Take Note

Episode 244: WWMMD

22 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

DoodleBobGreenlights JournalLast Tango in BrooklynDon DeLillo Secret Hockey NovelWhat We Can Learn from Writing in JournalsTrader Joe's Blueberry Lemo...

Episode 243: The Smell Society

12 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Grapes of Wrath by John SteinbeckSteinbeck stageThe Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington PlaceOpinel knivesLeonard Cohen on Austin City LimitsTh...

Episode 242: Metal Jaw

23 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

CW&T Mechanical PencilField Notes Expedition EditionBBC Start the Week - Fun and GamesBrickJames AcasterPiranesi - Don't read the blurb

Episode 241: The Best of the No-Good Louseys

08 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Winter fashion influencer chat moves to beanie logo placement before travel to the armory, the library, and the horizontal pocket notebook. A Tru...

Episode 240: Up For Grabs

25 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Save It For Next YearTWSBI ObsidianBalograf Swedish PenStalogy Low-Viscosity PenClairefontaine My EssentialsClairefontaine Triomphe NotepadBlackwing I...

Episode 239: Idea of the Year

26 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A Fairytale of Take Note.Kakou CollectiveStart the WeekOliver Sacks in the New YorkerOdd Lots: pizza place

Episode 238: Perhaps Without All the Beatings

23 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Shot By CheneyField Notes Fall FlowersHatch Show Print StoreThe Lowdown

Episode 237: Talkin’ Twilight Override with Tim Wasem

08 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Wasem of the venerable Erasable Podcast to discussion, among other things, Jeff Tweedy’s new solo triple album, “Twilight Override.”Transcen...

Episode 236: Risible

18 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Several Short Sentences on WritingVerlyn Klinkenborg OctpusLauren Collins UniqloAdventure Time “Thank You”Clear the Field PodcastBob Dylan East Tr...

Episode 235: Country Wizard

21 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do men like beef jerky? No more letters in Denmark. Watching people buy a weird amount of Monster/Red Bull from the Costco returns line. There’s not...

Episode 234: The Protein Era

01 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do men like beef jerky? No more letters in Denmark. Watching people buy a weird amount of Monster/Red Bull from the Costco returns line. There’s not...

Episode 233: Manual Whistling

25 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Merlin Bird IDDeja Blue is not new. Founded 1996.Alpine Cowboys BaseballRangra Theatre, Alpine, TXBohuslav Martinů's Symphony No. 5Good Postage North...

Episode 232: The New Yorker Fiction Issue

06 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan joins us before the next decasode as we delve into three stories from the New Yorker’s Fiction issue (our 6th time doing it!). Alongside your r...

Episode 231: Field Notes Film Festival

14 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An article on The Phoenecian Scheme and Wes Anderson's "late style"Christiana Amanpour and Wes AndersonThe Big Picture with Wes AndersonKeith Botsford...

Episode 230: Enid, Frances, Georgia, Harriett

27 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A bunny-based gambling game to spice up your marriage, scenes from Las Vegas, balloon stories, a discussion of justice, and how we notebook, or want t...

Episode 229: Gotcha

10 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

- Skunk Hour by Robert Lowell- Bill Murray NYT Interview- Scion xB 2004- Any Person Is the Only Self by Elisa Gabbert- Normal Distance by Elisa Gabber...

Episode 228: 18 Couches

28 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ted and Adam each traveled, on their own, to New York. They talk filmgoing in the city, note-taking in the city, clock-watching in the city, etc. Prog...

Episode 227: Lady Vikings

15 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

John McPheeNat Geo '94 on Walt WhitmanSara Levine's Substack

Episode 226: Thumping Nonetheless

13 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Adam beams in from a room near the lobby of a Grand Cayman hotel room to discuss what we’ve been jotting in our notebooks, app boredom, school dropo...

