Show Notes : 

• Ben’s house gets swarmed by bees, we find new ways to lie to children to get them to do what we want, and we discuss all the ways AI can kill us (there’s a lot). 
• Intro (0:00-10:27) 
  • Bee Swarm Video 
• Maintaining normalcy during a quarantine (10:27-35:37) 
  • Bad At Magic Episode 17 Josh interviews Ben about his missionary service  
  • Smarter Every Day: Snatch Blocks 
  • Mark Rober: Squirrel Ninja Obstacle Course 
• Bad At English (35:37-39:09) 
  • Faff: 
    1. Noun (Britain, slang) An overcomplicated task, especially one perceived as a waste of time. 
       Adjusting this television is a bit of a faff. 
    2. Verb (Britain, slang) To waste time on an unproductive activity. 
       She faffed about so much, she never got to eat her breakfast. 
• Artificial Intelligence and Common Sense (39:09-end) 
  • Quanta Magazine article: Common Sense Comes Closer to Computers 
  • Automated Journalism 
  • Alan Turing: The Imitation Game (movie) and The Enigma (Book) 
  • Garry Kasparov vs. Deep Blue 
  • Ex Machina trailer 
  • Stamp Collecting Robot threatens humanity? 
  • Rogue Robots 
  • How to stop the stamp-collecting robot: The Orthogonality Thesis 
• For next time: 
  • Vote for a non-fiction book on Facebook or Reddit 
    • Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell 
    • Mindset by Carol Zweck 
    • The System by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian 
    • Boyd by Robert Corham 
  • Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/badatmagic 
  • And don’t forget about the BAM Fitness Challenge 

Show Notes:  

• Ben and Josh reminisce about the best attorney at Sacred Heart, compare Steam libraries, complain about Daylight Savings Time, can’t be bothered, and explore conscientiousness/pingyness.  
• Scrubs (0:00-7:02) 
  • Thanks for everything, Ted 
  • Hospital Sad Sack 
  • Ted sings ‘Over the Rainbow’ 
  • Sam Lloyd says goodbye 
• Steam Library Comparison (7:02-37:31) 
  • History of Valve and Steam 
  • Papers, Please 
  • Epic NPC Man 
  • Captain Forever 
  • Kerbal Space Program 
• Daylight Savings Time Revisited and Bad At English (37:31-42:37) 
  • “Can’t be bothered” (searches of “what do Americans say instead of…”) 
    • US: didn’t feel like it 
    • Maybe: couldn’t care less 
    • Someone else: they either said no or I’m speculating that they aren’t going to want to  
• Conscientiousness and Pingyness (42:37-1:49:55) 
  • Wikipedia: Conscientiousness 
  • Associated trait: Pingyness (Ben’s word) 
    • Pingy people: 
      • Enable read receipts on unimportant emails 
      • Call right when you were about to send it 
      • Get nervous when you aren’t early 
      • Interpret your difference as indifference 
      • Don’t believe in “less is more” 
• Artificial Intelligence and Common Sense (1:49:55-end) 
  • AI entered an essay contest 
  • Homework for next time: 
    • Quanta Magazine article: Common Sense Comes Closer to Computers 
• Join us on social media and share your favorite games in your Steam Library 
  • Check us out on Facebook 
  • Bad At Magic on Reddit 
  • Rate us on iTunes 
  • Our YouTube Channel 
  • Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/badatmagic 
  • And don’t forget about the BAM Fitness Challenge 

Show Notes:  

