Satellite Haiku

Milo & Shawn

Two long-time best friends wander through culture, politics, tech, and fatherhood and try to arrive at—stumble upon, alchemize and synthesize—something wise.

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24 episodes
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Avg 1 hr 13 min
English

Episodes 24

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September 28 · 1 hr 12 min
072: Money, Corruption, and Cults
Do money and power corrupt, or are corrupt people drawn to chase money and power? Both surely. We start with this question and return to it at various points. In-between we talk about the human propensity to latch onto gurus and saviors, the power of rizz, Elon Musk, Elizabeth Holmes, Tony Robbins, Tim Tebow / Life Surge, two questions to always ask a self-proclaimed guru or spiritual leader, scammers and their victims, FOMO and greater-fool theory, the “please run for president” reflex, the pain of uncertainty, rejecting false binaries, false equivalences, double-standard traps, the God of the Old Testament, a theory of wealth corruption, chasing the next billion, CEOs and psychopathy, Paul Piff’s money+corruption experiments, NYC mayors’ approaches to panhandling and poverty. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
September 22 · 1 hr 20 min
071: Apocalypse How? (AI Edition)
We talk about how an AI might “evolve,” Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, recursive self-improvement, scaling up to super-intelligence from LLMs, the nuclear disarmament analogy, lifespan disparities, Waymo rollouts, anthropomorphizing chatbots, chatbots emulating human niceties, Siri getting spicy in Spanish, Google Maps of late, AI in Gmail, the new COVID strain (“cicada”), evolution of the human immune system, the leap past neanderthals, the Hugging Face hack, AI regulation schemes, the AI financial bubble, AI as a useful technology (today) vs magical super-intelligence (future), nationalizing AGI, neurosymbolic AI vs deep learning, what happened to IBM Watson, Uber, enshitification and willingness to buy, jobs that are/aren’t vulnerable to AI, unit economics, when bubbles collapse, the fall of Borders books and the rise of Amazon, our personal places on the anxiety vs hope scale, what human “extinction” means. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
September 14 · 1 hr 10 min
070: Late-Stage Trumpism
We talk about the 6-7 meme, generational divides, our old friend Peter, prank comedy, entrapment as a law enforcement tactic, the Lake Ontario name change and CEO boot-lickers, late-stage Trumpism, dishonest discourse (about Hasan Piker, zionism/antisemitism, socialism, etc), John Ratcliffe’s Trip to Moscow, the human costs of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and pet peeves. Mentioned in this episode Sacha Baron Cohen as “Erran Morad” and the “Kinder Guardians” program Mentalist Derren Brown’s special,“The Push” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
September 13 · 1 hr 14 min
069: Remembering 9/11
We remember where we were on 9/11, and MiLo shares a song he wrote in the immediate aftermath, an anthem for hope and lasting peace. Then we talk about how our individual political views have changed (or not over the years). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
August 31 · 1 hr 14 min
068: Reality Remains Undefeated
We talk about the paradox of ‘brown MAGA,’ the Natalie Harp saga, quitting Bill Maher and Sam Harris, the ‘socialism’ debate, correcting the online discourse, straw men and slippery slope arguments, marriage vs domestic partnership, Trump vs reality, concentration camps in America, rationalizing Trump, revisiting Kamala, and the meaningless courage of outsider candidates. Mentioned in this episode Nick Hanaur on Diary of a CEO and The.Ink Neil DeGrasse Tyson on the trans athlete issue Mark Kelly vs Tommy Tuberville This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
August 24 · 1 hr 18 min
067: What is the point (of creating art)?
We talk about the urge to create art and confronting the voice that asks, “what’s the point?” Before and after that, we riff on mental health, therapy, trauma, male vs female friendships, the manosphere, Sean Ryan, peer groups and mental health, solitude, calibrating your inside voice, gratitude vs avoidance, quitting Sam Harris and Bill Maher, church camp, feeling called to the priesthood, quitting religion, priests who are secret atheists, people leaving MAGA, and ideological blind spots. Finally, we share some harmless pet peeves. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
July 29 · 1 hr 9 min
065: Technology and Sports
We talk about penalty kicks and tiebreakers, the offsides rule, high-tech swimsuits, augmented sports, ABS, swim race time precision, Jude Bellingham vs Harry Kane, England vs Norway, biohacking, body optimization, fitness trackers, the stigmatization of pleasure, Tim Ferris, the five-minute mile, the purpose of meditation, Iron Man competitions, Dean Karnazes, ad hoc competitions with strangers, skiing until the mountain closes, the Orwell future vs the Huxley future, and a movie trope that needs to die. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
