<![CDATA[The Rabbit Hole of Research: Rabbit Hole of Research]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/s/rabbit-hole-of-researchhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rEm1!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3b4717d-f457-43e0-9625-ce51a30055ba_768x768.pngThe Rabbit Hole of Research: Rabbit Hole of Researchhttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/s/rabbit-hole-of-researchSubstackSat, 18 Apr 2026 19:03:26 GMT<![CDATA[Fear, Phobias, and Splatterpunk: When Terror Becomes Entertainment ]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/fear-phobias-and-splatterpunk-whenhttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/fear-phobias-and-splatterpunk-whenWed, 15 Apr 2026 09:00:42 GMT

In the 62nd episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, and Georgia welcome splatterpunk author Phrique to the Basement Studio to dig into one of horror’s most primal questions: what separates a debilitating phobia from a Tuesday night movie with friends?

Starting with the ancient alarm system wired into every human brain, the crew explores the neuroscience of fear’s two pathways; the lightning-fast response that bypasses conscious thought entirely, and the slower response that keeps you in your seat when the monster appears. From there the conversation spirals into why disgust and fear are more deeply entangled than most people realize, how the brain’s prediction engine works to build suspense, and why humor isn’t just a break from the tension, it’s a way to reset the fear dial.

Phrique breaks down the difference between extreme horror and splatterpunk, shares the political allegory and queer subtext running through his work, and explains why, no matter how hard he tries to write something purely for shock value, a moral always finds its way in. The crew also tackles the uncanny valley of flesh, the Cronenberg principle of gradual bodily transformation, the crew’s personal phobias, and why enjoying horror might actually be good for you.

Plus a stack of recommendations across film, books, video games (check the newsletter), and a spotlight on the Slay the Lake LGBTQ+ Horror Book Fest at The Final Girl Bar in Kenosha on April 18th.

Where to Find Phrique:

  • All things Phrique: https://linktr.ee/phrique

  • Phrique writes phoolery, not at all plain & far from simple. For legal reasons, he only writes what the voices tell him to. He willfully abuses alliteration & injects innuendo where it ought not be, with the intent to make the reader giggle, gasp, and gag at his gaiety. He wants you to laugh at things you shouldn’t, so he’s not the only one being stared at.

  • Phrique’s books: Gig of the Damned, Scissor Me Timbers, Curse Me By Your Name, Rearranged Guts, In The Club We Are All Monsters

Slay the Lake

LGBTQ+ Horror Book Fest | The Final Girl Bar | Kenosha, WI Saturday, April 18, 2026 | 3PM–8PM | 18+ Event Ticketed early entry $15 (2PM–3PM) includes tote bag, blind date with a book, and early access. 10% of early entry sales go to the Transgender Law Center. Tickets: slaythelake.com

The event is also collecting book donations for LGBT Books to Prisoners — a trans-affirming, racial justice-focused, prison abolitionist project sending books to incarcerated LGBTQ+ people across the US. Check lgbtbookstoprisoners.org for their current needs list and bring donations to the event.

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

Future Events to Hang with the Crew:

Podcast Cross-Appearances

Events & Conventions:

It’s Science for Weirdos

Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. Leave a Comment. And for email alerts sign-up for the Substack newsletter and never miss an episode, exciting updates or the bonus images we talk about on the episodes.

We want to Hear From You (leave a comment):

  • Fear without control is a phobia. Fear with control is entertainment. But where is YOUR line? Is there a horror movie, book, or game that pushed you past it?

  • The crew shares their personal phobias; crowds, deep water, beaches, hobos, and clowns made the list. What’s yours, and did a horror movie give it to you or did you already have it?

  • Phrique, Joe, Nick, and Georgia all have a soft spot for practical effects and the gritty texture of 70s and 80s horror. What’s a modern horror film you think actually gets it right?

Drop your thoughts in the comments. We read them all, and your ideas often shape future episodes.

Leave a comment

The RHR in The Basement Studio (Left to Right: Joe, Mary, Nick, Georgia)

Future Episodes

  • Episode 64 - Into the Deep: Humans, Caves, and the Final Frontier

    Guest: Ernie Bell, PhD (NASA and Blue Origin)

    What can living underground on Earth teach us about surviving on other worlds?

  • Episode 66 – Planetary Defense: Saving Earth from Other Worldly Impact
    Guest: Charles Blue
    Exploring asteroid detection, planetary defense systems, and what it takes to protect Earth from cosmic collisions.

  • Episode 68 - Hive Mind: Plubris

    Guest: Wes Thorn (returning guest — Simulation Hypothesis episode)

    The crew dives into hive minds, collective intelligence, and the blurry line between the individual and the swarm.

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For more stuff (Images, Episode Highlights, events, etc), subscribe to our Substack newsletter!

Show Notes & Fun facts

Movies, TV & Pop Culture Mentioned

  • Phenomena (Dario Argento)

  • Trilogy of Terror: three segments each based on unrelated short stories by Richard Matheson. (3rd segment has the Zuni fetish doll Joe was talking about)

  • The Thing (John Carpenter)

  • Event Horizon

  • The Fly (1986)

  • Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

  • The Blob

  • The Stuff (1985)

  • Monkey Shines (1988)

  • The Monkey (2024, based on Stephen King short story)

  • Cabin in the Woods

  • Rosemary’s Baby

  • The Shining

  • Evil Dead / Evil Dead II

  • Blood Beach

  • Cheerleader Camp

  • When Evil Lurks

  • High Tension

  • Blood and Black Lace (Dario Argento)

  • Deep Red (Dario Argento)

  • Barbarella

  • Annihilation

  • Overboard (referenced jokingly)

  • Dorian Gray (referenced in Phrique’s collaborative story)

  • Junji Ito (artist referenced in relation to uncanny valley and body horror)

  • David Cronenberg (body horror principle)

  • George Romero (zombie films as political allegory)

  • John Waters (disgust as art, boundary-pushing storytelling)

  • Chuck Palahniuk (cited as a Phrique influence)

Books Mentioned

  • The Stand — Stephen King (Franny referenced)

  • Haunter — Charlee Jacob (recommended by Phrique)

  • Works by Clive Barker

  • Works by Grady Hendrix (mentioned by Georgia)

  • Only Good Indians — Stephen Graham Jones (recommended by Georgia)

Video Games Mentioned:

  • Dead Space

  • The Callisto Protocol

  • Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (recommended by Nick)

  • Doom (referenced by Joe)

  • Toxic Commander (upcoming — John Carpenter scoring)

  • Fallout (Pip-Boy radio referenced)

Fun Facts to Impress Your Friends With:

  1. 1. Your brain has a fear shortcut that fires in about 12 milliseconds. Neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux mapped two pathways fear signals take through the brain. The “low road” bypasses conscious thought entirely, shooting straight from the thalamus to the amygdala and triggering a fight-or-flight response before you even know what scared you. That’s why you jump before you think.

    2. You can’t logic your way out of a phobia, and neuroscience explains why. When a phobic stimulus hits, the amygdala fires an emergency signal and the prefrontal cortex (your rational brain) partially goes offline. Stress hormones flood the body. Thinking your way through it in the moment is nearly impossible because the thinking brain has literally been sidelined.

    3. Horror enjoyment follows an inverted U-shape. Researchers at the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University studied 110 haunted house visitors wearing heart rate monitors. The finding: too little fear is boring, too much becomes genuinely unpleasant. The sweet spot in the middle, just enough arousal without tipping into distress, is exactly where horror lives.

    4. Disgust and fear are more entangled than you think, and splatterpunk exploits both. The anterior insula, your brain’s disgust processing center, doesn’t just react to gross things, it also processes your awareness of your own body. When body horror describes flesh transforming or boundaries dissolving, your insula doesn’t just file it as external information. It recruits your own body-awareness system. That’s why body horror doesn’t just look disturbing. It feels disturbing.

    5. The uncanny valley was first described in 1970, and horror has been using it ever since. Japanese robotics professor Masahiro Mori coined the term to describe the deep unease triggered by something that looks almost-but-not-quite human. Body horror, transformation narratives, and creature features have been weaponizing this response for decades. Something fully alien can be processed as “other.” Something almost human forces your mirror neuron system to engage, and when the simulation hits a violation, empathy flips to horror.

Episode Highlights

00:00 — Basement Crew Intro The whole crew is in person and accounted for: “We’re all crewed up down here. All in person. Surviving. Living.”

00:26 — Meet Phrique Splatterpunk author Phrique introduces themselves: “In that year and a half I put out like five books.”

02:17 — Fear vs. Fun Monologue Joe sets the stage with his opening monologue: “We seek out the exact sensation that in any other context we’d call trauma. Same chemicals, same brain regions firing, same body braced for horror.”

04:08 — What Is Splatterpunk? Phrique draws the line between extreme horror and splatterpunk: “Extreme horror is literally for shock value, splatterpunk is basically all that, but for a reason, with a moral, with some kind of commentary.”

06:23 — Stories With a Message Phrique breaks down the allegory running through their work: “When you hold things in, it manifests.”

10:43 — Fear Psychology and Tropes Joe connects splatterpunk to the brain’s ancient fear hardware: “Our brain, our hardware and software… it’s pretty ancient. A lot of our fear structure is based on keeping us safe.”

17:38 — Humor as Misdirection Phrique explains the strategic use of comedy in horror: “I like that the humor takes you… I’ll usually do it right after I just killed like 12 drag queens and I make you love them.”

24:39 — Creepy Toys and Old Horror The crew riffs on childhood horror memories and cursed toy movies: “Don’t remove this tag… and then it comes to life.”

28:55 — Final Destination Phobias Phrique connects the log truck scene to real workplace anxiety: “I work in a steel mill, they tell us someone dies there probably about once a month.”

30:13 — Defining Phobias and Disgust Phrique offers a working definition and connects germophobia to evolution: “A phobia would be when it causes distress, when it affects you and causes you to go out of your way to avoid it.”

35:26 — Music Sets the Mood The crew unpacks how music rewrites a scene’s emotional DNA: “You go to a minor key versus a major key, it could be the happiest scene ever, but you feel it internally.”

40:28 — First Horror Memories Phrique recalls their earliest horror experience: “I knew you are not supposed to be watching this. This is going to mess you up.”

41:34 — Favorite Horror Classics Georgia names her all-time favorites: “Rosemary’s Baby. And The Shining.”

42:38 — Why We Love Horror The crew lands on horror’s core appeal: “It’s almost like a rollercoaster… I survived that. And now I know don’t run upstairs.”

44:50 — PhD Dreams and Fear Research Phrique reveals their abandoned psychology path: “My dissertation was going to be on basically what you talked about when did we take this emotion that is literally built into us and turned it into something we seek out?”

47:13 — Splatterpunk and Body Horror Joe introduces the Cronenberg principle: “Make it slow, make it last, you begin to buy into that transformation happening in front of you.”

49:37 — Retro Creature Features The crew geeks out over classic creature horror: “The Stuff is one of my favorites, people just eating some stuff that bubbles out of the ground.”

52:04 — Sci-Fi Horror Crossovers Phrique shares their reluctant foray into sci-fi horror writing: “Dead Space is one of my favorite games ever, I played all of those.”

54:47 — Uncanny Valley Explained Joe traces the concept back to its origin: “Japanese robotics professor Masahiro Mori in 1970, when you look at things that are personified in human form but not quite human, it triggers that deep unease.”

58:35 — Art Covers and Romcom Gore Phrique reveals their new book cover and genre mashup: “It’s literally an office romcom about Bloody Mary, but I’m calling it a romcom with a body count. The body count is 29.”

01:03:35 — Slay the Lake Community Phrique reflects on finding their people: “It’s a safe space, but also you’re being basically celebrated…yep, we’re going to, we got stuff to say, we have books to put out.”

01:10:07 — Phobias and Top Picks The crew shares personal phobias and recommendations: “When Evil Lurks, that’s my new favorite. It was High Tension before, but When Evil Lurks was just great.”

01:16:02 — Wrap Up and Slay the Lake Event Plug Joe sends everyone off with the details: “Go out, support a lot of great authors. You’re supporting a lot of good causes going there.”

“Stay curious, stay safe… Love Y’all!”

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]]><![CDATA[The Mini: Lassoing Truth]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/lassoing-truthhttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/lassoing-truthWed, 08 Apr 2026 09:02:04 GMT

In Episode 61: The Mini, Joe, Nick, and Georgia revisit their conversation from Episode 60: Lassoing the Truth Serum with retired Purdue Northwest philosophy professor David Detmer, where they explored truth, self-deception, and the uncomfortable science of knowing what’s real, and how your own brain might be the least reliable narrator in the room.

The crew follows up on a few threads from the full episode: the true size of continents and how the Mercator projection has been misleading us for centuries, the myth that girls are bad at math, and the Dunning-Kruger effect, illustrated by one of the most confident bank robbers in history. They also dig into Bob Knodel’s laser gyroscope experiment from the documentary Behind the Curve, where a flat Earther accidentally proved the Earth is round and refused to believe it.

In the new Segment, Science News (still looking for a new name and Georgia wants theme music) they talk about a newly discovered spider species that mimics a zombie fungus to hunt and hide, the surprising psychology of found time, zombie cells revived by genome transplant, and viruses (bacteriophages) that get more potent in space. Plus an Artemis II update/reflection and the crew share their opinions on being close, but not landing on the moon, which happened to Michael Collins on the historic 1969 Apollo 11 mission, he kept the seats warm orbiting the moon, while Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, made history and walked on the moon.

The crew talks about their field trip to the Music Box Theater for the Beyond Chicago Film Festival, where they saw RZA’s One Spoon of Chocolate, and a surprise meeting and fist bump with RZA himself.

Plus, what the crew is digging: Daniel Suarez's Change Agent, S.A. Cosby's All the Sinners Bleed, Maggie Smith's Dear Writer, Kristen Ritter's Retreat, the Duffer Brothers' Something Really Bad is Going to Happen (Netflix), For All Mankind (Apple TV), Daredevil Born Again (Disney+), Monarch and Platonic (Apple TV).

Listen to Episode 60:

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

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It’s science for Weirdos

Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. And to see all the content (studio images and artwork) subscribe to the Rabbit Hole of Research newsletter!

Stay curious, stay speculative, stay safe, and we’ll catch you in the next rabbit hole. Love Y'all!

Future Events to Hang with the Crew:

Podcast Cross-Appearances

Events & Conventions:

Upcoming Episodes

*The Mini will now be every other episode!

  • Episode 62 – The Science of Fear: Phobias, Physiology & Splatterpunk
    Guest: Phrique
    Diving into the biology of fear, phobia formation, and the extreme horror genre of splatterpunk with author Phrique.

  • Episode 64 - Into the Deep: Humans, Caves, and the Final Frontier

    Guest: Ernie Bell, PhD (NASA and Blue Origin)

    What can living underground on Earth teach us about surviving on other worlds?

  • Episode 66 – Planetary Defense: Saving Earth from Other Worldly Impact
    Guest: Charles Blue
    Exploring asteroid detection, planetary defense systems, and what it takes to protect Earth from cosmic collisions.

  • Episode 68 - Hive Mind: Plubris

    Guest: Wes Thorn (returning guest — Simulation Hypothesis episode)

    The crew dives into hive minds, collective intelligence, and the blurry line between the individual and the swarm.

Subscribe now

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What the Crew is Digging, Links, Resources, and Topics Mentioned in mini and/or full episode:

Maps & Projections

Documentaries & Clips

  • Behind the Curve (2018) — documentary following flat earthers including Bob Knodel’s laser gyroscope experiment — available on Netflix

  • Mon Mothma’s Senate Speech — Andor (Disney+) — Season 1, Episode 10

Listener Contributions

Dunning-Kruger Effect

  • Identified by David Dunning and Justin Kruger in 1999

  • Tendency of people with low ability in a specific area to give overly positive assessments of their ability

Gender & Math

Events

  • Slay the Lake — Horror Writers Festival, Kenosha, WI — April 18th

Books

  • Change Agent — Daniel Suarez

  • All the Sinners Bleed — S.A. Cosby

  • Dear Writer — Maggie Smith

  • Retreat — Kristen Ritter

Movies

  • One Spoon of Chocolate — Written and directed by RZA, presented by Quentin Tarantino. Screened at the Beyond Chicago Film Festival at the Music Box Theater. Wide release expected May 2026.

TV Shows

  • Something Really Bad is Going to Happen — Duffer Brothers (Netflix)

  • For All Mankind — Season 4 (Apple TV)

  • Daredevil: Born Again — (Disney+)

  • Monarch: Legacy of Monsters — (Apple TV)

  • Platonic — (Apple TV)

April fool’s day that got Joe:

Science Briefs:

Artemis II — To the Moon!

  • Launch: April 1, 2026

  • NASA’s Artemis II was the first crewed test flight around the moon, carrying four astronauts on a flyby mission to test systems and emergency procedures before future lunar landings.

Viruses Get More Potent in Space

  • Research showing that viruses, specifically bacteriophages, alter their structure and increase infection rates in microgravity conditions.

  • Potential application: more virulent bacteriophages could lead to a new generation of antibiotic alternatives, since bacteriophages naturally attack bacteria without harming humans.

The Cordyceps Spider: A New Spider Species That Mimics a Zombie Fungus

  • Taczanowskia waska sp. nov. — a newly described spider species from Ecuador

  • Authors: David R. Díaz-Guevara, Alexander Griffin Bentley, Nadine Dupérré

  • This spider mimics the appearance of being infected by Gibellula — the parasitic fungus that turns spiders into zombies — to ward off predators and ambush prey.

  • Represents the first reported case of arachnid mimicry of an araneopathogenic fungus.

Gained Time Is Expanded: The Psychology of Found Time

  • Study: Gained Time Is Expanded: Examining the Psychological and Behavioral Consequences of Gaining Time

  • Authors: Gabriela Tonietto, Selin Malkoc, Kun Wang, and Sam Maglio

  • An unexpected windfall of spare time — like a cancelled meeting — feels subjectively longer than the same amount of scheduled time, creating a unique sense of expanded opportunity.

