Critical Nonsense

How did our predictions play out in 2021?

This week, Aaron, Jess and Joey review their "frog-nogs" from Episode 109, discussing pop wellness and plant-based meat [4:58]; Eurocentric interior design and breakfast [14:01]; and, the WFH pendulum and fucc bois [27:34]. They don’t talk about dinner ennui.

references

• Jezebel: The Commodification of the Wellness Industry
• ADWEEK: Every Brand Should Be Thinking Like A Wellness Brand
• Forbes: Purpose At Work: Amy’s Kitchen Recipe For Prodigious Growth And Impact
• The Scots 3D print a lump of meat
• West Elm LOCAL
• Winning frozen breakfast with diversity
• The power of Kodiak Cakes
• Plant-based, low-sugar shaping breakfast trends
• Ways to L'Eggo
• Corrections Department: Joey confuses himself with the Original Don
• Time: How the Pandemic Fueled the Rise of 'Intentional' Dating
• Corrections Department (again): Eggs are NOT dairy

This week, Aaron, Joey and Jess talk about SYLVAIN's new Impact Report, chocolate chips, openness, honoring intentions, digital passivity, and accountability. They don’t talk about what puffin tastes like.

references

• All Grown Up!
• SYLVAIN's Impact Report: A Developing Story: Self Reflections of a Progress-Guided Consultancy
• Guittard's Super Cookie Chocolate Chips
• Porgs!

How do we take a break? And why is the average American retailer so bad at Hanukkah? [26:29]

This week, Joey, Jess and Aaron talk about the feeling of wasted opportunity, the down-shift, accounting for transitional time, Hanukkah ignorance, the secularization of holidays, and uniquely designed menorahs. They don’t talk about HAIM and/or Adam Sandler.

references

• Who is Suzanne Somers?
• RuPaul: What's The Tee episode with Suzanne Somers
• Heading into the holiday break, are you more of a Biz Markie or a Big Daddy Kane?
• ZCOB
• The New York Times: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Hanukkah
• Salon: Hanukkah isn't Christmas
• Esperanto?
• Jewish Museum Shop
• Lexus' 2021 December to Remember Commercial
• The menorah retail landscape is wild. Pasta-modern? A blue octopus?! An elephant? Rainbow oil?

How do we stop being so pre-emptive?

This week, Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk about fear validity, empathy, directness, Minnesota nice, grin-fucking, and the consequences of the public forum. They didn't bless your heart.

references



• Podcast: You're Wrong About "Cancel Culture"
• Alex Contell's labor of love: Grain
• IGN's Guardians of the Galaxy game review

What do we want from a dad? And how should companies be held accountable? [44:37]

This week, special guest Chandler Saunders joins Joey and Jess to talk about paternity leave, movie dads, inputs and outputs, legal backlash, collateral consequences, and unchecked systems. Sadly, they don’t talk about Sade.

references



• Because we're never gonna dance again ...
• Why is the flute a woodwind?
• Bagpipes are indeed a wind instrument.
• The Ezra Klein Show: Why Adults Lose the ‘Beginner’s Mind’
• Mr. Mom
• Moana
• Fatherhood
• Manchester By the Sea
• Scenes From a Marriage
• Matt Taibbi's Divide
• SYLVAIN's Off-White Paper: No. 2: Encoding Organizational Purpose
• Chandler recently in our newsletter, Progress Report: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is (which you can subscribe to for free!)
• Eric Holder's memo on collateral consequences. (PDF)
• Vivo

What is a celebration without gifts?

This week, Aaron, Jess, and Joey talk about ongoing gift lists, gift paralysis, better wish lists, the curiosity of good gift-giving, "leaving room," and The Instant Present. They don’t talk about the sweet stamp suite available at USPS right now: Star Wars? Mon Stars?

references

When it comes to digital vigilanteism, what ultimate wages will we have to pay? And how do you feel about mediocrity? [25:37]

This week, Aaron, Joey and Jess talk about rousing public attention, the celebrity amplification effect, the undercurrent of distrust in justice, the fear of being medium, a refrain of the Impressionist problem, and wrestling with workism. They don’t talk about what are party pants.

references

How come we're now calling this time of year "Spooky Season"? And what makes a Halloween costume special? [29:44]

This week, special guest and SYLVAIN Halloween expert Xahra Gilbert joins Joey and Jess to talk about candy corn, Cuffing Season, Fill-in-the-Blank Season, Halloween costumes, recognizability vs. the exclusive club of getting it, and facial contouring. Thankfully, they don’t talk about Korn.

references

How do we teach each other how to relinquish our power?

This week, Aaron, Joey and Jess return to topic of relinquishing power from Critical Nonsense Episode 124 and talk about DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), loss aversion vs. creation, collective amplification, looking beyond recruiting, allyship, and collaboration. They don’t talk about Aaron's dentist.

references

• "Drogba (Joanna)", where Afro B wonders why Joanna is playing him like Didier Drogba, the superstar soccer/football player and mega-icon from Afro B's home country, Côte d'Ivoire.
• Aaron in Quartz: We need antiheroes in the boardroom to spark progress in the workplace
• Psychology Today: What Is Loss Aversion?
• Forbes: How Diversity And Innovation Drive Great Cultures In The Future Of Work
• McKinsey's report on women in the workplace
• Harper's Bazaar: The Diversity and Inclusion Industry Has Lost Its Way
• Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova

What does it say about us that we have this love/hate relationships with institutions but never want to follow through disrupting them? And how do we all figure out the same rules for naming things at the exact same time? [29:29]

This week, Jess and Aaron talk about Ozy, sparkling water, astrophysics, the current rules of naming, creating and erasing tethers, and Black names. They don’t talk about what baby names nerf herders prefer.

references