July 22 · 1 hr
064: Middle Age and its Metaphors
We talk about forgetfulness, routine, middle age as a metaphor for Europe, San Francisco weather vs east coast weather, security vs convenience, the Jefferson-Adams death coincidence, birth/death synchronicities in general, Max Muncy x2 as proof of the simulation, dystopias, caterpillar epigenetics, past lives, the difference between personality and self, summer tomatoes, CA’s top predator, jet lag Mentioned in this episode Rutger Bregman / Reith lectures The Truman Show (1998 film) My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor This American Life: “Testosterone” Bob Odenkirk answers “who are you jealous of?” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
July 14 · 42 min
063: Weaving through Miscellany
We talk about solitude, the tech job hunt scene, MiLo’s conversion to “sports guy” for the World Cup, the offsides rule, bad landlords, MiLo’s work for the Pima County (AZ) Democratic Party, the ascendance of the DSA, asking whether Israel has a “right to exist,” the false binary of capitalism vs socialism, corporate monopolies, the conflation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism, anti-Zionism on the right vs left, the difference between England and Great Britain and the U.K., England fans doing side quests, one advantage of the parliamentary system, Republicans finding their spines when it no longer matters. Mentioned in this episode Francesca Albanese on whether Israel has a right to exist Pablo Torre and the Bulwark crew on the state of capitalism England fans singing for Michael Harris II This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
July 1 · 47 min
062: Imposter Syndrome
Shawn remembers the early days of the web, and we talk about our first office jobs, majoring in the humanities, MiLo’s brush with Theranos, buying Elizabeth Holmes and Elon Musk, yoga retreats, World Cup visitors experiencing Americana, the White House as reality tv fodder, Trump as a tragic figure, the enduring power of the MAGA mob, the reflecting pool episode. Mentioned in this episode Our Cartoon President (tv show) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
June 27 · 1 hr 11 min
061: Art, Sports, and Cultural Identity
We talk about doing voices to entertain our kids, Waldorf schooling and its prohibitions, audio book performances, art books, conceptual art, SpaceX and other IPOs, Elon’s race-baiting and other shenanigans, satellite launches, the World Cup, fans singing at sporting events, white American culture, sports as a melting pot, the Knicks game 4 comeback, Brazil’s humiliating 7-1 loss to Germany in 2014, magical thinking, family heirlooms, American immigrants and assimilation, America as a melting pot versus salad, Hegseth’s Hitler speech at Normandy, UFC and Idiocracy at the White House, protests in the US versus Europe. Mentioned in this episode Jim Dale’s Harry Potter audiobooks The Starn twins (artists Doug & Mike Starn) Musical Instrument Museum (Phoenix, AZ) Marc Maron: “[progressives] annoyed the average America into fascism” American Gods by Neil Gaiman (books, tv show) This is the future that liberals want (meme) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
June 18 · 1 hr 4 min
060: The Economics of Music and Healthcare
We talk about the podcasting ad ecosystem, the “long tail”, Ani DiFranco, the economics of music streaming, news hygiene, Trump and the depths of dumb, vestiges of the Internet’s golden age, public healthcare vs private insurance. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
May 26 · 1 hr 25 min
059: Wave of Change
We talk about Shawn’s patented microwave shortcut, first world problems™️, dumb uses of AI, the AI commencement speech “boo” trend, AI hallucinations, the AI “bubble” feeling (whether or not it’s actually a bubble), comparing this AI wave to the 2000 dotcom wave, the Trump firehose of s**t, finding solace and hope in things (Biosphere 2, radically zooming out, the overview effect, surrendering to the airplane), reframing the abortion debate, the gun control debate, political polarization and finding common ground, when your reality changes overnight, being intentional. Mentioned in this episode Powers of Ten (short film by the Eames Office Company) Pale Blue Dot (from Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos” series) The Artemis II crew speaks following their successful mission Geshe Michael Roach TED Talk (including his famous pen story) The Hurt Locker (2008 film) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
May 19 · 1 hr 26 min
058: Journeys to Non-Belief