• Ben and Josh explore the Stanley Parable, relive the pain of trying to cancel Comcast, argue over assigned seats, debate prayer at work, and bid a fond farewell to Sam Lloyd. 
• The Stanley Parable (0:00-11:44) 
  • SPOILER WARNING: If you intend to play The Stanley Parable, skip to 11:44 
  • PewDiePie plays it (language warning) 
• Bad at Parenting (11:44-50:06) 
  • The Square Cube Law 
  • The Law of Urination (the 21 second rule) 
  • What if we denotated all the nuclear weapons at the same time? 
  • Contagion (2011) 
  • Josh finding out that he actually had fiber the whole time 
  • Comcast hasn’t figure out how to let customers disconnect amicably in 5 years (PTSD trigger warning) 
• Bad at English (50:06-50:37) 
  • Trump = Fart 
• Assigned Seats (50:37-1:07:34) 
  • Does your family have assigned seats? 
• Prayer on the COVID-19 task force (1:07:34-1:35:58) 
  • “One change Pence brought to the panel when he assumed control at Trump’s direction was a seating chart, which changes daily based on the assigned topic for discussion. Sometimes, the meetings begin with a prayer…”  –From a CNN story ‘Inside the Trump Pence Partnership‘ 
  • The Italian Job story about alcohol-related incident in a military unit 
• Farewell Ted (Sam Lloyd) (1:35:58-end) 
  • Scrubs: Hey Ya 
  • Goodbye Sam Lloyd (0:30) 
• Join us on social media and share your favorite Scrubs episode with Ted 
  • Check us out on Facebook 
  • Bad At Magic on Reddit 
  • Rate us on iTunes 
  • Our YouTube Channel 
  • Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/badatmagic 
  • Tell your friends! 

Show Notes:  

• Ben and Josh finally talk about Magic again which leads to a discussion on the right way to break the rules 
• COVID-19 update (0:00-5:51) 
  • Ben’s prediction about movie theaters starts to come true 
• Bad At English (5:51-8:00) 
  • Jam tomorrow (idiom, British): an expression for a never-fulfilled promise  
• Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths (8:00-) 
  • Josh’s article on Paper vs. Digital Magic: the Gathering 
  • How to draft Magic: the Gathering 
  • The people love Monsters! 
  • Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths video trailer 
• Breaking the rules done right (36:43-end) 
  • Is Superman Boring? 
  • The Magic card back 
  • “Gimme a Break” by Mark Rosewater (2004) 
    1. Rules should be broken only when a card [storytelling, gameplay, innovation] demands it 
    2. Broken rules have to feel natural 
    3. Check the reason for the rule you’re breaking 
    4. Breaking rules is a test for the future 
    5. Not every rule can be broken 
  • The Captain is back and he didn’t skip leg day 
  • Firefly scene: The Negotiator (1:07) 
  • Swiffer, 1999 
  • Banksy’s shredder stunt 
  • This is not a flamethrower 
  • For next time: 
    • Try ‘The Stanley Parable’ (2013) on Steam 
• Join us on social media and share your favorite rule breakers 
  • Check us out on Facebook 
  • Bad At Magic on Reddit 
  • Rate us on iTunes 
  • Our YouTube Channel 
  • Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/badatmagic 
  • Tell your friends! 

Show Notes:  

• Ben and Josh chat a bit about COVID-19, remind each other to get fit, diss on Frozen II, and Josh interviews Ben about his time as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 
• Coronavirus AKA COVID-19 redux (0:00-21:25) 
  • Arizona Governor Doug Ducey’s 30 Mar Stay Home Order  
  • 5 Apr Coronavirus crisis in the USA 
  • Coronavirus positive impacts on the environment 
  • Military grooming standards in a quarantine world 
• Fitness Challenge  (21:25-23:06) 
  • Link to Bad at Magic Fitness Tracker app 
• Bad At English (23:06-29:26) 
  • Banter: “the playful and friendly exchange of teasing remarks”; also ” 
   ”to make fun of (a person); to hold up to ridicule, ‘roast’; to jest at, rally, ‘chaff’. Now usually of good-humoured raillery”. (Oxford dictionary) 
• Bad At Parenting (29:26-37:22) 
  • Minecraft and Movies 
• Frozen II Review (37:22-47:04) 
  • Movie: F- duh 
  • Soundtrack: A+ highly recommended  
  • Cloth face covers 
• Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ (47:04-end) 
  • Who are the missionaries? 
  • Opening your mission call is an EVENT 
  • The Missionary Training Center (MTC) aka boot camp 
  • Missionary safety during the COVID-19 pandemic 
• Thanks to our listeners!  
  • Check us out on Facebook 
  • Rate us on iTunes 
  • Bad At Magic on Reddit 
  • Our YouTube Channel 
  • Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/badatmagic 
  • Tell your friends! 

