Third Space Podcast

Slightly above average bats, phantom pitches, and a nightmarish, neverending ball game. Such is the content of the extended sports metaphor that Bennett presents to Daniel in this episode. The tale is a metaphor for dating in the current age, centering on the cultural and technological factors that make it such a dystopian hellscape. Is it uplifting? No. But it is entertaining, philosophical, humorous, and hopefully provides guidan...

After a couple months' gap, Bennett and Daniel return from eventful holidays in this pregnant 2025. It's not pregnant with a child, but with possibilities, of course. In semi-journalistic fashion, they recount Bennett's first meeting with Cosmo, Daniel's current thoughts on fatherhood, Bennett's move into a new house, his newfound Renaissance man capabilities, and lay the groundwork for a discussion on the effects of screens on kid...

Bennett and Daniel discuss technology! Bennett relives joyful childhood memories with Roller Coaster Tycoon, and Daniel discusses the infiltration of attention-fragmenting technology into schools. He explains how and why phones in schools are so harmful to success, how he addressed this issue in his school, and then he and Bennett talk more generally about the psychological and practical reasons why attention fragmentation is so be...

With the 2024 US Presidential election looming, the media lying, the campaigns exaggerating, and everyone bringing their biases to the table, Bennett presents Daniel with clarity through the one medium that speaks directly to the human soul: poetry. He accrues poems about the candidates, issues, and events relevant to this election, brilliant specimens of art and language, and Daniel analyzes them (and tries to pick which are secre...

Bennett and Daniel return after a long hiatus with lots of complaints stored up. At least they're interesting complaints! Bennett discusses the trailer for the upcoming movie, Wicked, and with Daniel analyzes its message and relation to modern movie trends (spoiler: they suck). Then Bennett and Daniel compare the experience of using the internet in the 90s and 00s to using the internet today. How has the internet gotten worse, why,...

The theme of this episode is adventure! That's right, beginning with an adventure... in etymology! Exciting! After that, Bennett shares his experience playing the game Outer Wilds, a game with a neat gameplay gimmick that deals with space exploration. This naturally leads into a discussion of space exploration in the real world; is it worth it? Do the benefits we've gained from space exploration justify the time, energy, money, and...

Bennett and Daniel discuss one of the most annoying aspects of travel: airport security. This valiant system costs trillions of man-hours, billions of dollars, and even confiscates Bennett's toothpaste, which undoubtedly really pisses off the terrorists. Or, perhaps, it's just a gargantuan waster of time and money for little or no benefit. The negatives, positives, and possible technological alternatives are examined in this episod...

Bennett discovers a game that somewhat embodies an old video game idea he had: exploring flooded ruins. Daniel and Bennett discuss this setting, underwater video game controls, human-computer interfaces in general, and then a piece of current tech in the news: Neuralink. How does it work, and how might it be used in the future, either for good (helping the disabled, de facto telekinesis, and music composition) or ill (brain hacking...

Daniel and Bennett discuss rites of passage. In an increasingly digital age, do we even have traditional rites of passage anymore? In a culture that values marriage and families less and less, are we losing our collective ability to establish our identities or encourage identity-building in our children? How analogous are learning to drive a car and learning to use the internet? What possible remedies could we institute in order to...

Bennett briefly flexes his professional handegg knowledge in discussing the upcoming Level 3 Super Bowl, then leads Daniel on a somewhat Valentine's Day-themed adventure... an Adventure in Etymology, of course! And lastly, Daniel discusses the Pain Gate Theory, which postulates that pain can be mitigated with what is essentially physiological distraction. Is it real? How does it interact with psychological distraction or mitigation...

Bennett springs a surprise game on a suddenly very uncomfortable Daniel called: Is It Racist? Before the podcast, Bennett gathered three somewhat random things from Daniel, and the premise of the game is to have Daniel determine whether these things, by modern definitions, are racist. Bennett provides substantiating and totally irrefutable journalistic examples as to why these things are, in fact, racist. In addition to the obvious...