Propter's smart home journey goes sideways. Dogs: better evolved than us? The AI chip crisis hits gaming. The Jones Act and the art of the subsidy. Iran, oil, and who benefits. East Coast braces for snow. State shapes are wrong. And maybe log off for a bit.

Just desserts, DHS shutdown and caucus integrity, the future of B2B and internal tooling, and the Yakuza games.

Normal Astrophysicist Mike Boylan-Kolchin (@mbkplus.bsky.social) joins us to talk about the terrible secret of space and the Lone Star State. Also: black olives on tacos, Love Da Seahawks, and Jeff Bezos has some explaining to do.

Normal Woman skelly (@iid.bsky.social) joins us from France to talk about- well, the plan was to talk about the American expat experience in Europe during Trump II but actually it wound up being mostly about comparative educational structure. we hope you like it. also: Texas Toast (Republican State Senate edition), handicapping 2026, Fed Warsh, Epstein and the shallow bench of evil. ED NOTE: we are unbleeped compared to our usual because Ed is working very hard and is gassed this week. please be nice to Ed if you see him.

Speculative fiction, moderation at scale, radicalization at scale, parenting at low-scale, and turophile priorities with Theophite.

On dogs, football, Blorth Carolina, the spirit of the cities, Chipotle, why you should care about Claude Code, adventures in transatlanticism, and the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ms. Malone and Ms. Speedrun-Enjoyer stop by to explain the appeal of murder. Also, we talk about the Horrors foreign and domestic.

The Normal Men talk college football, Venezuelan stabs, and what genAI won't do for you.