Feature Creep: Built-in Microwave

Ned and Meg discuss Yayoi Kusama, a visionary Japanese artist who works in dots and is probably the most influential living woman artist in Japan. It’s important to note that she is ALIVE, because this episode was inspired by a piece of erroneous information Meg got saying Kusama had died in 2019 but it was a LIE. She is a fascinating individual whose art is so very clearly and thoroughly an exten...

Ned and Meg talk Gestalt. Design and more! Gestalt is a German word that means the shape of a thing, or like the quality of its appearance, or its form, we think. Kurt Kafka, German Psychologist, said 'the whole is other than the sum of the parts' which sorta sums up the whole concept. We discuss Gestalt in relation to shifting consciousness, Greg Egan, personal identity, authenticity, Mission Che...

Ned and Meg edify the masses and discuss punctuation, too. Interrobangs, interrogative point, and others, no punctuation is too weird for us. You can thank Martin K Speckter for inventing a form of punctuation that is essential and absurd! We also propose punctuation for asking a question in a question, and make fun of Inception for a bit, too. To the staircase, for some wit! Treppenwitz! Wash you...

Ned and Meg and Dana talk about idioms, again! Violent idioms are confusing to us because we don’t want to beat dead horses or kill multiple birds or bite bullets. Meg is pretty fond of idioms with vivid imagery. Ned schools us on snipe hunts. We discuss our intermittent and subjective love of liars. Red herrings etymology, WTF. We revisit our annoyance about the changing definition and use of the...

Ned and Meg (well, mostly Meg) talk about the practice of Harm Reduction and why philosophers have totally failed to get into the conversation for the last 30 freaking years. Wash your hands, wear a mask, don’t be a dick, thanks for listening.

Ned and Meg discuss beheading royals and the optics of even more trolley problems. We run through upcoming titles and subjects for podcast episodes.

Ned and Meg and Dana ramble on about a few things. New identities in the white house! Two dogs, a cat and a first second gentleman. The virtuous side of twitter. Wily Husky is wily. Asshole cat is an asshole. Meg has new boots. Presidential signatures, wtf. Nerve pain management regimens. Birds of prey. Fauci Face. Newsom answer avoidance. CA Covid data crunch. The Buford Scale with the Rear Admir...

Ned and Meg and Dana get together at long last and you can hear all THREE of us together! WE DISCUSS EDITORIAL FAILURES Bad idea avoidance specialist professionals Pop Physique font probs, poo Parler meta-weirdness Strong Opinions Loosely Held

Ned and Meg discuss why you should never trust anyone to leave their crap at your house. Also wear a mask and wash your hands!

Ned and Meg are captivated by Dana’s retelling of a story written by Becky Chambers, called The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, which coincides with our ongoing discussion of transhumanism in our full length Monday episodes. This book was originally crowdfunded on Kickstarter by the author in 2012 and published around 2014. Listen to us, and then read this book! Wash your hands! Wear a mask! Don...

Ned and Meg plus Dana continue the discussion around Transhumanism, or using technology to improve our own biology through design in order to improve the existence of humans. Topics today include the Theory and Aims of Transhumanism. We raise questions about measuring humanity by its limitations, modifying the self versus future individuals, the age of modifiability, whether transhumanism is narci...

Ned and Meg discuss the process of online orders in an age when they've been around for a long time. But their is a twist. Also, wear a mask, wash your hands.

Listen, I'm not saying we might complain a lot in this episode, but I'm also not not saying that. If you know what I mean. Also, wash your hands and wear a mask.

Ned and Meg chat about the Bechdel Test, which listeners may already know, except we chat about what it means to pass or fail the REVERSE Bechdel test, and there’s some lively conversation about what that even means. We’re not sure we were successful, but maybe you can help! Tell us your secret thoughts. Thanks for listening, wear a mask and wash your hands and be patient for the vaccine, kiddos!...

Ned and Meg bag all over Intelligent Design, a religious conservative propaganda effort designed to undermine science and secure for its apologists various positions of educational and political leadership throughout the USA. Roundly rejected by scientists and people who like to think, we discuss the many ways in which 'ID' is just stoopid. Join us! Wash your hands and keep that mask on til you ge...

Ned listens in stunted horror as Meg describes making friends with a wild mouse that moved into her kitchen. This mouse is no mere mouse, but rather an Exceptional Mouse, and Meg is more than happy to undertake precautionary measures to ensure a safe coexistence until Spring, thus preventing her untimely death from Hantavirus during the Covid Pandemic. Wash your hands twice, and wear a mask! Thank...

Ned and Meg discuss Jelery. What even is Jelery? Is it jelly made of celery? Is it ants on a log but with jelly instead of peanut butter? Today we discuss these heavy hitting topics and more, like Meg’s old jobs, Ned’s Xmas party, rescuing animals, open face sandwiches and we address some reader mail! Wash your hands, wear a mask, be patient for that vaccine! Thanks for listening.

Ned and Meg discuss the Exodusters! This intrepid group of former enslaved people left the American South after the Civil War ended and headed West as homesteaders. They faced tribulations along the way, and faced hardship once they finally reached their destinations in Kansas. Meg just learned about these resilient people and wanted to share! Enjoy a piece of American History. Wash your hands, we...

Ned and Meg continue the discussion around Transhumanism, or using technology to improve our own biology through design in order to improve the existence of humans. Topics today include the history of Transhumanism and the people who developed the definitions we use today. Also, alzheimer sharks. Wash your hands, wear your mask, don’t quit now! Thanks for listening.

Ned and Meg discuss the results of CRISPR-Cas9 Sickle Cell Disease treatment. Spoiler: It’s working!

Ned and Meg wade into a discussion about transhumanism. This is the first in a series where we discuss the improvement of the human condition through science and technology. Today’s preliminary musings include French law, germline genetic editing vs genetic treatments, cyberpunk and biopunk genres of Sci Fi, Philip K Dick, Ann Leckie, Ian M Banks, sickle cell anemia, and more we forget.

Ned and Meg discuss the war on christmas, again, again. This amazing year includes Starbucks cups, holiday arson, autopsies.

Ned and Meg discuss Eschatonic Immanentization because Meg is learning to program and has mixed feelings. Also included in today’s episode are tech industry woes and complaints, the Swamp of Sadness, David Foster Wallace, bizarro world communism and capitalism, and Frederik Pohl books. This one probably sparked a series because we have a lot of thoughts. Shocker! Wash your hands, wear a mask. We’r...

Ned and Meg discuss the Turbo Retroencabulator, a most wonderful machine that does not exist, but if it did, this would be the sales and training video. Do yourselves a favor and watch this short informational video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXJKdh1KZ0w), preferably on company time. Also, cat diabetes updates. Wash your hands, wear a mask, don’t be a dick so close to the finish line! Thanks...

Ned and Meg discuss the travesty that is the current state of parcel delivery box design. From there we veer off into discussion around design variables, why not designing for humans is absurd but not in a good way, transhumanism, science journalism, the problem of reproducibility, biology and falsifiability. Strap in, it’s a long one! Wear your mask, wash your hands, don’t be a dick. Thanks for l...