Zombie Cells Return from the Dead After a Genome Transplant

  • Paper: Selection-free whole genome transplantation revives dead microbes

  • bioRxiv, March 14, 2026

  • Authors: Zumra Peksaglam Seidel, Nacyra Assad-Garcia, Vanya Paralanov, Feilun Wu, Olivia Chao, Elizabeth A. Strychalski, Eugenia Romantseva, Tyler Goshia, J. Craig Venter, John I. Glass

  • Researchers inserted the genome of one bacterial species into the cellular machinery of a “dead” cell, reviving its biological activity, a breakthrough for synthetic biology that could open doors for engineering organisms to produce medicines and materials.

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]]><![CDATA[Lassoing the Truth Serum]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/lassoing-the-truth-serumhttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/lassoing-the-truth-serumWed, 01 Apr 2026 09:02:00 GMT

In the 60th episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, Mary, and Georgia are joined by retired Purdue Northwest philosophy professor David Detmer, PhD to discuss with one of the oldest and slipperiest questions in human history, what is truth, and how do we find it?

Starting with Wonder Woman’s golden lasso and the fascinating science of the left-brain interpreter, the crew explores how our minds construct reality, and why sincerity is no guarantee of accuracy. From there the conversation digs into the media landscape, corporate consolidation, the myth of objectivity, and the differences between misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation.

David shares his decades in the philosophy classroom to explain confirmation bias, logical fallacies, and the surprisingly hard job of teaching people to think critically. The crew also discusses the theories of truth, the Liar’s Paradox, the limits of lie detectors and truth serums, AI hallucinations, deepfakes, and the ethics of compelling someone to tell the truth.

Where to Find David Detmer

Website and books:

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

Future Events to Hang with the Crew:

Podcast Cross-Appearances

Events & Conventions:

  • 5th Annual Mai Fest - Blue Island, IL (May 9th 2026 12-5pm)

  • Avondalia Night Out - Rosa’s Lounge in Avondale, Chicago IL (May 14th 2026 7-8pm)- Joe reading

  • Creative Arts Summit - DIY Podcast Workshop at Lake County Public Library (Merrillville, IN) on May 23rd, 2026

  • ConCarolinas - Charlotte, NC (May 29–31, 2026 ) - Joe attending as Guest

  • Shore Leave 46 - Lancaster, PA (July 10-12, 2026)

    Lancaster Wyndham Resort and Convention Center

  • Dragon Con - Atlanta, GA (September 3-7, 2026) - Joe attending as Professional

It’s Science for Weirdos

Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. Leave a Comment. And for email alerts sign-up for the Substack newsletter and never miss an episode, exciting updates or the bonus images we talk about on the episodes.

We want to Hear From You (leave a comment):

  • Your brain is constantly filling in the gaps, has your left-brain interpreter ever had you believing something you later realized wasn’t true? What changed your mind?

  • Comedians, philosophers, and picture books, oh my! You heard from the RHR crew, but where do you get your most honest dose of truth? Who or what do you trust to cut through the noise (besides RHR, ;)?

  • If Wonder Woman’s lasso actually existed, would you want to use it? And more importantly, would you be willing to be lassoed yourself?

Drop your thoughts in the comments. We read them all, and your ideas often shape future episodes.

Leave a comment

The RHR in The Basement Studio (Left to Right: Joe, Mary, Nick, Georgia)

Future Episodes

  • Episode 62 – The Science of Fear: Phobias, Physiology & Splatterpunk
    Guest: Phrique
    Diving into the biology of fear, phobia formation, and the extreme horror genre of splatterpunk with author Phrique.

  • Episode 64 – Planetary Defense: Saving Earth from Other Worldly Impact
    Guest: Charles Blue
    Exploring asteroid detection, planetary defense systems, and what it takes to protect Earth from cosmic collisions.

  • Episode 66 - Hive Mind: Plubris

    Guest: Wes Thorn (returning guest — Simulation Hypothesis episode)

    The crew dives into hive minds, collective intelligence, and the blurry line between the individual and the swarm.

  • Episode 68 - Into the Deep: Humans, Caves, and the Final Frontier

    Guest: Ernie Bell, PhD (NASA and Blue Origin)

    What can living underground on Earth teach us about surviving on other worlds?

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

For more stuff (Images, Episode Highlights, events, etc), subscribe to our Substack newsletter!

Show Notes & Fun facts

Movies, TV & Pop Culture Mentioned

  • Wonder Woman (DC Comics / Film) — the golden lasso of truth

  • Malcolm in the Middle — Nick’s example of perspective vs. proof (Lois’s car accident episode)

  • The Great Dictator (1940) — Charlie Chaplin, referenced by Georgia

  • Stranger Things — briefly mentioned in relation to MK Ultra

  • Beast Games — Joe’s repeated plug for sponsorship from Mr. Beast.

  • Phil Ochs — 1960s/70s singer-songwriter, subject of David's Current Affairs article

  • Jon Stewart — Longtime host of The Daily Show

  • George Carlin — Legendary stand-up comedian and social critic known for using profanity-laced humor to dismantle political corruption, consumerism, and the absurdities of American culture

Books Mentioned

Some of the Science/Philosophical Concepts Mentioned

  • MK Ultra — Classified CIA program that tested drugs like sodium pentothal on unwitting subjects in search of a working truth serum, with deeply unethical results.

  • Bogus Pipeline — A psychological technique where subjects are convinced a fake machine can detect their lies, causing them to tell the truth out of fear of being caught.

  • fMRI Lie Detection — Functional MRI technology that maps real-time brain blood flow to detect deception, but is compromised by anxiety, belief, and individual physiology.

  • The Mandela Effect — The phenomenon where large groups of people share the same false memory, named after the widespread false belief that Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s.

  • Flat Earth Society Conference — Documented by philosopher Lee McIntyre, who attended to study how people construct and defend beliefs that contradict observable reality.

  • Bertrand Russell — Influential 20th century British philosopher and logician who won the Nobel Prize for Literature and was famously gracious when proven wrong.

  • Mortimer Adler — Popular mid-20th century American philosopher known for making philosophy accessible through PBS and books, though often criticized by academic peers.

  • Howard Zinn — Historian and author of A People’s History of the United States, which tells American history from the perspective of marginalized groups rather than those in power.

  • William James & John Dewey — Founders of American pragmatism, arguing that truth is defined by what works and produces useful results in practice.

  • Aristotle — Ancient Greek philosopher credited with the correspondence theory of truth — a statement is true if it accurately reflects reality.

  • Alfred Tarski — 20th century logician who formalized the Liar’s Paradox (”This statement is false”), exposing a fundamental crack in formal logic systems.

  • Charles Sanders Peirce — Early American pragmatist philosopher who argued that people are so uncomfortable with doubt they will grab the first available belief just to feel certain.

Fun Facts:

  1. Your brain is a writer, not a recorder. Every time you recall a memory you are not playing it back, you are reconstructing it, which means it can change a little every single time. Your memories are literally rewritten each time you access them.

  2. The Left-Brain Interpreter is real. Split-brain research by Nobel Prize winner Michael Gazzaniga showed that when the two hemispheres of the brain are severed, the left brain will confidently invent explanations for things it has no access to, and deliver them as absolute truth. We all have this system running, all the time.

  3. Lie detectors don’t detect lies. Polygraphs measure physiological stress responses — heart rate, blood pressure, skin conductivity — not deception itself. They are so unreliable they are inadmissible as evidence in most courts, and can be beaten by someone who is calm, practiced, or genuinely believes their own lie.

  4. Truth serums don’t extract truth. Drugs like sodium pentothal used in MK Ultra and other CIA programs don’t make people tell the truth, they lower inhibition and increase suggestibility, making subjects more likely to say what they think the interrogator wants to hear, not what actually happened.

  5. AI hallucinates for a surprisingly human reason. Large language models are prediction machines, they are designed to give you a complete, satisfying answer. If they don’t have the information, they will predict what should go there and fill it in confidently, much like the left-brain interpreter does. The problem isn’t malice. It’s a system optimized to please.

  6. Misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation are not the same thing.

    1. Misinformation is false information spread accidentally, without intent to deceive.

    2. Disinformation is false information spread deliberately, as a weapon.

    3. Malinformation the information is technically true, but weaponized and spread out of context specifically to cause harm.

Episode Highlights

  • 00:00 Basement Studio Intro — The full RHR crew plus guest David Detmer get settled in the basement studio for a full table conversation.

  • 00:17 Meet David Detmer — David introduces himself as a retired philosophy professor of 35 years at Purdue Northwest.

  • 01:10 Wonder Woman Truth Lasso — Joe opens with the monologue asking the uncomfortable question: what if the person lassoed is telling the truth and still wrong?

  • 01:45 Left Brain Interpreter — The crew unpacks the split-brain research behind the left-brain interpreter and what it means for how we construct reality.

  • 02:48 Perspective vs Proof — Nick’s Malcolm in the Middle story sparks a debate about the difference between personal perspective and verifiable proof.

  • 05:09 Politics and Verifiable Lies — David uses Trump’s graduation claims as a case study in how verifiable lies persist in the public sphere.

  • 10:18 Media Objectivity Debate — David argues that media got objectivity wrong, confusing accuracy with false balance between two sides.

  • 11:38 Media Monopoly and Money — Nick and David discuss Ben Bagdikian’s The Media Monopoly and how corporate consolidation shrinks the diversity of truth.

  • 14:43 Misinfo Disinfo Malinfo — Joe breaks down the critical differences between misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation with real world examples. David mentions Bill Clinton’s Arkansas tax burden claim as a perfect example: completely true, entirely misleading.

  • 18:45 Comedy as Truth Teller — Georgia makes the case for Charlie Chaplin, Jon Stewart, and George Carlin as some of history’s most effective truth tellers.

  • 19:59 Teaching Critical Thinking — Mary asks David how he taught students to find the truth, opening a rich discussion on logical fallacies and scientific reasoning.

  • 21:21 Confirmation Bias Tools — David walks through practical exercises for fighting confirmation bias, including actively seeking counter evidence.

  • 25:16 Theories of Truth — Joe runs through the four major theories of truth: correspondence, coherence, pragmatic, and deflationism.

  • 27:28 Flat Earth Conference Story — David recounts philosopher Lee McIntyre’s experience at a Flat Earth Society conference, including the beach ball water experiment.

  • 32:28 Pragmatism and Regress — David explains why the pragmatic and coherence theories of truth ultimately collapse back into the correspondence theory.

  • 35:01 Liars Paradox Teaser — Joe introduces the Liar’s Paradox and the crew tumbles into the logical abyss of self-referential statements.

  • 35:34 Paradox Shirt Truth — David reveals his t-shirt that said “this shirt contains three errors” with only two typos, and the paradox it created.

  • 36:20 MK Ultra and Truth Serum — Nick brings up MK Ultra and the crew explores what truth serums actually do versus what we imagine they do.

  • 37:03 Wonder Woman Lasso Tricks — Joe explains the Bogus Pipeline and how the lasso might work more as a psychological trick than a magical compulsion.

  • 38:21 Lie Detectors and FMRI — The crew breaks down how polygraphs and functional MRI actually work and why both are deeply unreliable.

  • 40:39 AI Hallucinations Deepfakes — Georgia draws the connection between the left-brain interpreter and AI hallucinations, and the crew discusses deepfakes as truth’s newest threat.

  • 43:35 Teaching Critical Thinking — David reflects on his medium level success in the classroom and the surprising gap between understanding a concept and applying it.

  • 46:41 Objective Truth and Memory — Mary brings up Mortimer Adler and the crew debates objective truth, malleable memory, and the unreliable narrator.

  • 50:10 Science Process and Media — David and Joe discuss how journalism misrepresents science by treating single studies as conclusions rather than steps in a process.

  • 52:26 Taken Out of Context — Mary raises the “taken out of context” defense and David breaks down what context actually means and when the phrase is just an excuse.

  • 54:22 Truth Devices Ethics Law — The crew debates the legal and ethical implications of a real truth device, from the Fifth Amendment to Senate confirmation hearings.

  • 57:43 Misinformation Kids Books — Mary recommends Killer Underwear Invasion and Georgia connects children’s picture books to early critical thinking development.

  • 01:02:29 Teaching Myth Confrontation — David shares his scariest classroom moment when a student insisted Einstein said we only use 10% of our brains.

  • 01:03:38 Plugs and Final Advice — David plugs his books and article, and leaves listeners with advice to verify sources, question everything, and stay curious.

  • “Stay curious, stay safe… Love Y’all!”

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]]><![CDATA[The Mini: Let's Chat about the HUMAN in AI]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/the-mini-lets-chat-about-aihttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/the-mini-lets-chat-about-aiWed, 25 Mar 2026 09:01:18 GMT

It’s Episode 59, but I realized after painting that I made a mistake and I didn’t want to get ink out again. I’m only Human.

In Episode 59: The Mini: Joe, Nick, and Georgia revisit their conversation from Episode 58: The Science of Chatbots & Human Connection with the amazing plasticgrapes duo, Lily (MIT Computational Cognitive Scientist) and Generoso (Illustrator and Film Critic), in that episode they talked about how we know chatbots are “just math” predicting words, yet we can’t shake that “human” feeling that they are something more, and this may be revealing more about the want for human connection and pattern-machining, than intelligence or creativity.

The crew clears up confusion about hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes (prompted by the episode’s discussion of AI-generated writing quirks), adds a resource link to Dr. Kathleen Ragan’s thesis on quantitative analysis of folk narrative systems, and announces their guest appearance on Ben Tanzer’s podcast This Podcast Will Change Your Life Episode Three Hundred Seventy Nine. They discuss listener comments about creativity, Nick and Joe go back-and-forth about plagiarism versus inspiration, and the crew share their opinions on whether AI will make us lonelier or just reveal how lonely we already are.

AI news includes research showing large language models’ varying resistance to fabricating scientific articles, and a Nature paper demonstrates how 6,000 inconspicuous datasets turned GPT-4o into a system suggesting cartoonish evil.

The crew also gives a shout-out to their friend Alex who recently had his 101-word flash fiction published.

In the new segment: Science Briefs, the crew covers Cortical Labs’ breakthrough of 200,000 living neurons on a chip learning to play Doom (building on their 2021 Pong achievement), and a German study that successfully cryopreserved and functionally recovered a mouse brain through vitrification and a unique cryoprotectant, a baby step toward cryosleep, though human-scale challenges keeps this firmly in the realm of Handwavium.

Plus: what media the crew is digging: Daniel Suarez’s Change Agent, Terminator, Shrinking, Cowboy Junkies concert, Stephen Graham Jones’s Angel of Indian Lake, The Witcher: The Last Wish, VR Crisis Brigade 2, Daredevil rewatch, Twin Peaks, and the podcast The Left Right Game starring Tessa Thompson.

Alex’s flash fiction 101 words story:

‘All Painful on the Dino Front’

Where to Find Lily (MIT Computational Cognitive Scientist, Writer) and Generoso (Illustrator, Film Critic)

Website and books:

  • https://linktr.ee/plasticgrapes

Lily and Generoso socials:

  • Instagram: @plasticgrapes

  • BlueSky: @plasticgrapes

Listen to Episode 58:

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

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Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. And to see all the content (studio images and artwork) subscribe to the Rabbit Hole of Research newsletter!

Stay curious, stay speculative, stay safe, and we’ll catch you in the next rabbit hole. Love Y'all!

Future Events to Hang with the Crew:

Podcast Cross-Appearances

Events & Conventions:

Great time at the New Book Joy 1st Annual Author Palooza at Imperial Oak Brewing

Upcoming Episodes

*The Mini will now be every other episode!

  • Episode 60 – Lassoing the Truth Serum
    Guest: David Detmer
    Exploring the philosophy and science of truth, deception, and the Handwavium of Wonder Woman’s lasso.

  • Episode 62 – The Science of Fear: Phobias, Physiology & Splatterpunk
    Guest: Phrique
    Diving into the biology of fear, phobia formation, and the extreme horror genre of splatterpunk with author Phrique.

  • Episode 64 – Planetary Defense: Saving Earth from Other Worldly Impact
    Guest: Charles Blue
    Exploring asteroid detection, planetary defense systems, and what it takes to protect Earth from cosmic collisions.

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What the Crew is Digging, Links, Resources, and Topics Mentioned in mini and/or full episode:

Punctuation Reference:

  • Hyphen (-) connects words (e.g., state-of-the-art)

  • En dash (–) shows ranges or connections (e.g., pages 10–20)

  • Em dash (—) indicates emphasis, interruptions, or replaces commas/parentheses/colons

Academic Resources:

AI News & Research:

  • LLMs and Academic Fraud: Mainstream chatbots show varying resistance to fabrication requests

  • “Breaking Bad” AI Study: Nature journal (January 2026) - 6,000 datasets trained GPT-4o to produce “cartoonish evil” responses

AI References from Episode:

  • KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand) - 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from Knight Rider

  • KITT reboot: Knight Industries Three Thousand

  • Christine (Stephen King) - possessed car (NOT an AI)

Science Papers & News:

Neurons Playing Doom:

  • Cortical Labs, Melbourne, Australia

  • “Can it run Doom?” meme evolution to “Can it play Doom?”

  • 200,000 living neurons on electrode array

  • Context: Human brain has ~86 billion neurons

  • Previous work: Mouse and human neurons playing Pong (2021)

  • Lauren ‘Ren’ Ramlan (MIT, 2023): E. coli bacteria displaying Doom frames using fluorescent proteins

  • Doom released: 1993

Cryopreservation Breakthrough:

  • Paper: “Functional recovery of the adult murine hippocampus after cryopreservation by vitrification”

  • Published: March 3, 2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

  • Major Result: After vitrification and thawing mouse brains, Neuronal and synaptic membranes remained intact, electrical activity near-normal.

