Mad Mad World

Los (aka Geppetto, pulling the strings) and Bertram (aka The World's Oldest Millennial) break down the exorbitant prices of the graduate school programs in the United States. Taking a look at the data, they wonder: Is it still worth it to get a master's degree?

Thank you for listening. Please leave a rating and review wherever you're listening to this pod.

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Instagram: @madmadworldpod

Reddit: r/madmadworldpod

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Sources from this week's episode:

• Average Graduate Student Loan Debt | Education Data
• Full ROI Table (Graduate) | Flourish
• Podcast: Student Loan Debt | Mad Mad World
• Behold, the new starting salary for some graduates is $100,000 | rushhourtimes.com (via WSJ)
• Chris Rock - Neighborhood | YouTube
• Returns on Investment for 14,000 graduate degrees
• Master's Degrees Are the Biggest Scam in Higher Education | Business Insider
• Master’s degrees are the second biggest scam in higher education | Slate
• Don’t waste money on a master’s degree during the pandemic | CNBC
• Is a master’s degree worth it? | CNBC

1 in 10 children are diagnosed with ADHD and adult on-set ADHD is increasing. What is going on here?

Your friendly neighborhood Los and the world's oldest millennial, Bertram, break down what ADHD is, what is on in the ADHD brain, what people can do about it, and the pros and cons surrounding the drug Adderall.

Thank you for listening. Please leave a rating and review wherever you're listening to this pod.

Follow us on social media:

Instagram: @madmadworldpod

Reddit: r/madmadworldpod

Email us: [email protected]

Sources from this week's episode:

• Adderall vs. Methamphetamine: Why They're Similar, and Why They're Not | WebMD
• Why Change Blindness Happens to Us | Very Well Mind
• Know Your Brain: Default Mode Network | Neuroscientifically Challenged
• Weak Task Synchronization of Default Mode Network in Task Based Paradigms
• Executive Function and ADHD: Symptoms and Deficits | Very Well Health
• Imaging study shows dopamine dysfunction is not the main cause of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) | University of Cambridge
• Why Does Attentional Blink Happen? | Very Well Mind
• ADHD and Dopamine: What’s the Connection? | Healthline
• Startups Prescribing A.D.H.D Drugs on TikTok Raise Diagnosis Concerns | The New York Times
• How to ADHD - YouTube
• Startups Make It Easier to Get ADHD Drugs. That Made Some Workers Anxious. | News Azi (via The Wall Street Journal)
• How Do I Know if I Have Adult A.D.H.D.? | The New York Times
• Understanding ADHD for Adults - Overview | Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD)
• Executive Function and ADHD: Symptoms and Deficits | Very Well Health
• Executive Functioning | Advantages Learning Center
• Things People With ADHD Wish You Knew
• What is ADHD? | CDC
• Know Your Brain: Default Mode Network | Neuroscientifically Challenged

Los and Bertram break down the horrific shooting in Uvalde, Texas — what happened, and what we can (and should) do about this from a policy perspective.

If you are interested in more data on guns and a (relatively) unbiased way to deal with them, take a look at our MMW guns episode:

Episode 31: America's Gun Problem: The Causes and Possible Solutions

Thank you for listening. Please leave a rating and review wherever you're listening to this pod.

Follow us on social media:

Instagram: @madmadworldpod

Reddit: r/madmadworldpod

Email us: [email protected]

Sources from this week's episode:

• Talking to kids about school shootings: Advice to ease their anxiety | NPR
• Op-Ed: Why our response to school shootings is all wrong | Los Angeles Times
• 3 lessons Washington can learn from how Arizona helps people in mental health crisis | Seattle Times
• Depression, suicidal thoughts prevalent in high school students during pandemic | Reuters
• A recent report put Texas last among states and DC in mental health care access | PolitiFact
• Gun Violence Archive
• 213 mass shootings in 2022 already, including the Buffalo and Uvalde attacks | NPR
• Timeline of events in Texas school shooting | Reuters
• Guns have become the top injury-related cause of death for U.S. kids | Axios
• The Uvalde, Texas, school district had an extensive safety plan. 19 children were killed anyway. | NBCnews
• 'Children don't carry IDs': Texas official faced horror of identifying bodies of those he knew | Reuters
• What we know about the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas | NPR
• AP FACT CHECK: NRA Speakers Distort Gun and Crime Statistics | US News and World Report
• Onlookers urged police to charge into Texas school | APnews

Elon Musk agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion dollars. Los and Bertram debate if this is a triumph for free speech, or if something far more sinister is at play.

