Explore every episode of the podcast Nonsense with cj little and Jeff Parker
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Code Red: Is the AI Gold Rush Heading for a Crash? | 23 Oct 2025 | 00:33:36 | |
(0:00) Open (1:35) The Race is On (3:26) What’s a Bubble? (11:34) The Scale of These AI Investment Numbers (18:03) The Circle of Investing (26:04) How Might This End? (27:28) Final Thoughts (30:13) cj’s recommendation: The AI Daily Brief: 5 Reasons AI is A Bubble (And 5 It's Not) (31:04) Jeff’s Recommendation: The Big Short The race for Generative AI is driving trillion-dollar valuations and creating instant fortunes, but is this truly a digital gold rush, or a massive speculative bubble? This episode the guys dissect the terrifyingly familiar warning signs, from companies with thin revenue streams commanding astronomical prices to a $1.2 trillion debt load funding an infrastructure build-out that's outpacing necessary market adoption - or is it? They try to make sense of the complex web of circular investing—where massive deals between giants like Nvidia, OpenAI, and Oracle look less like market growth and more like internal capital round-tripping to inflate perceived scale. The technology is revolutionary, there’s no doubt. But are the valuations a silicon mirage, backed by insufficient revenue projections and a Shiller P/E ratio not seen since the dot-com crash? Tune in as we ask the trillion-dollar question: When the euphoria ends and concrete results are demanded, will the financial history books record a boom or a spectacular bust?
OpenAI, Nvidia Fuel $1 Trillion AI Market With Web of Circular Deals JPMorgan Says $1.2 Trillion Debt Tied to AI Tops Bank High Grade - Bloomberg Is Silicon Valley repeating dot-com bubble mistakes with AI frenzy? - Los Angeles Times Is AI fueling a stock market bubble? We debate it. 🧠 How Nvidia and OpenAI Fuel the $5 Trillion AI Money Machine The AI Economy Keeps Doing Deals With Itself The AI bubble and the US economy – Michael Roberts Blog 🫧 Is AI a bubble? - by Azeem Azhar and Nathan Warren 5 Reasons AI is A Bubble (And 5 It's Not) | |||
| HEADLINES: You Are Free to Cough, Flight Hazards @ 36k Feet, Username SaaS & Your Phone’s New Sleep Mode | 21 Oct 2025 | 00:31:24 | |
(0:00) Pre-Show (0:41) Open (1:26) Back to the Future Day (2:25) cj's week: Little Meats! (4:45) Jeff's Week: Dodgers! (6:19) Headline: The Freedom to Cough on People: Idaho Makes Vaccine Requirements Illegal (21:48) Headline: Mystery Object Strikes United Flight Over Utah (23:46) Headline: X's Handle Hostage: Pay Up for Your Username (26:49) Headline: IKEA Says: If Your Phone Sleeps, Maybe You Will Too! (28:57) The Pulsar Time Computer This time on Nonsense, we’re taking a cross-country flight straight through America’s weirdest headlines. First stop: Idaho, where “medical freedom” now means you can’t even quarantine an unvaccinated kid during a measles outbreak. It’s the state where bodily autonomy trumps public health, and homeopathy apparently trumps immunology. Then—mid-flight—something smashes into a United 737 at 36,000 feet. Was it space junk? A rogue weather balloon? Or just Shohei Ohtani hitting another one into orbit? Back on Earth, X (formerly Twitter, formerly tolerable) launches a new scheme to sell usernames for up to seven figures—because now your identity is a subscription service. And finally, IKEA wants your phone to take a nap. Literally. Their new “Phone Sleep Collection” gives your device its own bed, proving once and for all that even our electronics are better rested than we are. Come for the satire, stay for the science—and maybe pick up a tiny, “some assembly required” comforter for your iPhone. Idaho Banned Vaccine Mandates. Activists Want to Make It a Model for the Country. Something from “space” may have just struck a United Airlines flight over Utah - Ars Technica X is launching a marketplace for inactive handles | The Verge IKEA just launched tiny beds for smartphones | Famous Campaigns Rolex: The Complete History and Strategy | |||
| Pastrami on Toasted Rye with a Side of Fraud, the 100 Million Dollar Deli | 04 Sep 2025 | 00:34:53 | |
(0:00) Open (2:08) The $100M Hometown Deli (10:33) OTC Markets Group (14:20) A Reverse Merger (16:59) Price It Your Way. (19:01) The SPACs (27:13) In Conclusion: Behind the Bars (31:12) cj’s recommendation: Jim Downey on Conan O’Brien (32:32) Jeff’s Recommendation: The Wolf of Wall Street
This baffling discrepancy, initially exposed by a hedge fund billionaire as a prime example of financial "quasi-anarchy," had sent reporters and regulators on a wild chase for answers. The deli's president was the town’s beloved high school wrestling coach, who had inexplicably teamed up with a shadowy network of investors in Macau and a motley crew with a history of legal troubles. As the story unraveled, it revealed a tangled web of empty shell companies and fraud accusations. The deli raised a chilling question: was this a complex money-laundering front, or a new kind of meme stock whose value simply defied all reason? The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again (Shepperton Studios / 1978) HWIN stock: $100M NJ deli company delisted for disclosure irregularities Volkswagen: The scandal explained - BBC News Hometown International - Wikiwand The Mystery of the $113 Million Deli - The New York Times Special-purpose acquisition company - Wikiwand "Jim Downey" on Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend | Team Coco The Wolf of Wall Street Official Trailer | |||
| The Pause That Refreshes | 05 Jan 2024 | 00:45:12 | |
Welcome back dear listener, we hope you enjoyed your time off during the holiday break. We are extremely excited to bring you the first episode of Nonsense Season Two: The (Slightly) Better Season! We want to start the year out with something fun, so in this episode, we dive into what can happen when you take an (arguably) perfect thing, convince yourself it’s not perfect, and try to make it “better”. But while the “better product” was considered worse by pretty much everyone, it did ultimately (and accidentally!) remind everyone just how perfect the OG product was. It’s a fantastic story that you will certainly remember if you are a Boomer or Gen Xer. This year started with a couple of headlines that we just had to slip in: the unbanning of the Apple watch ban, our dear friend Mickey Mouse entering the public domain (finally!), and in between upgrading his cables, Jeff discovers how flyovers at sporting events work. 2024 is off to a great start! Give Season Two a listen and let us know what you think! Celebrity Jeopardy!: Robin Williams, Catherine Zeta-Jones & Sean Connery Celebrity Jeopardy! Kathie Lee, Tom Hanks, Sean Connery, Burt Reynolds Celebrity Jeopardy!: French Stewart, Burt Reynolds, & Sean Connery Celebrity Jeopardy!: Bill Cosby, Sharon Osbourne, Sean Connery Celebrity Jeopardy!: Hilary Swank, Keanu Reeves, Sean Connery Celebrity Jeopardy!: Sean Connery, Burt Reynolds, Jerry Lewis Celebrity Jeopardy: Sean Connery, Anne Heche, Chris Tucker Incredible shots of the awesome @Whiteman_AFB B-2 Spirit (93-1086) Rose Bowl flyover - Scott Lowe Aerial video of a B-2 Stealth Bomber flying over the 2024 Rose Bowl Game Apple Watch ban: everything you need to know - The Verge Mickey Mouse has left the house: Steamboat Willie enters the public domain 1928 Mickey Mouse AI Generator 'Steamboat Willie' Horror Film Set After Mickey Mouse Copyright Ends Infestation: Origins - Official Reveal Trailer Mouse - Official Early Gameplay Trailer Welcome to the public domain, Mickey Mouse - The Verge Public Domain Day 2024 | Duke University School of Law Gaming Like It's 1928 - itch.io Pclanglais/Mickey-1928-dataset · Datasets at Hugging Face 1985 - Billboard Top 100 Songs - playlist by Sam Hudachek | Spotify For God, Country, and Coca-Cola - Books Why Coca-Cola's 'New Coke' Flopped | HISTORY Did Coca-Cola Ever Contain Cocaine? | Snopes.com Fact check: Cocaine in Coke? Soda once contained drug but likely much less than post claims Coca-Cola Max Headroom | Max Headroom Coke commercials
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| Ever Had Extra Virgin Olive Oil? Odds Are High You Haven’t. | 21 Dec 2023 | 00:45:19 | |
This is it folks, the last episode of 2023; and we have bad news for you listener, you may likely have never had the pleasure of tasting real extra virgin olive oil. Surely you’re asking yourself “how can this be possible?” Over the past 40ish years, olive oil has become known by another name: liquid gold. It’s so popular and good for us that everyone from father-and-son grifters to the mafia is dressing up anything from seed oil to lamp oil (!!) and selling it as extra virgin olive oil. Some people will give you a list of what to look for, which unfortunately doesn’t really ensure you’re getting the good stuff. As it turns out, the only way you can truly ensure you are getting real, legit olive oil is to look for a certain stamp of approval, one that might surprise you. But before that: yet another Tesla story (a small one, we promise), Epic wins their Google App Store fight, push notifications get a little bit safer, more lawyers use AI poorly, and VW returns to buttons - how it should be. Tesla knew some of its parts had high failure rates but reportedly blamed drivers anyway Epic wins! Jury decides Google has illegal monopoly in app store fight Apple will no longer give police users’ push notification data without a warrant Michael Cohen’s lawyer cited three fake cases in possible AI-fueled screwup Volkswagen is returning to physical buttons instead of touch controls Emerging trends in olive oil fraud and possible countermeasures Is your olive oil legal? Theft and fraud rampant across the Mediterranean How To Shop And Eat Better In The Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Crisis Police in Europe Break Up Network Selling Illegal Horse Meat 68,000 Gallons of ‘Unfit’ Olive Oil Seized by Italy and Spain Food fight over olive oil sparks larger debate about the California brand Leo | Official Trailer | Netflix Send us a voice message! | |||
