Heat Death of the Universe

We continue the second iteration of the Heat Death of the Universe Book Club with the second of two discussions of Don DeLillo's 1988 landmark novel, Libra . Just exactly how unwitting was Oswald? Did you think that a hashish-fueled threesome would be part of the novel? Bullets are magic now? So Jackie O was doing what when she crawled onto the flat rear trunk of the limousine? Did Jack Ruby...

After a series of technical troubles issued by the chaotic void, we talked about Kamala v. Kamala; Biden v. Putin; grief-eating Champ Biden like an ortolan ; the Clintons slave labor at the governors mansion; Juneteenth is now a national holiday and all racism has been vanquished; a 1990s Dry Drunk Uncle Joe yells on the Senate floor about how confessions elicited via torture should be legalized (...

We begin the second iteration of the Heat Death of the Universe Book Club with the first of two discussions of Don DeLillo's 1988 landmark novel, Libra. Was Lee Harvey Oswald merely a dyslexic contrarian failson who wanted to dad-marry John Wayne, or did he hold deeper philosophical convictions and was his interior life more complex and compelling than it may've seemed in many lights? Ju...

It's been a hell of a week for Ol' Gaffes McGee. We power through an assortment of news articles showing how Uncle Grampy Biden was indeed the #1 Harm Reductionist of 2021, which he handily won in a landslide at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (watch out in the green room, kids!), and things got a little dicey when a glassy eyed Hunter grabbed the mic during the acceptance speec...

In our third and final installment of this iteration of the Heat Death of the Universe Book Club we discuss the final third of the book Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Family by Patrick Radden Keefe. The book examines the nature of this pharmaceutical dynasty and its massive, instrumental role in the US opioid epidemic. Part Three focuses on the "Legacy" of the family,...

A pretty loose conversation today about everything and much less. Charlie Rose's black eye. Trump's FUPA accentuating fashion choice / belief that he'll be the president before summer's gone. Biden gonna Biden. Obama bends history to his will. Knives are guns now. NFL helmets will soon be made with woodpecker tongues. The puberty to pyromania pipeline. Other stray thoughts. Gen...

In our second installment of the Heat Death of the Universe Book Club we discuss the middle section and second third of the book Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Family by Patrick Radden Keefe. The book examines the nature of this pharmaceutical dynasty and its massive, instrumental role in the US opioid epidemic. Part Two focuses on the "Dynasty" of the family, largely...

Biden (whom the "hard left" loves btw) and The Virus continue to creep. 40,000 ventilators were tossed in a Floridian landfill because of the poisoned logic of capitalism. Bezos gets a no strings $10,000,000,000 from the government to play spacemans with Elon Musk. Amazon installs mental breakdown booths for its warehouse workers. Biden remains disgusting and should be forever "sati...

In our first ever installment of the Heat Death of the Universe Book Club we discuss the first third of the book Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Family by Patrick Radden Keefe. The book examines the nature of this pharmaceutical dynasty and its massive, instrumental role in the US opioid epidemic. Part One focuses on the "Patriarch" of the family, Arthur Sackler, and th...

We spoke with activist, educator, macroeconomics/politics podcast host, and founder of Real Progressives, Steven Grumbine. We discuss Modern Monetary Theory in both theoretical and historical broad strokes and in more specified real world scenarios. We discuss how this macroeconomic theory is a valuable lens to view the world through but also needs to be utilized in conjunction with effective poli...

We talk about the disastrous CDC guidelines about no longer needing masks if fully vaccinated, then jump into the human rights abuses, pillaging and conquests around the world committed by the harmless-seeming, sentient sweater vest and khaki combo, Bill Gates. General Recommendations JD's Recommendation: Halt and Catch Fire JNM's Recommendation: A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines by Jan...

The night before recording our episode about Bill Gates we watched the dull as dirt, yet somehow still overdramatized, 1999 made-for-TV biopic, Pirates of Silicon Valley . Bear witness to our great becoming. Locationless Locations heatdeathpod.com Every show-related link is corralled and available here . Heat Death of the Universe - @heatdeathpod Please send all Letters of Derision, Indifference,...

We're joined by Weston Pagano, the creator of Waiting on Biden , and author of some notable pieces written about the 2020 Democratic Primaries. We discuss Biden's first 100 days in office via his thorough compilation of the current administration's trail of broken promises, extensions of failed policies from previous administrations, determination to keep the imperial nation lumberi...

