Inside Out

As many head back to college this August, so too does the start of Far Middle episode 118 as Nick honors Ohio State Buckeye legend and two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin for this Far Middle’s sports dedication. Nick then moves from Ohio State to Stanford, noting Cardinal quarterback Jim Plunkett would earn Heisman honors a few years prior to Griffin’s back-to-back trophies. He then examines Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne’s forthcoming resignation following “serious flaws” found in his research.   “The controversy at Stanford highlights another connection we can jump to which interestingly still involves Stanford, but it also ties to a much broader topic that cuts across the entire western world,” says Nick. He discusses the big difference between science and “The Science,” and the ramifications of scientific journals wading into subjective politics and eroding their reputation of objectivity. Next, Nick explains the “inside out” phenomenon, using examples from Alexis de Tocqueville and the idea of soft despotism, as well as the Spanish Civil War. The theme of “inside out” runs throughout episode 118. From Archie Griffin’s ground game to a Stanford student reporter breaking news of data manipulation to the outside world, and from the Left gaining control from the inside of government, academia, and media to turn society from the inside out. The theme also applies to Nick’s recount of the story of Jonah and the whale (or big fish), as well as his discussion of Big Tech letting in the Left and their subsequent aims to now turn Big Tech inside out.   And for a fitting close, Nick looks back on Phil Collins’ single “Inside Out,” from the 1985 album No Jacket Required (released the same year Archie Griffin was closing out his professional career with the USFL’s Jacksonville Bulls). Nick recites the song’s lyrics to take to heart: “Now everybody keeps on telling me how to be, and everybody tells me do what they say, oh I'll help myself it's up to me and no-one else, but till I'm ready just keep out of my way.”