Episodes

This week, I explore some strategies for noticing the completely normal, usually invisible part of your reality, and asking yourself, as Walt Whitman suggested: Does it insult your soul?

This week, I look at how the zeitgeist seems to be shifting just a little bit against our beloved tech-billionaire heroes, and suggest what the presidential campaign that I support could do to make me REALLY excited to vote for them. Mentioned this week: Citation Needed: Coinbase appears to have violated campaign finance laws Citation Needed: How the crypto industry is lining up behind Trump Forbes: Silicon Valley billionaires support Trump New York Times: Clarence Thomas took more undisclosed t...

This week I explore the conflict that seems to be at the core of so much tension in modern America: The relationship between equality and freedom. For the past 50 years, there has been a concerted effort --initially begun as an economic movement -- to place freedom above equality. Milton Friedman said that putting equality before freedom leads to a society with neither, while putting freedom before equality leads to a society with a high degree of both. That kind of thinking led to the neolib...

This episode delves into the concept of freedom in America, contrasting its philosophical underpinnings with modern consumerism, exemplified by Amazon's Prime Day. I criticize how consumerism is often mistaken for freedom and explore differing societal views on government and market power. I discuss the recent Microsoft Crowdswift outage, illustrating corporate irresponsibility and the lack of regulatory oversight. The episode also examines the balance between individual freedom and societal res...

This week, I re-visit David Foster Wallace's famous graduation speech, "This is Water," and try to dig a little bit deeper into the nature and composition of our "water," that is, the culture that we swim in without even noticing it. Beyond just recognizing that our culture isn't governed by natural laws, and is in reality a very human construction, I recommend that the best way to truly understand our particular "water" is to get out of it and dive into another culture's. Mentioned this week: S...

This week, find out what Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jeremy Clarkson, and Ratso Rizzo can teach us about the ungaslighting power of controlling the way we interpret our own realities. From how we define success and how drivers think about pedestrians (and vice versa), to our understanding of corporate hierarchies, taxes, and even the value of money, it's really all up to us how we decide to think about things. Mentioned this week: The New York Times : How Big Is Taylor Swift Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Shoul...

This week I look at how the U-shaped curve of happiness -- how our happiness tends to decline into middle age and then increase again into old age -- is partly explained by our inability to fully understand how our future selves will view our lives. We see our future selves through a sort-of tunnel vision that only considers how part of us will change, and we miss the complete picture. The same is true for how we imagine our connection to the past. Originalist thinkers make the same kind of mi...

This week, recount my personal experience during the eve of Y2K, purchasing our first home, and navigating through the American caste system as a new landlord. I look at the tax policies and systemic inequalities that favor property owners, using my journey to shed light on broader societal issues. Non-Sponsor: This week's episode is not sponsored by RealPage, a company under FBI investigation for its landlord price-fixing software. Remember to share this episode with anyone who might benefit f...

This week, I explore the power of asking 'Why?' to challenge assumptions, beliefs, and societal norms. Demanding explanations of why our politicians, thought leaders, and ourselves believe what we believe can lead to deeper understanding and meaningful change. Mentioned this week: This American Life: Come Retribution Popular Information: Publix Versus the Public Hannah Ritchie's Sustainability by Numbers

This week I try to rationalize my idiotic decision to not invest in Amazon's IPO by showing just how terrible we all are at making predictions, novices and professionals alike. But, more and more these days, lazy non-journalists are relying on clickbait-y predictions to attract more eyeballs and make more money (which last I checked were not the main jobs of journalists). So, basically, if your main source for what you think is news makes a lot of predictions, and poses a lot of questions, you ...

It's hard enough to move to another city when you're 12 years old. But when you're a die-hard Philly fan and you move to Boston, the trauma can last a lifetime. This week I look at how Us vs. Them thinking exists throughout our lives, in some innocuous ways and in some ways that have serious repercussions. The key is to remember that we all contain multitudes and that there's no single Us and no single Them that should keep us from finding common ground wherever possible. Believe it or not, I u...

In this episode of The Great Ungaslighting, I revisit the famous Stanford marshmallow test and its implications for delayed gratification and life success, delving into subsequent studies that revealed economic and cultural biases in the original findings. I explore the broader context of adult expectations versus children's natural behaviors, particularly in light of current societal upheavals like campus protests over the Israel-Palestine conflict. Along the way, I critique how society values ...

