What Do You Want to Talk About?

Stewart is amazing comic and an amazing human being, listen to how his curiosity is the source of his comedy, how he turns a thesis into an hour set!

We talk about the modern veneration of the self, and how its sold to us in self-help industry. Is there another way to see ourselves other than this atomistic self? What does it mean to have healthy boundaries. We reflect on a philosophy podcast and the book, Magnificent Rebels, a book on the invention of Self that happens in the quiet town of Jenna in Germany at the end of 18th century. What do y...

Isiyama is a beast, to tell this complex story so well. Joy watched it and loved it. Have you watched it. Just an amazing work of artistry. But at the end what does such story do? Entertain? Yes. But does it change people's heart and mind? What power does a good story have?

Joy is moving to London, I am getting ready for a joke battle, and we talk about anime and what it brings as a legitimate form for telling complex stories. Japanese anime is not just Dragonball. They have used it to tell difficult stories. It is not just a cheaper way to do cool visuals. Even if today's CGI can replicate visuals of anime in a live version, it is still not the same effect. What exa...

As we catch up we ruminate on friendship (& romantic relationships), why we choose some people to be friends, and what value we are seeking or giving? And then a little bit on Will Farrell's Mark Twain prize acceptance speech. Joy thought one part of it was cringy. Can any material work if you have the right delivery?

Joy and I read two poems by Han Kang, a Korean author, who just won the Nobel Prize. Reading the poem, we experience the inadequacies of any translation simply because the power of words is no simply in the definition, but his emotional relationship with other words in the language and the world of that language.

This episode Joy and I discuss Matt Rife's Crowd Work special, his fuck you to his critics, and whether the crowd-work script actually is more therapeutic than your very expensive therapy sessions. Join us!

Joy and I (Sam Lee), read through this poem that started the modern poetry movement and launched T.S. Eliot's career. Reading it, you find it funny and the character pitiful, but also the artistry is definitely praisworthy! If you don't like poems, this podcast might make you fall in love with it! Seriously!

A summer break, Joy & Sam get back to talk about why American are so full of themselves (Whiteman, the rhetoric of self as the epic story) & Reading Open City by Teju Cole. Such a fun conversation, join us & let us know what you think!

We review the movie (did you enjoy the movie?), but more than just review, how does the movie reflect our current understanding of self and what constitutes our identity. Join us!

Talking about stand up (on of our favorite art), but of course starts with a meandering through urban design (the 99 percent visible design that affects our lives), its a tour de force! And Joy thinks Dave is meh...but acknowledges his cultural influence...what do you think?

Continuing our conversation on Order of Time... and we still seem to land back to how we see non-existence. Joy is good with it. I'm not. What about you? Have you come to terms with non-existence? Depressing? I don't think so. I think its the one undeniable fact, that all thing come to an end, or as Rovelli says, events continue to change into other events.

Yeah, big question, but something we all think about at an intimate personal level but also in big philosophical level. We let Carlo Rovelli, a physicist, guide us through his book "The Order of Time," but as we usually do, we meander, i.e. we let the road lead us. Get some coffee and join us as your also reflect on your time and your life.

It's been awhile, & my allergy is kicking my ass (hence the snifles). But we're back. We both had a recent trip to South Korea, and we reflect on our time there, which leads to reflection on time & story telling. Glad we can reconnect with each other and with all the listeners! (future listeners this is for you, for when you hear this, it will be your now, so temporal sequence mean...

...which leads us to talk about writing, what makes a good novel, and what it means to be human, it always comes to that, doesn't it?

What is Power? Well, there's a book by that name by Byun Chul Han. Power works often by not drawing attention to itself, which is why it can often get away with things. But paying attention to it, we can learn to harness it better? Does Byun Chul Han pull that off? Let's find out.

We ponder, did Shane Gillis bomb? No. Haters will be haters. But also, Shane didn't have to call to attention that he wasn't getting the laughs he expected. How do you handle a lukewarm crowd? And that talk leads us to talk about Sheng Weng, and how we both were shocked when we googled him and he did similar type of materials (every day details), with a short cut and a more rigid posture....

Sherman Alexie's story has the timing of the most professional stand up. It's hilarious; but it also reads like Greek Tragedy, fate of the worst kind that people simply cannot escape. Gives insight to Native American life, that's honest and real, and the humor makes it more real. Listen to us talk about it, but also get his collection, "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heave...

Happy New Years! Our first 2024 episode. Busy with, well, life. Got to talk about a poem by one of my (Samuel Lee) favorite poet. Christian Wieman. It is a zen like poem, and in so many simple and creative ways, the form so fully matches the content, that it is the content. It gets you to what it talks about. Or does it? When tune in.

You got to read this novella, Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. The narrator/protagonist shows us her world which surprises, humors and humbles the "normal" worldview most of us adopt. We (Joy & Samuel) talk about why we both liked it, and shows us once again why we can't escape our boxes...but can we repaint it? And also listen into paper Joy is preparing and learn about...

Is this comedy special title the perfect description of Nate? He looks average, speaks like an average American, a conversation you would hear at TGIF, but they are some of the greatest sets. How does average look great? That's the wonderment here...

We go over Chekhov's short-real short-story, Rothschild's Fiddle, which is unlike his other stories, reads more like a fable, but does it work? And of course we chat over other important things you should know in life like living in Glasgow and in Louisville.

Discovered this wonderful essay, which doesn't read like an essay. Hit the link below and read it yourself. It's somewhere between prose poem and an essay, just like how perplexity is between terror and awe, so says Richard Siken. We read the entire essay (not too long), and appreciate its randomness that comes into an order (that we create?). Find out for yoruself. On Perplexity: Chrysant...

Joy is Engaged (Congrats!). And this week we read "Lady with a Dog" a short story by Chekhov about infidelity..hmm...or is it about "true love" and the society just getting in the way. It's post-modern in that it ends abruptly, with no resolution to their dilemma. The story exhibits Chekhov as his best, observant, compassionate to his characters without judgment, small deta...

We eventually talk about Sarah Silverman (who is one of the most skilled at what she does!), but it takes a while to get there because we start talking about what we believe in -- holdover from our Chrisitan upbringing. But when you listen to it all, even our meandering introduction is about how we are a "speck of dust" and how that makes one a pragmatist, and that maybe what I believe i...