Shows
‘funny,’ not funny“Perfect Days” and “Anselm” by Wim Wenders | topic: cassette culture, art, photography, zen | Jim & LionelLionel and Jim dive into two of the more recent Wim Wender's films "Perfect Days" and "Anselm" and discuss the common themes of his style of filmmaking. This also brings up Chuck Ramiriez, a photographer Lionel likes from San Antonio. This episode is pieced together from two shorter ones we recorded on consecutive days.What the Riverside AI says:“The conversation delves into the themes of simplicity in daily rituals and the nostalgia associated with cassette culture, highlighting how these elements contribute to the overall experience of the film being discussed.”Going forward, we will be livecasting the recording of thes...
2025-11-191h 18‘funny,’ not funny“How Did You Like Them Apples?” | topic: Trent Reznor, Moneyball, The Red Sox, Album Titles | Jim & LionelThis episode was recorded on September 17, 2025 and is being released late, because of an oversight. Jim starts with an inane idea for a rewrite of the song Closer by Trent Reznor, and we move on to talk about album and book titles, Money Ball, and the Red Sox.Jim mentions his time lurking on TikTok, noting the new atheist and deconstruction movements in the "live" forums on that platform. Lionel and Jim discuss the merits or lack there of in the deconstruction movement. Jim mentions Batcolyte aka Thrayle who has a forum in which people question their beliefs. Others Jim...
2025-11-121h 00‘funny,’ not funnyHistory of Buddhism, the Journey Continues | topic: Buddhism, Yoga, History | Lionel & JimJim starts by explaining his micro-yoga routine, if it can be called a routine. Once we dispose of this ridiculousness, we return to Donald S. Lopez's book Buddhism: A Journey Through History, having read a little further. We decide that it lacks a lot of what we want in a history of anything, which is an perspective on how the practice effected the lives of people under it's sway. We felt a little let down by the strict recounting of conflicts between the various schools without a view into what the differences in those schools represented. This draws to a...
2025-11-0453 min‘funny,’ not funnyBuddhism Through History: An Exhausting Journey | topic: Buddhist History by Donald S. Lopez Jr. | Jim & LionelLionel and I read part of the book Buddhism: A Journey Through History by Donald S. Lopez Jr. This ended up being the first of two discussions we would have about this challenging and exhaustive, though not entirely complete accounting of one of the world's major religions.The following summary was generated by AI automatically on Riverside. I did not ask for it, but included it here anyway. I edited it a bit and took out parts that were inaccurate. - JimThis conversation delves into the complexities of Buddhism, exploring its historical roots, various schools such as Mahayana and Theravada...
2025-10-271h 02‘funny,’ not funny“A Rollicking Bad Time” | topic: Dominion by Tom Holland, Fallout TV show, NY State Fair | Jim & LionelLionel talks about his visit to the New York State Fair and bringing his Big Brother companion. Jim admits that he misunderstood the direction to read the book Dominion, a book about the history of Christianity, which Lionel has started and discusses. Jim talks about the TV show and video game Fallout and recommends the TV show to Lionel. Jim then launches on a monologue about his experience listening to arguments about theology on social media. We talk about the usefulness or lack thereof of having these sorts of debates.
2025-09-2453 min‘funny,’ not funny“This DID happen to me!” | topic: Jim's new place, new Star Treks, The History of the Twentieth C, Flat Earthers | a conversation with Jim & LionelWe have begun Season 6 of ‘Funny,’ Not Funny with Jim & Lionel.Jim talks about his recent major life upheaval, watching the new Star Trek shows on Paramount, including The Lower Decks, Discovery, Picard, and Strange New Worlds. Lionel discusses the podcast "The History of the Twentieth Century" the one with the XX in the icon. Jim relays his experience going down the rabbit hole of the Flat Earth YouTube videos.
2025-09-0355 min‘funny,’ not funny“Hi Henry!” | topic: Black Flag, St. Augustine, Stanley Tucci, Andor 2 | a conversation with Lionel and JimWe start by talking about Newbury Comics on Newbury Street in Boston, and then a bit about Jim's adventures bringing a teenage crowd to see Black Flag when he was an RA at Bennington College. We talk about Jim's attempt to read St. Augustine, and actually find something interesting to talk about regarding that religious work. We talk about a public lecture given by a Yale Professor as part of the free lecture series on the early middle ages.Here is a link to the lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiPJq7-5lH4We move on the Stanley...
2025-06-051h 12‘funny,’ not funnyENCORE EPISODE: “The Modern I Ching Oracle” | topic: Book of changes, graphic design, inspiration deck | a conversation with Catherine PilfreyCatherine Pilfrey returns to the podcast to talk about her new creation: The I Ching Oracle card deck: a 64-card illustrated deck and guidebook. Catherine Pilfrey is a designer, and meditation teacher who has been consulting the I Ching Oracle for 25 years. We start talking about the death of Norman Lear and increasingly long life spans for some people.Catherine talks about the process of creating the deck, and her own experience using the I Ching in the past. She mentions the original methods of yarrow sticks and coins and how the cards are different. Catherine says she was...
2025-05-281h 09‘funny,’ not funny“Wheels Up In 5!” | topic: Lights On by Annika Harris, Revisionist History & The Nazi Olympics | a conversation wth Lionel & JimJim touts the fun of assembling furniture from Ikea. His coat stand was BONDSKÄRET and the lamp was VIDJA. Lionel scores a victory in pinpointing the very first Ikea store in the USA from memory. Jim talks about an audio documentary he's been listening to in audiobook format called Light On: How understanding consciousness helps us understand the universe by Annika Harris. Lionel interrupts with a story about his exploration of quantum computing by 3blue1brown on Youtube. Jim brings it back to his reflections on the books which tie in well with his own personal experiences in meditation. A...
2025-05-1457 min‘funny,’ not funny“I've learned to live with a lot of things.” | topic: Darkman, Dark City, D&D, Star Trek, Information Security | Jim & LionelThere are some politics in this episode, but we manage to get that under control. Jim starts by comparing Severance to the Labyrinth of Greek mythology. Lionel tells Jim about the Darkman comics. The Dungeons and Dragons movie was brought up again, as well as some critique of the newer Star Trek films with Chris Pine. We move into the MCU with Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy. We go from talking about movies featuring Tilda Swinton to data security to open mics, to Dar William’s new book, to the wilds of Massachusetts. Finally, with a gasp and a...
2025-04-091h 00‘funny,’ not funny“The Utica Train Station” | topic: Severance, Signal, Stargate, GenX memes | Severance Theory with Julia TenneyWe start by talking about Ketamine, Signal, and the protest in Somerville over the seizing of the Tufts student: Rumeysa Ozturk. At the time of this recording, it had just happened. Lionel breaks political talk silence by relating a personal story to the Signal fiasco. Julia says she was using Signal and Signal type apps when communicating with people at orbs.spheres. Julia then schools Lionel and Jim on the Discordian religion as the aftermath of the Church of the SubGenius.Finally, we start to talk about the popular tv series Severance, which Lionel did not enjoy.I would write...
