Unidentified Cryonics Object

A surprising (and surprisingly good) series on cryonics, how science invented race, some new visuals, and many other podcasts and links that will make you think.

Feb 20, 2023

Welcome to Hurt Your Brain #176, the place to get podcasts and links that will make you think.

One of the signals to me of a really great podcast is when I just have to sit there in silence for a bit and think about it all further. As someone who always needs a podcast or music going when I’m driving by myself, it is quite a feat for a show to stun me into silence.

I had that experience more than once with some of the below shows. I hope they make you think as much as they did for me.

Frozen Head

Big Idea: Cryonics is the practice of deep freezing your entire body (or just your head) right after death in the hopes of being brought back to life in the distant future. This show is a six episode mini-series about some of the legit wild stories involving Alcor, the leading company in this space.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to be really into cryonics or anything to love this. The series has family and corporate drama in spades and will provoke you to think about some deep questions.
I discovered and became intrigued about Frozen Head by reading an edition of the Pod Squad newsletter. Their write up is great so check it out if you want more and better info!

Innate: Origin Stories

The Big Idea: A really well done first episode of a series from the great science podcast Distillations. The new series is called Innate: How Science Invented the Science of Race.
“We've been taught that race is real, that the color of our skin is an external sign of an internal biological difference, and that that difference says something about how we think, how we act and what we're capable of. But that idea of innate biological difference, it's a story, it's a myth.”
This reminds me of the excellent How Race Was Made episode of the Seeing White series from Scene on Radio, but expanded into a whole series and from the lens of the history of science.
Their website has transcripts and much more info about the series and what is planned for the magazine version.

The Ezra Klein Show: The Tao of Rick Rubin

The Big Idea: Rick Rubin has an incredibly impressive and wide-ranging track record as a music producer, and has a new book called The Creative Act.
This man who looks like a wizard has some very interesting thoughts on creativity. I was pretty into it and plan on grabbing the book sometime soon.
There are transcripts on the NYT site.

Radio Diaries: The Last Place — Diary of a Retirement Home

The Big Idea: What happens if you leave audio recorders with residents of a retirement home? If they are returned to the capable editing hands of Radio Diaries, you get an amazing collection of stories and personalities that will make you wish more of this type of thing existed.
This was my favorite episode in the overall excellent Podcast Brunch Club playlist around aging.

The Money with Katie Show: Does Work/Life Balance in Your 20s Hurt Your Career?

The Big Idea: A takedown on this ridiculous tweet that says “Work-life balance in your 20s is an easy way to guarantee a mediocre career.”
I remember seeing this tweet in my feed because it went viral as clear engagement bate and I had to actively prevent myself from getting worked up over it.
I’m always on the hunt for interesting personal finance shows, and I really liked what I heard with this and will be adding to my rotation. I 100% agree with their take.
A short (12 minutes) episode.

Trailer Park: The Podcast Trailer Podcast

The Big Idea: A podcast that highlights the trailers of other podcasts. An amazing concept for anyone who wants to learn about or bask in the art and science of podcast trailers, or to simply discover new podcasts to listen to via a curated selection of trailers.
As a certified fan of all things meta (except the metaverse), I’m an instant fan of the idea of a trailer for a show that highlights the trailers of other shows. Trailer Park also has a slightly longer teaser, and an initial super short pre-trailer, covering all the trailer bases, while also showcasing how each one could work. Genius.
The first real episode that showcases another show is around the trailer for Neuroversity.

Planet Money: Baby’s First Market Failure

The Big Idea: All that ridiculous money that you or someone you know pays towards day cay is outrageous right? And if you want to go into business where the money rolls in, start a daycare…right?? Well, no.
You’ll get an excellent idea around why exactly daycares are so expensive and stressful to find, how people who work there make very little money, and how the owners still make extremely slim margins.

Cows in the Field: Interstellar (w/ Jon Grabus)

The Big Idea: If you love Interstellar, you really can’t go wrong listening to this. There’s a nice combination of philosophy and humor in this episode.