141! Looking Back at Yourself and Neuroprints

How do you check in on your journey? And is the external presentation of our processing a photo negative of our neuroprint? [27:30]

This week, Aaron, Joey and Jess talk about the naiveté of youth, old journals, showing grace toward yourself, Artificial Intelligence, people as patterns, and neuroscience. They don’t talk about whether the late U.S. Army Brigadier General John Thompson had a sister or cousin or close friend named Tammy, and why in the wacky Critical Nonsense universe a gun might be named after her instead of him.

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140! Boundaries and the Creator Economy's Impact

Can we talk about boundaries? And what is the solo-creator economy doing to us? [27:42]

This week, Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk about the limits of the entrepreneurial mindset, yo-yo thinking, figuring out and articulating your needs, influencers, the mirage of individualism, and the myth of meritocracy. They don’t talk about the next great cicada influencer, Lil Brood X.

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139! Teenage Girl Power and Sharing Names

Why do we have such a tough time trusting the teenage girl's opinion? And why do we have to go to extremes around differentiating between people with the same name? [27:33]

This week, Cutie Corner returns! Special guests Nora "Not No-No" Mestrich and Ash "Jean" Casper join Jess "Jessie" Vander to talk about One Direction, the power of teenage girls and their feelings, shared commonality, nicknames, the SYLVAIN Katie/Cate Conundrum, and the flexibility of middle names. They don’t talk about *bleep*, *bleep* or mother*bleeping* *bleep*.

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138! The Politics of Hello and Changing Faces

What are the hidden politics of Hello? And what are the faces that we've lost in COVID? [24:24]

This week, Aaron, Joey and Jess talk about hollow statements, emotional synchronization, bro energy, putting on faces, responsibilities and expectations, and monogamy. They don’t talk about how pineapples come from shrubs, not trees.

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137! Competition and Life Lessons

What is the state of competition in our culture today? And what are some life lessons that everybody needs to know? [29:18]

This week, Joey, Jess, and Aaron talk about sports as allegory, the shifting restaurant review scale, Sha'carri Richardson, casual wedding attire, packing extra underwear, and pit stains. They don’t talk about Earthships.

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136! Falling for New Things and Our Communities

Why do people fall in love with new things in their 30s? And what communities are you a part of? [19:53]

This week, special guest Hannah Jegart, Joey, and Jess talk about Regina-George-ing on MacroBars, playing the recorder, syncing up having babies, the ritual head nod of community, fellowship, and getting invited to a stranger's seder table. They don’t talk about how sorry we are for breaking the uke-transition-tradition. doo-doo-doo-doooo... doo-doo-doo-doooooo... doot. There.

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135! The Fresh Blerds of Bel-Air and Perpetual Cringe

Who was Carlton Banks foolin'? And why does "cringe" never go away? [32:07]

This week, Aaron, Joey and Jess talk about sitcom pilots, the multitudes of Blackness, blerds, the cringe and shame parfait, lacking valuable perspective, and ... body chocolate? They don’t talk about Berhana and his clever, non-cringy ode to Janet Hubert.

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134! The Story of Us and Fringe Theory

How do we decide who gets to craft the story of us? And what is the weirdest fringe thing that you have personally encountered? [36:54]

This week, special guest Osei Kwakye joins Joey and Jess to talk about The 1619 Project, cultural literacy, the Cold War and civil rights, experimental archeology, meat glue, and the counter-fringe. Sadly, they don’t talk about Bronies.

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133! Organizational Purpose and Phsychedelic Healing

What might change if companies freaked out about their employees' transgressions against them before they went public? And why are we still missing the point with psychedelics? [34:49]

This week, special guest Meron Medhanie joins Joey and Jess to talk about internal activism and accountability, nap pods, organizational sensory systems, the therapeutic aspects of psychedelics, Western and pop culture perceptions of drugs, and recreation vs. treatment. They don’t talk about A$AP Rocky.

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132! The Power of D&D and Electronic Chill

How powerful is Dungeons & Dragons? And how are smooth jazz and chill electronica different? [33:25]

This week, Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk about the educational benefits of D&D, the changing status of "The Nerd," platforming Tolkien, low cognitive load, pleasant white noise, and anti-pop. They don’t talk about how Tears for Fears isn't yacht rock, smooth jazz, or electronic chill—they're just great.

