Nat, Mike and Dan have finally managed to assemble once more in the 'Carnage lair, deep under the streets of Camden. There they find HdP ready to record because, well, it's a strong collar and chain they bought way back in 2010...

In other news: Mike has brought his mini-me, Mr Nate Carlson, who promptly slags off the gang, demands payment and crashes Nat's links so we can assume that the next generation will be business as usual; the Lego movie is surprisingly dark; Amazon is making tv shows, Mike recommends one; Dan watches a film of roughly the vintage that Nat usually does, surprise ensues; Nat's all about House of Cards, a quality second season in the offing; lots of off-season action in the NFL, the guys plough into this with their usual aplomb; in the NBA, Indiana lead the East, OKC lead the West, but the NBA has had a quiet weekend because of the annual clusterfuck of showing off that is the All Star break; on Sunday in New Orleans, the East took on the West and both teams played even less defence than usual, running up a record score of 163-155; NHL-wise, Anaheim lead the West from St Louis, Pittsburgh lead the West from Boston. It’s basically the same as when we left you; what is different, is the league hit shutdown as many of the players went to Sochi; The Winter Olympics got underway, Canada’s path to the next round was fairly roiutine, putting away Norway, Austria and Finland in overtime thanks to two Drew Doughty goals; loads of Bodeans Mailbag goodness, a grand old game from Dan and much, much more...

Mike and Dan have lost Nat to NYC in the build up to some sporting event or other so be prepared for the channel 4 coverage to have plenty of cutaways with Nat singing 'if I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere...' while wearing C4 foam fingers. Aaaanyway, to help fill the gap left by N-Power's absence we've got Shortlist's sports editor, Bears fan and long-time friend of the show Mr Ben Isaacs.

In other news: Ben's off to train with the Welsh rugby team and his recent gym usage has simply broken him rather than started to rebuild him - this could be the last time we see him; Dan met Gavin Henson once then spends time defending Charlotte Church; Mike mentions Nietsche and thing get strangely philosophical (hence the title, geddit?!); lots of pro bowl talk;lots of head coach talk; plenty plenty super bowl talk; baseball talk; NHL and NBA talk; Bodeans Mailbag action and some betting, what more could you want. Possibly much, much more...

Nat and Mike arrive in the studio this week with a spring in their step and joy in their hearts, all is right with the world. Until HdP tells them that Dan can't make it to the show and the tears start to flow... Luckily writer and broadcaster Stig Abell is about so he chucks them on the chin and tells them to turn their frowns upside down, to get on with talking about sports like big boys. So that, dear listener, is what they did...

In other news: Stig reads lots of books while commuting and reckons you can too; Mike talks about books too then Nat does as well so the first 18 minutes or so are pretty literary; don't worry, this changes; all agree that the era of men wearing hats was a good thing; the Pro Bowl is coming but amazingly it gets ignored - we may not be the only group of people to do this; for the first time in 4 years or so the top seeds are facing off against each other in the Super Bowl, 'should be pretty epic' appears to be the general consensus; very little time is devoted to Richard Sherman; supposedly elite refereees are anything but; in the NBA, Kobe says the league is more about finesse these days; San Antonio, Portland and OKC lead the West; the Nets beat the Nicks at The Garden; big baseball discussions are had; hockey is talked about; loads of Bodeans Mailbag goodies and much, much more...

Nat and Dan are having to do without the Big Man this week and things were looking pretty grim - it seemed like HdP might even have to talk more and we know for a fact that shouldn't happen. Luckily for all involved the tower of power that is TM Football's Will Gavin stepped into the breach, which means not only that once again Pods Collide, but also a reuniting of the Absolute Radio *coughAbsoluteRadio90'scough* NFL team. Apparently he only came to see Mike which makes for an awkward moment or two...

In other news: Once again sports take about 14 minutes to arrive. It would have been longer but for the edit, see if you can spot the joins; stories of working with Dan in other places prove remarkably familiar and he brings a joke which was censored elsewhere; 12 Years a Slave is apparently quite harrowing; Dan talks hip-hop; the niners resort to old-school football while the panthers end up being just a bit little-brother; the seahawks have the best pass-d in the league; loads of other things but you'll hear them when you listen; are nicknames on jerseys the lamest gimmick the NBA have tried? Probably not but boy do they suck; loads of Bodeans Mailbag goodness; Dan gets close to home with his Hollywood Animals game and much, much more...

Nat, Mike and Dan are back from the festive season feeling fired up and ready to dish it out; Dan especially as Mike calls him on the amount he talk about cacapoopoopeepee. Turns out it's quite a lot. Helping them deal with this and making his long-awaited return is the all-pro Qaurterback and man wth one week to live, Marek Larwood.

In other news: The BBC messed up the new year fireworks; Marek will sleep with all three members of Haim but not one at a time; various joke opportunities are missed, other ones which should have been aren't; Dan's getting ready to run the London marathon and has succumbed to the sickness of being unable to stop talking about it; films have been watched and that takes up much of the first 18 minutes so if you just want sports, that's where to skip to; speaking of sports, loads of that has happened since we were last in the studio, so much that I couldn't possibly list it here - listen to find out; great stuff from the Bodeans Mailbag, an epic game to start the year with and much, much more...