Where have your intrepid hosts Sam & Marnie been these past few weeks? Where are the new episodes?! This mini-episode "mea culpa" tells all. More full episodes from us soon!

Publisher, essayist, comics writer and all-around bon vivant RJ Casey joins Sam and Marnie in a discussion about learning about art (and liiiiife) through writing and thinking critically that launches from RJ's weekly art essay project, “I Like That.” Also in this episode: feeling heavy on safari, the pleasures of finding new work, challenging ourselves to break out of ruts, and fishing cannons. Sam recommends: “Off Diamond Head” by William Finnegan: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/01/off-diamond-head-finnegan FX TV show “Louie” http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/louie/episodes Marnie recommends: music podcast “Song Exploder,” especially the Long Winters episode: http://songexploder.net/the-long-winters absurdist movie podcast “The Worst Idea of All Time” http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-worst-idea-of-all-time More information on RJ's art tumblr “I Like That”: http://artists-of-the-week.tumblr.com/ More information on Yeti Press: http://www.yetipress.com/ You can also follow RJ on twitter @rjcaseywrites Follow us on twitter @imageplustext, tumblr http://imageplustext.tumblr.com/, subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher Send us an email if you have any feedback or suggestions for future episodes at [email protected]

Comic artist Eddy Rivera joins Sam and Marnie for a hard look at how our personal histories affect the characters we create and the kinds of stories we want to tell. Also in this episode: gendering corn plants, the tools we use to create more richly developed characters, the ethics of incorporating or appropriating other people's stories in to our fiction, and how real Indiana stacks up against Pawnee. Sam recommends: the Parker novels by Donald E Westlake AKA Richard Stark Marnie recommends: "H is for Hawk" by Helen Macdonald **** For more on Eddy Rivera, visit www.http://eddyrivera.com Follow us on twitter, tumblr, subscribe on iTunes, Soundcloud or Stitcher Send us an email if you have any feedback or suggestions for future episodes at [email protected]

Sam and Marnie sit down with cartoonist/animator Lale Westvind (Hot Dog Beach, Hyperspeed to Nowhere, Now and Here) to talk about spontaneity in cartooning. Also in this episode: Cartoonists who don't read comics, rules that set you free, and favorite stories by Jorge Luis Borges. Sam recommends: Netflix/BBC TV show "The Fall" Marnie recommends: The Yahoo Screens TV show "Other Space"