The Shit Cast: Recent Episodes
Rick and Gray
Each episode your hosts Rick and Gray will explore a topic of interest to one or both of them. From first contact with alien civilizations to great military disasters to current events. Both hosts have a wide variety of overlapping and disparate interests ranging from military tech and automotive history to philosophy and chess. So be prepared for multiple asides and tangents. And if mildly informative rambling sounds interesting, give us a listen
Welcome to Rants, Chants, and Chats. This is our attempt to separate out our discussions on current events that end up in the start of every episode. If it was something you enjoyed, great! You can find them more easily. If you didn't like them and found them too rambling, then this will help you skip over them more easily.
This week we're talking about Taiwan, China, Customs and Border Patrol, and the patriotic duty to reinforce the stereotype that all Americans are born with a pistol in their hands.
We discuss how the US Navy, not content with losing a 1.3 billion dollar baby carrier, goes on to shoot itself in the other foot. They falsley accuse low-ranking people, bring politically motivated charges, lie in to Congressional committees, fail to come up with a plan to fight future fires, and introduce the idea of adding more management to solve the "root" problem.
In truth, the US Navy, at least the surface fleets, are beyond atrophied. An aging prizefighter coasting on reputation, convinced that they're just as good now as they were in their youth. We don't know what sorts of Revolutions in Military Affairs are just over the horizon. But, like the battleship believers of the second World War, time has passed the US Navy by as they cling to outmoded concepts, traditions, and behaviors.
The United States Navy has been in the news a lot over the past few years as they gear up to fight a "possible" war with a peer in "the Pacific". With all the money American taxpayers give their armed forces, why does the Navy need to gear up? Why do they keep crashing their ships? Why are they getting rid of ships now when they say there could be a fight soon?
Just like the wooden British ships of the line, the time may have passed for the American carrier fleet. And the entirely preventable destruction of the Bonhomme Richard may prove to be the death knell for American naval power.
Continuing our complaints about the portrayal of things we love in media, we're here to tell you that what you've seen about poker on tv and movies is completely wrong. And a lot of times its a wasted storytelling or character growth moment too.
In 1968, 4 military submarines from nations all around the world sank. Ever since, people have wondered about the causes and if malice was a factor. Thanks to governement's natural tendencies to obfuscate embarassing information and the secretive nature of submarine operations in general, conspiracy theories have found fertile ground. In part 2 we finish the conversation and introduce our thesis. Drowning sounds horrible, so don't go in the ocean
In 1968, 4 military submarines from nations all around the world sank. Ever since, people have wondered what were the causes and if malice was a factor. Thanks to governement's natural tendencies to obfuscate embarassing information and the secretive nature of submarine operations in general, conspiracy theories have found fertile ground. In part 1, we cover 2 of the sinkings and do our best to debunk some of the conspiracies and get to the actual truth of what happened.
Gray is taking the lead on this episode, and we're talking about the depictions of chess in cinema and fiction. And how it's almost portrayed incorrectly. Being good at chess only says one thing about someone, that they're good at chess. But time and again, writers and directors strive to use a game they depict incorrectly as a signifier for intelligence or strategic acumen, and we've had enough.
After our episode on tanks, we figured we'd do one on the silent service. Unlike tanks, submarines like to avoid the spotlight. And when we do hear about them, its usually when something's gone wrong. So strap in for hours of tangent-laden discussion about submarines and why good midwesterners avoid them.
The forward march of progress will eventually render irrelevant laws concerning the manufacturing of all sorts of deadly weapons. Battlefield weapons from 75 years ago are not only outdated, but laughably easy for individuals to make affordably at home. The veil mysticism of the Nuclear Priesthood is being lifted. And scientists are able to make deadly diseases more quickly, more cheaply, and more easily than ever before.
With all that in mind, how should a forward-looking society brace for the coming changes? After all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Part 4 of 4.
In this final episode on first contact, we tackle the question of hope. If there are aliens out there and they stumble on to us, do we have any hope of surviving if it turns violent? There's also an explanation that the nerds have been crying out for about the Fermi Paradox and other angles we hadn't covered yet with regards to first contact.
*Future episodes will still be biweekly, but we are moving to a Monday evening release schedule so that people can listen to these during their work weeks instead of releasing on the weekends.
Part 3 of 4.
We've been discussing how humanity might react to meeting alien life, and the whole time we've been referencing fiction. So in this episode, we sat down and discuss what the actual fiction of first contact looks like, where it came from and what it says about those who wrote it.
A bonus episode about tanks!
We originally recorded this episode several weeks before the American announcement that they were sending M1 Abrams to Ukraine. It was serendipitous and a shame to leave the episode languishing in the editing purgatory, so we fast tracked it. Don't worry, our series on First Contact is ongoing and this won't interrupt the bi-weekly schedule.
With that said, join us for a bonus episode about tanks. What they're good at, how they're designed, and how they're used. From WW1 to the thunder run on Kiev, tanks are used to achieve specific battlefield effects. Sometimes they are used correctly and sometimes... not.
Hi, we're Rick and Gray, your hosts for The Shit Cast. We'll be covering Science, History, and Interesting Topics. With our backgrounds in history, philosphy, and engineering we're painting events in a new and interesting light.
Take a listen, and if this is something you enjoy, please stick around because there is a lot more in the pipeline.
After our first episode talking about how so many stories of first contact are rooted in our fears, we're back to talk about the other side of the coin. How stories of first contact can be hopeful, how the galaxy could be full of rational, benevolent peoples just waiting for us to join them. Also the Mongols and their historical role in this kind of encounter
Welcome to the S.H.I.T. Cast; Science, History, and Interesting Topics, we've got them all.
In our very first episode we dive headlong into the strange similarities between the science fiction of First Contact and the Age of Colonialism. With everything from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to Aboriginal Australians to Magellan, we're setting out as we mean to go.