We talk about Shawn’s tenacious cold, the hantavirus outbreak, pandemic insanity, MiLo’s paintings, his upcoming show, and Bob Ross. Then we talk about for an hour about our current state of religious (non)belief and how we got here. Mentioned in this episode Emmanuel Swedenborg, and especially his writings in Divine Love and Wisdom, Divine Providence, and Apocalypse Revealed. Rupert Sheldrake, and his hypothesis of “morphic resonance” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
May 11 · 1 hr 25 min
057: Value in the Doing
We talk about generalists vs specialists, the communications degree, film school then and now, the process vs the product (redux), Disney layoffs, creativity as a temperament, retirement, doomscrolling (hantavirus, ebola, SARS, COVID, and related conspiracy thinking), the Artemis mission (and flat-earthers), Q-Anon, wrong number spam, scamming the scammers, tolerating uncertainty, first world problems. Mentioned in this episode Kicking and Screaming (1995 film) DEEP VZN project to identify potential pandemic viruses Q: Into the Storm (2021 documentary series) Noel Rhodes / doctordub comedy This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
May 5 · 1 hr 20 min
056: Layers of Attention
We talk about our podcast as a family artifact, home tech challenges, class reunions, digitizing MiLo’s old film projects, our celebrity doppelgängers, Charlize Theron, synchronicity, George Gurdjieff’s attention exercises, Lebron James and other athletic savants, the magical thinking of children, learning languages, John Vervaeke’s “four ways of knowing,” IQ and the definition of intelligence, Asterix and Obelix, learning disparities in grade school, the Science of Reading, IEPs, California Proposition 13 (property tax reduction) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
April 18 · 1 hr 30 min
055: Process vs. Product
We talk about mountains, trains, snow, the Donner Party, medical “diseases of opulence,” 80s teen movies, categories of 80s parents, finding jobs during a downturn, AI and the future of jobs, the market for craftsmanship and artisanal goods, hipsters, the process and the product, the Luddites, local vs. global capitalism, AI writing, AI sycophancy, AI psychosis, AI artists, brain hemisphere differences, Internal Family Systems, neurosymbolic AI as an precursor/alternative to LLMs, first world problems. Mentioned in this episode Portlandia: Wilson Artisanal Lightbulbs @Husk testing AI on TikTok and Sam Altman’s response Artists using AI in creative ways: geddyruxpin, Moss Carpet, Bennett Miller Iain McGilchrist’s work on brain hemisphere differences, and his books: The Master and His Emisary and The Matter with Things. Pixar’s Inside Out This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
April 7 · 1 hr 21 min
054: The Constant and the Variant (redux)
MiLo shares an update on his grandbabies and uses that to riff on the constant versus the variant (nature versus nurture). We linger on parenthood for a bit, and then we talk about approaches to human learning, analogous approaches to training AI, Waldorf education, screen use and attention span, ADHD, the purpose of school and different college majors, STEM versus the humanities, the idea of the “collective” (i.e. society) and its obstacles, globalization, “fraternity” versus selfishness, whether selfishness is endemic (constant) or learned (variant), proxy debates in politics, Steven Pinker’s view of human progress, the need for certainty and cognitive closure, religious belief. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
March 30 · 1 hr 13 min
053: Supposedly Smart People
We talk about audiophiles, stereos of our youth, early portable music devices, white gentrification, artistic idiosyncrasies, writing, the pap smear test, videoconferencing apps, libertarians, Andreessen, Musk, Zuckerberg and the end of the Metaverse, the stupidity of supposedly smart people, the daily barrage of crime and scandal, fears about the midterms and 2028 elections. Mentioned in this episode Dr. Georgios Papanikolaou, Greek physician and pathologist who developed the “Pap Smear” screening method in the 1920s to detect cancerous cells in the cervix Ex Machina (2014 film) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com
March 24 · 1 hr 3 min
052: In the Kali Yuga
We talk about the challenge of focusing on normal life, Trump’s fundamental laziness and capriciousness, art after tragedies like 9/11, the diminishing returns of escapism, dystopia-induced anxiety vs depression, eschatological beliefs, children as an investment with delayed returns, society vs selfishness, the hierarchy of self-identification, what capitalism can and can’t solve, America as non-dualist, alternative energy opportunities and challenges. Mentioned in this episode Spun (2002 film starring Jason Schwartzman, Brittany Murphy) Ill Fares the Land - book by historian Tony Judt Sold a Story - podcast series about reading instruction in American schools (“whole language” vs phonics and the science of reading) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit satellitehaiku.substack.com

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