TRC #713: Testosterone Replacement Therapy + Book Review Roundup: Apple in China, An Immense World, Canada Alone, Pronoun Trouble, Rise Above
The Reality CheckShow Notes
This podcast is not sponsored by anyone selling testosterone and its hosts aren't on T, but there are a many who are! Adam looks into testosterone replacement therapy, TRT, and its connection to some podcasts which are popular with men. Darren then gives us some reviews of five books: Apple in China: The Capture of the World's Greatest Company by Patrick McGee, An Immense World by Ed Yong, Canada Alone: Navigating the Post-American World by Kim Richard Nossal, Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words by John McWhorter and Rise Above: Overcome a Victim Mindset, Empower Yourself and Realise Your Full Potential by Scott Barry Kaufman.
More from The Reality Check
It is quite difficult to predict how things will play out in the world of AI, but this doesn't mean we should give up on trying entirely or to assuming everything will be just fine. Darren looks at the implications of the assumptions many make about the future of AI. Then did you know that people in circle pits always move counterclockwise? Adam examines the human preference for moving counterclockwise when walking or running, and just what it is which could be motivating us to do so.
Is space fake? Are the stars real? How about other planets? Despite what they tried to teach you in school, doesn't it just feel like the Earth is actually the center of the universe? Adam looks at people who don't believe in space, and explores why that may be. Darren gives us book reviews on two books. The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes–and Why by Amanda Ripley is a thorough analysis of how people reach to immediate disasters. Moral Economics by Alvin Roth explores the economics of activities which many people consider to be repugnant.
The recent hack of Hugging Face servers by Open AI agents has raised some serious concerns about the current state of AI as well as implications on AI safety. Darren examines just what occurred and what this means more broadly. Adam investigates how real photos of the moon taken with smartphones, more specifically Android phones, such as those by Samsung and Xiaomi, really are. Many photos appear to show details of the Moon's surface that should be impossible, so how is this even done?
Darren and Adam bring you a different type of show today as they have a discussion about the Christopher Nolan film The Odyssey. They discuss the film's merits and faults, technical achievements, their favourite parts of the film, other Christopher Nolan films and IMAX cameras.
Darren explores issues of moral philosophy in his review of Death in a Shallow Pond: A Philosopher, a Drowning Child, and Strangers in Need by David Edmonds. In this analysis he looks at this classic thought experiment, its implications, criticisms and rebuttals to them. Adam examines the Decoy Effect, a psychological marketing strategy designed to encourage you to buy the most expensive thing, even if you wouldn't otherwise be inclined to do so.