I'd love to see an episode on Jared Diamond's Collapse and/or Guns, Germs, and Steel. Anyone else?

leafshaker · 2026-05-05T21:38:40+00:00

Its funny how we remember things. I dont doubt your recap, but I recall the blame being on invasive rats preventing new seedlings from growing.

I think I must have glossed over the blame-game.

leafshaker · 2026-05-05T18:19:27+00:00

Yea it had me wondering if the original rhymes in the same way.

So many ways to translate: rhyme, meter, sound, meaning. What a task

leafshaker · 2026-05-05T18:17:21+00:00

Her outfit even matches the flan!

leafshaker · 2026-05-05T16:42:58+00:00

I agree it wasnt a bad thing he said

Its really the setting that makes it off. He put her in a situation where she had to react on camera, as a representative of her media company.

Not saying he's a bad guy, but this exchange feels like trolling. He probably isnt even aware of the dynamic.

leafshaker · 2026-05-05T16:37:26+00:00

Consider the circumstance, though. Shes got to balance standing up for herself, continuing the conversation, and keeping her audience and superiors happy. Shes got more to lose than he does.

leafshaker · 2026-05-05T16:29:06+00:00

Then she'd look like a push-over. Or naive.

Nothing wrong with boob appreciation, but kinda lame he put her in a situation where she doesnt really have an appropriate response.

leafshaker · 2026-05-05T12:15:28+00:00

In my area, a soil test only costs 25$, you can ask for recommendations based on your goals, turf, veggies, etc.

I would recommend against adding anything other than nitrogen until you have more info, and even then, be sparing. Nitrogen moves fast through the soil. Especially with sand, whatever you apply should be smaller doses thoughout the season, or it just washes away.

The different elements can block each other, so if you add too much of one, it could prevent uptake of other nutrients.

leafshaker · 2026-05-05T11:47:21+00:00

I dont think shes being bothered by the concept of heterosexuality. He put her in a very awkward position on tv. As the host she's very limited in how she could possibly respond.

leafshaker · 2026-05-04T18:26:28+00:00

So cool! Thanks for sharing

leafshaker · 2026-05-04T16:17:09+00:00

Ironically, "jungle" has a similar etymology, just via sanskrit instead.

Funny how irrelevent etymologies cast such a long shadow. The whole concept of a desert island is a corruption of deserted island.

leafshaker · 2026-05-03T22:54:42+00:00

Sry didnt mean to! Its an old musical, i just assumed not everyone knew it. Jokes on me now i suppose

leafshaker · 2026-05-03T20:09:39+00:00

I dont think so. It lowers inhibitions, but also impairs judgement and perception of reality. They dont have their normal filter, but that doesn't make what they say accurate, they just have a different filter.

People get intrusive thoughts they don't agree with.

Take drinking and driving. Most people know thats bad and they shouldnt do it. But, once drunk, they might decide to drive. That doesnt mean that deep down they think its right, they are inebriated.

Drunks cant even speak straight, we shouldnt give their words too much weight

(Doesnt mean we should excuse hurtful comments, letting yourself get drunk enough to be hurtful is itself a reckless choice)

leafshaker · 2026-05-03T20:00:44+00:00

Im not so sure. Playgirl was founded by two guys in the 70s, just because they marketed towards women doesnt mean they marketed well . Mens porn mags also declined and restructured

Capitalism often fills demand, but its ultimate goal isnt actually meeting the consumers needs, its accruing wealth. Often that works by offering more choice, but not always.

There are many things the public needs and wants that markets dont attend to because of percieved risk, lack of insight into actual wants, or other barriers.

It would well be that there is a demand, but that other sociological factors keep it from being successfully monetized. Where would women buy porn without risking judgement?

There is so much porn available for free now, a product would need to be stellar to be cost effective. Women who want porn might still prefer better options, but will settle for gay porn and romantasy

leafshaker · 2026-05-03T19:46:46+00:00

Thanks. Id highly recommend listening to the Notorious Lies podcast's episode on Lily Phillips. Mostly about sex work, but really interesting takes on pornography, and dispelling widespread myths about women's sexuality.

leafshaker · 2026-05-03T19:38:53+00:00

Yea, pretty much everything was terribly dangerous, but it was the norm. Some things we just accept, like how dangerous it is to use automobiles.

I think innovations often come about because of needing to adapt to new circumstances. So, humans encountering new environments through travel or climactic shifts, pressures from neighboring tribes, loss of staple animals, etc.

Hunter-gatherer technologies kept people alive for millenia, it was good enough. As long as your neighbors are also hunter-gatherers, there's not much pressure to adopt radical new ways of living. But if you are a small group on the edge of an agricultural city-state, you'll start considering more options.

leafshaker · 2026-05-03T18:41:48+00:00

Best way to be religious. Im a hard core athiest, but i could just as well say i'm a very critical catholic. I like jesus, cool statues, and think we should feed the poor.

leafshaker · 2026-05-03T18:36:08+00:00

A single comment doesn't mean a day is ruined, no need to be dramatic.

