Podcast
Nonsense with cj little and Jeff Parker
Hosted by cj little and Jeff Parker · EN
Nonsense desperately tries to make sense of today’s business, technology, and (sometimes) entertainment headlines. Not too serious and occasionally funny, join technologist cj little and leggy blonde Jeff Parker for their unique take on the past week. While we can’t promise you’ll laugh every week, we can promise you’ll learn something new (and maybe even interesting).
New episodes drop every Tuesday & Thursday mornings (UTC). Produced by an orangutan; art thanks to artificial intelligence.
https://nonsense.productions
Twitter: @nnsnspdcst
Instagram: @nnsnspdcst
Gmail: nnsnspdcst@gmail.com
30episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The Biological Crime Scene on Your Dinner Plate: Food Safety & Microscopic Villains
2w ago00:33:02Tap to summarize(0:00) Open(1:04) The Toxic Truth About Food Safety(3:22) Food Borne Illness Background(5:05) Cyclospora: It’s a Parasite, Not a Bacterium(9:02) Global Supply Chain Risks(14:30) Food Storage & Prep Risks(21:50) Avoiding it All Together(29:10) cj’s recommendation: Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food (2023)(30:16) Jeff’s Recommendation: Contagion (2011)Think your kitchen is a pristine culinary sanctuary? Think again!On this week's Big Story, the guys unpack the biological crime scene hiding inside your fridge, starting with the chlorine-immune parasite Cyclospora that recently turned Midwestern Taco Bell lettuce into a high-stakes supply chain mystery. We’re also blowing the lid off your worst kitchen habits. Are you thawing meat on the counter, using a sponge from 2024, or setting off aerosolized salmonella bombs by washing raw chicken in your sink? Discover the real science behind heat-stable toxins, wood versus plastic cutting boards, and why your body’s natural power-washing system (diarrhea, obviously) is actually an evolutionary masterpiece.Learn why a simple meat thermometer is your new best friend, how your stomach acts as a literal vat of battery acid fighting off microscopic invaders, and why we suspect our little parasitic friend could just be a free GLP-1 alternative.Produce Wash – FIT OrganicSend us a voice message!Nonsense is available here.
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HEADLINES: Open-Source AI Battles, Microscopic Taco Coups, and Unsafe Chinese Imports
2w ago00:28:06Tap to summarize(0:00) Pre-Show(00:55) Open(1:50) National Junk Food Day(2:40) cj's week: Legoland & Lounge Chairs(5:37) Jeff's Week: Exploding Transmission Trunks(9:16) Headline: China continues to punch back against America’s AI dominance(13:50) Headline: Slashed Budgets, Spreading Bugs: How the FDA Missed a Massive Outbreak(20:31) Headline: AliExpress Breaks the Bank with Largest Tech Penalty in EU History(25:06) The Hotpoint Electric RefrigeratorAfter navigating a 17-million-gallon water main burst and surviving a theme park stampede, the Nonsense hosts return to inspect the state of the world this week.Silicon Valley's AI moat is evaporating fast as trillion-parameter open-source models flood the market, offering top-tier reasoning for literal pennies on the dollar - just as chip and memory suppliers jack up prices on consumers.In even more stomach-churning news, a parasite outbreak linked to (possibly?) Taco Bell lettuce has hit thousands of consumers; begging the guys to take a look at the real-world consequences of cutting billions from public health funding while pushing a third of the CDC staff out. Finally, the EU cracks down on direct-to-consumer e-commerce giant AliExpress with a historic penalty for continuing to ship hazardous knockoffs.And you thought summer would be boring!China delivers a one-two punch to America’s AI dominance | The VergeTaylor Farms pulls iceberg lettuce from the US market after cyclosporiasis outbreakTaco Bell iceberg lettuce identified as source of cyclosporiasis in 5 states - Ars TechnicaAliExpress hit with record $625M fine after failing to make EU-ordered fixes - Ars TechnicaSend us a voice message!Nonsense is available here.