| The Nerds Who Owned All the Music | 15 Dec 2023 | 00:45:39 | |
Welcome to the infirmary episode folks: Jeff is still recovering from his recent triple-threat vaccination and cj is recovering from the ‘rona. But considering we shorted you an episode last month, we knew we couldn’t get away without releasing something. We have got a fantastic segment in this episode about two nerds who successfully recorded every melody of every possible pop song, ever! That’s 69 billion-with-a-bee melodies! Why these two did it, and what they did with the tracks, will likely surprise you. It’s a fantastic story that we are excited to share with you! But before we get to that, we’ll have to tell you about some (more) Tesla drama this week. As it turns out, we aren’t the only ones who think Tesla's Autopilot isn’t meeting the marketing expectations they set. Tesla recalls nearly all vehicles sold in U.S. to fix system linked to Autopilot Tesla's response to the DMV's false-advertising allegations: What took so long? Tesla raises price of feature it calls ‘full self-driving’ to $15,000 Matthew Perry’s Cause of Death Revealed as ‘Acute Effects of Ketamine’ Every Possible Melody Has Been Copyrighted, Stored On A Single Hard Drive - Hypebot The Hard Drive With 68 Billion Melodies 38 million tracks on music streaming services were played ZERO times in 2022 "Scrambled Eggs" ft. Paul McCartney Paul McCartney's Scrambled Eggs which Evolved Into One of the Most Recorded Songs of All Time Katy Perry wins in Dark Horse copyright appeal Ed Sheeran beats second ‘Let’s Get It On’ copyright lawsuit Copyrighting all the melodies to avoid accidental infringement | Damien Riehl | TEDxMinneapolis Ghostbusters (song) - Wikiwand Spotify Playlist: Same, Same, but Different? Send us a voice message! | |||
| Growing the Perfect Diamond | 07 Dec 2023 | 00:45:07 | |
As all our listeners know, technology makes all things better, and as it turns out, diamonds are no exception. Modern diamond-growing technology has made diamonds SO GOOD, that you need a machine to tell them apart from diamonds dug out of the dirt. The way said machine detects a classic “dirt diamond” is by looking for the impurities that are not present in lab-grown diamonds. You may want to read that again; the diamonds that we’ve been harvesting with slave labor for centuries are a WORSE product than what we can produce in the lab, for less cost, and without slave labor. In this episode, we’ll scratch the surface (get it?!) of the world of diamonds. But first, we’ve got a new AI from Google (and it’s really good!), something about Goldilocks, how silk is made (spoiler alert: it’s terrible), OpenAI & Keurig. So much to discuss, and such little time every episode!
Norman Lear, Whose Comedies Changed the Face of TV, Is Dead at 101 - The New York Times Google launches Gemini, the AI model it hopes will take down GPT-4 Puss in Boots 2: The Last Wish Movie Clip - Goldilocks & Bears Search For Puss in Boots (2022) Family Guy Goldilocks and the 3 bears How Is Silk Made? The Ethical Dilemma of Its Origins | Discover Magazine There’s a new iMessage for Android app — and it actually works New report illuminates why OpenAI board said Altman “was not consistently candid” Due to AI, “We are about to enter the era of mass spying,” says Bruce Schneier Vivid blue diamond sells for nearly $44 million at Christie's auction Elon Musk on Advertisers, Trust and the “Wild Storm” in His Mind | DealBook Summit 2023 Send us a voice message! | |||
| Wiley E. Coyote Paint | 30 Nov 2023 | 00:46:06 | |
Well, you made it; you had to suffer through a headlines-only episode last week (yes, we read your hate mail about this terrible tragedy), knowing you would be rewarded this week with another smooth segment to sate your curiosity, even if just for a few minutes. So, for your consideration, dear listener, we present an entire extended-length segment today on “Super Blacks: The Blackest Blacks Known to Man.” These are paints, pigments, and coatings that absorb so much light it will trick your eyes into thinking that it's a void of space leading to another dimension. But there’s more to this story than simply “some really black paint,” and we look forward to telling it to you in this episode. But before that, there are all sorts of headlines this week, touching on Munger, De Niro, Apple, Nvidia, and of course, no episode of Nonsense would be complete without an update from our Lord and Savior, Musk.
What happens to the helium in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons? Is the helium supply up in the air for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Time Lapse: Inflating Macy's Parade Balloons NYC LIVE Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon Inflation 2023 10 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon Accidents and Mishaps - Giant Parade Balloons of Chaos Charlie Munger on the Acquired Podcast Inside Robert De Niro’s Gotham Awards Speech Debacle Nvidia’s CEO thinks AGI will be here in the next 10 years The mystery of the disappearing Google Drive files Post • Instructions to recover Google Drive • The Register Forums Elon Musk has boosted the 'pizzagate' conspiracy theory five times in the last two weeks Apple and Goldman Sachs are breaking up over money-losing Apple Card A Short History of Vantablack: the Darkest Color on Earth - GARAGE The Vantablack Controversy: Anish Kapoor vs. Stuart Semple New non-nanotube super-black coating demonstration The 'blackest' black: How a color controversy sparked a years-long art feud | CNN BLACK 4.0 - The blackest black paint in the known universe *NEW* – Culture Hustle Anish Kapoor on Instagram: "Up yours #pink" Thanksgiving '97. The day Barney was killed Barney Died a Violent Death at the 1997 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2020 BMW X6 Painted In Blackest Black Vantablack Send us a voice message! | |||
| The OpenAI Roller-Coaster | 21 Nov 2023 | 00:36:57 | |
It’s a short holiday week, and with a couple of amazing stories in the news, we at Nonsense knew we had to put out a headlines-only episode early before you all slip into your turkey-and-gravy-induced coma. Today’s secret: the easiest way to create a company worth nearly a billion dollars is to first start with an AI juggernaut worth nearly $90 billion and let an inexperienced board of directors unceremoniously fire the beloved CEO while providing no explanation to the public, let alone employees. In addition to the still-developing OpenAI story, we’ve got some comments on Twitter’s advertisers (remaining and otherwise), Nothing Chat’s terrible idea, iRCS, totally new refrigerators, AI weather, lithium mimes, and cryspy gene editing. It’s a lot really. Happy Thanksgiving to all our stateside listeners! We’ll be back next week with more of our regular Nonsense! OpenAI Talks Continue as Sam Altman, Company Push to Reunite Elon Musk Really Doesn’t Want IBM’s Money Twitter bets big on ... CEO's son Nothing’s rival to Apple’s RCS was a privacy disaster | TechRadar Inside Whirlpool's ambitious plan to reimagine the refrigerator Google's New AI Weatherman Will Leave Forecasters in the Dust Trust in science down; trends worst in minorities, Republicans A lithium mine for EV batteries is coming to Arkansas, says Exxon Crispr gene editing shown to permanently lower high cholesterol Send us a voice message! | |||
| Tales From “Jury Duty” @ Spearmint Rhino | 16 Nov 2023 | 00:49:07 | |
We have missed you, dear listener. After a one-week hiatus to allow cj to serve his civic duty as a juror, we are back with more of the Nonsense that you have come to love! This week we dive into the Epic v. Google lawsuit that is putting the future of the Google app store in the cross-hairs. The Verge has summed this up well, saying: “Epic sued Google back in 2020 after a fight over in-app purchase fees, claiming the Android operating system’s Google Play store constituted an unlawful monopoly. Epic wants Google to make using third-party app stores, sideloaded apps, and non-Google payment processors easier — while Google says its demands would damage Android’s ability to offer a secure user experience and compete with Apple’s iOS.” Our take on this lawsuit likely won’t surprise our regular listeners, but we believe you’ll enjoy hearing us work through it. And ahead of the lawsuit, we chat briefly about RCS support, iMessage on Android, autonomous fruit-picking robots anonymous, more AI nudes, and what the hell is going on in Iceland. We are happy to be back, we hope you enjoy the show!
