On Short and Interesting we read to you strange and curious things. In 1974, Robert Nozick set out to write a work on libertarian political philosophy. In the process, he went on a tangent and hit on a compelling argument for veganism. Suppose space aliens came down to Earth and started eating all the humans. Does the fact that the aliens are smarter, more advanced, higher beings than humans give them the right to eat us? Probably not, right? Isn’t that pretty much what we do to animals?

If you haven’t read “Anarchy State and Utopia” by Robert Nozick, I’d recommend checking it out. You can of course buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/Anarchy-State-Utopia-Robert-Nozick/dp/0465051006

Music by Dan Mason. Check out and buy his music at https://danmason.bandcamp.com. For this podcast we’re using clips of three tracks from his 2019 album Hypnagogia. Available under the Creative Commons License, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. Creative Commons License details at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

Check out our website at www.plutocrat.biz. Donations are gratefully accepted. Find us on Bluesky, @shortinteresting. If you’d like to discuss copyright, contact us at copyright@plutocrat.biz. All other inquiries received at podcast@plutocrat.biz.

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On Short and Interesting we read to you strange and curious things. Happy New Year! Wishing a healthy and prosperous 2026 to you all. And, not for nothing, your health and prosperity would both be enhanced if you were to stop smoking cigarettes. It’s not as difficult to do as you may be led to believe. In fact, if you ask the late Allen Carr, there’s an easy way to do it: the Easyway®.

This is the 1985 book “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking,” by Allen Carr, who went on to found Allen Carr’s Easyway (International) Ltd., and whose advice and methods for stopping self-destructive habits like smoking cigarettes has helped millions of people. This is the time for New Year’s resolutions; if you haven’t given this a thought already, maybe today’s the day. You can buy this book practically anywhere, including here (https://www.amazon.com/Allen-Carrs-Easy-Stop-Smoking/dp/0615482155) or check out the website https://www.allencarr.com for more information.

Music by Dan Mason. Check out and buy his music at https://danmason.bandcamp.com. For this podcast we’re using clips of three tracks from his 2019 album Hypnagogia. Available under the Creative Commons License, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. Creative Commons License details at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

Check out our website at www.plutocrat.biz. Donations are gratefully accepted. Find us on Bluesky, @shortinteresting. If you’d like to discuss copyright, contact us at copyright@plutocrat.biz. All other inquiries received at podcast@plutocrat.biz.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Short and Interesting we read to you strange and curious things. Merry Christmas! Have you been good this year? Or have you been bad? What’s the difference? Is there a difference? If you ask Niccolo Machiavelli, author of ‘The Prince,’ he would probably say whether you are quote-unquote “good” or “bad” is irrelevant – but it would behoove you to at least appear to be good. So long as you are not actively hated, you’ll probably be fine.

Download this public domain book for free from Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1232

Music by Dan Mason. Check out and buy his music at https://danmason.bandcamp.com. For this podcast we’re using clips of three tracks from his 2019 album Hypnagogia. Available under the Creative Commons License, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. Creative Commons License details at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

Check out our website at www.plutocrat.biz. Donations are gratefully accepted. Find us on Bluesky, @shortinteresting. If you’d like to discuss copyright, contact us at copyright@plutocrat.biz. All other inquiries received at podcast@plutocrat.biz.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.