2025-04-021h 12‘funny,’ not funny“Ask Your Grocer” | topic: Dopesick, Brian Aldiss, Arcane | Jim and LionelJim starts by sharing his excitement about his new super minimal reading glasses, wallet, and bank account. Lionel talks about how music gear reviewers are almost always biased toward the gear they are sent for free. Jim recommends the tv series Dopesick, recommended by our guest Nyadenya from a few weeks ago. Dopesick is a fictionalized drama about the Sackler family and their role in the oxycontin epidemic, as shown by a series of characters. Michael Keaton plays a small town West Virginia doctor who starts to see the horror of opioid addiction in his community. Jim points out irony...
2025-03-1949 min‘funny,’ not funnyENCORE EPISODE: “Not Everything Ends with the Iron Maiden.” | topic: Our conversation from two years ago | a conversation with Lionel & JimLionel and Jim discuss email woes, Bitcoins and Blockchains by Antony Lewis, Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson, more Neal Stephenson, The Cloud, Jim’s reading of Chromaspace Conscript by Megan Alnico, the nature of money, and Jeff Bezos’ yacht (again.)Photo credit: Fred Romero from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.References: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S3~dot~05-Iron-Maiden/
2025-03-1254 min‘funny,’ not funny“I feel old and foolish now” | topic: Hundreds of Beavers, A Complete Unknown, Putin's People, Jesse Welles | Jim & LionelWe begin by talking about Hundreds of Beavers and move into Jim’s experience with the Raw Diet and Johnny Gottado.From there we talk about food delivery and inactivity.We talk about A Complete Unknown and Dylan’s life in general from Jim’s recollections of interviewing Dave Van Ronk, and Jim’s reading of Dylan’s autobiography Chronicles.We touch on the band Boston and the Rockman, and They Might Be Giants, but only because our brains keep bouncing around.Lionel talks about the jazz station KRTU and how real winter has arrived in Syracuse. Jim mentions the book Putin...
2025-02-1257 min‘funny,’ not funny“Everything is due to accident” | topic: The Soul of Money, After Yang, Rogue Heroes, and the fall of USSR | a conversation with Lionel & JimWe discuss the making of video clips for promoting our podcast and the futility thereof. The unruly beard is disparaged. Lionel brings up an episode of CSI where a civil war re-enactor was killed and found to be wearing a girdle as a response to Jim's thought experiment of having to be sewn into his clothes like foot soldiers in the civil war. We talk about the history men's fashion, men's vanity, and men's impossible expectations for both men and women.Next, Jim brings up a book he had recently consumed called The Soul of Money by Lynn Twist, which...
2025-01-151h 02‘funny,’ not funny“Misa No Kinda Wizard!” | topic: Luigi Mangione, Eat The Rich, Dune, LOTR | a conversation with Lionel & JimDo billionaires deserve our empathy? We passively mention the Brian Thompson murder, and Jim’s portrayal of The Vengeance in his books. Do we need the profit motive to create new drugs and medical treatments? Cialis, Viagra, and Ozempic all started out as drugs for different things than what they were intended. It’s the Bell Labs situation in another instance. Were the inventions from those labs worth paying ridiculous long distance rates? We don’t know. We talk about China hacking our phones and the relationship to aging networks and the search for spies. This leads into a discussion about...
2025-01-081h 02‘funny,’ not funny“This is just doing biz.” | topic: John Hawkwood, Robert Hughes, Terraforming as fantasy, Siberiad | a conversation with Jim & LionelLionel and Jim discuss a myriad of subjects this week with a subtile common thread. We move from Jim's recent experience with jury duty to return to discussing the novel The Devil’s Broker by Frances Stonor Saunders. From there we revisit the Steerswoman series with Jim's experience reading book 3: The Lost Steersman. Lionel has been left behind on these books, but talks about The Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem.In the end we land on the documentary about Robert Hughes and the downfall of the art world called The Mona Lisa Curse discovered for Lionel by (who else) Johnathan Coulthart, yo...
2024-12-181h 06‘funny,’ not funny“The Lassiter” | topic: Mercenaries in the Dark Ages, Prague Diaries, Firefly, Stanislaw Lem | A conversation with Lionel & JimLionel and Jim talk about the book "The Devil's Broker" by Frances Stonor Saunders and about mercenaries and what happens when peace breaks out and they don't get paid. We also discuss Laurie Anderson, the dawn and death of classical synthesizer music, Dune Prophecy, briefly - more on this later, the Prague Diaries TV series, Firefly, and books by Stanislaw Lem. A rollicking good time.
2024-12-111h 08‘funny,’ not funny“Meditation is a human thing.” ENCORE EPISODE | topic: Meditation, Buddhism | A conversation with Catherine Pilfrey, Matthew Bellows, and Jim Rosen.Encore episode from January 2023Jim Rosen, Catherine Pilfrey, Matthew Bellows, and Jim Infantino have been teaching meditation online for almost 3 years as part of a twice weekly session that meets Tuesdays and Thursdays called Mindful Aware. In this episode, Matt, Jim, Jim, and Catherine answer Lionel’s questions about meditating online and discuss the practice of teaching meditation from a western perspective.References: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S3~dot~02-Mindful-Aware/
2024-12-041h 03‘funny,’ not funnyOutskirters | topic: The Steerswoman series and The City and The City | a conversation with Julia Tenney & Sarah ElkinsWe discuss two novels in this episode, the first, The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein, was suggested to us by Sarah Elkins. The second, The City & The City by China Miéville was suggested by Jim to Lionel and then by Lionel to the group. This four person book series seems to be a thing with us. We enjoyed ourselves, I hope you do too.
2024-11-271h 05‘funny,’ not funny“Unusual in unusual ways” | topic: the movie Vice, The Americans, Slow Horses, Azimov | a conversation with Jim and LionelThis conversation would qualify for ASMR in terms of the pacing and tone, except that we discuss the movie Vice with Christian Bale. Jim talks about his impressions of it and Lionel talks about a number of books and movies he's been watching, including 'Mordecai,' and Isaac Asimov's 'The Gods Themselves.' We talk about our viewings of The Americans, comparing the espionage in it to the behind the scenes machinations of Dick Cheney in the Bush Whitehouse. We end up getting ready for the election, which, by the time you hear this, has already happened.
2024-11-0643 min‘funny,’ not funny“A face for radio.” | topic: Video podcasting, Biking, Life Hacks, movies | a conversation with Jim and LionelLionel and Jim talk about producing this podcast for video, which you can see in a separate post. The thumbnail did not show up but it's available from youtube - unlisted as of this posting. We also discuss transitions and productivity at work and our trip down the Empire Trail in New York State. We end up discussing two films which were first timers for Lionel and repeats for Jim: Mystery Men and In Bruges.
