The Relentless Picnic

We're trying to get at the allure of permanent consequences, the moral underpinnings of hitchhiking, and the secret greenhouses of your text-based relationships. Whither goest thou, America? And can you get us there before bed, we have to be up early?

LINKS/SOURCES:

a relationship beset by far-left podcasts: https://twitter.com/yungneocon/status/877017208161009664 ;

"The End of the Open Road: The Inside Story of How Hitchhiking Died," by Molly Osberg (May '15): http://bit.ly/1E2bL9f ;

"The death of hitchhiking is a modern tragedy," by Anne Perkins (Sept. '16): http://bit.ly/2coPqSr ;

"An Informal History of Hitchhiking" by John. T. Schlebecker, The Historian 20:3 (May 1958), pp. 305-327. ;

CNN on the Michelle Carter trial: http://cnn.it/2umrpUe ;

Court documents, from the state: http://bit.ly/2vpiCxA ; and from the defense: http://bit.ly/2ts2biL

Chaos reigns! The Relentless Picnic emerges victorious after the heinous destruction of our National Caverns! Justly! Jurassic Park, )))Ace of Base(((, Future Trump Scandals, Groundhog Day, and yet more dredging at the limit of human intelligence.

Like the man said: We're chained to the earth like a silent slave; trying to break free out of death's dark cave. Bones in South Africa, hoarding in New York City, and finally, a dispatch from our friend Matt Tice as he takes heavy fire, and glimpses reinforcement, on the front line of life.

- "Geological and taphonomic context for the new hominin species Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa." (Sept. '15): https://elifesciences.org/articles/09561 ;

- Map of the Dinaledi cave, from the above: http://bit.ly/2rEtSHw ;

- "The Lonely Death of George Bell," by N.R. Kleinfield in the NYT (Oct. '15): http://nyti.ms/2rS04rU.

We want you to hear our rollicking satire of venture capitalists, which involves lots of loose talk about cat masturbation. Here's how to hear it:

1) Leave us a rating/review on iTunes. Be real with us. We can take it.

2) Screengrab that ish.

3) Either a) e-mail that screenshotted review to [email protected], or b) DM that screenshotted review to @stanleypicnic on Twitter.

Then, we'll send you either a direct download link or an mp3 attachment, featuring the sketch we lovingly refer to as "The Cat Jerker".

Thanks for picnicking relentlessly.

Our three-man justice team takes on red ball after red ball: our books, our selves, and our bookshelves; words in the wild; words on screens; mysteries & heresies. Plus—blah blah blah Robert Frost!

Can computers learn & are Redditors ever right? We do some psychologizing of the modern American cornered by the paranormal. Plus. Are you there, Dad? It's me, Science!

Thanks to the bold redditors who shared their stories: u/Parrot-Tamer, u/desk_jockey26, u/[deleted], u/brennnnz, u/TheThirdWheel, u/matics, u/khaustic, u/Squirly, u/[deleted], & u/americanslang59.

"Alien Knowledge: When Machines Justify Knowledge," by David Weinberger (Apr. '17): http://bit.ly/2oTH6Pv ;

2008 San Diego F/A-18 crash: http://bit.ly/2pKsnXu.

This week, we try and wrap our heads around money via several parables and case studies. We inquire after the history of the gold standard in America, the implications of certain prison economies, and the predicament of the penny. Plus—who'd Andie MacDowell marry, and what ended the marriage life?

SOURCES:

- MarriedWiki: http://bit.ly/2oJzOuB & http://bit.ly/2p2eZgv;

- "Gold and Economic Freedom" by Alan Greenspan (1966): http://bit.ly/1kBtoGq [don't visit this cursèd site];

- Wikipedia, "Sherman Silver Purchase of 1890": http://bit.ly/2pfYlbJ;

- William Jennings Bryan, "Cross of gold" speech (orig. delivered on Jul. 8th, 1896): http://bit.ly/2pxj7Xk;

- FDR's first Fireside Chat on the banking crisis (Mar. 12th, 1933): http://bit.ly/1fkSvtg;

- FDR's Executive Order 6102: http://bit.ly/2q2FJMl;

- "How Money and Banking Work On a Gold Standard," Philosophical Economics (Jul. '14): http://bit.ly/2q4yl6i;

- Nixon, "The Challenge of Peace," address to the nation (Aug. 15th, 1971): http://bit.ly/2p24Zny;

- "The Economic Organisation of a P.O.W. Camp," by R.A. Radford, in Price Theory and Its Applications (Nov. 1945): http://unc.live/2piYA7W;

- "Blockchain Gang," NPR's Planet Money on Mackerel (Feb. '17): http://n.pr/2l84l6V;

- "Tide is the new currency on the criminal underground, can be exchanged for meth," by Cory Doctorow (Mar. '12): http://bit.ly/2qcdBWE.

Getting' head during laser tag this week. The film Silence, state violence; great 90's dance pop, old-timey newsmen; planes and doctors, & incipient global war—plainly doctored. Plus: guess who's coming to Seder?

- "Capitalism Is Violence" (4/12/17), by Matt Bruenig in Jacobin: http://bit.ly/2opZVFY

Let's move past the gollys and gee-whizzes from nominee Neil Gorsuch with some newly obtained recordings. Plus: we take confused tween investigator Devin Nunes to task for his tricky tick-tock; & why members of a certain angry caucus aren't enjoying their House freedom.

- "Comey’s testimony humiliates Trump," by Jennifer Rubin (WaPo, 3/20): http://wapo.st/2mlmbVt ;

- "Devin Nunes Vanished the Night Before He Made Trump Surveillance Claims," by Tim Mak (Daily Beast, 3/24): http://thebea.st/2mAGnmx ;

- "Trump administration sought to enlist intelligence officials, key lawmakers to counter Russia stories," by Greg Miller & Adam Entous (WaPo, 2/24): http://wapo.st/2ljc66T ;

- "Of Lions and Bears, Judges and Legislators, and the Legacy of Justice Scalia," by Neil Gorsuch (Case Western Law Review, Apr. '16): http://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4658&context=caselrev

We sit down with Frank Luntz, a man on a mission to civilize. His newest book is called "The Lonely Win: Longing for Death in a Buyer's Market." Plus—why America should just surrender and accept the permanent financial aristocracy.

Op. Cit.

- "The Agony of Frank Luntz," by Molly Ball in The Atlantic (Jan. '14): http://theatln.tc/2nwAxys

- "Cheering Up Frank Luntz, and Ourselves," by Jim Geraghty in the National Review Online (Jan. '14): http://bit.ly/2mmAWDh.

Media

1. Interview, Real Time with Bill Maher, July 15th, 2016: https://youtu.be/2bbDJ28mL_U

2. Luntz on the release of Trump's 2005 tax filings, CBS, Mar. 15th, 2017: https://youtu.be/yyaBubVDlEE

3. "Has the 2016 campaign divided the nation?" CBS, Nov. 7th, 2016 (a day before the election): https://youtu.be/Q-Cx_b5lk6U

4. "Assault on Frank Luntz By DC Protesters," Fox & Friends, Jan. 22nd, 2017: https://youtu.be/eLX7RSYuB5U

5. "The country is unraveling!" CBS, Feb. 2nd, 2017: https://youtu.be/1umhg-aXvVA