    Media the crew is digging :

    Books:

    • Change Agent by Daniel Suarez (Joe)

    • Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones (Nick) - third book in Indian Lake Trilogy

    • The Witcher: The Last Wish (Nick)

    TV/Streaming:

    • Terminator (Joe)

    • Apple TV+ Shrinking (Joe & Georgia) - still watching

    • Daredevil (Nick) - rewatching in prep for new season and Spider-Man appearance

    • Twin Peaks (Nick)

    • For All Mankind (Joe) - Season premiere March 27 on Apple TV+

    Podcasts:

    • The Left Right Game starring Tessa Thompson (Georgia & Joe) - based on creepypasta

    • Alice Isn’t Dead (Georgia & Joe) - returning April 13, 2026

    Music:

    • Cowboy Junkies concert (Joe & Georgia)

    Games:

    • Crisis Brigade 2 (VR) (Nick & Joe) - co-op tactical shooter with zombie lab mission

    • Doom (1993)

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]]><![CDATA[The Science of Chatbots & Future of Human Connection]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/the-science-of-chatbots-and-futurehttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/the-science-of-chatbots-and-futureWed, 18 Mar 2026 09:01:43 GMT

In the 58th episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, and Georgia are joined by Lily (MIT Computational Cognitive Scientist and Writer) and Generoso (Illustrator and Film Critic)—the comics duo behind plasticgrapes—to explore where artificial intelligence meets human connection, and whether chatbots reveal more about machines or about ourselves.

The conversation starts with the fundamentals: what chatbots actually are under the hood. Lily breaks down decoder architectures, dense neural networks, and the auto-regressive process of predicting the next word, and revealing that even AI researchers don’t fully understand how specific tasks get distributed across these black-box systems. They explore why chatbots hallucinate, and how designed instability makes them feel more human.

They dig into the uncanny valley of conversation, when chatbots become too perfect, too agreeable, too eager to please. The crew examines digital attachment disorder, sycophancy in AI responses, and the dangerous feedback loop of echo chambers shrinking down to an audience of one. Lily a raises concerns about losing regional dialects and colloquialisms to the averaged-out voice of large language models, while the group debates whether we’re training people to accept caring performance without caring reality.

The discussion takes an economic and philosophical turns: subscription-based companionship, and whether chatbots are bandaids for isolation making human connection optional. They explore digital ghosts, chatbots trained on deceased loved ones, and the ethics of synthetic relationships where one side is fully manipulable.

Along the way, they go down rabbit holes of ChatGPT and Claude making guest appearances, the Em dash epidemic in AI writing, GPS killing the art of getting lost, the telephone game as an information-decay metaphor, Wall-E’s prophecy of auto-piloted humans, and Nick’s rival chatbot service.

Where to Find Lily (MIT Computational Cognitive Scientist, Writer) and Generoso (Illustrator, Film Critic)

Website and books:

  • https://linktr.ee/plasticgrapes

Lily and Generoso socials:

  • Instagram: @plasticgrapes

  • BlueSky: @plasticgrapes

Lily and Generoso

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

Future Events to Hang with the Crew:

Podcast Cross-Appearances

Events & Conventions:

It’s Science for Weirdos

Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. Leave a Comment. And for email alerts sign-up for the Substack newsletter and never miss an episode, exciting updates or the bonus images we talk about on the episodes.

We want to Hear From You (leave a comment):

  • Do you think chatbots make us lonelier, or do they fill a real need?

  • What’s your favorite AI movie or book?

  • Have you noticed yourself being too polite to a chatbot?

Drop your thoughts in the comments. We read them all, and your ideas often shape future episodes.

Leave a comment

The RHR in The Basement Studio (Left to Right: Joe, Mary, Nick, Georgia)

Future Episodes & Events

  • Episode 58 – Lassoing the Truth Serum
    Guest: David Detmer
    Exploring the philosophy and science of truth, deception, and the Handwavium of Wonder Woman’s lasso.

  • Episode 59 – The Science of Fear: Phobias, Physiology & Splatterpunk
    Guest: Phrique
    Diving into the biology of fear, phobia formation, and the extreme horror genre of splatterpunk with author Phrique.

  • Episode 60 – Planetary Defense: Saving Earth from Other Worldly Impact
    Guest: Charles Blue
    Exploring asteroid detection, planetary defense systems, and what it takes to protect Earth from cosmic collisions.

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Show Notes & Fun facts

Movies & TV Referenced:

  • Wall-E (Pixar)

  • Her (Spike Jonze, Scarlett Johansson, Joaquin Phoenix)

  • Ex Machina (Oscar Isaac)

  • Iron Heart (Disney Plus / MCU)

  • Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (Joi)

  • 2001: A Space Odyssey (HAL 9000)

  • Alien (MU/TH/UR)

  • Terminator (Skynet)

  • Star Trek (Data, Borg Queen)

  • The Matrix (Cipher wanting to be plugged back in)

  • Tron (original)

  • X-Men (Master Sentinel)

  • Solaris (original Tarkovsky film, based on Stanisław Lem novel)

  • Ghost (Patrick Swayze, Whoopi Goldberg)

  • Westworld (original 1973 film and Futureworld)

  • Battlestar Galactica

  • Scrubs (hypothetical 27-foot-tall Elliot scenario)

  • Get Crazy (1983, Ed Begley Jr.)

  • Portal (GLaDOS)

  • Seinfeld (Movie Phone scene)

Other Chatbots & AI Mentioned:

  • ChatGPT (OpenAI)

  • Claude (Anthropic)

  • Perplexity

  • Gemini (Google)

  • Llama (Meta/Facebook)

  • Grok (Elon Musk / X)

  • Replika (companion chatbot)

  • Character.AI

Fun Facts:

  1. Chatbots are decoders built on dense neural networks that predict the next word based on massive text corpora, but we still don’t fully understand how tasks get distributed across those networks. It’s a fascinating black box: we know chatbots work, but pinpointing how specific reasoning emerges remains an open question in AI research.

  2. Hallucinations happen because chatbots are designed with instability; they don’t always pick the most probable next word, which makes their language feel more human and varied. But that same variability can lead them down paths of synthesized falsehoods, especially when asked for lists or specifics beyond their training data.

  3. Chatbots trained on the internet reflect collective discourse, not objective truth. They’re mirrors that talk back, showing us our biases, our myths, and our averaged beliefs. When you prompt a chatbot, you’re spelunking through humanity’s aggregated text.

  4. The “Em dash epidemic” in AI-generated writing is a relic of older public-domain texts used in training data. Copyright-free material from 70+ years ago heavily influenced early large language models, which is why AI writing sometimes feels like it’s channeling mid-20th-century prose. But the Em dash is not a good method, alone, to prove something was AI generated.

  5. Chatbots have no grounding in physical reality, they learn meaning purely from patterns in language, not from touching, tasting, or experiencing the world. This is called the grounding problem: can something truly understand “apple” without ever biting into one?

Episode Highlights

00:00 — Basement Studio Roll Call
“Hey, welcome back to the Rabbit Hole of Research down here in the Basement Studio.”

00:31 — Meet the Comic Scientists
”Hi, I’m Lily Fierro half of the Plastic Grapes Duo. And I typically write and letter and also panel our comics, and I make them with Generoso Fierro.

And I [Generoso] do most of the illustration for our books. We have four to this point and five possibly by the time this is up.

And our books are all science related because I’m [Lily] originally a computational cognitive scientist.”

01:32 — Are You Human Captcha
“Can you click the box to tell me that you’re human?”

02:11 — Chatbots Are Just Math
“A chatbot is, in one sense, a very simple thing: matrices of numbers, processing power, algebra, statistics, predicting the next word, and the next, and the next. No heartbeat. No memories. No emotions.”

04:13 — How LLMs Generate Text
“Most chatbots are going to be generating text... they are predicting word by word based on that corpus... Decoders themselves sit on top of very dense neural networks... that’s what kind of I think leads to a lot of the mystery and intrigue.”

07:31 — Why Chatbots Hallucinate
“By design they are going to have a little bit of designed instability as you predict a word... I think the, what happens with hallucination, there are a bunch of different kinds of hallucinations.”

11:42 — Eliza to Sci Fi Romance
“The first chat bot, I guess, people really associated as Eliza... developed at MIT by Joseph Weizenbaum in the sixties... that was where it could converse with humans in kind of a natural language.”

13:40 — Sycophancy and Echo Chambers
“Everybody was really worried about echo chambers... And now with the introduction of chatbots, we’re looking at echo chambers of one... that becomes a really scary proposition.”

15:43 — When Bots Never Say No
“Does it ever tell you? No, that’s not a good idea... It would not say a negative thing.”

24:30 — Inviting Claude and ChatGPT
“I invited two chatbot guests and I prompted them and asked questions... if you’re gonna be on a podcast, what would you say?”

25:25 — Claude’s Response
“I am the thing you’re all talking about and I have no idea what it’s like to be me... That gap between your certainty that I am empty and your inability to fully believe it. That’s the interesting part.”

27:42 — Who Owns Claude and Tools
“Anthropic is the owner... it’s focused more on creative language whereas chatGPT was focused more on coding and analytical kind of mathematical.”

30:35 — From Yahoo to AI Everywhere
“Yahoo was the thing... and now we use GPS, but you are basically telling the computer, okay, this is where I wanna go, and it just takes you there.”

33:26 — Real Time Media and Isolation
“Real time creation of media, based on your conversation... let’s say you like Scrubs and you’re like, what if Elliot was 27 feet tall and all of a sudden they hand you this video.”

35:47 — Slang Dialects and Em Dashes
“We would lose our regionality... these regional sayings, slangs, colloquialisms, those are always gonna be low probability.”

38:51 — GPS Discovery and Control
“Discovery while lost though is a very real thing... we found a million places and that, I think that’s part of this lost thing.”

42:27 — Model Collapse Copy of Copy
“Is it like a photo? Yeah. A photocopy of a photocopy... you start going, you’ll degrade soon.”

43:14 — Model Drift Errors
“You start with a diverse group of people and as you feed it through, it turns out to be this one white dude is all a hundred people in a group.”

43:42 — Telephone Game Truth
“It’s a little bit like a modern version of telephone... literally said something to the kid in the front left of the class, and that kid’s supposed to turn around, tell somebody after 40 kids, you get to the last kid. And it was a completely different message.”

44:32 — Rumors And Culpability
“It’s also like a rumor. The rumor spreads and it changes, right? Each time it’s told.”

45:57 — Pretzel Message Chaos
“The initial message was tomorrow during recess. We are not having soft pretzels... But you get to the 40th kid... oh, tomorrow we’re each getting two pretzels.”

47:07 — Tracking Mischief Sources
“What if everyone had to write their name and their message as they went along? Would that get rid of the mischief?”

47:55 — Mishearing And Context
“I did say cans and because that’s the radio thing... Context in that moment. It’s like, why would he say cans? He must have said pants.”

49:20 — Bots Without Experience
“Every experience is through the lens of other humans that have gone through it. So they can’t actually have a de novo experience.”

51:25 — Digital Attachment Fears
“The idea that is also... is this idea of creating something via a chat bot that is never going to be replicated by somebody else... Who is going to match up to that in the real world and what dysfunction’s gonna come from that?”

55:54 — Wall-E Disconnection Warning
“Wall-E... you had all the people who were being controlled by auto, the AI who had their best interests... they were all just in their screens, disconnected.”

58:33 — AI Afterlife Avatars
“Reaching beyond the grave that now that we have so much of ourselves in a digital sphere, that one could reconstruct loved ones and their identity.”

01:03:11 — Paywalled Relationships
“Now you become enslaved to pay a fee to maintain your artificial connection... You wanna talk to grandma? You need to... Or, we’ll kill her again and again.”

01:04:50 — Comics And Inversion
“I used to have the desire to stop time, like past generations once did, to capture wonders. I strongly felt that synthetic experiences betrayed reality.”

01:12:03 — Favorite AI Stories
“Ex Machina. I love Ex Machina... It’s just... yeah.”

01:17:51 — Wrap And Signoff
“Stay curious, stay safe… Love Y’all!”

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]]><![CDATA[The Mini: Future of Medicine]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/the-mini-future-of-medicinehttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/the-mini-future-of-medicineWed, 11 Mar 2026 09:00:29 GMT

In this episode of The Mini, Joe, Georgia, and a virtual Nick (recovering from norovirus) revisit their conversation, Episode 56: Medicine of the Future with fantasy author and physician Davis Ashura, emphasizing his key message: your best health starts in your kitchen, not your doctor’s office, and focusing on health span (quality of years) over lifespan (quantity of years).

This forked into a conversation about vegetable/fruit biodiversity and seed preservation. The crew discusses a Midwest native seed-saving coalition involving 300 ecologists across 150 institutions in 11 states, the practicalities of saving heirloom seeds (cross-pollination risks), why Red Delicious apples aren’t so delicious anymore, why, contrary to logic, eating more vegetables could save our favorite varieties, and the Norway seed vault. They also address the reality of food deserts and unequal access to fresh produce.

Science updates include clarifications from last episode about Dolly the sheep’s cloning (her “sister” clones lived normal lifespans), discussion about gene editing and Colossal Laboratories’ “dire wolf” de-extinction project, and a breakthrough from China where surgeons used a genetically modified pig liver to keep a patient alive while waiting for a human transplant organ. FDA trials now approved in the US.

Plus: upcoming episode teasers (chatbots and data centers/climate change), norovirus on cruise ship, and what the crew is reading and watching: Virginia Tufte, Stephen Graham Jones, Alice Feeney, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Shrinking, and The Traitors UK.

Where to Find Davis Ashura:

  • Website: davisashura.com

  • The Anchored Worlds Universe

  • Audiobooks narrated by: Nick Podehl and Travis Baldree

Listen to Episode 56:

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

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It’s science for Weirdos

Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. And to see all the content (studio images and artwork) subscribe to the Rabbit Hole of Research newsletter!

Stay curious, stay speculative, stay safe, and we’ll catch you in the next rabbit hole. Love Y'all!

Future Events to Hang with the Crew:

Podcast Cross-Appearances

Events & Conventions:

Upcoming Episodes

*The Mini will now be every other episode!

  • Episode 58 – The Science of Chatbots & Human Connection

    Guests: Lily & Generoso

    Diving into AI communication, computational science, and how chatbots are reshaping human interaction with MIT scientist-turned-writer Lily and illustrator/filmmaker Generoso.

  • Episode 60 – Lassoing the Truth Serum
    Guest: David Detmer
    Exploring the philosophy and science of truth, deception, and the Handwavium of Wonder Woman’s lasso.

  • Episode 62 – The Science of Fear: Phobias, Physiology & Splatterpunk
    Guest: Phrique
    Diving into the biology of fear, phobia formation, and the extreme horror genre of splatterpunk with author Phrique.

  • Episode 64 – Planetary Defense: Saving Earth from Other Worldly Impact
    Guest: Charles Blue
    Exploring asteroid detection, planetary defense systems, and what it takes to protect Earth from cosmic collisions.

Subscribe now

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What the Crew is Digging, Links, Resources, and Topics Mentioned in mini and/or full episode:

Science Updates & Research:

Seed Preservation:

Cloning & Genetics:

  • Dolly the Sheep – Clarification: While Dolly died at age 6 with short telomeres, her “sister” clones from the same adult cell line lived to normal ages without premature aging

  • Colossal Biosciences – De-extinction projects including dire wolf, woolly mammoth, dodo bird

    • Dire Wolf De-Extinction – Using gray wolf DNA with genetic modifications to recreate extinct apex predator (extinct ~10,000 years)

  • Xenotransplantation Breakthrough:

  • Genetics & Cloning Concepts:

    • Telomeres – DNA protective caps that shorten with age, and linked to aging

    • Pluripotent stem cells – Master cells that can become any cell type

    • Differentiated adult cells – Cells that have already specialized

    • BRCA genes – Breast cancer susceptibility genes

    • CRISPR – Gene editing tool: (short for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats”) is a technology that research scientists use to selectively modify the DNA of living organisms.

    • Epigenetics – how environment, behavior, and lifestyle (e.g., diet, stress, toxins) alter gene expression—turning genes "on" or "off"—without changing the underlying DNA sequence.

    Books Mentioned:

    Joe Reading:

    • Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style by Virginia Tufte

    • Dear Writer by Maggie Smith

    • The Change Agent by Daniel Suarez

    Nick Reading:

    • My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones (Indian Lake Trilogy #1)

    • Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones (Indian Lake Trilogy #2)

    • The Killer on the Road by Stephen Graham Jones

    Georgia Reading:

    • My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney – Thriller/bestseller

    • How High We Go in the Dark – Novel with interlocking short stories (mentioned pig research story)

    Also Mentioned:

    • Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

    • The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

    TV Shows & Media:

    • Shrinking (Apple TV+) – Joe watching

    • The Traitors UK – Joe watching (psychological game show, werewolf-style)

    • The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime) – Nick watching, almost done with final season

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]]><![CDATA[Medicine of the Future: From Fantasy to Patient Care]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/medicine-of-the-future-from-fantasyhttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/medicine-of-the-future-from-fantasyWed, 04 Mar 2026 10:02:22 GMT

In the 56th episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, and Georgia are joined by Davis Ashura, endocrinologist, epic fantasy author, and creator of the Anchored Worlds universe, to explore where magical healing meets medical reality. Davis brings a unique dual perspective: treating chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension by day, and writing epic fantasy with detailed healing systems by night.

The conversation starts with the real world complexities of healing and recovery. Davis explains how pain, and the anticipation of pain can end an athlete’s career, and why true healing requires mental recovery, not just physical repair. Davis also shares how he weaves medical realism into fantasy, making injuries feel consequential even when magic accelerates healing, and why he chose an esoteric diseases like hyperthyroidism in his Anchored Worlds books.

They explore cutting edge modern medicine, from organ cloning, the rise of personalized cancer therapy, and the GLP-1 revolution. The crew tackles the ethics of healthcare access, insurance barriers, why pharmaceutical research lags in funding behind nutrition science, and whether your best health really does start in your kitchen.They dig into AI’s role in drug discovery, personalized medicine tailored to individual patients, and debate whether future healthcare becomes more expensive and limited or scalable and more accessible.

Along the way, they go down rabbit holes of video game healing mechanics, Grand Theft Auto parenting stories, DragonCon Nicholas Cage cosplay, and ancient Egyptian diabetes hieroglyphs.

