The Problem with Reading

205 The Problem with..."the Joker Meme and Machine Reading" by The Problem with Reading

Stephen and Brevin write Kanye West fan fic, compose fresh lyrics to our fave christian songs, and generally make it snappy. Enjoy! Articles: ~disrn.com/2019/10/01/how-christians-should-respond-to-kanyes-reported-conversion ~theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/10/how-fanfiction-improves-writing/599197

Stephen and Brevin return after a much-too-long hiatus to bring you tales of apocalypse, hell (but I repeat myself), and the memetic structures that underpin grumpy cat. Articles: ~firstthings.com/article/2019/10/harrowing-hart-on-hell ~thephilosophersmeme.com/2019/04/05/the-memetic-bottleneck/ Music: Ratata by Jeremiah Dangers

Season 2 only gets better and Stephen is back at it again with what may be a record number of David Foster Wallace references. Meanwhile, Sam and Brevin are devastated that Kirsten Gillibrand has dropped out of the presidential race and ruined their chance for free bourbon. In other news, the Constitution should be abolished, James Mattis is our new patron saint, and bitter fights abound in the th...

The gang is back and better than ever with Season 2! After Season 1's long journey through MacIntyre's After Virtue we have arrived to the ethical wasteland he described. But while we're here, we may as well read some articles. This episode we ponder why Joshua Harris and the Christian Purity Movement collapsed, why God isn't actually Zeus, and how Communists find love. Please enjoy! Articles: ~na...

The squad read the last chapter of After Virtue, and looks to a bright future with the St. Seraphim Option, named for the patron saint of nuclear weapons, that promises to bring cleansing fire upon our godless world. In other news, the American justice system is terrible, a charismatic preacher makes the bodies hit the floor (see link), and Stephen and Sam get a lucky few anti-Catholic one-liners...

Sam rejoins the pod for the second-to-last chapter of MacIntyre and a riotous good time. Join the three musketeers for a defense of censorship, a rant about children in escape rooms, and something something heatwave. I wasn’t paying attention. Articles: ~ firstthings.com/article/2004/06/freedom-and-decency ~ city-journal.org/diversity-bureauracies-georgetown-univ Music: Ratata by Jeremiah Dangers

Brevin and Stephen talk After Virtue Chapter 16 and Jane Austen. They follow this with a rousing discussion of skinhead redemption, gritty childhoods, traffic, and happiness gurus gone bad. Have a listen! Articles: ~ quillette.com/2019/04/24/the-impassable-road-to-redemption ~ theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/05/david-epstein-range/590704/ Music: Ratata by Jeremiah Dangers

It’s just Stephen and Brevin this week for another exciting chapter of MacIntyre. We’re on chapter 15, and the countdown is real. Also discussed—the Danes are patriarchal, Jeffrey Sachs is dumb, and Venezuela is doomed. Articles: ~ theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/may/10/and-the-least-feminist-nation-in-the-world-is-denmark? ~ americasquarterly.org/content/dont-blame-washington-venezuelas-oil-woe...

May the 4th be with you...and with your spirit! The gang is joined by special guest Jensen to honor STAR WARS day with some spicy fan theories and conspiracies. Sam tells us about the ambitious plan to build the Death Star in real life, Stephen reveal Dark Sith Lord Jar Jar Binks, Jensen explains that the real galactic conflict is between the Green and Blue teams, and Brevin rants about why the Em...

Star Wars Episode 9 trailer reactions, scathing social commentary, and After Virtue Chapter 14. Stephen ponders our lost language of friendship and makes the case for putting your so-called "friends" into a hierarchical ranking system, Brevin makes the case against a recent First Things article, and Sam summarizes MacIntyre for the first (and not last) time. Have a listen. Articles: ~firstthings.c...

