This week’s show begins with a mea culpa to those of you who actually listen to the show in podcast form. After that, your friends in podcasting and broadcasting follow up on last week’s “What We’re Reading” with amazing tales of the Knights of Malta and of the great artist Caravaggio’s time in Malta. Then the Hall & Oates “Lawsuit of the Week” gets revisited and clarified, before loyal listener Maurice Terenzio sets Dean straight on a lawsuit that involved puppetry giants Sid & Marty Krofft. In “Celebrity Deaths”, a groundbreaking pianist, a groundbreaking soap opera actress, a trailblazing television producer, an Oscar nominated French Actress, and a beloved American movie star all get remembered. And because awards season in Hollywood is now in full swing, two new television series get described and appraised.

The night before Thanksgiving, Dean and Phil met high atop a certain “historic building in downtown Los Angeles” for a very thoughtful conversation about gratitude, authenticity, a Japanese tea house, three restaurants in Malta, an American cemetery in Tuscany, Veterans Day, and yes, even Hall & Oates (in the return of “Lawsuit of the Week”). It’s heartfelt, its hilarious, it’s your friends in podcasting (and broadcasting) at their best.

Phil is in Malta. Before he left, he sent Dean an itinerary of his trip. Dean was aghast. That itinerary was a jam-packed 7 pages of information about travel, accommodations, meals, beverages, sites and activities. On this week’s show, recorded prior to departure, Phil sat still long enough to answer Dean’s questions about the trip.