Critical Nonsense

In April, SYLVAIN released an open letter of resistance in response to the chaos of the moment we're in. This is a live reading of that letter, and a reminder that resistance is ongoing.Too many in our industry have been quiet in the face of injustice and uncertainty. Too many important conversations have been relegated to back channels. So we put pen to paper, naming simple truths that have guided our company and actions for 15 years—and will continue to guide us. Have a listen or read the open letter at impact.sylvain.co

What universal truths do you believe in? This week, Joey and Jess talk about database shapes, LLMs, collective human intelligence, apple eating, folk wisdom, and Pi. They don't talk about apple pie, though. references West End Girls Ethan Mollic on the "universal geometry" of meaning The Platonic Representation Hypothesis Doctor Dillamond's Classroom Algospeak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language Study: Association Between Apple Consumption and Physician Visits Honeycrisp apples 

How do you feel about no-phone zones? This week, Joey and Aaron talk about AI, parenting, over-responsibility, constant access, bluetooth speakers, and biking while texting. They don't talk about Nowadays. references Rabbit r1 AI agent The Humane AI Pin The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee The Last Sun by K. D. Edwards The Bobiverse The Traitors Quad Press Release: "81% of Gen Z report wishing it was easier to disconnect from digital devices" 

Do we need to create more with friends? This week, Joey and Jess talk about consuming, the value cycle, parallel play, time horizons, water-based cooking, and Ciabatta. They don't talk about Real Genius. references Superstar "My grand theory of life is to just hammer the shit out of quadrant 4" 

How do we muster the courage? This week, Jess and Joey talk about fear, Inside Out 2, Andor, The Mandalorian, stoking action, and antidotes. They don't talk about booze. references I can run the world from my mama's house. The New York Times: A.G. Sulzberger: A Free People Need a Free Press 

How do we stress professionally? This week, Aaron, Jess, and Joey talk about Cowboy Carter, self-regulation, Frozen, tears, being "professional," and anger. They don't talk about Organized Konfusion. references Self-regulation for adults: Strategies for getting a handle on emotions and behavior Emmanuel Acho on the myth of the 'Angry Black Man' Sister Wives 

How is this world optimized for dating? This week, special guest Chloe returns to chat with Joey about high yield investment strategies, influencers, gender polarization, crushes, the butterfly effect, and Russian hackers. They don't talk about the ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-14. references Nonsense 259! The Trend-Mill Marie Claire: Who is Becca Bloom? Looking for an Explanation in Finance Rumble Boxing 

How do you approach reclaiming or disavowing your creative outputs that you don't love? This week, Aaron, Joey, and Jess talk about Smithee-ing, TV edits, résumé writing, Spike Jonze, sportsball, and the DC Universe. They don't talk about Cordwainer Bird. references "God of Wine" Alan Smithee on IMDB Spike Jonze Charles Barkley The Room Spread your wings 

How good is hi-res for our imagination? This week, Aaron and Jess talk about smoothing, the boundless powers of creativity, Smell-O-Phone/Vision, imagination reconstruction, gaming, and nurturing our sense of play. They don't talk about NHL 98 on Sega Genesis. references The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister Why It's SO Hard to Find a Game You ACTUALLY Like Harvard Business Review: How Generative AI Can Augment Human Creativity Everything Everywhere All At Once - Hot Dog Fingers Scene The Simpsons - 1950's Super Panavision 70 A Minecraft Movie 

How do we make people feel seen? This week, Joey, Jess, and Aaron talk about the burden of eyes, privacy, showing, acknowledging, surprise parties, and social anxieties. They don't talk about the Talking Heads. references Dreaming about Cranberries, sans muffin. Revisiting Critical Nonsense 302! Thought Bottling Critical Incident Stress Debriefing: Helpful, Harmful, or Neither? Observer Principle Hidden Brain Podcast: Relationships 2.0: The Price of Disconnection 

How are we processing uncertainty differently? This week, Joey and Jess talk about Punxsutawney Phil, tariffs, the meme recession, Jason Bourne, Edmonton, and Sam Cooke. They don't talk about the bleak and endless hopelessness of it all. references Corrections Department: There's air in between you and I (even if we're not seventeen) Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson "A Change Is Gonna Come" Corrections Department: The eleven studio albums Sam Cooke recorded and released before his death in 1964 

When do we tool or not tool? This week, Jess and Joey talk about rules aversion, AI, devil hamsters, banana slicers, tool expertise, and simplicity. They don't talk about gaffer tape. references Inc.: After a Tragedy, a Year of Magical Thinking for Sylvain Arc welding 

What do you think makes us spoiled? This week, Jess, Joey, and Aaron talk about The Lululemon Index, air travel, gender-based differences, hard work, Warren Buffett, and shrooms. They don't offer any spoiler alerts. references The Mycelium Network 

Bonus episode: A takeover! Aaron shares his latest edition from SYLVAIN's Progress Report newsletter: To Follow or Not to Follow.For more from SYLVAIN's Progress Report, see progressbysylvain.co.