Thank you for listening. We love you! Please leave a rating and review wherever you're listening to this pod. Don't forget—it's a Mad Mad World!

Follow us on social media:

Instagram: @madmadworldpod

Reddit: r/madmadworldpod

Email us: [email protected]

Sources for this episode:

• Elon Musk is buying Twitter. Now what? | Vox
• Even Elon Musk doesn’t know what he means by free speech | Vox
• How Elon Musk Plans to Change Twitter | WSJ - YouTube
• A one-time appeal to billionaires to help fight famine | World Food Programme
• How billionaire Elon Musk’s fortune could end world hunger | World Economic Forum
• Elon Musk talks Twitter, Tesla and how his brain works — live at TED2022 - YouTube (Twitter talk starts at 11:48)
• Elon Musk Is Right That Twitter Should Follow the First Amendment | The Atlantic
• NAACP's Message to Elon Musk | NAACP
• Elon Musk’s Twitter ‘free speech’ mirage | The Hill
• Tesla’s Ambitions in India Will Test Elon Musk’s Commitment to 'Free Speech' | TIME
• What Does Free Speech Mean? | US Courts

In honor of Earth Day last Friday, Los and Bertram look at greenwashing, which Investopedia defines as "the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company's products are more environmentally sound."

Greenwashing is considered an unsubstantiated claim to deceive consumers into believing that a company's products are environmentally friendly"

Thank you for listening. We love you! Please leave a rating and review wherever you're listening to this pod. Don't forget—it's a Mad Mad World!

Follow us on social media:

Instagram: @madmadworldpod

Reddit: r/madmadworldpod

Email us: [email protected]

Sources for this episode:

• The History of Earth Day | Earth Day Organization
• Earth Day Is Even More Relevant Now. But It Needs a Rebrand | AdWeek
• Earth Day 2022: Companies Accused of Greenwashing | Truth in Advertising
• Man Behind Earth Day Says There's Too Much Greenwashing - 99 NEWS (via The Wall Street Journal)
• Climate change: Seven ways to spot businesses greenwashing | BBC
• The Plastic Pandemic | Reuters
• The Recycling Myth | Reuters
• 11 Ways to Avoid Greenwashed Products
• How You Can Support Sustainable Product Design?
• Can Greenwashing Ever Be Good?
• The troubling evolution of corporate greenwashing | The Guardian
• What is Greenwashing? | Conserve Energy Future
• Top Green Investing Opportunities | Investopedia
• Greenwashing Definition | Investopedia

America is having a real problem with public safety after a string of shootings. Do we need a change in policy? What's the real fix here? Can technology support us here?

Join our friends, Los and Bertram, as they break down the recent subway shooting in New York City and reference problems going on around the country.

Thank you for listening. We love you! Please leave a rating and review wherever you're listening to this pod. Don't forget—it's a Mad Mad World!

Follow us on social media: 

Instagram: @madmadworldpod

Reddit: r/madmadworldpod

Email us: [email protected]

Sources for this episode:

• CrimeMapping.com - Helping You Build a Safer Community
• How is a ‘mass shooting’ defined? | PolitiFact
• America Is Having a Violence Wave, Not a Crime Wave | The Atlantic
• Crime Rates Rise And Fall. The Police Mostly Have Nothing To Do With It. | The Garrison Project
• Gangs are following and robbing L.A.'s wealthiest, LAPD says | Los Angeles Times
• Incarceration in Real Numbers - Interactive Graph
• Crime in the United States: Statistics & Facts | Statista
• Americans’ support for more police spending in their area is growing | Pew Research Center
• 'It's just crazy': 12 major cities hit all-time homicide records - ABC News
• Crime Data Explorer | FBI
• Nine Mass Shootings | NYTimes
• Before Charges in a Subway Attack, Decades of Disputes and Petty Offenses | NYTimes
• San Francisco mayor pledges more police, safety measures | APNews
• As murders surge, Democrats find a new message: Fund the police | Reuters
• At the Super Bowl and beyond: Tackling human trafficking every day | Reuters
• The technology helping keep women safe on the streets | BBC
• Safe cities: Using smart tech for public security | BBC
• New York's public

It's our 75th episode! Recently released TV shows such as Inventing Anna, The Tinder Swinder, and Bad Vegan on Netflix, as well as The Dropout on Hulu, brought a renewed interest in the lives of scammers, con artists, frauds, and swindlers.

