Commentary on news, art, and ideas from a libertarian and rationalist perspective. Science, politics, education, sports, and culture from a teacher exiled from the classroom because of mask mandates. Plus quizzes!
Episodes
Wednesday Jan 05, 2022
Wednesday Jan 05, 2022
Let's take a look at the tangled web of morality in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Tuesday Jan 04, 2022
Tuesday Jan 04, 2022
A self-help episode! Many people, including MSNBC's Hayes Brown, are starting to doubt the CDC. Some might say: about time! But plenty of people are still struggling with their CDC trust issues. This episode is for them!
Monday Jan 03, 2022
Monday Jan 03, 2022
I traveled through four states over the holidays. New York's mask culture is the worst, but it is useful for highlighting the futility and harm of mask mandates.
Thursday Dec 09, 2021
Tuesday Dec 07, 2021
Tuesday Dec 07, 2021
Evergrande is a perfect example of the CCP walking the line between socialism and capitalism. This comes after China has for three decades been consistently more capitalist than the US. The US's slide into socialism and the CCP's embrace of capitalist economics coupled with authoritarian politics increases the chance we will see the Worst Black Swan.
Monday Dec 06, 2021
Monday Dec 06, 2021
Even the APS recently ran a misleading piece about fusion energy at the NIF. Let's learn about energy and see how two recent news pieces either get it wrong or mislead readers.
Wednesday Dec 01, 2021
Wednesday Dec 01, 2021
How do you put students first in a lesson plan? I use a lesson on Millay's "I being born a woman and distressed" sonnet to demonstrate one way.
Tuesday Nov 30, 2021
Tuesday Nov 30, 2021
Ghostbusters has a 95% audience score at Rotten Tomatoes. Does it deserve it? Heck yes it does! Let's look at what makes this such a fun film. Plus the news of the day including new Twitter CEO and a South African doctor on the Xi variant.
Monday Nov 29, 2021
Monday Nov 29, 2021
It's too early to know much for certain about the Xi* variant, but the politics are pretty clear. Also politics of NCAA football and more news from the Thanksgiving weekend.
*Omicron, if you want to use the CCP-approved term.
Tuesday Nov 23, 2021
Tuesday Nov 23, 2021
Audio quality warning: my kids were causing a ruckus.
Let's run down the news and all the poor word choices that people are making. Eddie Redmayne forgets what the word 'actor' means, Biden and Yellen forget what the word 'transitory' means, and more.
Also, I did make a mistake here. I said that Jimmy Carter tapped the strategic oil reserves. He didn’t! Although the construction on the Strategic Petroleum Reserves did start under Carter, he didn’t ever enact a drawdown. I blame the kids for distracting me. :)