2024-10-1454 min‘funny,’ not funny“I come from a long line of orphans.” | topic: The Bubonic Plague | a conversation with Jim & LionelThis one was recorded while Jim was in New York City at Rivendell (Peter Cooper Villiage) in the last homely house (his mom's apartment) with his daughters visiting his mom. We talk about Norman Cantor's In the Wake of the Plague, and touch on some other books about similar subjects before veering off to discuss Napoleonic surgeons, The Watchmen, and Lionel's idea for R.U.N.A.I.Refrences
2024-09-1242 min‘funny,’ not funny“Bang on, killer virus!” | topic: TikTok Algorithm, The Printing Press, and Autonomous by Annalee Newitz | A conversation with Lionel & JimThis week Lionel and Jim talk about the TikTok algorithm, Roy Casagranda, AB testing at PayPal in the 2000s, Survey Groups and Polling, The Bonfire of The Vanities ny Tom Wolfe, the real date of the Fall of the Roman Empire, The Printing Press As An Agent Of Change by Elizabeth Eisenstein, and Autonomous by Analee Newitz.References here: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S5~dot~02-Bang-on-Killer-Virus/
2024-09-0557 min‘funny,’ not funny“It's more fascinating to say 'riveting.'” | topic: Ennio Morricone, AI, & political assassination attempts | a conversation with Jim & LionelIn our final episode of a very long Season 4, Jim and Lionel talk about soundtracks, synthesizers, the limits of AI growth, political assassinations, and communication skills. From Ennio Morricone to Vangelis, from the Yamaha CS-80 to the Oberheim OBX, from Ed Zitron to The Paris Peace Talks, from Condoleezza Rice to the George Clemenceau shooter, we cover everything.References coming soon.
2024-08-301h 06‘funny,’ not funny“We Yuck Your Yum” | topic: The Watchmen, The Empire Bike Trail, Gattaca | A conversation with Jim and LionelIMPORTANT: This was recorded July 17th, 2024. We have an enormous backlog of shows right at the time when everything is changing rapidly. So Kamala was not the candidate at the time of this recording.Lionel and Jim talk about riding bikes along the Empire Trail, The Watchmen franchise, Gattaca, Ernest Borgnine, and more. References forthcoming at funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/
2024-08-231h 01‘funny,’ not funny“Hopefully, we will all go forward” | topic: various TV, Movies, Books, & Music | a conversation with Lionel and JimA lazy summer conversation between Lionel and Jim in which Jim talks about his adventures in recording his band’s new album and checks in with Lionel to discuss books, movies, and tv shows of interest. Check the references for information and links for each item discussed.
2024-08-071h 10‘funny,’ not funny“It's stuck in the mud.” (ENCORE EPISODE) | topic: data centers, big industrial development trends | A conversation with Damien CassinI chose this episode to encore because the amount of data centers in use for AI has recently been in the news. Damien was talking about this a year and a half ahead of time. - JimBrothers revisited! This week, Lionel’s brother Damien joins us to talk about big construction, data centers for crypto mining and AI, modern art in the Hudson Valley, The M1 Abrams Tank, hybrids vs. electric cars, problems with money and guns, the end of work, and what’s still great about the United States of America.References: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S3~dot~...
2024-07-101h 09‘funny,’ not funny“The flavor of a typeface” | topic: typography, graphic design | a conversation with Jim HoodJim Hood, a graphic designer experienced in naming and brand development, typography, communication, and environmental graphics joins the podcast to talk about typography. One important thing we learned is that it was his class in the 90s that developed the standard for the typeface pictogram on Wikipedia. We discuss this, and many, many typefaces. Jim Hood came to my (Jim I) office, so the microphone drifts a little bit. I (Jim I) did my best to fix it after the fact. Adding all typographical references to our website: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S4~dot~45-Jim-Hood/https://hooddesign.com...
2024-07-0355 min‘funny,’ not funny“Why do we have 2 screens?” | topic: film making, leadership, Oppenheimer | a conversation with Andrew SilverAndrew Silver is a research affiliate at MIT where he leads a seminar on leadership and film. He is a film director, producer, and writer of many films including Radio Cape Cod, Next Door, and Profiles In Aspiration.Jim recorded his half of this podcast from his home, where champagne was added to the mix of the conversation. Andrew, Jim, and Lionel discuss a variety of films with regard to leadership in varying degrees, starting with Oppenheimer, but with attention paid to the previous attempts at a biopic of the "father of the atomic bomb," then Barbie, and Dune, which...
2024-06-261h 12‘funny,’ not funny“You're gonna love it here.” | topic: music, forgiveness | a conversation with Peter MulveyPeter Mulvey joins the pod in person, sitting side by side with Jim in the Slabmedia offices this week. We talk about his career in songwriting, hitting a little on themes and methods, but also on inspiration, and a long history of work. Jim mentions Peter's TED talk about his book Vlad the Astrophysicist. We talk about the creation of his recordings: Notes from Elsewhere and More Notes from Elsewhere and play some clips from recent albums, Are You Listening?, There Is Another World, and Love Is The Only Thing featuring SistaStrings.On the literary front, Peter talks about reading...
2024-05-301h 15‘funny,’ not funny“Go go go go go, the end.” | topic: The Rise & Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland. | a conversation with Jim & LionelWe begin by espousing the benefits of corduroy jackets, move on to quality problems at Jim’s childhood bagel shop, lambaste The Onion, and wave the flamethrower of curmudgeonliness at perceived modern production optimization techniques. We then talk about our varying perceptions of the state of Connecticut. Jim mentions Rein’s Deli, where a photo of his band hangs on the wall. Lionel remembers his time growing up in that state.On to the sujet de la semaine–The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O., a novel by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland. Jim is a fan of the ch...
2024-05-151h 06‘funny,’ not funny“Swindon” | a conversation with Jim and LionelWe start by talking about what we like and don’t like about the band Cheekface. It’s mostly like. Then we talk about the novel Heavy Weather by P.G. Woodhouse. We talk about the line through Red Dwarf from that author and style of writing. We go on to discuss The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Nighttime by Mark Haddon and we discuss what we find dark and light about that novel. Lionel felt a lot of the influence of the band XTC in the story, which takes place in Swindon.We move on to discuss Char...
2024-05-091h 04‘funny,’ not funny“The Letraset Revival Society” | topic: Our 100th Episode | a conversation with Julia TenneyJulia Tenney joins us for what we are pretty sure is the 100th episode of our obscure podcast. Depending on how you count, considering that Jim forgot to press record on episode 2 of Season 1 (so, not counted) and there were some encore episodes (so, not counted) this one should be the actual 100th.We start by talking about Jim’s new apple watch and then veer perpendicularly headlong into Pokémon Go. Then we discuss the recent eclipse and all of our various vantage points. Julia says that she thinks the dawn of science must have coincided with experiences of ecl...
