This is something very different for Infinite Monkeys, but we've always had a fairly "loose format" here so I thought I'd go ahead and post this. I've been a Sunday School teacher at my church (denomination: Presbyterian Church in America) for several years, and last week I was asked to deliver the sermon. We've been going through the book of Daniel one chapter at a time, so "my turn" was Chapter 8. Several friends and family were kind enough to come support me, and a couple of others asked to hear the recording, so without further comment...

Lyle Denniston has been covering the Supreme Court for a half-century -- first as a newspaperman in Baltimore and Boston, and now for the invaluable SCOTUSblog. He joins the podcast this week to give an overview of the Supreme Court's term, a look at the Elena Kagan confirmation hearings, and a preview of what hot topics the court will be wrestling with next.

Topics covered in this podcast:

* Is this the year Chief Justice John Roberts put his stamp on the court?
* How has President Obama done with his first two Supreme Court picks?
* Have the big Constitutional questions already been settled?
* Has there ever been a nominee confirmation hearing that was substantive?
* How does the court change when one justice replaces another?
* Should Supreme Court oral arguments be televised?
* What's it like to make the jump to cyberspace reporting after a half-century in journalism?
* What topics will the Supreme Court use to make us angry next year and in coming years?

Music heard in this podcast:

* "Stop, In The Name of Love," The Supremes.
* "Breakin' The Law," Hayseed Dixie.
* "Supreme," Robbie Williams.
* "I Fought the Law," The Clash.

At 6:30 pm Thursday, July 8, Denniston will moderate a forum on the Supreme Court at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Check constitutioncenter.org for details.

Ben Boychuk and Joel Mathis discuss the end of "Lost" with Macworld editor Jason Snell, who was kind enough to join us again for a wrap-up. We would have posted this a little sooner, but paying work seemed to get in the way. We recorded on Saturday, May 29, while there was still a warm glow about the series finale and the resolution. Well, Joel wasn't especially warm, as you will hear...

Among the questions we discuss:

• Did it work?
• Was Ben Linus's fate satisfactory?
• Was the "Lost" finale on par with the end of "Battlestar Galactica"?
• What can "faithless infidels" take from shows like "Lost"?
• Is long-form, episodic TV with a multi-season story arc even possible anymore? Was it ever?
• And much more!

Music heard in this podcast:

More of Michael Giacchino, naturally -- all from season one.

(Oh, and be sure to listen through to the very end.)

As ABC's "Lost" hurdles toward its thrilling Sunday night series finale, Ben Boychuk and Joel Mathis discuss the show and its meaning with Macworld's Jason Snell. The podcast was recorded over the weekend, before Tuesday's episode, "What They Died For."

Among the questions we explore:

• Where does "Lost" rank in the science fiction pantheon?
• Are showrunners Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof giving their fans the finger?
• What do creators owe to their fans, anyway?
• What do "Lost" and "Battlestar Galactica" have in common?
• What do "Lost" and "Twin Peaks" have in common?
• Is the music in "Lost" like another character in the show?
• How should "The End" end?

Music heard in this podcast:

• Selections from Michael Giacchino's scores to "Lost," seasons 2 through 5.

As ABC's "Lost" hurdles toward its thrilling Sunday night series finale, Ben Boychuk and Joel Mathis discuss the show and its meaning. But...something is missing. It's almost as if this podcast was recorded in a parallel timeline. (Or maybe Jason Snell forgot what time we were scheduled to record...) The podcast was recorded over the weekend, before Tuesday's episode, "What They Died For."

Among the questions we explore:

• Are the Others really the good guys?
• What do "Lost" and "Battlestar Galactica" have in common?
• Are showrunners Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof giving their fans the finger?
• Is Ben Linus a metaphor for George W. Bush?
• Is the music in "Lost" like another character in the show?
• How should "The End" end?

Music heard in this podcast:

• Selections from Michael Giacchino's scores to "Lost," seasons 2 through 5.

Ben and Joel are joined by Joyce Lee Malcolm to discuss McDonald v. Chicago, a Second Amendment case before the Supreme Court, and the history of the right to bear arms.

Malcolm is a professor of law at George Mason University School of Law. She is a historian and constitutional scholar. She is the author of seven books including To Keep and Bear Arms: The Origins of an Anglo-American Right and Guns and Violence: The English Experience. Her work on the Second Amendment and the right to be armed has been widely cited in court opinions and legal literature including the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2008 opinion, District of Columbia v. Heller

This coming week -- on May 5 -- she'll appear in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center for a discussion about "RETHINKING THE SECOND AMENDMENT: THE CHICAGO GUN CASE AND THE FUTURE OF GUN RIGHTS." The event is 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and is free, but reservations required. Check constitutioncenter.org for details.

