Head On Fire

"Didn't he just put out an episode about quantum physics?" you might be asking yourself. First of all, shut up. Second of all, yes. Yes I did, BUT when you come across an expert who can correct Hank Green on quantum entanglement and help me understand basic tenets of quantum physics using a pair of socks, YOU DO ANOTHER SHOW ABOUT QUANTUM PHYSICS. 

Caroline R.Z. is a multitalented educator who uses her platform to discuss issues of culture, finance, physics, and gaming. (Just don't give her chicken in pasta.)

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Social links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod

Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod

Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524
YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/HeadOnFirePod

Everyone is scared of "The Talk". We avoid it by using phrases like "the birds and the bees" instead of proper names for our bodies. Parents hope the schools do it but don't want the schools to do it and if the schools do it anyway they want to teach kids not to do..."it". And I get it. The intersection of sex education and children is uncomfortable, especially these days when children are being used as footballs by people who are more interested in scoring political points than making their lives safer and better. Not to mention the fact that when The Talk does happen, it tends to exclude folks belonging to LGBTQ+ or disabled communities. 

Enter Kathleen Hema. She's a sex educator with multiple advanced degrees and years of experience teaching children, adolescents, teens, and young adults. These days she's helping parents and kids find better ways to have The Talk through social media and her fun, informative videos. We have a deep dive discussion that will, hopefully, help you get comfortable with this uncomfortable topic. 

Not that I think it needs to be said, but this is a frank discussion of sex education. Correct names for body parts, discussions of sex, and other related topics will come up. 

Social links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod

Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod

Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524
YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/HeadOnFirePod

By now you're probably aware there's a new Ant-Man movie on the way in the Marvel Cinematic Universe called Quantumania. In the MCU and other science fiction media, the word "quantum" gets thrown around quite a bit. 

Why can you teleport? Quantum physics. Why can you shrink to the size of an atom? Quantum mechanics. Why can you walk through walls or travel the multiverse or bring someone back from the dead? Quantum entanglement. Quantum computing. Quantum. Quantum. Quantum. 

At this point the word "quantum" paired with just about any other word is a stand-in for something like "science magic". It's the label slapped on a bit of plot to explain why the protagonist can do the thing. But this type of slapdash explanation isn't relegated to the silver screen. 

Films like 'What the BLEEP do we know?' and books like 'The Secret' all maintain that our thoughts affect the world around us. The phrase "thoughts are things" gets bandied about. Oftentimes this is called the "Law of Attraction", or whatever you think about most often tends to show up in your life. These days other buzzwords float around and occupy similar space. Affirmations. Manifestation. And why does any of this work? Quantum physics. Quantum mechanics. Quantum entanglement. Quantum. Quantum. Quantum. 

I'm no physicist, but I know enough about marketing to know that the same word cannot possibly mean all of these things at the same time. Or could it? I'm no physicist after all. Perhaps it can? I wanted to ask an expert. 

Jed Buchwald studied physics and science history at Princeton University, and earned a PhD from Harvard in 1974. He taught at the University of Toronto for two decades, where he spent a year as the director of that university's Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology. Buchwald then became the director of the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology and the Bern Dibner Professor of the History of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before joining Caltech in 2001. He has authored or co-authored six books in the history of science and, more recently, on the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics. He edits or co-edits three book series for Springer, one for MIT, and two journals. Buchwald is a member of the American Philosophical Society, a member of the International Academy of the History of Science, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was also a MacArthur Fellow (1995) and a Killam Fellow (1990–1991).

Social links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod

Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod

Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524
YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/HeadOnFirePod

Everyone has those stories from their childhood that are a mix of things that happened and things that didn't happen. This is one of mine. 

It is a story of death and grief and loss and how a child processes those things. 

But, it is also a story of an imaginary friend, a mostly forgotten Greek myth, and the stories families tell about themselves. 

Social links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod

Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod

Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524
YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/HeadOnFirePod

Dr. Eva Burke returns to provide an education on the value and cultural significance of horror movies. 

Dr. Eva Burke is a lecturer at Trinity College Dublin, and she both studies and teaches pop culture, genre fiction, crime novels, and, of course, horror.

The official Head On Fire Horror Watchlist:

Black Christmas (1974)
Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
The Fly (1986)
Candyman (1992)
Audition (1999)
Lake Mungo (2008)
Suspiria (2018)

Social links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod

Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod

Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524
YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/HeadOnFirePod

Poetry has a weird reputation in literature. I cannot think of a time when it felt cool to like poetry. All sorts of other genres and styles of writing have had their heyday - seriously who would've thought that "dinosaur smut" would bring in such big bucks? - but poetry seems continually relegated to being that thing you had to get through back in school.

