Satellite Haiku

We have thoughts about sleep. Then we talk about movies and entertainment—Quentin Tarantino’s films, Elmore Leonard adaptations, The Matrix, F1 (movie), Justin Timberlake, K-Pop Demon Hunters, the preteen years, Brian Eno’s definition of charisma, The Talking Heads, being different to be cool, Star Wars, Mon Rovîa, Mazes & Monsters (1982 Tom Hanks film), the Renaissance of female acting roles in t...

We talk about what’s happening in Minneapolis and debate whether the Trump administration is pursuing a strategy or just sort of chaotically pushing against civil norms and legal boundaries. Shawn sees a method in the madness and points to the existence of Project 2025 as evidence of coordination and a commitment to establish something durable. Milo plays devil’s advocate, dubious that this collec...

We talk about helping elderly parents with tech support, situations when AI unhelpfully offers help, the unnatural mix of high and low quality in AI output, machines vs the human experience of creating art, the engineer/STEM perspective on art and creativity, the real revenge of the nerds, dad jokes, living in the lie; living in the truth. Mentioned in this episode Ted Chiang: Why A.I. Isn’t Going...

We talk about works we created long ago, old tech, operant conditioning oneself, checklists, the memory palace, MiLo’s dad’s collections of stamps and old baseball cards, Warren Buffet’s stock market advice, the scammer mindset as a strange superpower, Elizabeth Holmes and Bernie Madoff, trying to learn options trading, trying to time the market, sneakerheads, Yeezeys, Minneapolis and its preceden...

We talk about being creatures of habit, aging parents, purpose and meaning in the context of work and AI, and what it feels like to live in this age of rapid and accelerating change. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com

We talk about family gatherings and family estrangement, the horseshoe effect in political ideology, the nazi problem on the right, incels, women in politics, misogyny, super-wealthy welfare queens, the rise of leftist economic populism, right-wing populism, wearing shoes in the house, Filipino family parties, gravy, family estrangement (redux), confirmation bias, scientific consensus as a heurist...

We talk about conflicting nutrition advice, confirmation bias, Jedi mind tricks as a parenting technique, our visceral aversion to blaming and shaming, consequentialism in parenting, older/younger sibling dynamics, being triggered by criticism and corrections, back seat driving, thinking out loud versus in your head, chemistry in relationships, psychopathology versus polygraph tests, the persisten...

We talk about creating, procrastinating, collaborating, seeing our own past work with fresh eyes, discipline and the lack thereof, arts & craft fairs, art criticism, having your beliefs challenged, alternative energy, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and leaving work unfinished because you are finished with it. Mentioned in this episode Don’t Look Up (2021 Netflix film) Landman (Paramount+ series)...

We talk about atmospheric rivers, The Doobie Brothers, suburban myths and life before the internet, Rush Limbaugh, the American Revolution, Simón Bolivar, the Haudenosaunee confederacy, the decline of language, and MiLo’s voiceover career that could have been. Mentioned in this episode L.A. Story (1991 film written by and starring Steve Martin) Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary The American Revolution (n...

We meander for an hour and talk about internet memes, mullets, old time hockey, creative careers, various songs and artists, New York City, roommates, and natural comedic talent. Mentioned in this episode Song Exploder episode episode 70 (Weezer) and episode 233 (Rick Astley) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit s...

We share some nuggets of wisdom we have gathered during our fiftysomething years on this bluegreen rock, and we try to fashion it into advice…. * Use “I” statements * Don’t take things personally; own your own experience * “Expand your threshold before your recoil” (respond instead of reacting, and be aware of the “unseen possibility”) * Don’t shun the shadow side of yourself; integrate it * Recog...

We talk about last week’s election results (mini blue wave), what natural political talent looks like (Mamdani, AOC), factions in the Democratic party, theories about what voters actually want, what MTG is doing, MiLo’s “high dopamine dynamic range,” Shawn’s opinion on term limits, gerrymandering, our top potential election reforms, people’s reasons for not voting, Trump’s unlikely coalition, the...

Shawn has more to say about social sharing on the internet. Then we talk about therapy, the paradox of wisdom, the creative process, qualifications for becoming POTUS, codes of ethics, the complete capitulation of SCOTUS and the GOP Congress, the two-party system, the optics of action, ignoring the fine print, MFAs, MBAs, choosing a college major, Bisbee Arizona, the rightward shift of Silicon Val...

