With Chris Ryan in the air somewhere over Oklahoma, special guest Chuck Klosterman was kind enough to sub in for him on this week’s podcast, bringing his strong opinions and even stronger facial hair to the studio. Our discussion of Grantland’s ongoing The Wire character bracket (vote now on Facebook!) turned into a far-ranging (and 40-minute) discussion of probable winners, prominent snubs, and the nature of the show itself. After that, Chuck brought up some recent goings-on in Eastbound & Down and we ended by tackling a subject near and recently not-so-dear to our hearts, the state of music criticism. (Unsurprisingly, Chuck had some strong feelings about the second Boston album.) Chris will be back next week, presumably clean-shaven. Enjoy!

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