Digital Ownership and Deconstructing Magic

Do we own anything anymore? And when does dissecting culture ruin the magic? [18:44]

This week, Joey and Aaron talk about ebooks, High Fidelity, the access business model, "where magic resides," reruns, and nuggets. They don't talk about Nuggs.

references

• Audible's class action settlement.

• BBC: Microsoft eBooks books disappear.

• Vinyl sales growth.

• Radio Lab's Bit-Flip episode as you ponder the concept of impermanence.

• The Pixar Theory video that blew Aaron's mind and which he reviews as "Nerd Vanilla Chai."

• The last time we talked about Disney and magic.

Ghosting and Secret Menus

Why is ghosting a thing? And why are we so obsessed with secret menus? [18:18]

This week, Joey and special guests Steven and Nora talk about the three kinds of ghosting, 'the first few dates,' rejection, Starbucks orders and soda jerks, Panera's hidden menu flop, and Emma Chamberlain. They don't talk about their favorite secret menu items (they're secret, after all.)

references

• Calling all New Yorkers: check in at Steven Ebert's FourTop.

• Why Ghosting Hurts So Much, from Psychology Today.

• LemonadeMom's YouTube channel

• A take on Panera's 'hidden menu' in 2013

• Italy: one of the last standing places to rebuff Starbucks' grasp (Jess went into a Starbucks this weekend to ask what makes the latest Frapp (and its secret menu counterparts) "taste like tie-dye" and the barista responded "it tastes like a fruit, but I don't know what kind of fruit.")

• The Atlantic and The NY Times on Emma Chamberlain.

Keanu, Explosions, and Other Lightning Chats: A Special!

This week, a special episode!

Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk in lightning-round fashion about random events since the top of 2019: the Keanu Reeves renaissance, Billy Porter's style explosion, the black hole photo, the end of Game of Thrones (with no GoT spoilers, but serious Lost spoilers), paper straws, and Zion Williamson's exploding shoe. They don't talk about many other big things that happened in 2019 which are less fun but definitely important.

references

• Some of Billy Porter's looks, including the C.S. half-tux-half-dress outfit. And that camp-yet-regal Met Gala Sun God entrance.

• THE black hole image.

• The ITER Tokamak (a magnetic fusion device) energy collaboration between 35 nations.

• Seemingly every angle of Zion Williamson's shoe exploding (the clearest at :32)

Business Trends and Values in Sports

How do we deal with business trends like radical candor? And what values do we communicate through sports? [19:12]

This week, special guest Muj, Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk about "the chasing mentality," "psychological safety," a bunch of other jargon, cricket, Lebron vs. Jordan, and personal optimization. They don't talk about all of the business trends (so please send us some of your favorites!)

references

• Buzzfeed on Radical Candor.

• The "Tebow Rule," explained.

Pokémon-Brain and Stick Perfume

Why are we afraid of rewiring our brains? And why do we all smell like sticks? [15]

This week, special guest Hannah, Joey, and Jess talk about the first seasons of Chuck, Victor of Aveyron, neuroplasticity, the local train through Brooklyn, Hwyl, and Septimus Piesse's contributions to perfumery. They don't talk about the many other ways Piesse changed the perfume industry.

references

• The World Health Organization's 2019 guidelines on screen-time.

• The highest-grossing media franchises, courtesy of Wikipedia.

• The feral child of Aveyron.

• Jonathan Haidt on morals, purity, and the political spectrum.

• Listen to this orchestral performance based off Septimus Piesse's Odophone: a literal musical scale of smells.

• "A bundle of sticks:" Aesop's Hwyl.

Pride and Self-Promotion

How do we make Pride better? And what kind of self-promotion isn't gross? [22:49]

This week, Aaron and Joey talk about the Pink Dollar, "seeing rainbows," authenticity, The Wingman Phenomenon, the fear of the snakeoil salesman, and pop-up ads. They don't talk about how the title of this episode is the title of our yet unwritten, smash-hit mashup memoir: a composite of Joey and Aaron's personal stories and pop-cultured Jane Austen motifs.

references

• Carlos Maza (and Coleman Lowndes) present: Strikethrough

• Kantar + Hornet's estimate is closer to $917B in buying power. (A lot, but nowhere near the $3T we quoted.) More from Bloomberg on the matter.