Questions discussed in this podcast:

* Didn't Heller settle the Second Amendment debate once and for all?
* How did the right to bear arms evolve, anyway?
* What happened when England withdrew the right?
* Does the Second Amendment make sense in an urbanized society?
* What mischief might legislators make through backdoor regulations to keep guns out of the hands of Americans?

Music heard in this podcast:

* "Happiness is a Warm Gun," Beatles.
* "Battle of New Orleans," Johnny Horton.
* "Bang Bang," Nancy Sinatra.

After a hiatus, the podcast returns at the tail-end of tax season and tea party mania. Ben Boychuk and Robb Leatherwood last month interviewed John O'Hara, author of A New American Tea Party: The Counterrevolution Against Bailouts, Handouts, Reckless Spending, and More Taxes. We very much wanted to post this sooner, but paying work got in the way. Our apologies to O'Hara, who gave a great interview here.

Among the questions we explore:

• Who's running these tea parties?
• Are the tea parties really creatures of the Republican Party?
• Is there a coherent tea party platform?
• Aren't tea parties really just astroturf?
• Can the tea party movement move beyond street protests to shape political reform?

Music heard in this podcast:

• "Anarchy X," Queensryche
• "Gun Battle," (From the "Billy the Kid" Ballet Suite), Aaron Copland/London Symphony Orchestra
• "New Avengers-Raw Deal Mix," Snowboy
• "Tax Free," Jimi Hendrix
• "Traitors (Verräter)," Peter Thomas
• "Always Tomorrow," The Shazam
• "Eyes of a Stranger," Queensryche

It's Academy Awards Weekend. Ben and Joel are joined once again by Christian Toto of What Would Toto Watch? and Matt Prigge of Philadelphia Weekly to talk about the 2009 nominees in the run up to Sunday's awards. (And if you are listening to this after the show, check out just how wrong -- or how right! -- we were.)

Among the questions we explore:

• Are 10 Best Picture nominations better than five?
• Or is expanding the nomination pool just a gimmick?
• Never mind what the Academy says: What movie really deserved the Best Picture Oscar?
• Is "Avatar" art -- or an embarrassment?
• What set "The Hurt Locker" apart from other recent war movies?
• Is it time for a gender-neutral “Best Actor” Oscar?
• Which movie released in 2009 should have been on the Best Picture list?
• Could there be a better Nazi zombie movie than "Dead Snow"?

Music heard in this podcast:

• "Hooray for Hollywood," Geoff Muldaur
• "I See You (Theme from 'Avatar')," some cheap knockoff cover, not the Leona Lewis version from the "Avatar" OST
• "Slaughter," Billy Preston (from the "Inglourious Basterds" OST)
• "Julia's Theme," Alexander Desplat (from the "Julie and Julia" OST)
• "Up With End Credits," Michael Giacchino (from the "Up" OST)

Ben and Joel are joined by Will Bunch, a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News and the author of "Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts Our Future."

Questions discussed in this podcast:

• What is this "Reagan myth" that Bunch speaks of?
• Is mythmaking so bad? Does it hurt our modern politics and discourse if Reagan is mythologized?
• Why do modern Republicans do such a bad and over-the-top job of paying fealty to the Gipper?
• Why isn't Ronald Reagan taking more of a hit for planting the seeds of the financial crisis? Why -- when he presided over an era of ballooning deficits and debt -- do Republicans have the rhetorical advantage on fiscal issues?
• Will torture advocate John Yoo keep his media jobs now that the Justice Department has decided not to punish him?
• What hope is there for newspapers in the future?

Music heard in this podcast:

• John Lennon, "Working Class Hero."
• David Bowie, "Heroes."
• Sonic Youth, "Massage The History."
• Mos Def, "History."
• Betty Iron Thumbs, "Free Like You."
• Ike and Tina Turner, "Crazy About You, Baby."
• The O'Jays, "When The World's At Peace."

Ben and Joel welcome Eric Boehlert, a senior fellow at Media Matters for America and the author of "Bloggers on the Bus: How the Internet Changed Politics and the Press," out this month in paperback.

Questions addressed in this podcast:

• How has the Internet changed politics and the press?
• Do the "netroots" deserve credit for Democratic electoral victories in 2006 and 2008 -- or would the left have been victorious anyway?
• How did liberals get their online advantage? Are conservatives finally catching up?
• Why did Obama bypass the netroots during his campaign? Are they getting in the way of his governance now?
• What's all this Tea Party stuff about, anyway?
• Would today's National Review make Bill Buckley cry?

Music heard in this podcast, all by The Bad Plus:

• "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
• "Heart of Glass"
• "Barracuda"
• "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate"

Next week's podcast guest: Will Bunch, author of "Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts Our Future."