Critical Nonsense

Nov 19 2024 100 ep. 33 mins 873
Critical Nonsense Podcast artwork

High-low brow conversations about culture, science, and tech. With hosts Joey Camire, Aaron Powers, and executive producer/nerd herder Jess Vander. SYLVAIN is a strategy and design company.

  Society & Culture
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288! Living Forever

Nov 19 2024 39 mins  
Why are we so obsessed with trying to live forever? This week, special guest Chandler Saunders joins Jess and Joey to talk about adult superlatives, aging, the soul, compounding experience, afterlife FOMO, and aging reversal. They don’t talk about Irene Cara (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChhCpSVrjvU). references * Piaget's 4 Stages of Cognitive Development Explained (https://w

287! Concert Rage

Nov 12 2024 27 mins  
What is it about certain settings that just piss us off? This week, Joey and Jess talk about Maggie Rogers, live concerts, the unflustered mom, road rage, cycling, and liminality. They don’t talk about mosh pits. references * Maggie Rogers (https://www.maggierogers.com/) * The Unflustered Mom: How Understanding the Five Anxiety Styles Transforms the Way We Parent, Partner, Live,

Progress Report: The State of Youth

Nov 08 2024 10 mins  
Bonus episode: A takeover! Kristy shares a recent edition from SYLVAIN’s Progress Report newsletter: The State of Youth: A New Paradigm for Growing Up (https://progressbysylvain.co/blogs/news/progress-report-the-state-of-youth), written by Chief Strategy Officer Chris Konya.For more from SYLVAIN's Progress Report, see progressbysylvain.co (https://progressbysylvain.co/).

286! Finding Financial Security

Nov 04 2024 32 mins  
What's the best way to unlock a sense of financial security in all of us? This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about voting, the economy, financial insecurity, the post-scarcity world, unequal distribution, and intergenerational trauma. They don’t talk about A$AP Rocky (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBuFNlfqhYQ). references * Werewolf Bar Mitzvah (https://www.youtube.com/watch

285! Changing Our Minds

Oct 28 2024 24 mins  
What happens when your mind changes? This week, Joey and Jess talk about nuclear power, Three Mile Island, solar power, the Overton window, abortion, and tokamaks. They don’t talk about Eddie Kendricks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRpHw4XthlA). references * Hemingway on bankruptcy (https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/102579-how-did-you-go-bankrupt-two-ways-gradually-then-suddenl

284! Flat Power Distance

Oct 21 2024 25 mins  
What do we do about power distance? This week, Joey and Jess talk about organizational hierarchy, Geert Hofstede, authoratative leadership, omakase, decision-making, and Mr. Oizo. They don’t talk about Flat Stanley. references * IF * This is 40 * Mark Menjívar's "Refrigerators" (https://www.markmenjivar.com/untitled-gallery) * Geert Hofstede's 6-D model of national culture (http

283! Medical Serendipity

Oct 15 2024 19 mins  
How many things are we surrounded by that have use cases that we're not thinking about? This week, Joey and Jess talk about Ozempic, Cialis, blockchain, invention, solar panels, and pessimism vs. optimism. They don’t talk about chainsaws (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15209147/#:~:text=The%20prototype%20of%20the%20chain,excision%20of%20diseased%20bone%20respectively.). referenc

282! Spontaneous Brilliance

Oct 07 2024 30 mins  
How do you do spontaneous brilliance? This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about pressure, boredom and safety, theatre, peopling, jewelry making, and Quiplash. They don’t talk about combustion. references * "Orinoco Flow" by Enya (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTrk4X9ACtw) * Quiplash (https://www.jackboxgames.com/games/quiplash) * Athena (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Athen

281! Bicycle Innovation

Oct 03 2024 26 mins  
Can we learn about coming up with creative ideas from bikes today? This week, Jess and Joey talk about bike infrastructure, dad wagons, folding bikes, stacked bikes, e-bikes, and mobility mixes. Oddly, they don’t talk about Bike Kill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LvIl2qm4o4). references * The Science of Cycology: can you draw a bicycle? (https://road.cc/content/blog/90885-sci

280! Phone Bans

Sep 23 2024 34 mins  
How do we know if we're doing the right thing for potentially the wrong reasons? This week, Joey and Jess talk about The Anxious Generation, social media, polio, experimentation, modes, rodents, and sesame paste. They don’t talk about Yusei Kikuchi. references * The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt