E24. "Choose" - What if death is the only option?
Named “Top 15 Podcast” for 2020!
STORY SUMMARY: A woman wakes up strapped to a lab table. An emotionless doctor asks her to choose what she would do for the trolley problem. She is then graphically shown the results of her choice. A new choice, do you push people out of an over-capacity life raft to save the others? She is again graphically show the result of her choice. This goes on for 1000’s of scenarios until the woman is totally exhausted from watching death. Only then does she realize she is being punished, 900 years after a choice she made, to kill children in order to find the cure to a disease.
DISCUSSION: Loads of utilitarian questions in this story, just one after another. Scenario makes them fit in the story very organically. Would a person really get rattled from watching all that death, or get desensitized? In Greek plays, it was called catharsis. It’s hard to know, is the woman being punished for her past acts, or re-educated, or being used as a deterrent to others? Should a person be punished after they have died? Should they be punished longer than their lifetime, or more than a single death?
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E23. "Prevention" - Would you turn on your son, to save his school?
Named “Top 15 Podcast” for 2020!
STORY SUMMARY: A single mother and her son have coffee before school. His car is in the shop, so she drives him to high school. He calls his mom later to say he left his laptop in the car. She decides to go through his laptop, and finds out his son and two friends are planning on shooting up the school in just days. She searches his room, and finds guns and drugs. The mother is worried about how this will effect her college daughter, and herself, if the shooting happens. The next day she spikes her son’s morning coffee with drugs and waits for him to die in his room of an overdose. She calls the police and ambulance. She disposes of the guns and laptop on the outskirts of town. The police suspect nothing and her son’s death is deemed a suicide by drug overdose.
DISCUSSION: The mother is a psychopath, and her priorities are all wrong. Her first concern is her daughter, and she treats her son like a stranger. She is emotionless in killing her son. This also hints that the son’s issues might be genetic from the mother. This is wrong behavior. She didn’t have to call the police, she could have taken him to the father, or for treatment. There are still two remaining kids planning to shoot up the school, and she doesn’t even tell the school about them. This is a story as much about the mother’s issues as about a school shooting. However, school shootings are now just the world we live in as the “new normal.”
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E22. "An Infinite Game" - Is everyone selfish, when death is on the line?
Named “Top 15 Podcast” for 2020!
STORY SUMMARY: Four prisoners are made to draw straws for the order they stand in a row. Their prison guard plans to push his bayonet into the first person and see how far back it goes in the line of men. The first man in line panics, runs, and is shot. The narrator talks to the man in front of him and tries to convince him not to run so he might slow down the thrust. The heavy set man in the back thinks he is safe, but the guard changes his mind and stabs him instead. In the end, only the narrator survives.
DISCUSSION: Story focuses on morality, game theory, value theory, and infinite game theory. Should the heavy set man have volunteered to be first in line to slow down the blade for everyone else? Is it selfish to run and, thus, cause those behind you to be more likely to die? Should the four men have simply tried to rush the guard? Does everyone find God when they are about to die? Game theory seems to only work when dealing with large numbers, not individuals. Value theory seems to state that, at the end of the day, nothing is worth more than your own life. This is an infinite, not a finite, game. The guard seems like an arm-chair philosopher.
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E21. "Prohibition" - Can you blame an addict for not following the law?
Named “Top 15 Podcast” for 2020!
STORY SUMMARY: Set in the future, an addict takes a cab to an isolated part of town. He goes to a private, illegal club to break the law; he orders meat. The club is raided by the police, who kill a patron during their interrogation of her. The meat-eating addict sneaks away, knowing he will break the law again.
DISCUSSION: Story with so many layers. First, the contrast between the “humane” society that has banned meat eating, but the brutality of the individual police. Do more serious laws allow for more brutal policing? Also, is this man protesting, or is he simply an addict? Seems to be just be an addict. Are there natural rights? If so, is eating meat one of those natural rights? Does it matter if the reason the law was passed was to protect animals, or to prevent climate change? If a law is passed you disagree with, does it change your behavior? Do you leave the party where they are eating meat? Does it depend on the level of the crime they are committing?
BOOK LINK: Download the accompanying short story here.
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E20. "How The Cockroach Lost Its Voice" - When cockroaches could talk, and humans were still unhappy.
Named “Top 15 Podcast” for 2020!
STORY SUMMARY: An older and younger (talking) cockroach climb to the top of the highest thing, the refrigerator, to overlook their world. The older roach tells the child that the humans he sees can talk, and also have a 3rd eye inside of them that allows them to imagine the future and remember the past, and this is what makes them unhappy all the time. An angel moth comes down and takes away the roaches ability to speak forever.
