What Do You Want to Talk About?

Stewart is amazing comic and an amazing human being, listen to how his curiosity is the source of his comedy, how he turns a thesis into an hour set!

We talk about the modern veneration of the self, and how its sold to us in self-help industry. Is there another way to see ourselves other than this atomistic self? What does it mean to have healthy boundaries. We reflect on a philosophy podcast and the book, Magnificent Rebels, a book on the invention of Self that happens in the quiet town of Jenna in Germany at the end of 18th century. What do you think about your-SELF?

Isiyama is a beast, to tell this complex story so well. Joy watched it and loved it. Have you watched it. Just an amazing work of artistry. But at the end what does such story do? Entertain? Yes. But does it change people's heart and mind? What power does a good story have?

Joy is moving to London, I am getting ready for a joke battle, and we talk about anime and what it brings as a legitimate form for telling complex stories. Japanese anime is not just Dragonball. They have used it to tell difficult stories. It is not just a cheaper way to do cool visuals. Even if today's CGI can replicate visuals of anime in a live version, it is still not the same effect. What exactly does the anime, or animation, offer as a story telling form? American media is finally catching up and seeing that animation is not just for kids and telling silly stories. So there is a move where before animated series become live versions (lot of Disney), now there is a move going the other way, telling life stories in animation form.

As we catch up we ruminate on friendship (& romantic relationships), why we choose some people to be friends, and what value we are seeking or giving? And then a little bit on Will Farrell's Mark Twain prize acceptance speech. Joy thought one part of it was cringy. Can any material work if you have the right delivery?

Joy and I read two poems by Han Kang, a Korean author, who just won the Nobel Prize. Reading the poem, we experience the inadequacies of any translation simply because the power of words is no simply in the definition, but his emotional relationship with other words in the language and the world of that language.

This episode Joy and I discuss Matt Rife's Crowd Work special, his fuck you to his critics, and whether the crowd-work script actually is more therapeutic than your very expensive therapy sessions. Join us!

Joy and I (Sam Lee), read through this poem that started the modern poetry movement and launched T.S. Eliot's career. Reading it, you find it funny and the character pitiful, but also the artistry is definitely praisworthy! If you don't like poems, this podcast might make you fall in love with it! Seriously!

A summer break, Joy & Sam get back to talk about why American are so full of themselves (Whiteman, the rhetoric of self as the epic story) & Reading Open City by Teju Cole. Such a fun conversation, join us & let us know what you think!

We review the movie (did you enjoy the movie?), but more than just review, how does the movie reflect our current understanding of self and what constitutes our identity. Join us!