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131! Simple Routines and A Fireworks Hailstorm

Hey, what about rituals? And when is it time to get rid of fireworks? [33:21]

This week, Joey and Jess talk about learning from mindless routines, Millennial Rumspringa and the exhaustion of novelty, the mental efficiency of habit, fireworks and gentrification, moderation vs. cancelling, and drones. They don’t talk about using pyrotechnics to ward off heathens.

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[Reruns] 111! Your Purpose and UFO Sightings

How does purpose lead us astray? And when is it okay to talk about aliens? [24:22]

This week, a rerun from the Nonsense Wellspring (archive)!

Again, Aaron and Joey and Jess talk about Disney Pixar's Soul, fridge magnets, the Princess Diaries Series of novels, the Drake Equation and other UFO/UAP talk, tranches, and the science behind wombats' cube-shaped poop. They don't talk about owls relate to any of this conversation.

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130! The State of Pride in 2021

What is the state of Pride in 2021?

This week, special guest Dylan Fowler joins Aaron and Jess to talk about the diversity of the queer experience, George Floyd, Harvey Milk, Carl Nassib of the Las Vegas Raiders, police participation, and more inclusive Pride flags. They don’t talk about how Dylan met Kacey Musgraves the other day.

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129! Power in Cute and The Kitsch Scale

When and how can cute and powerful co-exist? What is the scale of cute to kitsch, and who gets to decide when things become kitschy? [21:31]

Cutie Corner returns! This week, special guests Nora Mestrich and Ash Casper join Jess to talk about the paradoxical expectations of women's behavior, how cuteness humanizes people, Japanese mascot culture, kitsch vs. tacky, being eclectic, and the shift from minimalism to maximalism. They don’t talk about how cute the word "kitsch" is.

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128! Compassion Fatigue and the Attention Economy with Dr. Charles R. Chaffin

This week, our inaugural expert guest Dr. Charles R. Chaffin stops by to talk about his new book, Numb: How the Information Age Dulls Our Senses and How We Can Get Them Back.

Dr. Chaffin joins Joey to discuss the attention economy, compassion fatigue vs. empathy fatigue, finding empowerment to combat helplessness, the problem when tools become destinations, designing for addiction, Section 230, and authenticity. They don’t talk about Dr. Chaffin's microwave.

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127! Local Sourcing and Fill-In-The-Blank Summer

What is our responsibility as consumers and brands to source products locally and support local economies? And what's the theme of this summer? [33:30]

This week, special guest Fabian Castro joins Joey and Jess to talk about how volume and demand affect supporting local, being a responsible tourist/consumer, monocultures, Chet Hanks, pandemic-influenced summer expectations, and liminal spaces. They don’t talk about how to source local porpoise corpses (or how hard it is to say that five times fast).

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126! Magic vs. Tech in Media and Ghost Foods

Why are we gravitating toward magic against technology, and is magic winning the cultural conversation? And what's your worst possible ghost food? [30:55]

This week, Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk about the difference between fantasy and SciFi, magic as Big Tech's foil, the Waves of Pocahontas, WandaVision, silphium, ghost foods we currently live with (thanks again, allergies!), and the ultimate pear. They don’t talk about the legend that is Don Hertzfeldt.

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125! Healthy Conflict and Subtraction

How do we fight more? And how will we strike a balance between simplicity and complexity? [24:42]

This week, special guest Jenny Cavaioli joins Joey and Jess to talk about the positive outcomes of conflict, disagreeable givers, psychological safety, the powers of subtraction, Marie Kondo, and allergies. THEY DON'T TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB. (Well, they do a little bit, but please please please don't tell Tyler).

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124! Power, Pain, and Progress

How do we learn to relinquish our power?

This week, Aaron, Joey and Jess talk about racial inequity in corporations, Basecamp and Coinbase, the necessity of pain for progress, the wisdom of Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, power accumulation and perceptions of scarcity, and yachts. They don’t talk about Petunia's power over The Man.

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123! Emotional Granularity and Getting Cheugy With it

How much room is there for emotional granularity at work? And what is "cheugy"? [35:05]

This week, special guests Katie Sadow and Ilana Bondell join Joey to talk about the connection between specific language and feelings, physical responses to emotions, the benefits of emotional intelligence, the inherent cringe of social media, generational earnestness and youthful pushback, and the metabolism of jumping the shark. They don’t talk about Selena Gomez's feelings.

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