Third Space Podcast

In the introductory small talk section of this episode, Daniel and Bennett appropriately discuss small talk and its possible utility before quickly getting to the level 8 (!) Superpowers and Drawbacks promised in the last episode. Finally, we round off the podcast with a discussion on creativity. What is it, exactly? Can animals have it? What about machines? This leads us into discussing consciousness and AI and other similarly enjoyable rabbit holes.

This is a podcast filled with experience: Bennett's recent solo ski trip, a Christmas break where Bennett and Daniel both caught Covid, and a New Year where Bennett and Daniel got to hang out and play lots of VR games. We discuss the pros and cons of VR, the Oculus Quest 2 in particular, and some of the games on it, then we talk about whether catching Covid lived up to the hype, and we comment on how the world collectively responded.

It's been a few weeks since the last episode, during which time Daniel and Bennett both got a year older, and Bennett moved some 2000+ miles across the US. We kick things off by talking about these things, including B movies, midget wrestling, VR headsets, cowboy roadblocks, and more. Then Bennett tests Daniel's hip hop acuity by having him try to guess whether certain verses are from real rap songs or fake ones written by Bennett, AKA Lil' Bennett, reminiscent of Episode 8: Hereditary Poetry.

After some introductory minutiae about sleep and video game emulation, Daniel and Bennett discuss Bennett's impending cross-country move, his packing process, and how (un)stressful it is to him. Then, Mind Your Morals makes an appearance, this time involving a one-way wormhole and its potential uses as an alternative to current methods of capital punishment.

This episode kicks off with some musing on fear responses. What makes people startle easily? And can a person's susceptibility to jump scares depend on their class or even the surrounding technology? Then, Superpowers and Drawbacks returns with a delightfully-ranked set of level 2 choices, and we round the episode off by imagining what the world would be like if we had devices that could near-instantly replenish our sleepiness.

Are you ready for an adventure? YEAH! And Adventure in Etymology? Y-yeah! Adventures in Etymology returns with a few common idioms, then Daniel and Bennett discuss organization and efficiency for a bit before questioning the culture of tipping. Why do we tip, and should we continue to? An age-old debate sure to annoy waiters and waitresses everywhere (or maybe convince them).

This episode covers a wide range of topics, including Daniel's experimentation with a juice cleanse, another rendition of Bennett Fixes Sports with the timely subject of the Olympics, and a discussion about nostalgia, fantasy, and classic video games.

How much should those in a conversation consider their audience? Is it permissible to behave dis-harmoniously for audience benefit? How was Daniel's recent trip to Alaska? And, primarily: Bennett tries to present an argument against the claim that the world would be a better place with more empathy, and that instead sympathy is the better response to suffering.

After a four episode absence, Superpowers and Drawbacks returns to its level 1 roots with an enjoyably named set of options, and then Daniel and Bennett imagine a world where humanity has invented refrigerator-sized consumer teleportation devices. What would happen to shopping trends, vacationing, education, crime, and more with the restrictions of proximity broken?

In a beautiful springtime walkabout podcast, Bennett very cruelly grills Daniel in what is perhaps his weakest area, geography, in a long-awaited Daniel Does Science. Afterwards, we discuss whether it is ever useful for people to delude themselves, and if such a thing is even possible.

Up to this point, we've studiously avoided talking much about covid, but Daniel recently got a vaccine, which spurs much covid-related discussion on risk, reaction, and reflection. We also laugh at a weird guy playing strange music on a bow, and we introduce a new segment called Adventures in Etymology that starts off in the classiest way: poop words.

This or That makes its triumphant return, which spurs discussions about desserty delicacies, methods of death, and the offensiveness of drag. We also examine the "word gap," a proposed reason for differences in achievement of kids of different classes. Mixed in, there's some talk about entertainment, technology, the hero's journey, and more.

This episode is dominated by an intricate and outlandish Mind Your Morals involving genies and Christmas gifts. Is Daniel strong enough to resist the genie's temptations and threats? Are you? There's also some talk about minimalism and multivitamins, in case you're into that.

Why don't people return the shopping cart? Why are striped shirts usually horizontal? How important are eyebrows? Why are our pets fat? All of this and more is discussed in this episode, along with a level 6 (!) Superpowers and Drawbacks and a discussion on the anthropomorphization of pets.

In this episode, we cover a lot of ground, beginning with the educational system and its failings, as well as what a large-scale apprenticeship replacement might look like. The we introduce a new segment: This or That! It spawns multiple mini-topics. And lastly, we discuss the concept of intrinsic identity by basically psychoanalyzing Daniel.

This is a bizarre episode for reasons I explain at the start of the podcast, but at least it ended up releasable. We cover a range of topics from spam calls to wrinkle cream to horror movies and egg terrorism. Then we discuss a level 3 Superpowers and Drawbacks before diving into the topic of voting, not related to the 2020 election, but instead to how we might create a new voting system and what obstacles it would face.

Bennett creates a sport everyone -- literally everyone -- can enjoy in Bennett Fixes Sports, Daniel and Bennett discuss the benefits of skepticism, and then Bennett has an affair while Daniel defeats a Sith Lord (at least in an AI-generated story). We also have our most awkward ending yet, thanks to TECHNOLOGY.

Bennett experiments with a walkabout podcast while Daniel is chained to his desk, poetic remembrances of noble appliances are had, and we examine and complain about the ever-present, annoying world of advertising. 

Kids whacking things with baseball bats! Unattentive drivers wrecking Bennett's car! (Im)moral situations of zapping phones in Mind Your Morals! This onomatopoeic episode covers it all, along with some discussion on the effects of social media in general.

Whoa! Daniel and Bennett do a "live" podcast! Well, live in the sense that they're both sitting at the same table in person instead of talking virtually. Topics are many and varied, including eye contact, virtual communication vs. live interaction, retro gaming on the SNES, and a tried-and-true Superpowers and Drawbacks.