Critical Nonsense

What do we do with Cultural Beige?  This week, Aaron and Joey talk about cultural homogenization, algorithms, local commerce, international culture, outliers and Charli XCX. They don’t talk about Christian Bale or J. G. Ballard.  references  Empire Of The Sun "Walking On A Dream"   Empire Of The Sun "Alive" @ The Hollywood Bowl 11/23/24   Sabrina Carpenter "Espresso"   terroir   Sammy McCormack: "...

Why haven't we figured out hybrid yet?  This week, Jess and Joey talk about remote working, cost structures, collaborative tools, individual flexibility, speaker microphones, and body language. They don’t talk about sensory processing issues and how they impact in-person productivity.  references  Yegor Denisov-Blanch on software engineering productivity   Reddit response to Yegor Denisov-Blanch  ...

What varietal of mind wine are your grapes lately?  This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about pattern breaking, the restorative power of boredom, bird brains, pajama day, the productivity mindset, and seizing rest. They don’t talk about when Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.  references  Feng Shui Modern  by  Cliff Tan   Boggle   Five Senses Exercise   How to use 4...

Why are we so obsessed with trying to live forever?  This week, special guest Chandler Saunders joins Jess and Joey to talk about adult superlatives, aging, the soul, compounding experience, afterlife FOMO, and aging reversal. They don’t talk about  Irene Cara .  references  Piaget's 4 Stages of Cognitive Development Explained   Ray Kurzweil   Ship of Theseus   Fermi paradox   Spin  by Robert Char...

What is it about certain settings that just piss us off?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about Maggie Rogers, live concerts, the unflustered mom, road rage, cycling, and liminality. They don’t talk about mosh pits.  references  Maggie Rogers   The Unflustered Mom: How Understanding the Five Anxiety Styles Transforms the Way We Parent, Partner, Live, and Love by Amber Trueblood   This Is Water: Some...

Bonus episode: A takeover! Kristy shares a recent edition from SYLVAIN’s Progress Report newsletter:  The State of Youth: A New Paradigm for Growing Up , written by Chief Strategy Officer Chris Konya. For more from SYLVAIN's Progress Report, see  progressbysylvain.co .

What's the best way to unlock a sense of financial security in all of us?  This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about voting, the economy, financial insecurity, the post-scarcity world, unequal distribution, and intergenerational trauma. They don’t talk about  A$AP Rocky .  references  Werewolf Bar Mitzvah   The Ballad of the Witches' Road (Agatha Through Time Version)   Pascal's wager   Maslow’s...

What happens when your mind changes?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about nuclear power, Three Mile Island, solar power, the Overton window, abortion, and tokamaks. They don’t talk about  Eddie Kendricks .  references  Hemingway on bankruptcy   The Three Mile Island accident   Overton window   Tokamaks  

What do we do about power distance?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about organizational hierarchy, Geert Hofstede, authoratative leadership, omakase, decision-making, and Mr. Oizo. They don’t talk about Flat Stanley.  references  IF   This is 40   Mark Menjívar's "Refrigerators"   Geert Hofstede's 6-D model of national culture   Mr. Oizo's "Flat Beat"   Mr. Oizo aka Quentin Dupieux  

How many things are we surrounded by that have use cases that we're not thinking about?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about Ozempic, Cialis, blockchain, invention, solar panels, and pessimism vs. optimism. They don’t talk about  chainsaws .  references  Semaglutide (Ozempic)   Tadalafil (Cialis)  

How do you do spontaneous brilliance?  This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about pressure, boredom and safety, theatre, peopling, jewelry making, and Quiplash. They don’t talk about combustion.  references  "Orinoco Flow" by Enya   Quiplash   Athena   Podcast: Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum:  PATTON OSWALT: Refusing to Settle, The Issue for Comedians Today & Emotions Reconciling Loss  ...

Can we learn about coming up with creative ideas from bikes today?  This week, Jess and Joey talk about bike infrastructure, dad wagons, folding bikes, stacked bikes, e-bikes, and mobility mixes. Oddly, they don’t talk about  Bike Kill .  references  The Science of Cycology: can you draw a bicycle?   Penny-farthing   Tall bike   Brompton   Velocipede   The Asahi Shimbun:  High school kids build Ed...