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The Dystopian Return of the Debtors' Prison
3w ago00:34:11Tap to summarize(0:00) Open(2:05) When Empty Pockets Become a Crime(4:02) Debtors' Prisons: A History(9:37) Famous People Who Went to Debtors' Prisons(18:17) Modern Day Debtors' Prisons(22:15) Other Systems That Seem to Work Better(29:05) cj’s recommendation: The Shawshank Redemption (1994)(31:12) Jeff’s Recommendation: Emily the Criminal (2022)We made it to Episode 200! Yay us! To celebrate, we start off discussing the absolute worst financial trap in human history: debtors' prisons.Join us as we explore the wild historical details, from the Fleet Prison’s illegal, bargain-bin weddings to creditors holding actual corpses hostage for unpaid debts (!!). We break down how a system banned federally in 1833 has managed to sneak back into the modern era through civil court loopholes, suspended driver's licenses, and a cascading spiral of fines.Finally, we look at how other countries do things better (like Europe's scaling "day fines" that lead to eye-watering, million-dollar speeding tickets). It’s a fun ride; you’re going to love it!Researchers Decipher Cuneiform Tablet—and Discover It’s a Furniture ReceiptHow the world's first accountants counted on cuneiform - BBC NewsCode of Hammurabi - Wikipedia#HOCW 16 & 17: Two boundary markers. From Athens, Greece. Circa 500 BCE. - EMILY HAUSERSysAdminDoc/RcloneBrowserNG: Modern rclone GUISend us a voice message!Nonsense is available here.
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Task Failed Successfully: The Science of Happy Accidents - Part 2
Jul 200:25:46Tap to summarize(0:00) Open(1:01) The Glued-Shut Gun Sights(4:16) Alot About Aspirin(6:40) The Wrong Box of Resistors(9:29) The Spoiled Clover(12:03) The Exploding Hot Stove(16:05) Whippets Real Good(21:33) cj’s recommendation: NOVA on PBS(22:42) Jeff’s Recommendation: The Man in the White Suit (1951)If you've ever made a massive mistake at work and secretly hoped it would change human history, this is the episode for you. The boys are back before their summer break to sweep the lab floors of history and examine the brilliant mistakes left behind by brilliant (and sometimes incredibly clumsy) minds.In Part 2 of their deep dive into the beautiful, chaotic world of accidental science they highlight how a failed attempt at plastic gun sights birthed something super sticky, while grabbing the wrong resistor out of a parts box gave us a heartbeat.Plus, the suppressed history behind aspirin, a deadly rat poison that became a world-class drug, and the tragic, drug-fueled tale of the dentist who first pioneered anesthesia.It’s a roller coaster of a history lesson filled with corporate cover-ups, plenty of terrible execution, while distracting you, for a brief moment, from the crushing weight of reality.Harry Coover - Super GlueHarry Coover | LemelsonPacemaker - WikipediaWilson Greatbatch - WikipediaCharles Goodyear - WikipediaIndigestion - WikipediaThe Incredible Story of New Haven's Charles Goodyear : r/newhavenNOVA PBS Official - YouTubeTHE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT - TrailerSend us a voice message!Nonsense is available here.
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Task Failed Successfully: The Science of Happy Accidents - Part 1
Jun 2500:24:10Tap to summarize(0:00) Pre-Show(1:20) Open(3:40) When Mr. Goodbar Went Soft(7:35) Here, Hold This Box of Smallpox…(11:11) The Great Pigeon Poop Epiphany(14:42) Attenuate The Cholera Please(19:47) cj’s recommendation: Particle Fever (2013)(20:39) Jeff’s Recommendation: Young Frankenstein (1974)Have you ever messed up so badly that you accidentally solved the mysteries of the universe or wiped out a deadly disease? This week the guys start their dive into the glorious world of "happy accidents" in science, proving that sometimes the best way to make a breakthrough is to trip, fall, and land directly into a Nobel Prize.Science isn't always a straight line of meticulous calculations; more often than not, it’s a stumbling block that strikes gold. From a melted Mr. Goodbar candy bar that gave birth to a 750-pound appliance monstrosity, to 18th-century medical experiments that involved scraping lesions and rolling the dice on unsuspecting eight-year-old boys, the history of innovation can be terrifyingly random.Sometimes cleaning pigeon poop off a giant antenna ends up proving the Big Bang theory, while a lazy lab assistant’s vacation saves countless lives - avian and otherwise.It’s the first episode of a two-part series packed with rogue medical ethics, exploding eggs, and a celebration of the unexpected outputs that define human progress. You don't want to miss this one!Microwave oven - WikipediaPigeon waste, cosmic melodies and noise in scientific communication - Lindau Nobel Laureate MeetingsParticle Fever - WikipediaYoung Frankenstein - WikipediaSend us a voice message!Nonsense is available here.
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The Post-Authentic Era: Disinformation and the New Machinery of Lies
Jun 1800:33:17Tap to summarizeIs that video real, or is it just another LLM-generated nightmare designed to make you angry? Welcome to the post-authentic era, where the marginal cost of producing a convincing lie has dropped to zero. In this episode the boys peel back the curtain on how politicians, influencers, and rogue algorithms are weaponizing outrage to bury the facts.If you think your eyes are the ultimate truth-tellers, we’ve got some bad news: they’re probably the worst liars you know. We’re mapping the matrix of misinformation and debating whether we can ever crawl our way back to a shared reality. It’s a breakdown of why the truth is currently losing, who’s profiting from the chaos, and why you should probably stop getting your medical advice from TikTok.Send us a voice message!Nonsense is available here.
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HEADLINES: Anthropic’s Banned AI, Terminator Drones, & Google’s Legal Reality Check
Jun 1600:28:25Tap to summarize(0:00) Pre-Show(0:46) Open(1:47) cj's week: Summer, Pool, BBQng!(3:22) Jeff's Week: Phat Spiders, FIFA Scanning(8:33) Headline: Why the US Government Just Pulled the Plug on Mythos 5 and Fable 5(17:33) Headline: No Human Required: Inside Ukraine’s Secret Autonomous Drone Test(21:19) Headline: Judges tells Google: Your AI Wrote It, You’re Responsible for It(24:37) The 75MHz WinBook XPIf you're tired of flawless automated soccer refs and crave some good old-fashioned human error, you've come to the right place.This week, we're diving deep into the White House's sudden directive forcing Anthropic to yank their latest AI models off the market. Are there shadowy motivations behind the pause? Is Amazon to blame? And should we all prefer "artisanal programming" on a 10-year-old MacBook over modern local LLMs? No one knows.Ukraine is reshaping the front lines with low-cost, jam-resistant autonomous drones that have boosted strike success rates 4x, and a court ruling throws shade at Section 230-style protections for generative AI, at least in Germany.What do mariachi band funerals, fat mosquitoes, and killer autonomous quadcopters have in common? Absolutely nothing, which means they fit perfectly right here on Nonsense.Anthropic Blocks Fable 5, Mythos 5 Access Following Government Order | PCMagAmazon security research reportedly led to the White House’s Anthropic Fable ban | The VergeUkraine's one-time test used fully autonomous drones to kill Russian soldiers - Ars TechnicaLandmark German ruling declares Google's AI Overviews are Google's own words and makes it liable for false answers)And now - Katy Actually #accesshollywoodSoccer explained (meh, sorta).Explaining how the Knicks and hurricanes won. #nba #sports #basketball #hockey #fySend us a voice message!Nonsense is available here.