• Pride: see related articles from the NY Times or "a history of" from Bustle

• Charity Navigator.

• Hacking the NYTimes Bestseller list.

• These Gallup results and FastCo's interpretation on what they show about self-promotion.

• Science on why we interpret self-promotion the way we do.

Self-Care and Sleep

Why are we bad at self-care? And why can't we sleep? [17:07]

This week, Joey and Aaron talk about self-diagnosis, golfing, mani-pedis, hyper-productivity, napping, optimal sleeping temperatures. They don't talk about the superlative punning of pursuing "the American Dream."

references

• The beginnings of Big Sleep

• Roger Ekrich and the myth of the 8-hour sleep

Creative Compassion and Petty Extremes

What is the relationship between compassion and creativity? And why are we so petty? [17:57]

This week, Aaron and Joey talk about perceptiveness, the Crisis Text Line, geniuses, "Wig Gate," "spreading," and rounding on Venmo. They don't talk about whether the types of people who round are the same as the people who turn off read receipts.

references

• The Crisis Text Line

• Time: "People Hate When You're Petty"

• Passive aggressive social media tips from MTV.

Hobbies and the Mid-Tier City Moment

Why do I have to turn my hobby into a hustle? And how can mid-tier cities seize their moment? [14:47]

This week, special guest Katie, Jess, and Joey talk about making cheese, intrinsic value, sock embroidery, late-night food, park culture, and "the Goldilocks Zone." They don't talk about how there is a great controversy over the birthplace of the pupusa.

references

A sample of Jess's sock embroidery.

Bon Appétit calling Richmond "America's Next Great Restaurant-Obsessed Town"

The pupusa.

Disney Magic and Personality Tests

Are we killing Disney's magic? And why do we take personality tests? [18:02]

This week, Aaron and Joey talk about Avengers End Game (no spoilers), The Pixar Theory, retro-futurism, MBTI, the Chinese Zodiac, and enneagrams. They don't talk about the beautiful world of grit size.

references

• Pixar Theory and A113.

• Aaron's reading/watching list all about Disney:

  • The Carousel of Progress

  • Spaceship Earth

  • Epcot's history

  • Disney's Progressland

  • GE on Progressland, cont.

• A whole host of personality tests courtesy of UPenn's Positive Psychology Center (find "Grit" under Engagement Surveys). Thanks, Marty.

• Adobe's long Creative Types test.

• Enneagrams vs Spirographs.

Nutrition and Multi-Level Marketing

Why are we so dumb when it comes to nutrition? And why are MLMs a thing? [20:22]

This week, a very hoarse Jess, special guest Steven, and Joey talk about whole milk, Big Sugar, Whole30Steaks, Rodan and Fields, hustle, and small business success rates. We don't talk about which is superior between plastic or glass food storage containers (but if you need a recommendation, we'd trust the research).

references

• A brief history of USDA food guides.

• Jess's 2019 Prognostication coming true: meet the Planetary Health Diet.

• Federal Trade Commission: MLMs by the numbers.

• Last Week Tonight on the $36B figure.

• Specifics for the Rodan and Fields figures.

• Both guesses were wrong: Antonio Banderas is a bee in a Nasonex campaign.

"Men" by Hollywood and Deep Work

About what men isn't Hollywood writing? And how do we design a more focused work environment? [23:50]

This week, Aaron and Joey talk about somebody they made up named "Noah Centino" who's perpetually in a hot tub, "YA (Young Adult) Cinema", "the Man Box," "the Slack-ening," "Slow Thinking," and "WFH because productivity." They don't talk (much) about how Alex Contell makes his show debut as Corrections Department Officer.

Speaking of, please send all Corrections Department corrections and/or Critical Nonsense love sonnets to criticalnonsense@sylvainlabs.com! We want to hear from you.

references

• Joey on the IBM thinkLeaders podcast

• A trailer for To All the Boys I've Loved Before: co-starring real actor, Noah Centineo.

• Check out Tigerbeat for yourself.

• That time Sylvain Labs made a documentary: Instafame.

• Cameron Dallas's YouTube channel and Donald Glover's This is America.

• The Spheres.

Professional Oversharing and Selling-Out

How much "I" is TMI at work? And what does it mean to sell-out in 2019?

