Why does every town in America feel exactly the same? You pull off the highway and it’s the same Applebee’s, the same Walmart, the same McDonald’s, the same beige strip malls with the same parking lots. In this episode, Jason and Emily wonder out loud: is this what it was supposed to be? We talk about how copy-and-paste towns strip away character and community, what we miss about places that actually feel unique, and whether it’s possible to find (or build) something different in a world of sameness.

00:00 The Cracker of Cracker Barrel 

02:38 America has become copy & paste.

04:52 Cracker Barrel’s maple syrup problem. 

06:31 Modernism in America.

09:05 Capitalism?

11:02 Regulations can be really bad…

12:56 We’re too far gone. 

15:01 It’s not supposed to be this way. 

17:37 Emily’s theory. 

21:27 The future looks bleak. 

24:01 Emily knows whose fault it is. 

29:05 sigh…

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