Critical Nonsense

How much is too much, and how far do you take it for your pets?  This week, special guest Amanda Medina joins Joey and Jess to talk about chicken tenders/tendies (again), dogs in baby-carrying apparatuses, therapy, working dogs, diets, and parenting. They don’t talk about pet chickens.  references  Eater:  A New Hampshire Restaurant Says it Invented Chicken Tenders in 1974   Belgian Malinois   ant...

Where are you sourcing your criticism?  This week, Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk about critics, movie reviews, Dan Gilbert, unintentionally laxative candy, mind bleachers, and overcorrecting. They don’t talk about criticizing nonsense.  references  The Aaron and Joey of Wine   Norio Ohga   Plain English podcast:  Disney’s Downfall: The Rise and Fall of an Entertainment Giant   Stumbling on Happiness...

Where haven't we unlocked the fifth gait? This week, Jess and Joey talk about Icelandic horses, Stardew Valley, Japanese craftsmanship, molecular gastronomy v. farm to table, biohacking, and "the source code." They don’t talk about how galloping is an elongated canter, because we only just found this out. references  The fateful non-conversation about bracts. American Museum of Natural History: Ho...

This week Aaron and Joey talk about the importance of making space for weird. They don't talk about being normal and forgotten or weird and remembered. references CVS Bangers The X Files Techno Remix Pure Moods CD Commercial

Where does your justice threshold rest?  This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about Lana Del Rey, LEGO, the arenas of justice, the TSA, Aaron's personal space, and taking umbrage. They don’t talk about the  Molecular Lego of Knots .  references  Lana Del Rey's  "Video Games"   Father John Misty   LEGO Great Pyramid of Giza   Corrections Department: Jan (pronounced Yon) Vormann discusses his  Disp...

What is the role of truth and how should we think about how it's changing?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about misinformation, wallets, the replication crisis, journalism, radical candor, and trust. They don’t talk about the word "cap."  references  Revisiting  Critical Nonsense 227! Tendies   Nick Lavallee Wants to Crown Manchester “The Chicken Tender Capital of the World”   Replication crisis  ...

In what ways is procrastitivity useful ... or not?  This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about procrastination styles, Maya Angelou, procrastavoidance, urgency, anxiety, and Éric Ripert. They don’t talk about  The Soul of an Octopus .  references  Joey is a baboon   "Maya Angelou: How I Write"   The Eisenhower Matrix   Urge incontinence   Baldur's Gate 3   Final Fantasy XVI   Éric Ripert  

What's in a name?  This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about Cher, dysmorphia, name commonality, De'Coldest Crawford, permutations, and nick names. They don’t talk about  Major Danger .  references  Cher  and  Aqua  turn back time.  Revisiting  Critical Nonsense 139! Teenage Girl Power and Sharing Names   De'Coldest Crawford   Ryans Meetup   How Many of Me?  (a variation)  Danger Charles   Come...

What things should we be leaving up to chance?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about the expectation of rightness, hiring, outsourcing decisions, smart coins, Level 5 Engineers, and proposing. They don’t talk about  DJ Screw .  references  Take a look at me now ...   because  we've been waiting for this moment for all our lives .  Big Think:  ‘Freakonomics’ study offers simple strategy for making t...

How do we wrestle with history?  This week, Jess and Aaron talk about rote learning, putty, history as study vs. history as culture, stories, empathy, and erasure. They don’t talk about the history of Play-Doh.  references  Six   The Very Serious History of Silly Putty   Red, White & Royal Blue   Giving credit where it's due:  "Molly Ivins, lively columnist who dubbed Bush 'Shrub'"   See also:...

This week, Joey and Jess talk about Chuck Klosterman, Bluey (again), the Mona Lisa, High Fidelity, Kafka, and Shakespeare. They don’t talk about  Slick Rick .  references  Whut?   How to find Kentucky on a map   Anathem  by Neal Stephenson  How To Win Friends and Influence People  by Dale Carnegie  High Fidelity   Me and Earl and the Dying Girl   The Metamorphosis  by Franz Kafka 

What things that we need should we be gamifying?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about not getting enough sleep, Pokémon, mixed expertise, incentivized behavior change, Duolingo, and eating. They don’t talk about superconductors, no matter how badly Joey wants to.  references  Like no one ever was ...   Pokémon Sleep   The Atlantic:  Did Francesca Gino and Dan Ariely Fabricate Data for the Same Stu...

