While We're On The Subject

Mike and Job discuss conspiracy theories and the complicated and public nature of the modern digital world. They then discuss how people underestimate the progress of democracy around the world and how some ideas in evolution and economics relate to one another.

There is a pervasive and growing mood of pessimism in many parts of society. Our hosts struggle to understand and deal with it. They then tell some of their worst stories from work. The show closes with a discussion of potential university reforms to increase flexibility and practicality.

Mike and Jon follow up on their discussion on repeated processes before debating what makes some revolutions successful. They then argue over the merits of the Irish abortion referendum and direct democracy more broadly. They close with a discussion of the Netflix Documentary Wild Wild Country.

The hosts argue about the usage democratize, capitalism, democracy, and communism and then explore the downsides of capitalism. They debate the merits of single issue voting and contrast the events of the Latin American independence revolutions and that of the United States.

Mike and Jon complain about terrible grammar before moving on to an attempt to make boring things interesting and a far ranging conversation about the possibilities of terraforming Mars and Venus. They finish it off with an examination of automation and the difference between scarcity and abundance.