So, would space aliens look like us? According to one professor, yes. Also, was that object that recently passed through our solar really just a rock, or was it a spaceship? According to another scientist, it was a spaceship.
Have you ever heard of "DUMBs" (Deep Underground Military Bases)? Jerry hadn't, so Joe fills him in on the various sightings and reports, or at least the rumors thereof, up to and including an alleged armed conflict with space aliens.
Joe and Jerry start off talking about various attempts of creating a utopia and end up talking about rogue planets and black holes which could wander into our solar system at any time and ... well, totally ruin beautiful little oasis in this vast ocean of radiation and icy cold nothing. The takeaway, if there is one, is to maybe create a tiny Utopia for yourself and share it with those you love.
This was supposed to be a Halloween episode, but we didn't record last week because of a pandemic emergency. But we're back this week, and recording on an even scarier date than Halloween: USA Election Day's Eve 2020. Photos and links to the things we mention in this episode can be found at our website at: https://www.acceptablyreal.com/stuff-we-were-talking-about-in-season-2-episode-8/
Now the truth can be told! There is a dangerous, powerful drug that has gone under the radar for far too long, and now it's up to us to warn you about PLACEBO MADNESS! Actually, this was the subject of a comedy film that Jerry was making when he was much younger, but today we're bringing it up as a serious subject: the power of a placebo, or inert pill or injection (or any number of various treatments) is actually getting ... get this ... more powerful. How? Why? That's what we're examining in this episode, from the angle of drugs and alternate medicine all the way to the positive effects of virtual reality. So join us in this bizarre examination of just how powerful our minds are in its ability to heal us ... or even, harm us.
Perhaps you already knew this, but if you didn't, we have bad news for you (or good, depending upon your perspective): Lizard people are everywhere!
The Mad Gasser of Mattoon is the name ascribed to the person or people believed to be responsible for a series of apparent gas attacks that occurred in Mattoon, Illinois, during the mid-1940s, but has subsequently been dismissed as an episode of Mass Hysteria. So, imagine someone sneaking from house to house in the dead of night with a tank of poisonous gas, slipping the hose into your window, and turning it on. Pretty damn freaky, huh? But is it freaky enough to cause mass hysteria? And what is mass hysteria anyway? Joe and Jerry take a deep dive into that in this episode of Acceptably Real.
Who were the "green children" of Woolpit? And where did they come from? And, where is Woolpit anyway? Also, what the heck does Woolpit mean? And what does any of it have to do with "light beer" and dieting? [Spoiler: nothing.] And did these "green children" come from a forest, another planet, an underground society, or another dimension? Who knows?!? But, regardless, let's discuss, because we need to determine whether or not it's ACCEPTABLY REAL.
Joe and Jerry discuss allegedly corroborated information obtained by a hacker that not only points to the existence of extraterrestrial visitors, but also to fleets of space-based warships and sources of unlimited energy. But ... is any of this Acceptably Real?
If the year 2020 wasn't strange enough, it now appears the US government is admitting that UFO's are a real thing, and some sources even seem to hint that they really do have crashed remains of "vehicles not of Earthly origin" sequestered away in a warehouse, where the technology is so far advanced as to be unfathomable to us mere humans. But it this real, or is it a political smoke screen? And if there are space aliens studying us, should we freak out? Some say yes, and some -- including Jerry -- say no. And Joe thinks that if these are not space aliens it is even more worrisome.
With the questionable word "united" almost completely nullified, and fair and balanced journalism a thing pretty much dead and buried, and political unrest and a deadly pandemic sweeping the world, Joe and Jerry muse over what was, what is, and what is to come in the next 2 to 5 years. Spoiler: things look pretty bleak, but as Jerry emphatically puts it: "I hope we're f*king wrong about all this."
In this one Jerry kind of blows Joe's mind in talking about death, the ultimate "grey area" of reality, to the point where they need to start talking about other things like Disney's version of Atlantis, and the weird things that existed online before the Internet went public.
As Prince Vulcan says in the that old Flash Gordon movie (with the Queen soundtrack): "Who wants to live forever?" Well, we put that question to each other, and also to you ... and you can answer us on that amazing free Anchor.fm app. Also covered in this episode are cold war computer scientists who are erased from history, giant bees and snails, and an AI computer program so dangerous that if it gets loose it can write political speeches.
One of the guests on this episode may or may not be an actual Sasquatch. Could they, and other creatures we generally never see, be forced closer to our proximity due to changing climate? Could changing climate lead to collapse of society? What about solar flares? And if society is going to collapse, would it make you not want to live forever? All this and more on this new episode!
Recorded in Jerry's backyard on the 4th of July, 2019, while he sat beside a fire, listening to fireworks and Pink Floyd, and contemplated existence. Because you know, there is no dark side of the moon, really. As a matter of fact, it's all dark.
This episode is a kind of rambling conversation that touches upon a lot of topics, but ultimately the thread comes together around what the odds are of things happening, and, ultimately … how did we come to exist, despite the overwhelming odds against it happening?
On one hand, you’ve got R2D2, Wall-E, and Johnny-5. On the other hand you have HAL-9000, Cylons, and The Terminator. And yet on another hand (this one on a third robotic arm) you have the possibility of a cyborg enhanced self. Which way will AI go? We explore this with the (admittedly feeble) help of Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant.
Is the purpose of life to be happy? What if you could take a pill and you would be blissfully happy? Is that the end game, then? If not, what is it? Let’s ask the Dalai Lama … or at least a poster of his purported sayings, and test to see if they are acceptably real.
Are some monsters real? Could they be anomalies that pop into our reality like griefers in an online social sim? Or are they just figments in our shared subconscious? Could they be, in some aspect… acceptably real?
Under what circumstances can ghosts be considered acceptably real? Joe and I think we have the answer. And if that’s not enough to pique your interest, we have several spooky stories to tell you, one with actual photographic evidence (see it here: AcceptablyReal.com).