The ADK Homeroom

How woke is Dune?

Dune is a spectacular movie. Sophisticated but accessible aesthetics and delicious space opera exploits. We've had some recent surprises (Cruella!) with movies being anti-woke. Where does Dune fit on the woke spectrum?

Top 7 Dumbest Pop Culture Moments of the Week

Who makes the cut this week? Montrezl Harrell and Drake, Candace Owens, Tony Fauci, Li Yundi, and more! 

JG Allen: End school mask mandates by Jan 1

Harvard professor Joe Allen just published a piece in the Washington Post calling for school mask mandates to be lifted by January 1st at the latest. He's right, of course. Let's go through his argument and also check his sources for his claim that masks do work. 

Squid Game Costume Contest

In honor of Halloween, we're hosting the first podcast Squid Game Costume Contest. Let's see how Squid Game's fantastic costumes stack up against other iconic costumes from the history of Hollywood. The first ten minutes of this episode is a news round-up; jump to 10:20 mark for the Costume Contest.

Tyler Cowen and the rationalists need to man up

A banger of an episode. A friend asks me, "Why don't we see more intellectuals emphasize uncertainty in the face of a novel pandemic? Why aren't intellectuals questioning the costs of various mandates instead of only ever talking about the benefits?" That provoked me a bit. We need our intellectual class to be better! We need them to stand up and be aggressive, clear, and passionate in calling out pseudo-science and the pretenders in the ivory tower.

Chinese hypersonic weapon system test: what is it and how should we re-calibrate as a result?

The Financial Times broke the story of China's successful and stunning hypersonic weapons system test in August. What is a fractional orbital bombardment system, and how should we change our thinking in light of China's success?

Two poems by Updike: ”V.B. Nimble, V.B. Quick” and ”Cosmic Gall”

It's Friday and that means poetry! With everything that we've been hearing about "following the science," let's look at two science poems from John Updike. Both of these poems deserve greater recognition than they have been given, so give them a listen!

Top 10 Dumbest Pop Culture Moments of the Week ft. The Last Duel and Demi Lovato

I was pounding on the table for this one! I love pop culture, but it is a constant source of WTF moments. This week we focus on Demi Lovato defending the honor of aliens and the new Matt Damon & Adam Driver movie The Last Duel.

Liberty in the classroom Pt. 2

The second in our series giving you detailed walk-throughs on how to teach liberty in your classroom! This episode covers days 2 and 3. Come on down, let's play the Price is Right liberty-style!

Connecting Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the Stan Lee revolution

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show debuted in 1997 and quickly became the subject of academic studies. But not enough attention has been paid to how Buffy evolved from and grew beyond the Stan Lee revolution in the 20th century.