Tell Me Why I'm Wrong

Tell Me Why I'm Wrong

By Amos & SophieArts
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Tell Me Why I'm Wrong episodes

  • S2E3: National Pastimes
    1. Sophie on why American history is boring and "under-theorized." Amos tries to explain what's interesting about it, but still isn't sure what "under-theorized" means.
    2. Amos on why the "Golden Age" of television is over. Sophie agrees, but has a weird way of looking at the whole golden age thing.

      3. Links:

      • obama-terrorist-fist-jab-new-yorker-e1406629696600.jpg 1,068×1,068 pixels
      — Amos used to play in an adult competitive foursquare league. One of our casual rules was call "Terrorist Fist Jab." You had to punch at the ball instead of using an open hand.
    3. Trollhunters | Netflix Official Site
      4. — A great kids show by Guillermo Del Toro.
    4. The Get Down | Netflix Official Site
      5. — The best superhero show on Netflix, but also an amazing musical about hip-hop and growing up in the Bronx. Get a look at future superstar Justice Smith before he becomes a household name.
    5. Netflix
      6. — Sophie says this one is real good.
      1 hr 13 min
    6. S2E2: We Hate Science
      1. Amos vs. the Internet's "love" of "science", Neil deGrasse Tyson, and "glib science boosterism"
      2. Sophie vs. science as a hegemonic, totalizing force that is responsible for everything wrong with the world

        3. Links:

        • Reflections on Rationalia
        — Neil deGrasse Tyson keeps digging.
      3. Neil deGrasse Tyson Doubles Down On Rationalia | Popular Science
        4. 1 hr 8 min
      4. S2E1: Hobby Horses

        Sophie is very concerned because she doesn't have any hobbies and she wants some. Amos has the opposite problem. He has so many hobbies, but has trouble staying interested for something for the long-term. Can these two friends help each other out? Will Sophie find a passion for rug-hooking? Will Amos recover from the Typhus and devote himself to his studies?

        1 hr 14 min
      5. Season 1 Bonus: L'Esprit d'Escalier

        Bonus bonus: Amos here. I remembered the thing that I forgot. It was about Nazis. I was taking a "Transformational Leadership" class through his work a little while back. At the end of the day, the trainer gave a list of examples of transformation leaders, people who used expression of their values to lead people to do great things. It included some people you might expect, like MLK. It also included Erwin Rommel, the German general from WWII who fought Patton in North Africa. I raised my hand and pointed out that Rommel was, literally, a Nazi. The trainer acknowledged this, but said

        1. He didn't execute prisoners.
        2. He was involved in a plot against Hitler.

          3. I responded that you don't get points for going after Hitler in 1944, and that not committing war crimes seems like a pretty low bar for "transformational leadership." The whole thing was creepy.

          1 hr 15 min
        3. S1E6: Ways of (Not) Knowing Redux
          1. “Why Political Comparisons are (mostly) Bullshit”
            2. Sophie on Misuses of History (II)
          2. “Why Nate Silver is the Worst (not really, but everyone loves to give him a hard time)”
            3. Amos on Political Science and Straight-Line Modeling

            Links:

            • FiveThirtyEight | Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight uses statistical analysis — hard numbers — to tell compelling stories about politics, sports, science, economics and culture.
          3. The Upshot - The New York Times
          4. Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) | Twitter
            5. — This is the guy who talks about savviness.
          5. PressThink - PressThink, a project of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, is written by Jay Rosen.
            6. — And here's his site.
          6. Walter Benjamin - Wikipedia
          7. William Kristol - Wikipedia
            8. — This guy sucks so bad.
          8. Billy Crystal - Wikipedia
            9. — Not to be confused with this guy. Honestly, not my favorite either.
          9. Electoral Palatinate - Wikipedia
            10. — Okay, I guess it was a German thing.
          10. Palatine Hill - Wikipedia
            11. — But I'm pretty sure it comes from this Roman thing.
          11. Pod Save America — Overcast
            12. — Great new podcast from a bunch of guys who worked in the Obama administration.
          12. Amazon.com: Say Anything
            13. — I gave her my heart. She gave me a pen.
            1 hr 6 min
          13. S1E5: Self & Other

            Episode 3: "Self & Other"

            1. “Self?”

              2. Amos on what's awesome and troubling about Zen Buddhism. Bonus #StarWars content for maximum engagement and SEO optimization.

            2. “Other?”

