Reconceived: Recent Episodes
Ben and Joel
Reconceived is an ongoing conversation between Ben and Joel about topics that are not as simple as it may first appear.
Dear Joel,
This isn’t just any old thing reconceived. This is You reconceived. Because you’re graduating.
It’s been a hot minute since we’ve touched this podcast. I hope it’s not costing you too much to host…I recorded this with my laptop microphone (yikes!) but I hope it gets the point across. Graduation may be exciting or terrifying, a big change or a small one, but it is a change, and I wanted to give one small piece of encouragement.
Best,
Ben
Ben and Joel finally return together to share what they have discovered about each of their subjects. Ben shares what has transformed in pottery and what has stood the test of time, while Joel explains how America was almost one of the firsts to adopt the Metric system.
Ben and Joel change things up a little this week. They’re talking about the stuff they’re going to be researching, but haven’t quite yet. Join us for the ride.
Joel takes Ben down a cinematic memory lane to discover why DreamWorks Trolls: World Tour may be the most influential movie from the past century.
Links:Account of the 1948 case U.S. v. Paramount Pictures, et al.
The Wall Street Journal’s take on Trolls: World Tour’s impact
Ben and Joel talk about being late for work, a first amendment lawsuit, and municipal corruption, all in the pursuit of understanding traffic lights.
Links:
MIT Research
Mats Järlström, The Engineering Underdog
Yellow Light Corruption
Music by The Dominican Jazz Project
In this final episode of the Writing and Music series, Ben and Joel finally reunite to discuss what they have learned about their topics, about each other’s topics, and where writing and music come together to reveal greater truth.
Music
The Dominican Jazz Project
Guru Gruff
Hey Joel,
What makes a good ending? I’ve been bouncing ideas around in my head for a while now, and I think piano provides a good avenue for that sort of thing.
Sincerely,
Ben
P.S. Although I didn’t put it in the letter, Erik Satie wrote a piece making fun of overly dramatic endings to songs, which were common at the time. I think you’d enjoy it.
Well Ben, we’re almost to the end of our journey. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way as far as writing goes; I hope you got the same.
Sincerely,
Joel
Links
Music from https://filmmusic.io
By Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Hey Joel,
I stumbled across some ideas about what distinguishes poetry from other things like music and prose. I thought I’d share them with you.
Cheers,
Ben
Links:
Encyclopedia Britannica Article
The emotional power of poetry (study)
Hey Ben,
I have now officially hijacked your topic; I hope you don’t mind. So, here are my thoughts on something you, nor the piano itself, has addressed yet.
Sincerely,
Joel
Links
Adam Neely’s video on microtonal lofi hip-hop as well as his Christmas follow-up
Blues example (John Lee Hooker - Boom boom)
Greek Mode
African idiophones
Balinese Gamelan Music
Tradional Arabic Music (I forgot to specifically mention this one verbally, but I still put it in)
Meditación - Julián Carrillo
Droplet - Sevish
Hey Joel,
I had some thoughts about non-Western music, trying to answer the question: why twelve notes? I didn’t get a complete answer, but I have the beginnings of one.
Cheers,
Ben
Links:
Shakuhachi music courtesy of Rodrigo Rodriguez
Adam Neely interview
Dear Ben,
I wanted to make sure that I let you know what I thought of your question from last time, but I wanted to expand on the idea of fonts. Why are there so many of them, and how important are they really?
Sincerely,
Joel
Dear Joel,
I don’t have any links for this episode, but I still have thoughts. I don’t have anyone to interview, though. I should get on that…
—Ben
Hey Ben,
You had me stumped after last week’s episode. So, I went to someone who I knew could help me answer your question of what is the lasting value of writing well. I hope this summary of our conversation will be enough to suffice.
Hey Joel,
I hope this scratches a little at the itch you had. I’ll be thinking about that in the back of my head (i.e., why is music so cross-cultural) for the rest of this conversation. And who knows? It might just pop back up.
Music by Kimiko Ishizaka
It’s funny that you bring up piano Ben, because my experience with the instrument correlates perfectly with my fears of people misunderstanding college writing centers.
Sincerely,
Joel
Links
Music from https://filmmusic.io
By Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Hey Joel,
I’ve been learning piano recently. It’s been a slow process, but I think it’s been a great object lesson in the truth that beauty can contain. Also it sounds nice.
One of my favorite channels is Nahre Sol. She’s a trained concert pianist whose playing is an absolute delight to watch. I highly recommend anything she does, but I especially enjoyed her video "How to Sound Like Chopin.”
College Writing Centers can be very help spaces, but are they misunderstood? Is there a chance that the way that Writing Centers are used and even thought of is fundamentally flawed? I certainly think that.
Sincerely,
Joel
Links
Essay “The Idea of a Writing Center” By Stephen M. North
Music from https://filmmusic.io
By Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Ben and Joel have covered a wide range of topics in the past, each time with a slightly different flavor. This time, though, they plan not only to change minds, but to change the podcast. It's time to reconceive Reconceived.
Music by The Dominican Jazz Project
Joel and Ben absorb arguments about almond juice (and its various relatives) and discuss whether or not it should be called “milk.”
Links:Music by The Dominican Jazz Project
Ben and Joel discover that some languages aren’t as dead as they thought, addressing the question “how do we know what they sounded like?”
Links:Appendix Probi
Music by The Dominican Jazz Project
Joel and Ben look through the history of internet applications of the best medicine.
Links:Music by The Dominican Jazz Project
Ben and Joel talk about the Olympics, hotdog eating contests, and a host of other things they’re not fit for.
Links:Japanese Olympic Logo (unofficial)
Joel throws paper and Ben throws “let’s sit down and learn about the history of interpersonal problem-solving” in this episode of Reconceived.
Links:Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock
Music by The Dominican Jazz Project
A special guest, Call Me Kota, a Let’s Player himself, answers lots of our questions as we learn about the gaming community online. While consuming only the healthiest Lays and 7-Up, of course.
Links:Kota on YouTube
Kota on Twitter (@JustCallMeKota)
Music by The Dominican Jazz Project
Joel distinguishes Ladybugs from their evil twins, followed by proper eradication procedures. (Or proper relocation procedures. The little buggers are tough.)
Difference Between a Ladybug and an Asian Lady Beetle
Music by The Dominican Jazz Project
Update (10/19/20)Those buggers are still tough, but here is a fantastic comprehensive guide on how to prevent, control, and get rid of Asian Lady Beetles in your garden and home! Click HERE to go to the article by How I Get Rid Of
Ben tracks the history of railways in the world and transatlantic railways in America. Joel learns how trains run.
Cross-Section of a Railway
Numberphile Video
Music by The Dominican Jazz Project
Ben speaks for the trees and for the people cutting them down.
Links:US Department of Agriculture Report
Music by The Dominican Jazz Project
Joel brings up the banana’s secrets. Bunches of them.
Links:Bananas with seeds
Music by The Dominican Jazz Project
Ben surveys several statistical statements about college; Joel laments his fire alarm.
Links:60% Completion Rate
Arts Degrees Survey
NY Fed Survey
Learning Deficit
Music by The Dominican Jazz Project
Joel expounds on the purpose and history of calendars. Ben realizes the past is strange.
Music by The Dominican Jazz Project
Ben and Joel engage in a discourse regarding overpopulation, innovation, and how many people we can feed on the earth.
Links:Crop Yields Over Time
Music by The Dominican Jazz Project
Joel portrays the world as getting better, rather than worse.
Links:Steven Pinker Ted Talk
Music by The Dominican Jazz Project
Ben instructs Joel on how to harvest and roast coffee. Sort of...
Links:Coffee Belt
Imports/Exports of Coffee
Music by The Dominican Jazz Project
Joel takes over for Leonard and wistfully walks in the woods wishing for waffles. Ben learns about Belgium.