Stephen uncovers and narrates Nixon's secret prepared speech, to be read in the case of Apollo 11 having a wacko in the machine. Source: lifestyle.clickhole.com/this-speech-was-written-for-president-nixon-to-deliver-1825121627

Another action-packed episode as the gang discusses the medieval philosophers in After Virtue chapter 13. In other news--Beto is a bit Trumpy, but also a legend who stands on tables, Stephen muses on Jordan Peterson and that state of pastoring, something about stoicism and tech companies, and Brevin revisits the legendary April Fool's day miracle, Reddit Place. Tune in! Articles: ~sudoscript.com/r...

SpaceForce! On a podcast far far away, Sam takes on ideological campus warfare, Stephen says TV killed our souls and channels the spirit of DFW, and Brevin talks SpaceForce and the moon. Also, DON'T MISS Stephen's reading of Nixon's speech to be given in the event the Apollo 13 mission has a wacko in the machine. Tune in! Articles: ~dalkeyarchive.com/a-conversation-with-david-foster-wallace-by-lar...

The crew gathers on a Wednesday night to do content and they chose poorly. In short, Zoomers bring the apocalypse, none of the gang is really angry about anything (and they're nerds), something about After Virtue chapter 11, and who is Nate Silver? Tune in. Article: ~theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/religion-workism-making-americans-miserable/583441/ Music: Ratata by Jeremiah Dangers

#zoompocalypse

The team takes on the worst chapter of After Virtue yet(why won't MacIntyre translate the damn words?!). Stephen and Sam slap down bad government policy towards the mentally handicapped, Brevin talks about the minimum wage, and Sam has a secret admirer. Articles: ~nationalreview.com/2019/03/the-social-media-censorship-dumpster-fire/ ~nytimes.com/interactive/2019/02/21/magazine/minimum-wage-saving-...

Sam kills modernity with Catholicism again.

The team explores heroic societies, absurdity, and After Virtue chapter ten. When they run out of jokes about Greeks, Stephen muses about gender and coding, Sam explains how we'll never find love, and Brevin encourages us all to take a second hard look at Fun Dip. Also in the mix: ISIS brides, underpopulation, and Plato.

In this clip from episode 009, Brevin discusses the creepiness of Fun Dip.

Sam, Brevin, and Stephen choose between Nietzsche and Aristotle in After Virtue chapter nine. The crew takes a deep dive into the mystery of Florida Man, read a Cosmopolitan article on Purity Culture, and discover that we are trees, you are trees, humans and society are trees, etc. Also AI will kill us all, but we knew that. On an unrelated note, imagine a country populated entirely with Ayn Rands...

Join Stephen and Brevin and the vaunted chapter eight, where everything is unpredictable! Also in this episode: sad bad grad school, why Webster's 3rd dictionary is an abomination, and more math than you want. Articles: ~blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/the-emotional-toll-of-graduate-school/ ~claremont.org/crb/article/bourbon-neat/ Music: Ratata by Jeremiah Dangers

Hijinks abound as Stephen and Brevin bull-rush After Virtue chapter 7. In other news, duck livers have revealed that African democracy is not doing great, internet culture has no problems whatsoever, and bureaucrats are lizards, but still probably our friends. Have a listen. Articles: ~foreignaffairs.com/articles/africa/2019-01-17/retreat-african-democracy ~nytimes.com/2019/01/14/opinion/call-out-...

Sam joins the gang again to discern that the trolley problem meme really does explain all of philosophy, human rights are moral fictions, and that **Managers** are truly the architype of pure evil. We also vacillate between endless crippling loneliness (because of modernity) and totally justified boundless optimism (because of modernity). Stephen talks about David Foster Wallace again, and no one...

Stephen and Brevin are alone together this week as they tackle After Virtue Ch5 and discover that without Telos, there is no end to anything. They also speak for maladjusted millennials everywhere, decide that pre-blessed Matrimony is great, and that one should never forget strawberries. Articles: ~buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/annehelenpetersen/millennials-burnout-generation-debt-work ~christandpopcul...