Critical Nonsense

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  

This week, a takeover! Aaron shares his latest edition from SYLVAIN’s Progress Report newsletter:  Automating Our Instincts: How AI Can Be Embraced Rather Than Feared By Creatives . For more from SYLVAIN's Progress Report, see  progressbysylvain.co .

How do y'all deal with your digital poltergeists?  This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about search results, the endless repository of stuff, digital cleanup, emails, collateral distraction, and friendly ghosts. They don’t talk about warlocks.  references  Dinosaurs eating Joey   Toe beans  and  the art of reading them   poltergeist   They're here!   Woah, my love, my darling ...   Linda Ronstad...

How do we age right?  This week, Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk about aching, supplements, cognitive decline, Tom Brady, LeBron James, and the future. They don’t talk about Alphaville.  references  L.A. Times:  "Talking 'Men of a Certain Age' with Ray Romano, Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher"   Radiolab Podcast: The Secret to a Long Life   John Meyer's "Why Georgia?"   The 5 Regrets Of The Dying: Life...

What types of folk knowledge or rules of thumb do you live by?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about cheating at science fairs, sleep, the rule of threes, tenets, the How I Met Your Mother pause, and concavity. They don’t talk about  what Werner Herzog's thumb tastes like .  references  Chris Brunet's X thread on the ISEF cheating scandal   Jean Yang's life lessons   Pause   The Idea of You (and Ma...

Why don't we have more public art?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about toy poodles, graffiti, sidewalk chalk, murals, face painting, and sandals. They don’t talk about  ESPO .  references  Tom Otterness' Life Underground sculptures   The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon   Street art by David Zinn   Mural Arts Philadelphia   5Pointz  

How does one deal with being an acquired taste?  This week, Aaron and Joey talk about stinky fish, mole vs. mayonanaise, blue cheese, safe spaces, leadership, and sandwich lubricants. They don’t talk about surströmming.  references  Holiday in Spain   Did they ruin it for you? ( Yeah  |  No )  Thelma and Louise   Stinky Fish activity   rumspringa   Aaron:  We need antiheroes in the boardroom to sp...

How are we using bowls?  This week, Jess and Joey talk about diversification of delivery methods, quick-serve restaurants, slushies, mush, ratios, and salads. They don’t talk about  Prince .  references  Fascinator   "Frozen in the Face of Tech" : Joey @ Web Summit Rio 2024  Ramekin