Binary System Podcast #458 - WTNV #268 "Home Office" and Love, Death, and Robots

This episode originally broadcast on May 22, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/05/binary-system-podcast-458-wtnv-268-home-office-and-love-death-and-robots/In this week's recap, Steve Carlsberg is fitting into his job at Labyrinth as well as can be expected. By which we mean he's working himself to death, losing connection with his family, and his attempts at corporate team-building are not appreciated. It's a grim state of affairs, and don't even get us started on the food situation in Night Vale. (Short summary: there isn't any.)And speaking of grim, we watched four episodes of the latest season of Love, Death, and Robots. We don't mean grim as in bad; all four episodes are shining examples of their craft and downright dazzling (even "Close Encounters of the Mini Kind", which is hilarious and really mean-spirited.) But the ending to one of them was...something. And it led to a brief discussion about one of the hazards of pet ownership. Probably nothing to worry about, but go ahead and make sure you have enough pet food, and someone to do regular welfare checks, and everything should be fine. Probably.This week's outro is a clip from TeknoAXE's Robot Chomp, and I swear I didn't realize how appropriate that title is for one of the Love, Death, and Robot episodes until after I'd already downloaded it. The "Spider Rose" episode is based on a short story by Bruce Sterling, who created the Mechanist/Shaper universe that this and "Swarm" is set in.Turns out that yes, the poet in the episode "For He Can Creep" is based on a real Victorian poet who died in debtor's prison. Damn, we can't get away from grim topics this week, can we?Found it! The story Kathryn was thinking of with the windows was Higglety Pigglety Pop or There Must Be More To Life. It is indeed by Maurice Sendak, and it's still just as beautiful and creepy as we remembered.Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!