Third Space Podcast

Daniel has a cough, which turned out to be Covid. If it wasn't called that, it wouldn't have mattered at all, but by that name, it meant wearing the Scarlet Letter of a mask. We talk about that a little, and then Daniel turns the tables on Bennett by asking him to defend poetry. And he actually does it, sort of. Enjoy the discussion and the return of the phenomenal jingle.

You can consider this the beginning of a new Third Space Podcast, one where we shift from roughly monthly multi-hour podcasts to weekly sub-hour ones. In this episode, we do a fair job at trimming down the time while still keeping a favorite segment: Superpowers and Drawbacks. We also discuss... aliens! And don't miss out on the super sweet AI-generated jingle. Maybe AI really will take over the w...

In this episode of Third Space Podcast (3SP, see what I did with the title there?), Daniel enthusiastically introduces the conversational topic of ChatGPT, the recently popular AI chatbot. They discuss its function, potential, limitations, and the implications of AI bots for education and society; whether we will be overtaken by AI or tame it and be better humans with better tools.

In this well-paced episode, Bennett blows smoke about smoke detectors, then Superpowers and Drawbacks returns to its roots with a level 1 set of choices, and finally Bennett and Daniel discuss a generally unpleasant but also strangely interesting topic: death. Namely, the associated costs and rituals that accompany death and the possibility of exploitation in the death industry.

This is a very fun episode. We begin with This or That, back for the third or fourth run, and then we launch Country or Crock, which is very reminiscent of episode 35's Rap or Crap. Bennett presents Daniel with snippets of stereotypical or hilarious country songs in a variety of categories and has Daniel try to guess which are real and which Bennett just made up. If you don't hear from Bennett aga...

Bennett and Daniel kick things off by wondering why we still bother with signatures, which spawns multiple mini-topics ranging from celebrity autographs to retro video games. Then, after a long absence, Mind Your Morals returns, and by the end of the segment, we've eliminated cancer, racism, and mosquitos. So moral!

It's been a while since the last episode, but for good reason: Daniel got married! Not only that, but he's also gotten a new job and moved to a new state, so there's lots to catch up on. We talk about all things wedding-related, but not before discussing the difference between generalists and specialists, and how the US seems to be specializing more and more, for both good and ill.

This episode is all about Star Wars! Bennett and Daniel both, at some time or another, have considered themselves Star Wars fans, and here they discuss how they were exposed to Lucas' creative world and how they came to love it. And then, Bennett recounts his recent experience watching all of the live-action Star Wars content, including the more recent Disney productions that he skipped (out of di...

In this episode, Bennett once again does his social duty by fixing the world's worst sport in Bennett Fixes Sports, and then Bennett and Daniel discuss a classy topic: dressing up. Has society ceased valuing dressing up? Is there some moral component to how we dress? Should dressing up be preserved, or is it better for us to accept a more casual fashion?

Bennett divulges a dubious dating drama to Daniel, we wonder about the whereabouts of words like wheelbarrow in another Adventures in Etymology, and finally we fantasize about the fraught future of phones and how terrific or terrible two-way telepathic telecommunication might be were it to become reality.

In the introductory small talk section of this episode, Daniel and Bennett appropriately discuss small talk and its possible utility before quickly getting to the level 8 (!) Superpowers and Drawbacks promised in the last episode. Finally, we round off the podcast with a discussion on creativity. What is it, exactly? Can animals have it? What about machines? This leads us into discussing conscious...

This is a podcast filled with experience: Bennett's recent solo ski trip, a Christmas break where Bennett and Daniel both caught Covid, and a New Year where Bennett and Daniel got to hang out and play lots of VR games. We discuss the pros and cons of VR, the Oculus Quest 2 in particular, and some of the games on it, then we talk about whether catching Covid lived up to the hype, and we comment on...

It's been a few weeks since the last episode, during which time Daniel and Bennett both got a year older, and Bennett moved some 2000+ miles across the US. We kick things off by talking about these things, including B movies, midget wrestling, VR headsets, cowboy roadblocks, and more. Then Bennett tests Daniel's hip hop acuity by having him try to guess whether certain verses are from real rap son...

After some introductory minutiae about sleep and video game emulation, Daniel and Bennett discuss Bennett's impending cross-country move, his packing process, and how (un)stressful it is to him. Then, Mind Your Morals makes an appearance, this time involving a one-way wormhole and its potential uses as an alternative to current methods of capital punishment.

This episode kicks off with some musing on fear responses. What makes people startle easily? And can a person's susceptibility to jump scares depend on their class or even the surrounding technology? Then, Superpowers and Drawbacks returns with a delightfully-ranked set of level 2 choices, and we round the episode off by imagining what the world would be like if we had devices that could near-inst...

Are you ready for an adventure? YEAH! And Adventure in Etymology? Y-yeah! Adventures in Etymology returns with a few common idioms, then Daniel and Bennett discuss organization and efficiency for a bit before questioning the culture of tipping. Why do we tip, and should we continue to? An age-old debate sure to annoy waiters and waitresses everywhere (or maybe convince them).

This episode covers a wide range of topics, including Daniel's experimentation with a juice cleanse, another rendition of Bennett Fixes Sports with the timely subject of the Olympics, and a discussion about nostalgia, fantasy, and classic video games.

How much should those in a conversation consider their audience? Is it permissible to behave dis-harmoniously for audience benefit? How was Daniel's recent trip to Alaska? And, primarily: Bennett tries to present an argument against the claim that the world would be a better place with more empathy, and that instead sympathy is the better response to suffering.

After a four episode absence, Superpowers and Drawbacks returns to its level 1 roots with an enjoyably named set of options, and then Daniel and Bennett imagine a world where humanity has invented refrigerator-sized consumer teleportation devices. What would happen to shopping trends, vacationing, education, crime, and more with the restrictions of proximity broken?

In a beautiful springtime walkabout podcast, Bennett very cruelly grills Daniel in what is perhaps his weakest area, geography, in a long-awaited Daniel Does Science. Afterwards, we discuss whether it is ever useful for people to delude themselves, and if such a thing is even possible.

Up to this point, we've studiously avoided talking much about covid, but Daniel recently got a vaccine, which spurs much covid-related discussion on risk, reaction, and reflection. We also laugh at a weird guy playing strange music on a bow, and we introduce a new segment called Adventures in Etymology that starts off in the classiest way: poop words.

This or That makes its triumphant return, which spurs discussions about desserty delicacies, methods of death, and the offensiveness of drag. We also examine the "word gap," a proposed reason for differences in achievement of kids of different classes. Mixed in, there's some talk about entertainment, technology, the hero's journey, and more.

This episode is dominated by an intricate and outlandish Mind Your Morals involving genies and Christmas gifts. Is Daniel strong enough to resist the genie's temptations and threats? Are you? There's also some talk about minimalism and multivitamins, in case you're into that.

Why don't people return the shopping cart? Why are striped shirts usually horizontal? How important are eyebrows? Why are our pets fat? All of this and more is discussed in this episode, along with a level 6 (!) Superpowers and Drawbacks and a discussion on the anthropomorphization of pets.

In this episode, we cover a lot of ground, beginning with the educational system and its failings, as well as what a large-scale apprenticeship replacement might look like. The we introduce a new segment: This or That! It spawns multiple mini-topics. And lastly, we discuss the concept of intrinsic identity by basically psychoanalyzing Daniel.