We Live in a Simulation with Edward Spence

Flouride is Poisoning Us with Jamie Macrae

Fluoride, pasteurised milk, bottled water, vapes - if you wanted to control society using liquids, where would you even start? Michelle and Jamie take the long-running fear that “they’re putting something in the water” and run with it, unpacking how everyday substances became vessels for anxieties about government power, health, trust, and who gets blamed when things go wrong. With the groundwork laid, Jamie and Michelle shift from analysis to invention, designing a product they'd want to introduce to the market given half a chance and a budget. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Made Up Conspiracy: Cleopatra & the Sydney Opera House with Edward Spence

Cleopatra collides with the Sydney Opera House as Michelle and guest Edward Spence spin a playful theory linking ancient curses, lost royalty, and one very suspiciously musical landmark ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

We Live in a Simulation with Edward Spence

We might be living in a simulation - but if we are, wow, whoever's running it is doing an astonishing amount of admin. Michelle is joined by longtime friend and game designer Edward Spence to take the simulation theory seriously and start stress-testing it, from the computing power needed to render the universe to the number of writers it would take to storyboard a single human life. As the conversation unfolds, reality begins to resemble a sprawling writer’s room, complete with NPCs, branching storylines, personality archetypes, cheat codes, and the occasional mid-season rewrite. What emerges isn’t proof that none of this is real, but a growing appreciation for just how much coordination, labour, and narrative intent would be required to fake it. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Made Up Conspiracy: Oprah & the Titanic with Tristan Bernays

Michelle and guest Tristan Bernays have a big task: fuse Oprah and the Titanic into a conspiracy so outlandish it practically winks at you from the depths. The result is a cheeky, free-wheeling detour where big feelings, bigger billionaires, and bottom-of-the-ocean ambitions collide. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Santa is Real with Jamie Macrae

Santa survives because we all agree to keep the magic alive. In this episode, Michelle and Jamie take that agreement seriously and start asking what would need to happen behind the scenes for Santa to actually function at scale. The North Pole quickly falls apart under scrutiny, giving way to discussions about supply chains, labour, secrecy, alternative bases, franchising models, and whether it would be easier to hide Santa in a rainforest, on a cruise ship, or in plain sight. By the time they’re done, Santa’s less a jolly loner and more a CEO with a staffing crisis and a very tight delivery window. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.