David Boles

Human Meme

Society EN ↓ 875 episodes

The Human Meme podcast examines what separates human consciousness from mere biological existence. Each episode investigates the inherited behaviors, cultural transmissions, and cognitive patterns that replicate across generations, shaping how we think, grieve, speak, and remember. David Boles, a New York City writer, publisher, and teacher, hosts these conversations as mindfulness with teeth: no production music, no easy comfort, only the direct inquiry into what makes us recognizably human. Since 2016, the podcast has asked why we weep emotional tears, how language emerged from gesture, and...

Author

David Boles

Category

Society

Podcast website

humanmeme.com

Latest episode

Jul 10, 2026

Where to listen?

Podcasts in the app Replaio Radio Coming soon

Podcasts are coming to the app soon. Install now and be the first to see a whole new take on podcasts

Get it on Google Play Install for free Android 5M+ downloads · 4.8 rating iOS soon

Episodes

Hundred. 23.11.2016

Hundred.

Circles in Circles 22.11.2016

Our lives are circles generating circles. To unwind us, is to disassemble what makes us whole. We discuss the Art of Closing Circles -- and of finding meaning in the moment of silence before the second closes.

Hillary Clinton Finally Gave My Millennials Speech! 21.11.2016

We learn as we listen. We celebrate the fact that Hillary Clinton actually gave the bones and ribs of the Millennials speech we wrote for her -- when she addressed the Children's Defense Fund!

Manipulative Immortality in the Word 18.11.2016

We write for us, not them. We argue against the reckless notion that authors should write books for generations 100 years out while not allowing the now of us to read the work today.

The Mirth of Sisyphus 17.11.2016

Camus' Sisyphus was against suicide, but did Sisyphus really take his punishment from the Gods? We contemplate the MIRTH in the Sisyphus myth, and we recall Sartre and Camus to help us existentialize the ratty rationalizations of the despicable rock roller!

Rule of Suing 16.11.2016

How do you prevent someone from dishonoring a contract? We help you figure out how to get the best contract terms and how to deal with the inevitable boor of a business person who refuses to honor a done deal.

Race Traitor 15.11.2016

Over the past week, our beloved host was accused of three things. First, he was accused of being a Traitor to His Own Race. Next, he was accused of being a Genderist because he thinks women can be "stolen." Finally, he was accused of being a Big Baby in need of diapering. In this episode, we respond to our accusers!

Outlier Offensive 14.11.2016

The risk of your life is to become an Outlier and stay one. We explain the value of an authentic Outlier -- one who leaves society to become an extra thinker beyond the common core.

No Right to Be Forgotten 11.11.2016

You cannot make us forget you! We flay the European Union notion that anyone in the world has the "Right to Be Forgotten" in today's digital evolution! It is nigh impossible to erase footfalls that have already been suspended in amber.

What a Ghoul Believes 10.11.2016

What happens when a Ghoul unexpectedly wins an election? We interview, for a second time, a conquering Ghoul who will set world expectation for the undead in the next generation!

Glom Research 09.11.2016

Don't ask for it if you didn't write it! We take on the glommers who want to "borrow" your research, or "take a look at" your Powerpoint presentation, or "grab a copy of" your syllabus. Write your own stuff! Stop stealing content from the rest of us!

Interview with a Ghoul 08.11.2016

Some Ghouls are too good to be true! We break new ground interviewing an ill-smelling Ghoul on election day! Can this Ghoul win it all with the Kitten and Wraith vote?

Black Wall of Gold 07.11.2016

The Lakota Sioux have spent generations fighting for hills and against pipelines. We make the case that the Black Hills of South Dakota were a first line of defense -- a wall! -- against intruders, until it was discovered those hills were made of gold, and the land was lost to blood and greed. Today, the fight is over Black Gold and pumping stations.

The Search for Meaning 04.11.2016

What do we mean in the landscape of antiquity? We share our combined searches for meaning in our lives -- with conflicting interests -- and opposing causes.

Best Childhood Commercials 03.11.2016

Why does the salesmanship of childhood stick with us inside the adult? We dissect some of the most memorable commercials from the 1970s to wonder at the everlasting effects upon their intended, advertising, targets.

The Immigrant Doctor 02.11.2016

We owe our future to the history of those who joined us. We celebrate the immigrant experience, and those who choose to give up their lives at home to join our lives here in America.

The Barely Among Us 01.11.2016

The homeless and the mentally ill creep on the seams of society. We try to figure out how we can help those who are unable to think of their own welfare. Incarceration is not the solution. Ignoring these desperate people hasn't worked. What's next?

A Haunting on Happy Jack Hill 31.10.2016

What breaks us can never can never bind us. Here is an original ghost story we wrote about a Nebraska legend.

Everything Smells Like Pot and Service Animals 28.10.2016

We are surrounded by smoke and poop! We take a sniff at how the mores of society are changing right beneath our noses! Medical Marijuana and Service Animals are beguiling more than just our sense of smell!

The Case of the Mysterious PhD Line Caper 27.10.2016

Academia is just as cutthroat as Wall Street -- but will less morality and more humor. We share canonical insight into the PhD hiring process, and how it unravels into unfairness and backslapping in order to fill empty faculty lines.

Purity 26.10.2016

We have the need to be cleansed. Yet, we can never be clean. We reveal the memes of purity and cleanliness as cultural controls. Can we ever become Virgins again after the loss of verifiable innocence?

Newark in Black and Blue: Podcast Edition! 25.10.2016

Students who attend school in Newark, New Jersey discuss Race and Racism in performance. In this episode, our instructor gives the story over to his Fall 2004 "Page to Stage" class at Rutgers-Newark where his students dramatize the hard, biting, realities of their lives -- recording the truth of them, in situ, in studio, preserved in the amber of audio history. NSFW: Language.

Do You Not See Me Not Watching You? 24.10.2016

We are always being watched by someone who is not us -- or OF us. We walk through the sky above and the eyes below that are looking down on us and around on us -- recording every move we make. Can we escape this Panopticon of our own doing and desire?

Cynicism and Snarkiness in the Media 21.10.2016

In a crumbling world, the comedians make the news, and skewer the truth. The old world newsreaders are scuttled to the dustbin -- unless they compete on the lowest level of giggling and desk-slapping. In this episode, we track the downfall of the American news personality.

Deirdre of the Sorrows: Podcast Performance! 20.10.2016

The Irish sense of tragedy takes many forms and mournings. We dive into Irish culture and the work of Playwright and Poet John Millington Synge. There are some Irish pronunciation name games herein as well as the redacted version, IN LIVE PERFORMANCE, of "Deirdre of the Sorrows."

Listen to the Human Meme podcast in Replaio

Radio and podcasts in one app - free, with no sign-up. Install today and do not miss the launch

Get it on Google Play

Replaio is not a podcast publisher; show names, artwork and audio belong to their authors and are distributed through public RSS feeds.