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In all the thinking you’ve done about viruses lately, whether it be COVID or the flu or just the common cold, did you ever wonder whether they’re alive?  Mark has puzzled over that question for years, so he asked Joe about it.  Join them for an audio primer on what viruses do and whether they deserve their own branch on the tree of life. 

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Mark and his wife want to find a larger apartment in Seattle, but the rents are ridiculous.  Joe owns an apartment in New York only because of the legacy of dead in-laws.  Housing costs are sky-high in many places in the USA and show no signs of abating.  Joe and Mark explore why this is the case and what we can do about it.  (Recorded October 29, 2021.)

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 We’ve been told, seemingly forever, that driverless cars were just around the corner, but we never seem to turn that corner, leading one to wonder: is this really happening?  Mark and Joe cruise down the highway of autonomous driving technology, taking care not to crash into unidentified objects along the way. (Recorded October 15, 2021.)

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JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter novels, has been labeled a TERF — a "trans-exclusionary radical feminist" — by trans activists who object to her gender critical views.  Joe and Mark examine this dispute, the fissures that separate the trans and feminist communities, and why there ought not to be a cold war brewing between them.

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Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York is the latest in a long line of politicians to be sent packing due to sexual misconduct.  Joe suspects the Venn diagram of politicians and sexual harassers has a lot of overlap, and it has everything to do with power dynamics.  Mark runs Joe’s hypothesis for a test drive and concludes that it’s a bit more complicated than a simple thirst for power. (Recorded Sep. 17, 2021.)

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In the past decade or two, a seeming populist wave ushered in right-wing governments clear across the world. For some, at least, it was reminiscent of the rise of fascism in Italy, Germany and Spain prior to WWII.  Joe and Mark chew over what causes populist waves to form and what happens when populists take power.  (Recorded September 5, 2021.)

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What if the Derek Chauvin jury had done the same thing as the jury in the trial of the four L.A. cops accused of beating Rodney King - ignored both the law and the  video evidence and delivered a "not guilty" verdict?  Mark and Joe discuss the history of jury nullification, its use (and abuse) in English common law and American history, and whether it still has a place in our current legal system. (Recorded August 20, 2021.)

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With billionaires launching themselves into space and salivating at the prospect of mining asteroids for precious metals, we’ve come to an inflection point for what used to be called the space program.  Joe and Mark ponder whether future space exploration is likely to be the domain of governments, private interests, or some combination of the two. (Recorded Aug. 7, 2021.)

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With the fate of the arcane U.S. Senate filibuster likely to be the most important domestic political news story of President Biden’s first term, Mark and Joe trace its history, how it came to be the legislation-killing blunt instrument that it is today, and what we might do about that. (Recorded July 23, 2021.)