In this System Failure Short, Nate reads this week’s audio essay entitled “Witchcraft”.

After being up late the night before to see Dave Smith, the boys speculate on the recent rate of decline in peanut allergies. Then, the discussion shifts to the blackout in Cuba and the possibility of a financial meltdown in private credit or in the AI sector. Finally, Nate makes a comparison between the ill-fated Gallipoli Campaign of World War 1 and a potential US invasion of Iran’s Kharg Island.

In this System Failure Short, Nate reads this week’s audio essay entitled “Plato’s Shadow”.

The boys gives an update on Brian’s impending move to Rhode Island, before chatting about the latest escalations in the war with Iran. Nate then brings up the potential for a budget reconciliation to force real cuts in other government spending. After hearing Michael Pollan speak on his new book about consciousness, the lads wonder about the potential for another “Copernican” moment. Finally Nate spins an amusing anecdote about the Great Schism of 1054 into a brief genealogy of Platonism.

In this System Failure Short, Nate reads this week’s audio essay entitled “The Magic of Plato”.

Brian shares his recent professional presentation on Nash equilibrium, and relates the concept to the "mutually assured destruction" that characterized both the Cold War and the current conflict with Iran. Then, the boys expands upon Bret Weinstein’s brilliant distinction between Earned and Unearned Income. Finally, Nate reports on Kalemegdan Fortress and Saint Sava, two unforgettable landmarks in the Serbian capital of Belgrade.

In this System Failure Short, Nate reads this week’s audio essay entitled “Water into Wine”.

After some updates about the exploding war in the Middle East, the boys take another look at the bizarre Jim Carrey body double affair. Then, Brian plays a clip of Hillary Clinton trying to downplay the Pizza gate scandal revived in the wake of the Epstein files release. Finally, the lads take a deep dive into the nature of reality itself and note that conception of bedrock reality tends to collapse during times of economic decay and imperial collapse.

Show links: Alexis Stone as Jim Carrey? | TMZ on Jim Carry | Clinton on Pizzagate | Christ Secretion