Mansplaining

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In anticipation of the release of a U.S. government report on “unexplained aerial phenomena” later this month, Mark and Joe ponder the most likely explanation for UFOs and, despite the human predilection for flying saucers, why alien visitation probably won’t unfold the way it does in Hollywood movies and sci-fi novels. (Recorded June 19, 2021.)

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The Biden administration’s recent proposal to create a new health agency designed, among other things, to “end cancer as we know it” evokes a similar pledge made by Richard Nixon in 1971.  Joe and Mark explore why, a half century later, cancer is still a major killer, why it’s so hard to cure, and what steps we can take to mitigate its toll in lives and dollars. 

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Christie’s recently auctioned a non-fungible token (NFT) by a noted digital artist for $69 million.  NFTs are unique files that live on a blockchain, but what’s an NFT, and what’s a blockchain?  Mark gives Joe a verbal primer on cryptocurrencies and their use in the speculative trading of digital art ... and some other, not so savory applications. (Recorded May 21, 2021.)

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Joe and Mark consider recent advances in drone technology and AI that may soon lead to the chilling prospect of fully autonomous weapons coming to a battlefield near you.  Given the likelihood that a rogue state or non-state actor will inevitably open Pandora’s box, how might this technology change warfare, and what can we do about it? (Recorded May 7, 2021.)

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"I saw it with my own eyes' – but is that still good enough?  Mark and Joe explore deepfake technology and its many applications—some arguably positive, others unquestionably scary and problematic.  In a world where seeing is no longer believing, what does the truth look like, and how do we know what’s real? (Recorded April 23, 2021.)

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Climate change is forcing us to consider monumental changes to our way of life, including rethinking the wildly inefficient and unconscionably wasteful way we produce meat.  Which begs the question: are hamburgers toast?  Joe and Mark chew on the likelihood of conventional meat being replaced by a new generation of plant-based substitutes, lab-grown delicacies, and everything else that might reside in the future of meat. 

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Since 2004, more than 1,300 communities in the USA have lost a newspaper,  and when the daily paper is a thing of the past it will be replaced by ... what, exactly, and what might be the implications for our democracy?  Mark and Joe survey the landscape of “news deserts” and speculate about what might lie ahead.

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Joe and Mark consider the Congressional resolution that has progressive hearts aflutter, while conservatives are in a tizzy at the prospect of losing access to the hamburger-industrial complex.  Is the Green New Deal a slogan, legislation, or something in-between, and might it someday become the law of the land? (Recorded March 12, 2021.)

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Mark and Joe trace the history of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, from its genesis in the 1920s through the ratification wars of the 1970s, and try to guess whether recent efforts to get it across the finish line are likely to  succeed. (Recording date: February 26, 2021.)

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Why do some people lose their memories?  When you lose your memory, what is it that you’re losing?   Joe and Mark discuss the umbrella of neurocognitive disorders known familiarly as dementia, as well as the way memory works and why we forget.  Will you remember reading this blurb? ( (Recorded February 12, 2021.)