Nothing is bringing iMessage to its Android phone Autonomous Fruit Picking Robots AI Nudes of Classmates in the US Epic v. Google: everything we’re learning live in Fortnite court - The Verge Barry Diller emails Google exec (c. 2019) 5 things we learned from the Epic-Google antitrust case this week | TechCrunch Even the cool kids love Nonsense, apparently. The Saint of Second Chances | Official Trailer | Netflix
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| Memory Lane | 02 Nov 2023 | 00:57:39 | |
Dear listener, you have been patiently enduring our headline-only episodes this season, so this week we have played our UNO Reverse card and present, for your consideration, only a couple of headlines and a single in-depth segment on capturing and digitizing the entire knowledge-set of our species. Yup, all of it. Until the mid-20th century, our entire civilization’s knowledge could have been stored on a shoe box full of 1980’s era floppy disks. By 2025 it is anticipated that the total amount of data created, captured, copied, and consumed globally will reach 180 zettabytes, having more than doubled since 2020. For perspective, a zettabyte is one million petabytes, and a petabyte is one million gigabytes - this is no 5¼” floppy disk (yet!). This episode tells the first part of the story: how our friends up in Redmond helped bring the traditional encyclopedia into the modern era. It’s a fascinating ride, and in the end, fairly amazing that it ever came to be in that form at all. Also, in the spirit of Halloween, we felt no episode of Nonsense would be complete without a “Ghost of RMS” impression! The EV transition trips over its own cord Tesla loses $145 billion in valuation on demand woes, down 20%
How much space does all of humanity's knowledge take up? | Popular Science Natural History (Pliny) - Wikiwand The History of Microsoft Encarta LaserDisc Database - Knowledge Disc [GEP85-010] Encyclopædia Britannica - Wikiwand
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| You’ve Got Rail! | 26 Oct 2023 | 00:46:54 | |
Well, one of Nonsense’s beloved co-hosts thought California’s High-Speed Rail project was thoroughly unexciting, and one co-host was just plain wrong. As luck would have it, this was one-in-the-same co-host. The good news though? He’s used to being wrong, so the world has maintained equilibrium. Hooray! This week we are diving deeper into the California High-Speed Rail project, where it is at, why it seems to be taking longer than expected, and what is expected to come in the near and not-so-near future. This is a fascinating project, and if you don’t know much about it, we suspect you’ll love this week’s segment. And don’t fret, keeping with tradition we’ve got some aviation, Apple TV, and asteroid dust news for you too! Apple TV+ Just Jacked Up Its Prices (Again) NASA Is Struggling to Open Its Asteroid Sample Container Millions of Americans Have Cognitive Decline and Don't Know It Connections: Group words by topic. New puzzles daily. - The New York Times Google Founder’s Airship Gets FAA Clearance - IEEE Spectrum Microsoft now thirstily injects a poll when you download Google Chrome List of busiest passenger air routes The F-35 Program: $1.7 trillion to buy, operate, and sustain California High-Speed Rail - What comes next? The Canyon - Agoura Hills - Where Music Meets The Soul® - The Official Site Stop Making Sense 40th Anniversary Re-Release Trailer (2023) | |||
| A Sharp Bong | 19 Oct 2023 | 00:44:25 | |
We would find it easy to understand why you, dear listener, may initially find our aviation stories here on Nonsense worrisome. And if you listen to only the first couple minutes of those segments, we wouldn’t fault you for postponing upcoming travel by air. But we promise that when you power through and listen to the entire segment, you will find these stories ultimately tell just how safe and resilient modern travel by air has become. This week we tell another one of those stories. But, as always, before that, we’ve got some headlines from the week. And amazingly this week there’s only ONE headline involving X that we felt necessary to cover. Somehow though, good ol’ X still manages to dominate 50% of our headlines for the week. Amazing. X begins charging new users $1 per year to send tweets Goldman Sachs might be trying to offload Apple's credit card and savings accounts Monty Python - The Fish Slapping Dance The Incredible Story Of The Gimli Glider The Gimli Glider • Damn Interesting Captain Robert Pearson shares remarkable Gimli Glider story with captivated Monaco audience | |||
| HEADLINES: Finding Tesla’s Recycle Bin, Trump’s Tariffs Killing Your Hobbies, & Salt Typhoon p0wns | 02 Sep 2025 | 00:27:14 | |
(0:00) Pre-Show (1:04) Open (1:47) Calendar Adjustment Day (4:00) cj's week: The Scheduled Parental Grind (4:58) Jeff's Week: The Penultimate Cyndi Lauper Concert! (7:05) Headline: Tesla Denied Crash Data. Then a Hacker Delivered It. (12:43) Headline: Tariff Troubles: How Trump's Trade War Is Killing Your Hobbies (19:37) Headline: China's Salt Typhoon Breached 80+ Countries and Stole Data for Years (24:17) Old Pickles vs. New Pickles (25:04) Your $600 Ivy League Education! What do Tesla’s “lost” crash files, your suddenly overpriced retro hobby collection, and China hoovering up America’s data have in common? They’re all stories where denial, loopholes, and a touch of hubris turned into a full-blown mess. In this episode of Nonsense, we dig into Tesla getting punked by a hacker, Trump’s tariffs turning eBay into a customs nightmare, and Salt Typhoon proving that CALEA basically left the back door wide open for Beijing. Buckle up—this week’s nonsense hits your wallet, your hobbies, and your phone records. Minecraft - Exploding RC Creeper Nonsense - February 24th: The Original Daily Double Alanis Morissette - Hand In My Pocket (Official 4K Music Video) Joni Mitchell, Cher, John Legend and SZA join Cyndi Lauper for her final farewell tour show Headlines Tesla denied having fatal crash data until a hacker found it - Ars Technica Waymo's Crashes Are Largely The Fault Of Us Mere Humans - Jalopnik Trump Tariffs Cause Chaos on Ebay as Every Hobby Becomes Logistical Minefield De minimis is ending. What does that mean for U.S. consumers? : NPR Etsy, eBay, and Shein reel as ‘de minimis’ tariff exemption ends, adding hefty charges | Fortune Japan, Australia and Taiwan suspend some US parcel shipments as tariff exemption ends | CNN Business Slim Tuck Wallet | Slim Leather Wallet for Men & Women China increases its stake in Brazilian ports to reduce its dependence on US food imports China increases presence in Brazilian ports - UPI.com FBI cyber cop: Salt Typhoon pwned 'nearly every American' • The Register Salt Typhoon Cyber Spies Breached 80+ Nations, FBI Warns FBI says China's Salt Typhoon hacked at least 200 US companies | TechCrunch Salt Typhoon: How Hackers Exploited America’s Telecom Giants Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act - Wikiwand
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| The Fat’s the Flavor | 12 Oct 2023 | 00:46:33 | |
Our listeners asked for more headlines, and as providers of weekly happiness, we had no choice but to give in to their demands. This week we’ve got a whole bunch of news that we suspect you’ll love, including: Red Dye #N; Stevie Wonder doesn’t know the time; RCS shaming; Jeff’s green bubble; AI Res-Up makes the old look new(ish); more X misinformation; WSJ Cancelarino; weeks in AI’s still not profitable (WTH?!); you gotta fight, for your right, to REEEEE-PAIR; MGM doesn’t pay up; 23 and Me 4 Sale; Jeff’s interaction graph of 1; RISC-V doesn’t fit back in the bottle; Coda releases free AI tools. It’s a lot, we know! Strap in for the ride and get your Nonsense on! Why Is Red Dye No. 3 Banned in Cosmetics but Still Allowed in Food? Why lawmakers are pushing to ban Red dye No. 3 - Los Angeles Times The data and puzzling history behind California’s new red food dye ban Stevie Wonder Has No Clue What Time it Is Samsung joins Google in RCS shaming Apple Green bubbles and blue bubbles want to be together. Help Apple #GetTheMessage Adobe previews AI upscaling to make old, fuzzy videos and GIFs look fresh Los Angeles South Spring street California - improved and colorized by AI Technology 4k 60fps The Pixel 8 and the what-is-a-photo apocalypse EU warns Musk of penalties if X doesn’t stop Israel/Hamas disinformation X CEO Abandons WSJ Tech Conference Following Disastrous Appearance at Code So Far, AI Is a Money Pit That Isn't Paying Off California's 'right to repair' bill is now California's 'right to repair' law MGM didn’t pay up after hackers broke into its system and stole customer data Hackers are selling the data of millions lifted from 23andMe’s genetic database RISC-V technology emerges as battleground in US-China tech war Coda bucks trend of additional charges for generative AI tools RISC-V technology emerges as battleground in US-China tech war Coda bucks trend of additional charges for generative AI tools | |||
