How should we deal with the plot twists in our own personal narratives? And a hot take: "gifting is a selfish act." [20:34]

This week, Joey and Aaron go rogue talking about Cincinnati chili, fairness, traumatic experiences, giving people puppies, the value of gift utility, and the role of love languages. They don't talk about how Jess did not endorse the contents of this episode.

references

* HBR (https://hbr.org/2015/09/stress-can-be-a-good-thing-if-you-know-how-to-use-it): on stress and naming your anxiety patterns

* A refresher on The Brave Little Toaster (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brave_Little_Toaster)

* The Lexus December to Remember (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOW1NSFC63g) sales event jingle

How do we mourn a parasocial relationship? And how do identity politics affect music genres? [17:34]

This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about Kobe, 1996, Titus Burgess, the new cowboy in town, appropriation, and "Daddy Lessons." They don't (enough) about Billy Porter's grammy look.

references

* "My Complicated Reaction to the Death of Kobe Bryant." (https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/my-complicated-reaction-to-the-death-of-kobe-bryant-mkdn/)

* Felicia Sonmez's suspension and reinstatement (https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/28/media/washington-post-felicia-sonmez-kobe-bryant/index.html) following her tweets about "remembering a public figure in their totality."

* The look (https://www.billboard.com/files/styles/article_main_image/public/media/Lil-Nas-X-grammy-press-room-a-billboard-2020-1548.jpg) Lil Nas X served at this year's Grammy Awards.

* Billboard's decision (https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/8530110/inside-the-old-town-road-charts-decision) to exclude Lil Nas X from the country charts.

* The incredible Old Town Road music video. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2Ov5jzm3j8)

* Vanity Fair: (https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/07/tituss-burgess-andy-cohen-watch-what-happens-live-eddie-murphy) overviewing Titus Burgess v. Andy Cohen. Also, the interview (https://www.bravotv.com/watch-what-happens-live-with-andy-cohen/season-16/episode-119/videos/tituss-burgess-on-working-with) with he and Laverne Cox.

* Earth, Wind & Fire "Holiday" (https://open.spotify.com/album/2clJOOkMz707eU2OnHgS0z?si=1LMs-GSLTBShmsPYGiisOw)

* The article buzzing around Sylvain Labs right now: "Heard But Not Seen: Black Music in White Spaces" (https://slate.com/culture/2020/01/black-music-white-restaurants-gyms-shops.html)

* Beyoncé and the Dixie Chicks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85Ksi-uzuIg) performing "Daddy Lessons" at the 2016 CMAs.

* Joey's playlist: "Acceptable country (and proxies)" (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2bgsCqOVEw3g2ScRUK60U4?si=nGoKeFiKSCCroKSiqSeO1Q)

What does the movie Parasite tell us about culture? And what are the consequences of all these drops? [18:20]

This week, Cultural Horoscopes! with our very own cultural astrologer Osei Kwakye. He, Joey, and Jess talk about subtitles, our categorization-machine tendencies, Good Boys, the Cosmic Crisp apple, social scarcity, and fat times. They don't talk about how that Frasier episode is Season 10, Episode 11: "Door Jam." (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0582388/)

references

* Despite the skeptics, Jess is all in on the Cosmic Crisp apple (https://cosmiccrisp.com/) (which somehow has a newsletter‽)

* Gladwell on being a fish in ponds (https://www.inc.com/issie-lapowsky/malcolm-gladwell-david-and-goliath.html) of varying sizes (and a refuting argument, for fun) (https://www.forbes.com/sites/christeare/2015/09/26/malcolm-gladwell-misses-a-key-point/#2687b4834b8a)

* A refresher on the "hedonic treadmill" model (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hedonic-treadmill.asp)

What's to come in 2020?

This week, Wild Prognostications! Special guest Ben Vander joins Jess, Aaron, and Joey to rank topics on a Goldilocks scale from "too wild" to "not wild enough." To be tracked through this year: culture war, modern asceticism, the tide turning on cars, bling, starter homes, hoaxes, and the appeal of pantries. They don't talk about the metrics behind "just wild enough:" it's more like a feeling.

references

* Ben's newsletter, The Link, (http://thelinknewsletter.com/) is actually really good. Also, emoji scissors (https://wh0.github.io/2020/01/02/scissors.html).

* VC predictions (https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomtaulli/2019/12/06/what-venture-capitalists-vcs-see-for-2020/#42b41c41196a) on Forbes.

* The basics of asceticism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asceticism)

* PBS: (https://youtu.be/Ib4Z30Qb5Oc)Millennials and organized religion

* Some things on starter homes (https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/millennials-ready-to-buy-houses-face-starter-home-shortage-2019-12)

* Whoopi on bike lanes (https://youtu.be/uVX6nrRYyYM)

* Sarah Silverman's song (https://youtu.be/u5oQrmB24O0)

How has nostalgia affected musical theater? And why is dying so hard? [23:19]

This week, mystical guest Dylan, Joey, and Jess talk about Shakespeare, Waitress, mandarins v. clementines [19:59], the symbiosis between old and young people, observando el Día de los Muertos, and #folkwisdom. They don't talk about Kimiko Glenn's knockout delivery of "When He Sees Me."

references

* CNN: (https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/26/health/us-life-expectancy-decline-study/index.html) the declining US life expectancy.