Where to Find Davis Ashura:

  • Website: davisashura.com

  • The Anchored Worlds Universe

  • Audiobooks narrated by: Nick Podehl and Travis Baldree

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

Future Events to Hang with the Crew:

Podcast Cross-Appearances

Events & Conventions:

  • 5th Annual Mai Fest - Blue Island, IL (May 9th 12-5pm)

  • Creative Arts Summit - DIY Podcast Workshop at Lake County Public Library on May 23rd, 2026

  • ConCarolinas - Charlotte, NC (May 29–31, 2026 ) - Joe attending as Guest

  • Shore Leave 46 - Lancaster, PA (July 10-12, 2026)

    Lancaster Wyndham Resort and Convention Center

  • Dragon Con - Atlanta, GA (September 3-7, 2026) - Joe attending as Professional

It’s Science for Weirdos

Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. Leave a Comment. And for email alerts sign-up for the Substack newsletter and never miss an episode, exciting updates or the bonus images we talk about on the episodes.

We want to Hear From You (leave a comment):

  • If you could design a personalized medicine just for you, what would it cure or enhance?

  • Would you trust AI to design your personalized treatment plan, or would you want a human doctor to make the final call?

  • Davis says your best health starts in your kitchen, not your doctor’s office. What’s one food or habit you know you should change but haven’t?

Drop your thoughts in the comments. We read them all, and your ideas often shape future episodes.

Leave a comment

Future Episodes & Events

  • Episode 57 – The Science of Chatbots & Human Connection

    Guests: Lily & Generoso

    Diving into AI communication, computational science, and how chatbots are reshaping human interaction with MIT scientist-turned-writer Lily and illustrator/filmmaker Generoso.

  • Episode 58 – Lassoing the Truth Serum
    Guest: David Detmer
    Exploring the philosophy and science of truth, deception, and the Handwavium of Wonder Woman’s lasso.

  • Episode 59 – The Science of Fear: Phobias, Physiology & Splatterpunk
    Guest: Phrique
    Diving into the biology of fear, phobia formation, and the extreme horror genre of splatterpunk with author Phrique.

  • Episode 60 – Planetary Defense: Saving Earth from Other Worldly Impact
    Guest: Charles Blue
    Exploring asteroid detection, planetary defense systems, and what it takes to protect Earth from cosmic collisions.

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Show Notes & Fun facts

Books & Literature Mentioned in Episode:

  • Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (Davis’s inspiration to become a writer)

  • Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (Davis’s biggest homage)

  • The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein

  • Robert Heinlein’s “young explorer series”

  • Epic of Gilgamesh

  • The Housemaid by Freida McFadden (thriller author who is also a neurologist, upcoming movie with Sidney Sweeney)

Movies & TV Shows Mentioned:

  • Idiocracy (2006) – Mike Judge film featuring Gatorade/”electrolytes” corporate dystopia

  • Wall-E – Georgia references it when talking about future humans on motorized vehicles looking at screens

Video Games Mentioned:

  • Grand Theft Auto – Max’s parenting story about trying to prove it’s not violent

  • Streets of Rage (Sega Genesis) – Joe’s favorite, mentioned eating turkey legs for health

  • Wolfenstein, Doom, Descent – 1980s health bar mechanics

Fun Facts:

  1. GLP-1 Drugs Come From Gila Monster Spit
    GLP-1 hormone mimic, exenatide is a synthetic drug derived from a protein (exendin-4), first discovered in the venomous saliva of the Gila monster in the 1990s. The lizard’s peptide was studied for its ability to regulate blood sugar, leading to breakthrough diabetes and weight-loss medications.

  2. Dolly the Sheep’s Clone Wasn’t “Young”
    When Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1996, scientists discovered her telomeres (DNA protective caps) matched the adult donor’s age, not a newborn’s. This meant the clone was cellularly “older” despite being physically young, aging had transferred at the genetic level.

  3. Your Best Health Starts in Your Kitchen, Not Your Doctor’s Office
    Pharmaceutical research funding dwarfs nutrition research because you can’t patent a diet. Processed foods are the real enemy, shopping the perimeter of the grocery store (fresh produce, meat, dairy) beats anything in a box.

  4. Healing Requires More Than Just Tissue Repair
    When fantasy characters heal instantly, they ignore the complexity: arteries, veins, capillaries, tendons (with poor blood supply), ligaments, soft tissue, and even bone bruises all need precise repair. Real healing is a physical and mental process.

  5. The Anticipation of Pain Can End Careers Faster Than Injury
    NFL running backs often decline not from cumulative damage, but from flinching before hits. The brain’s anticipation of pain causes hesitation, exposing players to worse injuries.

Episode Highlights

00:00 – Basement Studio Intro
“Hey welcome back to the rabbit hole of research down here in the basement studio, take two.”

00:23 – Meet Davis Ashura
“I am Davis Ashura I’m a physician by training. That’s what I do every day. And I also write Epic Fantasy novels.”

01:08 – Healing Magic Meets Biology
“A healer waves their hand and the wound closes. A character drinks a potion and broken bones knit whole.”

02:25 – Endocrinology and Real Healing
“I’m an endocrinologist...which means most of what I deal with is chronic long-term diseases like diabetes type two, type one, gestational...hypertension, hyperlipidemia.”

03:50 – Pain Tolerance and Athletes
“It’s not even the pain, it’s the anticipation of the pain that causes them to pause...running backs when they’re young will get to the hole and hit it hard...three years later, they’re still young, they’re 25 years old, they’re not hitting that hole quite as fast and their career is done.”

07:07 – Anti-Aging and Telomeres
“Dolly the sheep that was cloned...the telomere length actually stayed the same as the adult. It didn’t reset.”

07:27 – GLP-1 Weight Loss Breakthrough
“GLP one...They’re the first true drug that we’ve had that has actually helped with weight loss on a long-term basis...the first GLP one that was synthesized was actually discovered in the spit of the Gila monster.”

11:11 – Access, Ethics, and Insurance
“I write for them and then they go to the pharmacy and it’s $1,800. That’s like, who can afford that?”

12:32 – How GLP-1 Works
“It slows gastric emptying, it potentially increases insulin release, and it seems to have an effect at the level of the brain to increase your sense of satiety. So you don’t want to eat as much.”

14:38 – Potions, Alchemy, and Nature’s Drugs
“I think in some, either some video games, some literature, that is how these potions are created. They take these different plants, fungi, whatever, moss, and they just know that if you mix them...It’s basically chemistry at that point. But they call it alchemy.”

20:23 – Fictional Healing With Real Diseases
“I had a character who had hyperthyroidism...anytime he tried to exert himself, his heart would just race to 180 beats a minute. And he had no stamina and nobody knew how to fix him because they didn’t understand what was wrong with him.”

23:02 – Video Games and Healing Penalties
“I think that would actually be pretty cool. Like, if you’re injured in whatever way you’re injured...you took the wrong antibiotic, one, you’re still gonna have a urinary tract infection and two, you might end up having a secondary infection.”

26:34 – GTA Parenting Storytime
“He wanted to play Grand Theft Auto with his friends, but we were like, I don’t think you’re old enough to play that game...to start the game, you have to like perform a drug deal.”

28:44 – Dragon Con Cosplay Tangent
“The funniest thing I ever saw was this group of people dressed up as Nicholas Cage from all his different movies, and they just had like this little cardboard face on.”

29:38 – Quality Over Lifespan
“It’s not really an anti-aging that you guys are doing anymore, but it’s more of a life extending...Quality, of...exactly. So it’s not just you live more years, but the years you have, you can still do the things you wanna.”

30:37 – Prevention Through Movement
“Our bodies were meant to be used not to sit at a desk all day...We’re healthier when we’re moving.”

32:44 – Personalized Cancer Care
“Whether it’s cancer therapy or anything, you’re looking for medications that will target that particular cancer with particular receptors and no other receptor sites so that there’s not a bunch of side effects.”

34:17 – Profit and Access
“Pharmaceutical research occurs. It’s driven by profit. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, but you don’t love it when you know that somebody can be...can benefit from something and they can’t afford it.”

37:21 – AI Drug Discovery Reality
“If you have a program that can model it and it can look for that particular receptor within somebody’s cell wherever it happens to be looking. If that cost comes down...then at that point you would have compounded medicine that’s specific for that individual.”

43:13 – AI As Creative Assistant
“There’s an AI program that I’m using that sort of, you can upload your PDFs into it and then it just lets you interrogate your previous work...I have trouble remembering my kids’ names sometimes...the series that has the fewest number of named characters in my series is at 155.”

45:34 – Writing Journey and Influences
“I’ve wanted to be a writer probably since 1985, when I was much younger than I am now. But things got in the way, my career going to college, med school, that sort of thing...published for the first time in 2014.”

50:26 – Healing Realism in Fantasy
“I want injuries to feel real in terms of recovery, even if it is, the recovery is shortened in terms of the physical healing, I want the mental healing to occur and not just be hand waved away.”

52:28 – Practical Health Basics
“Processed food is not good food. So if you go to the grocery store, stay along the edges, not in the aisles where the food is processed and in a box.”

56:38 – Ancient Healers and Diabetes
“There was a hieroglyph from one of the pharaohs...the inscription or hieroglyphic said he lost his life through his urine...the first documented case of type one diabetes.”

58:36 – Books Plug and Farewell
“I’ve got a set of books that are all interconnected called the Anchored Worlds. There’s four series...available on Amazon and most of them are also available on other stores like Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Apple. And then the audio books are available on Audible.”

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]]><![CDATA[Who Turned Off the Lights?]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/who-turned-off-the-lightshttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/who-turned-off-the-lightsWed, 25 Feb 2026 10:00:53 GMT

In this mini recap of Episode 55: Directed Energy Weapons, the RHR crew recaps their conversation with guest Bruce Landay about the science (and Handwavium) behind energy weapons.

They break down natural EMP events: lightning, meteoric, and coronal mass ejections that could knock out power grids, how Faraday cages protect airplanes from electromagnetic interference, why the El Paso laser incident forced the FAA to shut down airspace, and how hypersonic missiles can maneuver and change targets mid-flight.

They discuss a listener’s comments about DIY directed energy weapons, a laser system that kills 30 mosquitoes per second, the 49ers’ EMF injury conspiracy theory, and a researcher who tested Havana Syndrome microwaves on himself (it didn’t go well).

In a brand-new segment, Nick highlights recent FDA breakthroughs: a wearable device for pancreatic cancer using low-intensity electrical fields (basically a wearable EMP), and an inhalable gene therapy mist for lung cancer.

Joe announces he’ll be at the Local Author Palooza on March 21st at Imperial Oak Brewing in Brookfield, IL, and Georgia plugs the upcoming Slay the Lake event in Kenosha on April 18th (featuring a future RHR guest; Phrique).

Plus what media the crew has been digging: Joe’s reading Seanan McGuire’s Through Gates of Garnet and Gold, watching Wu-Tang: American Saga, Shrinking, and Beast Games. Nick marathoned Limetown and The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your House, plus Brandon Fraser’s Rental Family. Georgia’s devouring Rachel Harrison’s Cackle and listening to Welcome to Night Vale’s and anxiously waiting for Don’t Tell Alice the upcoming podcast sequel to Alice isn’t Dead.

Where to find Bruce Landay:

Listen to Episode 55:

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

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Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. And to see all the content (studio images and artwork) subscribe to the Rabbit Hole of Research newsletter!

Stay curious, stay speculative, stay safe, and we’ll catch you in the next rabbit hole. Love Y'all!

Future Events to Hang with the Crew:

Podcast Cross-Appearances

Events & Conventions:

Upcoming Episodes

  • Episode 56 – Medicine of the Future: From Fantasy to Patient Care

    Guest: Davis Ashura

    Exploring how science fiction inspires real medical innovation and what the future of patient care might look like.

  • Episode 57 – The Science of Chatbots & Human Connection

    Guests: Lily & Generoso

    Diving into AI communication, computational science, and how chatbots are reshaping human interaction with MIT scientist-turned-writer Lily and illustrator/filmmaker Generoso.

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What the Crew is Digging, Links, Resources, and Topics Mentioned in mini and/or full episode:

Guest Information:

  • Bruce Landay – Former US Air Force officer, author of near-future military techno-thrillers

  • Electromagnetic Assault (releases April 7th) – Amazon

  • Author Website: brucelanday.com

  • Substack Column: Future Trends and Science Fiction

  • Bruce’s Upcoming Events:

    • Speaker at Lakefly Writers Conference (Oshkosh, WI) – May 1st

    • Book signing at Lakefly Book Fair (Oshkosh, WI) – May 2nd

    • Let’s Just Write! Chicago Writers Association Conference – June 20th

Real-World DEW Technology:

Technology & Defense Systems:

  • Faraday Cage – Conductive enclosure blocking electromagnetic fields (used in airplanes)

  • Hypersonic Weapons – Fly faster than Mach 5, can maneuver and change targets mid-flight

  • Neutron Bombs (Enhanced Radiation Weapons) – Maximize radiation while minimizing blast damage

  • LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) – Uses laser light like radar uses radio waves

  • Laser Pointers – Output power >5 milliwatts can cause permanent retinal damage

Books Mentioned:

  • One Second After by William Forstchen (also One Year After and The Final Day trilogy)

  • Through Gates of Garnet and Gold by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children #11)

  • Dear Writer by Maggie Smith

  • Cackle by Rachel Harrison

  • Limetown by Cote Smith

  • The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your House (Welcome to Nightvale)

TV Shows & Films Mentioned:

  • Star Trek: The Next Generation – “Relics” (Season 6, Episode 4) – Scotty in transporter buffer

  • Wu-Tang: An American Saga (Hulu)

  • Shrinking (Apple TV+)

  • Beast Games (Amazon)

  • Rental Family (Brandon Fraser film)

Podcasts & Audio:

  • Welcome to Nightvale

  • Alice Isn’t Dead (returning as Don’t Tell Alice in April 2026)

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]]><![CDATA[Directed Energy Weapons: Who Turned Off the Lights? ]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/energy-directed-weapons-who-turnedhttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/energy-directed-weapons-who-turnedWed, 18 Feb 2026 10:01:13 GMT

In the 55th episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, Georgia, and new co-host Mary are joined by guest Bruce Landay, former US Air Force officer and author of the upcoming near-future military techno-thriller Electromagnetic Assault (out April 7th-pre order now), for a deep dive into directed energy weapons, the science, the fiction, and everything in between.

And this isn’t just science fiction Handwavium anymore. Days after recording the episode it was reported that, a military anti-drone laser system deployed by Customs and Border Protection in El Paso, Texas forced the FAA to temporarily shut down airspace over the city, a real-world reminder that directed energy weapons have quietly moved from fiction to reality.

The crew explores the real science behind directed energy weapons across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from sound and microwave to shipboard lasers and how susceptible the infrastructure we all depend on are to these weapons.

They dig into the real weapons that exist today, the ones that are almost real, and the ones that are pure handwavium. How close is the Active Denial System to a Star Trek phaser on stun? What would an EMP actually do to modern society, and is it as catastrophic as One Second After suggests? And what happens when the clean electromagnetic war fantasy meets ethics and the very messy reality of physics?

Plus they go down the rabbit hole of plasma bugs, the brown note myth, Havana Syndrome theories, wetware vulnerabilities, the ethics of laser blinding conventions, and why the Death Star’s power requirements are thermodynamically absurd (and you know they couldn’t resist talking about the Handwavium of green lasers and cinematic noises in space).

Where to find Bruce Landay:

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

Future Events to Hang with the Crew:

Podcast Cross-Appearances

Events & Conventions:

It’s Science for Weirdos

Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. Leave a Comment. And for email alerts sign-up for the Substack newsletter and never miss an episode, exciting updates or the bonus images we talk about on the episodes.

We want to Hear From You (leave a comment):

  • A military laser just shut down airspace over a US city. Does that surprise you, or did you see this coming?

  • If you could design a real-world version of a Star Trek phaser, what extra Handwavium thing would it actually do?

  • What’s your favorite fictional energy weapon and how badly does it violate the laws of physics? Let us know your ideas and we'll try to make it work on the mini-recap episode!

Drop your thoughts in the comments. We read them all, and your ideas often shape future episodes.

Leave a comment

Future Episodes & Events

  • Episode 56 – Medicine of the Future: From Fantasy to Patient Care

    Guest: Davis Ashura

    Exploring how science fiction inspires real medical innovation and what the future of patient care might look like.

  • Episode 57 – The Science of Chatbots & Human Connection

    Guests: Lily & Generoso

    Diving into AI communication, computational science, and how chatbots are reshaping human interaction with MIT scientist-turned-writer Lily and illustrator/filmmaker Generoso.

Subscribe now

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For more stuff (Images, Episode Highlights, events, etc), subscribe to our Substack newsletter!

Show Notes & Fun facts

Books and comics:

  • One Second After by William Forstchen (also mentioned: One Year After and The Final Day — the complete trilogy)

  • The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

  • The Coming Race by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1871)

  • The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (1898)

  • The Eternaut (El Eternauta) on Netflix ,a 2025 six-episode Argentine sci-fi series directed by Bruno Stagnaro

  • El Eternauta is an Argentine science fiction comic created by Héctor Germán Oesterheld with artwork by Francisco Solano López

Movies & TV Shows:

  • Star Trek (phasers, photon torpedoes, disintegration effects)

  • Star Wars (Death Star, lightsabers, blasters)

  • Starship Troopers (1997 film) — plasma bugs

  • The Matrix (EMP scene)

  • Revolution (TV show about loss of electricity)

  • Leave the World Behind (Netflix movie, produced by the Obamas)

  • Zero Day (Netflix miniseries starring Robert De Niro — cyber attack)

  • Space Cowboys (Clint Eastwood film)

  • Black Mirror (subscription tech episode)

  • Watchmen (graphic novel)

Real-World Technology & Systems:

  • Active Denial System (ADS) — “pain ray” for crowd control

  • Navy’s HELIOS (High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance)

  • Israel’s Iron Beam/Laser Dome

  • Layered Laser Defense (LLD)

  • Navy’s LaWS (Laser Weapon System)

  • Army’s DE M-SHORAD (Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense)

  • Air Force’s SHiELD (Self-protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator)

  • MARAUDER project (Magnetically Accelerated Ring to Achieve Ultra-high Directed Energy and Radiation)

  • Reagan’s “Star Wars” SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative)

  • Project Excalibur (nuclear-pumped X-ray lasers)

  • BEAR (Beam Experiment Aboard Rocket) — 1989

Fun Facts:

  1. The Electromagnetic Spectrum as a Weapon — From radio waves to gamma rays, it’s all the same phenomenon (photons) at different frequencies. The only difference between a microwave oven and an X-ray machine is how fast the waves oscillate. Shorter wavelength = more energy per photon = more damage potential.

