Nolan and I have one hell of a conversation about worldview narrative collapse and our shared optimism for what's next. We talk candidly about dropping out and honestly assessing your personal safety net before moving on to the packaged lifestyles promoted by guru entrepreneurs. We endorse succeeding through nontraditional learning and mock educational safetyism. We touch on the twin overbearing extremes of patriarchy and matriarchy and the ethics of virtual reality fantasies before launching enthusiastically into the unique opportunity posed by the candidacy of Andrew Yang in the 2020 presidential contest. The focus of our discussion on Yang's policies is Universal Basic Income and risk of inflation, Democracy Dollars, Rank Choice Voting, Technology and Education. We conclude with acknowledging the necessary tension between progressive and conservative ideals for societal advancement.

Luke talks candidly about when he was part of a pyramid scheme at Cydcor and the strange hazing of the Atmosphere Room. We discuss the unfulfilled ambitions and insecurities that pull us into the countless scams that exist today. These include pyramid, Ponzi, multilevel marketing, supplements, and '5 simple trick' gurus. If we pay attention and ask the right questions, what does the pervasiveness of scams and our susceptibility to cult say about us?

Leandro and I talk pursuing your interest and the benefit of having the traits curiosity, humility and gratefulness. We discuss choosing your suffering, the scourge of supremacy and victimhood mentalities and the satisfaction of tinkering. Leandro talks about his creative endeavor in FLKR LYTR and we share our thoughts on the early days of creating something. I dig into why education has jumped the shark and a story about why following the rules sucks.

Luke starts off talking about how kombucha and gigs got his foot in the door of content creation. We then talk self-deprecation, insecurity, and the regret of not taking chances on creative endeavors. We cringe at the rise of meta-entrepreneurship, independent wealth gurus and scammers. Luke mentions how hard so many people try to be normal and how unnatural transactional interactions feel. We talk Mark Manson, being magnetically authentic, the 1950s lie, choosing your suffering and money as a byproduct of accomplishment and legacy rather than as its own end. We delve into how our boredom and embarrassment lead us, gentrification, protest fever and polarization cycles. Luke and I close with modern masculinity, fraternities, men and women, sex and biology, stereotyping, us v them, wealth inequality, cultural relativism and creeping nonjudgmentalism.

Jerome and I bond over odd jobs and making supplemental income into primary income. I introduce my theory that we have entered a post-linear world which lacks clarity but is full of opportunity. Next we discuss over-reliance on labels before Jerome gives insights about how the United States and China ought to deal with each other in order to address global issues, curb totalitarianism and reduce tension. We conclude with Kanye's turn toward gospel, Blexit's tradeoff and the influence of Jerome's upbringing on his receptiveness toward others.

Ian talks staying punk by rejecting arbitrary authority. He also addresses the depths of hatred, even in the name of tolerance. We discuss the use of apocalyptic language as a fear tactic, cognitive dissonance, blaming humans rather than their tools, the talent behind social media marketing, and passion needing direction. We leap from escaping the good/evil binary to the limits of communes and free markets. We ask if the monotonous labor and helplessness of task specialization will require universal basic income as careers based on work dwindle. Ending political segregation and exploitation of children, increasingly complex television characters and sunken cost fallacy arise before we finally conclude with a major realization about why we refuse to humanize those who hate.

An episode with so much content it needed chapters:

Chapter 1: A New Outlook for the 21st Century -- 00:02:04

Part 1: The Gig Economy -- 00:03:00

Part 2: Assemble Your Own World View -- 00:11:17

Chapter 2: Not Who We Thought We Were -- 00:24:22

Chapter 3: The Next Enlightenment -- 00:41:36

Part 1: The Will to Care -- 00:41:42

Part 2: Generational Character -- 00:46:28

Chapter 4: The New Media -- 00:54:26

Chapter 5: Hate Squared -- 01:02:12

Chapter 6: The Cold War Returns -- 01:08:49

Chapter 7: An Inconvenient Truth? -- 01:18:51

Part 1: Intelligence -- 01:18:54

Book 1: The Bell Curve -- 01:21:29

Book 2: Coming Apart -- 01:27:50

Book 3: The Mismeasure of Man -- 01:32:08

Part 2: Climate Change -- 01:40:10

Chapter 8: What Do We Build? -- 01:46:24

Does current feminism victimize women? Guest Sarah discusses the career/motherhood paradox, value alignment in romantic partners, soulmate marketing, committing from the start, spiritual fulfillment and unconditional love. During the second half of the episode we discuss the lack of public dialogue around upcoming technological innovations and the combined effects of genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, supersurveillance, misinformation/deepfakes and quantum computing. Sarah also shares important thoughts about if we ought to create something just because we have the ability, public deference to perceived experts, fallible scientists, bias and agenda-tainted research.

Dave talks about the aspects of our political system he sees as overdue for attention: rank order voting, the end of gerrymandering, and a reconsideration of the electoral college. He asks what if your happiness is my misery? We talk about intelligence, the 1%, darwinism (sort of), compassion and the idea of inherent human value. We address meaning and vocation in a post-work future, pesticides, skepticism, business ethics, morality without authoritarianism, meaning and enjoyment, sex and love, consequence and intention of action, and leaving the best legacy.

00:00:54 -- Intro to Best Albums

00:03:12 -- My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye (2010)

00:11:48 -- The Color Spectrum by The Dear Hunter (2011)

00:24:10 -- Bon Iver, Bon Iver by Bon Iver (2011)

00:29:47 -- Modern Vampires of the City by Vampire Weekend (2013)

00:37:59 -- Immunity by John Hopkins (2013)

00:46:43 -- To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar (2015)

00:57:46 -- Carrie & Lowell by Sufjan Stevens (2015)

01:03:40 -- E-mo-tion by Carly Rae Jepson (2015)

01:07:26 -- Currents by Tame Impala (2015)

01:10:53 -- 2012-2017 by Against All Logic (2018)

01:14:25 -- Album Honorable Mentions

01:17:01 -- Intro to Best Movies

01:17:29 -- The Social Network (2010)

01:23:01 -- Margin Call (2011)

01:31:34 -- Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

01:36:01 -- The Grand Budapest Hotel (2013)

01:42:44 -- What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

01:44:54 -- Inside Out (2015)

01:52:00 -- Sicario (2015)

02:03:30 -- Get Out (2017)

02:10:40 -- Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

02:27:02 -- Burning (2018)

02:38:19 -- Movie Honorable Mentions