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It’s a science song the way ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ is a science song,” he explains. “It’s taking some terms from the world of semi-popular science and kind of tossing them around. It’s not an information song, but it is a song,” adds Flansburgh. “I’m not denying it’s a song,” counters Linnell.

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25 unreasonable songs in 45 unrelenting minutes.

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“Deranged Millionaire” was the song that was written by They Might Be Giants based on a character I developed for a series of videos that we had done together in 2004, long before I had ever been on TV, at a time when I was mainly a writer for magazines and websites, and therefore didn’t imagine I would ever be a deranged thousandaire, never mind a deranged millionaire. And when [John] Flansburgh wrote that song and put it out on a podcast, it was truly one of the most delightfully weird things to ever happen. I had always been such a huge They Might Be Giants fan, and it just began to hint at the surreality that my life was beginning to take on when I very unexpectedly started to go on television.

By the time I began writing this third book, I began to think about the ends of things. I was thinking about the end of the Apple campaign. I had just turned 40, so I was beginning what arguably would be the last half or maybe last tenth of my life, depending on how lucky I am. Also, it sort of reawakened my fascination with post-apocalyptic movies and television and novels.

As I was thinking about it, I realized, in many ways, I had become a deranged millionaire. I certainly was financially more self-sufficient than I ever had been in a way I never imaged could happen. A huge part of my career had come to an end, leaving me with time on my hands. I had grown a weird mustache, and now, like a kind of Howard Hughes type figure, I had time to sit around and contemplate paranoidly the end of the world. So that song became emblematic of this new and sort of epilogical adventure of writing this book.

People forget how outcast They Might Be Giants can be. They have a reputation for writing really deft, funny, clever melodies, and they also make a lot of music for kids, which is terrific, but when you see them in concert, they can rock the house. And I just love hearing those strings at the beginning of that song, and all of the sudden Flansburgh’s crazy voice screaming my name. Who wouldn’t love that?