As you probably know, B.J. Novak is a writer and actor who got pretty famous working in both roles on NBC’s The Office — you’ll remember him as office douche Ryan Howard. Novak recently published a short-story collection called One More Thing, which I just finished reading a few weeks ago, and if you want my opinion, it’s a really good book. The tone falls somewhere between those old Woody Allen stories and George Saunders or Sam Lipsyte. It’s a little inconsistent by design, but it has lots of great moments; I thought the story “Sophia” was a total knockout. Anyway, one of the stories from that collection was featured on a recent This American Life. It’s called “Julie And The Warlord”; I’m not sure it’s one of the best pieces in the book, but I enjoyed reading it very much. It’s a surrealist story about the first date between a young woman and a warlord, in which the warlord explains to the young woman how his job works amid some inane small talk. The piece was read for TAL by Novak (as the narrator), Community and Mad Men’s great Alison Brie (as the young woman), and TV On The Radio vocalist Tunde Adebimpe (as the warlord). The audio is below; skip ahead to 7:02 to listen to the story, or just stream the whole episode. And cop Novak’s book here or ideally at an independent bookstore in your neighborhood, if you have access to such a thing. /sanctimony