This week we are discussing E.T.A. Hoffman's short story, The Sandman, which presciently anticipates some potential psychological consequences of a too-deep dependence on artificial beings for companionship, while also pointing towards the fundamentally destabilizing possibilities a world filled with autonomous, robotic beings might bring. We go over the story, making reference to Freud's famous essay "The 'Uncanny'" which he partly based on this story, while also connecting the concerns of the tale to elements from our own contemporary experiences. It's an hilarious story, perhaps one of the greatest masterpieces we have yet covered.

We open the episode discussing the potential apocalyptic consequences of Trump's decision to fund a "golden dome" missile defense system, plus we talk about the final episode of season two of Nathan Fielder's The Rehearsal.

E.T.A. Hoffman's "The Sandman"

Freud's Essay "The 'Uncanny'"

NewScientist on Trump's "Golden Dome" Missile Defense System

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This week we are talking about the growth of emotional dependency on AI as programs like ChatGPT become more ubiquitous and more sophisticated. We recognize that this has the potential to be, in a sense, a double apocalypse, as the rise of AI threatens to make human beings completely redundant while at the same time the resources used to power AI make the planet increasingly uninhabitable as climate change accelerates. We segue directly into a consideration of a film that deals with these ideas, albeit not in the most serious way, 2025's Companion, directed by Drew Hancock. This film offers a vision of the way an AI powered robotic paramour might be used and abused.

This episode contains spoilers for Companion.

TechPolicy.press on AI Emotional Dependency

Novara Media on Mark Zuckerberg's recent comments on AI replacing real friends

PS: I (Stu) realize now that Stalin's birthday is December 18 and NOT December 8. We apologize for any confusion this error caused.

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This week we are discussing Rian Johnson's 2012 film Looper, a time travel movie that (perhaps accurately) predicts a bleak future where class stratification and rampant criminality have flourished unchecked. Time travel has been invented and its primary use seems to be the elimination of hit men who are sent back in time to be murdered by their younger selves. We get into some of the problems with this premise while also praising aspects of the world building; while we didn't love the picture, we had a good time pointing out its flaws.

We open the episode by discussing the ongoing problems at Newark Liberty Airport before segueing into a discussion of Nathan Fielder's The Rehearsal, which Stu is willing to defend and which Michael is willing to attack. We also make reference to the New Jersey drones phenomenon...whatever happened with all that?

Chaos at Newark Airport (from NJ.com)

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This week we are talking about global supply chains and how they might be stretched, perhaps to the breaking point, if the Trump tariffs are allowed to take effect. We revisit the moment when many of us were first introduced to the idea of a supply chain, the early days of Covid-19, and look at how the current potential supply chain disaster differs. We also revisit another cherished memory from recent years, the EVER GIVEN incident, and discuss the ways economists love to use the human body as a metaphor for the flow of global commerce.

We open up the episode talking about Trump's menacing promise to reopen Alcatraz, as well as his seeming obsession with movies; and as a prelude to our main topic, we go into his already infamous "2 instead of 30 dolls" comments as the potential for empty shelves come Christmas time already looms.

Here are links to some of our sources for the episode:

Out of Stock: Supply Chain Crisis (on MAX)

Trump staffers panic buying (Rolling Stone)

Trump on potential dolls shortage (NY Times)

Waiting for the Supply Shock (Prospect)

Cumulative Inflation (BBC)

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This week we are discussing Ridley Scott's 1982 classic sci-fi noir Blade Runner. While we praise the visual depiction of a post-nuclear-war American city, we both found the plot somewhat difficult to hook into, so to speak. While the essential examination of the question of humanity, and what it would mean for an android to achieve a fully realized humanity, we both had some issues with the way the film attempted to raise this issue. Stu contrasts this with the novel on which the film is based, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, which we will be returning to for a full treatment sometime soon.

We open the episode going over the recent massive blackouts in Spain and Portugal; another omen of the impending end of the world? Perhaps!

This episode contains spoilers for Blade Runner.

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This week we are discussing psychics, specifically psychic medium John Edward of Crossing Over with John Edward. This program which ran from 2001 to 2004 purported to connect living people to their dead relatives by means of Edward's psychic mediumship. We go over a brief history of psychics from ancient times to the present before digging into Edward's methods and claims; does he really offer a genuine line of communication between the living and the dead, or is he merely a mediocre practitioner of cold reading who is taking advantage of grieving people in order to acquire wealth and fame? We also get into the century old antagonism between mediums and stage magicians.

We open the program by noting the recent passing of Pope Francis I by revisiting a tweet from an old friend, the legendary poster Louise Mensch.

Episodes of Crossing Over on Archive.org

John Edward's appearance on Larry King Live

John Oliver's takedown of psychics from 2019

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This week we are discussing two recent albums by mainstays of 2000s era indie rock that deal directly and obliquely with climate change, namely Mount Eerie's 2024 release Night Palace and Dirty Projectors/David Longstreth/s t a r g a z e's 2025 record Song of the Earth. We talk a bit about the history of both artists and why it might be that they are turning to considering the question of climate at this perilous moment in our world's history. We also get into topics like Romanticism and Modernism, the role of ambition and fame in undertaking a music career, and the question of didacticism in art.

The episode opens with a conversation about Bernie Sanders' recent rally in Los Angeles (at which Dirty Projectors performed) and what future progressive leadership in the United States might have as the second Trump era dawns.

Links to the music discussed in this episode can be found below:

Mount Eerie/the Microphones

the Glow pt. 2 by the Microphones

A Crow Looked at Me by Mount Eerie

the Microphones in 2020 by the Microphones

Night Palace by Mount Eerie

Dirty Projectors

Slaves' Graves & Ballads by Dirty Projectors

The Getty Address by Dirty Projectors

Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors

Song of the Earth by David Longstreth/Dirty Projectors/s t a r g a z e

New Yorker profile of David Longstreth

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This week we are looking at Train to Busan, a 2016 film directed by Yeon Sang-ho. It's a zombie apocalypse movie set on a train moving from the South Korean capital of Seoul to the southern city of Busan. We get into the film's historical overtones, as well as the family drama that plays out amid this unfolding horror show.

We open the episode with a discussion of the economic turmoil unleashed by the announcement of Donald Trump's tariff regime. Does the fact that the tariff rates seem to have been (possibly) calculated by a large language model bode well for our future or ill? It's hard to say!

This episode contains spoilers for Train to Busan.

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