Critical Nonsense

What is your comfort level with abstraction? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about math, the transitive property, cookbooks, slang, strange attractors and chameleons. They don’t talk about cake math. 

references 

• How to Bake Pi: An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics by Eugenia Cheng 
• Transitive Property 
• The Langlands Program: The Biggest Project in Modern Mathematics 
• Look Around You 

What can jazz teach us about making stuff together? 

This week, Aaron and Jess talk about mistakes, improvisation, leadership, asking questions, saltine crackers, and Tori Amos. They don’t talk about girls that eat pizza but never gain weight. 

references 

• Amelia Bedelia 
• Marc Mommaas and the New York Jazz Workshop 
• Corrections Department: Miles Davis, not John Coltrane, was the one who didn't fear mistakes.. (Trane was a perfectionist). 
• Corrections Department: Count Basie, not Cab Calloway 
• Hidden Brain Podcast: You 2.0: Taking Control of Your Time 
• Revisiting Critical Nonsense 211!: Question Asking 
• Tori Amos "Silent All These Years" 
• Deathloop 

How do we do math learning better? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about numeracy, literacy, discrete math, Carl Sagan, Cleopatra, and sushi. They don’t talk about Frank Ocean. 

references 

• math rock 
• Jay-Z "4:44" 

What does fridgescaping tell us about ourselves? 

This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about weirdly shaped foods, bookshelves, trad wives, gelatin molds, cluttercore, and gallery walls. They don’t talk about Jello Biafra's fridge. 

references 

• Rusted Root 
• Polyphonic Spree 
• The New York Times: Not Even the Inside of Your Fridge Is Safe From Decorating 
• @weirdoldfood 
• MTV Cribs 
• The Independent (UK): Marie Kondo says she’s ‘kind of given up’ on cleaning 
• HGTV Secret Revealed! Why Books Are Always Backwards 
• The New Yorker: The Rise and Fall of the Trad Wife 
• Southern Living: Cluttercore Is The Design Trend That Embraces More 
• The Easiest Way to Hang a Gallery Wall 
• IKEA Kreativ 

What turns your ears on? 

This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about Detroit, groove, algorithms, Clyde Stubblefield, sampling, and flow states. They don’t talk about the late, great Biz Markie. 

references 

• Hair/Glam Metal 
• Chamois vs. chamois leather 
• Major 7th chord 
• Curtis Mayfield "Little Child Running Wild" 
• Clyde Stubblefield, the Funky Drummer 
• Puff Daddy + Biggie + Mase "Been Around the World" 
• David Bowie "Let's Dance" 
• Brian Eno’s “The Big Ship” and Me and Earl and The Dying Girl 
• Klaus Badelt "Pirates Of The Caribbean" 
• Sufjan Stevens "Mystery of Love" 
• Scrotal Recall aka Lovesick 

How do we make more science tourism happen? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about scientific pilgrimage, CERN, the Large Hadron Collider, inspiring awe, Dolly the sheep, and particles. They don’t talk about the six flavors of quarks. 

references 

• CERN 
• Higgs boson 
• Large Hadron Collider 
• The ITER Tokamak 
• The Life of Dolly 
• Baikonur Cosmodrome 
• Micropia 
• Amplituhedron 

What can we learn about the state of entertainment when we look through the Olympics Stroboscope? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about the The Rottening, Summer Olympics, streaming platforms, culture wars, sports bodies, and shared viewership experiences. They don’t talk about artistic swimming. 

references 

• Stroboscopes 
• Metric Fucktonne 
• Adriana Ruano 
• Stephen Nedoroscik 
• What are Phryges? Everything to know about the Paris 2024 mascot 

How does one engage in a generational war? 

This week, Joey and Aaron talk about Millenials, marketing demographics, being an afterthought, the policing of cool, Sambas, and othering to in yourself. They don’t talk about Billy Idol. Or Les Gilbert. 

references 

• Sambas 
• Control 
• System Shock 

How do we decide what feelings matter? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about Inside Out 2, compound emotions, cognitive development, sonder, motivations, and sandwiches. They don’t talk about Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. 

references 

• Subscribe to our Progress Report newsletter 
• progressbysylvain.co 
• Inside Out 2 
• The 6 Types of Basic Emotions and Their Effect on Human Behavior 
• Compound facial expressions of emotion: from basic research to clinical applications 
• Time: The Real Science Behind the Animated Emotions of Inside Out 2 
• Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis 
• The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows: sonder 

How should we be arguing? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about argument realms, Theranos, Steve Jobs, facts vs. feelings, and band names. They don’t talk about Monarch of a Great Kingdom. 

references 

• Tea etymology 
• Why Are We Yelling? by Buster Benson 
• PEMDAS