Podcast/Audiobook/Talk Thread

I used to listen to Joe Rogan daily when I was younger. Though I've since lost touch in recent years. I should probably get back to checking him out more often again. I will say that his interview with Ben Shapiro is excellent. Gets you thinking.



Also, I can confirm a political university bias. Here in Canada I am currently taking a few political science courses. BOTH are taught by (admitted themselves) feminist female professors who are not impartially delivering information. One professor of mine (just today) was already referencing white privilege and Bill Nye level gender identity politics (cisgender). This is only the second class, keep in mind. Can't wait to see where this goes. Thankfully I have befriended some like-minded students who aren't buying the bullshit either. But there isn't enough of them.

There is also a clear bias in the presentation of information that slanders Trump and praises Trudeau. It is blatantly apparent, and quite aggravating to listen to. I was hoping for something more objectively informative, and less indoctrination. There is plenty beneficial to learn of course, but it requires a careful dissection and re-evaluation. I don't see Trump as some sort of perfect God-emperor either. But to constantly criticize one side and do nothing but praise the other is just wrong and misleading.

In terms of podcasts, I quite enjoy some of what Sargon of Akkad does. This debate in particular was very mentally stimulating. I highly recommend people check it out. It was quite civil too:

NerdBourbon talks about Masters of Doom - Stumbled upon this accidentally, but NerdBourbon is a book club youtube channel, and in this 20 minute episode two guys discuss their thoughts after reading Masters of Doom. They talk about the book more so than the game. But they muse a little bit about a Masters of Doom movie that was once talked about. They agree that they should cast Jesse Eisenberg as John Carmack and James Franco as John Romero ???

A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift (~20 min) - A persuasive essay audiobook in which Jonathan insists that a palpable solution to end world hunger is simply to feed poor people to other poor people. 18th Century trolling at its finest.

Waking Up /w Sam Harris - A Podcast series where Sam Harris, a Neuroscientist, has debates and discussions with other notable scientists and representatives regarding very difficult and advanced scientific questions, like evolution, the relationships between science and religion, astrophysics, and the future of our species as humans. It's not a particularly funny or entertaining podcast compared to other stuff posted here thus far, but I enjoy Sams ability to organize his thoughts and speak at length about difficult subjects and articulate them in a digestible way.

I have a lot of respect for Sam. I think you, among many people who use youtube regularly, are often exposed to certain kind of people which have something in common with each other that Sam does not.

Sam is essentially using his podcast as a free advertisement for his books. He's very well-educated and has a remarkable ability to cite statistics, passages from books he has read, and scientific models from memory. His primary source of income is from scientific research, and writing papers and books. People who use Youtube for the means of being an entertainer take popularity very seriously, and when they are on the radar of the general public, they will often do anything to keep themselves relevant. If this were the case for Sam, he could debate someone like gTime Johnny and it would be hilarious. I understand gTime Johnny has less than half the competence that someone like Sargon of Akkad might have, but its entirely Sam's prerogative not to subject himself to having a conversation with someone who could have malicious intentions.

Sam has a very meticulous debate style, and sometimes the debates he has can go far longer and be a massive waste of time (in both his and my opinion) if he cannot get the other person's cooperation. There are generally two ways to win an argument. The first is to have a solid foundation of well researched, accurate, relevant, and up-to-date information presented in an understandable way. The other is to intimidate the opponent by speaking loudly, quickly, and confidently, so that the other backs down, while being funny and/or emotionally driven as a means to win the support of the audience. Sam wants to have difficult conversations with people who are seeking a positive scientific outcome. He doesn't want to use his podcast as a platform to play mental chess with someone who may flip the chessboard, spilling the pieces all over the floor just to entertain the viewers. It's part of the mission of his podcast to demonstrate to his fans that he can be challenged on the basis of being best informed. Sam could pull the plug on his podcast today and he might only suffer a few losses from fewer new people being aware of his new books. But other than that, getting the attention of the general public is not his mission.

As a podcast host with much less significance and fame, I can still relate to his feelings. Even though it's common for youtubers to meet the demands of the public, you don't have to care about the public so much to do things that you feel are beneath you. I've had only had to deal with only a couple people who wanted to use WXR for their own personal gains. They tried to convince me that I don't care enough about my fans or the doom community or maximizing my viewership by rejecting their offer. I could tell they were entirely unclear about my intentions with WXR and that it wasn't worth spending an hour or two surviving an uncomfortable conversation with someone I have nothing of common or interest with.

Jon Stewart on Howard Stern - I never really enjoyed watching the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I guess I didn't like his impressions or perhaps the writing for the show was done by someone other than him. After listening to his radio appearance on Howard Stern, I realized he is an amazing storyteller. He talks about the allegations against Louis CK, a bit about factory farming, and his son's kidney failure. I really admire how well he articulates his thought process and his personal experience before making a statement about these serious topics. He's a really smart guy.

I love this. Owen Benjamin has been getting himself into a lot of heat picking on all political groups. He's a really smart guy though. This is a great talk.

I haven't read this yet, but I'm posting it to remind myself to listen to it a few times. Supposedly it tackles all the problems with finding your creative side, fighting off creative blocks, and goes into detail about what art really is. Should be a real killer for developing my mapping skills. I've heard it recommended a lot and I just now remembered to look it up, and here it is on youtube!