              3. Sophie on why Democratic Socialism is a thing and not the thing that Bernie Sanders talks about.

              Links:

              • The Gateless Gate 無門關
              — This is the Mumonkan, the collection of koans that Amos read from.
            3. Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center: Michael Downing: 9781582432540: Amazon.com: Books
              4. — A fantastic oral history of sex and financial scandals in one corder of American Zen.
            4. Stories of Mr. Keuner: Bertolt Brecht, Martin Chalmers: 9780872863835: Amazon.com: Books
              5. — This is the one Sophie mentioned where the guy says "no" at the end.
            5. Rosa Luxemburg - Wikipedia
              6. 1 hr 22 min
            6. S1E4: Tech vs. Tech
              1. Sophie on why she hates technology
              2. Amos on why he loves technology

                3. Links:

                • The Distraction Addiction: Getting the Information You Need and the Communication You Want, Without Enraging Your Family, Annoying Your Colleagues, and Destroying Your Soul: Alex Soojung-Kim Pang: 9780316208260: Amazon.com: Books
              3. Episode 100 — The Anniversary Episode: iPhone and Exponent | Exponent
                4. — This is the podcast that talks about some of the disruptions facing society as the internet exerts its influence on more and more parts of the "real world".
              4. OmniFocus - task management for Mac, iPad, and iPhone - The Omni Group
                5. — Amos loves his Ominfocus.
                1 hr 7 min
              5. S1E3: Great War Double Feature
                1. “Why Is Wonder Woman in World War I?” Amos on the power and popularity of (mid-20th C) superheroes.
                2. “Why Isn’t Austria Part of Germany?” Sophie on 20th C Europe and wars and stuff.

                  3. Links:

                  • WONDER WOMAN - Official Trailer [HD] - YouTube
                  — Watch Wonder Woman jump out of a trench and imagine how angry it makes Sophie.
                3. The Secret History of Wonder Woman | Jill Lepore
                  4. — I mentioned a book about Wonder Woman, and Sophie mentioned this one.
                4. Amazon.com: Wonder Woman Unbound: The Curious History of the World's Most Famous Heroine (9781613749098): Tim Hanley: Books
                  5. — But I think this is the one I was thinking of.
                5. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay: Michael Chabon
                  6. — Everyone loves this book, I guess.
                6. Austria - Wikipedia
                  7. — "Austrialia is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands."
                7. Romance languages - Wikipedia
                  8. — I mean, seriously. Friulian?
                8. Charlemagne - Wikipedia
                  9. — Karolus Magnus, apparently.
                  1 hr 2 min
                9. S1E2: Epic!

                  Episode 2: “Epic!”

                  A. “Who Cares About Poems?”

                  Sophie on why nobody pays attention to poetry anymore, but really, maybe no one ever did.

                  B. “What is 'Ancient Greece,' and Why Is It Cool?”

                  Amos on all the different kinds of Ancient Greece and the difficulties of historical imagination.

                  Links:

                  • Donald Trump, the First President of Our Post-Literate Age - Bloomberg View
                  — But as information gets more social -- taking on the immediate, short-form characteristics of Facebook and Twitter -- it acquires more qualities of the oral world. And that lends itself particularly well to politicians who think and communicate like Donald Trump.
                10. Poetry and the age: Randall Jarrell: Amazon.com: Books
                  11. — "Perhaps the most comprehensive and certainly the most detailed of all studies of modern poetry."-- Delmore Schwartz, New York Times Book Review
                11. Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) | Twitter
                  12. —
                  Senior Editor, The New Republic 2. Work found here: http://www.newrepublic.com/authors/jeet-heer … 3. Twitter Essayist.
                12. HOMER'S SEA - WINE DARK? - NYTimes.com
                  13. — IN another of the digressions that often give spice to the pursuit of science, scholars find themselves wrestling with the concept of Homer's ''wine-dark sea.'' The expression appears dozens of times in those epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Yet the sea in question, the Aegean, is no less blue or blue-green than any other. What did Homer have in mind?
                13. Pre-Socratic philosophy - Wikipedia
                  14. 1 hr 1 min
                14. S1E1: Ways of (Not) Knowing

                  Episode 1: “Ways of (Not) Knowing”

                  1. “Why I’m Scared I might become an Anti-Vaxxer”

                    2. Amos on epistemology and the allure of knowledge-systems. Covers Stegasaurus burgers and the importance of social pressure.

                  2. “Why Most Historical Fiction is a Waste of Time”

                    3. Sophie on the uses and misuses of history (part 1). Includes a discussion of why Downton Abbey is the worst.

                    Links:

                    • Willard Van Orman Quine - Wikipedia
                    — See? I didn't make him up.
                  3. Downton Abbey, Season 1 on iTunes
                    4. — Buy the good one. The others are all crap.
                  4. Tipping the Velvet: Sara Waters: Amazon.com: Books
                    5. — A marvelously lush, erotic and bawdy first novel set int he glory days of seedy music halls; lesbian historical romance
                  5. Life After Life: A Novel - Kindle edition by Kate Atkinson. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
                    6. — More historical fiction.
                  6. A God in Ruins: A Novel - Kindle edition by Kate Atkinson. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
                    7. — One of the Best Books of 2015--TIME, NPR, Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Christian Science Monitor, The Seattle Times, The Kansas City Star, Kirkus, Bookpage, Hudson Booksellers, AARP
                    53 min

                  About Tell Me Why I'm Wrong

                  From the publisher's feed

                  Each episode, we do two segments, with one of us starting off with a confident but possibly erroneous take on a subject and the challenge to “Tell me why I’m wrong.” Then we switch. We learn, and…