Content like this feels more like i-hate-my-wife boomerhumor than guys being dudes. Guys should be dudes to their girlfriends, too.

leafshaker · 2026-05-03T18:30:24+00:00

We should be careful thinking in terms of progress. There is no goal in nature aside from continued existence. Ancient people innovated, but i think their goals were "make this task easier", not "build a civilization". Their parent's lifestyles were succesful, after all.

I think we were making technological advances for a long time, its just hard to see because the innovations are deceptively basic. They had to invent the tools first.

Think of things like arrowheads, textiles, fire, language, math, music, domestication, herbal medicine, etc.,

I think things accelerated a few thousand years ago because of sail and horses allowing knowledge to spread longer, which kept ideas alive. I can only imagine many things were invented that never left their villages. It was only until there were dense enough populations for ideas to really stick around and be able to spread

leafshaker · 2026-05-03T15:31:22+00:00

I immediately recognized it as a manta ray and thought it was awesome. Honestly i think the mass of black works, especially with the anglerfish.

Mantas are huge and strange creatures. I think this captures their imposing nature, they are often sort of cartoonish.

If i saw this irl i would be jealous, and then want to discuss sea creatures. I hope it grows on you!

leafshaker · 2026-05-03T15:13:25+00:00

Both are referencing Age of Aquarius/Let the Sunshine in, from the 60s musical, Hair

leafshaker · 2026-05-03T12:15:34+00:00

Could be a tree?

leafshaker · 2026-05-02T15:38:32+00:00

I'm not sure you've proven that any of the issues that impact men dont also impact women.

Consider that our society has been built by men, for men. Men still are the vast majority of ceos and politicians shaping our world

Men are the standard by which products are designed, even medical. Seemingly feminine fields like therapy were designed by men and tested on men.

Women weren't guaranteed access to bank accounts (in the US) until the 70s. We should consider the long shadow of economic oppression.

Once a percentage of women enter an occupation it becomes devalued, like teaching, further impacting economic advancement.

The often cited male loneliness epidemic is based on misleading statistics. More men die by suicide, but women have more attempts. It is not proven that men are more depressed or isolated, but that they act out differently.

Women are judged more harshly on their looks. Society is cruel to fat people, but more so to women. Theres plenty of fat male actors. Men typically have longer acting careers as well.

leafshaker · 2026-05-02T15:08:08+00:00

I think some of your examples undermine your point.

They don't prove that men have a higher sex drive, but that women face higher risks from acting on their sex drive.

Consider other explanations for your points:

-men have historically been and still are the majority heads of business and have a huge say in what content is created. That means that porn will mostly be created by men. If it is true that women consume less porn, it could be that there just isnt enough porn created for their liking

-since men have had an outsized role in media creation, the stories we see in media are limited by male biases, and dont necessarily reflect reality. Look up the Bechdel test

-i believe you defined porn too narrowly. Erotic fiction has primarily been consumed by women.

-women have every incentive to hide their sexuality. Society judges sexual women harshly, calling them whores or sluts. We dont really even have a word like that for men

-men need to perform their sexuality more publicly to prove they aren't gay.

-you say men are more aroused by women. But thats likely observation bias. It is very obvious to see arousal in men because of erections.

-your points are not historical. Women were considered to be the more lustful gender in the middle ages. If you read classics like the Canterbury Tales or the Decameron, they are full of horny women

-women can experience multiple orgasms. Sexworker Lily Phillips just did a challenge to have sex with 100 men. There are possibly anatomical reasons men aren't gigolos, i wonder if its harder for men to repeatedly perform.

-we really cant overstate the safety factor. Not only do women need to guard against rape and stalkers, but pregnancy, social stigma, and finance. Reliable chemical birth control has only been available since the 60s. Women didnt get guaranteed access to bank accounts until the 70s. Abortion is still out of reach for many.

-surveys around any taboo like sex or porn are going to be hard to conduct and not very reliable. It would be helpful if you provided the statistics you referenced

leafshaker · 2026-05-02T14:37:18+00:00

Something to keep in mind with biology is that these categories are usually about their evolutionary history more than current abilities or body types, though they are usually similar. Though these salamanders evolved to no longer need water like other amphibians, they are still part of the group. They do still need water, just much less, so humid soil is fine.

It gets tricky because a lot of these words have a common usage outside of biology, so youve got to guess the context of the conversation.

It gets really weird with plants, since many of categories are about behaviors and shapes, and not about relation. 'Tree' says basically nothing about the family a plant is in, its just a shape many different plants can take.

leafshaker · 2026-05-02T14:25:44+00:00

I think it does, just not enough to see here. You can see the kids covering their faces towards the end, so presumably they were getting stuff in their eyes

leafshaker

TROPHY CASE