Episode #984: Speaking of Space
First Broadcast: 3/25/24
This week, we're fascinated by news articles about a company that, for the low, low price of only $500 thousand, will send you up in a high-tech balloon to the very upper edge of the Earth's atmosphere, so that you and five other suckers passengers who have also dropped a half-million bucks each for their tickets can have the privilege of eating a meal around 19 miles above sea level, or, as Eater put it, "a fine dining experience in space." The food in this expensive dinner will be provided by Rasmus Munk, a two-Michelin-starred chef who might be best known among some foodies as the creator of a dish named "Tongue Kiss," where edible flowers (among other ingredients) are intended to be licked off an artificial tongue. Now, if eating "aerogel-inspired food" with five other well-heeled capitalists strangers in a capsule floating three times the height of Mount Everest above the Earth is your idea of a good time, then knock yourself out and go for it. However, if you can think of better ways to spend an amount of money that could buy you a small home in some parts of the country (maybe liberating Coyote vs. Acme from its corporate prison would be money better spent?), then perhaps your space tourism can wait another day. (There are cheaper ways to get to the edge of space, after all!) I mean, you don't have to spend your day playing games on LinkedIn to have fun, but surely there's something in between that and a dinner in space that can provide some entertainment! What would the Martians think?
Episode #985: The Cosmic Odometer
First Broadcast: 4/8/24
Getting ready for the eclipse on April 8, 2024? You might still have time to get some eclipse glasses from your local branch of the New York Public Library! Don't worry! The eclipse is not going to destroy the world, no matter what some idiots on the internet might say! I mean, the Jupiter Effect and the year 2012 have long since passed by, and the world's still here! And this is nothing like the Y2K bug, which was prevented from being a cataclysmic event by teams of people working together! Remember that? Working together? Enjoy your astronomic event while you can! And if you're watching this after the above eclipse took place, don't feel bad! There's always another one coming up someday! P.S.: Watch out for those voice clones and self-driving cars!
Episode #986: Because Physics
First Broadcast: 4/15/24
Did you see the eclipse on April 8th? Did you feel the earthquake on April 5th? Are you smart enough to know that eclipses and earthquakes aren't "signs to tell us to repent," despite what a certain Republican politician might think? Are you making plans for future eclipses? Can animals detect future earthquakes? Why did New York City's alerts about the earthquake go out so late? Has the Emergency Broadcast System ever helped anyone? What caused that false alert about incoming missiles in Hawaii in 2018? Are you a member of the reality-based community? Is anyone associated with a certain ex-President capabable of acknowledging reality? Will those people ever admit that he lost the 2020 election? How many of those people will destroy their lives for that man before he finally admits defeat? I'll have more questions next week, I'm sure.
Episode #987: Margin of Error
First Broadcast: 4/22/24
Are you a "super-commuter"? Do you prefer OMNY cards or Metrocards? Do you know how to pay for a fare on the bus? Where are the few OMNY machines out there located? Have you had problems using cash to fill an OMNY card? And why do so many peple use the Chrome web browser? These and other questions may or not be answered in tonight's program--so we have spoken!
Episode #988: It's A Movie
First Broadcast: 4/29/24
This year, 2024, marks the 25th anniversary of the release of the movie The Blair Witch Project, which captivated audiences worldwide with its then-unique take on the "found footage" film concept, ultimately raking in $248 million at the box office--which was quite the haul for a film that was initially shot with an estimated $60,000 budget. However, despite the film's massive success, the three principal actors in the movie--Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael Williams--only earned $300,000 each as a result, and even that was only after their ownership points were bought back from them, forfeiting any other profits they might have been entitled to receive. So, when Lionsgate--the current owner of the "Blair Witch" property--recently announced plans to reboot the franchise, the three actors who were considered synonymous with the film that started it made a public plea for "retroactive" residuals for their past work and "meaningful consultation" on any future work that might make use of their likenesses--a plea endorsed by the original film's directors and producers, no less. Will they succeed in getting a larger piece of the Blair Witch pie? It would be nice if they did! Also: Did you know Microsoft has developed an A.I. program that can generate video and synced audio of a person based on a single still photo and one audio clip of their voice? They aren't releasing it to the public (yet) because of concerns that "it could still potentially be misused for impersonating humans" (check out how they made the Mona Lisa come to life, as an example), which is only slightly comforting, because it begs the question: What happens when this technology does reach the public? What's to stop any number of people from using software like this to damage reputations, manipulate elections, or even instigate armed conflict? I ran out of time to discuss this concept at length, but considering how scary those hypothetical scenarios are, perhaps that's for the best.