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Sports are not only big business, they’re emotionally meaningful to millions of people throughout the world. But why? Aren’t there so many better and more important things to do with our lives? Mark asked baseball-loving Joe what it is we get from watching sports, individually and collectively. Joe and Mark cover all the bases before sliding home with the news that, done in moderation, watching can yield great gifts. (Recorded April 29, 2022.)

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The U.S. Senate’s recent unanimous passage of a resolution to make Daylight Saving Time permanent would save us the annoying chore of adjusting our clocks twice a year.  But is it the right thing to do?  Mark and Joe review the history of timekeeping in the United States and the relative merits of Daylight Saving Time and Standard Time, before deciding which they prefer.  Do not sleep on this episode of Mansplaining! (Recorded April 15, 2022.)

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 It’s a choice  a lot of us face every day: whether to give cash to a panhandler on the street or instead donate that money to a charity that serves the homeless and tries to get them off the street.  Mark asked Joe to decide which method is better, and Joe’s research into “paternalistic” versus “agentic” giving led to some soul-searching about his own charitable instincts. (Recorded April 1, 2022.)

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Let’s face it: some people are  never, ever going to take a COVID vaccine.  A member of Joe’s family is one such person, and he really wanted to know where that point of view came from, so he asked Mark for help.  Mark and Joe discuss the anti-vax position, the larger phenomenon of distrust that’s central to understanding it, and how we can work to navigate a seemingly unbridgeable ideological divide. (Recorded March 18, 2022.)

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If there were a list of intractable problems our country faces, homelessness would certainly be on it.  The solution proffered by many advocates – more affordable housing – seems simple enough, but there’s a reason why problems like homelessness are not easily remedied.  Joe and Mark talk about homelessness in America today, its many root causes, and why it requires solutions that go above and beyond simply building more housing. 

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There’s been a lot of chatter in the media lately – no doubt influenced by the publication of two recent books on the subject - about whether the United States is on the brink of a second civil war.  Having each read one of the aforementioned books, Mark and Joe discuss whether Civil War v2.0 is likely anytime soon and, if it were to happen, what such a conflagration might look like.  (Recorded February 18, 2022.)

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For the last few decades, Americans have taken it as gospel that crime has been falling, a belief that’s supported by reams of data.  But what if the data is being manipulated by police commanders so that it looks better than it really is?  Joe and Mark wade into the sea of crime statistics to see how they’re gathered and whether they’re trustworthy. (Recorded February 4, 2022.)

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U.S. diplomatic personnel stationed in Havana, Cuba first reported it more than five years ago: a piercing, high-pitched sound, often followed by headache, nausea, and vertigo.  Since then, such incidents have been reported all over the world, including in our nation’s capitol.  To date, the U.S. government has no good explanation for the strange phenomenon known as Havana Syndrome.  Mark and Joe examine this unsolved mystery and run through possible causes. (Recorded January 21, 2022.)

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You know those good deeds you do for others and others do for you?  What if somebody told you that every one of those acts is actually selfishness in disguise?  Well, that’s what some scholars think about altruism, and it rubs Mark the wrong way, so he asked Joe about it.  Join Joe and Mark as they examine whether altruism exists and the reasons why it need not be subject to a purity test. (Recorded January 7, 2022.)

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 It’s hard not to be  demoralized by the news these days, what with a worldwide pandemic still raging, climate devastation upon us, and a completely dysfunctional political system seemingly unable to address these issues or lift us out of our national doldrums.  But take heart; the news isn’t all bad.  Mark and Joe discuss some things that are going right in the world, and why a dose of wise optimism might be warranted. (Recorded December 17, 2021)