Plausibly Live! - The Official Podcast Of The Dave Bowman Show

Is it weird to anybody else that Dylan Mulvaney’s nipples were blurred out in the newspapers pictures of him last week? Or… is it possible that some AI (it’s fancy… first off it’s two letters and it means “artificial intelligence”) came up with the idea of his dress and to blur our the offensive nipples? Other people watching Netflix have said that the whole AI concept “scares” them, to the point that they are unable to sleep. which could be solved by a judicious application of the “What Color Is The Dress” post. failing that, you can go and wait in a Yellowstone National Park toilet. Or just wait for all the talking heads to start praising Tucker on Monday, because you don’t need a killer AI robt to tell you that’s a-coming…

Remember when the joke was actually a joke and everybody knew that it was a joke and even if you didn’t like the joke you still understood that it was a joke and so you just let it go? Yeah…that’s not the country we live in anymore. Now if you don’t like the joke, you go on the air and bitch about it until the worlds biggest entertainment corporation gives in to your little temper tantrum and changes a beloved fairy tale to fit your world view. And then one of them show you his nipples…

I freely admit that I am a skeptic when it comes to the news. In fact, before I read any article, I check the “About” section of the articles host site. far more often than you would expect, it becomes very obvious that the site is “questionable.” That aside, a lack of source materials, links, footnotes and so on, always make me suss about a given article or report. Oddly, one of the effects of the news being less trusted by the general public, is that science has suffered a similar fate. I have a theory as to why that is so, despite the efforts of scientists (of all disciplines) to share their information. And in one of the most surprising turns of events, because of those issues, we don’t even know what it means to be “dead” anymore…

Every now and then, I have one of those… moments when I think to myself, “Is that really what I mean when I say that thing? Many anthropologists and archeologists bemoan the fact that we have little understanding of the Yucatan peoples of the pre Columbus era. But you almost never hear a discussion of WHY we lack that understanding. As it turned out, the Mayans were quite literate and wrote down much of their history and theology in various forms. But… as you know… people with a different god and a different belief system came to the Yucatan in the 16th Century. And, on July 12, 1562, an man with what was called, monomaniacal fervor, destroyed a almost all of the history and religion of the Mayan people. Are there lessons from that incident for today? Of course there are. But how do we have that discussion in a way that doesn’t spend ,st of the time in criticism and complaint rather than application for today and tomorrow? My original thoughts for the day were far too much of the former and almost none o

In the context of “the United States,” what exactly is a “State?” Today, it seems obvious to us, but remember that in 1776 there were “States” that shared their governor. At least one of the “States” technically wasn’t a State at all, but rather a dubiously area of leased lands, that while it had its own legislative body, it was only because the State that “owned” the land didn’t like the people who lived there and didn’t want them voting in their elections and legislature. In June of 1776, the leased lands fixed that by declaring their Independence, three weeks before the entire nation did the same thing. At any rate, the whole question of new States would vex the nation from the very beginning. By the middle of July in 1787, there were two distinct schools of thought about the concept of adding new States to the Union. They can be briefly summarized as follows: One side said, “DO NOT add new States.” The other side said… “DO add new States.” And while many of the Philadelphia convention delegates leane

It is an inarguable FACT that none in the United states has owned a slave since 1868. As of today, that was one hundred and fifty-five years ago, or, in other terms, an average of nearly eight generations. In my case, because I am old and my grandparents reproduced young, it was four generations ago. So why is Reuters, a news agency that is decidedly NOT American, running a major article about “so many” American political elites who are “descended from slave owners?” It’s not because they see unity as a useful purpose. Nor do they seem to understand that far more Americans today are descended from those who believed in union and equality for all men…

In an age of synthetic reality, how do we have any idea of what is real or what to believe? It was bad enough in 2016, but now? How many different ways are we being shown and told things that may or may not be truth? If a robot taxicab can be disabled with a traffic cone, and a female crocodile can parthenogenetically reproduce, is it possible for us to know what to accept as real and dismiss that which is unreal?

Rabbi Dave is sick. He’s been sick all week, but has dragged himself out of bed because this is important. He and the Good Friar Rod are here because they are broadcast professionals who deserve a $20Million contract from Spotify and they will actually show up to work, unlike some people we could name (Harry and Meagan). The Titan thing still has Dave freaked out, mostly because we learned this week that it was absolutely (probably) NOT instant and painless for the five people aboard. Keep your Gay Wedding sites safe from hacking by furries. seriously… it’s (probably) a thing now that the Supreme Court has issued what appears to be an ruling based on something that… well… may not have actually, technically… happened? And today is the anniversary of the one of the greatest moments in film history. Surely… you can’t be serious!

My voice is completely and totally gone. Barely a whisper right now… But I am learning to use… AI!!!!!

