Bartles & James Remembers

Dan kicks things off with a birthday rundown: his wife’s big day, a middle child who showed out with a from-scratch chocolate fudgy bundt cake and homemade ganache, and a family trip to Chewy’s in Conway that landed squarely in “perfectly fine..."Adrian follows with his own downtown Italian misadventure: greasy calamari swimming in oil, kids’ menu “New York slices” that turned out to be Domino’s-sized, a side salad built out of olives and disappointment, and a Caesar that was mostly lettuce spines. From there, the conversation drifts the way only Con Men can: mall food court nostalgia, Sbarro and Pizza Hut buffet memories, tabletop Pac-Man, and then a full dive into anime and mecha—Robotech/Macross, Toonami, Demon Slayer, and how anime and voice actors helped shape the modern con scene. They also spotlight the upcoming inaugural Illinois Comic Con in Peoria, running through guests like Billy West, Barry Lowin, Bryce Papenbrook, and more, and talk about why anime fests and VO guests are the backbone of a lot of regional shows. It’s food gripes, fandom history, and convention hype all in one long, geeky hangout.