Totally Classic

Andy & Brendan are joined by their first guest, Jacob Ward*! This week, they discuss the existential dangers of AI bias - on cognitive processing, on outsourcing of evaluation, on fight or flight And shaping the very grounds of understanding and meaning the human family has relied on since time immemorial! Will it the be the end of us all? The liberation of us all? The subjugation of us all? Or something else altogether? WHAT DO YOU think? *Jake Ward is the author of the book The Loop: How AI is Creating a World Without Choices host of the PBS series Hacking Your Mind And a technology correspondent for NBC News & Al Jazeera America, as well as the former Editor in Chief of Popular Science magazine He publishes regularly on his Substack, The Rip Current. https://theripcurrent.substack.com originally recorded on 9/23/2025

Andy, a Progressive & Brendan, an Independent, both agree that the Indigenous people of North America were abused, lied to, killed and conquered in many ways unconscionable.  We don't agree on whether verbal land acknowledgments are in any way net benefit to anyone, including said Indigenous persons of North America.  But we will talk about, will reason and feel our way through it together, and see how we come out the other side of our experiment in dialogue, curiosity and love! What do YOU think? 

This week, Andy - a progressive - & Brendan - an independent - conclude their discourse on the modern Progressive movement!  Is it the worst? Is semantic gerrymandering more destabilizing than misinformation? Is moral relativism immoral? Can the subjective be the primary basis for cohesive society? AND WHO WOULD BE WORST, present day OR all time?  All this and more on this week's TOTALLY CLASSIC! 

Andy & Brendan start the new season off with a bang, pow, whammo!   Are Progressives the worst? The worst political subcohort in the US? The worst political movement in the world? All-time, world history?  Andy, a progressive & Brendan, an independent, are besties and love talking about the sort of thing that supposedly gets you fired and spat on. IT DOESN'T NEED TO!  On Totally Classic, we talk about all the things people say not to talk about!  Are Progressives the worst? The best? What do YOU think?

This week, Andy & Brendan & Charlie (& Charlie?) all survey the season 2 behind us - the intentions met, the debates unsettled and the conclusions shared.  Charlie, by the by, is an AI (Google's NotebookLM) who not only summarizes and highlights our season but also enters into conversation with the hosts of Totally Classic.  Will AI have as many biases and blind spots as your average human? Will Brendan flirt with or argue with Charlie? Will AI be a better host than any of us!?  Find out... on this week's Totally Classic!

This week, Andy & Brendan dig into their patrilineal inheritance, the loving sacrifice necessary for a healthy patriarchal paradigm & whether smashing ANYTHING is the answer. From bumper stickers to dinnertime shushing, the beginnings of gender and the. endings of fun, from fathering for freedom to fathering for fetters, it’s all here on this weeks’ Totally Classic! 

This week Andy & Brendan - two patriarchs - try to examine if one of the credos of their age is a worthwhile one - The Patriarchy: Smash or Pass?  Is Patriarchy inevitable - evolutionarily, biologically, under religious dictum or secular examination? Is Patriarchy based in oppression or responsibility? Can Patriarchy BE egalitarian?  From craftivism to Max Headroom, from wage gaps to age gaps, from the dawn of everything to the beginning of it all... it's all here in this weeks' Totally Classic!

This week, Andy & Brendan explore the regions nether and higher and interrogate the question about whether sex is sacred, profane, or something else entirely?  From sex positive Christianity to sex negative Buddhism, from new age to new lovers, polyamory, polygamy and polyglot versions of "the talk"... it's all here in this episode of Totally Classic - "Is Sex Sacred?"

In keeping with the plethora of retrospective coverage of the 5 year anniversary of Lockdowns in March of 2020, Andy & Brendan return to, in many ways, ground zero for the podcast where divergent viewpoints are explored on every topic people claim cannot be discoursed with rancor. What, if anything, did we all learn the past 5 years?   From somatic sensations to celebratory cessations, from masked kids to life on the skids, from zoom everything to doom everywhere, it's all in this week's episode of Totally Classic!

This week, in an experiment in brevity (30 minute episode this week, let us know what you think!), Andy & Brendan try to parse through a grand & oft-repeated assumption for almost a decade "Donald Trump is a racist." But... IS he? Neither of Totally Classic hosts are fans of his, but they are fans of truth. What is the evidence at hand to prove or disprove this catchphrase of the Anti-MAGA movement? 