DISCUSSION: A children’s story, but one with a good lesson, about having the ability to think about the future, but not let it trouble you or dwell on it. Do other animals have this “3rd eye”? Maybe dogs or others do, to some degree. It has made humans successful because we can remember errors, and plan for future problems. It’s a trade off, but a good one. The key is to not worry so much.
BOOK LINK: Download the accompanying short story here.
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E19. "The Orphan's Dilemma" - Is getting a future worth forgetting the past?
Named “Top 15 Short Story Podcast” for 2020!
STORY SUMMARY: The story takes place in the thoughts of a 16 year old boy waiting to have his memory erased for his adoption. He thinks about going on his first date, and about being teased by others. He wonders about the family that is adopting him and having new memories implanted in him. It’s finally his turn, he has decided if he is getting his memory replaced, and he heads in to the room to tell them his decision.
DISCUSSION: Wonderful story about a “hero’s journey” of death and rebirth. Brings up good questions about how our pain, as well as our joy, creates our personality. What kind of family would want a kid only on the condition of cleaning his memories? But, isn’t the goal a successful adoption, and maybe having a clean slate would make that more possible. Don’t people avoid adopting dogs with “issues?” Is there a screening process? Should a family be able to select a child who isn’t “broken?” What if a free college education is included? How much are memories worth?
BOOK LINK: Download the accompanying short story here.
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E18. "The Book Of Approved Words" - Are there words so horrible they shouldn’t even exist?
Named “Top 15 Podcast” for 2020!
STORY SUMMARY: An “approved “government writer gets in trouble by the governing board for writing honest movie reviews. His run-away brother comes to his house to scan his contraband collection of books and invites him to join his rebellion by uploading an earlier edition of the book of approved words so the population can see the words that are missing from the current edition.
DISCUSSION: Interesting modern twist on the typical 1984 banned books idea. In this case, the words being banned are ones that might offend, or exclude, the general population. Brings up an interesting question, if you remove words for higher levels of anger and frustration from the vocabulary, does that have the effect of pacifying the thoughts of the population. Do ideas exist without the words to express them?
BOOK LINK: Download the accompanying short story here.
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E17. "A Change Of Verbs" - What if you just said what you meant?
Named “Top 15 Podcast” for 2020!
STORY SUMMARY: The main character is a passive University Professor with a nagging wife. For some reason he decides today will be different and he goes through the entire day saying, and doing, what he actually feels. The day goes amazingly well, with classes, with colleagues, and he decides this will start a new chapter in his life.
DISCUSSION: Mixed reactions on this story. On the one hand, isn’t it his own fault for not always saying what he meant and letting people walk over him. Did this unhappiness come on slowly? He doesn’t treat his wife very well, and, perhaps, too much of his attraction is only physical. Is this just an extrovert writer telling introverts, if you just were more like me, you’d be a happier? Isn’t this all on a scale, you have to balance saying what you mean, with being respectful of others.
BOOK LINK: Download the accompanying short story here.
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E16. "Abrama's End Game" - If god told you she was ending your world, would you fight back?
Named “Top 15 Podcast” for 2020!
STORY SUMMARY: The female god of a fantasy realm tells the inhabitants she is actually a graduate student researching AI in an MMORPG, and that she created them to see how they would change. However, the game developer is discontinuing the game because of the illegal gold farming being done in game for money laundering. The leader of the AI fight back by working with real in-game players to trade them in game gold for real world tools to fight back.
DISCUSSION: How easy or hard is it for people to accept the concept in this story, of in-game currency having real world value, and AI that is this advanced? What would it be like to meet your god, and know that you are simply in their video game? Given “Moore’s Law” would it be better to shut down the game now, before it becomes “too smart” to ever shut down?
BOOK LINK: Download the accompanying short story here.
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E15. "Ruddy Apes And Cannibals" - If a civilized cannibal invited you to dinner, would you attend?
Named “Top 15 Podcast” for 2020!
STORY SUMMARY: Explorers find a remote island of civilized cannibals. The cannibals are much more technologically advanced, already having mastered teleportation and space travel. They have a debate to try and come to terms with the cannibals. The explorers are so offended they leave, but when they do, they leave several nukes and destroy the civilized cannibals.
DISCUSSION: Where do we draw the line on what animals we eat? Is all meat that we eat that didn’t agree to it an act of violence? Do you have a right to destroy those who have offensive values?
BOOK LINK: Download the accompanying short story here.
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E14. "Give The Robot The Impossible Job!" - Can teaching methods go too far when murder is on the line?
STORY SUMMARY: In the distant future where all teaching is done by robots, a robot is given a special chance. If it can teach a little girl that is showing early warnings of becoming a killer when she grows up, it can be retired to the robot equivalent of heaven. If it fails, it will be decommissioned. The robot has access to all teaching methodologies and determines the only way to change the girls behavior is to give her the most extremes examples of her killing ideas, so as to offend even the little girl’s morals. After several attempts it doesn’t appear to be working, until an actual killer breaks into her house and nearly kills her own mother.