Episode 225: Signs

03 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Field Notes "The Chicago Look" EditionColt Bowden Sign Painting BooksPenchetta Pen and Knife StoreProfolio Oasis Notebook

Episode 224: Donny Profitt

23 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ted steps in it when comparing a local celebration to Mardi Gras, plus some impromptu haiku, real rodeo cowboy names, and notes from the baseball tour...

Episode 223: Tip

19 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Adam's NotebooksJust Tell Me Who It Was by John CheeverVineland by Thomas PynchonJamelle Bouie favorite film genresAnnhiliation by Jeff VanderMeerThe ...

Sidenote: Finding Oh

13 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s baseball season! To commemorate this happy time of year, Ted made an audio recording of an essay that he wrote in 2014 for a collection called ...

Episode 222: Alternative Takes

06 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Notes from between 1606 and 1607, the beauty of alternate takes, using notebooks to refine ideas, and why the pencil is a Zen object. Caravaggio ...

Episode 221: Nubbin

27 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

DDC x FN Turquoise TributeAt the Existensialist Cafe by Sarah BakewellInside the Fight Against a Los Angeles InfernoJokermenTurkey and the WolfCasamen...

Episode 220: Big Game

03 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan joins us as we prep for the big game with our talk of oyster restaurants, middle school recitals, and Adam’s approach to a “logbook” to tra...

Episode 219: The Knight of New Jersey

02 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we share notes from a Texas snowstorm, journals from the olden days spark creative, a dream journaling update, a new segment, and disc...

Episode 218: Mudlark

22 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The ThemeNorthwestern University Media LibraryToday's Number Is…Peggy Guggenheim Museum ShopEasy Everything Internet CafeRushmoreA Complete UnknownJ...

Episode 217: The Dictaphone Closet

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s 2025, we look at some year-starting notebooks, discuss how one might use the Notes app with paper notebooks, and share our slate of waddya gots...

Episode 216: The Howard Stern of It All

30 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the last episode of 2024, we haphazardly bring the heat, rambling from one topic to the next. We range across used bookstores, endurance in art, a ...

Episode 215: Puzzley

26 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Enter the WizardB&N Villain NYT 2022B&N Back NYT 2023B&N Back NYT Also 2023Mainstreet Books DavidsonVectors by James Richardson Glori...

Episode 214: Woodchipper Talk

06 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We spend some time discussing writer Oliver Burkeman’s thoughts on time and tasks, but not before covering wood chipping wisdom, baked waiters, sals...

Episode 213: Connotate

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Solemn Oath Field NotesPapier TigreThe Unfinished Notebook podcastStaedtler Lumograph PencilsBeer recommendationsPentel CalmeGeneral’s Color-Tex Pen...

Episode 212: Two-Body System

30 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Complicated Halloween party scenarios, track meets, notebook use cases, doing a little better every day: it’s all here this week.The Empusium by Olg...

Episode 211: Birds

17 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jeremy Strong on Fresh AirJeremy Strong on WTFVictory Brewing CompanyKeep Honking I Also Am A Goose Bumper StickerThe Empusium by Olga TokarczukThe Bi...

Episode 210: All My Ancestors

07 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan Slie joins us as co-host this week for a rousing round of waddya gots and a discussion of NEW TEETH by Simon Rich. takenote_pod We’re on I...

Episode 209: Tending Our Email Garden

16 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ted and Adam dig into the mailbag, the email bag: reading a week of emails from 2014 to see what we can learn from ourselves. Old brands, office pools...

Episode 208: Catastrophic

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Adam and Ted bring their notebooks to middle school and concert hall and to middle age. Help The Aged2024 XOXO Field NotesDemetrius Oliver's "Aer...

Episode 207: The Last Day of Fishing Camp

02 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our notebooks are sandy and water-stained, beat up and full of notes from the summer as we look to the next season. Three Potato Four NotebookFie...

Episode 206: Buttons

19 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Endo Announces Extension Of U.S. Rights For Voltaren GelNew Yorker Summer 2024 Fiction Issue

Episode 205: They're All True

25 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Adam’s got some game-changing comfort ideas; Field Notes has a beer out; titles of Tolkien; mystery book chit-chat; some podcast recommendations.&nb...