In this episode of 'The Great Ungaslighting', I'm reminded of a scary night from my college days in West Philly and I delve into how our perceptions of fear and our reactions to it can be surprisingly calm in the face of perceived imminent danger. This anecdote serves as a springboard to explore the broader theme of the situational dependence of our behaviors and emotions, challenging the notion of a singular, consistent personality. I critique the 'effective altruism' movement and its implicati...

This week's episode delves into the nostalgic world of the Johnson Smith catalog, a treasure trove of novelty items, to springboard into a broader discussion on the concept of mind control. However, the focus here is not on fringe or malicious forms of mental manipulation but on empowering practices for self-discipline and awareness. After touching on the impact of inequality on societal structures, including the controversial practices of Alden Global Capital, the episode transitions to explori...

This episode uses the metaphor of a lobster's color change when cooked to explore how human nature is often revealed through external pressures. We'll discuss how tragedies and disasters bring out the inherent compassion in people, challenging the complacency and inward focus of everyday life. Then we'll delve into societal issues like poverty, the housing crisis, and the concept of collective sacrifice and support for the betterment of all, emphasizing the importance of recognizing our interco...

This episode explores the effects on the ground (and in the air) of extreme inequality. It turns out, addressing extreme inequality can improve life satisfaction for everyone, even those currently at the top. And while we've been told over and over again that we're living in a society with historical levels of inequality, what does that actually mean and how does it impact our daily lives? This episode is NOT sponsored by Nestlé, which only adds sugar to its best-selling baby formula and cerea...

This week we look into how our individual actions, no matter how small, are interconnected and influence the larger societal ecosystem. We'll draw on inspiration from anthropologist Gregory Bateson's views on the mismatch between natural systems and human thinking to highlight the importance of understanding our place in the ecosystem. Using the examples of how credit card rewards programs redistribute wealth from the poor to the rich, and the significant impact of housing affordability on homel...

This week we'll explore how discovering other cultures can help us better understand our own, featuring an interview with Jonathan Blank, writer and director of the documentary "Sex, Drugs, and Bicycles". Mentioned this week: Paul Fussell on the Lost Art of Travel The Strange Design of American Toilets Study: Cycling and the Common Good Watch "Sex, Drugs, and Bicycles" HERE , HERE , or HERE

This week, we take a closer look at the normal, everyday world we live in, and realize that in some important ways it's anything but normal. We explore how important it is to put our normal, everyday world in context, to better understand how we got here, and to figure out how we might move forward for the better. Mentioned this week: Mick Stevens' New Yorker cartoon NPR: How Big Oil Misled the Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled Brookings: Rising Inequality: A Major Issue of Our T...

We're always scolded not to think that we're the center of the universe, but David Foster Wallace reminded us that we actually kinda are. Every experience we have unfolds with us at the center of it, but we get into trouble when we forget that EVERYONE ELSE is also at the center of their own universes. This week, we look at how improper perspective-taking can get us into trouble, and learn a few techniques to help us find a more balanced, inclusive perspective that's not only good for the res...

The most famous gaslighter's line is, "Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?" While you should NEVER believe a gaslighter, sometimes you shouldn't believe your own eyes, either. This week, we look at moments when you might not want to believe everything you see, or think. Mentioned this week: Watch the Marx Brothers' classic, Duck Soup on Vimeo Study showing Next Door use leads to inaccurate crime perception MIT study showing that false stories spread faster than true ones "The Rich Reall...

If you get something of value for free online, then odds are you're not the customer, you're the PRODUCT! You attention is harvested and sold off to the actual customers of that platform. This week, we look at the consequences of misunderstanding who or what we actually are. Mentioned in this week's episode: Subscribe to Cory Doctorow's excellent blog: Pluralistic.net More great stuff from Cory Doctorow HERE . Check out Oliver Burkeman's book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

This week, we explore why true contentment is so hard to attain, no matter how much stuff you have, and how once you recognize the most common source for your desires, it's much easier to figure out what's really important in your life. Mentioned this week: J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study René Girard & Mimetic Theory "The Deepest Breath" on Netflix Wanting by Luke Burgis

In this episode, we'll transform "kindness" from a noun to a verb, and unleash an army of kind-doers on the world. Plus, in just two short sentences, poet Danusha Laméris will transform the way you think about those tiny, kind interactions you have with your fellow humans all the time. Mentioned this week: "Offloading for Mrs. Schwartz" by George Saunders "Kindness Can Have Unexpectedly Positive Consequences," Scientific American The Pay-It-Forward Effect of Kindness Bookshop Santa Cruz