This week we are discussing Rian Johnson's 2012 film Looper, a time travel movie that (perhaps accurately) predicts a bleak future where class stratification and rampant criminality have flourished unchecked. Time travel has been invented and its primary use seems to be the elimination of hit men who are sent back in time to be murdered by their younger selves. We get into some of the problems with this premise while also praising aspects of the world building; while we didn't love the picture, we had a good time pointing out its flaws.

We open the episode by discussing the ongoing problems at Newark Liberty Airport before segueing into a discussion of Nathan Fielder's The Rehearsal, which Stu is willing to defend and which Michael is willing to attack. We also make reference to the New Jersey drones phenomenon...whatever happened with all that?

Chaos at Newark Airport (from NJ.com)

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This week we are talking about global supply chains and how they might be stretched, perhaps to the breaking point, if the Trump tariffs are allowed to take effect. We revisit the moment when many of us were first introduced to the idea of a supply chain, the early days of Covid-19, and look at how the current potential supply chain disaster differs. We also revisit another cherished memory from recent years, the EVER GIVEN incident, and discuss the ways economists love to use the human body as a metaphor for the flow of global commerce.

We open up the episode talking about Trump's menacing promise to reopen Alcatraz, as well as his seeming obsession with movies; and as a prelude to our main topic, we go into his already infamous "2 instead of 30 dolls" comments as the potential for empty shelves come Christmas time already looms.

Here are links to some of our sources for the episode:

Out of Stock: Supply Chain Crisis (on MAX)

Trump staffers panic buying (Rolling Stone)

Trump on potential dolls shortage (NY Times)

Waiting for the Supply Shock (Prospect)

Cumulative Inflation (BBC)

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This week we are discussing Ridley Scott's 1982 classic sci-fi noir Blade Runner. While we praise the visual depiction of a post-nuclear-war American city, we both found the plot somewhat difficult to hook into, so to speak. While the essential examination of the question of humanity, and what it would mean for an android to achieve a fully realized humanity, we both had some issues with the way the film attempted to raise this issue. Stu contrasts this with the novel on which the film is based, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, which we will be returning to for a full treatment sometime soon.

We open the episode going over the recent massive blackouts in Spain and Portugal; another omen of the impending end of the world? Perhaps!

This episode contains spoilers for Blade Runner.

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This week we are discussing psychics, specifically psychic medium John Edward of Crossing Over with John Edward. This program which ran from 2001 to 2004 purported to connect living people to their dead relatives by means of Edward's psychic mediumship. We go over a brief history of psychics from ancient times to the present before digging into Edward's methods and claims; does he really offer a genuine line of communication between the living and the dead, or is he merely a mediocre practitioner of cold reading who is taking advantage of grieving people in order to acquire wealth and fame? We also get into the century old antagonism between mediums and stage magicians.

We open the program by noting the recent passing of Pope Francis I by revisiting a tweet from an old friend, the legendary poster Louise Mensch.

Episodes of Crossing Over on Archive.org

John Edward's appearance on Larry King Live

John Oliver's takedown of psychics from 2019

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This week we are discussing two recent albums by mainstays of 2000s era indie rock that deal directly and obliquely with climate change, namely Mount Eerie's 2024 release Night Palace and Dirty Projectors/David Longstreth/s t a r g a z e's 2025 record Song of the Earth. We talk a bit about the history of both artists and why it might be that they are turning to considering the question of climate at this perilous moment in our world's history. We also get into topics like Romanticism and Modernism, the role of ambition and fame in undertaking a music career, and the question of didacticism in art.

The episode opens with a conversation about Bernie Sanders' recent rally in Los Angeles (at which Dirty Projectors performed) and what future progressive leadership in the United States might have as the second Trump era dawns.

Links to the music discussed in this episode can be found below:

Mount Eerie/the Microphones

the Glow pt. 2 by the Microphones

A Crow Looked at Me by Mount Eerie

the Microphones in 2020 by the Microphones

Night Palace by Mount Eerie

Dirty Projectors

Slaves' Graves & Ballads by Dirty Projectors

The Getty Address by Dirty Projectors

Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors

Song of the Earth by David Longstreth/Dirty Projectors/s t a r g a z e

New Yorker profile of David Longstreth

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This week we are looking at Train to Busan, a 2016 film directed by Yeon Sang-ho. It's a zombie apocalypse movie set on a train moving from the South Korean capital of Seoul to the southern city of Busan. We get into the film's historical overtones, as well as the family drama that plays out amid this unfolding horror show.

We open the episode with a discussion of the economic turmoil unleashed by the announcement of Donald Trump's tariff regime. Does the fact that the tariff rates seem to have been (possibly) calculated by a large language model bode well for our future or ill? It's hard to say!

This episode contains spoilers for Train to Busan.

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This week we're are discussing Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's recent book Abundance. This text offers a new vision of the future for the Democratic Party to center as it attempts to claw back power, ignoring for the most part the larger societal issues of wealth inequality in favor of focusing on regulatory changes that could be made to spearhead a new era of American growth and innovation. Suffice it to say, we have a few issues with the book's focus, while also finding within its pages some things to admire as well. We draw on reviews by Matt Bruenig and Malcolm Harris to support some of our own critiques, as well as invoking the sharp analysis brought by the Ones and Tooze Podcast.

We open the episode talking about what Michael has learned about a possible recession as he journeys across the country from Los Angeles to Brooklyn; what are the indicators that he is seeing? We also touch on the possibility of that most dreaded of all economic conditions maybe returning to menace us anew: STAGFLATION.

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We're talking about the rise and fall of Julius Caesar and the end of the Roman Republic this week, following up on our previous episode. We've got anecdotes about Caesar weeping before statues, his run in with pirates, his war against Vercingetorix in Gaul; all your favorite Caesar stories are here! Plus we also muse a bit on Caesar's death; why did he not take more precautions? Was it a case of suicide by senator? We get into the details, while also touching on the lives of his friends and rivals Pompey, Crassus, and Brutus along the way.

We open the episode by discussing the recent mistaken-group-text-invite story from The Atlantic about the Trump administration's plan for attacking the Houthis. Who among us hasn't mistakenly invited a reporter into a private Signal group?

We also go over Stu's recently published essay, "Cybernetics and the Evolution of Philosophy," which came out this week at Do Not Research.

Stu closes out the episode by reading some passages from his book Communicatingroups that relate directly to Caesar's assassination.

Here is Jeffrey Goldberg's story in The Atlantic about the mistaken group chat invite.

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