Episodes

How do we identify phase shifts, and how do we deal with big changes that are happening much more quickly and in a punctuated fashion? This week, Joey and Jess talk about going into work, social media, college, Web3, loose flaps, and vanilla. They don’t talk about math. references G.I. Bill CPU vs. GPU: What’s the Difference? Moore's Law Ars Technica: Is Moore’s law actually dead this time? Nvidia seems to think so What is a neural network? A computer scientist explains Grab some terryfold fl...

Why should a good idea die? And how do you use concepts that you discover to make things better for yourself? [25:35] This week, Jess and Joey talk about speed dating, engineers, iterative creativity, body doubling, ADHD, and Santa's narc. They don’t talk about James Hinton. references Revisiting last week's Nonsense: 201! The Paradox of Milk Math Gary Gygax @kelseydarragh on body doubling Taste of Home: What Is Elf on the Shelf, and How Does It Work?

Why is milk math so silly? This week, Jess, Joey, and Aaron talk about milk fat, music modes, the King's foot, scientific discoveries, wormholes, and polynomial equations. They don’t talk about Wyatt and Gary. references Music modes Pentatonic scale How Physicists Created a Holographic Wormhole in a Quantum Computer The Biggest Project in Modern Mathematics

This week, our 200th episode! To celebrate, Jess, Joey, Aaron, and Alex dish out a bunch of big thanks—on behalf of themselves and some of the SYLVAIN team—and show their appreciation to all of you, dear listeners, for riding with us over the years. They talk about plastic, grandpa strips, popcorn, warm legs, perspective that sticks, and aging. They don’t talk about herding pandas. references Magical 7-Spice Umami Popcorn with Carla Lalli Music

How do you choose what moment in time represents somebody? This week, Jess and Joey talk about death, recency bias, in memoriams, James Dean, one-hit wonders, and headstones. They don’t talk about Beenie Man. references Corrections Department: 525,600 ... not 125,600. Recompose The Dots: Deconstructing Influence by Sylvain Labs James Dean "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba "Closing Time" by Semisonic "Heroes" by David Bowie Mel Blanc's headstone Reader's Digest:19 Funniest Tombstones That Real...

This week, Preponderance of Ponderances is back with Jess in the driver's seat. She talks with Joey and Aaron about Sax-a-booms, mushrooms, preserving the dead, aquamation, Fruit Loop hair, objectivity, and averages. They don’t talk about Harry Sultenfuss. references Jack Black performing his legendary Sax-A-Boom with The Roots NYT Cooking: Honey-Glazed Mushrooms With Udon Boil your mushrooms The French Chef episode on Boeuf Bourguignon The New York Times: The Fading Art of Preserving the Dead...

What is a better way for us to deal with our stuff in this new world we're living in? This week, Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk about Takanakuy, intimacy, erruption of conflict, Love Island, hiding, and conflict languages. They don’t talk about cream corn or the International Adult Conspiracy. references Because we love you, here's our theme song Gushers Hey smiling strange Takanakuy Love Island Little Fury

Will competitive reality TV go back to what it used to be? This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about pandemic "normalcy," earnestness, parasocial relationships, referees, social media, and taxons. They don’t talk about Ernest Borgnine or his amazing eyebrows. references Been around the world and we've been player-hated. Parasocial Relationships: The Nature of Celebrity Fascinations Richard Hatch (Survivor contestant) Forged in Fire The New York Times: The Fall of ‘Terrace House’ The Mole: ...

Where should we draw boundaries around pranking "for the likes"? This week, Joey and Jess talk about the latest updates on the "fights", meme culture, when something stops being funny, the consent paradox of pranking, entertaining each other, and the oversaturated market of bad jokes. They don't talk about if sugar belongs in stew. references The Chocolate Bunny feud: Lindt v. Lidl Is this a prank? A cruel lesson to not take things from strangers. Radiolab: "Smile My Ass" the episode about ca...

What can we learn to love about fear? This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about tiny clothes, reading horror, delight, Friends, subtle fear, and gourds. They don’t talk about Colonel Kurtz. references You are home, Demi Adejuyigbe. Stephen King's Night Shift Esquire: All 75 Stephen King Books, Ranked You're Next What is Horror? Bros Legion Utopia Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot The Last of Us Everything Everywhere All At Once

This week, another special episode! System of a Down Evangelist Joey and Queen of the Bagelry Jess, in (kind of) lightning round fashion, ponder a (kind of) preponderance of ... er ... "ponderances" about bagels, English adjective order, Trevor Noah, performance mode, pickleball, and chess cheating. They don’t talk about the possibility of ice cream being healthier than bagels. references Disorder! Green great dragons can't exist! The Elements of Eloquence: Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phra...

What is consciousness and are we alone in our consciousness on Earth? This week, Joey and Jess talk about orca fashion, climate change, forest network interconnectivity, divergence, AI consciousness, and Trevor's beard. They don’t talk about blueberry bagels. references Dinosaurs eating people Pterosaurs Trendy killer whales Science: ‘Wood wide web'—the underground network of microbes that connects trees—mapped for first time Reader's Digest: Why humpback whales protect other species from kil...