This week, Los and Bertram go on a deep dive into Mad Mad World of scams—including why we get scammed, how we get scammed, and how to protect yourself from getting scammed.

Thank you for listening. We love you! Don't forget—it's a Mad Mad World!

Follow us on social media: 

Instagram: @madmadworldpod

Reddit: r/madmadworldpod

Email us: [email protected]

Our treasure chest of links and resources mentioned in this episode:

• The Psychology of Con Artists, and How to Avoid Them | Maria Konnikova | Big Think - YouTube
• How to outsmart a scam: Strategies from a legendary con man | Frank W. Abagnale | Big Think - YouTube
• The Dropout Podcast - ABC Audio
• Hot Startup Theranos Has Struggled With Its Blood-Test Technology | Original WSJ Report (PDF)
• Watch "The Dropout" | Hulu
• Sarma Melngailis, Netflix’s “Bad Vegan,” Stares Down Her Past—And Future | Vanity Fair
• Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. | Netflix
• The Tinder Swindler (Original Report) | VG
• How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People | New York Magazine
• Inventing Anna | Netflix
• The Tinder Swindler | Netflix
• Every scam has one of these red flags: Ex-con man Frank Abagnale | CNBC - YouTube

• The Perfect Man Who Wasn't | The Atlantic
• Scam Tracker | Better Business Bureau
• How To Trick an Online Scammer Into Carving a Computer Out of Wood | The Atlantic
• The conman who pulled off history’s most audacious scam | BBC
• How Scams...

Check out these past episodes for more on jobs and money:

4-Day Work Week

Billionaires: They're Not Just Like Us

The Way Things Were vs. The New Normal

America's Current Labor Market

Raising the Minimum Wage

Wage Theft

Resources from this episode:

• Antiwork (Subreddit): Unemployment for all, not just the rich! - Reddit
• Hating Your Job Is Cool. But Is It a Labor Movement? - The New York Times

• Inside the rise of 'antiwork,' a worker's strike that wants to turn the labor shortage into a new American Dream | Business Insider
• The rise of the anti-work movement | BBC
• The ‘Anti-Work’ Movement Is A Sign Something’s Rotten In The Workplace | Forbes
• Taft–Hartley Act | Brittanica
• Taft-Hartley Act | Investopedia
• Democrats can't pass the PRO Act, so it's buried in the reconciliation bill | The Hill
• Is This The End of Work As We Know It? | 34th Street
• Why you don't see large-scale teacher strikes in Indiana | WRTV

Follow us on social media: 

Instagram: @madmadworldpod

Reddit: r/madmadworldpod

Email us: [email protected]

During these dark, strange times, it can be easy to become overwhelmed. Many people have turned to a practice popularized in Ancient Greece: stoicism.

Is this disciplined, focused practice a great philosophy to abide by in the modern era? Or is it more trouble than it's worth? How do we find balance? Los and Bertram discuss these things.

Thank you for listening, and don't forget—it's a Mad, Mad World!

Follow us on social media: 

Instagram: @madmadworldpod

Reddit: r/madmadworldpod

Email us: [email protected]

Check out our sources for this episode:

Will Santino "No. More. Lemons." | Instagram

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Epictetus - How To Be A Stoic (Stoicism) | YouTube

There Are Two Kinds of Happy People | The Atlantic

Stoicism in a time of pandemic: how Marcus Aurelius can help | The Guardian

Preparing Your Mind for Uncertain Times | The Atlantic

What would Seneca say? Six Stoic tips for surviving lockdown | The Conversation

Opinion: If You’re Reading Stoicism for Life Hacks, You’re Missing the Point | New York Times

Stoicism, Feminism and Autonomy - Scott Aikin & Emily McGill-Rutherford (Read full the full paper via PDF HERE)

When life gives you lemons … 4 Stoic tips for getting through lockdown from Epictetus | The Conversation

9 ways to stay calm during the coronavirus crisis by using stoic philosophy | BBC Radio

Quotes from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius | Goodreads