Almost Educational

Dennis wants to explore the return to privatization of public services. He begins by exploring how must public services including police forces in America were private companies and if we are reverting to that 19th century standard in the past twenty years with the rise of charter schools, private prisons, and PMCs in the military.

The duo choose 10 superheroes and try to figure out their religious and political affiliations. Is Batman a libertarian? Spider-Man a nice Jewish boy from Queens? What makes Superman an FDR era Democrat? Would the Punisher vote Trump?

Patrick invites friend of the show Cassidy from Jabber and the Drone Podcast to discuss an alternate history of the 90’s music scene surrounding what if Nirvana never founded and what if Kurt Cobain never dies?

What happens now that the Panama Papers leak names tax dodgers, bribe takers, and dirty banks? Does this prove all the InfoWars conspiracy theories right? What about Apple or Google dodges? Do we need an EMP reset button?

Alternate history scenarios of the Iran Hostage Crisis, Iran Iraq War, Ronald Reagan, Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and more. Cthulhu, World War 3, Terrorism, Watchmen, and Dennis’ Trump theory also appear.

Executive Branch What Ifs?. Dennis and Patrick try to make sense of conventions, third party outsiders, and Dennis makes the bold prediction a fractured national race leads to Marco Rubio as president plus and he reads selections of Mein Kampf

Patrick has a conversation with artist / author Ephrat Livni all about the intrinsic value of reading fiction, science fiction, and trying to understand Common Core and YA. Ephrat’s work can found at http://www.ephratlivni.com/ her Twitter is @el72champs

Alternate History topic this week in which free agency never comes to pass in baseball or comes early in 1921. Would America be more regionally minded? Earlier Desegregation? Then Donald Trump talk breaks out at @51:30 mark

Patrick invites co-founder and organizer, Francis Grunow, of Detroit’s Marche Du Nain Rouge on the show. Francis gives some historical background of the Marche, Red Dwarfs and Detroit. He also explains what it takes it put on a parade, festival, and rally from scratch.

Patrick gives Dennis a flurry of thought experiments to dissect including, could nuclear autumn prevent global warming? Do mosquitoes matter? Could we put every American on basic income? Should we pay students for better grades? Zika Virus, Elon Musk, and Ayn Rand all appear as well!

Dennis gets to discuss his favorite topic of the Tudors and Henry the 8th. What if Henry had a son with Catherine of Aragon? What would a Catholic England look like? Would England ever become a superpower? What if there was never a reign of Queen Elizabeth? Would we be in a French speaking New World?

Patrick invites Colin Beveridge, mathematician and author from Flying Colours Maths to better explain Zero as a number, concept, and tool. Colin gives some history of zero, explains empty sets and how infinity is zero’s conceptual mate. Plus Patrick peppers him with questions about teaching math in the U.K.

Patrick finally reads Stephen King’s 11/22/63 and Dennis gets his wish to speculate about an America with a second term of Kennedy. What happens in Vietnam? Does Nixon run? What about Bobby Kennedy? Would JFK be impeached? What about LBJ and the Civil Rights movement?

Dennis and Patrick open the show with the recent history of the Flint Michigan lead water crisis which leads into a discussion about the effectiveness of protests, boycotts, and movements. Violence VS Nonviolence Topics range from Black Lives Matter, the Tea Party, Gay Marriage, Occupy Wall Street, Malcolm X and MLK.

Patrick wants to explore an alternate history experiment and play with concept that America could have become a Soviet nation. What if Lenin came to the states? Could Debs have rallied a Socialist Republic of America? What conditions could have swayed America to join the great worker’s revolution? A Worse Depression Era? Earlier entry into Great War? All questions kinda answered inside.

Dennis and Patrick debate and discuss the Donald Trump and the Election of 1912 in regards to the American obsession with trolling. They highlight some of the greatest trolls in American history Andy Kaufman, Hunter S Thompson, and Muhammad Ali included. Finally the duo ponder if internet trolls just reflect American mainstream sentiment.

Patrick goes solo and tells the tale of General Smedley Butler, the marine who went from super solider to outspoken critic of the military industrial complex. From his roots as a son of Quakers to the man that exposed the plot to overthrow FDR. Things are wrapped up with a love letter to Captain America.

Patrick brings on three guests, Geoff, Emily, and Nate to discuss Warren Zevon. How do you define Zevon as a an artist? Why was he never as big as other artists in canon of American musicians? What was the David Lettermen connection all about? All questions are answered plus Henry Rollins and Album cover talk. Dennis Quiz : Exploitation film or Zevon Song.

Patrick invites Rod from the Listening Party Podcast to discuss Star Wars, What is like to watch Star Wars for the first time and not speak a bit of English? Why is the Empire so appealing? Does it matter that the Expanded Universe is no longer in canon? All of these are sorta answered… Star Wars.

Lots of shouty debate when Patrick and Dennis debate the idea that millennials are infantilized in modern. Has the rise of “geek” culture stunted the social and political growth of youth? Is the shouting echo chamber of the internet causing young people to tune out real issues? Is sports culture just as guilty of as cosplay, comic books and gaming?