| The Answer is: “Things That Are Sinking” | 05 Oct 2023 | 00:55:32 | |
What are SBF, Yaccarino & NYC? Due to Jeff’s notorious travel schedule, this week we have another headlines-only episode. But don’t fret dear listener, there is plenty to discuss, including Google’s new Pixel Eight, SBF’s trial kickoff, streamer pricing changes, BlueWalker 3 lighting up the sky, fines for littering in space, and Elon’s massive mammaries (?!). It’s a lot, but we trust you can handle it all on our semi-off week. (WTF is an attosecond anyway?) The FCC has issued its first space debris fine to Dish Network - The Verge Linda Yaccarino was set up to fail - The Verge Meta's AI Stickers Are Already Causing Trouble Meta's ad-free Instagram and Facebook plan could cost EU users nearly $17 per month Spotify Auto Voice Translation Here are the details on the grisly deaths of Elon Musk’s Neuralink monkeys - The Verge | |||
| How Technology Is Changing Sports | 28 Sep 2023 | 00:45:12 | |
Over the past 50+ years, technology has continued to provide improvements to every sport under the sun. While some of those technologies don’t last, many persist and make so much improvement that it becomes hard to imagine going back. This week, cj & Jeff chat about some of their favorite and most memorable sports/tech advances. Then, after some mild nerdy sportsball talk, the boys thought they should cover the specifics of what “high-speed train” means currently to us in America given this week’s service launch in Florida. As it turns out, while we can’t get close to Japan or China when it comes to high-speed rail, we can at least get our choo choos into the triple-digits. And don’t forget about more self-driving cars, the FTC and 17 states suing Amazon, Ford pressing pause on battery production (for now), and as it turns out, the hottest restaurant in New York was in fact fake. Good times! Mercedes take the wheel: Testing Drive Pilot L3 autonomy in traffic U.S. sues Amazon in a monopoly case that could be existential for the retail giant Ford pauses construction of Michigan battery plant amid contract talks with UAW union New York's Hottest Steakhouse Was a Fake, Until Saturday Night I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! Speech from Network (1976) Remembering One of the NBA’s Biggest Failed Experiments: The "New Ball" | Complex 1st & Ten (graphics system) - Wikiwand Does the NBA have a referee crisis unfolding? Ref accused of favoring Celtics, having Twitter burner retires, ending NBA investigation | |||
| Ocean’s 14: Revenge of the Nerds | 21 Sep 2023 | 00:53:57 | |
About 3.5 BILLION spam messages are sent every day, with many of those phishing and other cyberattack-related messages. Even worse, there were over 500 MILLION ransomware attacks detected last year alone. These ransomware attacks can cripple businesses and infrastructure, wreaking havoc for days, weeks, and even months. This week cj & Jeff dig in on last week's attacks on Vegas hotel brands Caeser’s and MGM. And a new segment type in Nonsense this week, News Potpourri! Including Apple’s recent environmental video backlash, the AI summit on Capitol Hill, Elon’s Biography, and Google’s Antitrust Concerns. Come along for the ride, we think you’ll enjoy it! TikTok will fund Black Friday deals to take on Amazon Warner Bros. CFO Thinks You Deadbeats Have Been on a Free Ride for Way Too Long TikTok Slapped with $367 Million Fine Over Bungled Kids' Data The US Senate wants answers over Starlink's Ukrainian satellite internet denial Google settles California lawsuit over its location-privacy practices 50+ Cybersecurity Statistics for 2023 You Need to Know – Where, Who & What is Targeted. Massive MGM and Caesars Hacks Epitomize a Vicious Ransomware Cycle | WIRED MGM casino's ESXi servers allegedly encrypted in ransomware attack 2 Casino Ransomware Attacks: Caesars Paid, MGM Did Not - Forbes 9 infamous social engineers | CSO Online Linux kernel 6.3 on track for debut next week after ‘nice uneventful release cycle’ John Deere Reveals Fully Autonomous Tractor at CES 2022 The Lost Children of Football Inside Intel's Chip Factory, I Saw the Future. It's Plain Old Glass Apple Watch Temperature Data Now Syncs to Natural Cycles, the Birth Control App | |||
| You Can’t McTouch This | 14 Sep 2023 | 00:43:25 | |
Good news folks, Jeff is healthy and we are back to our regular scheduled Nonsensical programming! This week we have two segments that really couldn’t be less similar: Up first we have suicide missions, specifically the ones that have served the greater good of us all. From World War II to Chernobyl to September 11th, there have been folks willing to take on missions that virtually ensured certain death but did so anyway for the benefit of us all. Stories like these help remind us at Nonsense about what we as a species still manage to get right about humanity. Don’t miss the abrupt gear switch, jumping next to those fighting for (and against!) the right to repair your own equipment. It’s not just iPhones and TVs these days, it’s tractors, cars, and ice cream machines that are being walled off from the DIYers. Reminding us now that humanity still has a long way to go (everyone deserves the ice cream!). Up front we’ve got: a whale of a story, more Musk meddling, some messenger interoperability, shadowbanning (your own advertisers!), and getting stuck in space for over a year - your typical Nonsense cornucopia of stories. Many eyes on Hurricane Jova brewing off Baja California, may spark rain locally Ukraine is furious with Elon Musk for thwarting an attack on Russia's navy SpaceX’s Starlink wins nearly $900 million in FCC subsidies to bring internet to rural areas SpaceX denied nearly $900 million in broadband subsidies WhatsApp tests feature that could open it up to other messaging apps Should Apple Continue to Ban Rival Browser Engines on iOS? Apple fixes two actively exploited zero-day flaws — update your iPhone and Mac now NASA astronaut Frank Rubio breaks US record for longest spaceflight Looks Like Twitter Shadowbanned The New York Times, Which Advertises on Twitter The History of Play-Doh: Good, Clean Fun! iFixit Tears Down McDonald's McFlurry Machine, Petitions Government for Right to Hack Them Why the McFlurry Machine Company Just Got Hit With a Restraining Order Why McDonald's Ice Cream Machines Are Always Broken and How To Fix Them The FTC Is Investigating Why McDonald’s McFlurry Machines Are Always Broken: Report Fighter pilot reflects on would-be 9/11 suicide mission - Yahoo! News via archive.org Firefighters Who Responded to Chernobyl Meltdown Had To Be Buried in Lead Coffins | |||
| Phoning It In! | 07 Sep 2023 | 00:31:59 | |
Well, Jeff made it over three and a half years without contracting SARS-CoV-2 -- but alas his ticket was finally punched last week. Fortunately, he’s doing fine and feeling better, even if he is going stir-crazy in isolation while eagerly awaiting clearance to be in contact with humans again. As they say though, the show must go on -- so today we recorded an episode remotely for the first time in Nonsense history. While this is a short episode of headlines only, we still had fun making it in a totally new way. We hope this episode provides your Nonsense fix for the week; we are semi-optimistic about both Jeff’s recovery and getting back to our regular scheduled programming next week. iPhone 15 Release Date Latest: What To Expect When, Why It’s Awesome Apple September 12 Event: iPhone 15 Charging Port Change to USB-C From Lightning - Bloomberg Google's latest Pixel 8 Pro leak shows temperature sensor, colors and more Aaron Franklin Teaches Texas Style BBQ Covid Continues to Rise, but Experts Remain Optimistic Hurricane Lee forms in Atlantic, threatens to be 'major' storm this weekend Video & audio calls coming to X (Twitter) Google leaks Pixel 8 Pro again with a 360-degree preview Zoom is even less happy about Microsoft Teams than you are Government denies U-turn on encrypted messaging row - BBC News Behind Disney’s Spectrum blackout: A ‘proxy battle’ for the future of television Gray Television wins Phoenix Suns, Mercury media rights Export of cryptography from the United States The AI Drake ‘Ghostwriter’ is back with a new song and is chasing a Grammy | |||
| How to 💯 Win the Lottery. Every. Time. | 31 Aug 2023 | 00:47:52 | |
This week we are discussing an absolutely, positively, 100-percent guaranteed process to beat the lottery*. We even have proof, albeit from an Australian in the early 90’s that, sadly, is not Paul Hogan. Now some will say air conditioning has grown from a luxury to a necessity, and cj & Jeff couldn’t agree more. So with the hottest summer on record finally ending (hopefully!), the guys dig into the history of our BFF, trusty ol’ air conditioning. And of course, no episode of Nonsense would be complete without some Tesla & SpaceX headline low-lights! *: time machine not included. Marine conservation group honors Bob Barker, who funded anti-whaling ship
