The Good and Basic Podcast: Better and More Complex

In which we build on our good grades/bad grades videos and talk about our respective educations, the high school where we met, and how to get a good education.  You can also check out our project videos at youtube.com/goodandbasic

JB is writing a paper for his law class--are courtrooms a more  appropriate technology for making laws than legislatures?  The answer is  often yes, albeit with some important exceptions.  We also invoke  Godel's theorem--not for the first time, not for the last time either.  You can also check out our project videos at youtube.com/goodandbasic

Smelting, textiles, grain milling, scythes--what do these all have in  common?  All of these projects help us understand appropriate  technology--roughly, technology that satisfies a wider spectrum of  values than economic "efficiency."  We also talk about why we can often  look to the past to find these technologies, the fact that they often  appear to be "low-tech," and some common characteristics of appropriate  technologies.  You can also check out our project videos at youtube.com/goodandbasic

 JF just defended his Master's thesis, and the topic was a doozy: Is  President Trump like an internet troll?  We explore this question while  trying to remain agnostic "political Martians" (Dan Carlin style).  No  matter what your opinion is on Trump, we think you'll find the  conversation thought-provoking and insightful.  We also update you on  current projects and talk a little bit about the thesis defense. 

We return to the podcast to explore the connection between three videos  we made: playing the Royal Game of Ur, visiting Rob's 3d printing lab,  and Chesterton's Fence.  Amazingly, there is a connection--all three  have to do with how to approach the problem of incomplete information.  You can also check out our project videos at youtube.com/goodandbasic.

This podcast is a companion to our Youtube channel, youtube.com/goodandbasic.   In this first episode we talk about the chemical process of smelting and  our six-year history trying to turn dirt into metal.  We also talk  about the lessons we think you can learn from smelting--primarily  gratitude and a sense of self-reliance.