Show Notes:  

• Ben and Josh discuss the elephant in the room: the Coronavirus pandemic 
• Intro and Fitness Challenge  (0:00-4:16) 
  • Link to Bad at Magic Fitness Tracker app 
• Bad at Italian (4:16-10:03) 
  • Amato/a means “beloved” 
  • This week tell someone beloved to you why you love them! 
  • Ben’s Family Home Evening activity chart 
• Coronavirus AKA COVID-19 (10:03-end) 
  • Illinois Governor Pritzker’s “stay at home” order 
  • Arizona Governor Ducey activates the National Guard 
  • Coronavirus tax law changes 
  • DoD Coronavirus travel restrictions 
  • The Air Mobility Command Crisis Battle Staff  
  • Working from home 
  • Apocalypse skills 
  • Tortilla shortage 
  • Grocery store restocking 
  • Stir crazy quarantined missionaries 
  • Europe crashes Microsoft Teams 
  • Can movie theaters survive Coronavirus? 
• Thanks to our listeners!  
  • Check us out on Facebook 
  • Rate us on iTunes 
  • Bad At Magic on Reddit 
  • Our YouTube Channel 
  • Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/badatmagic 
  • Tell your friends! 

Show Notes:  

• Ben rants about checks and Josh gets punk’d by his Amazon delivery driver. Join us for a 4-month fitness challenge. Stephen Leeds is barking mad!  
• Ben and Josh on checks and deliveries (0:00-19:05) 
  • It’s 2020, can we please stop writing checks??! 
  • Josh gets punk’d by the Amazon Prime delivery driver 
• Planning 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebrations (19:05-39:14) 
  • Ben’s Unit in Italy 
  • The Italian Job, Episode 9, check it out! 
  • This or this 
• Bad at English (39:14-43:21) 
  • Barking 
    • Mad/Crazy 
    • Margaret “Daggers” Thatcher was: Three stops past Barking 
• Bad at Magic Fitness Challenge 2020! (43:21-50:27) 
  • Link to Bad at Magic Fitness Tracker app 
• Book Discussion – Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds by Brandon Sanderson (50:27-2:00:00) 
  • Psychology as a Superpower 
  • Mark Rosewater on breaking the rules 
  • 2014 SE Idaho Flood 
  • Did You Put Your Name In the Goblet of Fire 
• Thanks to our listeners!  
  • Check us out on Facebook 
  • Rate us on iTunes 
  • Bad At Magic on Reddit 
  • Our YouTube Channel 
  • Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/badatmagic 
  • Tell your friends! 

Show Notes:  

• Ben and Josh talk about … 
• Intro (0:00-5:18) 
  • Support us on Patreon to get access to a special bonus episode! “Magic in the MCU” 
• Film Theories (5:18-18:06) 
  • Ben’s: Groundhog Day as a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast 
  • Josh’s: Gaston is not the bad guy 
• Bad at Parenting (18:06-25:29) 
  • Elementary School carnivals 
    • “Abraham moment” 
    • Duty/desire conflicts 
• Sonic the Hedgehog (25:29-27:29) 
  • Shovelware: bad licensed games 
• Bad at English (27:29-31:56) 
  • That’s a good “starter for ten” 
  • Reference classic British TV quiz show ‘University Challenge‘; means: “That’s a good start” as an easy one to kick things off 
  • Similar to you or I saying “I’ll take The Wheel of Time for $200, Alex” 
• Bad at Magic: Mastermind Edition (31:56-1:22:17) 
  • Ben’s subject: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 
    • Round 1: 4/5 
    • Round 2: 2/5 
    • Round 3: 1/5 
    • Round 4: 5/5 
    • Final score: 12/20 
  • Josh’s subject: Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan 
    • Round 1: 3/5 
    • Round 2: 5/5 
    • Round 3: 5/5 
    • Round 4: 4/5 
    • Final score: 17/20 
• Teaser for next time (1:22:17-end): 
  • Book poll winner: 
    • Legion: The Many Lives of Stephan Leeds by Brandon Sanderson 
    • Read before Episode 15 so you’ll be ready for the conversation! 
• Thanks to our listeners!  
  • Check us out on Facebook 
  • Rate us on iTunes 
  • Bad At Magic on Reddit 
  • Our YouTube Channel 
  • Now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/badatmagic 
  • Tell your friends! 

