Robot F. Kennedy
16 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 7 years ago - ★★★★★ - 14 ratingsRobot F. Kennedy is a podcast that takes current events to launch a discussion of the past and future of politics and public policy. Eddie Quintana (a screenwriter and historian) and Nick Dazé (a startup founder and futurist) take turns examining where our politics come from and where they might be going.
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Episodes
16: White Houses
August 10, 2017 19:01 - 48 minutes - 67.1 MBIn this episode, we explore one of ur-symbols of the American Dream: homeownership. In the United States, home ownership is a symbol of the prosperity Americans are promised. It’s been a status symbol separating the middle classes from the poor for much of American history. Why? And how does one tax policy, the home mortgage interest deduction, play upon our collective dreams of Americanism. In this episode, we talk about vacation homes, reparations, Mark Twain, returns on investments, writ...
15: Does Petrograd Translate to ‘Oil City’?
July 11, 2017 04:39 - 1 hour - 95.6 MBThis is the third of a multi-part series on climate change, the President’s withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, and the politics and rhetoric that surround it. This week: where are we headed? What scenarios are likely to play out in the decades ahead, as the climate becomes the arch-issue of the future? In this episode we talk about body heat, globalism, the Cretaceous coastline, healthy debt-to-GDP ratios, and Apple CEO Tim Cook. This is Robot F. Kennedy. SH...
14: The Overview Effect
June 20, 2017 14:41 - 41 minutes - 57.2 MBThis is the second of a multi-part series on climate change, the President’s withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, and the politics and rhetoric that surround it. This week: what are we seeing today? Who are the leading voices on climate action in the public, private, and religious spheres? In this episode we talk about Gaia from Captain Planet, Carl Sagan, a couple of popes, and Elon Musk. This is Robot F. Kennedy. SHOW NOTES Elon Musk's Unbelievably Simple 1...
13: Motivated Ignorance
June 13, 2017 05:06 - 51 minutes - 70.2 MBThis’ll be the first of a multi-part series on climate change, the President’s withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, and the politics and rhetoric that surround it. First up on the agenda: context. Where is climate denialism coming from? How did we get here? How did a seemingly cut and dry, scientific topic become so partisan? We have some theories: human beings’ natural short-term biases, the anti-science worldview of the religious right, the Supreme Court case ...
12: Warren G
May 31, 2017 17:32 - 46 minutes - 64.2 MBThe election of 1920 was all about a ‘return to normalcy.’ The American public was weary from the Great War. Are there parallels we can draw from the 1920 election to the national mood going into the 2020 election? Will the Democrats promise a return to normalcy? Or does it run counter to everything the Democratic Party holds dear? In this episode we discuss the Battle of the Somme, Senator Kamala Harris, cowboys, primary challengers, Bill Clinton, and the Resistance against President Trump...
11: After Trump
May 23, 2017 17:19 - 55 minutes - 77 MBAs soon as we stopped recording episode ten, about the mechanisms by which President Trump may be removed from office, we realized we left out a huge conversation: what comes after? In this episode we discuss the post-Watergate reforms of the 1970s, our wishlist of post-Trump reforms, land mines, Frank Sinatra’s party affiliations, killing off the -gate suffix, and the tyranny of cattle. This is Robot F. Kennedy. SHOW NOTES * Post-Watergate Campaign-Finance Reforms: https://www.infoplease....
10: What the Hell is Going On?
May 17, 2017 03:52 - 52 minutes - 72.6 MBWhat's the Trump Administration endgame? In this episode, we discuss the 25th Amendment, impeachment, the "Rally Around the Flag" effect, the British Raj, our lack of law degrees, and bet on the next steps in this insane week. This is Robot F. Kennedy. SHOW NOTES Any references we give will be out of date by tomorrow at 10am, so we're going to hold off on show notes this week. Hope you don't mind.
9: Life Plus 70
May 09, 2017 14:26 - 46 minutes - 63.5 MBDoes the idea of copyright protect the interests of artists and creators? Does it add billions of dollars to the US economy every year? Or does it stifle expression, innovation, and economic growth? In this episode, we discuss the public domain, Google’s spiders, the capital of the Galactic Empire, the Statute of Anne, Jiminy Cricket, and Motown. This is Robot F. Kennedy. SHOW NOTES The Goodlatte Bill Hollywood-friendly copyright bill passes House of Representatives: https://www.theverge....
