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An irregular discussion of current events, popular culture, unpopular culture, economics, hip-hop, and killer robots
Episodes
Tuesday Jul 23, 2024
Tuesday Jul 23, 2024
On this very special episode of the SynCast, I speak with my friend and teaching colleague Dr. Lucy Polo. Her work in sociology has taken her to Colombia, Bolivia, and many other places. For 15 years she worked in the south Mexican state of Chiapas, where the Zapatista movement transformed the way people around the world think about indigenous communities, neoliberal economics, and democracy itself.
Enjoy this discussion about her life and work, the people she met in Chiapas, and how the EZLN raised the consciousness of everybody who came into contact with its unique forms of activism.
- Wikipedia: Zapatista Army of National Liberation
- End Song: Matador by Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
![DS #124: I Do[n't] Care](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/871469/SynCast_logo_1400_podbean_300x300.jpg){kind=logo}
Tuesday Jun 11, 2024
Tuesday Jun 11, 2024
Summer is here and after a year of being Audio AWOL, I'm back with a huge brain full of stuff to dump on you. Now that school is off for three months, I felt the urge to turn on the mic and just word vomit for two hours.
Some topics I discuss:
- Energy as a resource like time + money
- UDHR Article 24
- Garrett, my best friend of 30 years who passed away in November 2023
- Capitalism (feat. Bob the Businessman)
- Donald Trump (feat. White Guy With Dreads)
- Education (feat. various characters)
- Gaza (feat. Annoying Supporter of Israel)
- Epistemology, Ethics, and (a little) Metaphysics
- Audio Two's 1988 album What More Can I Say
- Lots of Other Stuff
Enjoy! Lemme know what you think.
Send questions and thoughts. (The more I get, the more likely I am to make another podcast sooner rather than later.)
Saturday Aug 12, 2023
Saturday Aug 12, 2023
Hawaii's Tragedy, UK Beer, Floreda Psychology, and 50 Years of Hip-Hop
____________________
First Things
- Hello, Floreda!
- Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
- Impossible People: A Completely Average Recovery Story
Current Events
- Hawaii and climate change
- Biden administration announces $1.2B in funding for projects to pull carbon from the air
- IEA flags risk of higher oil prices, cuts 2024 demand view
- The 2024 US Presidential Election
- Coup in Niger
- Operation Lone Star
- Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says: "Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution."
- It is not illegal to seek asylum in the US
Economics
Education
Killer Robots, etc
Hip-Hop
Tuesday Mar 22, 2022
Tuesday Mar 22, 2022
A special treat on the day before my new scifi novel Delivery to Nimbus X drops. Here's Chapter 1 of the audiobook, exclusively released to my awesome SynCast audience.
The other chapters will appear on this feed in the weeks ahead. Thanks for listening, and enjoy!
Thursday Nov 25, 2021
Thursday Nov 25, 2021
On this very special episode, I give thanks for my mom Linda and step-dad Rob! Listen as we discuss their lives and loves, their jobs and journeys. We recorded these conversations in Florida during the summer of 2021.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
Monday Aug 09, 2021
Monday Aug 09, 2021
A discussion of fake binaries, the need to resist oversimplification, and how to sustain the complexity. Featuring audio from Alan Watts.
Plus: A first look at the Nimbus X book!
Links
Tuesday May 04, 2021
Tuesday May 04, 2021
A short little SynCast, especially aimed at my teacher friends. As some of you know, Teacher Appreciation Week is a sick joke. But I was inspired by Sarah Kay to share some of my teaching-related poems. So … enjoy!
Poem Titles:
- Shove Yer Appreciation
- Pandemic Polemic
- Get Off My Cape!
- Mental Salary
- The Hardest Thing I've Ever Done
- I Should Have Learned By Now
Saturday Apr 17, 2021
Saturday Apr 17, 2021
or: How Scientology Helped Me Better Understand #BLM
On this episode I dig through a documentary about Scientology, how it connects to my fascination with NXIVM, and what it can teach us about the psychological torment of Black folks (and people of color) all over the United States.
Thursday Mar 25, 2021
Thursday Mar 25, 2021
On this episode, I discuss how we find purpose, what it means to "be yourself", and how people become convinced that true happiness lies in a cult, a political affiliation, a street gang, a corporate logo, or a social media brand.
I'm still trying to master the art of simultaneously broadcasting live on Facebook and recording the SynCast at the same time, so I apologize for any hiccups I didn't fix.
Thanks for listening and let me know: How did you figure out who YOU are? (Or maybe you're still figuring that out. Tell me about it.)
Links:
- FB Live video of this episode
- Meat Beat Manifesto: Your Mind Belongs to the State
- Escaping NXIVM podcast (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)
- Alice meets the caterpillar in Wonderland: Who Are You?
Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
On this episode, for the first time ever, I also broadcast LIVE on Facebook! If — for some reason — you want to see me wave my hands and bumble around with my cell phone as I talk, check out this link: https://www.facebook.com/eric.s.piotrowski/videos/10225133308901262
Otherwise, enjoy a brief discussion of masks, militancy, and meme markets. Special shout-out to JASOGOLLECGHHERR for that last article!
Links:
- DukeSkath on Twitter
- NPR: Biden To Quickly Sign Orders Mandating Masks, Reversing Trump Travel Ban And More
- KRON News 13: 23 die in Norway after receiving COVID vaccine
- The Hill: Hot Pockets recalled for possible glass, plastic contamination
- Elliot Williams @ USA Today: Reunite families separated at the border, and purge cruelty in the name of justice
- AP: Why Navalny is a thorn in the Kremlin’s side
- Marker @ Medium: The GameStop Fiasco Proves We’re in a ‘Meme Stock’ Bubble
- John Oliver: Why the WHO Matters
- Baby Milk Action: Boycott Nestle!
- Yale Environment 360: Wall Street Begins Trading Water Futures as a Commodity