Normal Men

Some futbol, moderate arborism, the fast road to Argentina, and Eurovision. 250 years and Normal as ever. Show notes: Mexico 2–3 England at the Azteca (match report) The cherry trees and the golf course Trump confirms he asked FIFA to review Balogun's red card Balogun: born American by accident Canada joins Eurovision Frederick Douglass, “Love of God, Love of Man, Love of Country” (1847) Albion's...

The normal men get hot and bothered, fix what's wrong with NYC politics, are gone to look for America, and contemplate an unwise conflict that expects too much of the Curds. A well-insulated episode.

Come take a mind-safari with us to Beirut, Manchester, and West Palm Beach. Plus: tilling the GOP 2028 field way too early.

A defence of the pastoral lifestyle and also the barbacoan lifestyle. Also: your gut health and soda, thunder v swamp, grudgingly handing it to the Knicks, and 10 mpg(ame). Links: Musicology Duck’s reflecting pool · The Double Pivot · Sickos Committee

Unfortunately additional Maine. Then: a bit of fish and the Intercept Cinematic Universe.

A Very Special SpaceX Episode with Quantian ( @quantian ) and ESGHound ( @esghound )! Come for the S-1, stay for the physics. Contains not even homeopathic levels of investment advice. Links: Ann Lipton, "No Votes, No Sales, No Suits" · our earlier space ep with Normal astrophysicist Mike Boylan-Kolchin, We Are All Made of Starmusk .

Lots of tech, somewhat more Pope than usual, and a well-conceived 2028 Presidential Democratic contender tier list that will never embarrass any of us in any way. Plus Jack White's upholstery era and Stephen Colbert.

Patrick Wyman joins the Normal Men to talk dirty soda, apartment deposits we definitely did not get back, the only bracket that matters, 1619 and its descendants, and sharp little lads.

The Men get chippy, Fed up, car talk, Giuliani hantavirus and other pathogens, Graham crackers and some states that are probably in the Midwest, and the AI capex bubble (?).

Panic! at the WHCD, several niche beverages, American airports, and strait cash homie.

Iran oil futures, market madness, Spencer Pratt for some reason, ivermectin and psilocybin, spammers and affinity scams, and hyping the Mythos.

Vance screws up at everything, Orbán eighty-sixed in Hungary, Iran negotiations collapse and the world stays oil-thirsty, Swalwell sex monsters and gets summarily defenestrated, and the thrilling secret of space.

Yakuza discourse, the terrible secret of space, BTS on Hot Ones, Bondi beached, careerists vs maniacs, and who's next for Attorney General.

Aaron Cohen of Gracie's Ice Cream (@unlikelywords.bsky.social) has a wicked scoop for the Men. George doesn't deliver, Lowtax goes out of his gourd, Ed's interested in principles, and Propter gets stuck. Note: 1) We ran into tech issues post-recording and decided that we would rather release a pretty rough final cut this week than no episode. Sorry about that and we won't be offended if you give i...

Ed runs some numbers, George eyeballs the urbs, the Strait gets bent, Lowtax socializes, and Propter gets sloppy.

Episode 49: Texas primaries, North Carolina's political shake-ups, oil prices and the Strait of Hormuz, and EV battery drama with very special guest Aaron Kleinman (@kleinman.bsky.social) from Heartland Signal.  check out his more formal work at https://radio-free-america.beehiiv.com/

Anthropic vs DoD, Iran strikes, Graham Platner's podcast tour, and the gnome bag. Featuring the return of Theophite to talk shrimp.   Chapters: 0:00 Intro: Anthropic vs. DoD 10:00 Claude's Ethical AI Training 20:00 DoD's Ultimatum & Anthropic's Red Lines 31:00 Anthropic's Rationalist Roots 47:00 Hot War with Iran 1:04:00 Graham Platner & Antisemitism 1:25:00 Public Virtue & AI in Gover...

Propter's smart home journey goes sideways. Dogs: better evolved than us? The AI chip crisis hits gaming. The Jones Act and the art of the subsidy. Iran, oil, and who benefits. East Coast braces for snow. State shapes are wrong. And maybe log off for a bit. Chapters: 0:00 Smart Home Tech & APIs 4:00 Dogs: Evolution, Senses, & Meds 14:00 AI, Chip Crisis & Hardware Prices 24:00 Economics...

Just desserts, DHS shutdown and caucus integrity, the future of B2B and internal tooling, and the Yakuza games. Chapters: 0:00 Yakuza & Video Game Franchises 5:30 Dessert Discourse & Social Media 12:30 Canned Cheese & Weekly News 17:30 DHS, Noem, and El Paso Lasers 31:15 DHS Shutdown Analysis 45:00 Shutdown Impacts & Democratic Strategy 56:15 AI & Stock Market Winners/Losers 1:...

Normal Astrophysicist Mike Boylan-Kolchin (@mbkplus.bsky.social) joins us to talk about the terrible secret of space and the Lone Star State.  Also:  black olives on tacos, Love Da Seahawks, and Jeff Bezos has some explaining to do. Chapters: 0:00 Intro and Gooning Culture 2:40 Elon's Space Data Centers 5:00 Astronomy & Compute 13:00 Challenges of Space Data Centers 20:00 Economics of Orbital...

Normal Woman skelly (@iid.bsky.social) joins us from France to talk about- well, the plan was to talk about the American expat experience in Europe during Trump II but actually it wound up being mostly about comparative educational structure.  we hope you like it. also: Texas Toast (Republican State Senate edition), handicapping 2026, Fed Warsh, Epstein and the shallow bench of evil. ED NOTE: we a...

Speculative fiction, moderation at scale, radicalization at scale, parenting at low-scale, and turophile priorities with Theophite. Chapters: 0:00 Intro & Guest Theophyte 4:17 Minneapolis ICE Shooting Fallout 21:25 Theophyte's RPG & AI Art 34:17 RPG World's Moral Dilemmas 44:02 Scale of Civilization & Internet 55:42 Parenting in Trump's Second Age 1:06:25 Oreo Debate & Losing Contr...

On dogs, football, Blorth Carolina, the spirit of the cities, Chipotle, why you should care about Claude Code, adventures in transatlanticism, and the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. Chapters: 0:00 Intro & Poop Talk 5:31 NFL & College Football Review 16:53 Indiana Coach's Chipotle Habit 26:53 North Carolina Political Landscape 43:24 ICE Occupation in Minneapolis 53:46 Adventures in...

Ms. Malone and Ms. Speedrun-Enjoyer stop by to explain the appeal of murder.  Also, we talk about the Horrors foreign and domestic. Chapters: 0:00 Intro & Guest Welcome 10:06 Defining True Crime & Adnan Syed 20:12 Personal Appeal & Favorite Podcasts 35:21 Unsolved Cases & Killer Psychology 50:30 True Crime's Gender Gap & Safety 1:05:39 Guest Farewell & Renee Good Murder 1:1...

The Normal Men talk college football, Venezuelan stabs, and what genAI won't do for you. Chapters: 0:00 Woodworking & Ice Bath Project 4:38 Gaming Controversies: FF7 & Animal Crossing 13:51 College Football & Ole Miss Racism 27:46 Venezuela Regime Change Operation 58:29 US-Mexico Cartel War Speculation 1:17:09 AI & Grok's Pornography Problem 1:31:09 Understanding and Using LLMs