Critical Nonsense

How do you know if something's going to be good to eat by looking at it? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about grilling, cheesesteaks, coffee, the burden of knowledge, authenticity, and mangoes. They don’t talk about Drunken shrimp. 

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When is there too much branding? 

This week, Aaron, Jess, and Joey talk about Arctic Glacier, private equity, Bala Cynwyd, apps, Sonic pellets, and water ice. They don’t talk about Redd Foxx. 

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When is a review worthwhile? 

This week, Aaron and Joey talk about IGN, reviews as entertainment, trust and authority, tribunals, and RuPaul's Drag Race. They don’t talk NHL '98. 

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What is the best way for you to use the hours of the day? 

This week, Jess and Aaron talk about sleepiness, international travel, school start times, physical harmony, empathy, and small talk. They don’t talk about kākāpōs. 

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How are you using your relationships to discover yourself? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about the Johari Window, observation, employee reviews, dudes not knowing about dudes, blind spots, and centipedes. They don’t talk about Professor Joseph Harrington at Wharton. 

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What is the best use of writing? 

This week, Jess, Joey, and Aaron talk about organizing mental chaos, description, recall, process vs. idea, songwriters, and formal logic. 

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How do you identify with your instincts? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about storking, gut instincts, the Ship of Theseus, entity, background signal processing, and birds. They don’t talk about Uptown Girls. 

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What are you looking forward to during the new summer of Silliness? 

This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about Scary Movie 6, Street Fighter, existential dread, edge lords, Dave Chappelle, and 702. They don’t talk about NASCAR. 

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What happens when something you liked becomes Important? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about "Mr. Brightside", Nirvana, Adam Duritz, Owl City, and ennui. They don’t talk about Keisha Cole. 

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What happens if the Internet dies? 

This week, Joey, Jess, and Aaron talk about One Internet, Poob, attribution, destinations, AI Porn, and knowlege creation. They don’t talk about Fela Kuti. 

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When was the last time you felt destabilized in a safe environment? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about dad jokes, child entertainment strategies, comedy, silliness support, two-legged stools, and butt pats. They don’t talk about Sô Yamamura. 

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When is it okay to hate the player, not the game? 

This week, Jess and Aaron talk about The Traitors, Chevy Chase, Kobe Bryant, villainy, Timothée Chalamet, and Omarosa vs. New York. They don’t talk about the late, the great, The Diabolical Biz Markie. 

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How should we learn beyond school? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about framing work as learning, human observation, vocational training, osmotic learning, pen and paper, and the wheel. They don’t talk about Simple Machines Records. 

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What fictional characters should we be shipping today? 

This week, Aaron and Jess talk about soap, fan fiction, Back to the Future, ensemble shows, reading the book vs. seeing the movie, and reimagined universes. They don’t talk about Such Great Heights. 

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Who can I say "I love you" to? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about expressions of love, social and gender dynamics, rejection, promiscuous love giving, monoliths, and Bad Bunny. They don’t talk about the Pixies or Deee-Lite. 

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What's to come in 2026? 

This week, Wild Prognostications returns! Jess, Aaron, and Joey make their predictions for the new year, discussing privacy as luxury [3:28], the romance resurgence [4:28], Avengers Doomsday flopping [13:29], paper as a smart signal [16:35], bird pets [18:31], medical research breakthroughs [24:51], and an existential AI employment crisis [27:42]. They don't put respect on Birdman's name. 

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What you doing and what you sharing? 

This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about battle rap, knitting, crochet, LitRPG, world building, and not finishing. They don’t talk about Fraggle Rock. 

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When is the right time to actually? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about corrections, status, intent, virtue, asymmetric information, and confidence intervals. They don’t talk about Thomas Brodie-Sangster. 

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How far would you be willing to go to experiment with your health? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about peptides, biohacking, Silicon Valley libertarian culture, Bryan Johnson, exercise, and salt. They don’t talk about The Gelflings. 

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Why do we keep using short-form video? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about dopamine culture, friction, flow state, floating, smoking, and green juice. They don’t talk about cannolis. 

