Andrew shares the story of Simon Coronel, who took won the FISM Grand Prix Close-up, the top-level international competition for magic. How does your journey affect your goal and how can you keep your eyes on that goal? What is your label and does your label meet your goal? Send your project questions/ideas to [email protected], subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Quinn’s Ideas Justin: Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar Brian: Great Night on TikTok and Modern Rogue on TikTok Bryce: StreamKit

The episode opens with the hosts joking through a grocery-store movie-night snack run, including pretzels, Sun Chips, Reese's cups, Doritos, bean dip, guacamole, and pre-popped popcorn. That setup turns into the main Weird News story: a Virginia woman found a snake in a bag of popcorn, which leads to a long back-and-forth about whether pre-popped popcorn is worth the risk and how startling a snake would be if it showed up in food. From the snake story, the conversation spirals into a series of hypotheticals about keeping a snake alive in exchange for free food, which restaurant would be worth that deal, and how comfortable anyone would be with a snake nearby, in a house, or even in a toilet. The episode then shifts to birds: Andrew explains why birds are rarer in parts of China because of historical pest-eradication efforts and ongoing eating of wild birds, and the hosts riff on bird-control lasers, absurd pest-control tech, and whether those tools could be extended to other animals. In the final section, Andrew recommends ADV China, a YouTube travel series about exploring China on motorcycles and showing rural areas, ghost cities, and unfiltered scenes outside official narratives. The episode also includes picks for Harley Quinn, Better Call Saul, Christopher Moore's Lamb, and a broader reflection on Westworld and the bicameral mind idea, with Andrew explaining how a rewatch made the show and the theory more compelling. Key topics Movie-night snack shopping: The hosts role-p

How do you get an opportunity in a time of high convenience and tech? To get started, who has to tell you yes? Send your project questions/ideas to [email protected], subject line “After Things.” Picks: Bryce: Real Sports, July 2022 – Sumo and Habits on iOS

The episode opens with the hosts returning to the Georgia Guidestones after news that the monument had been damaged by an explosion. They walk through the inscriptions one by one, treating the stones as controversial late-20th-century art and debating the meanings of its population, reproduction, language, governance, law, rights, and abstract moral guidelines. The back half shifts from joking about the stones and the explosion to a more serious discussion of how people interpret information, including the value of reading primary sources and the problem of willful misunderstanding online. That leads into a reflective conversation about criticism, baggage, and compassion, and then into the pick segment, where they recommend a novel, a TV show, and a pair of educational YouTube resources about puzzles and math. Key topics Georgia Guidestones controversy and inscriptions: The hosts discuss the Georgia Guidestones after noting that they had been damaged by an explosion. They read several inscriptions directly from the stones and debate their implications. Population control and overpopulation fears: They discuss the first inscription, 'maintain humanity under 500 million people,' and connect it to late-1960s/early-1970s overpopulation concerns and modern demographic worries. Guiding reproduction and diversity: The line about guiding reproduction wisely and improving fitness and diversity is treated as troubling in its wording, though the hosts try to steel-man it as a post-apoca

The episode opens with the hosts celebrating the end of the "weird wars" and then spending much of the first half discussing the first James Webb Space Telescope images. They talk about gravitational lensing in the SMACS 0723 deep field, the telescope's six-point diffraction spikes, the Southern Ring Nebula in near- and mid-infrared, the Carina Nebula, and Stephan's Quintet, including mention of a dual-star system, an active black hole, and many newly visible stars. The conversation then moves into broader space speculation, including NASA's release strategy, the telescope's expected longevity, the idea of simulated exploration versus physically traveling to other galaxies, and possible orbital solar-energy projects. After that, the episode covers a story about pocket gophers possibly practicing agriculture, a Bass Pro Shops class action over sock warranty changes, and ends with recommendations for The Old Man, Bad Sport: Need for Weed, and The Bob's Burgers Movie, followed by a short discussion of AI-generated Tesla-branded products. Key topics James Webb Space Telescope first images: The hosts discuss the first released JWST images, including SMACS 0723, the Southern Ring Nebula, the Carina Nebula, and Stephan's Quintet. They explain gravitational lensing, six-point diffraction spikes, and how infrared views reveal different structures. NASA release strategy and mission longevity: Brian comments on NASA's controlled rollout of the images and notes that the telescope was exp

Brian held his first class on being a creative and story-telling. How did it go? How much confidence does he have for it? What goals did he hit and what’s next? Send your project questions/ideas to [email protected], subject line “After Things.”

The episode opens with Andrew Mayne describing a YouTube creator, Mashpo, who made a one-dimensional game and then pushed the idea toward a 4D Minecraft project. The hosts unpack what it would mean to perceive a world as a thin strip or a slice, compare it to barcode-like visuals and anaglyph 3D, and discuss whether humans could adapt to higher-dimensional perception using new sensory cues and neuroplasticity. Andrew also ties the discussion to educational games and how such projects could help people, especially younger learners, build intuition for higher-dimensional thinking. The conversation then moves into AI image generation, especially DALL·E. Andrew says newer versions can generate convincing red-blue anaglyph 3D images and can respond to camera-lens and macro-photography language, while the group debates whether the system is just a toy or something more useful. They discuss prompting strategy, reporting outputs that miss expectations or show bias, and the value of tools that better understand user intent. The episode closes with a Starship update, including the booster on the mount, possible testing, the 33-engine system, and the idea that early Starship missions may be used to deploy Starlink satellites. Brian also plugs the Weird Things Patreon, and the hosts use the mid-episode AI discussion to reflect on how playful demonstrations can help the public understand AI. Andrew and Brian briefly mention the 1960 George Pal version of The Time Machine as a film Andrew

How do you keep track of reminders? Email, notes, whiteboards, what works for us? Send your project questions/ideas to [email protected], subject line “After Things.”

The episode opens with a recap of a friendly wager about when SpaceX Starship will be reused and safely land after a second launch. The hosts discuss Starship progress, the FAA's finding of no significant impact, remaining regulatory items, Elon Musk's July launch remark, and SpaceX's rapid production ambitions, including talk of building one Starship per day and using Starbase to build the fleet for Mars. A large portion of the episode is devoted to the Wow signal and broader SETI-style speculation. The hosts describe the signal as a strong, unresolved candidate for alien contact, discuss why repeatability is difficult in astronomy, and then widen the conversation to beacons, Dyson spheres, interstellar messaging, and the possibility of advanced civilizations communicating across the galaxy. The episode also covers Voyager 1 and 2 powering down after decades in space, with reflection on their extraordinary longevity and legacy. Key topics FAA approval and remaining Starship hurdles: The FAA's finding of no significant impact is treated as important but not the final step; the hosts note SpaceX still has many conditions to satisfy, including practical requirements and an indigenous history report. Starship production goals and Mars ambitions: The discussion emphasizes SpaceX's goal of producing Starship at industrial scale, including the claim of one per day, and frames that as tied to a genuine Mars-colonization plan. Beyond-the-decade tech optimism: Andrew and Brian specula

We’re back and we are imagining training artificial intelligence to create dynamic media that can be rewritten, recut, and A/B tested in realtime. What would a post-scarcity world look like post-tech-singularity? A future where real-time media modification could be automatic–that’s coming from a world where animatronics can do human-sized stunts on a theme park schedule. Send your project questions/ideas to [email protected], subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Coffeezilla on YouTube Justin: Dennis Miller Live Brian: Harvard’s Python courses Bryce: Airtable