Episode 562: The Robot Seems Fun, but the Kids are in Trouble

Real Life

Ben had a pretty heartfelt Father’s Day. The kind that makes you wonder what to do with all those sentimental cards—save them? Repurpose them? Wallpaper a studio? He’s thinking bigger: moleskin notebooks and sketchbooks as repositories for meaningful letters, doodles, and moments. He also caught You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown at SLOREP, which delivered all the nostalgia and Peanuts poignancy one could hope for.

Devon saw Annie live and reports back that yes, the sun did come out. Meanwhile, he was also boots-on-the-ground at the No Kings march in Tyler, TX, where roughly 1,000 freedom fans turned out to peacefully protest monarchy (fictional or otherwise).

Steven joined a parallel No Kings march in Atascadero and followed it up with some Father’s Day chaos and a Mutant Crawl Classics game (ask him about severing arms for cybernetics). Also: he watched Predator: Killer of Killers on Hulu and is delighted to report that the 800 A.D. Vikings segment delivers exactly what the title promises—Vikings versus Predator. It’s glorious.

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Future or Now

Ben warns us all: Motörhead tried to tell you, but you didn’t listen. At Download Festival, moshing got so intense that smartwatches started auto-dialing emergency services. Authorities had to step in and tell everyone to dial down the wearable chaos. We now live in a world where jumping to Ace of Spades might trigger a 999 call. Rock responsibly.

Steven, meanwhile, read a fascinating article on how old smartphones—millions of which end up in landfills—can be repurposed into micro data centers for public services. From bus tracking to marine research, your outdated Galaxy S6 may be the next scientific hero. As Moore’s Law slows, we ask: what if we used what we already have?

Devon abstained this week. (Or did he transcend time itself? TBD.)

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Book Club: A Psalm for the Wild-Built

This week we dug into chapters 2 and 3: The Best Tea Monk in Panga and Splendid Speckled Mosscap.

The robot has arrived—and while it’s delightful, the kids in the book might be in spiritual peril. We unpack the loneliness and disconnection the humans seem to feel, and how it echoes the Jedi’s lack of attachments in Star Wars. There’s also a curious debate about genre: is this science fiction or fantasy? When your tech includes nearly-immortal pocket computers and self-aware robots emerging from the woods, the lines get blurry.

Next week: chapters 4–6 (Audible 6–8), including “An Object, and an Animal,” “Remnants,” and a dinner scene featuring grass hen and caramelized onions. If you're not hungry by the end of it, you're stronger than us.