Episode 204: Da Farre. Fatte.

11 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

New Yorker Summer Fiction Issue 2024Fratelli Bonvini MilanCheck out the ScarabookEdizioni PrecarieBeppe Giacobbe Riccardo Luci FlorenceIrish moss...

Episode 203: Miles to Go

03 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We talk writing and music this week alongside our typical super-charged banter. And the notebook of the week!Fire Mike MilesLouise GluckThe Work of Ar...

Episode 202: Pun Mum

29 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Field Note Arceo editionDoane Grid + Lines NotebookThe Last Kind Word SaloonNorcom Spiral NotebookPaul Auster ObitAlice Munro Obit

Episode 201: New York Apples

09 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Adam finds a tonic for spider bite, makes Uber conversation, Ted reads the Hobbit, Adam witnesses a short story, Ted passes a collision center. We als...

Episode 200: Eclipse (Not That One)

21 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Doane Paper Gridlines Idea BookDenik NotebooksThe Notebooks of Sonny RollinsJeff Tweedy How To Write One Song

Episode 199: Paul Jackson of baseball storytelling Project 3.18

05 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Baseball writer and storyteller Paul Jackson of Project 3.18 joins us to discuss his project, wherein he serves up truly fabulous true stories from ba...

Episode 198: Only the Present Moment

01 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Rings of Saturn by W.G. SebaldField Notes Flora EditionEmmy Star BrownJenna BlazevichPentel Sign Pen via Austin KleonUni Style FitMotion

Episode 197: Voluptuous Staples

16 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trips to the museum, business dinners, digging into Ted’s pen haul from Jet Pens.Picasso at the Art InstituteWerner Herzog’s bookGeorge Saunders s...

Episode 196: Mountaintop

27 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Field Notes Foiled AgainEnerGel Euro Needle-PointUniStyle Fit Slim Gel PenTomBow Air Press BallpointSakura Ballsign Gel PenTomBow Mono Graph Lite Ball...

Episode 195: The end of the moment before the internet

05 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We dig into our book club read Vertigo by WG Sebald, share our notebook of the week, and more. The Vaster Wilds by the master Lauren GroffDenim j...

Episode 194: My Time in the Ballet

30 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Papermate FlairMaking Comics by Lynda BarryThree Potato Four NotebookAcross the MoominverseWeird Science

Episode 193: Slow Typing

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Vertigo by WG Sebald reading project continues, Adam pushes Mitt, and Ted has a denim jacket project.Vertigo by WG Sebald, book club!Bottoms Up an...

Episode 192: Stegosauri

12 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Gabbert Quote and Olives PicDeep VellumD For DapperThe Word Pretty by Elisa GabbertExteriors by Annie ErnauxWorld Within A Song by Jeff Tweedy Ve...

Episode 191: When the Glass Ends

11 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Adam adjusts to getting glasses for distance and gives small business the business. Write notebooksField NotesPatreon: jump in to receive the ann...

Episode 190: Lucky Tuxedo

01 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Official Netflix CookbookAmazon Has Hollywood's Worst Shows but it's Best Business ModelField Notes Birch BarkField Notes HeartlandDan McCarthy

Episode 189: Enon Avital of Dapper Notes!

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dapper Notes – Enon Avital’s unique, beautiful notebooks covered in lush paper and fabric and filled with excellent paper – occupy a special pla...

Episode 188: Sucker

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Candy Cane Green TeaClairefontaine Mini NotebooksPocket LeuchttturmEvan Osnos' China's Age of MalaiseApple Store Employees Can't Use These WordsEssayi...

Episode 187: Megatherium

27 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ted and Adam hone their predatory instincts by writing daily poems.Field Notes Foiled AgainMegatheriumCreature ConservancyDaniel Clowes - MonicaLast o...

Episode 186: Carcasses

12 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Lemn SissayLemn Sissay and Lebogang Mashile on Start the WeekThe Trumpet of the SwanHow Emilly Wilson Made Homer Wilson ModernEmily Wilson YouTubeFiel...