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How do you dress for success? 

This week, Aaron and Joey talk about fashion plates, professionalism, drag, archetyping, navigating differences, and respect. They don’t talk about Rufio. 

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This week, Aaron, Jess and Joey revisit their 2025 prognogs from Episode 296. They talk about the micro social media surge, cynicism, platform madness, informed styling, blockbusters, weaponized compliance, non-apocalyptic runaway AI moments, and our AI overlords. They don’t talk about eggprogs. 

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What does your Zero Farts Land future look like? 

This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about fucks. And farts. 

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How do you strategy? 

This week, Aaron and Joey talk about Elliott Kalan, the School of Let's Figure It Out, emotional distance from work, working in teams, meandering, and strategy that bleeds. They don’t talk about Jamesy P. 

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Why do we expect the worst? 

This week, Aaron and Jess talk about simple solutions, Karen moments, assuming malice, Thanos, Falkland's Law, and lemmings. They don’t talk about the famous former power forward for the Boston Celtics or the Hamburger Peddler's rhyming buddy. 

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How has technology made us less sure of ourselves? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about technological change, Christmas cards, scraping, phone numbers, friendships, and FaceTime. They don’t talk about beepers. 

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Is it better to generalize or to specialize? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about polymaths, running, functional fitness, idea people, curiosity, and Starship Troopers. They don’t talk about dilettantes. 

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Are there actually interesting life innovations that are coming out of the content creation boom? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about homemade pop tarts, learning letters, the power of song, TikTok, mastering movements, and apple dumplings. They don’t talk about Action Bronson. 

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How many other things do we have that we think of as imprecise but are actually pretty precise and agreed upon? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about box plots, New York neighborhood names, Australian colloquialisms, measurement language, baking, and square roots. They don’t talk about The Smiths. 

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What if we've become less willing to sacrifice our pawns to take the queen? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about Ezra Klein, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Obama, game theory, defaulting to passion, and nuclear weapons. They don’t talk about David Lightman. 

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What's in your notes? 

This week, Aaron and Jess talk about internet chalk, bottle lining, the Pantry Challenge, gold bars, word clothes, and golden milk. They don’t talk about Gold Bond powder. 

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How much do you think you can change your personality? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about life satisfaction, sad auras, nominative determinism, nature versus nurture, Martin Seligman, magical meat sacks. They don’t talk about marinade bags. 

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What are places where wisdom exists where it shouldn't? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about the Benner Cycle, feng shui, jelly shoes, BMW dashboards, the bullshit asymmetry principle, and Hitchens's razor. They don’t talk about Christopher Robin. 

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Why do we wave from trains and boats? 

This week, Aaron and Jess talk about kids, duck boats, kerchiefs, air travel, cruise ships, and roller coasters. They don’t talk about chucking the deuce. 

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How are you personally preparing mentally, psychologically for the increased engagement with AI? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about AI psychosis, Blake Lemoine, the Turing Test, cognative security, red teaming, and hats. They don’t (yet) talk about NonsenseLLM. 

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When is old good and when is old bad? 

This week, Jess, Aaron, and Joey talk about The Bible, first editions, berries, Final Destination, whiskey, and Rick Astley. They don’t talk about Flavor Flav. 

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How do you make sense? 

This week, Aaron, Jess, and Joey talk about intention, trust, assumption, context windows, synchronicity, and drinking. They don’t talk about Pal Joey. 

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Why do we do hard things? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about the Baddie Performance Index, Barkley Marathons, fun types, self flagellation, dessert stomachs, and natural childbirth. They don’t talk about Saquon. 

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Why is it so important to be cool? 

This week, Jess, Aaron, and Joey talk about Black culture, 21 Jump Street, social approval, bandwaggoning, alternative hierarchies, and Lauryn Hill. They don’t talk about Digable Planets. 

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How is it we've convinced ourselves sometimes that we like things that we don't really like? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about the big light, the beach, group vacations, going to the movies, nature bathing, and bad drinks. They don’t talk about Mr. Nice Guy. 

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