2024-05-021h 27‘funny,’ not funny“Start accepting it.” | a conversation with Jim & LionelThis week we talk about The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. Suggested by Julia Tenney, this book deals with regrets we've felt throughout life and wishing we could go back and fix things. Lionel contrasts this book with The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Nighttime by Mark Haddon. The conversation turns to a book Jim wants to write about acceptance and meditation. We finish up by talking about the recent total eclipse, and our two vantage points, and how unlikely and precious our earth and universe is. Short description this time, but this pretty much covers our conversation...
2024-04-241h 07‘funny,’ not funnyThe Three Body Problem | a conversation with Lionel & JimLionel talks about The Three Body Problem, both the novels by Liu Cixin and the Netflix series. We contrast the style of this series with our recent reads. Lionel contrasts the tv show with Red Queen on Prime. Back to The 3 Body Problem again, we discuss the ideas of Alastair Reynolds (not Ian) and killer alien traps.We then launch into an enervating discussion of doing taxes and finding a general practitioner. This only lasts 12 minutes, so you might want to fast forward.We talk about the different styles of writing in Science Fiction and the origins in pulp fiction...
2024-04-1050 min‘funny,’ not funny“Behind every great fortune there is a crime.” | a conversation with Lionel & JimLionel and Jim start by inexplicably talking about oat and almond milk. Lionel talks about how he considers upstate New York New England as per American Nations by Colin Woodard. We run through some of the "Nations" again. They touch quickly on tax season before Jim talks about his read of Burn Book: A Tech Love Story by Kara Swisher. Naturally, this leads us to Calvinism in America. Jim asserts with no real authority, that John Calvin was a kind of logician who was a religious writer. His point is that Americans tend to imbue the rich with knowledge and...
2024-03-261h 01‘funny,’ not funny“Wanting to go back and change things” | a conversation with Julia TenneyWe start by talking about the possible death of TikTok in the USA and move on to introduce Julia Tenney and marvel over her pysanky eggs, the methods for their creation, and their Ukrainian and eastern European roots. Lionel discusses the historical Piranesi and his sketches. This leads us to talk about dreams and their origins and consequences. We launch into a discussion of Dune, the books by Frank Herbert, and a little about the first recent movie. None of us had seen the second. Lionel mentions his enjoyment of the movie Bullet Train, directed by David Leitch, not Guy...
2024-03-201h 15‘funny,’ not funny“The king of the bad guys” | a conversation with Lionel & JimDiscussion of Bram Stoker’s Dracula starts with Jim trying to do a Boston Brahmin accent, and talks about his daughter’s inexplicable accent when she was younger. They move on to talk about xenophobia in the book, alongside the treatment of the other in Frankenstein. We return to Mary Shelley’s work repeatedly to compare and contrast. Lionel mentions all the new technology occurring in Bram Stoker’s book. Jim compares the book favorably to the movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula with Gary Oldman. Lionel mentions the film Renfield with Nicholas Cage. Jim maintains that the book is really about the...
2024-03-121h 10‘funny,’ not funny“Erratica” | a conversation with Jim & LionelJim opens with a thread sent regarding the previous episode on Frankenstein. They incongruously launch into a debate about artificial sweeteners. We get back on track discussing the Transcendentalist movement and what came after, as written about in The Metaphysical Club. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. is one of the main characters. Lionel asserts that he is the father of legal positivism, but that was Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.Lionel mentions another character, Charles Sanders Peirce (aka Chauncy), who handled a disputed will in a large whaling industry family with the case of a forged signature.Lionel mentions that he re-read Th...
2024-03-0655 min‘funny,’ not funny“The Mind Bind” | a conversation with Lionel & JimAfter some audio problems at the start, we start talking about Valentines Day and the variety of items available and not available at Trader Joes, and not unlike the olds that we are, we stop just short of listing all the items in our freezers. We quickly move on to our admiration of Katherine Ellis and her character Concordia Shwarma-McGraw on TikTok. We move on to a couple of additions to our list of musicians like They Might Be Giants. As before, we draw a line between the surrealist movement after the first world war to these bands, decades later...
2024-02-191h 11‘funny,’ not funny“It's not a feature, it's a bug.” | with Jim & LionelLionel tells us all about the Garbage Plate at a restaurant in Rochester, NY. Apparently, it’s like Poutine. We talk a bit without fact checking ourselves about the creation of the Erie Canal and Dewitt Clinton, it’s creator. Somehow this references the demise of the Pony Express due to the advent of the telegraph.We continue in this fashion, touching on a myriad of subjects. Here is a partial list:Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver - parallels are drawn between William Gibson’s The Peripheral and the above book. Jim talks about his experience reading Infectious Generosity by Chris...
2024-02-131h 11‘funny,’ not funny“Detractions and Errata” | with Lionel & JimJim begins by listing his mistakes in the previous podcasts, creating new errors as he goes. A "detraction" is actually a term from Christian theology. Jim should have said "retraction."It reminds Lionel of something he saw at the Newseum in Washington, DC. Jim talks about his recent move from his old office to the new one upstairs, listing some of his Uncle's old books and collectables. Notable among these is his copy of the DC Special #1: An All Infantino Issue.We launch into our reactions to Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. It turns out, this was...
2024-02-0153 min‘funny,’ not funny“Roadkill on the road to the future” | with Lionel & JimWe launch into the pod by talking about a short Punch and Judy animation by Jan Švankmajer, Czech filmmaker and artist, which leads us into a talk about The Brothers Quay and then into reflections on Ridley Walker by Russell Hoban which leads into thoughts on Philip Glass, which leads to Lionel mentioning Kraftwerk, and electronic processing of found sound and spoken word when Jim says he wants to do a new project in Iceland in slow rap format. This all happens in the first seven minutes. We wonder aloud whether Iceland is still populated after the latest eruption in G...
2024-01-241h 10‘funny,’ not funny“Barnabas Lives!” | with Lionel & JimJim starts talking about the transparent OLED display at the current CES. We move on to keyboards you stick on your iPhone and the new round of visors.Lionel is inspired to go on 2 rants. The first is about youtube reviewers who get free gear. His second rant is about a story that shows how AI can be used to get around restrictions imposed on AI. Jim compares this to the Heartbleed exploit of the past decade but much worse. Given the carelessness with which these Artificial Garbage Generators have been put together, Jim expresses his concerns about twitter’s se...
2024-01-171h 11‘funny,’ not funny“Peter Cooper Village is Rivendell” | with Lionel & JimIn our final episode of 2023, we talk about Trust by Hernan Diaz and the pulitzer prize, The Future by Naomi Alderman, and families as cults.Lionel talks about his visit to Jim's childhood home in Peter Cooper Village, where a scene from Three Days on the Condor was filmed. Jim talks about going to the Speakeasy Open Mic on MacDougal Street when it was run by Dave Van Ronk.Lionel recalls his visit to the Met, Central Park, Essa Bagel & Franks Trattoria.We move into a discussion about the book Deadly Companions by Dorothy H. Crawford and The Great Nadar...
