Devil's Advocate: Recent Episodes
Christopher Hynes
Both personal relationships and social movements demonstrate the tendency of the human brain to operate in binary terms. Right and wrong. Black and white. These divisions can feel natural, but they can lead to mistakes, verbal conflicts, and violence. Join Stephanie Sun and Chris Hynes on Devil’s Advocate, where we debate a variety of issues and offer facts and opinions in the format of a mostly civil disagreement, in hopes of resolution.
Guilt (and not shame) is a surprisingly constructive emotion, but escapist pursuits also serve a constructive purpose, even in a culture as obsessed with productivity as the United States. Should we feel less guilt about how we spend our time? And how do the things that define our culture (language, concepts, and ideals) create those feelings of guilt in the first place?
Join Stephanie and Chris as they explore some of the ideas behind guilt, happiness, and pleasure, while taking aim at that ways our society perpetuates gender, class, and cultural disparities through the ways we consume entertainment.
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Think of the things that practically define America; gasoline powered vehicles, rock and roll, and Super Bowl Sunday might come to mind. But what about firearms, and the right to bear those firearms? Gun ownership is higher per capita in the USA than any other nation in the world, to the point that they outnumber actual human beings. In a strange, unforeseeable coincidence, the number of homicides, accidental deaths, and suicides by gun are also higher per capita in the USA than any other nation.
So what purpose then does the 2nd Amendment still serve? Could it be revised, or repealed altogether? The 14th amendment has something to say about that, not to mention the millions of gun owners and their advocacy groups, whose reach extends into the upper echelons of government. Is gun ownership irrevocably woven into our cultural DNA? Or is reform possible? Time for a debate.
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Policing has never been an even-handed affair, racially or otherwise. But as the use of force has come under scrutiny, so has the force which is wielded by officers of the law. How did grenade launchers, tanks, and assault weapons become standard police issue anyway, and how does a man like Tom Cotton rationalize their deployment?
We look at the Insurrection Act, the Black Lives Matter #BLM response to violence on the behalf of law enforcement, and the Defund The Police movement in an effort to bring a sense of history to issues that urgently important in the here and now.
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these account," said Mark Twain, with prescient insight. He spoke in a different era, however, and as human technology has developed to the degree that virtually every spot on the globe is accessible (with the right resources), it may be time to reexamine how, and why, we travel. What are the consequences, and are there detriments to the practice that might negate the benefits to the travelers themselves?
In this episode, we discuss Mt Everest, the Galapagos, the issue of auctioned hunting safaris, and the story of Flavio de Silva, the Brazilian favela resident who acquired global fame in the 1970s, thanks to Time Magazine, photographer Gordon Parks, and the trend of slum tourism.
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Cultural appropriation has been policed with increasing vigilance over the past two decades. But what does it really mean, and how does it affect the dominant and subdominant cultures involved? Moreover, how can we, as citizens in a globalized world where cultural exchanges are inevitable, be responsible consumers and creators of products and ideas?
Chris and Stephanie explore this topic with an eye on cinema, fashion, and academic scholarship. Whose argument will be dominant, and whose argument will be sub-dominant? Find out in episode 3 of Devil's Advocate.
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Delve into the details on how COVID19 is disrupting the academic lives of students at every level of learning. An unprecedented, and undeniable disaster is transpiring, but could there be any improvements to the educational system in America on a long-term timeline?
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Beneficial, benign, or outright adverse? Stephers Du Nord and Chris Lee explore the origin and impacts of catchphrases, with debates and detours aplenty. Ranging from dictators, fascists, and baseball, we attempt to root the concept of the catchphrase in history, linguistic theory, and determine who has the better argument. What are the optics of my semiotics, compadre?
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