Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Tales from the Pit.

I'm your intrepid Pittsman Michael Swame and this episode I'm sitting down talking to

The Big Bean himself Mr Abe Epperson, my best friend, co-writer, and co-founder of this network.

I promised I'd introduce him in the intro and then I think I pretty thoroughly introduce him in the episode as well and

that's just because I was feeling awkward for the first few minutes.

So enjoy that secondhand embarrassment, but eventually we get around to talking about kids and children. I'm

currently in the process of actively trying to get my partner pregnant, have our

first kid, and I wanted to, you know, talk to my friend about my reasons for wanting children, my fears around it,

good and bad reasons for wanting to have children,

and the idea of having a child in the face of climate

change, all that stuff around kids and child rearing. There's a little short story first,

please bear with me. You can skip ahead maybe, I don't know, 10 minutes. I haven't timed it, so that's inaccurate probably.

But you know, smash that 30 seconds forward button, if you must,

otherwise the conversation will start right after the story

and this story is called the Quality of Mercy. It's no wonder we found a way to monetize forgiveness.

Anything can be It's no wonder we found a way to monetize forgiveness.

Anything can be abstracted, anything ascribed value,

and forgiveness is such sweet sucker to all us sinners.

We know this, from Shakespeare and the Gospel of John and from a thousand

private moments of relief, absolution, purification. It is a necessary mercy that we grant each other, a much-needed reassurance that we are all of us imperfect,

and none of us exiled from humanity or redemption.

Forgiveness is a magic power, the ability to lighten another's burden by the weight of one

...