I don’t have any interviews in this week’s NOW — I know, it’s crazy, right? But that’s just the way the schedule shook out; trust me, there’ll be plenty in the weeks to come.

I do have a bunch of stuff in the paper, including several of the Reel Asian titles and a piece on the Lars Von Trier mini-retro that’s just got underway at the Lightbox, but they’re not quite as glamourous as talks with Oscar-winning filmmakers who make penguins dance. (Trust me, we’ll get to that.)

In exchange for my underwhelming contribution to your cinematic enlightenment, let me offer you this terrific two-part interview with John Hodgman over at The AV Club. Here is the first half, in which he makes some excellent observations about how parenthood has changed his perspective as a writer, and here is the second, where the conversation ranges towards the ongoing factioning of American society into “geeks vs. jocks”, and several other interesting topics.

The more (virtual) time I spend with Hodgman — reading his books, following his Twitter feed, listening to his excellent podcast (this episode makes a great entry point, if you’re new to it) — the more I just plain love the guy. Check out his work, or dive into his 90-minute appearance on The Nerdist — and see if you don’t love him, too.