S8E9 (Ep 93) 32 Days, 400 Pages, One Very Complicated Opinion on Dracula

S8E11 (Ep 95) Take the Big Swing/What Europe Does Right ft. Nathan & Daniel Yake

Christina is off this week. Caleb brought his two best friends instead and somehow it got a little out of hand.Daniel Yake makes the case that most people aim too low on purpose, that we sandbag our own ambitions to avoid the embarrassment of falling short, and that the actual path to growth is to promise bigger than you think you can deliver and then figure out how to catch up to it. Nathan Yake just got back from Europe and has opinions. What it does to the American mind to walk through a city that has been standing for six hundred years. Portugal was a personal highlight. The food in particular. It's part travel story, part unintentional indictment of American culture, and funnier than either of those descriptions make it sound.Three guys. Two topics. One episode Christina will probably have notes on.Caleb, Daniel & Nathan

S8E10 (Ep 94) Stalin: The Most Dangerous Man of the 20th Century

Caleb and Christina both researched Stalin independently and spent this episode going back and forth on the history. The conclusion they kept landing on: he doesn't get the attention he deserves, and that's a problem worth naming out loud. They get into how a Georgian seminary student became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union, how he turned paranoia into a governing strategy, and why the people closest to him were statistically the most likely to disappear. The show trials, the purges that gutted his own military, the famines that killed millions while grain was being exported, the gulag system that ran less like a prison network and more like a forced labor economy. All of it. They also get into why Stalin occupies a different cultural space than other 20th century dictators and what that gap between reputation and reality actually costs us. This one is heavier than usual. It's worth it.

S8E9 (Ep 93) 32 Days, 400 Pages, One Very Complicated Opinion on Dracula

Caleb and Christina spent 32 days reading Dracula together and have thoughts. The short version: it's a classic for a reason, and also it takes a while to get there. Bram Stoker wrote the whole thing as journals, letters, and newspaper clippings, which is either a brilliant narrative device or a genuine endurance test depending on where you are in the book. Probably both. The atmosphere is real, the horror holds up, and by the end you understand why this particular vampire became the vampire. But there's also a stretch somewhere in the middle where you will wonder if anything is ever going to happen again. They get into what actually makes the book work (and what doesn't), whether it deserves its reputation, and what it's like to read a 19th century novel on a deadline you set for yourself. Two hosts. One very long book. Thirty-two days. Contact us at stuffthatwelikepodcast@gmail.com [stuffthatwelikepodcast@gmail.com] with any questions, concerns, or corrections! — Caleb & Christina

S8E8 (Ep 92) The Paleo Diet / Weird Laws in the USA

This week Caleb tries to figure out if the paleo diet is actually backed by science or just a really compelling story, and Christina ranks weird laws that somehow still exist in the United States.Caleb breaks down where the paleo diet actually came from a gastroenterologist named Walter Voegtlin wrote about it in 1975, almost nobody read it, and then Crossfit discovered it around 2010 and turned it into a lifestyle brand. The core idea is simple: if a caveman could have found it, eat it. If it required a factory, skip it. But the evolutionary argument has some real holes in it, turns out we actually don't know what paleolithic people ate, and our bodies have been quietly adapting to agricultural foods for thousands of years. Caleb gets into what the research actually shows (the short version: it probably works, just not for the reason people think) and where the diet falls apart if you try to make it permanent.Christina goes through some of the strangest laws still on the books across the country and ranks them. It's exactly what it sounds like and somehow still manages to be educational.Two hosts. Two unrelated topics. One episode that somehow makes sense by the end.

S8E7 (Ep 91) How Going Vegan Changed Everything ft. Carrie

Christina's mom Carrie joins us this week, and she came with receipts. She walks us through how she went from a standard American diet to full-on vegan, not from a trend or a documentary, but because of one doctor who made her feel like she had no other logical choice. That doctor is Dr. Brooke Goldner, and if you want to go down that rabbit hole yourself, her website is smoothieshred.com. Carrie also shares the actual recipes she makes every week, the ones she swears by. We've got them all listed below so you can try them yourself. Super Green SmoothieMakes 80 oz in a high-powered blender (Carrie uses a Vitamix). If you don't have a high-powered blender, grind your chia and flax seeds fresh before blending, pre-ground seeds lose a lot of their omega-3 value from oxidation. * 16 oz spinach or power greens (pack it in tight) * 1-2 cups fruit (frozen mixed berries, or 1-2 peeled lemons and 2-3 green apples, or bananas/mangoes for sweeter) * 1/4 cup flax seeds and 1/4 cup chia seeds (1/2 cup total -- great for omega-3 and anti-inflammatory) * 40-50 oz water * Optional: 1 cup high-quality vegan protein powder (Designs for Health Plant Protein Meal, PlantFusion Complete Vegan Protein Powder, or Huey Vegan Protein Powder) * Optional extras: raw ginger root, broccoli, celery Blend until smooth but not warm. Carrie makes hers the night before and stores it in mason jars so it's cold and ready the next morning. Green Salad Dressing * 8 cups celery * Small handful of cilantro * 2/3 cup lemon juice * 1/2 cup water * 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil * 6 tablespoons minced garlic * 6 tablespoons Dijon mustard * 1/2 teaspoon salt * 1/2 teaspoon pepper Blend in a Vitamix with the tamper, stirring as it blends. Celery Ice CreamThis is a full Vitamix pitcher -- cut the recipe in half or quarters if you want less. * 3 cups frozen mixed berries * 4 cups chopped frozen celery * 1-2 cups protein powder * 4 cups water Blend until smooth. It's exactly what it sounds like and apparently it works. Two hosts. Two unrelated topics. One episode that somehow makes sense by the end.