Bald, Blind, and Buddies

On Gender, expectations, and more This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ideasfirst.substack.com

On this episode, we tackle two vastly different stories from the news--the U.S. bombing Iran and the Supreme Court upholding a Tennessee law restricting puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors.   We begin with the weather, baseball and hockey trivia and tease upcoming guests.   We share our initial thoughts on the bombing of three sites in Iran. John questions the relationship between n...

On this episode, we discuss the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions and riots in Los Angeles. First, we address Father’s Day. We offer brief thoughts on Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson. John wonders if “reporters” are doing their job by waiting for lucrative book deals to publish important information. John gives us more baseball trivia. We discuss the riots in Los Ange...

This week’s podcast is all about books. We offer a selection for your summer reading list. We open with musings on the falling out between Trump and Musk. John and Tim share a smattering of books to enjoy and consider. Tim’s whack-jobs from the University of Michigan invest their efforts or money in nonacademic pursuits. University of Michigan ends undercover surveillance contracts after Guardian...

We welcome listeners from Taiwan (Republic of China), American Samoa, and Bolivia to the podcast. Both John and Tim get into the trivia game. Reporting suggests that artificial intelligence was used to draft parts of the Make America Healthy Again report, undercutting value it may have had. John wonders why the report was produced in the first place. Tim gives a chemistry lesson on how fluoride pr...

On this week’s podcast, a nonprofit in New Orleans has been using real-time surveillance using a network of cameras throughout the city to monitor for people of interest and then alerting police to pick them up. We begin the podcast by recognizing Memorial Day. John addresses racing trivia and Tim has a trivia question of his own. We discuss what expectations citizens have regarding privacy and Jo...

On this week’s podcast, we discuss how cars constantly invade your privacy, but the press didn’t seem to observe Joe Biden’s difficulties for years. Things might have been different If he drove a Tesla instead of a classic Corvette. John answers last week’s trivia and offers a new question about horse racing. We discuss how General Motors got its wrist slapped by the FTC for using your personal da...

The Catholic Church chooses Pope Leo XIV—the first American pope. We take time to reflect on Mother’s Day and do our trivia. We consider Pope Leo XIV’s selection and take care not to trap him in his prior statements. We reflect on a pope whose history is so accessible to us. John identifies challenges facing the modern Catholic Church including the role of women, celibacy, and marriage. Tim highli...

John answers last week’s trivia and offers a new question for sports fans. Tim juxtaposes the White House entering the news business with its trying to pull funding for NPR and PBS. We discuss whether the DOJ should get involved with medical journals and responses to its concerns. We discuss the give and take that academic freedom requires, the problem of ideological capture and consider what can...

We welcome you to Season 2 of the podcast and share some ideas including possible guess. John answers last week’s trivia and offers another. We each share topics from the headlines including arrested judges, deported children, and charter schools. We touch on selecting a pope, a quarterback, and lawyers in California. Tim’s whack-job from Wisconsin is chasing a conspiracy when there’s work to be d...

We begin by recapping our weekends and John shares about visiting Washington D.C. We reflect on Pope Francis’s life. John offers papal trivia and last week’s trivia answer which Tim actually knew. We discuss the case of Mr. Abrego Garcia. John sees it as a political move to test limits. Both of us acknowledge the President’s scope in international affairs and also want due process and the rule of...

Ken W Good, an attorney who represents professional bondsmen, joins us to discuss the bail process and reforms. Ken shares examples from Texas and introduces us to ‘good and bad’ bail reforms around the country, noting that private surety bonds produce the highest appearance rates. Ken describes concerns with charge-based release mechanisms, and what practices during the pandemic taught us about e...

We are proud to have Ken W. Good, a bail bondsman (bondsperson?) and attorney, on next week’s podcast and begin with that news. We revisit the topic of “student athletes” to talk about their medical care. We return to trivia. John recounts the consequences, thus far, from the new tariffs, and we postulate why Trump may be doing this. John draws from a Post article to explain just what global trade...

We begin with thoughts on visiting our young nation’s capital. John recaps history leading to the present NCAA rules around transfers and profiting from one’s name, image, and likeness. Tim wonders what a modern university is ‘supposed to’ be and if the roles it tries to take on are in conflict. Both support letting athletes share in the rewards of their labor. John and Tim offer improvements to t...

We begin with thoughts on the nation’s capital and reflect on the DMV. We share trivia including a listener-submitted question. We opine on how Columbia University quickly capitulated to the Trump administration and what this says about the modern university. John shares thoughts from Matt Taibbi on how universities fail to deliver results and are isolated from the consequences of their actions. T...

John and Tim, friends for 30 years, bring their divergent takes to the news, society, culture, and important questions of the day. What can a blind psychiatrist and a bald grad from the London School of Economics have in common—not much, except for an ability to laugh at themselves, to listen, to learn, and to dialogue. We guarantee you’ll learn, think, or laugh by the end of every podcast. This i...

We welcome people from the Czech Republic to our proud pool of podcast patrons. We do trivia and a listener offers a question inspired by our last podcast. John outlines the process by which cases come to the Supreme Court. We examine the Colorado law banning “conversion therapy” in the case of Chiles v. Colorado. Tim discusses the law considering concept creep, its vagueness, and where guidelines...

First world problems We open with movies you keep thinking about. John answers last week’s trivia about the smallest country and offers an architectural question. We delve into admittedly first-world complaints this week. Tim’s are linked to recent travel experiences with his dog guide. John’s concerns include items like healthcare and “world-champion” Americans. John has a double dose of whack-jo...

Ask not what your country’s employees do for you. We welcome listeners from Finland and Israel. We share movies that surprised us and old films that stand the test of time. John answers last week’s trivia and gives a geography question this week. Tim tries to compare corporate downsizing with DOGE’s efforts while John asserts that government is fundamentally different. To John, DOGE’s efforts look...

We begin with a listener email and discuss bad movies we enjoy and movies with large cultural footprints. A listener answers John’s last trivia question and John offers another. We dive into “victimless crimes,” revisiting gambling from last week. We wonder if winning and exploitation are synonymous. Tim builds a case for concern over cannabis and the mixed incentives for governments who profit fr...

· We begin with a shout out to our new listeners from Puerto Rico and Vietnam. · We share the best Super Bowl commercials. · Then, we acknowledge the phenomenal expansion in sports betting. · John considers gambling to be a victimless crime while Tim conceives of mobile gambling as fundamentally different from putting a few bucks on the Big Game. We consider what changes could help. · Our sponsor...

We discuss when one of us was canceled and give a sneak preview of the talk. With the Oscars approaching, we share thoughts on our favorite films from various genres. We recognize some less well-known films and how movies can intersect with memories. We try out a new segment: “This, that, or the other,” focusing this week on authenticity in casting of movies. John’s whack-job knows better than to...

We begin with a thought experiment to demonstrate the power of an algorithm like TikTok’s to shape one’s understanding. We lay out the role for executive orders and their relationship to the rest of government. What do they say about the scope of government and the power assumed by presidents. John describes Biden-era orders which may have led to the Democrats’ loss in 2024. Tim shares President T...

We begin by acknowledging recent pardons and the President’s constitutional authority to do so. Our special guest, Ben Siders, explains Congress’s role to legislate in areas of national security and the typical deference that the courts pay to that role. Then, he explains what the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act actually says. We share our thoughts on the me...

We continue the discussion on Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) from last week. We put microaggressions under the microscope. John questions whether microaggressions are an actual or necessary component of DEI. Tim shares his experience taking diversity, equity, and inclusion training at a flagship, state university which is north of Illinois. Our sponsor features a contemporary alternative to...