We have a State of the Corona Virus update, then move onto smash open the ol' news piñata and free a disparate collection of novel news items in an attempt to alleviate the psychic damage accumulated simply from living. Mysterious holes behind mirrors. Mummified cult leader wrapped in Christmas lights. Balloon Boy Update. Burning Man steals money from people. Cicadas return. A man scams all 3...

We talk about the history of self-help movements and gilded gurus that proselytize their cure-all tonics, wish-fulfillment effects, et cetera, and find something interesting in their modern roots (socialism). We also lay out a taxonomy of the various subspecies of contemporary self-help/life coach/guru figures, from OG kings of the grift like Tony Robbins to the humanoid slugs in the Pickup Artist...

Biden requests the largest defense budget since WWII so we take a look at the imperialism, incompetence, the profound bloat and corruption of the military machine that receives more than half of all US federal discretionary spending and whose budget dwarfs all other nations by several orders of magnitude. We review a surprisingly truthful editorial segment from none other than CNN and read selecti...

Is dry land a myth? Further Reading, Viewing, Listening The Story of Waterworld (1995) - Review & Retrospective [WATCH] What if all the Earth's ice melted overnight? 'Waterworld' Isn’t a Good Movie, But I Can’t Stop Watching It Waterworld at 25: Reappraising cinema’s biggest flop Waterworld – The Ulysses Cut Locationless Locations heatdeathpod.com Every show-related link is corr...

Immediately after recording our commentary, we talk about the 1995 climate disaster message movie, Kevin Costner ego-stroke, and infamous financial flop, Waterworld . Further Reading, Viewing, Listening The Story of Waterworld (1995) - Review & Retrospective [WATCH] What if all the Earth's ice melted overnight? 'Waterworld' Isn’t a Good Movie, But I Can’t Stop Watching It Waterw...

The plain chaos of existence put a last minute kibosh on our planned episode (with a secret special guest) so we decided, also at the last minute, to just record ourselves talking without any particular agenda. We'll complete our planned episode in a week from now, secret special guest and all.  General Recommendations JNM's Recommendation: Enon - Believo! [LISTEN] JD's Recommendati...

The Sewol ferry disaster happened exactly 7 years ago to the day, on the morning of April 16th, 2014. Of the 476 passengers and crew, 304 died in this immensely tragic event, 250 of them were the students from Danwon High School. This tragedy wasn’t like some horrible but unavoidable disaster, like a hurricane or a volcanic eruption, instead, from beginning to end this horrifying disaster is causa...

We discuss the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal as portrayed by the documentary Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal as well as a broader view of education in the utterly commodified environment of the United States, ever-saturated with purely transactional relationships in virtually every crack and crevice of life. General Recommendations JD's Recommendation: SKY Ca...

Biden Builds Back (Border Wall) Better! Daniel Hale remains an unjustly persecuted whistleblower who exposed large segments of the US military drone warfare and assassination programs developed during the Obama administration. Even while facing a possible 50 years in prison, he still tried to organize the kitchen staff at a restaurant where he was washing dishes and was fired for these efforts. We...

We discuss the morally dubious existence of the booming Rehab Industry and the pyramid schemes, dangerous misinformation, primordial greed, and reckless incompetence that lies at its heart. General Recommendations JNM's Recommendation: Celebrity Rehab JD's Recommendation: Vincenzo Further Reading, Viewing, Listening From Rehab to a Body Bag | Dying for Treatment: VICE Reports (VIDEO) As...

A historical view of the National Rifle Association. A grappling with the unique and slippery beast of USA Gun Culture. A peek at the socialist prescription for how to deal with the American Exceptionalism of gun ownership, mass shootings and a ceaseless governmental allergy to nearly all forms of weapons regulation.  General Recommendations JD's Recommendations: Lil Nas X - MONTERO (Call Me...

Reading about various luxury underground bunkers from the inverted condo to the even more decadent fortresses in the Hobbit lands of New Zealand built by Silicon Valley caricatures like the founder of Reddit, eventually led to begin watching the 2012-2014 reality show, Doomsday Preppers, since it was mentioned as an example of survivalism in mainstream culture…and it turned out to be fairly intere...