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Explore every episode of the podcast Critical Nonsense

Dive into the complete episode list for Critical Nonsense. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.

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1–50 of 100

TitlePub. DateDuration
297! Sick Responsibilities10 Feb 202500:38:45

What's the best way to get sick as an adult? 

This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about historically un-sick parents, hyper-individualistic cultures, COVID, community health, personal comfort vs. social responsibility, and rest. They don’t talk about Mudhoney. 

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296! Wild Prognostications 2025!05 Feb 202500:43:55

What's to come in 2025? 

This week, Wild Prognostications returns! Jess, Aaron, and Joey make their predictions for the new year, discussing micro-social media [3:30], platform madness [6:52], nihilistic design [13:10], weaponized compliance [18:32], graphic realism pivoting to novel gameplay [24:05], dressing up [30:38], blockbuster novels [33:15], and a runaway AI crisis [36:56]. They don’t talk about supervillain Daniel Dumile. 

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289! Mind Wine26 Nov 202400:42:08

What varietal of mind wine are your grapes lately? 

This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about pattern breaking, the restorative power of boredom, bird brains, pajama day, the productivity mindset, and seizing rest. They don’t talk about when Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. 

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288! Living Forever19 Nov 202400:39:05

Why are we so obsessed with trying to live forever? 

This week, special guest Chandler Saunders joins Jess and Joey to talk about adult superlatives, aging, the soul, compounding experience, afterlife FOMO, and aging reversal. They don’t talk about Irene Cara. 

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287! Concert Rage12 Nov 202400:27:02

What is it about certain settings that just piss us off? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about Maggie Rogers, live concerts, the unflustered mom, road rage, cycling, and liminality. They don’t talk about mosh pits. 

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Progress Report: The State of Youth08 Nov 202400:10:19

Bonus episode: A takeover! Kristy shares a recent edition from SYLVAIN’s Progress Report newsletter: The State of Youth: A New Paradigm for Growing Up, written by Chief Strategy Officer Chris Konya.

For more from SYLVAIN's Progress Report, see progressbysylvain.co.

286! Finding Financial Security04 Nov 202400:32:01

What's the best way to unlock a sense of financial security in all of us? 

This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about voting, the economy, financial insecurity, the post-scarcity world, unequal distribution, and intergenerational trauma. They don’t talk about A$AP Rocky. 

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285! Changing Our Minds28 Oct 202400:24:30

What happens when your mind changes? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about nuclear power, Three Mile Island, solar power, the Overton window, abortion, and tokamaks. They don’t talk about Eddie Kendricks. 

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284! Flat Power Distance21 Oct 202400:25:34

What do we do about power distance? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about organizational hierarchy, Geert Hofstede, authoratative leadership, omakase, decision-making, and Mr. Oizo. They don’t talk about Flat Stanley. 

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283! Medical Serendipity15 Oct 202400:19:35

How many things are we surrounded by that have use cases that we're not thinking about? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about Ozempic, Cialis, blockchain, invention, solar panels, and pessimism vs. optimism. They don’t talk about chainsaws. 

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282! Spontaneous Brilliance07 Oct 202400:30:21

How do you do spontaneous brilliance? 

This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about pressure, boredom and safety, theatre, peopling, jewelry making, and Quiplash. They don’t talk about combustion. 

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281! Bicycle Innovation03 Oct 202400:26:58

Can we learn about coming up with creative ideas from bikes today? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about bike infrastructure, dad wagons, folding bikes, stacked bikes, e-bikes, and mobility mixes. Oddly, they don’t talk about Bike Kill. 

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295! Hybrid Work 2.029 Jan 202500:40:02

How do we respond to the competing incentives of hybrid work? 

This week, we revisit our conversation from Critical Nonsense 290! Hybrid Work, this time with special guest and workplace design leader Amanda Stanaway of ERA-co. She joins Joey and Jess to talk about belonging, productivity, the corporate Kool-Aid, burnout, human connection, and hammocks. They don’t talk about hard-boiled eggs. 

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280! Phone Bans23 Sep 202400:34:52

How do we know if we're doing the right thing for potentially the wrong reasons? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about The Anxious Generation, social media, polio, experimentation, modes, rodents, and sesame paste. They don’t talk about Yusei Kikuchi. 

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279! Abstraction17 Sep 202400:28:18

What is your comfort level with abstraction? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about math, the transitive property, cookbooks, slang, strange attractors and chameleons. They don’t talk about cake math. 

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278! Jazzing10 Sep 202400:36:28

What can jazz teach us about making stuff together? 

