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

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Episodes

That Was The Week That Was in Bigotry 19.10.2016

Three cunning bigots? Three kind solutions! We share our experiences in a week filled with censorship and cruel bigots! There's the bigoted Race-baiter, and then there's the Civil Rights ruiner, and, finally, there's the culture-dissing inHuman Troll!

We are All Replaceable Until We're Not 18.10.2016

There is no value in us. We are built on hubris and breadcrumbs, and we prick the notion that we only bleed when we're struck -- and not in perpetuity. We are not unique. We only resemble. How then, can we fight for a right niche in life and become, in essence, the meaning of, value?

Trinity Moments 17.10.2016

"I am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds." We discuss the idea of a "Trinity Moment" -- and how that notion is inspired by the scheme of Robert Oppenheimer's "Trinity Test" bombs during WWII. We cannot reoccur, or recover, from a Trinity Moment. Like Pandora's Box, once a Trinity Moment is let loose upon us, the Devil cannot be sent back to Hell.

Performing Arts as a Profession 14.10.2016

We are not always our talents. We want to believe we can arc above the sky and land on our feet; but our parents often try to hold us down, for our own sake, against our wishes and our dreams. We answer a talented student of the Performing Arts from California who wants to take up an offer for a full-ride scholarship that her parents refuse to approve.

Enemies Are Your Friend 13.10.2016

Every friend is your enemy! Yes, it's true! Every enemy is a friend and every friend is an enemy. The trick of life is to know which way that pendulum is ticking against you.

Dotbusters, Beaner-Hopping and Foreign Rage 12.10.2016

We are our hatreds. When we, the majority, choose to pick on the minority among us, we cheapen our own dreams, and wishes, and we poison our future with violence. We examine a not-so-distant time in America when were were rougher, and more, cruel with -- "The Others" -- than we are today.

Cowardism and the Terrorist 11.10.2016

Is there a difference between a coward and a terrorist? We struggle to find the difference between terrorism and cowardice. In the Age of Modern Warfare Against Civilians -- do those labels even matter any longer, when killing is done, virtually, from afar?

Imitation is Not Flattery 10.10.2016

Achievement vs. Originality matters. Knowing the difference between authenticity and imitation is not as easy as it once was. We reveal the imitators among us -- the copiers, the pale comparisons, and the almost was.

Romanticizing Bad People 07.10.2016

Why are we obsessed with venerating the Evildoers among us? We take a look at our like for the bad influences in our culture. Hitler, the KKK, Pigeons, Sports, Criminals and Bad Boys -- they're all here -- waiting for the burning!

Love in an Anodyne Age 06.10.2016

Where has the sacred heart gone to find love today? We reckon with -- "The Death of the Old God" -- in an Age where everything is facile and online and untouchable. Sex! Dating! Heathens of the Loveless!

Logistics and Quantification of the Human Spirit 05.10.2016

We are illogical beings who rely on logistics to get the work of life, done. We lay out the idea of the logicians who run our lives -- in business and in healthcare -- and the inescapable resolution of the dissolution of our Human Souls in the process.

Luke Cage and the Harlem Renaissance 04.10.2016

The Marvel Comics Universe comes alive in New York City! We take a look at the Luke Cage television series on Netflix. The evildoers and the good fighters tee off in Harlem to rule the soul of the people!

Flay the Wicked, Save the Monster 03.10.2016

Here's what you get when you combine a Hobson's Choice with a Sophie's Choice. You get a Wicked Monster trapped in a never-ending circle of ferocity! We explore the mind of us, and how we choose to make decisions while actively deciding not to be involved in anything that can later be used against us.

Ubiquity in Social Media 30.09.2016

If you want to be widely understood, be universally clear, and contextual. We share secrets of the mistakes we've made in a long -- social media tail -- career. Context is everything, and it can always be shared if you explain well. "Katzenfutter" and "World of the Day" and "Word-Smithy" and "Three's Company" -- forever!

I Just Wrote Hillary Clinton's Millennials Speech 29.09.2016

Here is the speech Hillary Clinton needs to give to Millennials. We share the speech we wrote for Hillary Clinton to win the Millennials vote!

The Undiagnosed and the Accused: Asperger's and the Internet 28.09.2016

How do we label things in the Internet of things? We insult you, and offends you, as we step through a generation, or two, of naming conventions -- from retarded to Autistic, from lazy to Fibromyalgia, from antisocial to Asperger's Syndrome. All outrage, all the time!

Redundant Systems: Redundant Systems 27.09.2016

Does your love backup have a backup? The universe wants us to be one thing and not a multiplicity, but computer systems were built to copy us -- sometimes in uneven and unwanted ways. We wonder about the doppelgangers of us, and how many backups is too many -- and why redundant love is something all children require.

We Are Our Works 26.09.2016

Are we only our jobs? We ask the important questions of us -- are we our work, are we our dreams, as we something else -- or are we only what others expect us to be in the end?

How to Adapt Everything 23.09.2016

The Art of Adaptation is not for the weak-willed. We share methods of adaptation, and of divining meaning into the essence of everything. In order to adapt, you must first humble yourself, and then submit -- and we provide examples from Columbia University in the City of New York and in the higher life of Jewish actor, Steven Hill.

Millennialization of a Nation 22.09.2016

Will the 2016 presidential election be decided by the non-involvement of Millennials? We think it so -- and we dig into the depths of the emptiness of us -- to unearth a generation that was born aimless, and amiss.

Why Do We Trust Each Other? 21.09.2016

New Twitter friend Ashleigh Bonner asks for a podcast about trust. This, is that, podcast! We answer Ashleigh's inquiries, and wonderings, about the nature of us -- and the test of us -- when it comes to living together as a society.

Traumatic Memory and Survivor Grief 20.09.2016

What happens to those left behind -- the traumatized, and the grieving? In this podcast follow-up to -- "Does Disappeared Mean Murdered?" -- we reflect on what it means to find success in storytelling as we share a letter from a grieving stranger, and shines an example on traumatic memory, in the example of Lt. Joe Kenda, star of the Homicide Hunter television show on the Investigation Discovery c...

On Getting Twitter Verified 19.09.2016

How do you get Verified on Twitter and Facebook? Don't ask us -- because we have no idea -- even though we're finally Verified on both Facebook and Twitter. Listen along as we share some schemes and thoughts and doables for winning the social media Verification day!

In the Internet of Things, Keep Your String 16.09.2016

"As we are connected, so shall we remain in the dark." That quote is investigated in this podcast about living virtually and in reality. Do we know how dependent we are on power and the internet? Can a piece of string save us? How long is a piece of string?

Does Disappeared Mean Murdered? 15.09.2016

Here are the stories of fellow Lincoln, Nebraskans Wendy Hile, Oscar Long and Gina Bos -- all either murdered, or presumed dead. We investigate what it means to go missing in the real world, and how we deal with the not knowing of what happened to the murdered, and the beloved, around us.

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