The 6 Levels of Vehicle Autonomy Explained | Synopsys Automotive Texas Approves 2 Tesla Virtual Power Plants to Help Out State's Power Grid - CNET Wildlife officials say SpaceX launch left behind significant damage | Mashable How Australia Ended Regular Mass Shootings: Gun Reforms After 1996 Massacre Could Be Model for U.S. Odds of 50 Random Events Happening to You | Stacker 10 biggest Powerball, Mega Millions jackpots won in US lottery history: LIST Before Powerball jackpots, Stefan Mandel won the lottery 14 times - The Washington Post The man who won the lottery 14 times - The Hustle Global Cooling The History of Air Conditioning - ASME The Unexpected History of the Air Conditioner | At the Smithsonian | |||
| Why Would You Look At a Laser Anyway? | 24 Aug 2023 | 00:51:34 | |
And…we are back from our summer breaks, which means we’re back to our good ol’ full-length episodes. This week we are digging into state-of-the-art refractive surgery: in just the past 150 years, we have gone from assessing your visual acuity using mustard seeds to shooting lasers into your eyes to reshape them. Ain’t science great?! The most common of these procedures, commonly called LASIK, can be performed in less than twenty minutes using two different lasers to first access, then reshape, your eyeball(s). Not only do you recover overnight, but you’ll have greatly improved eyesight the next day. Fortunately for you, cj was kind enough to volunteer his “bad eye” for LASIK just to be able to tell y’all how it went. Now if that is not podcast host commitment, then we don’t know what is! But before getting knee-deep into eyeballs and lasers, we’ve got (yet another!) new coronavirus variant (hooray!), a crashed moon lander (boo!), a bunch of wiped-out “legacy” tweets (yay?), and companies like Facebook & Amazon applying more pressure to return to the office (double boo!). If you are thinking about having a LASIK procedure, then this is an episode you are not going to want to skip! CARROT Weather for iOS and Android Which arm gets the Covid-19 booster may make a difference, study shows India is the first country to land at the Moon's south pole Elon Musk admits X ‘may fail’ after glitch deletes Twitter photos X glitch wipes out most pictures and links tweeted before December 2014 Tesla says data breach impacting 75,000 employees was an insider job Meta threatens to fire workers for return-to-office infractions in leaked memo Meta employees who flout new return-to-office mandate face termination Mark Zuckerberg’s new ‘in-person time policy’ will crack down on Meta’s remote work rebels Amazon relies on ‘serendipity’ for office return; employees want data How Julio Urías, who once struggled to see, became Dodgers' ace What Does it Mean to Have 20/20 Vision? - Healthcare Trends SYNOPSIS OF MEDICAL STANDARDS - Applies to SPECIFIC Class of Medical Certificate Driving Restrictions per State - EyeWiki Astigmatism - Symptoms & causes - Mayo Clinic Femtosecond Lasers and Laser Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) | |||
| This One Amendment Isn’t For Sale | 17 Aug 2023 | 00:15:25 | |
And we are back to being HOT, again, this week. Our savvy listeners know that this means cj and Jeff are both at risk of melting and as such, are incapable of putting in a solid 45-minute recording. Instead, they are hosting the second headline-only episode this month. There’s more amazing battery tech this week (this time some super-fast charging batteries shoe-horned into a Lotus Elise!), Apple cracking down on apps that “fingerprint” their users, and US spies love this one phone surveillance loophole. As an aside: apparently, there’s a bill called “the fourth amendment isn’t for sale”. We’re not sure about the other 26 amendments, but hopefully, someone will buy the 18th Amendment and finally put it out of its misery. And more confessions this week: cj’s spent hours watching his toddler son chasing a laser pointer; he’s also been known to feed samples of delicious smoked prime beef ribs to his local raccoons; and Jeff’s most colorful dreams involve getting 10 long, hard miles to the kilowatt. Super hot. Why Your Appendix Actually Matters Apple cracking down on 'fingerprinting' with new App Store API rules | Engadget The NSA Is Lobbying Congress to Save a Phone Surveillance 'Loophole' | WIRED Ultra-fast niobium batteries boast 6-min charge for Lotus Elise-based EV | Ars Technica Lotus lost £145m in 2022 and job cuts are now looming | Top Gear | |||
| Internet History X(.com) | 10 Aug 2023 | 00:57:12 | |
Buckle up, buttercups, we’ve got a long one this week! After last week’s summer-break-headlines-only-episode, both cj & Jeff were just overflowing with words and insisted on sharing them with all of their listeners. This week we’ve got a double-header segment covering the history of Elon Musk’s X.com, including its improbable (but necessary) merger with Confinity (the creators of PayPal) and the successful coups of not one, but TWO CEOs before ultimately being sold to eBay. The guys both thought they knew most of the story, but as it turns out, there is way more crazy in this saga than your favorite classic episode of Jerry Springer. But before X.com, we’ve got AIs performing sports broadcasting, Android phones detecting AirTags, Cacti in Phoenix dying from the heat (!!!), and British Airways serving KFC in a pinch. 21 Reasons Mutts Are Better Than Purebreds That sports broadcaster you hear could be AI Android phones can now tell you if there’s an AirTag following you Phoenix’s record heat is killing off cactuses British Airways Just Served KFC on a Flight From the Caribbean to London Why is Twitter called X now? Elon Musk's rebrand explained and where it's going next Sandy Weill and the Story Behind Citigroup A brief biography of 'X,' the letter that Elon Musk has plastered everywhere Single-letter second-level domain Elon Musk's 25-year obsession with 'X' explains what he did to Twitter Twitter's Future Is a Return to Elon Musk's Past - Every | |||
| Pandora's Ark: the Science and Ethics of the De-Extinction Process | 28 Aug 2025 | 00:30:56 | |
(0:00) Open (1:43) What is De-extinction? (6:30) Is it Scientifically Possible? (12:14) Are We Ethically Obligated to De-Extinct? (16:23) Should we Refocus Resources Off De-Extinction (18:35) Effects on Ecosystems (23:25) Owning The DNA (26:40) cj’s recommendation: Nature! (27:49) Jeff’s Recommendation: Wordplay
Remember when Dolly the sheep was the only cloned celebrity? Well, not anymore. Wolves, bulls, dodos, and even a super-huge manatee - every type Dr. Seuss could think of - is on the table. It’s science, it’s ethics, it’s chaos—it’s your Nonsense. These fluffy white wolves explain everything wrong with bringing back extinct animals Despite Biotech Efforts to Revive Species, Extinction Is Still Forever - Yale E360 The Argument for De-Extinction: EXPLAINED Bringing back woolly mammoths and dodos is a bad idea | |||
| That’s Hot! | 03 Aug 2023 | 00:15:08 | |
If you haven’t noticed, it is HOT this week. And neither cj nor Jeff wants to slave away over microphones for 45 whole minutes, but they don’t want their listeners to have to go without! As a result, this is the first of two short, headline-only episodes this month. We hope you are basking in delightful air conditioning while you enjoy this quick episode. This week the guys have a Paris Hilton flashback, complain about the heat (again!), highlight the “gravity hole” found in the Indian Ocean, and talk a bit about how AIs are starting to learn like humans. And no episode of Nonsense would be complete without a Starman reference, pee bombs for robots, and lithium batteries (namely, what happens when you add salt to them)! Indian Ocean gravity hole was caused by an extinct ancient sea, scientists say | Live Science Future AI algorithms have the potential to learn like humans Paris Hilton Explains the Origin of ‘That’s Hot’ Catchphrase How sodium could change the game for batteries | MIT Technology Review Amazon is reportedly making employees relocate for return-to-office | Engadget Meta’s Llama 2 Elbows Into a Still-Open Field - IEEE Spectrum Ghostbusters (1984) - The Library Ghost Scene | |||
| What you know about cables down in the deep? | 27 Jul 2023 | 00:45:07 | |
Nope, not astronauts in the ocean. This week cj & Jeff cover submarine cables - the 850,000+ miles of cable that stretch along the ocean floor between countries and along coastlines. There are about 500 cables currently in service around the globe, and today July 27th, marks the 157th anniversary of the completion of the first transatlantic telegraph cable. And with your favorite blue-bird being renamed “X” overnight, the guys reminisce about some of their favorite products and companies that have started with X throughout the years (there are more than you think!). Of course, no Nonsense episode would be complete without a discussion of satellites (Amazon’s Kuiper), crypto-related-fraud (SBF’s push to buy an island), and a new type of drug (good for cholesterol, your lungs, and brain!).