2024-01-1049 min‘funny,’ not funny“The Modern I Ching Oracle” | a conversation with Catherine PilfreyCatherine Pilfrey returns to the podcast to talk about her new creation: The I Ching Oracle card deck: a 64-card illustrated deck and guidebook. Catherine Pilfrey is a designer, and meditation teacher who has been consulting the I Ching Oracle for 25 years. We start talking about the death of Norman Lear and increasingly long life spans for some people. Catherine talks about the process of creating the deck, and her own experience using the I Ching in the past. She mentions the original methods of yarrow sticks and coins and how the cards are different. Catherine says she was inpspired...
2023-12-201h 09‘funny,’ not funny“This is the march of progress.” | a conversation with Lionel & JimJim begins by talking about Kung Fu Hustle and suggests Lionel watch it. He then moves on to the AI songwriterthat’s going around the socials. Lionel remembers the song David Wilcox got an AI to write. Jim says that songwriters are the canary in the coal mine. Lionel likens the current situation to the loss of work for the U.S. autoworkers in the 1980s. Jim and Lionel dispute Shel Silverstein’s name for the Slitheydee or the Slithergadee and fail to decide which one it was.From there we shift to the subject of Luddites. Jim mentions that he’s...
2023-12-1347 min‘funny,’ not funny“I want it to seem mysterious, even to me.” | a conversation with Hewitt Huntwork part 2We start with Hewitt retelling his favorite joke as told by his friend Jan Luby. Jim actually snorts. We resume the interview from part 1, and Hewitt talks about his reaction to his listening of Utopia Revisited. Hewitt then shares a story of his part in the origin of Jim’s band name Jim’s Big Ego. As punishment, Jim plays another clip from Hewitt’s album, The Only Drowning Goldfish: I Will Crumble. Jim makes a pitch for Hewitt to release his songs to the world ‘for the love of humanity.’ Hewitt tells the story of how he left the Boston are...
2023-12-061h 07‘funny,’ not funny“Your Pretty Head” | a conversation with Hewitt Huntwork Part 1Just a note: Hewitt was recording into his tablet and there are lots of digital glitches that Jim could not remove. We begin with Lionel’s favorite part of the podcast which we almost never capture: the sound check before we press record. Obviously, we pressed record this time. Jim launches in with a tweet from Elon Musk and we reminisce about the movie Stripes. Jim introduces Hewitt Huntwork, one of his favorite songwriters and one who is invisible in the current music landscape. Jim talks about The Cantab Lounge and Geoff Bartley's open mic there, previously mentioned by James O...
2023-11-2941 min‘funny,’ not funny“It's not who you know, it's who knows you.” | a conversation with Dave HerlihyDave Herlihy is an Intellectual Property/Entertainment Lawyer, a Teaching Professor on the Music industry at Northeastern University, a songwriter, and the leader/vocalist/guitarist of O Positive. We talk about his return to songwriting, his hits with the band, working with limited time, in both the daily sense and life sense, and how Dave instructs his classes in leading a musical life.We begin by talking about Dave’s instruction on ‘heartbeat physics,’ positing heartbeats as a form of life currency. He talks about how hard it is to get noticed among the 120,000 songs uploaded to Spotify each day. The im...
2023-11-221h 08‘funny,’ not funny“You need empty spaces.” | a conversation with Karaugh BrownKaraugh Brown joins us to talk about her return to the creative life after years of pursuing a career in Museum patron management at The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, The Guggenheim, The Frick Collection, and currently, her role as Vice President of Development and Partnerships at World Monuments Fund. We talk about balance between our professional and creative lives. We listen to her past recordings, including One Round Orange, and Favorite Daughter, and talk about her two upcoming projects, a new recording of her recent compositions, and an album of cover songs written by Bill Morrissey.We begin by talking...
2023-11-081h 17‘funny,’ not funny“The one global religion is money.” | a conversation with Lionel and JimJim starts by talking about a candy bar he’s eating. Lionel references The Simpsons. Jim talks about feeling under the weather and needing some sugar energy. We talk about putting our show on YouTube (some episodes are there now.) Lionel talks about visiting Sacramento. Lionel talks about his favorite cafe Recess Coffee. Jim recalls a music venue called Happy Endingsand Lionel mentions Kitty Hoyne’s Irish Bar.On to books: Lionel talks about Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk. At this point, Jim asks Lionel to reposition his mic to avoid plosives. We thin...
2023-10-2557 min‘funny,’ not funny“What's a futtock shroud?” | a conversation with Robert Blake WhitehillThis week, we talk with Robert Blake Whitehill, the author of the Ben Blackshaw thrillers. Deadrise, the first book, takes place in the Chesapeake Bay, on Smith and Tangier Islands and the surrounding areas. We talk about this history of those islands in relation to the books, as well as the meaning of the title, and boats called Deadrise, and work boats like the Winnie Estelle. Our conversation branches off into related authors Carl Hiaasen, and Elmore Leonard. The movie Jim mentions but can't remember is Barton Fink. Robert talks about a screenplay he is working on about Robert Smalls...
2023-10-161h 04‘funny,’ not funny“but, um...” | a conversation with Jim & LionelJim starts talking about his adventures in social media and James O’Brien’s wisdom on how not to get noticed there. We tell 2 jokes and Lionel talks about discovering Literacy CNY at his local library and his volunteer work in digital literacy. Jim and Lionel talk about Lionel’s upcoming trip to Boston. They talk again about The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. They talk about The Annotated Archy and Mehitabel by Don Marquis and The Annotated Alice, which includes various illustrations for Alice In Wonderland. They branch off into a discussion about trees in upstate NY, especially the Celebration Maple...
2023-10-0442 min‘funny,’ not funnyThe dreaded Grawlix. | a conversation with Nick Bruel, author and illustrator of the Bad Kitty books.In this episode, we welcome Nick Bruel. Nick is the New York Times best selling author and illustrator of Boing, Who Is Melvin Bubble, and the Bad Kitty books. We start the discussion with Jim and Nick's history together from first grade, where they met their common nemesis and how it continued in college, where Nick drew a comic strip called Kawala Bob for the bi-college newspaper. We talk about books store categorization and the evolution of the chapter book and the graphic novel. We talk about his school visits and how he has moved from a hybrid model of...
2023-09-221h 18‘funny,’ not funny“Accessibility benefits everyone.” | a conversation between Lionel & JimJim starts things off by sharing his impressions of The Day of the Jackal, and Lionel and he talk about the historical background, touching briefly on Albert Camus and the feel of the film, the pacing and the cinematography. We split off into the genre the film pioneered. They move on to an initial impression of Deadrise by Robert Blake Whitehill. Jim talks about getting up at 5am and doing yoga. Lionel extols the benefits of a morning walk. We move on to a discussion of Tom Clancy and The Hunt for Red October, which is Lionel’s favorite novel by...