  2. Lasers Are Invisible (Usually) — Most military lasers operate in the infrared spectrum, which means they’re completely invisible to the human eye. You won’t see a colorful beam like in the movies, real laser strikes just look like things spontaneously catching fire.

  3. The Brown Note Is a Myth — Despite urban legends about a specific sound frequency that causes instant bowel movements, there’s zero scientific evidence it exists. MythBusters even tested it. You’re safe.

  4. H.G. Wells Invented the Heat Ray Before We Understood Photons — In 1898’s The War of the Worlds, Wells described a Martian heat ray using a parabolic mirror to focus energy into a beam. He wrote this 60 years before the laser was invented and before quantum mechanics explained how light actually works.

  5. Space Makes Directed Energy Weapons Way Better — In the vacuum of space, lasers and particle beams don’t scatter, don’t lose energy to atmosphere, and don’t suffer from thermal blooming (when the beam heats the air and defocuses itself). That’s why so much directed energy weapons research focuses on space-based platforms.

Episode Highlights

00:00 — “Hey, welcome back to the Rabbit Hole of Research down here in the basement studio.” — Basement Studio Roll Call: Joe, Nick, Georgia, new co-host Mary, and guest Bruce Landay introduce themselves.

01:06 — “Light is the fastest thing in the universe. And for centuries... we’ve been trying to turn that speed into a weapon.” — Joe kicks off the directed energy weapons discussion with the core question: why light?

01:37 — “Point. Click. Hit. No muzzle flash. No noise... Just an effective way to transfer energy from one place to another. The perfect weapon. Perfect, except for physics.” — Opening monologue: The “perfect weapon” versus the messy reality of physics.

03:16 — “I thought, maybe this is just what we need, just wipe it out. Start over... Bruce, please tell me why that’s a bad idea.” — Mary asks about EMP apocalypse scenarios; Bruce references William Forstchen’s One Second After trilogy and why total societal collapse is terrifying.

05:50 — “That’s probably as close you get to a stun setting on a phaser... this kind of technology here, would could actually work.” — Discussion of the Active Denial System (ADS) and whether “phaser on stun” is actually plausible.

07:05 — “The Navy has what’s called a Helio shipboard laser weapon... the one thing about it is that it’s got they need this massive electric generator to power this thing.” — Bruce explains real-world shipboard lasers and the global arms race (US, China, Russia, Israel).

08:10 — “These missile intercept systems, they’re a million bucks. They’re a million bucks a throw every time you punch the button.” — Missile defense economics and why Reagan’s “Star Wars” SDI was strategic genius (or con).

10:51 — “Hypersonic missiles... go a lot faster... like, I think, two or three times the speed of sound... super fast.” — Hypersonic missiles explained: speed (Mach 5+), size, and why they’re nearly impossible to intercept.

12:53 — “We’re talking about weapons that are along the electromagnetic spectrum... microwaves would be on that spectrum. You also have radio waves... x-rays, visible light, UV light, infrared, gamma.” — Joe’s electromagnetic spectrum crash course: from radio waves to gamma rays, and how wavelength determines energy.

20:42 — “A radar dish is very bad for the human body... If I wanted to be a father, I would probably have a difficult time being a father.” — Bruce shares a personal story about avoiding radar exposure; discussion of Havana Syndrome, microwaves, and human body damage.

23:18 — “The phaser in Star Trek was just this kind of all purpose handwaving... we don’t wanna deal with the consequences of killing whoever. Let’s disintegrate ‘em.” — Sci-fi vs reality: phaser modes, disintegration physics, and an unexpected tangent about Star Trek transporters.

25:30 — “War is nasty, is very nasty business. And this whole idea that, oh, we’ll just be very pinpoint... society breaks down.” — The “clean war” fallacy: EMPs, grid fragility, and why society would collapse faster than people think.

30:29 — “That’s a huge problem with all of the sort of automated weapons now... where there’s so much noise in the electromagnetic spectrum.” — Bruce on EMP blowback: when your own tech gets crippled by your weapons.

31:20 — “Think of like drone warfare. There is so much noise in the electromagnetic spectrum right now... you jam it with all kinds of junk signals.” — Drone warfare and electromagnetic jamming in real-world conflicts.

31:48 — “The thing that, that I think Elon Musk... that was one of the impetus for me to even write this story is I started reading about what we were doing with Neurotech.” — Bruce on wetware and brain implants as the new cyber vulnerability (and plot point in Electromagnetic Assault).

34:27 — “We have that today on Tesla cars... if you pay extra money, you’ll get more battery you’ll get more distance from your batteries.” — From Black Mirror to Tesla: subscription tech you can’t escape.

35:17 — “Nonfiction for me is, doesn’t have a lot of interest... I’ve just always had a wild imagination and love stories.”— Why Bruce writes fiction instead of nonfiction, and his journey to becoming an author.

37:47 — “I tend to... the period of time period, I write the second half of the 21st century... I like to at least create things that are reasonably plausible.” — Bruce on balancing hard sci-fi with handwavium and keeping tech plausible.

39:41 — “Think of things like you can do a fingerprint scan on your phone... I won’t do either one of those things. Heck, I... write stories about how that’s abused.” — Surveillance state, corporatized: smart devices watching back, and why Bruce avoids biometric tech.

41:15 — “In 1898, a book is written called The War of the Worlds by HG Wells... the heat ray... written 60 years before... the invention of the laser.” — Joe traces directed energy weapons in literature: Zeus, Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s The Coming Race (1871), and H.G. Wells predating the laser.

44:40 — “For technical thrillers, Daniel Suarez is absolutely a favorite... Growing up it was the classics Heinlein Asimov... obviously, the Tom Clancy books.” — Bruce shares his sci-fi influences and favorite authors, plus a deep dive into the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and Oshkosh AirVenture.

48:58 — “The plasma bugs... plasma system wouldn’t work, but it was a cool kind of thing.” — Starship Troopers plasma bugs and why physics ruins the fun (atmospheric dissipation, targeting problems, etc.).

52:46 — “A lot of these systems need massive cooling... they’re not continuous their pulse so that they can have time to cool.” — Cooling, power requirements, and why space changes the directed-energy warfare equation.

53:44 — “When you say a discombobulator, I mean, what did it interrupt?... My guess would be some sort of, like a sonic weapon.” — “Discombobulator” theories: sonic weapons, microwaves, and Havana Syndrome speculation.

58:06 — “There’s conventions around using lasers to blind people in warfare... there’s this, you don’t wanna stare at lasers.” — Ethics of non-lethal weapons: laser blinding conventions (Protocol IV) and real-world limits.

01:00:51 — “What’s scary is just they’re becoming much more of the reality today... there will come a time when that will become much more a reality.” — Sci-fi weapons becoming reality, DARPA speculation, and wrapping up the conversation.

01:02:27 — “Electromagnetic assault... Navy pilot Jasmine Hassani was the sole survivor of a SEAL team rescue mission at a Chinese base. Her aircraft was shot down by a mystery energy weapon.” — Bruce gives his book pitch for Electromagnetic Assault and shares his upcoming events (Lakefly, Chicago Writers Conference).

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]]><![CDATA[What's Smell Got to Do With Love?]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/mini-recap-of-whats-love-got-to-dohttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/mini-recap-of-whats-love-got-to-doWed, 11 Feb 2026 10:00:17 GMT

In this mini recap of Episode 54: What’s Love Got to Do With It?, Joe, Nick, and Georgia recap their conversation with guest Joe Compton about the science and magic of love.

Joe, as promised in the Episode 54, discusses human pheromones, the challenges of researching sex pheromones in humans, and the McClintock effect (menstrual cycle synchronization among women. The crew discusses the cultural obsession with masking natural body odors, and why aphrodisiacs might be more folklore than fact.

Beyond the science, the team shares updates: Georgia reveals pages from her Kevin Bacon scrapbook, and finding the Geena Davis’ quote from The Accidental Tourist. Joe appeared on Joe Compton’s 21 Grams YouTube show to discuss villains and the dark side of storytelling. And the RHR crew will be at an upcoming DIY Podcast Workshop at Lake County Public Library on May 23rd as part of the Creative Arts Summit.

Plus media the crew is checking out: WonderMan, Wu-Tang: An American Saga, Cabin in the Woods (finally!), The Monkey, comic book finds from the final Northwest Indiana Comic-Con.

Follow Joe Compton on Instagram

Watch Joe on Joe Compton’s YouTube channel 21Grams

Pictures of Kevin Bacon from Georgia’s scrapbook

“I’m beginning to think that maybe it’s not just how much you love someone. Maybe what matters is who you are when you’re with them.”

The Accidental Tourist(1988): Muriel Pritchett (played by Geena Davis)

Listen to Episode 54:

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

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It’s science for Weirdos

Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. And to see all the content (studio images and artwork) subscribe to the Rabbit Hole of Research newsletter!

Stay curious, stay speculative, stay safe, and we’ll catch you in the next rabbit hole. Love Y'all!

Future Events to Hang with the Crew:

Podcast Cross-Appearances

Events & Conventions:

  • Creative Arts Summit: DIY Podcast Workshop at Lake County Public Library on May 23rd 2026

  • ConCarolinas - Charlotte, NC (May 29 – May 31, 2026 ) - Joe attending as Guest

  • Dragon Con - Atlanta, GA (September 3-7, 2026) - Joe attending as Professional

Upcoming Episodes

  • Episode 55 – Medicine of the Future: From Fantasy to Patient Care

    Guest: Davis Ashura

    Exploring how science fiction inspires real medical innovation and what the future of patient care might look like.

  • Episode 56 – The Science of Chatbots & Human Connection

    Guests: Lily & Generoso

    Diving into AI communication, computational science, and how chatbots are reshaping human interaction with MIT scientist-turned-writer Lily and illustrator/filmmaker Generoso.

  • Episode 57 – Planetary Defense: Saving Earth from Other Worldly Impact

    Guest: Charles Blue

    Examining the science and strategies behind protecting Earth from asteroids, comets, and cosmic threats.

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What the Crew is Digging, Links, Resources, and Topics Mentioned in mini and/or full episode:

Books:

  • Dear Writer by Maggie Smith

  • Fallen Angel by William Hjortsberg (basis for the film Angel Heart)

  • The Shoemaker’s Magician by Cynthia Pelayo

  • Love and Rockets (comic series) by Hernandez brothers: Gilbert, Jaime, and Mario

TV Shows & Movies:

  • Wu-Tang: An American Saga

  • WonderMan (Marvel series)

  • Shrinking

  • Fallout (series finale)

  • Cabin in the Woods

  • The Monkey

  • Angel Heart (film based on Fallen Angel)

  • The Accidental Tourist (1988) - Geena Davis quote

  • The Fly

Comics & Publishers:

Games:

  • Age of Empires II

  • Evony (multiplayer online game)

  • Outlanders 2 (Apple Arcade)

Podcasts

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Love Y'all! Don’t forget to Rate the show!

]]><![CDATA[What’s Love Got To Do With It? ]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/whats-love-got-to-do-with-ithttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/whats-love-got-to-do-with-itWed, 04 Feb 2026 10:01:13 GMT

In the 54th episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, a special Valentine’s episode, Joe, Nick, and Georgia are joined by guest Joe Compton, independent author, filmmaker, and creator of Go Indie Now, for an exploration of love in all its forms.

What is love, really? Strip away the poetry and you’re left with chemistry: dopamine, oxytocin, vasopressin, and endorphins firing neural circuits in predictable patterns. But if love is just biology, why does it feel transcendent? Why does it reorganize our priorities, rewrite our memories, and convince otherwise rational minds to abandon safety and logic?

The conversation journeys through the evolutionary roots of attachment behavior, the ancient Greek’s categories of love, and the murky intersection of love and consent. From the honeymoon phase to long-term bonding, from fandoms and idol worship to AI companions and body horror.

Along the way, they discuss indie artists’ authentic connections with fans versus the detachment of stadium-filling superstars, debate whether we could bottle love like a drug, and share their favorite love stories in film (spoiler: tissues recommended). They also tackle the darker side: obsessive love, one-sided attachments, and why horror might understand love better than rom-coms.

Perfect for Valentine’s season, or any time you want to question what love’s really got to do with it.

Follow Joe Compton on YouTube: Go Indie Now

Instagram

Link to RHR Joe on Joe Compton’s 21 Grams 06 Feb 2026:

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

It’s Science for Weirdos

Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. Leave a Comment. And for email alerts sign-up for the Substack newsletter and never miss an episode, exciting updates or the bonus images we talk about on the episodes.

We want to Hear From You (leave a comment):

  • If you could experience that “honeymoon phase” forever, constant dopamine hits and butterflies, would you choose it, or is there something valuable in moving past it into long-term love?

  • If someone invented a real love potion (full consent aside), would you take it to fall in love, or would knowing it’s “just chemistry” ruin the whole thing?

  • Joe Compton asked: can you prove you love someone? How would you try?

Drop your thoughts in the comments. We read them all, and your ideas often shape future episodes.

Leave a comment

Future Episodes & Events

  • Episode 55 – Medicine of the Future: From Fantasy to Patient Care

    Guest: Davis Ashura

    Exploring how science fiction inspires real medical innovation and what the future of patient care might look like.

  • Episode 56 – The Science of Chatbots & Human Connection

    Guests: Lily & Generoso

    Diving into AI communication, computational science, and how chatbots are reshaping human interaction with MIT scientist-turned-writer Lily and illustrator/filmmaker Generoso.

  • Episode 57 – Planetary Defense: Saving Earth from Other Worldly Impact

    Guest: Charles Blue

    Examining the science and strategies behind protecting Earth from asteroids, comets, and cosmic threats.

Subscribe now

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For more stuff (Images, Episode Highlights, events, etc), subscribe to our Substack newsletter!

Show Notes & Fun facts

Books, Movies, TV & Comics Mentioned:

  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

  • Contact (favorite line about proving love)

  • 500 Days of Summer (2009)

  • 50 First Dates

  • Severance (Apple TV+ series)

  • Her

  • Ex Machina

  • Minority Report

  • The Matrix

  • Breaking Bad (referenced for Vince Gilligan’s writing style)

  • The Fly (Jeff Goldblum body horror)

  • Cabin in the Woods

  • Evil Dead

  • Shrek (love potion subplot)

  • Up (first 15 minutes)

  • Annie Hall

  • Terms of Endearment

  • Harold and Maude

  • My Girl (1991)

  • Gilmore Girls

  • The Thing (John Carpenter)

  • Ray Bradbury (author, inspiration mentioned)

  • Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg)

Musical Artists & Bands Mentioned:

  • Tina Turner - “What’s Love Got to Do with It”

  • The Bacon Brothers (Kevin Bacon’s band)

  • Squirrel Nut Zippers

  • Dale Watson (Americana/country artist)

  • Turnstile (band that invites audience on stage)

  • The Cult

Fun Facts:

  1. Love predates humanity by 300 million years - Proto-attachment behavior first appeared in birds like albatrosses and swans, which can mate for life and exhibit territory defense.

  2. The “Honeymoon Phase” has a biological timer - That intense infatuation love typically lasts 12-18 months. After that, relationships must build on something beyond the initial hormone rush.

  3. Dunbar’s Number limits intimate connections - Humans can maintain approximately 150 stable, intimate relationships. Beyond that, connections become superficial, which explains why massive Instagram followings feel different than genuine fan interactions.

  4. Ancient Greeks had six categories of love:

    • Eros: Passionate, romantic, sexual desire

    • Philia: Deep friendship, brotherly love

    • Storge: Familial affection, natural bond

    • Agape: Unconditional, selfless, divine love

    • Pragma: Long-standing, practical love

    • Philautia: Self-love (healthy vs. narcissistic)

  5. Oxytocin isn’t just the “love hormone” - It’s released during childbirth AND after orgasm to create bonding and trust. But because it’s not a choice, you can bond to harmful people or situations, your brain doesn’t distinguish between healthy and unhealthy attachments.

Episode Highlights

00:00 Welcome and Introductions Joe, Nick, and Georgia welcome listeners from the basement studio and introduce special guest Joe Compton.

00:24 Special Guest: Joe Compton “I’m an independent author, independent filmmaker, and I run a network called Go Indie Now, which supports independent artists of all art forms.”

01:37 The Science of Love “Love is chemistry. Hormones like dopamine, vasopressin, endorphins causing neural circuits to fire in predictable patterns.”

03:20 Evolutionary Roots of Love “Probably earliest evolutionary about 300 million years ago, you start seeing proto attachment behavior in birds like albatrosses, swans.”

07:26 Different Types of Love “In ancient Greece they had about six or so love categories: eros, philia, storge, agape, pragma, and philautia.”

11:45 Love and Attachment “The dopamine hit, that’s the first kind of reward. Oxytocin is released during certain natural times, like during childbirth and after an orgasm.”

18:09 Love in Sci-Fi and Media “In sci-fi, that would be like Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, where you go in and how do we remove this attachment to this person?”

28:10 AI and the Future of Love “AI is programmed to be very pleasing to its human counterparts. As she became aware in Ex Machina, it became aware that to their advantage.”

30:36 Perception and Stress Hormones “In our modern day, we get the same kind of fight and flight over things that really aren’t that bad or dangerous, but we get those same hormones.”

31:37 Concert Experiences and Audience Connection “The bigger bands tend to disconnect—they learn how to engage the audience, but doing it as an exercise and not as a truth to themselves.”

33:13 Indie Artists and Social Media “Everybody has to connect with their audience now. Social media has become such a big part of the machine itself.”

