Critical Nonsense

Do we need to create more with friends?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about consuming, the value cycle, parallel play, time horizons, water-based cooking, and Ciabatta. They don’t talk about  Real Genius .  references  Superstar   "My grand theory of life is to just hammer the shit out of quadrant 4"  

How do we muster the courage?  This week, Jess and Joey talk about fear, Inside Out 2, Andor, The Mandalorian, stoking action, and antidotes. They don’t talk about booze.  references  I can run the world from my mama's house.   The New York Times:  A.G. Sulzberger: A Free People Need a Free Press  

How do we stress professionally?  This week, Aaron, Jess, and Joey talk about Cowboy Carter, self-regulation, Frozen, tears, being "professional," and anger. They don’t talk about  Organized Konfusion .  references  Self-regulation for adults: Strategies for getting a handle on emotions and behavior   Emmanuel Acho on the myth of the 'Angry Black Man'   Sister Wives  

How is this world optimized for dating?  This week, special guest Chloe returns to chat with Joey about high yield investment strategies, influencers, gender polarization, crushes, the butterfly effect, and Russian hackers. They don’t talk about the ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-14.  references  Nonsense 259! The Trend-Mill   Marie Claire:  Who is Becca Bloom?   Looking for an Explanation in Financ...

How do you approach reclaiming or disavowing your creative outputs that you don't love?  This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about Smithee-ing, TV edits, résumé writing, Spike Jonze, sportsball, and the DC Universe. They don’t talk about Cordwainer Bird.  references  "God of Wine"   Alan Smithee  on  IMDB   Spike Jonze   Charles Barkley   The Room   Spread your wings  

How good is hi-res for our imagination?  This week, Aaron and Jess talk about smoothing, the boundless powers of creativity, Smell-O-Phone/Vision, imagination reconstruction, gaming, and nurturing our sense of play. They don’t talk about NHL 98 on Sega Genesis.  references  The Rainbow Fish  by Marcus Pfister  Why It's SO Hard to Find a Game You ACTUALLY Like   Harvard Business Review:  How Genera...

How do we make people feel seen?  This week, Joey, Jess, and Aaron talk about the burden of eyes, privacy, showing, acknowledging, surprise parties, and social anxieties. They don’t talk about the  Talking Heads .  references  Dreaming about Cranberries, sans muffin.   Revisiting  Critical Nonsense 302! Thought Bottling   Critical Incident Stress Debriefing: Helpful, Harmful, or Neither?   Observe...

How are we processing uncertainty differently?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about Punxsutawney Phil, tariffs, the meme recession, Jason Bourne, Edmonton, and Sam Cooke. They don’t talk about the bleak and endless hopelessness of it all.  references  Corrections Department:  There's air in between you and I (even if we're not seventeen)   Abundance  by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson  "A Change Is...

When do we tool or not tool?  This week, Jess and Joey talk about rules aversion, AI, devil hamsters, banana slicers, tool expertise, and simplicity. They don’t talk about gaffer tape.  references  Inc.:  After a Tragedy, a Year of Magical Thinking for Sylvain   Arc welding  

What do you think makes us spoiled?  This week, Jess, Joey, and Aaron talk about The Lululemon Index, air travel, gender-based differences, hard work, Warren Buffett, and shrooms. They don’t offer any spoiler alerts.  references  The Mycelium Network  

Bonus episode: A takeover! Aaron shares his latest edition from SYLVAIN’s Progress Report newsletter: To Follow or Not to Follow . For more from SYLVAIN's Progress Report, see progressbysylvain.co .

How should we start bottling things up?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about undesired thoughts, Nietzsche, folk wisdom, Marie Kondo, baggage, and forgetting. They don’t talk about the  Young "Black" Teenagers .  references  perseverate   Improving mental health by training the suppression of unwanted thoughts  

When did we start calling it hibernation and when did hibernating start being a thing?  This week, Jess and Joey talk about lux, vitamin D, dopamine, socialization, Groundhog's Day, and disgust thresholds. They don’t talk about the late, great  Roy Ayers .  references  You need more lux.  

