This Week in Podcasts

Another week has gone by, made all the better with a few great podcasts. This time around, we have appearances by Exponent, Back to Work, Roderick on the Line, and Defocused. Enjoy.

Exponent Episode 19: Me, Myself, and Minecraft. Great, great explanation of why vociferous argument is important amongst intelligent individuals, and why it does not occur between those who do not possess mutual respect for one another. All too often, many believe the polite course of action to be meek agreement with every point of view so as to keep from offending the one who espouses it. However, as Ben and James explain here, that’s simply not the case. The pair also shared some interesting thoughts on Microsoft’s acquisition of Minecraft, and ended after a very interesting aside on the current state of technology’s greatest players and how their business models inform their alliances and enemies. However, I found the insightful exchange at the front of the episode the most worthwhile.

Back to Work Episode 189: That’s How You Roll When You’re a Lobster. Why haven’t you started that cool new project? What, really, keeps you from taking on interesting new work when you hate your job? Merlin and Dan take a break from the comics and hit on these issues, to great results.

Roderick on the Line Episode 126: Big Cabbages and Baby Pigs. We as members of the human race tend to consider ourselves so incredibly smart. We stand up in front of our peers and pontificate, taking it upon ourselves to prescribe actions for one another out of some belief that one of us knows better than all others. In reality though, we’re all standing on the shoulders of giants, and basking in the glow of the twenty-five people who can actually do the things we attribute to humanity’s vast intelligence.

Also, Jeff Bezos just might be a modern-day super villain.

Defocused Episode 16: “Step 1: Atomic Bomb” with Matt Alexander. Matt Alexander, of the much-beloved but now-defunct show Bionic, made an appearance on the podcast many have used to fill the gaping hole left behind in the absence his weekly shenanigans with co-host Myke Hurley. The results are as expected, by which I mean great.