How should we start bottling things up? This week, Joey and Jess talk about undesired thoughts, Nietzsche, folk wisdom, Marie Kondo, baggage, and forgetting. They don't talk about the Young "Black" Teenagers. references perseverate Improving mental health by training the suppression of unwanted thoughts 

When did we start calling it hibernation and when did hibernating start being a thing? This week, Jess and Joey talk about lux, vitamin D, dopamine, socialization, Groundhog's Day, and disgust thresholds. They don't talk about the late, great Roy Ayers. references You need more lux. 

This week, Jess, Aaron, and Joey celebrate 300(!) episodes of Critical Nonsense by revisiting random episodes. They talked about 121! The Coming-Out Gauntlet and Thick Conversations, 75! Top 3 Things Not to Do in Quarantine, with Clarissa Pharr, 170! Weirder Inspiration, and 158! Buttresses, Tethers, and Grunts. They don't talk about the Rota Fortunae. references Step Brothers Wheelz of Steel Till the Wheels Fall Off Wood Wheel Wheels of Confusion Keep On Movin' Here's Where the Story Ends 

What are the things that we should be treating like corn that's better than corn? This week, Jess and Aaron talk about potatoes, clothing overabundance, plastics recycling, concrete, eating fruits and veggies, and pomegranates. They don't talk about the International Adult Conspiracy's creamed corn agenda. references Theme Songs with Candy CBS Sunday Morning: Critics call out recycling "fraud" by plastics industry Why modern sandwich bread is different from 'real' bread Shucked: The Original Broadway Cast Recording 

Bonus episode: A takeover! Claire Choi shares her latest edition from SYLVAIN's Progress Report newsletter: The State of Wellbeing: Are We Unwell?For more from SYLVAIN's Progress Report, see progressbysylvain.co.

Where are other places where desire paths would be relevant when not talking about sidewalks? This week, Joey and Jess talk about friction, grocery store layouts, Norman doors, incentives, breaking templates, and shopping districts. They don't talk about sneckdowns. references The Bushwhackers Norman Door Do you celebrate sneckdown season? 

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. references Los Angeles Disaster Support Masterlist Mother Jones: Wildfire Smog Is Deadly—But LA's Covid Mask Organizers Have It Covered Reddit: How Sick Day Culture Differs Around the World Parenting in an Individualistic Culture with a Collectivistic Cultural Background: The Case of Turkish Immigrant Families with Toddlers in the Netherlands Eisenhower Matrix If I send you this, it means I'm not going. 

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. references The Atlantic: We're All in ‘Dark Mode' Now Unreal Engine Hazelight Studios Techradar: Nintendo Switch 2: what we know about the next-generation system so far The New York Times: Rebecca Yarros's ‘Onyx Storm' Is the Fastest-Selling Adult Novel in 20 Years A Good Day To Die Hard The Mitchells vs. The Machines The 2024 CrowdStruke outages Vulture: The Brutalist Is Half of a Great Movie "Missing" by Everything But the Girl 

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. references Amanda Stanaway ERA-co WORKTECH Academy: Flight to character: a fightback begins against homogenous global offices by Amanda Stanaway The Atlantic: The Anti-Social Century by Derek Thompson Chicago Booth Review: Humanity Is Carried on the Voice by Nick Epley The Egg Pod 

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. references Oprah: Should You Really Break Up with That Friend? Black Love: How to Grieve Women Friendships That No Longer Serve You Elle: We Need to Talk About Our Ex-Best Friends Friends: Understanding the Power of Our Most Important Relationships by Robin Dunbar Connectome The Atlantic: The Anti-Social Century by Derek Thompson 

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. references twitterpated Yale School of Medicine: Phenylephrine, a Common Decongestant, Is Ineffective, Say FDA Advisors. It's Not Alone Gregorian calendar Ritual, Play and Belief, in Evolution and Early Human Societies by Colin Renfrew National Geographic: "Why do humans embrace rituals? Disease and danger may be at the root of the behaviors." cephalocaudal Gonggong Not-so-late-breaking: OSU microbiologists propose updates to the Linnaean System Recapitulation theory 

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. references Otaku Corrections Department (because of course): Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English by Valerie Fridland easter eggs propinquity Merriam-Webster on X Seth Meyers' Corrections on Late Night 

How did our predictions play out in 2024?This week, Aaron, Jess and Joey look back at their prognogs from Episode 247, discussing AI hardware, energy optimism, Scarlett Johansson, AI slop, EV, algae-based biofuels, the gelatin market, and wide shoes. They don't talk about Jamie Foxx. references Wired: "Everything You Need to Know About Microsoft Copilot+ PCs" Micosoft Blog: Introducing Copilot+ PCs Marques Brownlee Rabbit R1: Barely Reviewable Reuters: Amazon to pilot AI-designed material for carbon removal Milli Vanilli Ashlee Simpson on SNL Energy 101 | Algae-to-Fuels Viridos Retro-Chic Coffee Jelly Kizik The Plucky Squire 