70 Shark Facts That Will Make You Say "Oh, These Guys Are Pretty Cool Actually" Twitter is being rebranded as X - The Verge These are all porn except one. That one's Twitter. FTX crypto whizzkid tries to 'buy island and make genetically enhanced human species' New class of cholesterol-lowering drugs can affect lung function and brain size, study finds Amazon’s Project Kuiper will open a new satellite-processing facility at Kennedy Space Center Google co-founder comes back to company to bolster its AI efforts Elon Musk's X takes @X handle from longtime Twitter user Twitter rebrands to 'X' as Elon Musk loses iconic bird logo When X-Rays Were All the Rage, a Trip to the Shoe Store Was Dangerously Illuminating Xanthan Gum — Is This Food Additive Healthy or Harmful? FedNow may finally be live, but will it be too costly for businesses to adopt? | TechCrunch $100,000 Bill | Museum of American Finance Star Trek: Enterprise - Wikiwand 15 years ago, the Xbox 360 launched in the desert. It was a wild event.. Software versioning - Wikiwand Shoe-fitting fluoroscope - Wikiwand X10 (industry standard) - Wikiwand Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard feted in Denmark Subsea Internet Cables Light Up the Bottom of the World's Oceans | |||
| Nonsense Trailer | 24 Jul 2023 | 00:01:11 | |
CJ Little and Jeff Parker are doing a podcast called nonsense. Join us at the intersection of technology, creativity and economics. | |||
| The Heat Is On! | 20 Jul 2023 | 00:45:22 | |
Who knew that the same man that brought us the telestrator used on every Sunday Night Footbal game also really hated the moon? Well, that appears to be the case, so this week we thought a quick introduction to Project A119: “A Study of Lunar Research Flights - Volume 1” was in order. Then cj and Jeff explore today’s electric car options as they are considering adding to their respective fleets - which is good timing seeing that Tesla and now Ford are slashing their EV prices still. And good news! This week only minimal talk of AI and nothing about aviation - too much weather, striking, and Twitter shenanigans to cover! US heat wave could last into August after breaking over 2,300 records NYC-area airports see massive delays and groundings as 1,600 flights canceled across the US Extreme heat in Arizona increased hospitalizations to pandemic levels at one medical center The heat wave scorching the US is a self-perpetuating monster Fran Drescher: AMPTP Is 'Punishing Us' for Strike, Stalling Negotiations Christopher Nolan wants Oppenheimer to be a cautionary tale for Silicon Valley Engagement on Instagram's Threads Has Cratered Elon Musk says Twitter’s ad revenue has dropped by 50 percent Tax preparers that shared private data with Meta, Google could be fined billions The Morning After: Russia bans Apple devices for state officials Ford slashes price of all-electric F-150 Lightning trucks Tesla cuts prices on all models, 3rd cut this year – The Associated Press In big win for Tesla, more car companies plan to use its supercharging network The crazy plan to explode a nuclear bomb on the Moon | |||
| Making James Webb: The Wisdom of Dr. Jon Arenberg | 13 Jul 2023 | 00:43:27 | |
This week marks the first anniversary of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) delivering on its promise of revealing the universe like never before. Being super-nerds, cj & Jeff wanted to celebrate this amazing milestone by talking a bit about not only Webb, but some of the space observatories that came before it. And when it comes to Webb, there are few people in the universe that know more about Webb than our guest this week, Dr. Jon Arenberg, the Chief Mission Architect for Science and Robotic Exploration for Northrop Grumman. Dr. Arenberg’s, or Jon as he insisted we call him, worked on the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, James Webb most recently, and countless space-exploration projects in between. If you’re not familiar with the JWST, here’s how NASA described it this week: “On its first anniversary, the James Webb Space Telescope has already delivered upon its promise to unfold the universe, gifting humanity with a breathtaking treasure trove of images and science that will last for decades,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “An engineering marvel built by the world’s leading scientists and engineers, Webb has given us a more intricate understanding of galaxies, stars, and the atmospheres of planets outside of our solar system than ever before, laying the groundwork for NASA to lead the world in a new era of scientific discovery and the search for habitable worlds.” The Webb Telescope's Latest Image Reveals The Birth of Very Young Stars I can’t get over these images from the James Webb Space Telescope! A Year of Cosmic Wonder With the James Webb Space Telescope | |||
| I Would Expect More Out of a Junior High Science Project | 06 Jul 2023 | 00:45:09 | |
Good news listener! This episode cj’s voice has been replaced by an AI trained using only Lauren Bacall, The Marlboro Man, and Lemmy Kilmister - so enjoy the break! For all the aviation nerds out there, and in honor of National Air Traffic Controller Day, cj shares some amusing ATC stories while Jeff catches everyone up on just how much facial recognition is already being used in various venues, what’s it being used for, and some folks that are quite opposed to it. And if you had James Webb, Tweet reading limits, gas prices, and drone-based air taxis on your bingo card this week, you’re in for a treat! Pool Floats Kids with Water Gun Saturn’s rings steal the show in new image from Webb telescope Elon Musk Limits Unverified Twitter Accounts to Reading Just 600 Posts Per Day Fourth of July gas prices take an almost unprecedented plunge Joby Aviation's first production air taxi cleared for flight tests Flight TRAILER (2012) Denzel Washington SR-71 BLACKBIRD PILOT TELLS THE STORY BEHIND HIS FAMED GROUND SPEED CHECK - The Aviation Geek Club Russia illegally used facial recognition to arrest protestor, human rights court rules | |||
| James Cameron was Right About the Titanic -- Again | 29 Jun 2023 | 00:45:14 | |
As it turns out, carbon fiber is the worst thing to happen to subs since Jared. In the wake of OceanGate’s loss of its deep-submergence vehicle the Titan, cj and Jeff wanted to provide a (brief) primer on carbon fiber, its benefits, and design challenges - culminating in why James Cameron (e. al.) insisted it was a terrible idea to use the material for deep sea exploration. Then an update to your “Working From Home Scorecard” - who’s for it and who’s against it (hint: cj is a strong "for it"). Honorable mention to: Nonsense’s half-birthday; a taste of Texas Irony; Amazon’s Deception, Recruiting, and More EVs; and Billionaire Brings Tesla Autopilot Rebuke. Amazon Hub Delivery program recruits small businesses to deliver packages - The Verge Everything you need to know about Amazon’s electric delivery vans from Rivian Rivian joins Ford and GM in turning to Tesla chargers Billionaire Brings Tesla Autopilot Rebuke - IEEE Spectrum See How To Escape From Tesla Model S, 3, X And Y In An Emergency New French Law Bars Work Email After Hours The office in the movie The Apartment | |||
| Super Trooper Jay Chandrasekhar Hates (Most) Robots | 22 Jun 2023 | 00:45:12 | |
This week cj and Jeff welcome the always hilarious and amazing writer, director, actor, and stand-up comedian, Jay Chandrasekhar. Jay is one of the brains behind Broken Lizard’s Super Troopers, Club Dread, Beerfest, and countless others. The three discuss how AI might impact writers like Jay (a point cj & Jeff still disagree on). And as it turns out, Jay hates self-checkout robots, self-driving car robots, and every other kind of robot. Well, except one. Jay and the boys discuss some of his recent projects too, including his Vouch Vault app, Quasi on Hulu, and his new podcast Mustache Tales, which just launched this week. | |||
| Star Trek's Connor Trinneer Finally Speaks Out! | 15 Jun 2023 | 00:46:12 | |
Who better for our first-ever Nonsense interview than Connor Trinneer, who played Charles "Trip" Tucker III on Star Trek Enterprise? Connor joins the guys this week for a quick look at Star Trek tech that came to be, and some Star Trek tech that we still don’t see (yet!). We already have our own versions of communicators, cloaking devices, translators, tricorders, phasers, and holodecks - so that’s pretty cool. But where are our warp drives, transporters, and good ol’ male pregnancy? Tune in this week and find out! How Shark Week became a cultural phenomenon The Looming El Niño Could Cost the World Trillions of Dollars Amazon Prime Air hoped for 10,000 drone deliveries this year — it’s only done 100 Disney pulls plug on $1 billion development project in Florida Michael Dukakis: The Photo Op That Tanked TikTok sues Montana over state's ban of app Read the new Twitter CEO’s first email to employees US lawmakers want to make sure AM radio lives on in electric vehicles Government Hasn't Justified a TikTok Ban Ellison Estate, Woodside, Calif. We’re effectively alone in the Universe, and that’s OK Where No Search Engine Has Gone Before Many Android phones to get satellite connectivity | |||
| Shrinking: Antarctic Streaking | 08 Jun 2023 | 00:45:27 | |