2023-09-181h 02‘funny,’ not funny“Eff your replicant mindset.” | a conversation between Lionel & JimJim launches into a diatribe about the use of the word ‘mindset,’ matcha vs. coffee for increasing combativeness, the Clover Machine that used to be at Starbucks, Lattes and the word puerile. Lionel extols the virtues of Syracuse and its surrounding towns, replicable results in chain cafes, and the conversation continues from there. References to: Too Much Coffee Man by Shannon Wheeler, Planetfall by Emma Newman and the hoarding of memory, Low Density Parity Check Code, Dust (Lionel actually meant Shift) by Hugh Howey, 1984 by George Orwell, and rebelling against the surveillance state. Jim talks about returning to social media and...
2023-09-131h 02‘funny,’ not funnyHappy Birthday, Lionel | a conversation with Lionel & JimIt was Lionel’s big birthday when we recorded this one. We talk inexpertly about cigars and the crash of 2008, Jim being mistaken for Stanley Tucci, the Bats Man, the J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies, Piranesi (BIG SPOILERS), and our first email from a listener. Warning to people who haven't read Piranesi, you might want to skip this one. Also, Jim’s mic was all wrong during the recording of this episode. Jim vows to be more careful in the future.
2023-09-061h 11‘funny,’ not funny“One door closes and the floodgates open elsewhere.” | a conversation with Ellis PaulEllis Paul joins the pod and we discuss his new album “55” as well as what it was like growing up in northern Maine, how his work changed during the pandemic, reacting to the Beatles documentary, transitioning from competitive running to playing guitar, bad study habits, TransAtlantic by Colum McCann, Ellis’s upcoming retreats in Connecticut, England, and Ireland, and the book Virgin Territory by Craig Virgin.All audio clips used with permission from Ellis Paul.New Theme music: “Hum” from Utopia Revisited by Jim Infantino
2023-08-091h 01‘funny,’ not funny“The phenomenon was always there.” | a conversation with Lionel & JimThis episode is our Season 3 closer, released late, due to the total collapse of my (Jim's) Mac. We start by talking about the website Slaps.com and move on to Jim's depressing read of The Ends of the World by Peter Brannen, which launches us into a discussion of the history of stratigraphy, and a questioning of the origins of the scientific process and the delay of discovery in the west and around the world. If you enjoy these episodes, please tell your friends about our podcast.
2023-08-021h 04‘funny,’ not funny“Low frequency treatments” | a conversation with Lionel & JimLionel and Jim talk about the release of Utopia Revisited by Jim, which is the album he recorded in Iceland. Jim has created a video out of stock clips. We talk about the possibility of doing a podcast from the road as Lionel drives north. Then we get Lionel’s take on Foundation on Apple TV as well as Silo, comparing both to The Expanse, which still remains a favorite. We discuss the Netflix show Reality as well, now that Jim has seen it. Now that Lionel has seen The Flash, we get into his impressions of that movie. We ge...
2023-06-2949 min‘funny,’ not funny“One of the weirdest movies I have ever seen” | a conversation with Jim & LionelLionel and Jim talk about Jim’s experience at the Hollywood premiere of The Flash, the upsides and downsides of cloud storage, The Silo novels and TV show, Wayward Pines, Mr. Beast, Work as narrative, the Apple Vision Pro, Hard Fork, the question of who owns your information in government and non-government organizations, the TV show Reality, and why you don’t want to get on the wrong side of bureaucrats.
2023-06-211h 13‘funny,’ not funny“It's like a giant trashcan where you dump your data and get it back out.” | a conversation with Keith SmithThis week Lionel and Jim talk with Keith Smith, longtime friend of Jim and Lead Engineer at MongoDB. We talk about Jim's misconceptions of noSQL databases (see the title) as well as Gotham and the history of New York City including a little bit about Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town where Jim and Keith grew up. Keith is a fantastic guy and we were glad to have him on to talk super-nerdy with us and clear things up a bit.
2023-06-151h 13‘funny,’ not funny“Badvertising” | a conversation with Lionel and JimLionel and Jim talk about Birkenstocks, Uggs, scorpions (not the band), the Men at Work lawsuit, Borges & The Lottery of Babylon, algorithms and black boxes, Mozart In Mirrorshades by Bruce Sterling, Walkaway by Corey Doctorow, the problem of explainers in speculative fiction, The Diplomat on Netflix, Hugh Howey’s Wool and the Apple TV show Silo, The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins, Susanna Clarke’s books Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, and Piranesi, the quality of Apple TV’s speculative fiction shows, Jim’s adventures in writing and publishing, Lionel’s impending move, Hiemal’s music, badvertising, unnecessary quotation ma...
2023-06-0758 min‘funny,’ not funny“He started with shoes.” | Lionel and Jim talk about Andy Warhol and SCOTUSJim and Lionel talk about the Andy Warhol case at the Supreme Court, discussing parody vs sampling, Two Live Crew, artists and inventors who began with a craft, graft, difficult listening hour, Meghan O'Gieblyn's book God, Human, Animal, Machine, The Book of Job, more stuff in The Bible, Calvinism, Jim's invitation to an LA premiere, the origins of The Flash, Carmine Infantino's view of Manhattan, and some upcoming ideas for new episodes.
2023-06-011h 03‘funny,’ not funny“Just keep turning the knob.” | a conversation with Lionel & JimJim, the producer’s note: I almost didn't put this one out - it didn’t feel like an episode until I listened to it. So here it is. We talk about Lionel’s impending move away from Texas to upstate New York, new book recommendations, Jim’s vinyl pressing adventures, progress on book 3 of the Wakeful Wanderer’s Guide, Orchestral maneuvers, Bob’s new car, The Goldberg Variations, and finally, why Jim needed to change the name of his Iceland recording project.
2023-05-1144 min‘funny,’ not funny“I grew up a lot, real quick.” | Ellen Roth joins our teamLionel and Jim start with an abortive return to the horrors of AI and pivot to talk about a new book Lionel is enjoying about the Osage tribe in the 1920s when we get a surprise call from Ellen, who will be helping out with running the podcast in the future. The three of us talk about her experiences in Ecuador, cartoons she’s watching with her daughter, notably My Little Pony, and talk about our process going forward.
2023-04-2854 min‘funny,’ not funny“The race to be first to the cliff” | The Slithery Dee, Part 3, Lionel & JimJim starts by talking about his recent substack article about AI and the end of money. Lionel takes off with his ideas about the importance of work in society, and what its end might mean to us all. We talk about how we might move forward in the presence of super-expert thinking machines.
2023-04-1449 min‘funny,’ not funny“The interesting part is when it breaks down.” | The Slithery Dee, Part 2, Lionel & JimLionel and Jim continue their discussion of AI, and move into the idea of human understanding through modeling, Isomorphism, stories, and the importance of forgetting.