Is AI Art art, and should we be scared of it? This week, Joey, Jess, and Alex talk about AI art generators, DALL·E 2, Midjourney, creativity and craft, the proliferation of beautiful things, and homogeneity. They don’t talk about Allen Iverson ... or practice. (Not a game! Practice!). references DALL·E 2 Progress Report: Jess on the difference "hand taste" makes How to Create Synthetic AI Art With Midjourney Revisiting Episode 134! The Story of Us and Fringe Theory Twitter: @talyarkoni on AI ...

How do you renew your vows with your hobbies? This week, our Cutie Corner special continues with guests Nora Mestrich and Ash Casper joining Jess to talk about knitting, boredom, thumb wars, bird watching, snackable goals, and giving yourself room to fail. They don’t talk about the Australian Lyrebird. references Sourdough Teddy Bears A Bird Calling Champion Visits The Daily Show

Why did hobbies become hobbies again? This week, Cutie Corner returns with special guests Nora Mestrich and Ash Casper joining Jess to talk about reading, BookTok, Colleen Hoover, productive leisure, the affects of the pandemic, and quiet quitting. They don’t talk about Henry Bemis. references The New York Times: How TikTok Became a Best-Seller Machine Brooklyn Public Library (BPL)'s IG: @bklynlibrary The Atlantic: How Hobbies Infiltrated American Life The New York Times Combined Print & E-Bo...

Would you join a country that started online first? This week, special guest Eric Ferrer-Vaughn joins Joey and Jess to talk about Web3, blockchain, Balaji Srinivasa, network states, Neom, and zero-knowledge proofs. They don’t talk about *NSYNC. references As always, Neal: Snow Crash | The Diamond Age Free State Project Balaji Srinivasan's The Network State Jerusalem Post: How Satmar Hasidim used liberal values to create an American theocracy Neom Computer Scientist Explains Zero-Knowledge Pro...

Why does it feel so right to say something so wrong? This week, Jess and Joey talk about category mistakes, synesthesia, projective questioning, names, berries, and, apperantly, not-berries. They don’t talk about De La Soul. references Jimmy and Dash blowin' through the jasmine in their minds Category Mistakes The Power Of Categories and Entanglement episodes of NPR's Invisibilia podcast Synesthesia Projective Techniques In Qualitative Research One is the loneliest number ... and Two can be ...

What's so wrong with using pictures in menus? And how do you feel about exploring new ideas that break your concept of reality? [22:48] This week, Jess and Joey talk about the fabric of the universe, cookbooks and menus, painting a sensory picture, quantum consciousness, Spacetime, and butt donuts. They don’t talk about A$AP Rocky. references This is your brain on '80s anti-drug commercials Revisiting our epic potato growing conversation from way back in Critical Nonsense 183! Devil Wears Pra...

What is a better way to explain methods of writing your point of view? This week, Jess and Joey talk about Mrs. Henry's Ping Pong Method vs. Mrs. Henry's Oreo Cookie Method, the Shit Sandwich Method of delivering feedback, music theory, the Straw Man Argument vs. the Steel Man Argument, Schrödinger's cat, and memetics (again). They don’t talk about Diddy Riese Ice Cream Sandwiches. references George Mason University professor and alien proponent Robin Hanson responds to Critical Nonsense 182!...

Should we be using language like "optimism" or "pessimism," or is there a different way we could look at these challenges that allows for better outcomes? This week, Joey and Jess talk about nihilism, venting, the time horizons of change, young converts, kidnapping, and genetic influences on optimism and pessimism. They don’t talk about Meursault, but he doesn't care at all. references progressbysylvain.co Progress Report 067: Power In the Face of Nihilism Albert Camus: an absurdist. r/nihil...

Why shouldn't I grow my own potatoes? This week, Jess and Joey talk about fast food french fries, hybrid potatoes, tubers and roots, apple cider, ube, and taro. They don’t talk about Freestyle Fellowship. references Eater's exposé on Blue Hill's Dan Barber Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire Eric Kim's Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home Umamicart Oishii: The Omakase Berry

Do you prefer living in a universe where humanity is a one-snowflake civilization—life exists here on a mote of dust in the outer reaches of the Milky Way—or do you prefer living in a universe that is loud and noisy and populated? And how do you handle leftovers? [34:31] This week, Joey and Jess talk about loud and quiet aliens, LaMDA, Santa, unfortunate dinners, waste aversion, and dumplings. They don’t talk about Isaac, Tayler, or Zac. references Revisiting bathroom ventures in episode 155!...

What else can happen when we find new uses for lost arts? This week, Joey and Jess talk about falconry, Top Gun, sword fighting, peatlands, owls, and mushrooms. They don’t talk about the Black Falcon School of Arms. references Zoobilee Zoo and The Wuzzles The New York Times Magazine: The Ancient Art of Falconry at the Jersey Shore Neal Stephenson's Termination Shock Dutch police using eagles to hunt illegal drones Stone Masonry COBOL Also, Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash (again) Sumerian langua...

What do we make of the existence of song twins and movie twins today? This week, Aaron and Joey talk about the zeitgeist, movie marketing, Timbaland, Beyoncé vs. Azealia Banks, Western musical notes, and Baroque Pop (again). They don’t talk about Laurent and Larry Bourgeois. references Joey and Aaron are reunited and it feels like sweet love. "Sissy That Walk" RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Armageddon and Deep Impact Big Hero 6 and Next Gen Ron’s Gone Wrong and The Mitchells vs. The Machines V...