Episode 185: Thank You, Mr. Long Arms

04 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ted and Adam navigate numerous potential false memories. Adam remembers his trip to Poland – and a unique stationery store – quite well. Adam also...

Episode 184: Hardcore

13 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Field Notes Tin O DartsField Notes HarvestDaniel Johnston and WilcoField Notes Foiled AgainRetirement the Margaritaville Way

Episode 183: Incompetent Crocodile

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Summer is almost over, so what could be more appropriate than breaking down the stories in the New Yorker’s summer fiction issue? Ryan Slie joins us...

Episode 182: Lost Golf Balls

16 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Walking In Memphis"The Midnight Zone" by Lauren GroffLauren Groff New NovelRaymond Chandler by Anthony FowlesBirnam Wood by Eleanor Cattan4,000 Weeks ...

Episode 181: Beware, Julia

10 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Summer is in full swing as we read strange letters, overhear videos in strange places, look for Gogol in strange stores, and ever so much more.Some Ca...

Episode 180: Gloria

16 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

SolarpunkJudge John Hodgman: This is the Name of Your MulletGalveston Railroad MuseumField Notes Coffee Farm Costa RicaField Notes DDC LogosDave Egger...

Episode 179: Primo Tolstoy

05 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Adam reflects on his experience with Martin Amis, Adam’s archive is all screwed up, Ted bounces around San Francisco and reads a couple of books. An...

Episode 178: Noise

19 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

All Known Metal BandsDapper Notes PlaygroundField Notes Craft PlusPentel Calme The Rest is Noise by Alex RossKundun Soundtrack Phillip GlassEric ...

Episode 177: Natural Dream Talent

21 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We talk more about notebooks for a specific purpose, wherein Ted gives up on his dream journal while Adam thrives as a dream journaler. Meanwhile, Pac...

Episode 176: Stuck Truckhorn

04 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We talk journals for specific purposes (aka a good excuse to start another journal) and Ted shares his books and stationery explorations in Charlotte,...

Episode 175: Conduit

20 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

John Prine "Lake Marie"The Decembrists "Don't Carry It All"Michael Marra "The Lonesome Death of Francis Clarke"Buster Keaton "One Week"Uni Ball Jetstr...

Episode 174: Parading

01 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Adam returns from Mardi Gras to share tales of the spectacle and we ponder privacy settings spurred by news of an unsettling Roomba-related breach.&nb...

Episode 173: Bedtimify

16 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Fabelmans SpoilerSalman Rushdie on The New Yorker Radio HourCityCast ChicagoDapper NotesTexas Monthly 50th Anniversary Cover

Episode 172: Backdraft

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Adam makes a song recommendation that becomes a cultural tidal wave in Ted’s household, and they swap yarns about going for the double cheeseburger,...

Episode 171: Bartok

25 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes we don't like notebooks, and we get into it by way of Murakami and Saunders.

Episode 170: Brain

13 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Field Notes Snowy EveningSchon Design Pocket SixThe Candy House by Jennifer EganA Promised Land by Barack ObamaNemone on BBC6Lessons by Ian McEwanMido...

Episode 169: Everything's a Folk Song

25 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Adam provides a timely addition to the ongoing summer beverage series, we run through some new stationery acquisitions, and Ted revels in a playlist A...

Episode 168: Dandelion Whine

19 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Leuchtturm NotebookPapier PlumeHugh Laurie on The Late ShowElba Four-Ring PaperFreewriteBartleby, the Scrivener

Episode 167: Any Vendor

08 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Adam and Ted get some IRL face time, Ted watches the old Willow with the family, and Adam negotiates with his reptile guy and puts in place a backup p...

Episode 166: The dead bird

17 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We tangle with tough questions about social media and how to break unsatisfying cycles. Meanwhile, Ted finds his missing Lamy Safari, Adam enjoys an o...