What kernels of truth are there in sci-fi content today that can maybe predict what our smart technological futures will look like? This week, Jess and Joey talk about retrofuturism, the Otis elevator, all things Dymaxian, AI, post-scarcity society and ship names. They don't talk about our dystopian present. references Christmas in Connecticut Otis Elevator Dymaxion Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson Corrections Department: Neuromancer by William Gibson Iain M. Banks' Culture series Post-scarcity Neural Lace Neuralink The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks Humans Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky 

What do we do with Cultural Beige? This week, Aaron and Joey talk about cultural homogenization, algorithms, local commerce, international culture, outliers and Charli XCX. They don't talk about Christian Bale or J. G. Ballard. references Empire Of The Sun "Walking On A Dream" Empire Of The Sun "Alive" @ The Hollywood Bowl 11/23/24 Sabrina Carpenter "Espresso" terroir Sammy McCormack: "How Janet Jackson Made 'If'" Sammy McCormack: "How Britney Spears Made 'Break The Ice'" Froggy Fresh Timbaland feat. OneRepublic "Apologize" Cam'ron and Mase: It Is What It Is 

Why haven't we figured out hybrid yet? This week, Jess and Joey talk about remote working, cost structures, collaborative tools, individual flexibility, speaker microphones, and body language. They don't talk about sensory processing issues and how they impact in-person productivity. references Yegor Denisov-Blanch on software engineering productivity Reddit response to Yegor Denisov-Blanch Entenmann's Donuts Torus 

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. references Feng Shui Modern by Cliff Tan Boggle Five Senses Exercise How to use 4-7-8 breathing for anxiety Yahtzee 

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. references Piaget's 4 Stages of Cognitive Development Explained Ray Kurzweil Ship of Theseus Fermi paradox Spin by Robert Charles Wilson Kardashev scale Telomere Dr. David Sinclair 

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. references Maggie Rogers The Unflustered Mom: How Understanding the Five Anxiety Styles Transforms the Way We Parent, Partner, Live, and Love by Amber Trueblood This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life by David Foster Wallace liminality Boom 

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.

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. references Werewolf Bar Mitzvah The Ballad of the Witches' Road (Agatha Through Time Version) Pascal's wager Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE): How It Works r/Fire Run's House 

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. references Hemingway on bankruptcy The Three Mile Island accident Overton window Tokamaks 

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 

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. references The Science of Cycology: can you draw a bicycle? Penny-farthing Tall bike Brompton Velocipede The Asahi Shimbun: High school kids build Edo Period tricycle out of home center buys Rack City, bitch The New York Times: The Hustlers Who Make $6,000 a Month by Gaming Citi Bikes Red Panda Rascal Rides: 10 Best Family Cargo Bikes For Hauling Your Kids 

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" 

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. references Rusted Root Polyphonic Spree The New York Times: Not Even the Inside of Your Fridge Is Safe From Decorating @weirdoldfood MTV Cribs The Independent (UK): Marie Kondo says she's ‘kind of given up' on cleaning HGTV Secret Revealed! Why Books Are Always Backwards The New Yorker: The Rise and Fall of the Trad Wife Southern Living: Cluttercore Is The Design Trend That Embraces More The Easiest Way to Hang a Gallery Wall IKEA Kreativ 

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. references Hair/Glam Metal Chamois vs. chamois leather Major 7th chord Curtis Mayfield "Little Child Running Wild" Clyde Stubblefield, the Funky Drummer Puff Daddy + Biggie + Mase "Been Around the World" David Bowie "Let's Dance" Brian Eno's “The Big Ship” and Me and Earl and The Dying Girl Klaus Badelt "Pirates Of The Caribbean" Sufjan Stevens "Mystery of Love" Scrotal Recall aka Lovesick 

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. references CERN Higgs boson Large Hadron Collider The ITER Tokamak The Life of Dolly Baikonur Cosmodrome Micropia Amplituhedron 

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. references Stroboscopes Metric Fucktonne Adriana Ruano Stephen Nedoroscik What are Phryges? Everything to know about the Paris 2024 mascot 

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. references Sambas Control System Shock 

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. references Subscribe to our Progress Report newsletter progressbysylvain.co Inside Out 2 The 6 Types of Basic Emotions and Their Effect on Human Behavior Compound facial expressions of emotion: from basic research to clinical applications Time: The Real Science Behind the Animated Emotions of Inside Out 2 Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows: sonder 

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. references Tea etymology Why Are We Yelling? by Buster Benson PEMDAS