2023-04-0557 min‘funny,’ not funny“The Slithery-Dee comes for thee” | a conversation about AI and planetary destruction with Lionel & JimIn this episode, Jim and Lionel talk about what everyone is talking about, the advances made in AI this month. We tackle questions like “what are we going to do?” and “does it have agency?” and “what is compassion?” and “how do we know what we want?” as well as diving into the cheerful subject of how we are killing the planet. An uplifting listen, if you like to paint your walls a color darker than black.
2023-03-2954 min‘funny,’ not funny“We're returning you back to humanity.” | a conversation with Sarah Elkins and Ben BurnesJim invites Lionel, Sarah Elkins, and Ben Burnes to tear into his novels The Wakeful Wanderer’s Guide series, to his own horror and delight. Lionel, Sarah, and Ben share their reactions to Jim’s novels with honesty and candor. What transpires is a lively discussion about not only the books, but thoughts on meritocracy, villains and heroes, self-deception and forgetting, names and identity, ideas for a cookbook, Wakeful Wanderer fan-fiction, related books and tv shows, and the nature of flawed Utopias in speculative fiction.Jim’s Books: https://wakefulwanderer.comReferences: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S3~dot~10-Back-to-Humanity/
2023-03-151h 24‘funny,’ not funny“What are we doing here?” | a conversation with Lionel & JimJim and Lionel take a moment to dig into the things that keep coming up in our recent conversations. We talk about the nature of money, work, AI, worth, what we want, what we should do, what do we want to be.
2023-03-0849 min‘funny,’ not funny“He played a friggin' parabolic antenna.” | a conversation with Kurt and Jim from IcelandRecorded February 15 from TónLab studio (recorded on my ipad for convenience). Jim went to Iceland to record a collection of songs with producer Kurt Uenala. We discuss the first three songs we recorded, an ambient music event in Reykjavik, swimming in Iceland’s hot springs, a couple of books, Brian Eno’s process, and more.References: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S3~dot~07-From-Iceland/[:imgblocks-2x:]
2023-02-2257 min‘funny,’ not funnyThe Milkman | a conversation with Lionel & JimLionel and Jim talk about Jim’s upcoming trip to Iceland to record a “phonogram” with Kurt Uenala, we talk about The Scottish Play, The All Thing, volcanic gardens, whiskey and the history of that drink, the steam engine, Otto von Guericke, drinking at Iota with Steve Negrey, extremely expensive bourbon, Louisiana cuisine, the music of Mike West, the problem of flying with guitars made with Indian Rosewood, the Milkman “amp,” touring with tubes, The Irish National Stud Farm, genealogy tests, university podcasts, and possible future guests.References: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S3~dot~06-The-Milkman/
2023-02-151h 00‘funny,’ not funny“Not Everything Ends with the Iron Maiden.” | a conversation with Lionel & JimLionel and Jim discuss email woes, Bitcoins and Blockchains by Antony Lewis, Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson, more Neal Stephenson, The Cloud, Jim’s reading of Chromaspace Conscript by Megan Alnico, the nature of money, and Jeff Bezos’ yacht (again.)Photo credit: Fred Romero from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.References: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S3~dot~05-Iron-Maiden/
2023-02-0854 min‘funny,’ not funny“It's stuck in the mud.” | A conversation with Damien CassinBrothers revisited! This week, Lionel’s brother Damien joins us to talk about big construction, data centers for crypto mining and AI, modern art in the Hudson Valley, The M1 Abrams Tank, hybrids vs. electric cars, problems with money and guns, the end of work, and what’s still great about the United States of America.References: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S3~dot~04-Damien-Cassin/
2023-02-011h 09‘funny,’ not funny“Meditation is a human thing.” | A conversation with Catherine Pilfrey, Matthew Bellows, and Jim Rosen.Jim Rosen, Catherine Pilfrey, Matthew Bellows, and Jim Infantino have been teaching meditation online for almost 3 years as part of a twice weekly session that meets Tuesdays and Thursdays called Mindful Aware. In this episode, Matt, Jim, Jim, and Catherine answer Lionel’s questions about meditating online and discuss the practice of teaching meditation from a western perspective.References: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S3~dot~02-Mindful-Aware/
2023-01-111h 03‘funny,’ not funny“Johnny Gottadoo” | A look back at 2022 with Lionel & JimLionel and Jim look back at a little more than a year of making this podcast. We remember conversations with our guests, our growing reading lists, talk about the origin of the podcast and what we want to see in 2023.References: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S2~dot~14-Johnny-Gottadoo/
2023-01-0455 min‘funny,’ not funny“When you believe in things that you don't understand...” | Lionel & JimWe touch on two books Jim is reading, A Canticle for Leibowitz, and The City & The City, as well as The Hunger Games, which Jim is reading to his daughters. Then we talk about the new Texas Governor’s governmental bans on TikTok and certain types of drones. From there, we move on to topics we don’t fully understand and get lots of things wrong, including Quantum Computing (Lionel may be more correct than Jim on this,) and Nuclear Fusion (Jim said it was neutrinos, but it was neutrons). Finally, we talk about Jim’s upcoming portrayal as an eccent...
2022-12-2152 min‘funny,’ not funny“It's all upside down.” | a conversation with Lionel & JimJim and Lionel return to the subject of the traditional Thanksgiving feast, discuss Riddley Walker, A Clockwork Orange, possible shortcomings of The Peripheral TV series, Andor & Rogue One, Iceland travels, and Heima, by Sigur Ros.References: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S2~dot~10-Upside-Down/
2022-12-0149 min‘funny,’ not funny“The Secret Aardvark” | a conversation with Lionel & JimJim starts by telling us about his favorite hot sauce. Then he talks about the extensive references page on the website, which is still in process, thanks to Johnny Gottadoo. Then they launch into a discussion of The Peripheral on Amazon Prime, and discuss the book Educated by Tara Westover, before finishing with some concerns about the inevitable demise of Affirmative Action by SCOTUS.References here: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S2~dot~06-Secret-Aardvark/
2022-11-0747 min‘funny,’ not funny“One Emmy short of a coat rack” | A conversation with writer & director, John InfantinoJohn Infantino is a writer and director, known for Regular Show, Star vs. the Forces of Evil, and Despicable Me, as well as his work on The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, Adventuretime, Chowder, and Camp Lazlo, to name a few. He is also Jim’s brother.John talks with us about creating cartoons, writing the stories we watch, adaptations & mutations, shows he’s watching, and the books he is reading, including:Neon Genesis EvangelionThe Book of Strange New ThingsA book his friend is writing about an Orc in MordorThe Flashman PapersRendezvous with RamaRiddley WalkerFinally, we reminisce about our trip to Ital...