Episode 165: Leaf Coach

31 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Longships by Frans BengtssonSexy VikingSexy BeastTárFulgentius

Episode 164: Blood Blister Blue

20 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What’s the proper note-jotting etiquette? Notebook vs. phone? We dig into the etiquette a little further. In whaddya gots, parents must choose wheth...

Episode 163: The Squeaky Plunger

12 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

HDPE Tear TabsMainstreet Books DavidsonRadiolab LoopsNo. 91/92 by Lauren Elkin

Episode 162: The Rimbaldi Sequence

30 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Prepared with a nearly full set of hex wrenches, Adam takes note of his 10th anniversary of carrying a Field Notes book in his pocket, Ted enjoys a tr...

Episode 161: It Stinks!

22 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Field Notes Leap of Faith editionYour Face Tomorrow by Javier MariasZebra V-301Field Notes Green Mind Green editionField Notes Wilco edition

Episode 160: Magic Sunday

12 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan Slie joins us and brings some tales from getting to the ballpark, Adam enjoys a special day at the dive bar, we share Sunday rituals and salami s...

Episode 159: Salty Girl

30 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ezra Klein "How We Look Matters as Much as What We See"NopeWeekday MatineesField Notes Salt Shed NotebooksRobert Earl Keen "No. 2 Live Dinner"Robert E...

Episode 158: Old Silver-Plated

15 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We chat about toddler hijinx on the road this summer, salty lox conundra, and Adam’s fountain pen phase, while Adam spins up some surprise endings a...

Episode 157: Randomthinks

10 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Randomthinks InstagramA5 Hobonichi Techo CousinField Notes End PapersElisa Gabbert on the NYT Book Review PodcastJapanese Hanko StampLamy 2000Colorver...

Episode 156: Sorry Gops, or Articulacy

03 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

N+1 Unleash the NicheTombow Unions HatCervezas Polar HatRachel Syme "How I Learned to Wear a Baseball Hat"Lauren Collins New Yorker ArchiveKansas City...

Episode 155: The Great Lakes

14 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In Our Time (BBC) Death of StarsIn Our Time (BBC) Shakespeare's Sonnets"Step" Vampire WeekendMany Glacier Guided Boat Tour and HikeField Notes "Leap o...

Episode 154: Road Trip Notebooks

09 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dig into notebooks on vacation and the associated techniques; read our summer magazines backwards; a touch of vertigo kicks off some movie reflecti...

Episode 153: Hackles and Haunches

23 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

- Zebra Sarasa 0.3- Pilot Juice Up 0.3- Ballsign ID Mysterious Black 0.4- Midori Brass Ballpoint Bullet Pen- Pentel Energel 0.5- Dad Jokes Served Fres...

Episode 152: Dagwood

10 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Adam and Ted discuss sandwich dreaming, how to get excited about and make the most of a writing workshop, why we write down lists, and whether to post...

Episode 151: Islands in the Stream

06 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ruff House Print ShopT MagazineConey Island restaurantsCountry Songs for Clones (Spotify)Country Songs for Clones (Apple Music)Field Notes Signs of Sp...

Episode 150: Sweaty Books

31 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan Slie joins us for our 150th episode, in which we share our latest round of waddya gots, Ted asks readers to share how your Prius died (because we...

Episode 149: Gratitude Circle

18 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The SkintsWho the hell are Arcade Fire?Uniball JetstreamPentel EnerGel KuroPentel InkjoyKirby and the Forgotten LandLamy 2000UniBall Signo UM-153Lamy ...

Episode 148: Lined in Your Mind

12 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ted visits Petco, Adam and Ted get grossed out and squeezed in on airplanes. Then we check in on recent Field Notes notebook editions – Signs of Spr...

Episode 147: The Typewriter Life

01 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Trader Joes Blue Cheese Stuffed OlivesInternational Cat FederationDetroit Type WorksGraphite ConfidentialCW PencilsCalifornia TypewriterLettera 22

Episode 146: The Small Pizza

09 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig