Areo Magazine's Two for Tea podcast is hosted by Iona Italia. For early access to episodes, support us at https://www.patreon.com/twofortea or https://www.patreon.com/areo.
Freddie DeBoer: The Cult of Smart
General:
Freddie’s Substack: https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/
Freddie’s website: https://fredrikdeboer.com/
The Cult of Smart available here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250224491/thecultofsmart
Follow:
On X: https://twitter.com/freddiesubstack?lang=en
References:
Freddie’s essay: https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/education-doesnt-work-20
Timestamps:
1.04 Intros: A little on Freddie’s background.
2.05: Iona reads from The Cult of Smart.
4.05: Freddie expands on the issues addressed in the book: the problems behind modern educational ideology and philosophy, how America compares to the rest of the world and within a historical context.
12.03: Why is the education system not achieving its aims and how might these issues be addressed? The introduction of tech and various policies and interventions and how these have failed to have an impact.
21.18: Iona reads the widget analogy from the book. They discuss the change in blame for poor results from the pupil to the teacher.
27.32: Freddie highlights our obsession with academic success and with a failure to acknowledge that certain characteristics are heritable. He and Iona discuss the merits and desirability of different skillsets.
40.45: The difficulty of predicting which skills will be most valuable in the future and on how technology plays a role.
44.20: Freddie explains how, even within a Marxist framework, individual differences in aptitudes are still important and excellence is still valued.
49.47: Wage gaps between academics, middle-management administrators, and trades people.
57.17: Iona argues for the inherent value of elite institutions and highlights how the UK model differs from the US model in terms of admissions and funding.
1.04.07: Freddie expands on the enrollment crisis in the US and on how college is largely sold as a recreational experience versus the elite Ivy League colleges where endowments motivate a different admissions pathway.
1.09.30: The difficulties of discussing IQ on a group basis, specifically regarding race.
1.20.42: Freddie sums up his argument that educational interventions and policy cannot solve inequality and that insisting we are all capable of academic excellence is neither a compassionate nor useful goal. Schools should still be well-funded and be valued beyond chasing test score.
1.22.48: Thanks and outro.
Sound editing: Justin Ward
Shownotes: Nicola Muir
25 Sept 2023
Episode 144 - A Stoic Captain Hook: Tom Nash
Podcast notes: Tom Nash
General:
Tom’s website: https://www.tomnash.com/
Tom’s TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_nash_the_perks_of_being_a_pirate_jan_2019?language=en
Follow:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DjHookie
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djhookie/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tomnash/
References:
The Curb-Cut Effect: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_curb_cut_effect
The CRISPR twins: https://time.com/5466967/crispr-twins-lives/
Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb: https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Antifragile.html?id=5fqbz_qGi0AC&redir_esc=y#:~:text=Antifragile%20is%20a%20standalone%20book,world%20we%20don't%20understand.
Timestamps:
1.00 Introductions. Tom’s visible disability. Why Tom doesn’t consider himself an inspirational speaker.
6.36 The interplay between Tom’s personality and his disability and the role of humour in putting people at ease.
13.16 The origins of Tom’s disability and his experiences over 18 months in hospitals. Design and creativity and the development of his DJ brand.
27.38 How adaptations to improve accessibility often benefit wider society; the curb-cut effect, door levers and subtitles.
35.25 Why Tom prefers hooks to electric hands. How his prosthetics operate. Potential developments in tissue regrowth technology.
39.57 Disability activists online. The role of genetic modification and human wellbeing.
47.32 The impact of technology on all our lives, especially smartphones. The value of doing things the hard way sometimes.
51.35 Relationships and intimacy. How being dependent on a partner can feel.
56.25 Psychology and being anti-fragile.
58.20 Tom’s choice to live. The opportunities of post traumatic growth.
1.01.07 Pity and the soft bigotry of low expectations. The solitude of being a DJ. How might AI impact the role of the DJ?
1.14.13 Praise for the Australian Health System and gratitude for the support of friends and family. Tom’s book is being published in September 2023.
1.16.16 Tom’s happiness with his life.
1.17.58 Thanks and outro.
Sound engineering by Justin Ward
Shownotes by Nicola Muir
11 Jul 2023
Episode 143 - Christoph - The Culture of Twitter
General:
Find Christoph on Twitter @Halalcoholism https://twitter.com/Halalcoholism?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
References:
Johnathan Haidt on the podcast. https://www.stitcher.com/show/tea-for-two-with-iona-italia-and-helen-pluckrose/episode/06-jonathan-haidt-and-greg-lukianoff-the-coddling-of-the-american-mind-57029667
The Rise of Victimhood Culture by Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning. https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9783319703282?gC=5a105e8b&gclid=CjwKCAiA3KefBhByEiwAi2LDHCYRp7wprYJObCLEvQSjckvGmR1-nEU52lW-n-_j6kurXNE3JhvSfRoCOcoQAvD_BwE
Campbell and Manning on the podcast. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/04-bradley-campbell-and-jason-manning-victimhood-culture/id1417717946?i=1000421234132
Tomiwa Owolade in Unherd. https://unherd.com/2022/05/black-british-lives-dont-matter/
Timestamps:
01.06 Introduction. Some descriptions of Christoph from Twitter. Iona and Christoph discuss how he moved from blogging, via Facebook to Twitter.
22.02 How online culture functions and the way in which extreme views can be the most visible.
25.23 Iona discusses her own behavior on Twitter and our impulse to protect our reputations.
40.10 Is “woke” still a useful term? Victimhood culture and the idea that disagreement is harmful.
52.12 How both the right and left wing behave online. The left’s obsession with managing speech instead of addressing more complex, meaningful problems.
1:00:01 Class, including the way it relates to Indian nationalism and the caste system. How the left is eating itself instead of fighting common enemies. The American-centric nature of online discourse. Modern British leftist distaste for the white working class.
1:15:20 How “woke” can get in the way of more meaningful change.
1:25:02 What are the positives of Twitter? Some iconic tweets.
1:33:30 Thanks and outro.
Sound engineering: Justin Ward
Shownotes: Nicola Muir
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.8 / 5
54 ratings
Spotify
4.7 / 5
6 ratings
Contact Two for Tea Podcast
Guest appearances
Does not typically book guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Two for Tea Podcast?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
