This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome David Ebenbach, author of The AI Suspects It Might Be a Hungry Ghost.

About The AI Suspects It Might Be a Hungry Ghost: The poems in David Ebenbach’s new poetry collection, The AI Suspects It Might Be a Hungry Ghost, speculate: if a chatbot could feel and think, what would it feel and think? What would it feel about the complicated situation we’re all in right now, as well as the prospects for the future? What would it think about itself—and about us, its human creators?

About David Ebenbach: David Ebenbach writes. He’s been writing ever since he was a kid, when he kept his whole family awake by banging away on an enormous manual typewriter, and he’s never wanted to stop.

David’s now the author of ten books of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, and his work has picked up awards along the way: the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, the Juniper Prize, the Patricia Bibby Award, and more.

Born and raised in the great city of Philadelphia, these days David does most of his writing in Washington, DC, where he lives with his family—because he uses a laptop now, he doesn’t keep them awake with his typing—and where he works at Georgetown University, promoting inclusive, student-centered teaching at the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship, and teaching creative writing and literature at the Center for Jewish Civilization and creativity through the Master’s in Learning, Design, and Technology Program.

This week’s picks:

• David #1: Soundcloud
• David #2: Going to the Moon (Practices) by Sally Ashton
• Tracy: Good Eats (HBOMax)
• Patrick: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Crunchyroll)

Links:

• David Ebenbach on Instagram
• Tracy Townsend on BluSky
• Patrick Hester on Instagram
• The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2026 Patrick Hester

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