This week, special guest Ilana and Joey talk about being tired, vulnerable leadership, embarrassing yourself, "sponcon," The Chopra-Jonas Wedding, and FitTea. They don't talk about how the best kind of Doritos is actually Roulette.

references

• UC Berkeley's experiment on how embarrassing yourself makes you seem more trustworthy.

• Jameela Jamil doesn't hold back on the "detox tea" situation.

Rewriting Words and Taking Offense

Why do we rewrite perfectly good words? And what is the power of offense? [18:50]

This week, "Captain of Efficiency" Aaron and Joey talk about idioms, Shakespeare, Backpfeifengesicht, monoculture, sh*t, and emotional vigilance. They don't talk about some of the rewritten words in this episode: sportsball, netherspaces, megaword, gajillion, and battlestargalactokaybai.

references

Froebel Gifts, or Fröbelgaben.

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.

Thanks 30 Rock for bringing us "mind grapes"

Irshad Manji: "It's Time to Teach Young People How to Stop Being So Offended"

Funny Women at Work and Eyebrows

Why can't women be funny at work? And what drives our latest beauty obsessions? [15:57]

This week, Joey, Jess, and special guest Katie talk about work playfulness, foraging, knee-slappers, Korean eyebrow masks, the beauty obsession pendulum, and Malala Yousafzai's perfect unibrow. They don't talk about the technical terms for 18th century "butt shelf" pads: "bums," "bumrolls," "rumps," or "culs."

references

HBR: "Making jokes during a presentation helps men but hurts women"

The VIA Signature Strengths Test

Yes, 'Rogaine for Eyelashes' brand Latisse in rare cases *has* turned eyelashes .

Vogue: "100 years of brows."

Tweezerman's lifetime guarantee of free sharpening.

Safe Travel and Our Hero Obsession

How do you travel when you only feel safe at home? And what is the appeal of a hero? [18:12]

This week, Aaron and Joey talk about feelings that conflict with safety facts, getting struck by lightning, Aaron's tips for venturing into uncharted territory, Zion Williamson, the hero's burden, and Han Solo (sort of). They don't talk about the great foremother of the "Cone of Possibility": the rather technical "Cone of Uncertainty".

references

Max Roser from Oxford on data vis around the world.

NYTimes on women traveling alone.

The delightful background on Jim Dolan and the Knicks Jess was talking about is from Reply All #137 Fool's Trade.

Emotional Contagion and Meeting Online

What is our responsibility with our emotion? And how are we dealing with the reality that nowadays, everyone meets online?[19:00]

This week, Jess, Joey, and special guest Steven talk about feelings as a virus, male emotion, choosing joy, serendipity engines, Joey's Meet Cute, and how the algorithm knows your type. They don't talk about the power ranking of modern dating apps.

references

NPR on the contagion of anger.

The Stretching Relationship Timeline and one of the associated Stanford source studies.

Plugs this week: The Link newsletter and that dating app, Ship.

Rulebreakers and Video Game Movies

What do the rules we break say about us? And why are video-game movie adaptations so bad? [21:00]

This week, Joey and Aaron talk about Montessori school, spam calls, rebellious doctors, The Witcher, Harry Potter, and maybe too much Milla Jovovich. They don't talk about the cringe-worthy nonsense that are this—and most of our other—post-credits cookies.

references

The Atlantic (not Quartz) on the teens and Google docs.

That video about moral injury.

Dying Influence and The Value of College

What will influence look like in 2020? And what’s so valuable about the institution of college? [20:28]

This week, Joey and special guest host Hawa talk about American Meme, status, "piercing the veil," the recent admissions scandal, German craft schools, and meritocracy. They don't talk about their SAT scores.

references

NYTimes: the college admissions cheating scandal.

Hasan Minhaj on college admissions.

"Trigger Warning with Killer Mike"

Neighbors and Becoming Old

How does one be a neighbor? And when are we old? [18:56]

This week, Joey and Aaron talk about segways, friendship, moving in, being old longer, feeling old younger, and Boston Dynamics' Spot. They don't talk about the sheer quantity of fence types we missed: electric, wrought iron, pool, chickenwire, garden, vinyl panel, the list goes on.

references

Vox on Housing and Adult Friendship.

See the headless dog robot for yourself.

NYTimes: being "The Elder" and the retreat for dealing with becoming old.