This week, Aaron and Jess talk about mistakes, improvisation, leadership, asking questions, saltine crackers, and Tori Amos. They don’t talk about girls that eat pizza but never gain weight. 

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277! Innumeracy03 Sep 202400:29:21

How do we do math learning better? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about numeracy, literacy, discrete math, Carl Sagan, Cleopatra, and sushi. They don’t talk about Frank Ocean. 

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276! Fridgescaping26 Aug 202400:38:29

What does fridgescaping tell us about ourselves? 

This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about weirdly shaped foods, bookshelves, trad wives, gelatin molds, cluttercore, and gallery walls. They don’t talk about Jello Biafra's fridge. 

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275! Musical Turn Ons19 Aug 202400:45:27

What turns your ears on? 

This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about Detroit, groove, algorithms, Clyde Stubblefield, sampling, and flow states. They don’t talk about the late, great Biz Markie. 

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274! Science Tourism12 Aug 202400:35:06

How do we make more science tourism happen? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about scientific pilgrimage, CERN, the Large Hadron Collider, inspiring awe, Dolly the sheep, and particles. They don’t talk about the six flavors of quarks. 

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273! The Olympic Stroboscope06 Aug 202400:30:25

What can we learn about the state of entertainment when we look through the Olympics Stroboscope? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about the The Rottening, Summer Olympics, streaming platforms, culture wars, sports bodies, and shared viewership experiences. They don’t talk about artistic swimming. 

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272! Generational War29 Jul 202400:29:27

How does one engage in a generational war? 

This week, Joey and Aaron talk about Millenials, marketing demographics, being an afterthought, the policing of cool, Sambas, and othering to in yourself. They don’t talk about Billy Idol. Or Les Gilbert. 

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271! Feelings22 Jul 202400:24:42

How do we decide what feelings matter? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about Inside Out 2, compound emotions, cognitive development, sonder, motivations, and sandwiches. They don’t talk about Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. 

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294! Friend Breakups21 Jan 202500:29:20

Why would you break up with your best friend? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about para-romance, frenemies, communication styles, emotional proximity, work relationships, and boy and girl bands. They don’t talk about Whodini. 

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270! How We Argue15 Jul 202400:29:30

How should we be arguing? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about argument realms, Theranos, Steve Jobs, facts vs. feelings, and band names. They don’t talk about Monarch of a Great Kingdom. 

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269! Being a Champion11 Jul 202400:36:16

This week, Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk about the Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum, Nikola Jokić, celebrity, debates, and Caitlin Clark. They don’t talk about Simone Biles' 10,000 crystals. 

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268! Predicting the Future01 Jul 202400:21:28

How do we predict the future? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about polling, phone phobia, targeted advertising, e-mail compartmentalization, stacking ambiguity, and Airheads. They don’t talk about nomophobia. 

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Progress Report: Automating Our Instincts27 Jun 202400:08:21

This week, a takeover! Aaron shares his latest edition from SYLVAIN’s Progress Report newsletter: Automating Our Instincts: How AI Can Be Embraced Rather Than Feared By Creatives.

For more from SYLVAIN's Progress Report, see progressbysylvain.co.

267! Digital Poltergeists18 Jun 202400:33:15

How do y'all deal with your digital poltergeists? 

This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about search results, the endless repository of stuff, digital cleanup, emails, collateral distraction, and friendly ghosts. They don’t talk about warlocks. 

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266! Aging Well11 Jun 202400:34:08

How do we age right? 

This week, Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk about aching, supplements, cognitive decline, Tom Brady, LeBron James, and the future. They don’t talk about Alphaville. 

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265! Rules of Thumb05 Jun 202400:40:26

What types of folk knowledge or rules of thumb do you live by? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about cheating at science fairs, sleep, the rule of threes, tenets, the How I Met Your Mother pause, and concavity. They don’t talk about what Werner Herzog's thumb tastes like. 

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264! Art in the City28 May 202400:26:07

Why don't we have more public art? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about toy poodles, graffiti, sidewalk chalk, murals, face painting, and sandals. They don’t talk about ESPO. 

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263! Stinky Fish and Mayo24 May 202400:31:27

How does one deal with being an acquired taste? 

This week, Aaron and Joey talk about stinky fish, mole vs. mayonanaise, blue cheese, safe spaces, leadership, and sandwich lubricants. They don’t talk about surströmming. 

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262! The Bowl Generation16 May 202400:32:46

How are we using bowls? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about diversification of delivery methods, quick-serve restaurants, slushies, mush, ratios, and salads. They don’t talk about Prince. 