This week the boys explore some of the most exclusive clubs in the world, and no, not the ones that have bottle service and a velvet rope, the ones you have to earn your way into. And Jeff asks: “What is currency?” Plus, Apple drops their flashy new ski goggles, #DearIntern I deleted the internets, Reddit plans to go dark, Amazon considers launching cell service (turns out this won’t happen), TSMC has to figure out how to work with Americans, and the firing of the Corporate Greed Goblin. An HBO Max intern mistakenly sent a test email to subscribers. Here’s why so many Reddit communities are planning to go offline for 48 hours (or more) Amazon Prime says it's not adding wireless benefits to Prime Activision Blizzard Fires World of Warcraft Game Designer for Making Fun of Corporate Greed James Webb Telescope looks at birth of new suns in far-flung galaxy ChatGPT took their jobs. Now they walk dogs and fix air conditioners. The Former Site of the Roxbury The Rubble Club | Architectural Services 'Rubble Club' helps architects pick up the pieces | The Independent The rubble club: An Irish architect watches his life’s work disappear Ejection Tie Club – Martin Baker JIMMY FALLON AND THE MARTIN-BAKER EJECTION SEAT TIE CLUB Jimmy Fallon's father-in-law — who survived fighter jet ejection — gets sweet 'Tonight' surprise ‘Trump Bucks’ promise wealth for MAGA loyalty. Some lose thousands. Man seeks to excavate landfill that allegedly has half a billion dollars worth of bitcoin Idiots Fooled by AI-Generated Pics of Satanic Merchandise at Target | |||
| HEADLINES: A Tenth of Intel, Required Advertising, and The Pixel 10 is Here! | 26 Aug 2025 | 00:36:14 | |
We are back from summer hiatus! Now with even more Onion-like headlines! Intel's lifeline ends up costing shareholders 10-15%, in what was “supposedly necessary” for the CEO to keep his job. This innovative new model for "getting your government-funded handouts" has other companies so inspired, they're considering just refusing the money entirely to avoid the drama. Probably not a winner for the shareholders of the USA. And now it seems the FTC is trying to protect X's bottom line by investigating brands who dared to pull their ads after they appeared next to literal Nazi content. The FTC's argument that brand safety is an anti-competitive conspiracy is being called "borderline absurd," which, to be fair, is a borderline absurd understatement. The Pixel 10 is here, proving that Google has officially given up on human-to-human interaction in favor of an AI that acts as your "digital mind reader". This new phone is so smart it can edit your photos to remove cars and make the sky bluer, but not smart enough to prevent you from using a 100x zoom to take a blurry picture of the moon. Yup, AI will save us all! Trump says US will take 10% stake in Intel because CEO wants to “keep his job” - Ars Technica Is it illegal to not buy ads on X? Experts explain the FTC’s bizarre ad fight. - Ars Technica New Google Pixel 10 Smartphones, Engineered by Google Dec 1996: Tagram’s Thunderbolt Holiday Specials | |||
| It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) | 01 Jun 2023 | 00:44:59 | |
The Earth has really seen it all; historically all sorts of things have almost destroyed our species, at least dozens just in the past couple hundred years. Most of them have been either natural disasters, man-made accidents, or false alarms during our Mutually Assured Destruction period. But this week the boys will talk about two occasions in the past century when a very small handful of people have held the world's fate in their hands and were not certain what the outcome would be. And if those things don’t end the world, they’ll explore how social media may (or may not!) be doing it to our children. In other news: a car breaks 23-speed records (and it’s an EV no less!), rideshare law gets vetoed, opening airplane doors IN THE AIR, and forcing internet providers to pay more for internet access. This Is Why You Can’t Buy Fresh Olives at the Supermarket Rimac Nevera EV Sets 23 World Speed Records Minnesota Governor Vetoes Uber/Lyft Driver Pay Raise Bill, Citing Cost and Service Concerns Uber enables bidding for your ride feature in Lebanon Man faces up to 10 years in prison after arrest for opening plane emergency exit door Asiana Airlines to stop selling seats near emergency exit on Airbus A321s Biden admin wants Europe to reject forced payments from Big Tech to ISPs What Ever Happened to GeoCities? The moments that could have accidentally ended humanity - BBC Future Surgeon General Warns That Social Media May Harm Children and Adolescents For One Group of Teenagers, Social Media Seems a Clear Net Benefit What parents need to know about social media for kids | |||
| Sony's My First Router | 25 May 2023 | 00:45:37 | |
So very much nonsense this week: Jeff learns how AI will affect bread-making, cj confesses to using calculators to cheat in school, Samsung draws over your moon with their moon, and we learn that the game pinball had been banned in Big Apple while the NYC School System reverses their latest ban on ChatGPT. The boys also touch on launching TokTik (whatever that is!), free donuts (like free beer!), and the >$77bn already lost to decentralized finance scams (good times!). Why Animals Should not be Kept in Zoos Micron chip ban in China to be addressed by Biden and top US Senator Micron to Bring Microchip Plant to Upstate New York The FCC just banned these Chinese cameras and telecom hardware from reaching the US It took 48 hours, but the mystery of the mass Asus router outage is solved China’s chip industry is embracing RISC-V Twitter alleges "unauthorized" data usage by Microsoft 1987 My First Sony TV Commercial New York City Does About-Face on ChatGPT in Schools Meta bets big on AI with custom chips — and a supercomputer European watchdog fines Meta $1.3 billion over privacy violations What is GDPR, the EU’s new data protection law? How To Buy Land & Real Estate In The Metaverse Potentially millions of Android TVs and phones come with malware preinstalled Guerilla Ad Clicker Targets Android Users - January 2018 WebKit Under Attack: Apple Issues Emergency Patches for 3 New Zero-Day Vulnerabilities Samsung Accused of Faking Zoomed Photos of the Moon with AI Samsung caught faking zoom photos of the Moon - The Verge Want a window into Twitter's totally unsolved bot problem? Corey Hart - Sunglasses At Night (1984) | |||
| Settling Down with a Nice AI Girlfriend | 18 May 2023 | 00:44:56 | |
Supposedly you folks have been hating on (most?) all technology, and supposedly this was called TechLash. The boys have never heard of it and decided to try and understand where this concept of hating our beloved tech has come from. And just in case you’ve already settled down from last week, this time they look at potential AI nightmare scenarios around the corner. Good times! Honorable mention this week goes to the end of AM radio in cars (and maybe forever?), your new AI girlfriend, cotillion, The Google Moat Memo, a spelling bee turns counting bee, reasons some autonomous vehicles are too risky, and cute Waymo videos. End of a love affair: AM radio is being removed from many cars What does a leaked Google memo reveal about the future of AI? Homebrew Computer Club: Everything You Need to Know A Former Pilot On Why Autonomous Vehicles Are So Risky The Techlash That Never Happened - Erik Torenberg Interview: Mike Solana on tech and its critics - Works in Progress Business and Industry Sector Ratings | Gallup Historical Trends 10 Nightmare Scenarios That Could Happen With Current Generation AI
The Techlash That Never Happened - Erik Torenberg Interview: Mike Solana on tech and its critics - Works in Progress Business and Industry Sector Ratings | Gallup Historical Trends Top 10 Banana Ball Moments 2022 | The Savannah Bananas | |||
| Planes That Go Boom! | 11 May 2023 | 00:45:31 | |
In the past 50 years, air travel has gotten more efficient and more economical, but somehow not any faster. Had aircraft speeds continued to progress at the same rate since the 70’s, we’d be traveling at Mach-4 today - that’s Los Angeles to London in under 2 hours! Instead, we got Basic Economy and extra peanuts. And if that doesn’t bum you out enough, your friendly neighborhood grocery story is selling your personal data to anyone with a checkbook. On a cheerier note though, the boys work out the kinks on the next great theme-park, X-RayLand. It’s getting easier to make an account on Mastodon Google will retire Chrome’s HTTPS padlock icon because no one knows what it means Facebook furious at FTC after agency proposes ban on monetizing youth data TSMC Outlines 2nm Plans: N2P Brings Backside Power Delivery in 2026, N2X Added To Roadmap Microsoft and AMD are reportedly teaming up to combat Nvidia’s AI dominance AI vs. Hollywood: Writers battle “plagiarism machines” in union talks Harsh Realities of the Writers Strike New Supersonic Technology Designed to Reduce Sonic Booms X-59: NASA’s quest to build a ‘quiet’ supersonic plane Lockheed’s X-59 Aircraft Can Make Silent Sonic Booms How to legalize supersonic flight over land How Companies Learn Your Secrets Your Data Is Shared and Sold… What’s Being Done About It? Forget Milk and Eggs: Supermarkets Are Having a Fire Sale on Data About You How supermarkets get your data – and what they do with it How Data Science and AI are changing Supermarket shopping Does a USB drive get heavier as you store more files on it? The more you save on a flash drive, the lighter it gets? | Hacker News | |||
| My Eyes Are Up Here! | 04 May 2023 | 00:47:29 | |