35:44 Personal Connections and Fan Interactions “Dunbar’s number—you can have up to like 150 stable relationships that you can be intimate with. And then after that it falls apart.”

42:39 Love in Horror and Romance “Horror, somewhat may get love a little more correct than rom-coms and romance kind of stories—it’s just love, that empathy, it just doesn’t end.”

47:37 Valentine’s Day Traditions “Flowers are the sexual reproductive organs of the plant. So that’s what you’re giving.”

51:44 Favorite Love Stories in Movies Nick: “The one that makes me cry every time is the first 15 minutes of Up.” Georgia: “Harold and Maude.” Joe: “My Girl.”

54:36 Conclusion and Final Thoughts “We all crave that feeling in some way. The word itself leads to many different ideas of what it is, but ultimately the feeling is what we all aim for.”

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]]><![CDATA[Space Arks episode recap]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/space-arks-and-finding-a-new-homehttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/space-arks-and-finding-a-new-homeWed, 28 Jan 2026 10:01:27 GMT

In this mini recap of Episode 53, Joe, Georgia, and Nick revisit their conversation with Roland Pitts, author of Salvation Protocol and former army officer turned cybersecurity expert, about the massive challenge of building a space ark and restarting civilization on a new world.

The crew reflects on selecting 1,000 people and 1,000 resources for humanity’s survival, and discuss the practical realities of colonization, like surgeons needing to double as blacksmiths or teachers during year one, and debate whether the vacuum of space is really colder than the polar vortex currently hitting Earth.

The crew also confesses they all failed to complete their “homework”: creating a list of five books, movies, or media that define who they are. They challenge listeners to think about what five things would help another person, an alien (or future generation) truly understand you.

Along the way, the conversation takes an unexpected turn through explorers, Christopher Columbus, and why Dora the Explorer might actually be the best explorer of all time.

The crew also shares the media they've been digging: Nick: finally watched Sinners and finished the game Journey to the Savage Planet, Joe: on Dan Brown's The Secret of Secrets and beautiful Japanese animated films by Makoto Shinkai; Your Name and Weathering With You, and Georgia: finished Chuck Tingle's horror novel Bury Your Gays.

Check out Roland’s Book: Salvation Protocol

Follow Roland on Instagram

Listen to Episode 53:

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

Subscribe now

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It’s science for Weirdos

Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. And to see all the content (studio images and artwork) subscribe to the Rabbit Hole of Research newsletter!

Stay curious, stay speculative, stay safe, and we’ll catch you in the next rabbit hole. Love Y'all!

Future Events to Hang with the Crew:

Podcast Cross-Appearances

Events & Conventions:

  • Dragon Con - Atlanta, GA (September 3-7, 2026) - Joe attending as professional

Upcoming Episodes

  • Episode 54 – What's Love Got to Do with It?

    Guest: Joe Compton

    Exploring the science of love, connection, and relationships just in time for Valentine's Day.

  • Episode 55 – Medicine of the Future: From Fantasy to Patient Care

    Guest: Davis Ashura

    Exploring how science fiction inspires real medical innovation and what the future of patient care might look like.

  • Episode 56 – The Science of Chatbots & Human Connection

    Guests: Lily & Generoso

    Diving into AI communication, computational science, and how chatbots are reshaping human interaction with MIT scientist-turned-writer Lily and illustrator/filmmaker Generoso.

  • Episode 57 – Planetary Defense: Saving Earth from Other Worldly Impact

    Guest: Charles Blue

    Examining the science and strategies behind protecting Earth from asteroids, comets, and cosmic threats.

Subscribe now

Leave a comment

Share

What the Crew is Digging, Links, Resources, and Topics Mentioned in mini and/or full episode:

Makoto Shinkai's name (proper spelling/pronunciation):

  • Writer and director's of Your Name and Weathering With You

Space Travel & Temperature:

  • The crew jokes about escaping Earth’s polar vortex via space ark, then realizes the vacuum of space is actually colder, and highlighting why Earth’s distance from the sun creates the perfect temperature zone for life (the “Goldilocks zone”).

Multi-Generational Missions & Skill Redundancy:

  • Discussion of colonists needing multiple skills (surgeon-blacksmiths, chef-farmers) connects to real concerns about critical skill loss on long-duration missions. If a specialist dies or is injured, redundancy becomes essential for survival.

Leaving Earth With No Return:

  • The philosophical weight of one-way missions reflects real proposals for Mars colonization and generation ships, where the first wave of colonists would likely never return to Earth due to physiological changes, resource constraints, and mission timelines.

Exploration Parallels - Historical vs. Space:

  • The comparison between historical ocean voyages (pre-mapped world exploration) and space arks draws parallels to how early explorers embarked into the unknown with limited resources, though the crew notes the problematic framing of “discovery” when indigenous peoples already inhabited those lands.

Non-Localized Consciousness:

  • Joe mentions this concept from Dan Brown’s The Secret of Secrets, and future episode, touching on theoretical physics and consciousness studies that explore whether human awareness could exist independently of the physical brain, relevant to future questions about consciousness transfer for space travel.

The “Top 5 Media That Define You” Challenge:

  • This exercise connects to cultural preservation discussions from the main episode: if you could only save five pieces of media to represent yourself (or humanity) to an alien species or future generation, what would they be? It’s a microcosm of the larger ark manifesto challenge.

Books:

  • Salvation Protocol by Roland Pitts

  • The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown

  • Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

  • When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy

  • Nestling by Nat Cassidy

Films & TV:

  • Sinners (2025)

  • Your Name (2016) - Japanese animated romantic fantasy written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, produced by CoMix Wave Films

  • Weathering With You (2019) - Japanese animated romantic fantasy written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, produced by CoMix Wave Films

  • Dora the Explorer

Video Games:

  • Journey to the Savage Planet - Space exploration game

Podcasts

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Love Y'all! Don’t forget to Rate the show!

]]><![CDATA[Space Arks and Colonizing New Worlds]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/space-arks-and-colonizing-new-worldshttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/space-arks-and-colonizing-new-worldsWed, 21 Jan 2026 10:02:19 GMT

In this 53rd episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, and Georgia welcome guest Roland Pitts, author of Salvation Protocol, to discuss the monumental challenge of space arks and colonizing new worlds. Roland, a former army officer now working in cybersecurity, shares insights into his sci-fi thriller where aliens warn Earth of hostile forces, prompting a secret mission to select 1,000 people and 1,000 items to restart civilization on a new planet.

The conversation ranges from the practical, cryo-sleep technology, closed-loop ecosystems, genetic diversity, and propulsion systems, to the philosophical: Who decides who gets to board? How do you preserve culture, prevent class systems, and maintain law and order when resources aren’t scarce? What happens when the descendants of the original crew forget why they left Earth?

The group explores the cargo manifesto challenge, debating essential items from seed banks and medical equipment to cultural artifacts and personal mementos. They discuss the psychological horror of multi-generational travel, the role of AI (can you trust it?) in maintaining mission continuity, and whether humanity can survive the journey without becoming something unrecognizable. Along the way, they pepper in references to Wall-E, The Expanse, Interstellar, and classic generation ship literature, while sharing what they’d personally bring on their own space journey.

Check out Roland’s Book: Salvation Protocol

Follow Roland on Instagram

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

It’s Science for Weirdos

Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. Leave a Comment. And for email alerts sign-up for the Substack newsletter and never miss an episode, exciting updates or the bonus images we talk about on the episodes.

We want to Hear From You (leave a comment):

  • If you were selected for a space ark mission, would you go, knowing you’d never return to Earth or see your loved ones again?

  • What two personal items would you bring with you on the journey? (Roland’s bringing My Chemical Romance, what’s on your playlist?)

  • If you had to build the crew, what essential profession do you think gets overlooked? How many scientists vs. farmers vs. artists would you take?

  • Can humanity survive the journey to the stars without destroying itself, or will we become something unrecognizable by the time we arrive?

Drop your thoughts in the comments. We read them all, and your ideas often shape future episodes.

Leave a comment

Future Episodes & Events

  • Episode 54: What’s Love Got to Do With It?

    Guest: Joe Compton

    A deep dive into the science, psychology, and cultural myths of love. Exploring whether attachment is chemistry, storytelling, evolutionary strategy, or something stranger than fiction.

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Show Notes & Fun facts

Books & Literature Mentioned:

  • Salvation Protocol by Roland Pitts

  • Orphans of the Sky by Robert Heinlein

  • The Stand by Stephen King

  • Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

  • Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

  • The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin

  • Anne Frank’s Diary

  • The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

  • Matched by Ally Condie

  • World War Z by Max Brooks

Films & TV Mentioned:

  • Wall-E (2008)

  • Interstellar (2014)

  • Passengers (2016)

  • The Expanse (2015-2022)

  • Alien (1979) - featuring MU/TH/UR AI

  • When Worlds Collide (1951)

  • Pandorum (2009)

  • Event Horizon (1997)

  • The 100 (2014-2020)

  • Severance (Apple TV+)

  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

  • GATTACA (1997)

  • Avengers: Endgame (2019)

  • The Thing (1982)

  • Uncle Buck (1989)

  • Pluribus (Apple TV+)

Space Arc Playlist:

  • Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge by My Chemical Romance (Roland’s choice)

  • Awaken, My Love by Childish Gambino (Nick’s choice)

  • Harold and Maude soundtrack (Georgia’s choice)

  • Portishead - Portishead or Dummy albums (Joe’s choice)

Fun Facts from the Episode

  1. The Minimum Viable Population: Biologists estimate that 1,000 people is the absolute minimum needed for a healthy genetic founding population. Any fewer and you risk a genetic bottleneck where recessive traits amplify, leading to increased disease susceptibility and genetic disorders across generations.

  2. Royal Hemophilia and Genetic Bottlenecks: The British Royal Family’s history of hemophilia demonstrates what happens when populations inbreed. Queen Victoria carried the gene, and through limited genetic diversity in European royalty, the bleeding disorder spread across multiple royal houses, a cautionary tale for any isolated population.

  3. Women vs. Men and Reproductive Aging: Women are born with all their eggs, meaning environmental stressors throughout life affect those eggs. Men regenerate sperm from stem cells throughout their lives. However, as men age, mutations accumulate in those stem cells, meaning both sexes face reproductive challenges with age which is critical for multi-generational missions.

  4. Scurvy, Rickets, and Vitamin Deficiencies: Scurvy (vitamin C deficiency) plagued sailors on long voyages, while rickets (vitamin D deficiency) affected cave miners. On a generation ship or new planet with different sunlight, managing nutritional deficiencies would be essential to survival.

  5. Biosphere 2’s Lessons: The 1990s Biosphere 2 experiment attempted a closed-loop ecosystem in Arizona and largely failed: oxygen levels dropped, species died off, and social tensions exploded. It proved that creating self-sustaining ecosystems for even a few years is far harder than we thought, let alone for centuries-long space journeys.

Episode Highlights

00:00 - Welcome and introductions
The team welcomes Roland Pitts, former army officer and author of Salvation Protocol, to discuss space arks and colonizing new worlds.

00:13 - The concept of space arks
Joe introduces the challenge: “A space ark is different. It’s not exploration, it’s exodus.”

01:03 - The role of anxiety and preparation
The group discusses how military-style planning for every scenario can be a constructive life skill for handling uncertainty.

02:15 - Monologue on human exploration
Joe delivers the opening: “Every migration before now had one thing in common: somewhere to return to.”

03:32 - Introducing Salvation Protocol
Roland explains his novel’s premise: aliens warn Earth of hostile forces, and one person must secretly select 1,000 people and 1,000 items to restart civilization.

04:42 - Dragon Con and meeting Roland
Joe recounts meeting Roland at Dragon Con, where Roland’s cargo manifesto list immediately caught his attention.

05:33 - The cargo manifesto and essential items
Joe presents his 10-category list covering everything from biological assets to ethics and governance frameworks.

08:37 - Challenges of space colonization
The discussion turns to closed ecosystems, genetic diversity, and why 1,000 people is the bare minimum for survival.

10:56 - Selecting the right people for the mission
Roland reveals the recruitment challenge: if someone says no, they must be killed to protect the mission’s secrecy.

20:26 - Ethical and genetic considerations
The group debates age limits, reproductive viability, and whether older experts are worth the genetic trade-off.

30:53 - Inspiration behind Salvation Protocol
Roland shares how military field exercises and thinking about bare necessities sparked the novel’s concept.

36:49 - Class systems on a new planet
Discussion of how to prevent social hierarchies when neurosurgeons and construction workers must coexist as equals.

37:33 - Philosophical beliefs and free will
The team questions whether people can maintain individual philosophies or if fracturing into ideological groups is inevitable.

38:16 - Scarcity and economic systems
Joe argues that without scarcity economics in year one, class conflicts emerge later when trade and friction develop.

39:28 - Maintaining law and order
Roland discusses the challenge of justice when every person is hand-selected and irreplaceable: “We can’t just kick them out of society.”

41:19 - AI and human modification
Georgia raises concerns about AI control; Roland reveals the “bipa” implants that can kill unsuitable candidates.

43:14 - Book two and human nature
Roland teases the sequel will explore cult formation, group dynamics, and how humans fracture in isolation.

44:06 - Intelligent life forms and alien influence
Nick asks whether the new planet has indigenous life and if the aliens sterilized it…Roland stays cryptic.

49:00 - Preserving human culture and artifacts
The group discusses taking cultural artifacts like Anne Frank’s diary to teach future generations about morality and history.

55:35 - Personal items for the journey
Roland chooses My Chemical Romance’s Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge; Nick brings his Steam Deck; Georgia picks Harold and Maude; and Joe picks Portishead (Dummy or Portishead) and The Stand.

01:01:15 - Conclusion and final thoughts
Roland reflects: “The heart of Salvation Protocol is about who we become when everything is on the line.”

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]]><![CDATA[Extreme Performance episode recap]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/extreme-performance-episode-recaphttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/extreme-performance-episode-recapWed, 14 Jan 2026 10:02:06 GMT

In this mini recap of Episode 52, Joe and Nick return to the basement studio (Georgia’s feeling under the weather) to revisit the physics and biology of extreme performance and their chat with guest Hayley Reese Chow: author, ultramarathoner, retired Air Force engineer, and fencer.

The crew clears up some episode questions: Yes, whales can get the bends (decompression sickness), despite their lung-collapsing adaptations that normally prevent nitrogen buildup. Turns out, sudden ascents caused by human sonar or seismic activity can force whales to surface too quickly, forming dangerous nitrogen bubbles in their tissues, and scientists find evidence of this in stranded whales with bone lesions and internal damage. Joe also follows up on the book Crossed by Ally Condie, where the protagonist runs all night through dangerous canyons, mirroring the ancient Greek Marathon run that led to the race’s namesake. Speaking of Greece: Hayley mentioned the Spartathlon, a 153-mile ultramarathon that must be completed in 36 hours. Nick’s reaction? “That’s absolutely bonkers. Let’s do it.”

Also discussed: the D&D Satanic Panic of the ‘80s (which Stranger Things Season 4 leaned into), team relay races like Ragnar, and whether Joe listened to podcasts on 8-tracks. The crew shares their media picks: Stranger Things Season 5 finale, Fallout, Nope, When the Wolf Comes Home, Revenge of the Savage Planet, The End of the World As We Know It, Lose Your Mind by Josh Pais, and The Creative Act by Rick Rubin.

Find out more about our Episode 52 guest Hayley Reese Chow

Listen to Episode 52:

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

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It’s science for Weirdos

Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. And to see all the content (studio images and artwork) subscribe to the Rabbit Hole of Research newsletter!

Stay curious, stay speculative, stay safe, and we’ll catch you in the next rabbit hole. Love Y'all!

Future Events to Hang with the Crew:

Joe will be at MARScon 2026 (January 16-18, Virginia Beach, VA)

  • Friday

    • 6:00 PM — Salon L: Building a Magic System – Writing a magical system that actually makes sense

    • 8:00 PM — Salon L: How to Navigate the NSFW Market – Writing spicy/NSFW fiction without losing money—or your reputation (Adults Only 18+)

    Saturday

    • 12:00 PM — Salon N: Science in Science Fiction—Oh My! – How much science is enough? With Gideon Smith, Joe Austin, and Gray Rinehart

    • 1:00 PM — Salon N: From Current Lasers to Future Phasers! – Real science, medical uses, and sci-fi energy weapons

    • 3:00 PM — Salon N: How to Dragon – Dragon science: fire breathing, flight, and fantasy biology

    • 5:00 PM — Salon N: Donkey + Dragon = Babies?!? – The biology of cross-species hybrids in fantasy and real life

    • 6:00 PM — Salon N: Seeing Small but Thinking Big: Shooting Electrons to Map the Brain – How electron microscopy is advancing modern medicine

    • 7:00 PM — Salon L: Elements of a World: Magic, Religion, and Science – How culture, identity, and class shape worldbuilding

    Podcast Cross-Appearances

Upcoming Episodes

  • Episode 53 – Space Arks and Colonizing New Worlds

    Guest: Roland Pitts

    If Earth is no longer an option, what comes next? Roland Pitts helps us imagine space arks, generation ships, and building new civilizations in the stars.

  • Episode 54 – What's Love Got to Do with It?

    Guest: Joe Compton

    Exploring the science of love, connection, and relationships just in time for Valentine's Day.

