Show notes
Off Menu with Andi Osho — [00:02:29]
Merlin’s latest Off Menu listening leads to Blue Lights, Gerry, and a Game of Thrones name that becomes its own joke. This is Osho’s November 4 episode.
Blue Lights — BritBox Trailer — [00:02:29]
Andi Osho’s Off Menu appearance prompts a detour through Blue Lights, Gerry, and Richard Dormer’s other familiar role.
International Order of the Rainbow for Girls — [00:06:40]
Remembering his mother’s Rainbow Girls involvement leads Merlin to measure the age of his own references.
DeMolay International — [00:06:40]
DeMolay joins Rainbow Girls in the conversation about old organizations and family memories.
You Can See Everything — A24 — [00:08:04]
The previous member show’s challenge is held for the aftershow so the hosts can discuss the film with spoilers.
Steve Kornacki’s 2026 Election Livestream — [00:11:49]
The central recommendation: the full 10-hour, 38-minute Kornacki Cam stream, including the production around the broadcast appearances. Merlin wants Kornacki and Adam back in the same room.
Hanna-Barbera Sound Effects Library — Demonstration — [00:13:17]
A misunderstood cartoon noise becomes a tour of familiar sound effects, including the quick entrances and exits Merlin recognizes in Portlandia.
Hanna-Barbera Sound Effects Library — Sound Ideas — [00:13:26]
The collection behind the sound-effects detour. Merlin recalls acquiring a CD of the familiar cartoon noises.
Making a Murderer — [00:15:44]
Wisconsin election geography reminds Merlin of the series, which concerns Manitowoc County.
Shepard Fairey’s Barack Obama Portrait — National Portrait Gallery — [00:16:44]
Alex recalls Grant Park in 2008; the Obama campaign imagery takes a darker turn in Merlin’s “Hope Drones” variation.
Kurt Vonnegut — Slaughterhouse-Five — [00:21:53]
Late vote counting brings Vonnegut’s “mopping up” description to Merlin’s mind.
Instacart’s Carrot and Arrow — [00:26:15]
Merlin explains the green arrow inside the carrot, while Alex’s difficulty spotting hidden arrows produces Arrow Blind.
Paul Rand’s UPS Identity — [00:27:13]
The old UPS package tied with string supplies the neighboring logo example. This page shows Rand’s actual identity work.
The Man Behind the FedEx Logo — Lindon Leader Interview — [00:27:16]
Alex’s difficulty seeing the hidden arrow supplies “Arrow Blind.” The logo’s designer explains how the arrow emerged between the E and x.
Harry Nilsson — Me and My Arrow — [00:27:39]
The logo conversation becomes a song through the word arrow.
Harry Nilsson — Without You — [00:27:56]
Merlin sings the refrain while asking Alex about Nilsson, before the Lennon anecdote.
The Beatles — Penny Lane — [00:29:08]
The Lennon and Nilsson story reaches a Beatles-song punch line.
The Beatles — Yesterday — [00:29:16]
The spoken Scrambled Eggs reference is taken as an allusion to Yesterday’s working title; the identification is an inference.
Gus’s Community Market — Its History — [00:29:57]
Merlin explains the Sunset grocery trip that supplied the election-night charcuterie board.
John Mulaney — Long Victorian Nightgown — [00:30:56]
The rushed grocery trip recalls Mulaney’s bit about being handed an enormous Billabong T-shirt.
The Mountain Goats — The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton — [00:31:30]
Denton is one of the places Merlin knows through songs, starting the Texas portion of the playlist.
The Mountain Goats — All Hail West Texas — [00:32:20]
Merlin names the album while the musical map of Texas moves from Denton to El Paso.
Marty Robbins — El Paso — [00:32:21]
Merlin’s musical map of Texas reaches Marty Robbins. This is the full-length recording.
The Blues Brothers — Rawhide Scene — [00:32:49]
The country-and-western exchange recalls the Blues Brothers playing behind chicken wire at Bob’s Country Bunker.
Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys — San Antonio Rose — [00:33:07]
A Bob Wills classic to accompany Merlin’s distinction between country and Western music.
Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys — Take Me Back to Tulsa — [00:33:07]
More Western swing from Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys.
Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks — I Feel Like Singing — [00:33:08]
Merlin follows Bob Wills with Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, then names “I Feel Like Singing.”
Do By Friday 473 — Songs Mentioned — [00:33:15]
The episode’s musical detours, from Nilsson and the Beatles through Western swing, Fleetwood Mac, and the Rolling Stones.
Savannah Guthrie’s Donald Trump Town Hall — NBC / Telemundo — [00:35:48]
The hosts recall Guthrie questioning Trump in the 2020 town hall, including the staging with both of them on stools.
The Newsroom — [00:36:45]
Aaron Sorkin’s newsroom becomes a comparison for the election broadcast’s set and the people working around Kornacki.
Fleetwood Mac — Rhiannon (The Midnight Special, 1976) — [00:43:53]
Stevie Nicks introduces the song about an old Welsh witch in this 1976 Midnight Special performance.
Fleetwood Mac — Gypsy — [00:44:00]
Alex questions the song’s title, and Merlin answers with Honorable Roma.
The Rolling Stones — She’s a Rainbow — [00:45:28]
A colorful-Mac detour supplies the final identifiable song in the main recording.
Patrick Stewart’s Circumcision Story — The Graham Norton Show — [00:47:20]
The late conversation recalls Stewart learning that he had misunderstood his own circumcision status.
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