Likely the most diverse episode of Nonsense to date, this week they touch on everything from five-minute battery swapping in your EV, to dementia patients’ moments of lucidity just before death, and concern around AI forcing supermodels into their second-choice careers; and that’s just the headlines! The boys dig into discussions around Ticketmaster, some of the reasons we hate it, and the current status of the Twitter Clone Wars. There’s quite a bit here to unpack, but we are certain you’ll enjoy double-clicking on it. Most NIO Drivers Prefer Battery Swapping To Recharging Why Do Dementia Patients Become Lucid Before They Die? Microsoft, Activision Blizzard Merger Could Get Blocked For Ten Years ‘Godfather of AI’ quits Google, says new tools could become ‘master manipulators’ Backlash against AI supermodels triggers wider fears in fashion workforce Ticketmaster Acquires Majority of Front Line Management | WIRED What Happened During Congress' Hearing on Ticketmaster and the Taylor Swift Concert Mess Ticketmaster Called a ‘Monopoly’ at Senate Hearing Over Taylor Swift Debacle - The New York Times Ticketmaster says ‘Verified Fan’ registration doesn’t measure fandom. Some fans think it should. The internet deserves a better answer to social | |||
| It's All Computers These Days | 27 Apr 2023 | 00:49:00 | |
The world is shocked as an AI-made song is created by someone other than CJ and Jeff, and then gets pulled down after going viral. Meanwhile, the boys touch on the final (?) ruling keeping the Apple App Store closed, a promising path to regenerating lost hearing, a battery density breakthrough, OpenAI applying for a trademark on GPT, and lots more. They’ll dig deeper into Apple's new high-yield savings account and how already wobbly copyright laws completely fall apart in an AI world. And that Drake & The Weeknd song was for sure not from them, promise. Apple’s App Store can stay closed, but developers can link to outside payments, says appeals court Scientists May Have Figured Out How to Regenerate Lost Hearing World’s largest battery maker announces major breakthrough in energy density Chip designer Arm makes its own advanced prototype semiconductor Snapchat sees spike in 1-star reviews as users pan the ‘My AI’ feature, calling for its removal ‘GPT’ may be trademarked soon if OpenAI has its way History of copyright - Wikiwand Copyright Timeline: A History of Copyright in the United States - Association of Research Who Owns a Song Created by A.I.? - The New York Times Generative AI Has an Intellectual Property Problem Amazon Removes Books From Kindle Paul McCartney Finally Regains Beatles Rights After Near 50-Year-Long Battle Apple Card’s new high-yield Savings account is now available, offering a 4.15 percent APY Goldman Sachs CEO happy with Apple relationship dating back to Steve Jobs' return | |||
| CJ's Five-Year-Old Buys Things off Silk Road | 20 Apr 2023 | 00:42:15 | |
Jeff needs a Zyrtec, CJ tries to type a capital 7, and together they continue the quest to find a jellyfish willing to co-host this very show. Meanwhile, to pass the time, they discuss Montana's TikTok ban, Arkansas bill to keep minors off of social media, technological things they fear, and the newest, coolest tech that's caught their attention. It's the 100% episode! Exclusive: Inside the historic settlement talks between Fox News and Dominion This fake song from Drake and The Weeknd is AI-generated and scary good Over 2,000 Southwest flights delayed after temporary ground stop Actually, Charging Your Phone in a Public USB Port Is Fine Sega confirms it’s buying Angry Birds and pushing into mobile Jamie Dimon wasn’t kidding about his hatred of remote work Apple employees say they’ll quit over Tim Cook’s return-to-office push: ‘F–k RTO’ Map of the Donner Party Route WGA Members Vote Overwhelmingly To Authorize A Strike If No Deal By May 1 Montana’s TikTok Ban Won’t Work Arkansas Makes It Illegal For Minors to Be on Social Media Without Parental Consent Utah's new social media law means children will need approval from parents Visualizing AS32934 (Facebook) BGP Outage Apple Lightning cables keep fraying? These are the Best Tough Alternatives! Iowa Senate Republicans pass bill to relax some child labor laws Why does EVERYONE say "100%" constantly?! | |||
| Dope Francis, Llamas, & The Great Pause | 13 Apr 2023 | 01:00:29 | |
There’s just too much happening in the land of AI to not talk about it more this week, so …. we will. Everything from generating fantastic images of the pope in a puffer jacket, asking current large-language model AIs about mirrored text on glass doors, to exploring the notion of pausing the development of these mega-AIs - Episode 15 has a little bit of everything. And no odd-numbered episode of Nonsense would be complete without a grim update about US-China relations - spoiler alert: they are not getting better. The Open Letter to Stop 'Dangerous' AI Race Is a Huge Mess AI-Generated “Dope Francis” Fools the Internet US Policy on Taiwan and the Perils of ‘Strategic Ambiguity’ Yann LeCun and Andrew Ng: Why the 6-month AI Pause is a Bad Idea | |||
| CornHub, Amazon’s $38bn Ad Business, & Artificial Intelli-vesting | 06 Apr 2023 | 01:03:14 | |
Bet you didn’t know that Amazon is delivering $38bn of ads every year, further blurring the lines between advertising and marketing. We sure didn’t. The guys also explore what “investing” with AI could look like, the recent FCC rules trying to can text SPAM, phones that go boom, and Grandma’s Giant Knockers. We’d rather not put anything else in writing, you’ll just have to listen to the episode. Tesla Cybertruck's Windows Get Smashed Retail, search and Amazon’s $40bn ‘advertising’ business — Benedict Evans Most Americans don’t answer cellphone calls from unknown numbers | Pew Research Center | |||
| Planes, Trains and Innovation | 30 Mar 2023 | 00:48:04 | |
Since the start of the year we’ve covered air travel near-collisions and train derailments, which begs the question: “just how safe is travel these days?” This week the boys take a look at the safety of travel in the US, be it by plane, train, or automobile. Jeff also challenges cj in our first-ever running of the “Invention Inspiration Game”. We will also try to answer why both the FBI & Catholic Church are buying user data, and why you would want to map a fruitfly’s brain. Boeing 787 Dreamliner: ultimate-load wing flex test Opinion | After the Ohio Derailment Disaster, the Rail Industry Can Do Better - The New York Times Precision railroading - Wikiwand The perils of precision scheduled railroading - FreightWaves Paul Fleming (restaurateur) - Wikiwand | |||
| Ditch the Drama, Embrace the Dream: Approaches for Better Sleep (pt. 2) | 07 Aug 2025 | 00:30:06 | |
(0:00) Open (1:01) Tricks For When a Good Night's Sleep Feels Like a Battle (8:55) Melatonin: A Fastlane to REM? (13:22) Dreaming a Little Dream (15:45) Take a Nap, Change Your Life! (18:44) Yoga Nidra & Bed Temperature Control (19:26) The 28 Hour Day (23:15) The Science of Sex & Sleep (25:40) cj’s recommendation: 2024’s IOCCC28 (27:52) Jeff’s Recommendation: The Machinist Ever tried counting sheep only to realize they are already asleep and you're the one they're counting? Yeah, us too! In this episode, we're ditching the boring sleep advice and diving headfirst into the weird, wild, and surprisingly effective world of sleep hacks. From cognitive shuffling, to how to time your daily nap, and what a "28-hour day" could mean for your work-life balance. We’ll even get into the science of why orgasms are a great sleep aid. Let’s ditch the struggle and get some real shut-eye, your well-rested, slightly weirder self will thank you. Official Trailer THE MACHINIST | |||
| ByteDancing in the Dark 💾💃 | 23 Mar 2023 | 00:49:05 | |
We’ve seen several substantial AI drops in the past week alone, and while the boys can’t cover them all, they sure do try here in episode 12. But it’s not all AI this week, they do dig into lie detectors (their history, how they work, and how to defeat them) and the tremendous amount of data we are all shedding on the daily. And, of course, a little, tiny bit of aviation news. Just a little, we promise. “You can't start a fire without a spark, even if we're just bytedancing in the dark” ~ The Boss How to Tell if Someone Is Lying Former CIA Officer Will Teach You How to Spot a Lie l Digiday GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models | |||
| Banks Go Boom | 16 Mar 2023 | 00:48:14 | |
Well, at least the past week has been interesting! Join the boys as they dive deep into the collapse of SVB and the UK Online Safety Bill. Spoiler alert: as it turns out, all the King’s men were able to put the bank back together again (sort of). Your fearless hosts also touch on US drone harassment over the Black Sea, lots of Sargassum, leaky Ring video, transient Tesla steering wheels, and other nonsensical headlines. It’s fun, you’ll laugh, maybe cry, and possibly gain even more esoteric knowledge! Why SVB’s Failure May Cause More Pain for Customers Than Washington Mutual's Did | Barron's The End of Silicon Valley (Bank) – Stratechery by Ben Thompson SVB Collapse: Depositors, Investors Tried to Pull $42 Billion - Bloomberg Secure messaging apps line up to warn UK’s Online Safety Bill risks web security | TechCrunch | |||
| Floppy Disks & Daylight Savings Time Will Outlive Us All | 09 Mar 2023 | 00:49:10 | |
Are you kept awake at night worrying that the myriad of systems in your day-to-day life depends upon floppy disks to function? Well, you will after this episode! And if that doesn’t warp your reality enough, the boys will talk about how all our realities could be altered permanently by Bold Glamour and other filters. Oh yeah, and Daylight Savings Time was initially penned by the guy on the hundo as a JOKE. So much to unpack; you’ll need a nice cup of extra hot tea after this episode! This Beautiful Place In Asia Will Pay You To Visit Why the Floppy Disk Just Won’t Die | WIRED Star Wars Theme on FLOPPOTRON 3.0 Daylight Saving Time Extension Was Part Of Energy, Tax Package: Was It Worth It? | |||