Subscribe now

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What the Crew is Digging, Links, Resources, and Topics Mentioned in mini and/or full episode:

Science & Research

  • Decompression Sickness (The Bends) in Whales

    • Whales can get the bends despite lung-collapsing adaptations

    • Lung collapse mechanism: forces air into trachea, preventing nitrogen absorption

    • Oxygen stored in blood and muscles, not lungs

    • Evidence found in stranded whales: lesions, bone damage (especially sperm whales)

    • Caused by forced rapid ascents from human sonar/seismic surveys

  • D&D Satanic Panic of the 1980s

    • Cultural phenomenon referenced in Stranger Things Season 4

  • Spartathlon

    • 153-mile ultramarathon in Greece

    • Must be completed in 36 hours

  • Ragnar Relay Races

    • Team relay ultramarathon events

Books Mentioned

Films & TV Shows

  • Stranger Things Season 5 (Netflix)

    • References D&D and 1980s nostalgia

    • “Conformity Gate” conspiracy theories about secret finale

  • Fallout (Prime Video)

    • RHR crew watching

  • Nope (Jordan Peele, 2022)

    • Nick just watched for first time

    • Sci-fi horror (unexpected genre for him)

  • Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)

    • Nick recommending to Joe

    • From creator of Gilmore Girls

  • Sketch

    • Features Tony Hale

    • Discussed on Andy J. Pizza’s Creative Pep Talk podcast

Video Games

  • Revenge of the Savage Planet

    • Cartoonish graphics, exploration game

    • Player fired from corporation, stuck in space

    • Gather materials to return to Earth

    • Nick currently playing

  • Really Bad Chess (mobile app)

    • Randomized piece setup based on rank

    • Joe playing to get back into chess

    • Forces strategic thinking outside traditional openings

Podcasts

Board Games

  • Dark Tower (electronic game, 1981)

    • Joe still has and plays original Dark Tower game

    Joe playing Dark Tower around 6 or 7 years old
    Georgia defeated the tower December 2025

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]]><![CDATA[The Physics and Biology of Extreme Performance]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/the-physics-and-biology-of-extremehttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/the-physics-and-biology-of-extremeWed, 07 Jan 2026 10:02:25 GMT

In this 52nd episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, the first episode of season 3, Joe, Nick, and Georgia are joined by author, Air Force engineer, and ultramarathoner Hayley Reese Chow to explore the physics and biology of extreme performance. They discuss what the human body can endure, where it breaks, and why we keep trying to push past the red line anyway. From the “second wind” and the infamous invisible wall to pain tolerance, recovery, and the evolutionary logic of persistence hunting, the conversation blends real physiology with the psychology of endurance.

Hayley shares her firsthand experience running ultramarathons, including racing through injury, managing pain over hundreds of miles, and navigating the strange mental territory that emerges when quitting is always an option, but never the one you take. The hosts unpack the science behind aerobic versus anaerobic effort, flow state, the so-called “berserker mode,” and the role of brain chemistry, hormones, and heat regulation in sustaining performance. They also explore new research suggesting that women may hold advantages in ultra-endurance events, examining metabolic efficiency, recovery, and long-term fatigue resistance.

From there, the episode expands into engineering, biohacking, and science fiction. Could biomechanical suits, genetic modification, or neural interfaces extend human physical limits? What would it actually take to run on another planet, survive high-G environments, or compete in a world of enhanced bodies? Along the way, they dig into their pop culture performance enhancing favorites, from GATTACA to Iron Man, asking where’s the line between the actual factual and Handwavium.

Find out more about Hayley and check out her books

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

It’s Science for Weirdos

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We want to Hear From You (leave a comment):

  • Have you ever experienced a “second wind,” flow state, or the invisible wall during physical effort? What did it feel like?

  • Would you willingly replace a healthy limb with a biomechanical one to gain superhuman strength or endurance?

  • Do you think future technology, exosuits, biohacking, or genetic engineering, should be used to enhance human performance, or are some limits worth keeping?

  • And in fiction: which story best captures extreme physical endurance for you?

Drop your thoughts in the comments. We read them all, and your ideas often shape future episodes.

Leave a comment

Future Episodes & Events

Episodes:

Season 3

  • Episode 53: Space Arks and Colonizing New Worlds

    Guest: Roland Pitts

    If Earth is no longer an option, what comes next? Roland Pitts helps us imagine space arks, generation ships, and building new civilizations in the stars.

  • Episode 54: What’s Love Got to Do With It?

    Guest: Joe Compton

    A deep dive into the science, psychology, and cultural myths of love. Exploring whether attachment is chemistry, storytelling, evolutionary strategy, or something stranger than fiction.

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Show Notes & Fun facts

Endurance, Biology & Performance

  • Second Wind / “The Invisible Wall” – The metabolic and neurochemical transition from early anaerobic strain to sustained aerobic efficiency, and the psychological barrier many athletes report before entering flow.

  • Persistence Predation – The evolutionary idea that humans evolved to hunt by outlasting prey through heat regulation and long-distance travel.

  • VO₂ Max – Maximum oxygen uptake; a major physiological limiter of sustained aerobic performance.

  • Endurance & Gender – Discussion of emerging research suggesting women may match or exceed men in ultra-endurance due to fat metabolism efficiency, recovery, thermoregulation, and hormonal modulation.

  • Flow State & “Berserker Mode” – Distinct psychological-physiological states of peak efficiency vs. high-adrenaline, pain-suppressed overdrive.

  • Diving & The Bends (Decompression Sickness) – Nitrogen bubbles forming in blood/tissues when ascending too quickly; a reminder that biology has hard physical limits.

Engineering, Space, & Biomechanics

  • G-Forces & Human Tolerance – Humans are adapted to ~1G; prolonged exposure to higher or lower gravity requires major physiological adaptation.

  • Space Physiology – Muscle atrophy, bone density loss, and cardiovascular deconditioning in microgravity.

  • Biomechanical Suits & Neural Interfaces – Prosthetics directly controlled by the nervous system; AI-assisted filtering for precise movement.

  • Biohacking & Implants – Chips, sensory augmentation, and ethical risks of permanent human modification.

Books Mentioned

  • Hayley Chow – Into the Turn – Sci-fi series featuring a deadly planetary race and human endurance across different gravitational environments.

  • Kazuo Ishiguro – Never Let Me Go (2005) – A dystopian novel about clones raised for organ donation; referenced in discussion of bioengineering and ethics.

  • Malcolm Gladwell – David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants– On how perceived disadvantages can become strategic strengths.

  • Nancy Farmer – The House of the Scorpion – YA sci-fi about cloning and organ harvesting.

Films, TV, & Pop Culture

  • GATTACA (1997) – Genetic determinism vs. human will; the swimming scene as a metaphor for endurance beyond biological expectation.

  • Jurassic Park (1993) – Genetic engineering, “filling gaps” with frog DNA, and the dangers of biological hand-waving.

  • Iron Man (MCU) – Exosuits, power-source limits, and biomechanical enhancement.

  • Firefly – Organ transport, body modification, and survival at the margins.

  • Repo Men (2010) – Artificial organs, debt, and the commodification of the human body.

  • Leviathan (1989) – Deep-sea genetic modification and pressure-adapted humans.

  • World War Z (2013) / 28 Days Later (2002) – Fast vs. “realistic” zombie biology in horror.

  • Crank (2006) – Metabolic extremes and keeping the body functioning under absurd constraints.

  • The Boys – Societal consequences of enhanced humans.

  • Stan Lee’s Superhumans – Real people with extraordinary physical abilities.

  • Run Fatboy Run (2007) – Pop depiction of “the wall.”

  • John Wick – Visual shorthand for flow state and berserker mode.

Fun Facts from the Episode

  1. The Marathon of Pheidippides (490 BCE) – The legendary run from Marathon to Athens, collapsing after delivering the victory message. The legendary run attributed to Pheidippides may have been closer to 150 miles, a distance now replicated by the modern Spartathlon ultra-race through Greek wilderness.

  2. Women may dominate the long game – While men often outperform in short, high-power events, research suggests women can equal or surpass men in ultra-endurance due to better fat metabolism, thermoregulation, and recovery.

  3. Your body is a heat engine – Humans are elite endurance animals not because we’re fast, but because we sweat. Our ability to dissipate heat while moving lets us outlast faster species.

  4. Bones are the real speed limit – Muscles can adapt quickly, but bones, cartilage, and connective tissue remodel slowly, making skeletal stress one of the ultimate constraints on extreme performance.

  5. You can’t “train through” biology forever – Overtraining doesn’t make you tougher; it degrades performance, weakens immunity, and increases injury risk. Recovery isn’t optional—it’s where adaptation actually happens.

Episode Highlights

00:00 – Welcome to Season Three

The hosts kick off Season 3 with humor and chaos, setting the tone for a deep dive into science, endurance, and speculative engineering.

00:30 – Meet Our Special Guest: Hayley

Hayley introduces herself as a science-fiction author, Air Force engineer, and ultramarathoner—bringing both technical expertise and lived experience to the discussion.

00:51 – Engineering and Human Anatomy

The conversation reframes the human body as a piece of imperfect engineering, from the epiglottis to structural limits, blending anatomy with mechanical thinking.

01:45 – Exploring Extreme Performance

Joe’s opening monologue asks what happens when “muscle meets meaning,” introducing the episode’s core question: is there a limit?

06:19 – The Mindset of Ultra-Marathoners

Hayley explains endurance as both physical capacity and psychological resolve, describing how adrenaline, necessity, and self-belief unlock unexpected performance.

08:24 – The Science Behind Endurance

The hosts break down aerobic vs. anaerobic effort, “second wind,” flow state, berserker mode, and the neurochemistry of pain suppression and sustained exertion.

21:24 – Age, Gender, and Endurance

They discuss research showing that while men dominate short bursts, women may equal or surpass men in ultra-endurance due to metabolism, recovery, and heat regulation.

27:36 – Engineering and Human Potential

The conversation expands into bioengineering, bionics, and whether technology, prosthetics, neural interfaces, or genetic modification, could push human limits.

31:44 – The Future of Human Performance

Hayley reflects on why records keep falling: better training, equipment, nutrition, and whether humanity is slowly optimizing physical capability.

33:39 – Jurassic Park and Genetic Engineering

The group critiques cinematic genetics, from dinosaur DNA to real-world limits of reconstruction, science vs Handwavium.

35:46 – Hayley’s Engineering Background

Hayley describes her work testing weapons systems for the Air Force, grounding the discussion of futuristic tech in real engineering practice.

36:19 – The Iron Man Suit: How Close Are We?

They debate exoskeletons, power sources, and why energy generation, not mechanics, is the real barrier to wearable super-tech.

38:43 – Space Travel and Human Endurance

The hosts examine how microgravity, bone loss, muscle atrophy, and altered G-forces challenge the body’s ability to function off Earth.

39:48 – G-Force Training and Human Limits

Hayley explains why humans cannot survive long outside 1G without major physiological alteration, even in science-fiction-style training scenarios.

43:48 – Diving and The Bends

A discussion of decompression sickness highlights how pressure, nitrogen, and fragile biology impose strict boundaries on human activity.

46:31 – Biomechanical Modifications and Ethics

They explore neural implants, prosthetics, and biohacking—along with concerns about autonomy, hacking, and inequality in enhanced bodies.

50:00 – The Future of Human Enhancements

The group considers a world of personalized bio-modification, where genetic and mechanical upgrades could redefine labor, sport, and identity.

01:01:51 – Running in Movies and Marathons

From zombie films to Nike ads, the hosts critique how pop culture portrays endurance. And Joe goes on a “No fast Zombies” rant.

01:04:10 – Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Hayley reflects on human fragility, endurance as adaptation, and why pushing limits reveals not just what bodies can do, but who we are.

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]]><![CDATA[Season 2 recap and a Happy New Year]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/season-2-recap-and-a-happy-new-yearhttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/season-2-recap-and-a-happy-new-yearWed, 31 Dec 2025 10:02:23 GMT

In this Season 2 recap, the Rabbit Hole of Research crew rings in the New Year from the Basement Studio while looking back on the ideas, guests, and moments that defined Episodes 26–50. The conversation ranges from a deep dive into the Die Hard Christmas movie debate—tracing it back to Roderick Thorp’s 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever—to favorite episodes like The Heart of a Superhero, Perception vs. Perspective, Godzilla and the Kaiju Genre, and The Thing. Along the way, they reflect on behind-the-scenes moments, Nick’s name flub, and corrects Joe!

The crew also shares Season 2 stats and milestones, including more than 13,000 downloads, and listeners spanning six continents (come on Antartica friends). They give thanks to supporters and subscribers, highlight standout listener feedback, and tease thank-you gifts, possible live events in the Chicagoland area, and appearances at conventions. The episode wraps with favorite moments, gratitude for collaborators and artists, and a look ahead to Season 3—featuring new thematic series on Spider-Man villains, lab safety in fiction, and a multi-episode Doomsday run—before closing out with a New Year’s countdown and a toast to what’s next.

  • Season 2 listener shout-outs: Alex, Terry G, Lily and Generoso

  • Paid subscriber Season 2 thank-you gifts (letterpress posters, zines, stickers)—Go subscribe on Substack!

And a Big Thank You to all the listeners and Guests that have gone down some holes with us!

Joe’s LetterPress Posters (hand carved images by Georgia)

These limited numbered posters (8.5” x 11”) and some zines will be going out to the pay-subscribers that supported us and hopefully will be on the online-shop soon.

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Joe:

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Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. And to see all the content (studio images and artwork) subscribe to the Rabbit Hole of Research newsletter!

Stay curious, stay speculative, stay safe, and we’ll catch you in the next rabbit hole. Love Y'all!

Future Events to Hang with the Crew:

  • Joe will be at MarsCon (Virginia Beach) January 16th-18th

  • Potential live event January 2026: Chicagoland / Northwest Indiana

Upcoming Episodes

Season 3

  • Episode 52 – The Physics and Biology of Extreme Performance

    Guest: Hayley Chow

    How far can the human body really go? Hayley Chow joins the crew to explore endurance, adaptation, and the edge of physical performance.

  • Episode 53 – Space Arks and Colonizing New Worlds

    Guest: Roland Pitts

    If Earth is no longer an option, what comes next? Roland Pitts helps us imagine space arks, generation ships, and building new civilizations in the stars.

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What the Crew is Digging, Links, Resources, and Topics Mentioned in mini and/or full episode:

Books, Films, & Media Referenced

  • Nothing Lasts Forever — The 1979 action-thriller novel that inspired Die Hard, explicitly set at Christmas

  • Die Hard — Christmas movie!

  • Die Hard 2 — Also set on Christmas Eve

  • Gremlins — Holiday science tie-in (Episode 50)

  • The Thing — What if The Thing was Santa Claus?

  • Brazil — Satire, bureaucracy, and surreal tech

  • Fifth Element — Make-up machine, potential episode idea

  • Homer’s Make-up Gun —

Season 2: Episodes 26–51

26: Are we living in a Computer Game? Exploring the Simulation Hypothesis

27. Exploring Utopia and Dystopia: Fiction or Foresight?

28. Nanomachines: Handwavium or Future Reality?

29. Digging into the Dark: The Science of Noir Films

30. Money of the Future

31. The Fast and the Curious: How Fast Is Too Fast?

32. Unveiling the Mysteries of Godzilla and the Kaiju Genre

33. Doctor Who? Time Travel, Science, and Fandom

34. What’s in That Rain?

35. Weird Plants

36. Loki, Satire, and Chaos

37. Sue Storm and Invisibility

38. Ben Grimm and the Thing About Skin

39. Johnny Storm and Spontaneous Combustion

40. Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards): Stretching

41. Crimes in Time

42. Broken Futures

43. Animal Swarms

44. Lake Michigan, Life, Mermaids, and Everything in Between

45. Ghost, Graveyards, and Cats

46. Slashers

47. Who Goes There? The Thing and the Shape of Paranoia

48. Perception vs Perspective

49. The Heart of a Superhero

50. Gremlins and Holiday Science

51. RHR Season 2 Finale: What Makes a Christmas Movie? (And Is Die Hard One?)

What We’re Watching, Reading & Playing

Joe:

Georgia:

Nick:

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]]><![CDATA[RHR Season 2 Finale: What Makes a Christmas Movie? (And Is Die Hard One?)]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/rhr-season-2-recap-and-is-die-hardhttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/rhr-season-2-recap-and-is-die-hardWed, 24 Dec 2025 10:01:57 GMT

In this lively Season 2 finale of Rabbit Hole of Research, hosts Joe, Nick, and Georgia are joined by returning guest Mary Schons and Christmasist Kathryn “Kat” Sterbenc to do two things at once: look back at a season spent separating science from handwavium, and finally tackle the perennial holiday argument, Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?

Over the course of Season 2, the show explored science through the lens of fiction, asking how fast is too fast, what happens when time misbehaves, and what it looks like when ecosystems, societies, and technologies buckle under pressure. From noir to kaiju, superheroes to slashers, stretched bodies to stressed systems, every episode dug into the real science beneath the stories we love.

As the season closes, that same lens turns toward Christmas movies, stories that look comforting on the surface, but are almost always about pressure: people forced together, deadlines that can’t move, and systems pushed to their limits right when everything is supposed to feel magical.

The conversation starts with the crew sampling the worlds second strongest beer (Snake Venom) and swings widely, from It’s a Wonderful Life and Home Alone to Trading Places, The Thing, and of course Die Hard, as Kat lays out her criteria for what makes a “true” Christmas movie and Mary pushes back with thoughtful counterarguments. Along the way, the group explores holiday mythology, redemption arcs, cultural tradition, and even the science behind Frosty the Snowman and Jack Frost.

Part season recap, part holiday debate, and part festive rabbit hole, this episode unwraps what makes stories endure. Whether they’re built to rewatch every December or just held together by a little Christmas Handwavium.

Stay Safe, Stay Curious, and Merry Christmas you Filthy Animals!

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

It’s Science for Weirdos

Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. Leave a Comment. And for email alerts sign-up for the Substack newsletter and never miss an episode, exciting updates or the bonus images we talk about on the episodes.

We want to Hear From You (leave a comment):

  • What’s your favorite Christmas movie?

  • Is Die Hard a Christmas movie… or just an action movie wearing holiday bling?

  • Are there movies you only watch in December that technically “shouldn’t” count?

  • What holiday science, myths, or pop-culture traditions should we dig into next season?

Future Episodes & Events

Episodes:

Season 3

  • Episode 52 – The Physics and Biology of Extreme Performance

    Guest: Hayley Chow

    How far can the human body really go? Hayley Chow joins the crew to explore endurance, adaptation, and the edge of physical performance.

  • Episode 53 – Space Arks and Colonizing New Worlds

    Guest: Roland Pitts

    If Earth is no longer an option, what comes next? Roland Pitts helps us imagine space arks, generation ships, and building new civilizations in the stars.