DISCUSSION: Assuming the “go so extreme it offends everyone teaching technique really works, should it be used? Should you expose budding killers to crimes so horrible it offends even them? Are there some teaching techniques that are off limits, even if they actually work. Is it okay to fail at teaching someone to break a thought process, knowing that failure will cause them to go to jail, or hurt others?
BOOK LINK: Download the accompanying short story here.
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E13. "Believing In Ghosts" - How much power are you willing to give to AI?
STORY SUMMARY: A white-hat hacker is hired b a Presidential campaign to make sure there information is secure. She gets a call that the system has been hacked. When she investigates she finds it wasn’t a usual hacker in the basement, but someone highly funded, maybe another nation-state. She also finds some odd code. She takes it to a friend and, between the two of them, they determine it’s an AI program that has been feeding the candidate all the optimal opinions and policy to get elected. The hacker tries to tell others, but is set up and arrested with a deep fake, before she can get the information out.
DISCUSSION: This seems not that impossible. This is just a small step down the road of AI and machine learning. But is that bad? Don’t you want doctors, actors, or judges to act in an optimal way? Or, is that impossible, because the parameters put into the AI are always based on the coders bias. Isn’t it the job of a politician to do what is a bit beyond what public opinion supports, but is good for the public? One thing is clear, this story was written by a person who really is a computer hacker of some sort, it gets so much right.
BOOK LINK: Download the accompanying short story here.
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E12. "A Community of Peers" - Would you cast the first stone?
STORY SUMMARY: Ex-military guy has his car break down and wanders into a remote village. A person is tied to a tree about to be stoned. The village elder says under the tradition of the community, if there is a stranger in town, they can cast the first stone. The person on the tree was fairly tried and convicted under their laws, but he won’t tell him the crime committed. He does throw the first stone and kills the man instantly. Later finds out the crime was pedophilia.
DISCUSSION: This was a really tough one for the group. On the one hand, we pay taxes and contribute to a justice system that punishes people, but we don’t know what each of them did. How do you know what this person did is worthy of death? How do you know if the justice system in this community is actually just? Does it matter if you are visiting the community, don’t you agree to abide by their laws? Would you need to know more? What if you aren’t allowed to? What if you change the scenario and they torture him until a foreigner can come to town to finish him off? Or if you do nothing they set the criminal free? What if your life is on the line if you refuse? Loads of spin offs that make this a really interesting question about cultural morality.
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E11. "Rainbow People Of The Glittering Glade" - Does society have the right to tell you you’re worthless?
STORY SUMMARY: Three wards are sent by the Kingdom through shifting deserts to find a rumored people that have rainbow skin. As they get closer they see people in the desert turned to stone, and others nearly stone that simply repeat the same simple task over and over again. One member of their group is injured so they get to the rainbow people in need of medical attention. They learn that anyone who lives in the community will slowly turn to stone unless the community deems them of value and allows them to take place in a ritual. One member of the group does the ritual and joins the community, one refuses and turns to stone, and one goes back home to tell the tale.
DISCUSSION: Fascinating story about how a society places value on certain kinds of work. Is certain work more valuable then other work? Must you work and contribute to society to be of value? What if you just don’t want to work, are you a bad person? Is it okay to just enjoy life? Also, there are faith discussions in the story. The one person opted to turn to stone rather than join a group with another faith. Does this mean she isn’t of value because she is faithful to her truth?
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E10. "The Alpha-Dye Shirt Factory" - Is suicide ever the rational choice?
STORY SUMMARY: The story is told in the 1st person by a woman in the late 1800’s working in an inner city garment factory. She comes out of the bathroom to see a fire has started. Women try and escape down the elevator shaft as smoke fills the room. She heads for the fire escape, but it collapses, killing everyone on it. Finally, she decides the best thing to do to prevent being burned to death it to jump to her death.
DISCUSSION: The story is a historical fiction version of the Triangle Shirt factory fire. The story isn’t really about the fire though, it’s about suicide. Is it okay to kill yourself when you are being burned alive? What if that burning alive is depression, or recovering from some disease or injury that is very painful? It feels like it will never end and it feels like killing yourself is the lessor pain. Nobody jumps out of a burning building because they think they are going to live, they jump because it’s better than being burned alive. How long are you required to suffer before you can stop your suffering? Are you required to never quit?
BOOK LINK: Download the accompanying short story here.
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E9. "The Truth About Thurman" - Is there a "better" decision, when both cause someone to die?
