Downers

#139 – This week, we tackle Lars Chittka and Catherine Wilson's article "Expanding Consciousness." Bees! They're just like us? Should we be more humble about our ability to plan and reflect? We discuss! Also, it's possible that Jack think bees are horny for honey? There's a lot to unpack here. It's a fun podcast.

Plugs this week:

• Not being able to see a movie (Hao)
• Monica Lewinsky, who was profiled on Armchair Expert (Kate)
• James Acaster, comedian (Jack)

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#138 – We devote the hour to the Bhagawan Shree Rajneesh's cult. We talk cults! We talk about the streak of individualism in the fabric of America's identity! We talk salad bars!

Plugs this week:

• /r/AskHistorians (Jack)
• Living with Yourself (Kate)
• The parade happening outside (Hao)

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#137 – Jack and Hao make a spreadsheet! It has three columns: things where you must kill something, things where you might kill something, and things where you won't kill something. We also tackle interesting physics problems, like dropping a knife from an airplane that's turned off its engines.

Plugs this week:

• Busking (Jack)
• Donating so much money to a charity that they have to name a building after you (Hao)

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#136 – People in the news are trying to break Facebook up! We, at Downers, feel compelled – compelled – to weigh in on this important topic. In this episode we break Facebook up into a more competitive set of smaller companies: Fads.com, NoIDon'tThinkI'llBeThere.gov, HistoricalImageArchive.org. Also, Jack has a new computer!!

Plugs this week:

• browsing twitch until you feel bad about yourself (jack)
• remembering you have a tumblr (kate)
• 2019's MONOS (hao)

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#134 – Kate and Hao talk about the myriad of ways we try to make ourselves, to trick ourselves, into feeling better when we're sick. (In this episode, Kate's actually sick, which lends the show a real air of authenticity.) We're also going to talk about Korean food.

Plugs:

• Corduroy blazers from the back of your closet (Hao)
• DERRY GIRLS (Kate)

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#135 – Jack and Hao break down a psychology paper from 1981! It posits that people who announce their intentions are more likely to not complete their goals; that people who know less about a subject are more likely to influence or teach others about it. It is a sassy paper! It makes very little sense!

Plugs:

• (w/ trepidation) "Sir V"? A white rapper? I was unable to find anything on Google (Jack) I'm sorry Jack
• BILL CLINTON, PUBLIC CITIZEN by George Saunders (Hao)

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#133 – Fall is here! Speaking of fall, the Vikram moon lander fell to the surface, so we will speculate wildly as to what happened. Also, chess grandmasters now have a team of nutritionists helping them through long tournaments. Then, Kate's terrible things! Modern human slavery is the topic at hand

PLUGS THIS WEEK:

• backups (kate)
• icloud drive (hao)
• egg tarts (kate)
• midautumn festival (kate)
• alfajore cookies (jack)

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#132 – As corporate interests and so-called "influencers" have co-opted Burning Man, a once-idealistic experiment in constructing a vast, temporary city over the course of nine days, to their own gains, we here at Downers can't help but shake our heads and wonder – can we do it better? After all, city planning and dystopic utopias are our bread and butter. In this episode, an alternative gathering event is constructed IN THE CLOUDS, and we call it Downers Meat Substitute Effigy.

Plugs this week:

• Uh Hao forgot to write them down and now can't go back to listen and to them

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#131 – No Downers this week! Here's an episode from a completely unrelated podcast called I HEART* NY by two people named Hao and Veronica!

#130 – How do Kate and Hao back up their files? Computers break, and you better have a Plan B. Find out on this episode! But first, they're going to PLAY THE SIMS and TALK OVER IT. Is there audio from the game? No! Is Hao recording from his normal (good) microphone? No! Such is the lo-fi grunge quality of indie podcasting.

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Plugs this week:

• The Formik React library for making forms in React (Hao)
• Backing up your computer (Kate0