Every year, at this time, for the last three years, I take a moment out to pick my favorite

episode of the year.

It is a personal choice.

It is not necessarily what I think is the best episode or the most important episode

or the one that I would put in some sort of time capsule to represent my work for the

year because, A, that is a super weird time capsule.

And B, I don't really think of the show that way.

Each episode is its own thing.

The timing of this year's Nate's favorite episode comes at the same time as Radio Toby's

fundraiser when I ask you the listener to support the show.

And as I went back through the episodes that I produced this year, I was sort of looking

at them through that lens.

And when I do look at the episodes and listen back to some of them, kind of all in chunk,

I am struck always by how weird the show is.

And in real ways, it is because this show is a part of Radio Tobya that it gets to be

weird, because of the support of this network and because of the support of folks like you

listening right now who support this network.

The only thing that guides me from episode to episode is me.

I get to follow my interests as idiosyncratic as they might be.

And my heart as corny as that might sound.

And so the year goes from sweeping romance about chicken scientists to a story that links

candy manufacturing to early aviation to publicity suns to the nuclear bomb all in

...