of TheoryShips. Enjoy!

(We lost a few minutes of Lilly's audio and brilliant thoughts early in the episode, but only in the very beginning).

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Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

Danielle and John are back to chat all things The Americans 5x8, “Immersion”! Even though Philip and Elizabeth defiantly claim "We know what to think," your hosts ask whether ANY of the characters ACTUALLY know what to think. Unpacking the return of Claudia, Elizabeth training Paige, and the ongoing faux(?)-romantic entanglements with Ben and Deirdre, as well as checking in with Evgeniya, Tuan, and Oleg, John and Danielle do their best to evaluate if any of these characters actually knows what to think (or do) as their realities shift amidst an ever-changing political landscape. Of course, Danielle takes up Claudia's reappearance in the Dossier with the help of some probing questions from John (she literally couldn't resist), and in Glas, your hosts consider the FBI's museum antics and Renee's general vibes. Marx SZN continues in the Cave as John guides us through another dip into Capital. Your hosts have some fun with their TheoryShips this week - TL:DR, Hobbes is also back in action. Come for the Marx, but stay for your hosts *maybe* using Ben's correct name!

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Music by Lesfm from Pixabay