This week, Andy & Brendan unpack their lived experience, their innate & modified perspectives and the literature on pornography.  What is pornography? Is it helpful? Is it harmful? Net harm? All harm? Is "ethical porn" a healthful way forward or detriment greenwashed? Tackling topics to undermine stigma against cross-idealogical conversation, Totally Classic shows you CAN talk about everything.   

This week, Andy & Brendan take divergent vantages on the immigration debate and try to find points of synergy, crossover and mutual understanding.  Are nations necessary? Are boundaries beneficial? Are immigrants integral to the intricacies of international ideals? Or are we all just vagabonds absconding from our burglary of time & space? All this and more on this weeks' Totally Classic! 

This week, Andy & Brendan launch into the trifecta session of trying to ascertain not merely the answer to the question, but even agreeing on what the question is asking! Meaning this week they can actually start referencing evidence and parsing out whether it's ever ethical... by its own standards as well as classical medical and social ethics.  From they/them to we/us, from anorexia nervosa to gender dysphoria, from executive orders to quotidian considerations... It's all here on this weeks' Totally Classic! Have conversations and arguments! Avoid dismissals and strawmen! Excelsior!

This week, Andy & Brendan return to interrogate the question of gender-affirming care, and their conversation reveals that the societal discord over the practice is rooted far deeper than mere political squabbles... into the depth of how semantics are proven or disproven, into what truth itself is. Needless to say, they have, in part two (of three? of four? of 44?) come to either agreement or resignation of difference on what the question even MEANS.  From Swifties to Hoverboards, from classic to novel, from 1474 to 2025... it's all on this week's Totally Classic. 

This week, Andy & Brendan - as humans, parents and citizens of the nation whose highest court in the land just heard arguments on "gender-affirming care" bans (U.S. v. Skrmetti) - explore with great curiosity whether such care is A) accurately termed and B) ethically applied?  In this part one (of two) on this question, much time is spent on defining terms - for how can one agree on whether affirming something is ethical if you cannot even agree on WHAT it is you're affirming? From from liars to visionaries, from mustache envy to hating the pledge of allegiance, from they/thems to banana splits... it's all in this week's TOTALLY CLASSIC!

This week, Andy & Brendan ruminate on the seasons' eatings at one's soul - is Christmas cultural appropriation? Is it colonialist imposition? Capitalist frenzy? All or none of the above?  From Saint Nick's assault record to hating Satan Claus, from gifts around the tree to singing in harmony, from elf on a shelf to Muslims in Bethlehem... it's all in this week's TOTALLY CLASSIC!

This week, Andy & Brendan evaluate the nature & impact of the richest man in the world, from their very different vantage points.  Can they ask about the villainy of everyone's favorite autistic centibillionaire without descending in gross ad hominem?  Can they bounce from spaceX rockets red glare to starling satellites twinkling in air, giving proof through the night that a Tesla was still there on our block?  Without descending into rancorous escapism, seeking out a blue sky to hide from the x-cruciating atmosphere down here on earth? YES THEY CAN!

Yesterday was the final day of voting in the 2024 election.  Today, two friends whose candidates (they didn't vote the same and still love each other! Gasp!) lost early this morning get together to ask the question "Are We Doomed?" and do their best to muster up some evidence we AREN'T... and some that we are.  From a surrender in Gaza to apologies for lockdowns, from 9 year old political pundits to 80 year old presidents, from progressive to Christian conservative and back again... it's all on this weeks' TOTALLY CLASSIC! 

This week, Andy & Brendan discuss whether the modern news media landscape is a trustworthy map of reality or not.  From McDonald's fries to Washington Post's lies, from correcting your parents to deceiving yourself, from AI Trump to real life trust issues, it's all in this episode of Totally Classic!

This week, Andy & Brendan meet back up after a month to explore the literature, the arguments strong & shoddy and the strange manipulations around climate change!  From unmodelable clouds to model google usage, from adhd Brittanica forays to conspiratorial arrays, from the ground to the atmosphere and back again... all on this weeks' Totally Classic! Every episode of Totally Classic is a conversation between friends about subjects that have, reportedly, ended friendships.  We aim to show how phenomenally unnecessary interpersonal hostility is to talking about even the thorniest of issues!