Episode 558: Starts with S, Ends with T

Real Life Devon [Redacted silence.] Possibly building up for a season finale of his own. Or meditating on NASA budget cuts. Either way—stoic. Steven We wrapped Andor, and while it stuck the landing, there's still one huge question: Where are Hera, Chopper, and the Ghost crew?! Justice for space moms and droid chaos: #ReleaseAndorTheRebelsCut Also, Steven took us on a wild detour into Monopoly studies with college students—spoiler alert: inherited wealth makes people awful. Shocking, we know. Ben Fresh from science camp and rocking a healthy dose of jet lag, Ben managed to be late to his own poetry reading. But hey—archery, mountain biking, and night hikes do things to a man. Possibly became a druid out there. Future or Now Steven "Hand hand fingers thumb…" No, we didn't start a toddler book club—Steven shared research that suggests chimpanzees drum with distinct rhythmic patterns depending on their subspecies. Which means your drummer friend? Maybe not that unique. The longest drum solo in history begins now. Devon NASA is facing a 53% cut to its science budget under the proposed presidential plan. That includes major slashes to earth and space science programs. Meanwhile, human spaceflight would get a commercial makeover. We quote Devon's son: "Does Trump believe in God?" Also, we're apparently heading back to the moon—just, you know, without a weather report. Read about the cuts Ben Ben took us on an emotional journey through the 2024 animated documentary Piece by Piece, which somehow manages to combine Lego stop-motion, Carl Sagan, and protest imagery into one transcendent experience. Trailer? Here. Carl Sagan clip? Also here. "Happy"? But make it devastating: This. More? Wikipedia's got you. Book Club This week: The Evolution of Human Science by Ted Chiang What if human research became too advanced for most people to understand? No characters, just ideas. It's written like a news article, and it's fascinating. Humanity has split into Normies and Meta-Humans, the latter genetically optimized before birth to the point that they operate on an entirely different intellectual plane. They use "DNT" (Digital Neural Transfer) and leave the rest of us behind with our podcasts and spreadsheets. Thought-provoking stuff. Included with Audible [if you're listening along]. Next week: Liking What You See by Ted Chiang Yes, we're doing another Chiang short, because why not dive deeper into techno-philosophical existential dread? (Roughly 1.5 hours—get reading!) Want more? Join the Discord. Support us on Patreon to get early episodes, bonus content, playlists, and the unedited chaos. And if you're listening on YouTube—hit that subscribe button. Or don't. But then we'll tell the Meta-Humans on you.