As with many things that I learned in medical school, tangents in speech were to be recorded as pathological, usually implying psychosis. As with all things, the extreme of anything can be illness, but I often find myself at home enjoying the tangents of my brain, and this morning I had a conversation (by Signal, apparently the safest videoconferencing modality, as promoted by Edward Snowden) that was more tangential than most!
We covered the economics of dictator leaders like Hitler and Stalin, philosopher groups from the communal to the individual, religions from reformed Mormonism to evangelical Christianity, conspiracies of COVID era and before, generic foods, debate sites like procon.org and kialo.com, the paradoxes we humans have, Utopia experiments (a dystopian show I will likely never watch), what is a panopticon, local parks, population limits, GMOs, and grass fed cattle.
The privilege of reaching middle age is having enough general knowledge, that it bears synthesizing and propogating from time to time. Our conversation reminded me of the diverse topics that I am privileged to hear about on my current podcast playlist, and I thought I'd highlight a few to marvel at the diversity.
One of the highlights of reviewing the podcasts I have listened to is the intensity of recollection in the place or time period where I had listened to them.
I was painting in the backyard when I listened to the "upside" of the Black Plague, in After the Plague, by Planet Money. I was driving the Gaspé coast when I heard about the modern life of the truck driver, in Over the Road. I was weeding when I heard about the first ambulance service in the US (episode 405) how policing of us in our cars came to be (episode 410), and how franchises can reflect the injustice of race in economics (episode 406). I was on the commuter train when I heard about the Japanese mythical monster called the Yokai (episode 403).
My go-to listening favourites do nothing in retrospect but reinforce my love of their relevance.
Here are last shows I heard of 99PI (Ninety-nine Percent Invisible):
If you want to hear about when we became dependent on toilet paper, listen to Wipe Out, episode 397.
If you want to understand the seemingly ugly concrete architecture trend called brutalism that is evident here in Montreal, listen to The Smell of Concrete After Rain, episode 400.
If you want to hear how the COVID stay-at-home orders afforded marine biologists an unprecedented opportunity to research whale communications, listen to episode 401.
If you want to know why we valued diamonds for engagement rings, listen to Article of interest #11.
If you want to hear how meta modern life has become, listen to Instant Gramification, episode 402.
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