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[Reruns] 251! Rituals13 Jan 202500:40:03

Why do people love rituals so much?

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

Again, Jess, Aaron, and Joey talk about medicine, Lunar New Year, habits, disease, leg washing, and flossing. They don’t talk about Jane's Addiction. 

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261! Neighborliness09 May 202400:35:51

How has neighborliness changed in the past five years? 

This week, Aaron and Jess talk about lost dogs, trash pandas, the pandemic, masking, isolation, and marble runs. They don’t talk about the McFeelys or Cousin Mary Owl. 

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260! Tree Timebombs29 Apr 202400:40:43

Why should we be concerned wth generationally slow timebombs? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about trees, the Bradford pear, city planning, Barcelona, pilot programs, and the candy bowl theory. They don’t talk about Cameo. 

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259! The Trend-Mill23 Apr 202400:38:11

What does this "trend-mill" mean, what does it say about us as people, and how bad is it, really? 

This week, special guests Claire and Chloe join Jess and Joey to talk about the mob-wife aesthetic, accessibility, TikTok, blueberry milk nails, social networks vs. social media, and Trader Joe's totes. They don’t talk about why the combination of peanut butter and jelly is a gotdamn abomination. 

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258! Cringe Aversion18 Apr 202400:23:33

What happens if we're all deathly affraid of the cringe? 

This week, Jess, Joey, and Aaron talk about pain, yips, shame, fremdschämen, the Apple Vision Pro, and Michael Jordan. They don’t talk about Gracious K. 

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257! Sports Scandals08 Apr 202400:29:02

Why is cheating in some places treated differently than cheating in other places? 

This week, Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk about fairness, tribalism, insider trading, meritocracy, winning, and wallpaper. They don’t talk about Pete Shelley. 

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Progress Report: Awaiting the Eruption03 Apr 202400:18:19

This week, a takeover! Joey shares his latest edition from SYLVAIN’s Progress Report newsletter: Awaiting the Eruption: Innovation Strategies for a Post-ZIRP Era.

For more from SYLVAIN's Progress Report, see progressbysylvain.co.

256! Finding the Right Answer26 Mar 202400:26:02

Why are we always searching for the right answer?  

This week, Jess and Joey talk about gray spaces, equifinality, value judgments, hiring, multifinality, and quantum physics. They don’t talk about the Alignment Theory.  

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255! Crying18 Mar 202400:26:35

What are the rules about crying in public? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about benchmarking emotions, psychic tears, showing your belly, laughter yoga, pickled sadness, and ... farts. They don’t talk about Mary. 

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254! Dopamine Culture11 Mar 202400:32:06

How do we survive dopamine culture?

This week, Aaron, Joey and Jess talk about neurotransmitters, The Good Place, Sheryl Crowe, Wall-E, Type 2 fun, and the mortal sins. They don't talk about the important nuance of the many antihistamines for all you allergic people out there.

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253! Teaching Agency04 Mar 202400:27:54

What's our responsibility to teach agency for the next generation of workers? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about Scandinavian Swimmers, in-flight wifi, lawnmower parenting, consent, waffles and ice cream, and pipe cleaners. They don’t talk about ABBA. 

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[Reruns] 248! Correcting People06 Jan 202500:31:40

When is it okay to correct someone?

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

Again, Jess and Joey talk about Vander-ism, otaku, pedantry, language, Ryan-ing, and comments sections. Thankfully, they don’t talk about the Oxford comma. 

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252! Obscure Analogies26 Feb 202400:21:15

Is it better to be a nerd with your analogies and attempt to be right, or is it better just to be relatable? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about Mister Rogers and his (boring) neighborhood, The Big Bang Theory, nerds, the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon, linking things, and the Ig Noble Awards. They don’t talk about Lewis Skolnick or Gilbert Lowe. 

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251! Rituals13 Feb 202400:39:40

Why do people love rituals so much? 

This week, Jess, Aaron, and Joey talk about medicine, Lunar New Year, habits, disease, leg washing, and flossing. They don’t talk about Jane's Addiction. 

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250! Aquariums05 Feb 202400:29:18

What can we learn about reality from aquariums? 

This week, Jess, Joey, and Aaron talk about Barbie, virtual reality, augmented reality, Sphere, interactivity, and raccoons. They don’t talk about Phish. 

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249! Goodhart Overhang30 Jan 202400:36:33

When should we change the target? 

This week, Joey, Aaron, and Jess talk about SATs, grade inflation, games, goals, dating, and wine. They don’t talk about French Kiss. 

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