Saugus Speedway: Where Legends Were Forged

Get ready for a loud, dusty adventure! In this episode, we follow Little Carl and his dad on their ritual trip to Saugus Speedway, a coliseum of roaring engines and controlled chaos. Listen as Little Carl transforms the ordinary highway into his personal championship track—complete with the 'Grapevine Gambit'—and find out why Dad’s rare, "guttural noises" of approval were more precious than a checkered flag. This story highlights the powerful connection forged through shared passion, reminding us that even wildly different internal experiences between family members can create crucial and lasting bonds.

A devastating pandemic is in the rearview, but for shoe shiner Jack, a new—and world-altering—crisis is just beginning.

In this opening installment of the SURFACE AREA podcast deep dive, we meet Jack, a man who's found a new, quiet rhythm to life after global upheaval. But a frantic encounter with a regular customer, the mysterious Silas, shatters his routine, thrusting a heart-shaped locket into his hand with a terrifying warning: "it means the future of this planet."

This episode plunges you into Jack's immediate aftermath: the bewildering loss of the locket, a sudden blackout, and a desperate, terrifying ascent up a dark metal shaft. Experience the raw shock as Jack breaks through to the "surface," only to find an existence of absolute barrenness and emptiness. Why is he here? What has happened to the world? And how does the sudden, miraculous reappearance of the golden locket connect to the beautiful, yet unnerving, stranger who now stands over him?

Explore the start of Jack's journey, his isolation, and the first steps onto a desolate new Earth in this deep dive into the novel, SURFACE AREA.

We all have our own versions of "the wheelie." That one thing we pour our hearts into, convinced it's the most important mission in the world. But what happens when life asks us to set our solitary pursuits aside and join in a shared effort? This podcast explores the moments that teach us the true value of connection. Our first story, "The Wheelie King of Harper Street (in His Mind)," follows a young boy's epic quest for imaginary glory and the powerful lesson he learns from a pile of unfolded laundry.