2022-10-271h 25‘funny,’ not funny“Nobody's In Control” | a conversation with Lionel & JimJim and Lionel discuss streaming shows and books including the Rings of Power, the upcoming show based on William Gibson’s The Peripheral, Chef’s Table: Pizza, N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth Trilogy, Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza, and Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution by Mike Duncan.Listen to The History Happy Hour Podcast with Mike Duncan: https://historyhappyhour.com/blog/the-marquis-de-lafeyette-revnov-/References for this episode: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S2~dot~04-Nobody~rsquo~s-In-Control/
2022-10-1944 min‘funny,’ not funny“Goats on Wings” | a conversation with Lionel & JimJim starts by sharing his weight loss hack for getting on the scale in the morning, which leads into a discussion of The War of Jenkin’s Ear, which leads into a discussion of the role of money in the creation of multicultural cities, which leads to a talk about barter, goats on drones, the library of things, torx wrenches, rat tail files, super yachts & the economy, and tries to get back to Caribbean Piracy, but doesn't quite get there.Photo by Brenda Timmermans: https://www.pexels.com/photo/selective-photo-of-white-goat-58914/Actual historian Robert Gaudi on the War of Jenkin’s Ear...
2022-10-0145 min‘funny,’ not funnyThe Will of Landru | Lionel and JimLionel and Jim discuss the end of summer, Mark Leyner, Kate Bush and the return of the 80s, New shows, old movies, Sherlock Holmes, Wars and our sense of humanity, The Ministry For The Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, and how to save the world with either a new religion, compassion for future generations, or AI.References: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S2~dot~01-The-Will-of-Landru/
2022-09-091h 26‘funny,’ not funny“Imperfect people being uncomfortable” | a conversation with Lionel and JimLionel and Jim talk about what makes a great character in a story. What works? What appeals? Why do some fall flat? Why do some capture us? They also speak a little about their upcoming discussion of The Ministry For The Future by Kim Stanley Robinson.References: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S1~dot~27-Imperfect-people-being-uncomfortable/
2022-07-3053 min‘funny,’ not funny“The Naked Man & the Grill” | Lionel & JimLionel and Jim talk about Riverside.fm, our podcasting platform, Claude Shannon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Shannon, Lionel’s new home full of stuff, Swat Teams & Active shooter drills in Boston, Jim’s short story in progress about the super volcano under Yellowstone park, Lionel’s new synthesizer, inspirational musicians and what is accessible in music, and burger chains in Texas.And Lionel Was right, Downtown Train was on Rain Dogs.
2022-06-1852 min‘funny,’ not funny“The whole huperchild problem” | a conversation with Lionel & JimFrom man hole covers to equal protection under the law, Lionel and Jim go to town over subjects in which they have little to no expertise. They go down the rabbit holes of International Law, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, legal personhood, the Bill of Rights, natural rights, abortion, guns, and other things they just can't help talking about.References: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S1~dot~19-The-Huperchild-Problem/
2022-05-291h 05‘funny,’ not funny“Everything will always never be the same again” | a conversation with Lionel & JimLionel and Jim discuss Mastodon, social media, or lack thereof, USB alarms going off in Lionel's headphones, and modern modes of communication. They talk about the possible dwindling need now for office space for businesses and universities in the new reality. Jim gets Lionel to list is college band names. Bladerunner 2049, Cowboy Bebop and The Fifth Element come up. In they end they decide that new reading material is needed and revisit. Finally, Lionel returns to discuss { feuilleton } and his perspective on Led Zeplin IV and the chosen typeface for the album at johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2022/05/02/led-zeppelin-iv-jimmy-page-versus-little-bo-peep/.References: https://funnynotfunny...
2022-05-1148 min‘funny,’ not funny“She who must not be named” | A conversation with Lionel & JimLionel and Jim discuss the novel Uprooted by Naomi Novikthe novel The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkinsthe novels Anathem and Snow Crash by Neal StephensonJohn Coulthart's unusual website: johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/ The Shock of the New by Robert HughesChris Burden's (not Eric Burden's) sculpture The Other Vietnam Memorial
2022-04-2148 min‘funny,’ not funny“The Book of Mom” | Lionel & JimLionel and I talk about my upcoming lecture on Speculative Fiction and Society, Laurie Anderson, why agriculture may have been a bad idea, and more.
2022-03-2856 min‘funny,’ not funny“That which does not kill us, really really hurts." | Jim & LionelLionel and Jim discuss a lecture by Nick Weaver of Berkley regarding crypto currency and blockchain from the computer security perspective.You can view the lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9nv0Ol-R5QWe also talk about Lionel's college tour of the Northeast, and his experience at an actual Chris Chandler show.
2022-03-2252 min‘funny,’ not funny“A penny for your email” | Lionel & JimLionel and Jim discuss Jim’s exodus from Spotify, Napster, the business of music, the DMCA, common misused words like non-plussed, fixing the mess that still is email, the idea of Merit in Jim’s Wakeful Wanderer novels, Malcom Gladwell, and Moneyball.The audio mix on this was terrible. Jim is too loud, Lionel is too quiet. After trying his best to mix this one, Jim decided to move to a more expensive Streamyard plan to get separate audio tracks to mix. Apologies, future episodes will be better.
2022-02-1751 min‘funny,’ not funny“It's like wearing your cockring to meet the pope. Actually, it's worse.” | Lionel & JimLionel and Jim discuss the French Toast Alert System, Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Disposessed, William Gibson’s The Peripheral, Jim’s adventures with Spotify and streaming, and Jim’s theory about the movie The Social Network.References: https://funnynotfunny.bigego.com/links/f/S1~dot~08-Meet-The-Pope/
2022-02-0241 min‘funny,’ not funny“In My Cult” | Lionel & JimLionel and Jim discuss finding office space, The Rings of Power, Tolkien and England, Station Eleven HBO adaptation, The Expanse finale, Company Email, and Jim's reflections on having joined a cult.Mentioned:The Rings of Power, William Morris, Gary Gygax, Coal: A Human History, Station Eleven, The Expanse Book series, Uncoverage by Una Morera, My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgård, Corrections: The town in Italy was Vernazza, and it's The Valar, not The Valor.
2022-01-2059 min‘funny,’ not funny“Why haven't you already drilled a hole in my head?” | Lionel & JimLionel and Jim talk about the dawn of broadband and the internet in Texas and New England, invasive technologies, Jim’s novels, and more.
2022-01-1153 min‘funny,’ not funny“I could go on...” | Lionel & JimIn this episode, Lionel and Jim talk about Mark Bittman's new book Animal, Vegetable Junk.
2022-01-0448 min‘funny,’ not funny“Don't recommend anything to Lionel.” | Lionel & JimLionel and Jim discuss Lionel's new purchase, Station Eleven, Foundation, and other books and movies you should never recommend to Lionel.
2021-12-2828 min‘funny,’ not funny“More wives and no beer?” | topic: Topic: American Nations by Colin Woodard | Lionel & JimThank you to Julia Tenney for suggesting the name of our podcast.In this episode, Lionel & Jim discuss American Nations & Union by Colin Woodard, Distraction & Holy Fire by Bruce Sterling, Station Eleven, and Notes from the Burning Age by Claire North.Credit to Barry Crimmins for the title of this episode.
2021-12-1454 min