Blind Insights

Responding to a question from Bill Richardson, Tim and David discuss whether civilians could contribute to a discussion about veterans, or a man could contribute to a debate about abortion. Shrouded in the complexity we describe as identity politics lies age-old questions of human knowledge and commonality of experience. This fascinating conversation serves as a toolkit for people participating in...

The 2020 Presidential election in the United States of America is as emotionally charged as any election before it, and a lot seems to be at stake, but what are your options? On one side you have someone who is so emotionally directed that they seem unpredictable and rash (among other descriptions. On the other side, you have someone who seems to follow a mould, with their strings being pulled by...

Are you ever confronted by particularly obtuse or inept people in your life? Whether it be at work, in politic, or at the post office, sometimes you can use all of the swear words available to you to describe the frustrations of dealing with people and it still not encapsulate what they are. David has found some words to describe people and it profoundly explains a chunk of society. Though we're t...

Satirising war from a WWII Bombardier's perspective, Joseph Heller's most famous work Catch 22 is now synonymous with absurdity and bureaucracy. Like the main protagonist of the story, Joseph Heller served as a bombardier and had significant insight into war and the military which he satires, making the book all the more poignant. Like many works that precede this, Catch 22's "Tragicomdedy" narrat...

Eddie Jaku is a German Jew who has lived a glorious 100 years and is still going strong. Born in 1920, by the time Eddie was 18, his homeland was a very different country than when he was born. On November 10th 1938 Eddie Jaku was arrested, beaten, and taken to a concentration camp before eventually being taken to Auschwitz, the deadliest camp of the Holocaust. By virtue of some miracles, Eddie ma...

Why should you spend time going to the theatre, or listening to music when you could read a book or practice a physical discipline instead? Blind Insights has so far addressed how easy it is to get distracted from productive things by lounging with Netflix. While these habits are difficult to kick and we don't need any encouragement to relax with a movie, the cultural and personal significance of...

Our brains are complex systems, ones that we don't always have as much control over as we like. We're especially less adaptable than we'd like and there's a good explanation for why, and good work being done on how to combat it. Britt Andreatta is the author of Wired to Resist, and after David read the book we knew we had to talk to her. Between her portfolio with places like LinkedIn and her Ted...

We know that there's an existential problem with climate change and an uptick in environmentalism hitting products and advertising, but can we even articulate what our actions do for the environment? It's often too complicated and too detached from our everyday struggles to even justify trying to learn the massive literature out there, and climate activists shouting in the streets and in our onlin...

Trade economics is something we begrudgingly hear on the news as usually constraining or disrupting global relationships, where people win and lose and agreements are made and dismantled in the name of fairness. But the current paradigm is hardly fair. As it stands, $2 Trillion a year is extracted from the poorest countries and funnelled into the richest, and we don't know how to deal with that un...

Albert Camus is a French 20th-century writer who has influenced much of existential philosophy, despite disliking being called a philosopher. One of his earliest works, titles " A Happy Death " was published post-humously and went on to heavily influence David's unfinished Ph. D. Joining Tim and David to discuss this book in a mini-book club, is Luke, who found us through David's Appearance on The...

Also titled Blind Drunk - Celts, Creatives, and Chords , this special episode which started with some fine drinks supplied by Pirate Life and Bridge Road Brewery at the Oxford Hotel , gave some fantastic insights into the processes and lifestyles of creating. Joined by the talented Lucas Day (Liz and Lucas) & the skillful Pat Murray (Tig Junkie) , David and Tim discover the inner workings of t...

In this episode of Blind Insights, David and Tim are joined by James Nestor, author of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art . Joining the podcast for a second time , James Nestor brings his new research and insights after expanding his understanding of breathing in freediving to examining the fields of anthropology and archaeology. James has done fascinating work involving many experts and some o...

The boys from the Auscast Network are back! Joining Tim and David as they explore some of the many fine beers on tap at the wonderful Crafers Hotel . Between the Lobethal Bierhaus Chocolate Oatmeal Stout , the Little Bang Brewing Brown Flacon IPA , and the Mismatch Brewing Hazy IPA , our hosts were already pretty sloshed before starting this one. Featured in the episode is also the Mountain Goat 2...