* Rapidly aging countries (https://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/slideshows/10-rapidly-aging-countries?slide=12).

* On intergenerational programs (https://www.mentalhelp.net/blogs/intergenerational-programs-keeping-seniors-young-making-youth-wiser/).

* NPR (https://www.npr.org/2017/11/02/561527322/mexicos-celebrated-d-a-de-los-muertos-evolves-in-the-u-s) on Día de los Muertos.

* The UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (https://ich.unesco.org/en/lists).

* Josh Groban lip syncs ordering pizza. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85WhIoG0qco)

* Shia LaBeouf (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0u4M6vppCI).

What debt do we owe to '90s action movies? And how can we clean digital house in the new year? [21:41]

This week, Aaron and Joey talk about the most progressive movie genres, Atomic Blonde, Sigourney Weaver, ideas on Twitter, deep cleaning our feeds, and "the holey sock problem." They don't talk about how Joey is definitely 1000% wrong about Hitch.

references

* The 2014 MIT study on Twitter feeds and quality ideas (https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-twitter-users-can-generate-better-ideas/) and the full report (https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c854/06418406951a821f33378e7886027cbe8fdd.pdf)

* Whatever you feel about Malcolm Gladwell: thoughts on what guides our feelings on the law (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnEjzmR9Hvw)

What happened in 2019?

This week, a special end of the year episode! Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk about "Made in anywhere-but-America," Jim Carrey's Trump art, the Lancet paper, unicorn mac and cheese, and purpose-washing. They don't talk about the title of their Zuckerberg Lion King remake.

references

* "I'm Old Gregg." (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3s9RVg2STY)

* WaPo: on our protest music (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/its-a-brave-new-world-why-is-our-protest-music-stuck-in-the-past/2019/09/03/7d9c1056-ca97-11e9-a4f3-c081a126de70_story.html)

* SNL: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37nlTmRHvf8) families at the end of the year

* Bon Appetit: "I tried the Climate Diet..." (https://www.bonappetit.com/story/climate-diet)

* Also, the Bon Appetit cinematic universe. (https://jezebel.com/my-obsession-with-the-bon-appetit-cinematic-universe-1839497437)

Why are we obsessed with year-end wrap-ups? And when does performance on social media go wrong? [17:26]

This week, special guests Steven Ebert and Nora Mestrich join Joey to talk about Spotify Wrapped, Dunbar's Number puns, rebirth, vague-booking, trauma, and Walden. They don't talk about how we never edit out things in post that we say we will.

* Book recommendation: Atomic Habits (https://books.google.com/books?id=lFhbDwAAQBAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=atomic+habits&source=gbs_navlinks_s), by James Clear

* See your Spotify Wrapped here. (https://www.spotify.com/us/wrapped/)

* Spotify Wrapped: the Fallout (from The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/dec/06/spotify-wrapped-users-alarmed-by-their-own-listening-habits))

* Metro (https://t.co/pAasoWr4mk?amp=1) on Sadfishing

* The "are you in the right headspace" meme (https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/are-you-in-the-right-headspace-meme) and "Self-Care Templates" (https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/47062/1/not-in-the-right-headspace-twitter-tumblr-emotional-capacity-self-care-templates)

* More book recommendations: Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid (https://www.google.com/books/edition/Bored_Lonely_Angry_Stupid/XFWQDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0), by Luke Fernandez and Susan J. Matt.

What should or could Thanksgiving music be?

This week, a special! Joey, Aaron, and Jess sing about crooning, country crooning, the elbow that keeps going, Heartstrings, Aaron's cornbread pro-tip, and the green bean casserole divide. They don't talk about how "pipette" translates to "little pipe" in English.

How much greatness is hiding in plain sight on the internet? And what if we took Thanksgiving more seriously? [17:29]

This week, Joey and Jess talk about 9M9H9E9, future Kafka, penny press newspapers, the Thankanator (coming soon to theatres), the Duchenne smile, and the Gratitude Turkey. They don't talk about which poultry cut is superior: white or dark meat (hint: there's a right answer).

references

* Referenced books from Joey's Book Club if you need some holiday weekend reads: Chuck Klosterman's But What If We're Wrong? (https://www.amazon.com/But-What-If-Were-Wrong-ebook/dp/B015DLUTDS), David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest (https://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Jest-David-Foster-Wallace/dp/0316066524), Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian (https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Meridian-Evening-Redness-West/dp/0679728759).

* "A Hunger Artist (https://www.kafka-online.info/a-hunger-artist.html)" by Franz Kafka moved Jess to tears.

* The Harker-Keltner study (http://local.psy.miami.edu/faculty/dmessinger/c_c/rsrcs/rdgs/emot/keltner_harker.yearbooksmiles.jpsp.pdf) about the Duchenne smile and Duchenne's original findings published in French in 1862 (https://books.google.com/books?id=rD4AAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false).

* Harvard Health: "In Praise of Gratitude" (https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/in-praise-of-gratitude)

* Israeli behavioral economist, Tal Ben-Shahar on Dax Shepard's podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tal-ben-shahar/id1439283728?i=1000446953953).

* It wasn't a chicken, but Tesla's alleged pigeon romance (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/nikola-tesla-street-corner), to which Jess was referring.