TheLastCoffeehouse

This is the second part of our look at The Tyranny of Big Tech by Josh Hawley.

Three Wall Street firms have quietly amassed more money than Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Andrew Carnegie, and John Rockefeller combined. But the money isn’t even theirs. These asset managers have accumulated all their power through “passive funds,” as most investors no longer believe anyone can reliably pick stocks. Yet the Big Three have decided that they can reliably pick the right social policies instead. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/read-to-the-end/id1368869944

How will artificial intelligence affect crime, war, justice, jobs, society, and our very sense of being human? The rise of AI has the potential to transform our future more than any other technology - and there's nobody better qualified or situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor who's helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial.

We take a look at Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. At Thermopylae, a rocky mountain pass in northern Greece, the feared and admired Spartan soldiers stood three hundred strong. Theirs was a suicide mission, to hold the pass against the invading millions of the mighty Persian army.

We discuss part 1 of The Archaeology of Mind by Jaak Panksepp.

We take a look at 13 Bankers and Liar's Poker.

This is the third part of our discussion of Hostages No More by Betsy Devos.

We discuss False Positive and Cabinet of Curiosities.

We take a look at The Tyranny of Big Tech by Josh Hawley.

We take a look at the Complete Short Stories of Flannery O'Connor. O'Connor published her first story, "The Geranium," in 1946, while she was working on her master's degree at the University of Iowa. Arranged chronologically, this collection shows that her last story, "Judgement Day"--sent to her publisher shortly before her death―is a brilliantly rewritten and transfigured version of "The Geranium." Taken together, these stories reveal a lively, penetrating talent that has given us some of the most powerful and disturbing fiction of the twentieth century. Also included is an introduction by O'Connor's longtime editor and friend, Robert Giroux.

We take a look at Hate Inc. by Matt Taibbi.

We discuss Top Gun Maverick.

We take a look at The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche.

This is the second part of our look at Hostages No More by Betsy Devos.

The American Founders believed that a republic depends on certain masculine virtues. Senator Josh Hawley thinks they were right. In a bold new book, he calls on American men to stand up and embrace their God-given responsibility as husbands, fathers, and citizens. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/read-to-the-end/id1368869944

This is our discussion episode of Poetics and Rhetoric by Aristotle.

We review some of the books we've read up to now.

We discuss The Tragedy of Macbeth by Joel Coen.

We take a look at The Archaeology of Mind by Jaak Panksepp.

We discuss Turning Red by Pixar.

Disney movies are different today in a fundamental way and for a specific reason.

A discussion of Roe v. Wade.

We take a look at the movies Wounds and Apartment 212.

We take a look at Journey to the End of Night.

We discuss education related topics.