Chuck and I and our producer Jeri got to do something really cool recently; we created our first spoken-word album out of thin air. One day, no spoken-word album; a couple weeks later — poof! — there’s an SYSK spoken-word album on the economy and economics. What’s cool about the spoken-word album label is that there’s a Grammy category for such things. I’m just saying.

I’ve always viewed spoken-word albums as the kind of thing that’s put out by guys who wear heavy wool cardigans with suede elbow patches — as uncomfortably mellow as those gents in the recent Burger King commercials for their mushroom-and-Swiss burgers. True, Chuck wore one of those sweaters a lot while we recorded, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t eat mushroom-and-Swiss burgers until I couldn’t move without assistance, but listening to the Super Stuffed Guide now it’s clear that this had little impact on the final result.