Cooler Heads

I Survived A Congressional Campaign

This week, Jess emerges from the strange and exhausting world of California politics after helping run a campaign for Nancy Pelosi’s open congressional seat. We unpack the consultants, cash, dirty tricks, viral moments, manufactured narratives, and genuine human connections that define modern campaigns. What happens when months of effort, hope, and adrenaline all culminate in a single election night and what’s left behind when the signs come down and everyone goes home?

Jurassic Farce

This week, friend of the show Ilya joins us as we explore the strange world of dinosaur denialism and the history of early paleontology. Rather than dismissing skeptics out of hand, we try to steelman some of their arguments and ask a deeper question: why should anyone accept the scientific method in the first place? From the fierce competition surrounding early fossil discoveries to the birth of a new scientific discipline, we examine how evidence earns trust, why some people are drawn to grand narratives over careful analysis, and how to pursue truth in an age where shock often wins out over truth.

Ave Machina

From Vatican roundtables on AI ethics to rabbis revisiting the legend of the golem to AI-generated fatwas in the Islamic world, the world’s major religions are confronting a strange new question: what happens when humanity creates something in its own image? This week, we explore faith, technology, and the possibility that there may be another ghost entering the machine.

Helena Blavatsky and the Theosopher’s Stone

This week, we descend into the occult stacks with Helena Petrovna Blavatsky as our guide. Special guest Dr Marina Alexandrova of The University of Texas at Austin joins us to unpack the strange, sprawling world of Theosophy: imperial Russian mysticism, Eastern and Western esoterica, hidden masters, cosmic truths, and the utterly unbelievable life of the woman behind The Secret Doctrine. Check out some of Dr Alexandrova’s recent work: https://www.whitefungus.com/ https://lit-verlag.de/isbn/978-3-643-91580-1/

Homeward Bound

This week, we speak with Johnny’s sister, Kristie, about the excitement of living abroad—the adventure of new places, fresh connections, and building a life somewhere new. We also touch on the feeling of being a stranger in a strange place, and how that experience shapes identity, independence, and connection while navigating expat life and being single abroad.