Depending on which corners of the internet you frequent, you may or may not have heard of The Adventure Zone, a hit podcast by the renowned comedy trio Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy, along with their father, Clint McElroy. Whether or not you’re familiar with the McElroys’ other work, this particular show, in which the four of them get together on Skype bi-weekly to play Dungeons and Dragons, is not one to be missed. This rollercoaster of unparalleled creativity, fantasy adventure, and flat-out hilarity is available for free on maximumfun.org and iTunes. Trust me when I say that you want to be listening to it. Here’s why.

1. We could all use a good laugh right now -- and, honestly, a good cry.

Very few people can deny that the state of the world has been more than a little chaotic lately. Many of us are experiencing a deeper level of everyday fear and anxiety than we ever have before, and escapism is one of the few ways that we can find some much-needed relief. The Adventure Zone is beyond hilarious, and when I started listening to it back in March, I found that I couldn’t remember the last time I had laughed so hard. Yet the story has also taken a darker, more epic turn as of late, and while the hosts continue to goof off on the regular, I’m also more emotionally invested in this fictional story than I ever could have anticipated. Some of the most recent episodes are real tear-jerkers, and they trigger a catharsis that I believe all of us need right now.

2. It boasts a truly diverse cast of characters.

Though the four hosts of the podcast are straight, cisgender white men, they seem to want little more than to represent their ever-growing audience within their huge cast of characters. The only human character with a canonically established race is a black woman (it is emphasized that the rest of them can and should be imagined however the listener wishes). And the amount of LGBT representation is truly off the charts -- there are more same-gender couples than there are straight ones, and there are several transgender and nonbinary characters, including one particularly phenomenal trans woman who has quickly become a fan favorite. As a queer trans person, I feel that the McElroys genuinely care about me, and I’ve been able to relate my own life experiences very strongly to more than one of their characters, all without feeling that the hosts are in any way straying out of their lane. That’s rare.

3. The hosts base all their comedy work upon one essential philosophy.

Justin McElroy’s Twitter bio reads as follows: “I feel an earnest and humble desire, and shall till I die, to increase the stock of harmless cheerfulness.” This can be said for all four of the hosts of this podcast, and it’s evident not only in The Adventure Zone, but in their many other solo and group projects, both audio and video. Right now, the prevalent form of humor in most media is satire; with so many people turned against each other, we instinctively get our laughs by mocking and degrading those who disagree with us. I’ll be the first to say that satirical comedy is one of my favorite forms, but the McElroys are refreshing in a way I didn’t know I needed. They want their audience to laugh simply because something is funny--not because it targets any specific group of people. Before My Brother, My Brother, and Me, the first podcast of theirs to which I tuned in, I had almost forgotten that such a genuinely positive form of entertainment exists. We could all use that reminder.

4. Dungeons and Dragons is making a comeback, and with good reason.

D&D may still carry connotative images of teenage boys crowding around their kitchen table, swathed in a cloud of body odor and sticky Mountain Dew residue, but more and more people are realizing that it’s much, much more than that. At its best, it is a game based on storytelling, team-building, and complex strategy--all things that are growing rarer and rarer as work and play alike tend towards the fast-paced and the digital. I played D&D before I started listening to The Adventure Zone, but the podcast reaffirmed my love for the game, and I’ve become far more invested in my own campaigns after listening to the McElroys play out theirs. It’s thrilling to witness the narrative of Griffin McElroy, The Adventure Zone’s dungeon master, as it evolves from simple episodic storytelling to a heart-wrenching, mind-blowing sci-fi epic. I’ve been passionate about fiction writing since age seven, and Griffin’s name will remain at the top of my list of all-time greatest creative inspirations. Which brings me to my final point:

5. One word: inspiration.

In the world of Dungeons and Dragons, “inspiration points” are awarded to players at the discretion of the Dungeon Master. They’re given when the player’s roleplay performance stands out as exceptionally clever or accurate to their character, and they’re spent to gain advantage on certain actions at a later point in the game. Though the McElroys don’t use this function very much, I find it intriguing, if only for its implications. I adore the idea that something as simple as inspiration--perhaps sparked by one’s own actions--can be a game-changer later on. With the world awash in political turmoil, inspiration is one of the things we need the most, and it is exactly what The Adventure Zone provides. The story that the McElroys are ultimately telling is about people becoming the closest of friends, and using that incomprehensibly intimate bond to save a world on the brink of destruction.

The McElroys tell us to look to one another, and to ourselves, to find the strength we need to make it through these times. We need that. And they do that.