We are overjoyed to be joined by Mr. John Benfield, an assessor of risk by trade here to tell us about what we should be anxious about in 2025, and how we can best prepare ourselves for this risky world. Plus, Corrigan talks about the horrors of asbestos, and a D.B. Cooper enthusiast corrects the record!

[0:00] Corrigan tells John and Marko about the horrors of asbestos
[52:46] We introduce our guest, John Benfield, and briefly address that the world is getting more fashy in dumb ways
[01:02:00] Corrigan's D.B. Cooper gets scotched in the best possible way on Bluesky
[01:11:48] Mark's son has a question about villains winning in films
[01:16:20] What we watched! (Grafted, Batman Begins, A Real Pain. Class of Nuke ’Em High, Castle Freak, Nickel Boys, Emilia Perez, Beezel, Hauntology, They Live, Fail Safe,
[01:49:05] We delve into the World Economic Forum's 2025 Global Risk Assessment with John, a risk assessment expert.

• Asbestos: The Evil Dust
• VICE: Why the Deadly Asbestos Industry Is Still Alive and Well
• ‘I’m so angry, I’m wild’: the never-ending wait to clean up asbestos town Wittenoom
• ADSA: Wittenoom Overview
• The Last Days of an Outback Town Where Every Breath Can Be Toxic
• Memories of Wittenoom, a once-thriving but asbestos-riddled town that led to more than 1,000 deaths
• Last homes in asbestos-riddled Wittenoom to be demolished, but some want to stay
• U.K. Risk Register
• AI Bias in Denmark
• Tackling the growing risks of space debris in Earth orbit
• The risks of ‘space junk’ are clear: what goes up, might well come back down on top of you

Naturally, we had to take some time to reflect on David Lynch's life and philosophy. But first, Marko tells Corrigan about the Toba Catastrophe and what it might tell us about the future of humankind after we climate change ourselves to death!

[0:00] Marko tells Corrigan about the Toba Catastrophe Theory
[23:05] Mark's inscrutable bits, our special guest for next week,
[32:30] Now that Mark listens to podcasts, his latest listen brings him to a discussion of conspiracy theorists in the White House on the eve of the inauguration
[42:18] What we watched: The Man They Could Not Hang, The Straight Story, Gladiator II, Cuckoo, Twin Peaks, The People's Joker
[1:03:15] Looking back on Lynch

Corrigan tells Marko some fun stories about times people were sure telekinesis and other paranormal superpowers were a thing, we discuss what's going on with the California wildfires and why it's a problem for Marko's climate anxiety, and Mark weaves his Nightmare on Elm Street reboot idea through CoRri's attempts to talk about what she watched this week!

[0:00] Corrigan tells Marko about the U.S. government's forays into telekinetic research
[49:36] Marko has climate anxiety; Corrigan explains what's going on with the California wildfires
[1:08:00] Book club coming, we recommend Tananarive Due's The Reformatory, and a watch-along will occur February 1st!
[1:13:45] What we watched! (The Mist, Wicked, The Order, The Boys From Brazil, The Sea Wolf, To Die For, Y2k, 10 Cloverfield Lane)

• Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room
• Psychokinesis: Facts About Mind Over Matter
• ESP & Psychic Powers: Claims Inconclusive
• Inside The Montauk Project, The US Military’s Alleged Mind Control Program
• CIA's declassified documents: Highlights of the 13 million pages out now
• Spoon bender Uri Geller offers Donald Trump to use his island as US military base
• Remote Perturbation Techniques: Managerial Summary (CIA)
• MK-Ultra