8: IS This What Democracy Looks Like?
May 02, 2017 18:18 - 51 minutes - 71.1 MBWhat’s happening at town halls across the United States? Is there a popular groundswell of resistance and opposition to President Trumps agenda building momentum on the Left? Is it sustainable? Would a “Tea Party of the Left” be a constructive or destructive force in American politics? In this episode, we welcome our first guest co-host—Sarah Ullman, a filmmaker, activist, and co-founder of the grassroots SuperPAC, One Vote at a Time. We discuss our experiences in recent months attending tow...
7: Bull Moose
April 25, 2017 14:25 - 1 hour - 95 MB1912 was a really important year. For Progressives, it was the year that a century-long agenda was formalized as the party platform of the Bull Moose Party. It served as something of a checklist of legislative achievements that we’re still working through today. And the man that spearheaded this new agenda and a new (albeit short lived) political party? Theodore Roosevelt. What are some of the progressive victories Teddy never lived to see? What has yet to be accomplished? If TR were alive t...
6: An Evolving Topic
April 18, 2017 16:21 - 1 hour - 111 MBHumans are animals—animals with rights. So what kinds of rights do non-human animals deserve? The right to liberty? The right to nurse their young? The right to socialize? In this episode, we interview two animal rights experts and ask them about chimps, cats, and personhood. We discuss common law, Jurassic Park, Ancient Rome, Woolly mammoths, and the Animal Welfare Act of 1966. This is Robot F. Kennedy. SHOW NOTES This episode is Part 2 on the topic of animal rights law, and its future i...
5: The Seventh Party System
April 11, 2017 08:04 - 47 minutes - 109 MBSince the 1790s, the United States has had six different party systems, or voter coalitions. As the country heads into its seventh party system, what will the New Republican and New Democratic parties look like in 2050? Will the Democrats and Republicans be around at all? In this episode, we cover the Whigs, Abraham Lincoln, Bernie Sanders, hip and healthy 120 year olds, a Hispanic plurality, the Apple Store in Shanghai, and the Seventh Party System. This is Robot F. Kennedy. SHOW NOTES Jo...
4: the Original 1st Amendment
April 04, 2017 06:50 - 30 minutes - 69.6 MBHow did the original First Amendment in the Bill of Rights get lost to the sands of time? Don’t you want to know what the ONLY unratified amendment of the original TWELVE in the Bill of Rights was all about? In this episode, we cover Congressional apportionment, Puerto Rico, Mitch McConnell’s game of Risk™, China’s National People's Congress, and nihilism. This is Robot F. Kennedy. SHOW NOTES Steve King’s horrible, racist tweet: https://twitter.com/SteveKingIA/status/840980755236999169 Co...
3: An Act of Nature
March 28, 2017 06:12 - 35 minutes - 81.2 MBWould it be wise for humanity to clarify its ethics regarding the treatment of animals before artificial general intelligence (AGI) knocks humanity off the top of the pyramid? In this episode, we cover the intellectual property of monkeys, Ireland, the Book of Genesis, slavery, dolphins, 3D printed food, and robots who program pain for themselves. Also, Nick and Eddie call BS on themselves at least once and plan on a sequel episode with interviews of experts in the field of Animal Rights l...
2: The Things That Get Measured
March 21, 2017 06:05 - 46 minutes - 99.6 MBHow do you measure the success or failure of a president? Maybe it’s the one practice from the business world that Donald Trump seems least likely to carry over. In this episode, we look at KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators. We pick apart some of the KPIs that are commonly used to measure presidencies, and suggest some new and novel ones we might use. Also featured in this episode: Martin O’Malley, obesity, aliens, the staggering decrease in worldwide combat deaths since WWII, Ronald Reag...
1: Teamsters v. Uber
March 14, 2017 04:33 - 36 minutes - 49.8 MBWill automation destroy 3 million more jobs before the next presidential election in 2020? In this episode, we talk George Washington, AI, automated flour mills, Uber, autonomous semis, and the Teamsters. Inaugural episode (kind of). This is Robot F. Kennedy. SHOW NOTES Oliver Evans designed the first automated flour mill in Delaware in the 1780s. He secured the third U.S. Patent in 1790. Evans’s mills eliminated 80-100% of the required labor force. The “Evans system” was adopted at Mount V...