A few weeks ago, I asked the question, exactly which Framers’ values and principles should we “be getting back to?” As the Convention lurched into the sixth week, and the heat in Philadelphia grew hotter, the delegates were – at least verbally – at each others throats. while the myth of unity still held in the media and even in sermons, the truth was that the convention was literally held together byt he strength of a “single human hair.” Madison thought he had an answer, and Washington fumed over “States Rights Demagogues.” Benjamin Franklin famously suggested that each session start with prayer. But it would be up to two relatively unknown delegates to change the course of history…

I grew up with Star Trek as my inspiration for… well… pretty much everything. Yesterday I even got into a discussion about the ways that Star Trek has inspired much of my learning. in one of the climatic moments, Captain Kirk explains to the crew that “risk…. is, our, business” (you have to say it like Shatner). That said, when is risk too much? As AI looms and robots become more and more capable, doe it even make sense to risk a human life to take on the unknown frontiers? Or, does it make any sense to take money from people to take them on an adventure?

Not that long ago, I was driving across North Dakota on I-94. At Mile 314, there is an exit sign that caught my attention. I don’t really know why. It just seemed to me to be the embodiment of being… well… normal. As we watch the circus that is our Congress and political system, maybe it’s time to take that exit?

The founder of OceanGate is on record as having said that he did not want to hire a bunch of “fifty-year old white guys” because we are “not inspirational.” He was specifically referring to submarine qualified people who know more about submarines than he ever wil. And far more than he ever imagined about how to safely operate underwater. I have said this before and I will say again… the ocean is ALWAYS trying to kill you. And if you are disrespectful, careless, presumptuous, over-confident or even just sloppy, it will kill you. Painfully, without mercy, without remorse and without any way to stop it.

Perhaps the best known Framer/Founder these days is Alexander Hamilton. But, as the case may be, not for the reasons for which he would have liked to had remembered or had sung about in a Broadway musical. Hamilton had been one of the men who had pushed hard for the Philadelphia Convention. He had also fully expected to be one of its leaders (a story oddly absent from the musical). What he had not expected was to be a third wheel on the New York delegation, constantly thwarted by the duo of Clinton supporters who disagreed with him on pretty much everything, putting New York firmly in the camp of the small States who were opposing the Virginia Plan. This week, he makes the fateful decision to do something about his inability to get any points across. He will give a four hour speech (again, not in the musical) which will all but end his career…

If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. – Abraham Lincoln, August 22nd, 1862 While Lincoln wrote those words in 1862, following them up with his Emancipation Proclamation, the reality was that he had no viable way to actually enforce them. Days earlier, the Union had “won” the Battle at Antietam Creek, although “win” might generous. On the bloodiest day in American history, the Army of the Potomac had blunted Robert E Lee’s army’s advance into Maryland. Alas, it had failed to win a decisive victory, or to follow up on the matter. The battle had been just enough to give Lincoln the opening he needed. Believing that the nation needed a better reason to continue the war, he saw the permanent end of s

If you were confused, you’re not the only one. It’s Father’s Day (definitely not a Friday evening) and the Good Friar and the Rabbi are totally confused by the Presidents remarks as well as why it is that billionaire sports team owners need to have taxpayer funded stadiums. Sports are the theme of the day, and it’s a reminder that men like sports, even the mascots, while in Soccer, Mexico and the the US don’t seem to like each other at all… All that this week on a Fathers Day (not a Friday evening) episode of What The Frock?

There came a time when the political system was unable to deal with the pressures brought on it by the political differences which divided the nation. By April of an election year, there were men who had decided that the moderate course which had guided the nation for four score and four years was no longer acceptable to them. In the arena of politics, calculations were made, votes were counted, and positions were staked out. The people of the country were not willing to believe that the extremist on either side were really willing to carry out their threats. Their leaders knew this, but when power is at stake, the will of the people is one of the last true considerations…

What is “blue?” Now… before you answer that question, think for a moment about it. Ask yourself, what if there was no “blue?” And if there was no “blue,” what would change for your understanding of how to describe things? Is it possible to destroy words in such a manner to change human thought and understanding? Or… has it already begun?

As the summer begins to warm the streets of Philadelphia, the temperatures inside the State House begin to rise. While most believe that the convention delegates are “united,” the truth is much, much darker. The “small” States are horrified at the Virginia Plans implications. They see it as nothing less than their compete and utter annihilation. In fact, the ONLY unity among the delegates, is a willingness to allow for a delay in approving the Virginia Plan so as to hear and debate other plans. There are two such plans are now on the table. South Carolina’s plan is being openly ignored by pretty much everyone, while Patterson of New Jersey proposes the only realistic counter to the Virginians. While the New Jersey plan would save the Union and keep the smaller States happy, it has a major legal problem. As the debate intensifies, the anger and animosity explodes into pointed and frank exclamations. As Gouverneur Morris slaps Washington on the back in joy over winning an apparent debate point (against Hamil

For me, history is highly tactile. I connect when my hands can feel and touch the things about which I have studied and learned. A few weeks ago, I was able to place my hands on a sixty-six million year old rock, in which was embedded a Tyrannosaur who had once walked the banks of Hells Creek in what is now Montana. A few days later, almost on a whim, I walked with my son on the field of Gettysburg, where the tide of war has changed and where freedom and liberty had been saved. S short distance away, Lincoln had delivered his eternal remarks. A day later, I watched my son, reach out himself, and touch history…