In the second part of our discussion on our music and other obsessions, Mara briefly discusses her favorite writers and the importance of personal geographies. Then, she takes us on a long, strange trip to a world of brokedown palaces, JAMS, and possible CIA psyops - it’s the Grateful Dead! Yr intrepid hosts discuss the human need for creativity and play, and how creative processes are sometimes as or more interesting than an end product. Mara outlines the case for how at their best, the Dead make “process” audible in innovative and sublime ways. Also: Anna discovers the “Birds Aren’t Real” mythos via group text; songs for our moment.

Music: On Top of It by Blue Dot Sessions

The Eleven - Grateful Dead Live at Shrine Auditorium on 1968-08-23

Listen as we build our playlist: Songs of Innocence & Experience, or Anna & Mara’s Infinite Playlist