Weird Things

Latest Episodes:

AT: Vintage Data Aug 20, 2023

Show notes

There’s actually too much to watch now. Can a 20-year-old book give us a sign on the next steps of online media? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: The Long Tail from Chris Anderson and FREE from Chris Anderson

WT: Flappy Bear Back Aug 19, 2023

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The episode opens with a discussion of a viral Chinese zoo story in which sun bears were mistaken by some viewers for people in costumes. The hosts joke about the bears' upright posture and sagging skin making them look suspiciously human, but they ultimately treat them as real bears with odd anatomy rather than a hoax. Later, the conversation moves through LK-99 and the speed of scientific debunking, a broader discussion of pessimism about progress, then several space-and-Moon topics including the lunar south pole, water ice, lunar bases, and far-side radio astronomy. The episode ends with picks: Brian recommends Project Hail Mary and The Afterparty, Bryce recommends Planet of the Bass, Andrew recommends Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, and Justin recommends What We Do in the Shadows. Key topics Visual ambiguity of sun bears standing upright: The hosts repeatedly note that sun bears can look like people in costumes because of their posture and body shape, but they conclude they are real bears. Zoo publicity jokes: They joke about boosting zoo attendance by making animals look even more costume-like, including zippers, bows, hot pants, and I Voted stickers. Trained goldfish and magic performance skepticism: The hosts discuss a Chinese TV performance featuring synchronized goldfish and speculate about whether it involved real training or hidden stagecraft. Scientific reproducibility and LK-99: The conversation frames LK-99 as a case study in rapid testing, reproducibili

AT: It Was a One-Of-A-Kind Aug 06, 2023

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We can see our boundaries of “The Internet” fading and being lost to time. What does permanence in data mean? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Justin: Audio Hijack Brian: Airplane II: The Sequel Bryce: Paste

WT: eDumper Breaks The Internet Aug 05, 2023

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The episode opens with a long discussion of LK-99, the South Korean room-temperature superconductor claim. The hosts explain why superconductors would matter for power transmission, motors, microprocessors, and other electrical systems, then compare the situation to cold fusion and stress that the central question is whether the result can be replicated consistently. They discuss the reported magnet behavior, note that tiny samples and experimental error make the evidence hard to interpret, and repeatedly frame the story as exciting but still unproven. Later, the show moves into a puzzle about an electric work vehicle that has supposedly operated for years without needing a battery charge. After a series of jokes and guesses, they identify it as the E-Dumper, a giant electric dump truck in Switzerland that hauls rock from a quarry and recharges on the downhill run while loaded. The episode then shifts into a speculative alien-contact game, where the hosts brainstorm obvious, large-scale messages or structures an advanced civilization might leave for Earth, and finally closes with media recommendations including What We Do in the Shadows, Fight for Your Right Revisited, and They Cloned Tyrone. Key topics Why room-temperature superconductors would be transformative: The hosts explain that superconductors with effectively zero resistance could reduce heat loss in power grids, improve motors, increase efficiency in microprocessors, and benefit other electrical systems. Replicabil

AT: Rolling Around Jul 30, 2023

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Bryce talks out a new idea for LFG Marbles: a patron race series with changes to appeal to live and video-on-demand viewers. What are the stakes? What are the comps? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”

WT: Lionless in Kleinmachnow Jul 29, 2023

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The episode opens with discussion of a false emergency alert in Kleinmachnow outside Berlin about a supposed lioness. The hosts explain that police initially reacted to dark video and public reports, but later concluded the animals were wild boars, and they use the story to talk about misidentification, pattern recognition, and social contagion in sightings. The middle of the episode turns to a study on rhesus macaques in Puerto Rico. The hosts discuss reported same-sex behavior, a small heritable component, and possible evolutionary explanations such as alliance-building, increased access to females, or simple aggression/virility, while keeping the interpretation cautious. Later, the hosts cover NASA Plus, an ad-free no-cost streaming service for live mission coverage and original content, and then get sidetracked by an unexplained thumping sound that they joke may be a ghost. The episode closes with Cotard's syndrome and its nihilistic delusions, followed by the usual picks segment. In the picks segment, Justin recommends Barbie and Oppenheimer as movies that were both worth seeing and discussing, Bryce recommends a Veilfisk YouTube video where ChatGPT designs a tabletop game, and Brian recommends Marvel Snap, especially after reaching the highest rank. Key topics Kleinmachnow lioness scare and false sightings: The transcript says police first thought a lioness was in Kleinmachnow, but later found only boars. The hosts discuss how dark footage, public reports, and prior bel

AT: Rosetta Ravings Jul 23, 2023

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Artificial intelligence? P’shaw! Give me artificial languages! What could you do with an artificial or minimal language to benefit humanity? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Mini Language on Medium Bryce: Things app

WT: Universe Manifest Destiny? Jul 22, 2023

Show notes

Andrew opens by talking about how he uses ChatGPT and related tools throughout his work and daily life, arguing that AI is already accelerating coding, research, and other tasks. From there the conversation expands into a speculative case that widespread AI, more abundant intelligence, cheaper manufacturing, and improved energy systems could make a much more expansive future possible, including Starfleet-like space development, orbital habitats, and terraforming. The discussion then turns to the mechanics and scale of space travel, especially the difficulty of slowing down at the destination. Andrew describes beam propulsion and other near-relativistic ideas for reaching places like Alpha Centauri, but emphasizes that braking and destination infrastructure are the hard parts. The second half of the episode shifts into ethics: how to think about non-interference, the prime directive, slavery, genocide, refugees, uncontacted tribes, and whether the right moral response is to preserve cultures or offer individuals an exit and a choice. Key topics AI as an accelerator for research and work: Andrew says he uses ChatGPT constantly for work, research, coding, and everyday tasks, and that it lets him get much more done. From current AI to future abundance: Andrew argues that current AI progress suggests broader acceleration in many fields, including biology, engineering, manufacturing, and energy. Star Trek-style post-scarcity thinking: The hosts riff on Starfleet, the Federation, an

AT: PublisherBot w/ Dr. Daniel Simons Jul 16, 2023

Show notes

A casual extra chat with Dr. Daniel Simons about diagnosticians, expertise information, and Andrew’s blockbuster formula to make best-selling book. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Be sure to check out Dr. Simons’s “Nobody’s Fool”

WT: Never Fooled w/ Dr. Daniel Simons Jul 15, 2023

Show notes

The episode is a conversation with Dan Simons about his book Nobody's Fool and the general ways people get deceived. The discussion moves through examples from chess cheating, fraudulent research data, social media sharing, and everyday scams to show how suspicious regularity, incentives, and expectation bias can hide deception or honest mistakes. Evidence includes the chess tournament anecdote, the odometer study fraud case, and the repeated emphasis on truth bias and confirmation bias (L33-L34, L41-L49, L77-L85, L109-L110, L169-L170). A second major thread is practical skepticism: when it is worth checking carefully, when it is impossible or undesirable to distrust everything, and what kinds of controls can help. The speakers use the Van Halen brown M&M story as a positive control, discuss allergies and expensive purchases as high-stakes cases, and end by recommending the book and bookshop.org. Evidence includes the trust/limits discussion, the positive-control example, the allergy and art examples, and the closing promotional exchange (L169-L170, L179-L189, L199-L201, L211-L213, L347-L357, L359-L373). Key topics Suspicious regularity as a fraud signal: The episode repeatedly highlights that fake or manipulated activity often leaves patterns that do not match real-world behavior, such as odd chess timing, flat mileage distributions, or duplicated spreadsheet data. Confirmation bias and truth bias: The guests stress that people tend to accept claims that fit what they alread

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