How do we know if we're doing the right thing for potentially the wrong reasons?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about The Anxious Generation, social media, polio, experimentation, modes, rodents, and sesame paste. They don’t talk about Yusei Kikuchi.  references  The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness  by Jonathan Haidt  Hank Green on X...

What is your comfort level with abstraction?  This week, Jess and Joey talk about math, the transitive property, cookbooks, slang, strange attractors and chameleons. They don’t talk about cake math.  references  How to Bake Pi: An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics  by Eugenia Cheng  Transitive Property   The Langlands Program: The Biggest Project in Modern Mathematics   Look Aro...

What can jazz teach us about making stuff together?  This week, Aaron and Jess talk about mistakes, improvisation, leadership, asking questions, saltine crackers, and Tori Amos. They don’t talk about girls that eat pizza but never gain weight.  references  Amelia Bedelia   Marc Mommaas  and the  New York Jazz Workshop   Corrections Department:  Miles Davis, not John Coltrane, was the one who didn'...

How do we do math learning better?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about numeracy, literacy, discrete math, Carl Sagan, Cleopatra, and sushi. They don’t talk about  Frank Ocean .  references  math rock   Jay-Z  "4:44"  

What does fridgescaping tell us about ourselves?  This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about weirdly shaped foods, bookshelves, trad wives, gelatin molds, cluttercore, and gallery walls. They don’t talk about Jello Biafra's fridge.  references  Rusted Root   Polyphonic Spree   The New York Times:  Not Even the Inside of Your Fridge Is Safe From Decorating   @weirdoldfood   MTV Cribs   The Indepen...

What turns your ears on?  This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about Detroit, groove, algorithms, Clyde Stubblefield, sampling, and flow states. They don’t talk about the late, great  Biz Markie .  references  Hair/Glam Metal   Chamois  vs.  chamois leather   Major 7th chord   Curtis Mayfield "Little Child Running Wild"   Clyde Stubblefield , the  Funky Drummer   Puff Daddy + Biggie + Mase "Been...

How do we make more science tourism happen?  This week, Jess and Joey talk about scientific pilgrimage, CERN, the Large Hadron Collider, inspiring awe, Dolly the sheep, and particles. They don’t talk about the six flavors of quarks.  references  CERN   Higgs boson   Large Hadron Collider   The ITER Tokamak   The Life of Dolly   Baikonur Cosmodrome   Micropia   Amplituhedron  

What can we learn about the state of entertainment when we look through the Olympics Stroboscope?  This week, Jess and Joey talk about the The Rottening, Summer Olympics, streaming platforms, culture wars, sports bodies, and shared viewership experiences. They don’t talk about artistic swimming.  references  Stroboscopes   Metric Fucktonne   Adriana Ruano   Stephen Nedoroscik   What are Phryges? E...

How does one engage in a generational war?  This week, Joey and Aaron talk about Millenials, marketing demographics, being an afterthought, the policing of cool, Sambas, and othering to in yourself. They don’t talk about Billy Idol. Or Les Gilbert.  references  Sambas   Control   System Shock  

How do we decide what feelings matter?  This week, Jess and Joey talk about Inside Out 2, compound emotions, cognitive development, sonder, motivations, and sandwiches. They don’t talk about  Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam .  references  Subscribe to our Progress Report newsletter   progressbysylvain.co   Inside Out 2   The 6 Types of Basic Emotions and Their Effect on Human Behavior   Compound facial exp...

How should we be arguing?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about argument realms, Theranos, Steve Jobs, facts vs. feelings, and band names. They don’t talk about Monarch of a Great Kingdom.  references  Tea etymology   Why Are We Yelling?  by Buster Benson  PEMDAS  

This week, Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk about the Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum, Nikola Jokić, celebrity, debates, and Caitlin Clark. They don’t talk about  Simone Biles' 10,000 crystals .  references  Celtic Football Club  ( pronounced with a soft 'C' )  Boston Celtics name origin   Jab Like Jayson Tatum   Hollywood Reporter:  What Tina Fey Told Bowen Yang About Expressing Opinions Publicly   What G...

How do we predict the future?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about polling, phone phobia, targeted advertising, e-mail compartmentalization, stacking ambiguity, and Airheads. They don’t talk about nomophobia.  references  Adam Duritz   Irish Times:  Why younger people don’t make phone calls