The largest—and what would turn out to be the last—issue of Esopus contained six artists’ projects, many incorporating removable inserts, by Noriko Ambe, Paolo Arao, Tina Barney, John Edmonds, Elizabeth Ferry, and Anish Kapoor. Contents also included Francine Prose’s reflections on an early Renaissance painting at the Metropolitan Museum (incorporating a poem by Zbigniew Herbert); a never-before-published 1991 spec script, reproduced here in facsimile, from Transparent cocreators Faith and Joey Soloway; brand-new installments of the regular series Guarded Opinions, Modern Artifacts, and Public Access (featuring fascinating items from the Vladimir Nabakov papers in the New York Public Library’s esteemed Berg Collection); ”Psychedelic Prayers“ by countercultural legend Timothy Leary from the Ludlow Santo Domingo collection of psychedelia at Harvard University; the debut of a portfolio of artwork by, and an interview with, retired Atlanta, Georgia, attorney Randy S. Jones; and song lyrics and artworks by the Atlanta-based “insider’s outsider” Lonnie Holley.

The issue concluded with an audio compilation featuring musicians such has Peter Silberman (The Antlers), Lonnie Holley, Alicia Walter, and Katie von Schleicher, each of whom created a song inspired by a particular joke. The CD was introduced by comedian, writer, and actor Demetri Martin (who fittingly contributed a series of jokes inspired by music).