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History's Deadliest General: How Mosquitoes Shaped the World
Jun 1100:24:30Tap to summarize(0:00) Open(0:48) The Unknown Side of Mosquitos(3:38) Good News: Mosquitos Don’t Bite(5:45) But They Are War Heroes(11:27) THAT Full Moon Fever(12:59) ¡Pie Queso!(14:56) They Gave Us Jurassic Park(16:05) But It’s Only The Females…(18:57) Iceland: Mosquito-Free(20:53) cj’s recommendation: A Bug’s Life (1998)(21:50) Jeff’s Recommendation: Mosquito (2017)Ever feel like mosquitoes have a personal vendetta against you? It turns out it's way worse than you think. This week on Nonsense, the guys dive deep into the terrifying, highly coordinated ballet that happens every time one of these little assassins lands on your arm. Spoiler alert: they don't just bite you - they use a six-needle microscopic toolkit to saw your skin open, pump you with anesthesia, and hunt down your capillaries in seconds.They also unpack the bizarre evolutionary quirks that make these dinosaur-surviving pests tick. Why does it seem like you get “bit” more during a full moon? What body part should you wash to defend against getting eaten alive this summer? And what’s the deal with Limburger cheese?Move over George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte - there is a much deadlier military strategist in town, and it weighs less than a grain of sand. Get ready to look at summer's most hated insect in a whole new, terrifyingly impressive light.This is Ann | The HuntingtonIg Nobel Prize - WikiwandA Bug's Life - bar sceneMosquito - Discovery ImpactSend us a voice message!Nonsense is available here.
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HEADLINES: The Trillion-Dollar Valuation Debate, Fancy Microfluid Tubes, and High-Fashion Lunar Long Johns
Jun 900:23:37Tap to summarize(0:00) Pre-Show(0:48) Open(1:55) National Forklift Safety Day(2:21) cj's week: Forklifts & Car Lifts(5:10) Jeff's Week: AGM Car Batteries and EV Sticks(6:41) Headline: Valuation Expert Sees Spacex Worth $1.3T, Below IPO Target(14:00) Headline: AI-Designed Universal Vaccine Clears First Human Trial(18:39) Headline: NASA Will Wear High-Tech Prada Long Johns to The Moon(21:12) Canon PowerShot S100 Digital ElphNonsense Headlines are back, and spicier than ever!In this episode, the guys dive into the battle over SpaceX's true net worth, pitting Musk's aspirational growth metrics against Morningstar's dramatically lower reality check. Is buying stock an income stream or just an expensive game of musical chairs? Only you can help the market decide.The guys also look at the Journal of Infection's latest page-turner: a universal vaccine delivery system known as a microfluid jet. Maybe it’s a needle, maybe not.Finally, they discuss the ultimate fashion collaboration: NASA + Prada. Because if you're going to be floating in the void of space, you might as well look European-skinny doing it.And in the long awaited return of our weekly technology recommendations, the $575-per-megapixel camera that you can carry in your pocket!Valuation expert sees SpaceX worth $1.3T, below IPO targetGoogle's new Gemma 4 12B model is designed to run on any laptop with 16GB of RAM - Ars TechnicaAI-designed universal vaccine clears first human trial, targets future coronavirus threats with needle-free deliveryNASA will wear high-tech Prada long johns to the Moon | The VergeThe saga of the International Space Station air leak took a worrying turn Friday - Ars TechnicaSend us a voice message!Nonsense is available here.
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The Cost of AI: Digital Dementia & The Death of Critical Thinking
Jun 400:25:30Tap to summarize(0:00) Pre-Show(1:11) Open(3:11) The Studies With The Data(9:45) Cognitive Offloading(12:54) Where Have All The Experts Gone?(17:29) The LLM Brain Rot Hypothesis(19:26) Save Your Meatware: Do Puzzles!(22:05) cj’s recommendation: WALL-E (2008)(23:12) Jeff’s Recommendation: Dead Poets Society (1989)Are you letting ChatGPT write your emails, summarize your reports, and do your basic thinking? Congratulations, you might be actively shrinking your prefrontal cortex! This week, Nonsense tackles the literal biological cost of artificial intelligence. If you think tools like Gemini and Claude are just handy, harmless calculators for the modern age, think again. The guys look at real-time neurological data proving that AI assistance systematically scales down the neural coupling required for deep focus and memory encoding. By letting software do our synthesis and critical judgment, we are leaving the human brain severely under-stimulated and physically altered.Can we claw back our cognitive autonomy before we fully evolve into the screen-addicted, floating toddlers of the 21st century? The guys lay out a mental fitness plan involving puzzles, strict attention boundaries, and a desperate, real-time attempt to guess cj's wife's name before a couch becomes his permanent bed.Bugged by Excel's calculation errorsSend us a voice message!Nonsense is available here.
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