Once again, our crew of two try their hands at a movie review. Sticking with the 80s, they watched Dead Poets Society. There's not much to say here except that Jon and Shaun miss the entire point of the movie! Clearly, the Dionysian influence brought into Welton disrupted the established and successful Apollonian regime. This is an ancient struggle - the Apollonian brings upon its own disruption by attempting to harness the energies of Dionysian. Of course, in this movie Keating is Dionysus and Nolan represents Apollo.
The film establishes the reputation and the success of the school early on, and the students and parents who attend the school have chosen to go there for the reputation and success the school can pass along to the children. Keating puts this effort at severe risk. Teenagers need boundaries even if they do not know it oftentimes, but Jon and Shaun act as though Keating has attempted to do something moral even though they recognize that Keating does not really succeed with any student, except maybe Todd Anderson...maybe. What possibly could be the point, gentlemen, of teaching free thinking if one cannot even be certain that free thinking was accomplished? These guys are so disillusioned by their time trying to enforce a sensible systematic curriculum in schools, that they chase after any opportunity to undermine the established belief.
In the spirt of Dr. Pritchard Ph.D. from Dead Poets Society, let's create a chart to determine the value of any given episode. First, along the x-axis, we will chart the perfection of the podcast, measured by Jon and Shaun's ability to complete each thought, to speak clearly without fillers, and to dialogue in a register that matches the importance of the topic at hand (no excessive laughter please gentlemen). Then, along the y-axis, we will chart the importance of the topic at hand, measured by the timely necessity of the discussion. If we do so, we will get a chart that shades a box of infinitely small area as neither the perfection nor the importance of the podcast is apparent. Even if one were inclined to give some points on one or the other axis, the other axis would be infinitely small, so the box would be indiscernible from a flatline, which is what this podcast is.
Movie excerpts from Dead Poets Society. Dir. Peter Weir. Touchstone Pictures presents in association with Silver Screen Partners IV, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures, 1989. Film.
Podcast Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart / CC BY-SA
Wait...what??? Is it over? Is this really happening? Am I free from listening to this anymore? Jonathan don't respond...please don't!!!
BUT...wait a minute...do I only exist to critique this show? If Jonathan does not respond, will my existence end? Jonathan! My continued pattern of existence relies solely on you!
Please be merciful in your decision.
"Jonathan" and Shaun interview John, a new teacher in a crisis situation. As is so often with new teachers under the influence of The Unexamined Education, John struggles mightily with how things could be and rather than turning off his humanity and assuming the children are soulless so that he can get on with delivering essential curriculum, John wants to think about human things.
Oh, you young fool! Change now, while you still can! Don't nurture the human side of education! All that will do is make you realize how inhumane the system is!
It's been so long since I listened to this and now that I cannot remember what these two guys were talking about. They have some idea that they'll get better engagement by restructuring the podcast, but it has only left me with an empty mind.
The Critic
Jon delivers a monologue in an attempt to ease Shaun's feeling of isolation, but ultimately questions the humanity of Shaun's existence.
This is a discussion on the analogue between AI learning and student learning. I wonder if Jon abandoned Shaun. That drama is way more interesting than the monologue.
Jon has to work out some issues he has had throughout his life involving math trauma. Perhaps his whole motivation in becoming who he became is wrapped up into the crisis of math he experienced as a youth. Not to fear, Dr. Rushton makes a special guest appearance to help him through it. The episode is an interesting psychological study.
Shaun has little to say and mainly fills the air with fillers. I miss the days when Jon was the host. You could almost cut Shaun out of these productions, which is probably why he has the host job. Is there such a thing as self-nepotism?
Somehow these guys occasionally attract interesting guests, at least.
χαλεπα τα καλα
Well, the audio is bad on this one; plus, you have to listen to these two jokers. If you don't make it to the end, Shaun basically gives up on the idea of control as a concept, and Jon labels plagiarism as "curation" and claims that his excellent writing skills stem directly from his academic dishonesty.
Sorry about the audio ;(
Amplify SHAUN!
Jon and Shaun jump on the crypto train to try to promote their podcast…not even sure what this episode is about…something like a central authority in education could be problematic. Jon basically defends teachers helping their students cheat on standardized tests in order to protect the kids from the all-knowing central authority. And Shaun just says, “right,” “right,” and “yes!” So educational fraud is okay now? “Right!”
Dead silence.
Okay, so not much to say here. Surely, these guys are wrong.
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