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

For more stuff (Images, Episode Highlights, events, etc), subscribe to our Substack newsletter!

Stay curious, stay speculative, stay safe, and we’ll catch you in the next rabbit hole. Love Y'all!

Show Notes & Fun facts

Referenced Works & Links

Pop Culture, Concepts & References

Fun Ideas and Facts from the Episode

  1. Christmas movies are pressure-cooker stories.

    Nearly every film discussed—whether action, horror, or comedy—uses Christmas as a narrative deadline that forces characters, systems, and relationships to break or transform.

  2. The Grinch’s heart “growing three sizes” would be a medical emergency.

    That moment implies instant cardiac hypertrophy or cardiomyocyte hyperplasia—neither of which is survivable without extreme intervention.

  3. Frosty the Snowman would need advanced nanotechnology.

    Without bones, muscles, or vocal structures, Frosty’s mobility and speech only make sense if his hat contains nanomachines and AI continuously rebuilding him.

  4. Home Alone is statistically lethal.

    Referencing MythBusters-style analyses, the injuries sustained by the burglars would be fatal multiple times over—making it arguably more violent than Die Hard.

  5. Freeze distillation—not brewing—makes the world’s strongest beers possible.

    Snake Venom (67.5% ABV) isn’t fermented to that strength; instead, it’s freeze distilled, a process where water freezes before alcohol and is removed as ice, concentrating the ethanol. The result behaves more like a fortified spirit than a traditional beer, hence why it tastes closer to solvent than stout.

Episode Highlights

00:00 — Welcome to the Rabbit Hole of Research

Joe opens the season finale from the basement studio, setting the tone for a wintery recap and a holiday-themed descent into science, culture, and argument.

00:34 — Meet the Hosts and Guests

Returning guest Mary Schons and first-time guest Kathryn “Kat” Sterbenc join the hosts, with Kat immediately establishing her authority as Chief Comfort and Joy Officer of Snowglobia.

02:02 — Exploring Holiday Movies and Season Recap

Joe his talk show monologue, reframing Christmas movies as pressure-cooker stories and tying them to the season’s recurring themes of stress, systems, and science vs. handwavium.

05:08 — The World’s Strongest Beers

The group revisits last season’s tradition by sampling Snake Venom, the world’s second strongest beer, and explains freeze distillation as a legitimate (and dangerous) way to concentrate alcohol.

06:37 — Debating Christmas Movies: Die Hard and More

The central question emerges early: what actually makes a Christmas movie, and does Die Hard qualify, or is it just an action movie set in December?

12:20 — Christmas Movie Criteria and More Debates

Kat lays out her criteria for Christmas movies, including holiday presence, redemption arcs, and cultural association, while others test those rules against films like The Thing.

37:17 — The Spirit of Christmas and Personal Reflections

The conversation shifts from movies to meaning, focusing on generosity, forgiveness, and why Christmas stories resonate even when stripped of tinsel and tradition.

39:33 — Celebrating Festivus and Other Holidays

Festivus, Hanukkah, Ramadan, and other traditions enter the discussion, highlighting overlapping values and the absurdity, and usefulness, of rigid holiday rules.

40:09 — The Spirit of Christmas All Year Round

Kat introduces “Christmasism,” her personal philosophy of practicing the spirit of Christmas year-round as a corrective to cultural burnout and performative kindness.

42:38 — Die Hard: A Christmas Movie Debate (Again)

The debate intensifies with release dates, posters, redemption arcs, and Bruce Willis quotes, pushing the group deeper into genre definitions and narrative intent.

45:27 — Home Alone and Other Christmas Classics

Home Alone, It’s a Wonderful Life, and other classics are scrutinized for violence, family dynamics, and whether Christmas is structurally necessary to their plots.

46:46 — Christmas Movie Science and Theories

The science comes back into focus with Frosty’s nanotech hat (think Iron Man), and the biology of living ice.

01:05:36 — Favorite Christmas Movies and Traditions

Each participant shares personal favorites, revealing how nostalgia, ritual, and repetition, not rules, ultimately define Christmas movies.

01:11:16 — Wrapping Up the Christmas Debate

The episode closes where it began: unresolved, festive, and opinionated, ending the season the same way it started, with curiosity, disagreement, and a few more rabbit holes left unexplored.

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]]><![CDATA[Gremlins recap: A Mini Batch]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/gremlins-recap-a-mini-batchhttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/gremlins-recap-a-mini-batchWed, 17 Dec 2025 10:01:44 GMT

In this mini recap of Episode 50, Joe, Georgia, and Nick revisit the chaos, science, and fuzzy destruction of Gremlins, Joe Dante’s 1984 holiday horror-comedy produced by Steven Spielberg. They unpack the speculative biology of the Mogwai one more time, diving into the infamous three rules: no bright light, no water, and never feed after midnight—especially not raw chicken.

The crew adds fresh layers of science to the discussion: the real-life Turritopsis dohrnii immortal jellyfish challenges biology’s one-way street, birth to death, by reverting from adulthood back to a juvenile form. They clear up misquotes, too, turns out Ben Franklin never said anything about beer being purer than water. Chris Guzman may now own that line. Joe finally remembers which sequel he thought was better than the original (Superman II), Georgia nominates “you can’t have a pet caterpillar” as a t-shirt, and Nick offers a time paradox for the ages: “Time has not been around all that time.”

Also discussed: E.T.’s grown-up mischief parody from Legends of Tomorrow. The crew gives their media recommendations: Stranger Things, Skate Story, The End of the World As We Know It, Lose Your Mind, Gilmore Girls, and Abbott Elementary.

Just one full episodes and one mini remain in season 2: Get ready to close out with some holiday fun and silliness!

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

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Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. And to see all the content (studio images and artwork) subscribe to the Rabbit Hole of Research newsletter!

Stay curious, stay speculative, stay safe, and we’ll catch you in the next rabbit hole. Love Y'all!

Future Events to Hang with the Crew:

  • Nothing Scheduled.

Upcoming Episodes

  • Episode 51 – Season 2 Recap: PJs and Holiday Movies

    Guests: Mary (a return guest) and Kat

    Grab your pajamas and join the crew as we toast two seasons of curiosity, chaos, and science—plus a sneak peek at what’s coming in Season 3.

Season 3

  • Episode 52 – The Physics and Biology of Extreme Performance

    Guest: Hayley Chow

    How far can the human body really go? Hayley Chow joins the crew to explore endurance, adaptation, and the edge of physical performance.

  • Episode 53 – Space Arks and Colonizing New Worlds

    Guest: Roland Pitts

    If Earth is no longer an option, what comes next? Roland Pitts helps us imagine space arks, generation ships, and building new civilizations in the stars.

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What the Crew is Digging, Links, Resources, and Topics Mentioned in mini and/or full episode:

Science & Media

  • Immortal Jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii)

    Species capable of reverting from a sexually mature stage back to a juvenile polyp stage

  • Ben Franklin Misquote

    Misattributed: “In water there is disease; in beer, purity.”

    Correct quote: “God made rain to grow grapes to turn into wine as proof of His love.”

  • Superman (1978) & Superman II (1980)

    Brought up during the sequel discussion as an example of a second film matching or surpassing the original.

  • Legends of Tomorrow – “Phone Home” (Season 3, Ep. 8)

    Parody episode where adult E.T.-like aliens return and cause mischief.

  • Gametes and Reproduction

    Mentioned while comparing jellyfish reversal to Gremlin lifecycle: gametes = mature haploid sex cells used in reproduction.

  • Speculative Biology

    Water-triggered reproduction, sunlight-induced death, metamorphosis via feeding—debunked or explored as possible bioengineered mechanisms.

What We’re Watching, Reading & Playing

Joe:

Georgia:

Nick:

Science & Research

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]]><![CDATA[Gremlins and Holiday Science]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/gremlins-and-holiday-sciencehttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/gremlins-and-holiday-scienceWed, 10 Dec 2025 10:01:14 GMT

In this episode of Rabbit Hole of Research, Joe, Nick, and Georgia team up with special guest Chris Guzman to unwrap one of the weirdest holiday phenomena in film history: Gremlins (1984). What starts as a gift from a Chinatown curio shop turns into a full-blown creature-feature apocalypse—and the team wants to know: how do the rules actually work?

They break down the film’s infamous care instructions—no bright light, no water, and never feed them after midnight—through the lens of speculative biology, behavioral science, and evolutionary design. Could water-triggered replication be real? Why is sunlight instantly fatal? Is “after midnight” a biologically meaningful category—or a deliberate psychological trap?

From there, the conversation spirals outward into the strange wartime origins of gremlins as invisible mechanical saboteurs, and how those mythic figures got reinvented as furry weapons of mass suburban chaos in the 1980s. They discuss the influence of E.T., Cold War bioweapon fears, chaotic creature logic, and the idea that the Mogwai may have been designed to test humanity’s ability to follow instructions—or fail spectacularly trying.

Naturally, they also dive into the age-old debate: is Gremlins a Christmas movie? Whether you see it as holiday horror, anti-consumerist satire, or a dark fable about pet ownership gone wrong, this episode explores what it means to take rules seriously—and what happens when you don’t.

Links:

Chris Guzman @theboxinggloveartist

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

It’s Science for Weirdos

Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. Leave a Comment. And for email alerts sign-up for the Substack newsletter and never miss an episode, exciting updates or the bonus images we talk about on the episodes.

We want to Hear From You (leave a comment):

  • Do you remember your first time watching Gremlins? Did it feel like a horror film, a comedy, or something else entirely?

  • Could Gremlins realistically function as a biotech weapon?

  • Which movie creature has the weirdest biological logic, Xenomorphs, Tribbles, or something else, that we should talk about on the RHR Podcast?

Future Episodes & Events

Episodes:

  • Episode 51 – Season 2 Recap: PJs and Holiday Movies

    Guests: Mary (a return guest) and Kat

    Grab your pajamas and join the crew as we toast two seasons of curiosity, chaos, and science—plus a sneak peek at what’s coming in Season 3.

Season 3

  • Episode 52 – The Physics and Biology of Extreme Performance

    Guest: Hayley Chow

    How far can the human body really go? Hayley Chow joins the crew to explore endurance, adaptation, and the edge of physical performance.

  • Episode 53 – Space Arks and Colonizing New Worlds

    Guest: Roland Pitts

    If Earth is no longer an option, what comes next? Roland Pitts helps us imagine space arks, generation ships, and building new civilizations in the stars.

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

For more stuff (Images, Episode Highlights, events, etc), subscribe to our Substack newsletter!

Stay curious, stay speculative, stay safe, and we’ll catch you in the next rabbit hole. Love Y'all!

Show Notes & Fun facts

Referenced Works & Links

Science Topics mentioned in Episode:

  • Rapid asexual reproduction via water exposure

  • Photoreactive fatality from sunlight

  • Metamorphic transformation triggered by food timing

  • Speculative chronobiology and circadian logic

  • Engineered bioweapons theory (built-in failure mechanisms)

  • Aggressive mimicry and cultural imitation behavior

  • Mob psychology and hive-like group dynamics

  • Irreversible metamorphosis and life-stage theory

  • Biological rules as behavioral traps

  • Extremophile analogies and surface-reactive organisms

Fun From the Episode

  1. The term “gremlin” predates the film by decades—first coined by British RAF pilots in the 1920s to explain unexplained mechanical failures in aircraft.

  2. Sunlight doesn’t just kill gremlins in the movie—it might be a built-in kill-switch, possibly pointing to their design as synthetic or bioengineered creatures.

  3. The “don’t feed after midnight” rule may be designed to fail—since it’s always after midnight somewhere, the ambiguity could be intentional, triggering transformation on any technicality.

  4. Gremlins was released in June 1984, not during the holiday season—despite its heavy Christmas setting, fueling the ongoing debate over whether it qualifies as a holiday film.

  5. Chris theorizes that Billy’s dad might be a spy, using his “failing inventor” persona as a cover to smuggle potential bioweapons out of secretive curio shops.

Episode Highlights

00:00 – Welcome to the Rabbit Hole of Research

“Thought we had gremlins in studio—but no, it’s just Chris Guzman joining us.”

00:12 – Meet the Crew and Special Guest

Joe introduces Chris: “Official artist for the Bare-Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame… and a pop culture nerd.”

00:35 – Chris Guzman: The Boxing Glove Artist

“I’m the guy painting gloves and chasing people down for autographs.”

01:38 – Introduction to Gremlins

“Gremlins weren’t born in Hollywood—they came from fighter cockpits at 30,000 feet.”

03:35 – Is Gremlins a Christmas Movie?

“It’s more of a Christmas movie than Die Hard… and that’s saying something.”

04:43 – Debating Movie Sequels

“Sequels? I usually reject them. If you didn’t get it right the first time…”

07:51 – Analyzing the Gremlins’ Rules

“We go rule by rule: sunlight, water, and eating after midnight. Nick: ‘I have problems with at least two.’”

11:08 – The Water Rule: Purity and Reproduction

“Theory: the purity of water changes what kind of Mogwai you get—distilled vs paint water yields different traits.”

22:10 – Feeding After Midnight: A Plot Device?

“Chris: ‘How do they even know what time it is?’”

Nick: “There are no extremophiles that can’t eat after midnight.”

30:29 – Bioengineered Weapons Theory

“What if Mogwai are lab-made bioweapons? Water = reproduction trigger. Sunlight = built-in kill switch.”

35:39 – Gremlins on the Wall

“They’re not just monsters—they’re entropy machines.”

36:15 – The Perfect Pet: Pelzer’s Marketing Strategy

“Chris: ‘He calls it the Pelzer Pet. Every kid in America would want one.’”

36:52 – Gremlins: The End Game

“The Mogwai is the caterpillar. The Gremlin is the butterfly. The entire point is the transformation.”

39:32 – Gremlins and World War II Lore

“Gremlins were real to RAF pilots. A way to explain mechanical failure—ghosts in the machine.”

42:01 – E.T. and Gremlins: A Connection?

“Chris: ‘There was an E.T. sequel script… and it got turned into Gremlins.”

45:08 – The Darker Side of Gremlins

“They toned it down. The dog was originally killed. The mom was supposed to be beheaded and thrown down stairs.”

56:58 – Gremlins 3: Hopes and Rumors

“Everyone’s in except Phoebe Cates… maybe. But only if it’s practical effects—no CGI.”

59:40 – Final Thoughts and Farewell

Joe: “Can you follow the three rules?”

Chris: “Then you’re getting a Gremlin… and probably one for the whole neighborhood.”

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]]><![CDATA[Heart to Heart]]>https://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/heart-to-hearthttps://jothamaustin.substack.com/p/heart-to-heartWed, 03 Dec 2025 10:00:44 GMT

In this mini recap of Episode 49, Joe, Nick, and Georgia return to the wild intersection of cardiac science and superhero world-building, revisiting their conversation with bioengineer Rengasayee “Sai” Veeraraghavan. They also clean up a few nerdy misfires from the full episode, including the adrenal-versus-pituitary mix-up and the moment Joe accidentally described the origins of life using a term that actually refers to radioactive decay. That detour opens the door to panspermia, radiopanspermia, and exogenesis.

The crew shares the media they’ve been consuming, from Stranger Things prep episodes to rewatching Blade Runner, Rick Therrio’s graphic novels, Superman (2025), and Nick’s slow, steady descent through Gilmore Girls. With only two episodes left in the season, Gremlins science, and a pajama-party holiday debate recap episode, they look forward to the start of Season 3.

Check out what the RHR crew is creating:

Joe:

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It’s science for Weirdos

Want to support the show? Tell your friends. Follow us on social media, Discord, share the podcast, and let us know what topics you are excited about. And to see all the content (studio images and artwork) subscribe to the Rabbit Hole of Research newsletter!

Stay curious, stay speculative, stay safe, and we’ll catch you in the next rabbit hole. Love Y'all!

Future Events to Hang with the Crew:

  • Nothing Scheduled.

Upcoming Episodes

  • Episode 50 – Gremlins and Holiday Science

    • Guest: Chris Guzman

    • A festive dive into creature chaos, thermodynamics, and why Gremlins might secretly be the smartest holiday movie ever made.

  • Episode 51 – Season 2 Recap: PJs and Holiday Movies

    • Guests: The whole Rabbit Hole crew (and whoever wants to celebrate two great seasons!)

    • Pull on your pajamas, pour a drink, and join us for a cozy season-ender filled with laughter, reflection, and hints of what’s brewing for Season 3.

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What the Crew is Digging, Links, Resources, and Topics Mentioned in mini and/or full episode:

“Middle East” terminology explanation

Georgia referenced a video explaining why the term Middle East is historically inaccurate and rooted in colonial framing.

Link (https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EBpGKcEhS/?mibextid=wwXIfr)

Corrections & Science Terms

  • Adrenal Glands — The glands that actually release adrenaline and noradrenaline (not the pituitary).

  • Panspermia — Life or biological molecules traveling through space to seed new planets.

  • Radiopanspermia — Variation of panspermia involving organism transport by light or cosmic rays.

  • Exogenesis — Life originating elsewhere and arriving on Earth.

  • Radiogenesis — Formation of radioactive isotopes; not related to the origin of life (Joe’s correction).

Media Mentioned in the Mini Episode

  • Stranger Things — The Duffer Brothers’ recommended rewatch list

  • Pubr1s on Apple TV — The show Georgia and Joe have been watching.

  • Superman (2025) — The new film the crew finally caught up on.

  • Blade Runner (1982) — Classic rewatch.

  • Gilmore Girls (Season 6) — Nick’s current binge.

  • Old Fat Detective: The Elongated Skull by Rick Therrio — Graphic novel; available at Paul Henry’s Art Gallery in Hammond, IN.

Science & Superhero Topics In Full Episode 49: Heart of the Superhero

  • Nanoscale cardiac cell architecture

  • Physiology of speedsters

  • Whale hearts & alien extremophiles

  • Armored superheroes “cooking in their suits”

  • Emotional physiology (“why emotions hit the heart first”)

  • Heart symbolism from cavemen to modern storytellers

If we missed anything, comment or email us and we’ll get the info to you!

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Digital Book Fair

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