Diapers Off! (Season One)

A recent article in Vanity Fair about the dating app “Tinder” and another piece this week in the New York Times profiling working conditions at Amazon get Peter and Paul talking. First, they discuss the “Cult of Urgency” that is created when customers demand things faster, sooner and cheaper. It’s the “Culture of Now” and it’s creating a society of impatience. More ominously, companies such as Amazon, Tinder and Uber are changing the way that customers relate to the marketplace. In the past, many exchanges where relational, where the power dynamic was shared; today’s apps allow for much of life to become merely transactional. Peter and Paul consider what’s lost as a result. Later in the episode, Peter and Paul consider how the work-life balance is different across the pond and how the “Game of Life” concept is thoroughly American in that winners are celebrated, losers shunned. We end on a discussion of Jeremy Corbyn and the difficulty of aligning one’s ideals with one’s habits. Hypocrisy ensues.

John Lucas is a novelist and stringer for a number of high-profile online magazines. He covers the alternative lifestyle scene and fetish parties in and around London. John joins us for a discussion of his work, his view on sex parties and the true nature of jealousy. We end on a discussion of Pornography versus Erotica. Recently, three UK magistrates were barred from practice when it emerged they had looked at pornography on their computers. Women, however, can publicly consume erotica with impunity (think Fifty Shades of Grey). Why is one punished and the other tolerated, even celebrated? Is it a double standard, or is there something inherently more permissable about arousal by the written word? The men discuss.

Peter and Paul discuss the unique benefits of immersion in a foreign culture while traveling, dismissing the idea you can really experience a place on a short excursion. Paul examines the Fallacy of Depletion, the belief that an individual has a limited number of creative or business “gems” and therefore must ration them. The guys discuss Single-dom as a Lifestyle, not simply an activity or dating status; really enjoying the single life requires men to honestly evaluate their priorities. We end on a discussion of Johnny Carson and his groundbreaking talk show of the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s. Johnny defined a genre for a generation of Americans, setting the standard for dozens of late-night hosts that followed. Today, with the democratization of content, we must ask, “Are the days of the universal cultural touchpoint, such as The Tonight Show, really over?”

Is resizing your ambition in midlife an admission of failure, or simply a practical move when other commitments, like family, crowd out the time? Pete and Paul discuss their own journeys with outsized ambition and the new responsibilities that come with married life. Moving on to entrepreneurship, Pete makes the case that starting small is the best way to achieve big dreams and a good way to gauge if you’re really passionate about something. Pitching the “Big Idea” may be counterintuitive, argues Pete. Both men explore the “Death of the Entourage,” a phenomenon that plagues urban males as they hit thirty-five.

Denmark is often cited as the “happiest” country in the world, but an insider reveals that Danes confuse social safety with happiness. Peter and Paul ask the question, “Are you Happy or are you Playing it Safe?” Paul questions the relevance of “Age Appropriate Behaviour” in a society that embraces alternative life paths. We also discuss society’s distaste for “mediocrity” or “being average.”

Peter and Paul discuss the pros and cons of forward planning. Does the hyper-planning of Type A’s really serve them well? They also trace the conflict in romantic relationships to the difference between male-defined measures of success (money, fame, legacy) and female-defined measures of success (harmony, bonding, communication, attention). Are the stereotypical models of “male success” sending men down the wrong path?

Peter and Paul discuss a life of admin vs performance, the perils of moving locations simply to reenergise a life that lacks purpose, and how to use morning pages to elicit the creative process.