Pause for Parrots

The church of perch congregates for a conversation about the implications of recent research into covid-19 and mRNA vaccines. They try to break down the science and make a case for why vaccine hesitancy doesn't necessarily mean anti-vax and have a broader conversation about the increasingly limited access to relevant information, how government consensus building and financial interests both play a part in the rise of corporate censorship, and as always, try to look at what this specific story might tell us about the future.

The guys tackle some stories from the week, including an interesting development in the case of the thwarted kidnapping plot of Gretchen Whitmer, Johnson & Johnson's $26B deal to close cases on their involvement in the opiod epidemic, and some wild ass quotes from Joe Biden's recent town hall.

The guys shine a light on how we got to be the world's police and debate the pros and cons of isolationism vs interventionism in American foreign policy.

The guys dive into some stories from the week about whether or not Jeff Bezos is actually Cuban, an anti-police hate crime case in Utah, and how the Biden Administration is working with Facebook to censor anti-vaccine information from the platform. They also get into an update on how the right is rewriting the history of the insurrection and scientists are bringing us one step closer to an IRL Jurassic Park.

The guys try to come to an understanding of the unrest and protests unfolding in Cuba. They work through some of the history between the U.S. and Cuba, make their way to the current situation, and lay out some different lenses through which we can better understand the situation and the foreign policy implications.

The church is in session to talk about some really good stories from the week, including Hunter Biden's foray into art (or maybe just money laundering), how Bill Gates got agriculture wrong in India, an insane "citizen enforced" abortion law out of Texas, a terrible Ben Carson quote about welfare and slavery, and much more.

The guys take a deep dive into what happened when the #nofap movement met 4chan and got mixed with alt-right ideology. The church of perch discusses the intersection of politics and the anti-masturbation movement, the strange co-opting of nazi occultism in this belief system, and the very real issues our world faces with arousal addiction - whether it be pornography or doom-scrolling TikTok.

Happy sixth (or seventh?) of July. The guys celebrate America's independence by fighting about whether or not Toby Keith is good, then get into some stories from the week about a billionaire privately funding the National Guard, Lori Lightfoot's comments on gun violence in Chicago, and a conversation about the nihilism of Doomsday thinking, courtesy of the Birds Aren't Real movement.

The guys spend today's episode thoroughly dismantling a bad take Vox piece about the housing market. They break down the ways in which institutional investors have priced out everyday people from home ownership and the myriad ways Vox gets it completely wrong.

The guys discuss the schizophrenic nightmare that is internet conspiracies about John McAfee's death, take the pulse of Trump's America and figure out if there's any interest in a 2024 reunion tour, and try to find a small victory in Johnson & Johnson's settlement for their role in the Opioid Epidemic. Hint: It's a very very small victory.