Over the Counter Podcast

Episode #30 - Pia de Solenni

Mark and Andrew talk with Dr. Pia de Solenni, Associate Dean of the Augustine Institute in Orange County, CA. They talk about Dr. de Solenni's education and background, her time in Rome, her past policy work, Thomas Aquinas College, feral cats, the interrelation of science and philosophy, books and the Internet.

Episode #29 - Idealization of Reality

Mark and Andrew talk about augmented reality, Google Goggles, Amazon Firefly, Photoshopping photos, 3D scanning, plastic surgery, Spanx, the idealization of the human body in ancient art, propaganda, Vladimir Putin, Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, our desire to be duped, altering videos, rewriting history, editing the Internet, the Bilderberg Group, NSA cell phone tracking, fact vs. fiction, typewriters, Amazon's Echo device, tricoders, jetpacks, hover boards, Barbie, icons, models, obesity, and media consumption.

Photo credit: Zdenek Kratochvil

Episode #28 - Sleep

Mark and Andrew talk about sleep, biphasic sleep, polyphasic sleep, sleep experiments, napping, petroleum-flavored wine, light pollution, NyQuil, whether 8 hours of sleep is necessary, sleep cycles, the difference between Paleolithic and modern sleep, night lights, and Vitamin D intake.

Episode #27 - Halloween Edition

Mark and Andrew talk about hylomorphism, skeletons, ghosts, cloning, organ donation, artificial intelligence, carillons, Frankenstein, bananas, 3D printing of food, automaticity and much more.

Episode #26 - Lawsuits and Fear of Risk

Mark and Andrew talk about the looming fear of lawsuits and how our overly-litigious culture affects all of us. They hope to emerge from the dark cloud of over-reach which finds litigation micro-managing the details of life.

Episode #25 - Good Taste, Bad Taste

Mark and Andrew discuss matters of taste, commodification, the value of beauty, and craftsmanship. What does it mean to have good taste? What is the difference between "McMansions" and domestic architecture built by artisans? 

Picture credit: Sensonet

Episode #24 - Don't Follow Your Passion

Mark and Andrew argue over whether you should follow your passion or not, what "passion" really means and how the hard work of skill development fits in to the equation of success. The discussion is prompted in part by Cal Newport's book, So Good They Can't Ignore You.

Episode #23 - Addiction and Our Ancient Brain

Mark and Andrew talk about addictions and their effect on the brain. From drugs to video games, addictions modify the biochemistry of the human brain. But are some addictions helpful? What about "flow"?

Episode #22 - Getting Away From It All

Mark and Andrew talk about why we often want to get away from it all, go to the outdoors and chop some wood.

Episode #21 - Cool Stuff We Like

Mark and Andrew swap stories about their favorite new innovations, technologies, gadgets and ideas. Engineers produce some pretty cool stuff these days and it's worth taking a little time to just appreciate it all.