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.

references

• IF
• This is 40
• Mark Menjívar's "Refrigerators"
• Geert Hofstede's 6-D model of national culture
• Mr. Oizo's "Flat Beat"
• Mr. Oizo aka Quentin Dupieux

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.

references

• Semaglutide (Ozempic)
• Tadalafil (Cialis)

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.

references

• "Orinoco Flow" by Enya
• Quiplash
• Athena
• Podcast: Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum: PATTON OSWALT: Refusing to Settle, The Issue for Comedians Today & Emotions Reconciling Loss
• "Streest of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen

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.

references

• The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
• Hank Green on X
• How to Bake Pi: An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics by Eugenia Cheng
• The Ezra Klein Show podcast: On Children, Meaning, Media and Psychedelics
• The New Yorker How CoComelon Captures Our Children’s Attention
• Corrections Department: Colloid

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.

references

• How to Bake Pi: An Edible Exploration of the Mathematics of Mathematics by Eugenia Cheng
• Transitive Property
• The Langlands Program: The Biggest Project in Modern Mathematics
• Look Around You

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.

references

• Amelia Bedelia
• Marc Mommaas and the New York Jazz Workshop
• Corrections Department: Miles Davis, not John Coltrane, was the one who didn't fear mistakes.. (Trane was a perfectionist).
• Corrections Department: Count Basie, not Cab Calloway
• Hidden Brain Podcast: You 2.0: Taking Control of Your Time
• Revisiting Critical Nonsense 211!: Question Asking
• Tori Amos "Silent All These Years"
• Deathloop

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.

references

• math rock
• Jay-Z "4:44"