Critical Nonsense

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 language 
• The New York Times: Meet Peat, the Unsung Heroes of Carbon Capture 
• Owls of LBL: Super predators and marvels of evolution 
• Meati 

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 
• Volcano and Dante's Peak 
• No Strings Attached and Friends With Benefits 
• Finding Nemo and The Reef 
• Cheddar: Why Are Identical Movies Released at the Same Time? 
• Corrections Department: Rich Harrison, not Rodney Jerkins 
• Corrections Department Again: Amerie's "1 Thing" (not Ashanti ... or Mýa) and Toni Braxton's "Take This Ring" 
• Timbaland's Shock Value and Shock Value 2 
• Justin Timberlake and Timbaland's "Cry Me a River" 
• Corrections Department Yet Again: Neither Azealia Banks nor Beyoncé "brought house back." House NEVER left. Not even in pop music. 
• Don't Look Up 
• Legend Adam Neely on Paramore, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, and other song twins 
• Why the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" is Such A Powerful Song 
• Revisiting Critical Nonsense 167 and Baroque Pop 
• Did Aaron ever know that he's our hero? 
• Hocus Pocus 2 
• Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash (audio book | regular book) 
• Carrie Underwood's Denim & Rhinestones 

How has our childhood media affected our adulthoods? 

This week, special guest Dylan Fowler joins Aaron and Jess to talk about Sesame Street, Ren & Stimpy, Disney, Don Bluth, The Lion King, and The Muppets. They don’t talk about vulgar Snoopy. 

references 

• HuffPost: 11 Moments On 'Sesame Street' That Championed Diversity And Inclusion 
• On the famous Mister Rogers pool scene 
• How Divine inspired Ursula The Sea Witch 
• John Kricfalusi: An Open Secret 
• Ren, Stimpy, & John K: The Art vs. the Artist 
• The Disney/Don Bluth Animation War 
• All Dogs Go to Heaven 
• The Land Before Time 
• Vanity Fair: Inside the Tragedy and Triumph of Disney Genius Howard Ashman 
• "dress in drag and do the hula" 
• Why Animators HATE The Lion King (2019) 
• Eureeka's Castle 

Why it gotta be bagels vs. donuts? And how should we celebrate our birthdays? [25:17] 

This week, Aaron and Jess talk about Sega vs. Nintendo, the L.A. donut scene, the coastal bagel war, birthday themes, the responsibility phases, and cake-flavored foods. Thankfully, they don’t talk about birthday cake bagels. 

references 

• Strangers With Candy Theme Song 
• Cleaning pr0n 
• Sega vs. Nintendo 
• The sweet and savory Mecca 
• Atari: Game Over 
• America's obsession with sweet breakfast? The Dutch say, "Houd mijn bier vast." 
• New York vs. Cali bagels 
• In-N-Out vs. Shake Shack: Who wins? 
• Trejo's Coffee & Donuts 
• Bob's Coffee & Doughnuts 
• Randy's Donuts 
• Winchell's 
• But really, the best of the best: Shipley. Don't believe it? Ask Lizzo ... or some robbers. 
• Belle's Bagels 
• The fragel 
• Taste of Home: The Best Birthday Cake-Flavored Foods 
• Hacks 

What do you do about the missing Lego piece? And how does this become dumpling? [25:32] 

This week, Aaron and Jess talk about customer service, bike sharing overages, significance imbalance, invisible wisdom, dumpling teamwork, and apprenticeship. They don’t talk about My Squishy Little Dumplings. 

references 

• Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night 
• [email protected] 
• rubber baby buggy bumpers 
• Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking by Fuchsia Dunlop 
• Mark Rober: Pranks Destroy Scam Callers 

How can we better leverage awards in our everyday life? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about the Boston Celtics, recognition, distinguishing, benchmarks, The Infatuation, and Hitch. They don’t talk about Ali Shaheed Muhammad, my man. 

references 

• Because maybe ... 
• Michelin Guide 
• The cure for the common man 
• The Hitch Tomatometer® 
• The Annual Dundies! 

How can we take advantage of Assembly Theory in our lives? And where are the six elemental marshmallows best applied in life? [31:46] 

This week, Joey, Jess, and Aaron talk about corn dogs, Kafka, Homer, brown sugar, extrusion, and Peeps. They don’t talk about that famous DJ fella. 

references 

• Lex Fridman Podcast: Alien Debate: Sara Walker and Lee Cronin 
• Assembly Theory 
• The best ketchup (ahem) 
• A Critical Nonsense favorite: But What If We're Wrong?: Thinking about the Present as If It Were the Past by Chuck Klosterman 
• Core samples 
• Wacky Physics: Why Do Particles Have Flavors? 
• Jet-Puffed Marshmallows 
• Kraft 1958 “New Jet-Puffed Marshmallows” print ad 
• The New York Times: Who Made That Marshmallow? 
• Reader's Digest: What Are Marshmallows, Exactly? 
• Jet-Puffed Lucky Charms Magically Delicious Marshmallows 
• Revisiting Critical Nonsense #165, when Ilana schooled us on Goblin Mode 
• Also, mallows (sans "marsh-") are plants. 

How does one navigate the journey from Ask Culture to Guess Culture, and vice versa? And what are your ideal working hours? [27:50] 

This week, Aaron, Jess, and Joey talk about privacy settings, politeness vs. safety, the Midwest, philosopher hours, exercise, and zoos. They don’t talk about Tears For Fears. 

references 

• Have we told you that we believe in a thing called The Darkness? 
• Adam Neely: The most elegant key change in all of pop music 
• Céline Dion's Emotional Breakdown While Performing "All By Myself" 
• The legendary Space Cowboy Jay Kay 
• In case you need some canned beans … 
• Are You Ask Culture or Guess Culture? 
• The Atlantic: 'Askers' vs. 'Guessers' 
• Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott 
• The New One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson 
• Phineas Gage 
• Legal Sciuridae 

Why choose casual chaos? And what is the standard way to frame a vacation photo? [31:50] 

This week, special guest Cara Lohman joins Jess to talk about Super Mario Bros., chickens, selfie bombs, order and structure, people vs. vistas, and chaos theory. They don’t talk about the Cocoa Brovaz. 

references 

• Everything Everywhere All At Once trailer 
• Bierki (and Bierki, and Bierki, and Bierki) 
• Ennio Morricone 
• Benoit Mandelbrot 
• BBC: How Mandelbrot's fractals changed the world 
• Fractal Foundation: What is Chaos Theory? 
• Melittology 
• Adobe: How to use, and break, the rule of thirds. 

Is it healthier to be a little bit more ignorant online? And how do we all build a discomfort diet? [28:26] 

This week, special guest Nora Mestrich joins Joey to talk about TikTok, Twitter, admitting ignorance, dopamine hijacking, ice plunges, and the benefits of pain. They don’t talk about DIIV. 

references 

• MMT 
• Armchair Expert interview with Anna Lembke 
• Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence by Anna Lembke 
• Seek Discomfort on YouTube 
• Yes Theory on YouTube