Hello again internet.

I'm going to change up the point of this blog. My ears are generally these days occupied with podcasts. So I'm going to add them to my music posts. I often listen to long, dense podcasts. I apologize or not. Whatever.

First a jam by Shook called 'Hold Tight' to win you over (download).

Now I'll perhaps continue winning you over with a little science. Science about Bonobos. Skeptically Speaking is a nice podcast out of Canada. In this podcast they speak first to a guy who talks about the complexity of the modern world and the common past-times of either escaping modernity or trying to dig into the nuts and bolts of modernity. Then the host speaks to a very entertaining Bonobo researcher. She discusses the prevalence of, yes, sexual activity among Bonobos, but also the seeming lack of violence in Bonobo society. Highly recommend (download).

Thinking about society inevitably leads to how we should be governed. Now, I'm going to lose you by announcing that I'm a libertarian. A liberal-leaning libertarian but mostly a libertarian. Before you hate me and leave, try listening to this: http://www.divshare.com/download/21377987-e4d
Jason Brennan speaks about his new book Libertarianism: What everyone needs to know. He does runs through some common criticisms lobbed at libertarianism and answers them. It may be helpful. I encourage you to take a listen. It's important to be considerate of opponents in any argument because that person is, inevitably, a person. It's explained well here:
I'm a frequent listener and follower of the Cato Institute. They are the prominent libertarian think-tank. I'm a fan of libertarianism primarily for it's empiricism and it's acknowledgement of how people will respond to incentives. I think Penn Jillette is a bit wild sometimes. But I very much agreed with most of what he says in this interview with Brian Lehrer about libertarianism (around 13 minutes in, download)

We can even go further back and look at how Adam Smith saw humanity (download).
This certainly dictated much of his later economic theory.

Anyway, starting off intense. My apologies. I'll play myself out. Here's a little Raphael Saadiq (download).

Next time: podcasts about the recent marijuana legalizations! (Hint: I believe the war on drugs has led to a cycle of criminalization of primarily minorities)