Taylor Mali has been on a mission to transform the way we think about, read, listen to, and consider poetry. He has been featured in Russell Simmons' Def Poetry, as well as the documentaries SlamNation and Slam Planet. He has shared stages with Billy Collins and Allen Ginsberg. He's published several books and been featured in even more anthologies, and he took time out of all that to have a conversation with me about bad poetry, good poetry, and all the poetry you aren't reading but should be.

Social links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod

Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod

Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524
YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/HeadOnFirePod

When you're into crystals as a kid that - at least for me - takes the form of "rock on the side of the road pretty, must take home". When you're into crystals as an adult it comes with all this extra baggage. What's the name of the crystal in your hand? Where does it come from? How much child labor went into getting it out of the ground and into your hands? Does it actually cure my migraines?

Yinan Wang is a geologist and children’s book writer. He is currently studying potential uses of new technology to aid the field of paleontology. He stopped by to have a conversation about the science and salesmanship behind pretty rocks.

Social links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod

Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod

Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524
YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/HeadOnFirePod

Ola Ojewumi is a force of nature. When she was nine she learned she had a rare heart condition and by eleven she was faced with undergoing kidney and heart transplants. She grew up navigating a complex world of intersectional privilege and challenge which was only exacerbated when, as a young adult, she was diagnosed with cancer and soon after became a wheelchair user. 

She's a fierce advocate for the disabled community, having worked with Lady Gaga, Nancy Pelosi, Cory Booker, Steny Hoyer, and Barack Obama. She accomplishes more before breakfast than I do in an entire year. Today, she gives us a look at disability advocacy, the lyrical dust up involving Beyonce and Lizzo, and choosing our words more thoughtfully.

Social links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod

Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod

Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524

You might have at one time said something like “I think if we ever met, I’d be really good friends with Dolly Parton.” Or thought if Chris Evans happened to come into the cafe where you work, he’d definitely go out with me. 

Have you ever heard of a parasocial relationship? The term was created in 1956 by Donald Horton and Richard Wohl to describe a unique one-sided relationship in which a member of an audience believes a person they see on tv or social media is their close personal friend. That they’re in a relationship with that person. I’m not talking about imagining meeting a celebrity in real life and then striking up a genuine friendship like in my initial examples, but believing that right now - without ever having met - you are in an intimate relationship of some kind. 

These days social media has made all of these lines even more blurred. A celebrity liking a tweet or a famous author answering your question. Television, social media, these have given us ways to carry celebrities around in our pockets, to give us a false sense of intimacy with people we’ve never met. When parasocial relationships stay in the realm of hypothetical, or perhaps even in something like passionate adoration, that’s fine. That’s not a crime. But some people take it too far. They believe celebrities, influencers, authors, actors owe them something. Parasocial relationships have a proven link to negative body image issues, increased aggression, and a whole host of problematic behaviors all stemming from this one-sided false intimacy. 

If you’re a creative person who puts their work out for public consumption, there’s one additional layer to consider. Ownership. Creative people - writers, actors, painters, etc - aren’t just known as themselves, but as their work, too. And, as a result of parasocial interactions and the general toxic discourse existing in various corners of the internet, there are those folks out in the world who feel a sense of ownership over that creative person’s work and career. They feel personally invested in its trajectory, taking losses as personal, and oftentimes expressing that they are owed something for wins and successes. 

Meg Elison is an author who knows this terrain all too well, and she wrote about it in her new book Number One Fan. It’s a breakdown of how social media blurs barriers between creator and audience, emboldens parasocial interactions, and acts as a cautionary tale for anyone who has ever summoned up a stranger by pressing a few buttons on their phone and then gotten into their car. While the story itself is fiction, the events inside it can be seen paralleled in news headlines on a weekly basis. Since recording this interview I can think of at least 3 times when I read or heard a story that shared shocking similarity to the plot being relayed by young women simply existing out in the world. This is a conversation about one-sided relationships, the specter of Stephen King, book consumption culture, niche internet communities, and who owns a creator’s work once it is out in the world. 

Social links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/headonfirepod/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/headonfirepod
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headonfirepod

Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headonfirepod

Subscribe to the Head On Fire podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-on-fire/id337689333
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qTYYhCLMdFc4PhQmSL1Yh?si=5387b774ed6e4524
YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/HeadOnFirePod