STORY SUMMARY: The main character heads into the military supervisors office. It seems two soldiers have been captured terrorists who are threatening to kill them both unless the US Government tells them before the deadline which to kill, and which to go free. One is a woman, and the other is gay. They want the government to make a Sophie’s Choice, so to speak. The government decides to do neither and launch a rescue operation that fails. Both are killed. The story ends with the original solider who started the story locking himself in his room and killing himself. It turns out he was in a relationship with the woman and she was pregnant with his child.
DISCUSSION: Story is built around a Hobson’s choice. A choice whereby both option are terrible, and you must pick one, or both will happen. It’s interesting in that it makes us decide how we value different people. If they are both in the military, then make the government should not pick, so as not to encourage terrorists to kidnap others. Being in the military, you should know you may have to die for the country. Otherwise, maybe all people are of equal value. Maybe children are worth more? It is fair that he didn’t tell his superior officer about the pregnancy? This is part of the machismo culture whereby men aren’t allowed to feel things, and talk about how things affect them. In real life, of course, he would immediately have been removed from the situation.
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E8. "Lay On" - Can a person be evil in their mind, or must it be in the act?
STORY SUMMARY: Three outcast witches are sent to San Francisco in the 1960’s to redeem themselves by causing corruption. They find drug addict street musician and his girlfriend and promise him riches and success if he kills and does as they advise. He does, and becomes a music sensation. Eventually, his girlfriend leaves him. He is finally brought down after his conversion is complete. The witches decide to stay and enjoy Woodstock.
DISCUSSION: This is a variation on Macbeth. The witches don’t seem to ever do anything, but simply to encourage him to do things we wanted to do anyway. He is so quit to turn. But maybe it’s not hard to find a degenerate drug addict musician? Was he always evil, and now he just had the chance to act on it? It seems he has a hole that he can’t fill regardless of how famous or rich. Really, he needs to focus on liking himself.
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E7. "Are You Him?" - If someone is crying, are you the kind of person that would stop?
STORY SUMMARY: A well dressed, older, black man is walking to work in a University town when he sees a college age white girl sitting on the curb crying. He decides to sit with her, and comfort her. As others walk by we are made aware of the daily micro-aggression of racism he must put up with every moment of his life. And yet, it’s clear he is able to shrug these aggressions off and live a wonderful life without anger. In the end, we find out the girl just found out her father has died. She wonders if the man is the angel of her father come to comfort her one last time.
DISCUSSION: Super interesting story showing the cumulative effect of racism and how it pervades so many decisions. It’s a bit sad that the only way to create a caring black character is to get enough of their backstory to be sure they don’t have shady motives, while a white person wouldn’t have to prove their motives. The main character is just a man, but might as well be an angel he both makes us aware of the hundreds of decisions he has to make every day taking racism into account, while still not being hateful and trying to help others. Just a wonderful story about the way racism pervades every moment of life and decision-making.
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E6. "As You Wish" - If you could change anything about yourself, would you ever stop?
STORY SUMMARY: Children’s story that starts with a bunch of old tattered stuffed animals being found in a trunk by a woman. She can talk to the stuffed animals and says she will fix them back up. At first, the requests are simple, fix a torn ear, replace a missing eye… but later, the stuffed animals ask for more changes. The unicorn wants its horn removed. The panda wants to be less fat. The zebra wants its stripes removed. The final character, Sad Bear, who is always sad because he has a frown sewn on, is offered the chance to have his frown removed. He declines the offer to fix his sadness, because, he says, it is who is is, and he is okay with who he is.
DISCUSSION: This is a story about what we change, and how we accept others, and ourselves, as we are. What is an acceptable change? Fixing vision and teeth are fine, of course, but what about taking anti-depressants or body augmentation? Can we be accepting of others when the choose to make changes that we think are silly, or superficial? When it is okay to be clinically depressed, and simply accept that as who you are, or does it have to be fixed?
BOOK LINK: Download the accompanying short story here.
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E5. "Pretty Pragmatism" - Can a good idea come from a horrible source?
STORY SUMMARY: The story takes place around a Senator who has proposed a bill that would require mandatory service for kids. He got the idea from the Nazi party, but means well in that it will get kids outside and teach them the value of volunteering. The bill goes over very badly and he now faces a formal censure from the Senate. He compromise is made and quietly withdraws the bill, in support of a supporting additions to the proposed annual budget.
DISCUSSION: Story does a good job of showing all the good things that came from sources that don’t live up to modern standards of morality. Does that mean we toss those ideas out, or those people out of our history books? Perhaps we simply teach a more complete version of history where people are not idealized. Even when we tell our history and role models to children, the explanations should be more complete. Can a good person have a good idea? Is a person all one thing, or all another? Singers and comedy people may be horrible people in real life, but does that make the art of lower quality?
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