Links:First Known Picture of a Waffle
Intro music by The Dominican Jazz Project
Ben proposes that sports, properly understood, includes much more than you probably thought; Leonard isn’t so sure.
Links:Hikaru Nakamura Red Bull Sponsorship Page
ESports in the Olympics (Maybe?)
Leonard details the proper use of a semicolon, and he encourages people to use them more often; much talk of police raids and superhero movies ensues.
Ben delineates the deleterious effects of sneezes and their impact on the Air Force. Leonard has an epiphany.
Links:Journal of Military Medicine Study
Leonard unpacks the mysteries of the marvelous and much maligned marshmallow. Extrusion is scary.
Links:Marshmallow recipe (haven’t tried it yet, but hey, if you want to give it a shot we won’t stop you)
Podcast art designed by Kayden Seymour (www.thekaydenseymour.com/)
Music by Kevin Macleod (https://incompetech.com/)
Ben unravels the mysterious world of gift cards. Also, Leonard learns where the word “cheat” comes from.
Links:Gartner Gift Card Report 2015
Delaware Gift Card Case
Leonard runs down some of the lesser known bills the U.S. used to have, and Ben still can’t imagine why we’d ever need a $1,000 bill.
Links:$10,000 bill
The Important Parts of the Presidents (Leonard’s Video)
Leonard’s Channel (Cubeamour)
Ben introduces Leonard to first impressions. And apparently, Leonard can play the Ukulele.
Links:How Many Seconds to a First Impression?
“Seven Percent of Communication is Verbal” Myth = BUSTED
Leonard's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/cubeamour
Leonard fleshes out the presumed cuteness of hippos and why that presumption is wrong. Hippos don’t mess around.
Links:Hippo facts (makes you look really cool at parties)
Plural of “Hippopotamus”
Ben explains that China has been frustrated that they couldn’t produce a 100% domestic-made pen until just recently.
Links:Cool pens that exist
“First Class Industrial Power” Article
ISO Standards
Leonard examines the question, if death isn’t inevitable, what else may not be? A jovial, light-hearted conversation ensues.
Links:Statistical Significance
2045 Initiative (it’s really weird…)
Ben posits that breakfast is not, in fact, the most important meal of the day; in fact, the research on the nutritional value of eating breakfast is quite conflicted.
Resources/Studies:Comparative Obesity Rates
1992 Study/2014 Study: same trial, different results
2013 Overview (Belief in the PEBO…)
Cornell University 2013 Study (Consumed fewer calories by the end of the day)
Bacon Campaign and the beginning of American breakfast
Interview with Terence Kealey (professor of Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Buckingham)
Leonard postulates that Rubik’s cubes aren’t impossible. Learning how to solve one is actually quite easy, if you break it down.
Links:Feliks Zemdegs Average of 12
How to Solve a Rubik’s Cube
Good first cube: Qiyi Sail
Ben chats with Leonard about how pirates fit the mold of what we think of them. Did you know pirates had bedtimes? Pirates have feelings too, you know.
BooksThe Invisible Hook by Peter Leeson
A General History of the Pyrates by Daniel Defoe
Leonard contends that Dr. Seuss’s books have literary merit; Ben postulates that they may have more literary merit than a lot of other classics.
Audio Block
Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3.
Learn more Ben informs Leonard that Bitcoin isn’t dead, that it's helping Venezuela, and that economic collapse is generally a bad thing for stability.
What is Bitcoin?How much a Bitcoin is worth: preev.com
Wikipedia article: Bitcoin
New York Times: What Is Bitcoin, and How Does It Work?
Articles referencedBitcoin Is All that Stands between My Family and Starvation
Big in Venezuela: Bitcoin Mining
Venezuela's Socialist Hellscape, Captured in 28 Horrifying Headlines
This is the inaugural episode of Reconceived. As we didn't do much to introduce the idea in the episode, we'll mend that here. We think changing your mind is a healthy thing. So our goal is to take your preconceived notions about the world, and present them in a different way. To change your mind, or just to make you think.
Links:16personalities (Myers-Briggs type personality test)
Big 5 test