Show Notes:  

• Ben and Josh talk about pizza, Cyberspace, prison, magic systems in storytelling, and the suitable application of high explosives 
• Intro (0:00-0:42) 
• Bad at Parenting (0:42-6:34) 
  • Carter’s Amazing Jenga move 
• Ben vs. Bureaucracy (6:34-11:57) 
  • Donate to the Chicago Lighthouse 
  • AFCEA Rocky Mountain Cyberspace Symposium 2020 
• Bad at English (11:57-16:14) 
  • Living at Her Majesty’s Pleasure: a ‘legal term of art’ (situational jargon) meaning: in prison 
  • What is the British Commonwealth?? 
• Use of Magic Systems in Storytelling (16:14-1:42:20) 
  • Hard Magic vs. Soft Magic 
  • Brandon Sanderson’s Laws of Magic 
    1. An author’s ability to solve a conflict with magic is directly proportional to how well the reader understands said magic 
    2. The limitations of a magic system are more interesting than its capabilities 
    3. Expand on what you have already before you add something new 
  • Mysticism 
    • Harry Potter 
      • Josh Recommends: The White Mage Omnibus by Ben Hale ©2013 Ben Hale 
    • Star Wars 
    • Avatar: The Last Airbender 
  • Pseudo-science 
    • Back to the Future 
    • Star Trek (pre JJ Abrams) 
    • The Matrix 
      • Neo takes the blue pill 
    • Edge of Tomorrow 
  • Unexplained phenomena 
    • Groundhog Day 
    • Stranger than Fiction (6 unrelated films by this title!) 
    • Frozen 
      • How Frozen Should Have Ended 
• Teaser for next time (1:42:20-end): 
  • Episode 13.5? Evaluating the magic systems of the… 
    • Marvel Cinematic Universe  
    • Disney Cartoons 
  • Josh builds a new computer – check it out on YouTube
  • Give your vote on our next Book Review on Facebook or Reddit 
    • Ben’s nominations 
      • How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton Christensen 
      • Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson 
    • Josh’s nominations 
      • The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell 
      • Legion: The Many Lives of Stephan Leeds by Brandon Sanderson 
  • The Bad At Magic version of the British game show Mastermind 
    • Josh: Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan 
    • Ben: Come Unto Christ 
• Thanks to our listeners!  
  • Check us out on Facebook 
  • Rate us on iTunes 
  • Bad At Magic on Reddit 
  • Our YouTube Channel 
  • Now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/badatmagic 
  • Tell your friends! 

Show Notes:  

• Ben and Josh talk about birthday parties, jaywalking, insurance settlements, running, Theros Beyond Death, kids and cell phones, and Josh’s time at the United States Air Force Academy 
• Follow up from last time (0:00-14:41) 
• Thanks to our listeners! (14:41-16:46) 
  • Check us out on Facebook 
  • Rate us on iTunes 
  • Bad At Magic on Reddit 
  • Our YouTube Channel 
  • Josh’s Random Thoughts: Essential Adulting Tools 
  • Now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/badatmagic 
  • Tell your friends! 
• Bad at English (16:46-21:22) 
  • “Ask me one on showbiz.”  (female) or “Ask me one on sport.” (male) 
    • Meaning: “I don’t know.” 
  • Possibly from the British game show Mastermind 
    • Josh: Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan 
    • Ben: Come Unto Christ 
• Josh’s Drive-thru strategy follow-up (21:22-31:10) 
• Bad at Parenting (31:10-39:09) 
  • Kids and cell phones 
    • Verizon GizmoWatch 
• New Magic set: Theros Beyond Death (39:09-56:28) 
  • Full-art Basic Lands that look like nebulae 
  • Mythology theme 
  • Is Wizards (read: Hasbro) deliberately killing cardboard Magic? 
  • Time Stop 
• Josh’s experience at the United States Air Force Academy (56:28-) 
• Teaser for next time: 
  • Go on Reddit to suggest Fantasy Intellectual Properties (IPs) for Ben and Josh to evaluate according to Sanderson’s Laws of Magic