This week, Jess, Aaron, and Joey celebrate 300(!) episodes of Critical Nonsense by revisiting random episodes. They talked about  121! The Coming-Out Gauntlet and Thick Conversations ,  75! Top 3 Things Not to Do in Quarantine, with Clarissa Pharr ,  170! Weirder Inspiration , and  158! Buttresses, Tethers, and Grunts . They don’t talk about the Rota Fortunae.  references  Step Brothers   Wheelz o...

What are the things that we should be treating like corn that's better than corn?  This week, Jess and Aaron talk about potatoes, clothing overabundance, plastics recycling, concrete, eating fruits and veggies, and pomegranates. They don’t talk about the International Adult Conspiracy's creamed corn agenda.  references  Theme Songs with Candy   CBS Sunday Morning:  Critics call out recycling "frau...

Bonus episode: A takeover! Claire Choi shares her latest edition from SYLVAIN’s Progress Report newsletter: The State of Wellbeing: Are We Unwell? For more from SYLVAIN's Progress Report, see progressbysylvain.co .

Where are other places where desire paths would be relevant when not talking about sidewalks?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about friction, grocery store layouts, Norman doors, incentives, breaking templates, and shopping districts. They don’t talk about sneckdowns.  references  The Bushwhackers   Norman Door   Do you celebrate sneckdown season?  

What's the best way to get sick as an adult?  This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about historically un-sick parents, hyper-individualistic cultures, COVID, community health, personal comfort vs. social responsibility, and rest. They don’t talk about  Mudhoney .  references  Los Angeles Disaster Support Masterlist   Mother Jones:  Wildfire Smog Is Deadly—But LA’s Covid Mask Organizers Have It Co...

What's to come in 2025?  This week, Wild Prognostications returns! Jess, Aaron, and Joey make their predictions for the new year, discussing micro-social media [3:30], platform madness [6:52], nihilistic design [13:10], weaponized compliance [18:32], graphic realism pivoting to novel gameplay [24:05], dressing up [30:38], blockbuster novels [33:15], and a runaway AI crisis [36:56]. They don’t talk...

How do we respond to the competing incentives of hybrid work?  This week, we revisit our conversation from Critical Nonsense 290! Hybrid Work , this time with special guest and workplace design leader Amanda Stanaway of ERA-co. She joins Joey and Jess to talk about belonging, productivity, the corporate Kool-Aid, burnout, human connection, and hammocks. They don’t talk about hard-boiled eggs.  ref...

Why would you break up with your best friend?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about para-romance, frenemies, communication styles, emotional proximity, work relationships, and boy and girl bands. They don’t talk about Whodini.  references  Oprah:  Should You Really Break Up with That Friend?   Black Love:  How to Grieve Women Friendships That No Longer Serve You   Elle:  We Need to Talk About Our E...

Why do people love rituals so much? This week, a rerun from the Nonsense Wellspring (archive)! Again, Jess, Aaron, and Joey talk about medicine, Lunar New Year, habits, disease, leg washing, and flossing. They don’t talk about Jane's Addiction.  references  twitterpated   Yale School of Medicine:  Phenylephrine, a Common Decongestant, Is Ineffective, Say FDA Advisors. It’s Not Alone   Gregorian ca...

When is it okay to correct someone? This week, a rerun from the Nonsense Wellspring (archive)! Again, Jess and Joey talk about Vander-ism, otaku, pedantry, language, Ryan-ing, and comments sections. Thankfully, they don’t talk about the Oxford comma.  references  Otaku   Corrections Department (because of course):  Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English  by Valerie Fridland  ea...

How did our predictions play out in 2024? This week, Aaron, Jess and Joey look back at their prognogs from Episode 247, discussing AI hardware, energy optimism, Scarlett Johansson, AI slop, EV, algae-based biofuels, the gelatin market, and wide shoes. They don’t talk about  Jamie Foxx .  references  Wired:  "Everything You Need to Know About Microsoft Copilot+ PCs"   Micosoft Blog:  Introducing Co...

What kernels of truth are there in sci-fi content today that can maybe predict what our smart technological futures will look like?  This week, Jess and Joey talk about retrofuturism, the Otis elevator, all things Dymaxian, AI, post-scarcity society and ship names. They don’t talk about our dystopian present.  references  Christmas in Connecticut   Otis Elevator   Dymaxion   Snow Crash  by Neal St...