We talk about the term “Gerry-rigged,” something called semantic bleaching, the “6-7” meme and other Gen Z slang, the f-word, hot sauce as a metaphor for cussing, Eddie Murphy, South Park, the court jester, dominatrixes, “John Barron,” immunity to shame as a superpower, Maoist China, Peter Thiel, psychopaths, the devolution of language in Mike Judge’s film “Idiocracy,” Trump’s limited vocabulary,...

We talk about life with extended family, vacation homes, generational entropy, the evolution of sunscreen, Bob Marley, “Modern Jackass” magazine, pancakes, Maui, long swims, calf cramps, the Toyota ‘stuck accelerator’ incidents, memories that still make you cringe, G.I. Joe grip, catching arrows, skateboarding, ‘No Kings’ protests, scaling up ICE operations in SF, Mayor Lurie, USB cables, getting...

Please pardon some audio issues with this episode We talk about sourdough bread-making techniques, types of knowledge, short order cooks, adopting and abandoning hobbies, revenge of the incels, audience capture, sensemaking, the COVID lab leak theory, participating in online discourse, Angry Birds, self-promotion & attention seeking, Tony Gilroy, empathy as an artist’s currency, the original Apple...

We talk about MacOS names, the right preposition to use for islands, expired cream, mold species, rebooting leftovers, rotisserie chickens, food safety, diabetes, fiber supplements, poop, engaging with the world vs escaping, the Hegseth-Trump meeting with the generals in Quantico, loyalty tests, what MAGA see when they look at Trump, regretting one’s vote, psychological defenses against truth, Mor...

Milo talks about meeting his dad’s long-secret half-sister, which leads into the topic of nature and nurture and also Canadian parking ticket bureaucracy. Shawn reveals his weird superpower. We talk about how approaches to public works and urban planning differ in California versus New York and other places. We return to the question of how to unstick your life and spend quite a bit of time on tha...

We’re back after a couple weeks of travel, work, and schedule challenges. Shawn reports that he’s feeling a bit stuck and lost in his life at the moment. Milo pitches “Designing Your Life.” We talk about job hunting—networking, soul-killing jobs, being like a shark. We question the saying, “an unexamined life is not worth living,” because the flip side, examining your life all the time, makes you...

We talk about being late, airports, slow walkers, networking in Latin American lobbies, trains, standardized time, life and death by bureaucracy, Chiune Sugihara (Japan’s Oscar Schindler), the Japan-Germany alliance during WWII, frenemies, a story of escape, the fall of the USSR, motifs and gimmicks in art and literature (Haruki Murakami, Ridley Scott, Wong Kar Wai, Peter Greenaway, Wes Anderson),...

Shawn has returned from Japan, and so of course we talk about Japanese toilets. Also trains, synesthesia, fighting with our dads, “happy-clappy” church, gratitude, the caterpillar-to-butterfly phase change, Trump-Epstein, “stupid Hitler,” and Shari Redstone’s swan song. Mentioned in this episode TeamLab immersive art installations Lights On podcast (Annaka Harris) yer going to die ( YG2D ) podcast...

Shawn is bound for Japan for a few weeks, so we’ll reconvene in August. We talk about the state of Apple design under Jony Ive versus Steve Jobs. Then we discuss the recent Grok AI meltdown where it called itself MechaHitler and hinted at a second holocaust. We talk about the schadenfreude we feel watching MAGA melt down over the administration’s Epstein flipflop, and our reactions to “FAFO” stori...

From Shawn: Pardon the background noise under my audio. I’m traveling and had to improvise a recording setup at my location. Shawn is in the mountains this week and shares some fishing stories. That leads to some talk about the weird subculture of people who don’t bathe (and we each try to remember our longest stretch without a shower). MiLo provides an update about the toaster he’s been nursing a...

TW: Mention of suicide. Dial 988 if you need help. MiLo is toughing out a premature Tucson heat wave, so we start with some commiseration about Arizona summers. Then we talk about immigration and gun control and how small, highly-energized minorities prevent progress on these issues. Finally, we discuss the problem of motivated reasoning and then reasoning in general as it relates to both humans a...

We are constantly exposed awful things happening in faraway places, which we compartmentalize in order to function. It can’t be good for the psyche, right? From that question, we move on to a Gen X parenting conundrum: How did so many proud latchkey kids turn into neurotic helicopter parents? Finally, we muse on big questions around crime and punishment. Mentioned in this episode: Liam Neeson atte...