Knifemaking is a special interest of David's, as a collector of fine handmade knives, he is especially interested in the tactile qualities of a well-made knife. Our guest Karim Haddad heads one of Australia's most creative and constructive workshops, Tharwa Valley Forge . The intricacies and details of the knifemaking world make it one deep hobby to get into and give plenty of options for collecto...

Social media sometimes gets a bad rap; well, what if we used it more constructively? Chloe Grayling is the perfect example of using social media constructively and positively, as a means of enhancing her own life and the lives of others. David and Tim talk to Chloe (@lovechloejane) about her work as an influencer and as a consultant with small businesses to uncover methods of improving social medi...

Stephanie Kelton, professor of economics and public policy at Stony Brook University and Author of The Deficit Myth , Joins Tim and David to discuss her new book, globally rising unemployment rates, and the misconceptions of trade wars. These typically dry issues are explained with such elegance and passion that they feel imminently relevant and fascinating, which they truly are. This episode of B...

Plato's "The Republic" calls for rulers who are wise, intelligent, and humble in their lifestyle, where philosophers are kings. The question is, would you vote for us as Philosopher kings? Would we vote for us? Our society as advanced as it is, and for all the good we have by comparison to even recent history, is dissatisfactory to all of us in many ways. What would you do if you had the power to...

The Adelaide Show is a fantastic podcast covering the fantastic culture, arts, food, and history of Adelaide, our home town! David's appearances on the podcast instigated Nigel and Steve's appearance on ours. So where should we house these kings of Adelaide Culture? Perhaps the best Cafe in Adelaide, Fare and Square , where nice food and amazing wines were had over our discussion, including offeri...

David and Tim have a beloved guest explaining her Quadrant Theory of choosing a life partner, that's right, Jess Freund is back! It is difficult to make a very hefty decision in today's world where we are given more choice, and more change is necessary over the course of our lives, perhaps life partners are the biggest commitments we make. Given the enormity of such a decision, our only guides can...

David is an avid reader of the very active author of both fiction and non-fiction military books, Damien Lewis . His works have been hailed as some of the most important books in uncovering secrets and insights to the special forces throughout history. Damien has reported from many war and conflict zones prior to becoming an incredibly well-established author who has accessed some pretty incredibl...

If you're making the effort to listen to this podcast, you're a learner, so reading and absorbing information should come naturally to you, right? Well, it doesn't for Tim and David, not conventionally, but David still reads a lot of books and Tim could stand to read a few more. In the 21st century books are dying out and maybe there's something lost in that, but what is a curious person to do wit...

Blind drunk is back! Available wherever you drink and pod. A short announcement to tell listeners that blind drunk is back on track and helping bring back the conviviality of drinking post-lockdown. https://omny.fm/shows/blind-insights/blind-drunk-marijuana-mahouts-and-motivation-with Support the show: https://auscast-network.myshopify.com/collections/blind-insights See omnystudio.com/listener for...

Drinking whatever was in the COVID cabinet, David and Tim are joined with honourary Blind ___ host Peter Thomson to discuss a variety of matters pertaining to the lockdown experience without actually addressing the Novel Corona Virus for at least an hour... This is kickstart back into the Blind Drunk tradition of intending to talk sh*t and ending up discussing very deep and meaningful things, such...

Have you seen Blade Runner, Terminator, Altered Carbon, Gattaca, Robocop, or Ironman? These are fun movies but even better thought-experiments that delve into the dark world of transhumanism. Between uploading your consciousness to another body or computer, to altering your body to contain computers or robotics within it, the technological possibilities are putting into question what being human r...

Money is an object we all use and yet is something many of us do not fully understand. Blind Insights has had many guests to explain the function of money in modern currency sovereign nations over the past year and this is fresh perspective that adds to the work of the many enlightened economists who have appeared on the show. David and Tim have some very general questions to ask Warren Mosler, a...