How do we deal with contradiction?  This week, Jess, Joey, and Aaron talk about Björk, Barbie, G-strings, Elf on a Shelf, multiverses, and compartmentalization. They don’t talk about  Green Day .  references  The Perfectly Emo Clone High Intro   Björk "All Is Full of Love"   Björk + SNL   'Barbie' invites you into a Dream House stuffed with existential angst   The New York Times:  Who Gets to Wear...

Where might we find more empathy for each other?  This week, Jess and Joey talk about etiquette, niceties, deplaning, consideration, the inverse crush, and villains. They don’t talk about Brother Bear.  references  Take a look at something that's not The Lion King now   Whatever you're feeling in the air tonight, it's not The Lion King   It might just be love though   Bumble released its female us...

How should we think about things that are created that wind up being more beloved by audiences that weren't the original target?  This week, Joey and Aaron talk about Bluey, Pixar, Adult Swim, Married With Children, Patricia Richardson, and drag queens. They don’t talk about Left Eye.  references  In case you  Don't Know Much  about Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt  Lisa Stansfeild aka Definitely-...

How important is attractiveness?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about self-rating, the butt phase, dating apps, dating profiles as brand strategy, TMI, and hotties. They don’t talk about teratophilia.  references  Debutante Ball's are real   ... as are narwhals   "Physical and Psychosocial Correlates of Facial Attractiveness" by Marco Costa and Dario Maestripieri (PDF)   "80% Of Women Choose Only...

What is patriotic?  This week, Jess, Aaron, and Joey talk about American Democracy, fusion foods, the spirit of the thing, beer holding, the cronut, and empanadas. They don’t talk about  pastechi .  references  Dance Moms   BuzzFeed:  "Maddie Ziegler On Being Sia's 'Muse' From Age 11"   "Majorities in most countries have a positive opinion of the U.S."   "Will Democracy Win? Barack Obama in Conver...

Why are we all suddenly calling these chicken "tendies"?  This week, Jess and Joey talk about children's food, compression, self-deprecation, cutification, Big Chicken, and expressivity. They don’t talk about brekky.  references  Chicken Fried   philology   ScienceDirect:  Compression and communication in the cultural evolution of linguistic structure  

Do you believe in the idea that collective vibes could exist, and are we fully entering into a new vibe?  This week, Joey and Aaron talk about the debt ceiling battle, the Writers Guild of America strike, AI, not sitting idle, Lucy Lawless, and pasta. They don’t talk about  cowboy pasta .  references  A long "May-tember"   ARTnews:  Hannah Gadsby’s Disastrous ‘Pablo-matic’ Show at the Brooklyn Mus...

What have you learned in one year of playing DnD together?  This week, Jess and Joey talk about Dungeons & Dragons, body doubling, Type 1 and Type 2 Fun, hobbies, forks, and the Metaverse. They don’t talk about the  D&D All-Stars .  references  Dungeons & Dragons   DM = Dungeon Mster   OBS  

How should we feel about optimism?  This week, Joey and Jess talk about genetics, pessimism, risk aversion, oxytocin, hugs, and butt pats. They don’t talk about  why cats like butt pats , though.  references  chanteuse   Is Optimism Genetic?   oxytocin   Do you believe in life after love?   Chimp Empire  

When was the last time that you experienced something familar unexpected?  This week, Jess, Joey, and Aaron talk about mochi, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, chord progressions, rollercoasters, Warrior Cats, and Doppler radar. They don’t talk about  The Lloyd Dobler Effect .  references  Corrections Department: The original The Parent Trap film  came out in 1961   Kramer vs. Kramer   Mochi   Star Wars J...

What are you watching right now and why?  This week, Aaron, Jess, and Joey talk about SpongeBob, YouTube shorts rabbit holes, RuPaul's Drag Race, the NBA Playoffs, Alan Wake, and bikinis. To the Sunbathing Angel's dismay, they don’t talk about The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.  references  Calm Down   Revsiting  Critical Nonsense 217! AI Centaurs   Progress Report Edition 092: Consider the Centaur   Only...

How do you summon The Genuine Maybe?  This week, Jess and Joey talk about the Confidence Interval, curiosity, viewquakes, the gender norms of being assertive, rightness, and openness. They don’t talk about  Björk .  references  Confidence Interval   The New Yorker:  Emojis That Parents Are Still Waiting For  

What do I know?  This week, Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk about not having all the answers, amoebic sponges, career archs and karma, graciousness in success, recognizing your value, and being dumb. They don’t talk about low-performing assholes.  references  Revisiting  Critical Nonsense 215! Success   Randy Johnson   Men at Work