(0:00) Open: Graduating High School @ KSMF

(2:47) Funding: A Strong, Positive Correlation

(8:21) Private vs. Independent Schools

(12:01) Independent & Charter School Origins

(18:45) The Thousand Person Desereted Island

(22:30) cj’s recommendation: School Games

(24:40) Jeff’s Recommendation: The Four Seasons

The notion that school funding has no bearing on student performance is a pervasive, yet deeply flawed, talking point. Decades of robust research consistently demonstrate a strong, positive correlation: adequate and equitably distributed funding leads to better student outcomes.

Studies show that spending more per student is linked to improved test scores, higher graduation rates, and even increased lifetime earnings for students, especially those from low-income backgrounds. These investments enable smaller class sizes, competitive teacher salaries to attract and retain talent, improved facilities, and crucial support services.

Assertions to the contrary often serve a specific agenda: undermining public education to pave the way for school voucher programs or to erode public trust in democratically governed school boards. Such claims ignore the complex realities of educational improvement, which directly benefit from well-resourced schools. Simply put, money matters in education, and denying this fact is a disservice to students and communities.

This is not like deferred maintenance in your home, where down the road you can simply write a check and catch back up. Educational opportunities squandered mostly can never be recaptured. Join us this episode for a look at the unseen costs of public school decline.

Understanding the Effects of School Funding - Public Policy Institute of California

School funding boosts student achievement, major study confirms | The Educator K/12

School Spending and Student Outcomes: Institute for Policy Research

Targeted infrastructure spending can boost student outcomes

Higher education finance and success rate in US states: An insight from state-level data

An economist spent decades arguing money wouldn’t help schools. His new paper finds it usually does.

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(0:00) Pre-Show

(0:43) Open

(1:27) Pride Month!

(2:18) cj's week: Banana Ball!

(5:01) Jeff's Week: Dr. James Robert “Bobba” Parker, 90.

(6:21) Headline: Operation Spiderweb: Drones Hammer Russian Airbases

(10:20) Headline: Mars or Bust: Why Starship Keeps Blowing Up

(16:11) Headline: Trade Chaos Mounts as Court Blocks Trump Tariffs

(20:38) Headline: Broadband Giants Push Trump to Kill Low-Cost Plans

(24:24) ​​Mirart Saver II

18-months in the making, a hundred low-cost, AI-fueled, FPV drones launched remotely from wooden, shack-looking crates on Russian soil wreak havoc on over $7B worth of Russian aircraft. It’s another bad day to be oppressors.

SpaceX’s Starships go up, and go boom. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

And tariffs might be off. Or they might be back, but worse now. Or they might be off. 🤷

Finally, ISPs are complaining again, but this time about providing discounted services to some of the poorest among us. What a time to be alive!

Operation Spider's Web

Operation Spiderweb: a visual guide to Ukraine’s destruction of Russian aircraft

In Ur Base | Know Your Meme

SpaceX rockets keep exploding. Is that normal?

Trump allies expect he’ll double down on tariffs after sweeping court block - Ars Technica

When Supreme Court Won’t Throw ISPs a Bone They Turn to Trump To Block Affordability Laws

Supporting Links from Episode
​​Mirart Saver II

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(0:00) Pre-Show

(0:58) Open

(1:57) Bee Week: Scripps Spelling Bee

(2:41) cj's week: Viruses & Sonic Booms

(5:14) Jeff's Week: Terrible Booms

(6:39) Jeff’s Week Part 2: Chocolate Cake

(8:08) Headline: From Prevention to Peril: CDC's Lead Program Has Been Dismantled

(11:24) Headline: Paying Top Dollar for Disaster: In Its Transition to Digital, the College Board Is Getting Failing Grades

(16:42) Headline: Bar Exam Blunders: California’s Legal Test Continues to Discover Mis-Scores

(22:40) Micro Systems Tandy Hard Cards

You’d think that lead - responding to it, remediating it, and generally keeping people safe from it - would be an issue we can all agree on helping stamp out.

Nope.

If your house or school was built before the late 70’s, and you or your community haven’t had the privilege of having it completely remediated previously, you are likely at more risk now than ever before.

And while we all expected bumps in the road during the online digitalization of everything in the early aughts, you’d think most organizations would have either figured it out by now or gone extinct. Turns out that’s not the case as both the College Board and California Bar Association struggle with bringing efficient, accurate testing into the digital-era. In 2025. No, this is not an AI hallucination.

Oh yeah, and one of us missed the sonic boom over the weekend. Again!

SpaceX Dragon Re-Entry Sonic Boom Map - @Dillonshrop06

No More Lead Experts: CDC Cuts Jeopardize Child Health

Test of Patience: College Board's Digital Conversion Hits Snags

California bar exam-takers were told they failed. Oops, they passed. | Reuters

Bar Exam Blunders: California’s Legal Test Continues to Mis-Score

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(0:00) Open

(2:45) When Good Memories Go Bad: The Distorting Power of Nostalgia

(4:44) The Allure and Deception of Nostalgia

(9:33) How Nostalgia Works

(15:31) The Consequences and Implications of Distorted Nostalgic Memories

(19:50) How to Navigate Nostalgia with Awareness

(30:34) cj’s recommendation: The Handshake From Game 6 of the Dallas-Winnipeg Series

(34:06) Jeff’s Recommendation: Hannah Gadsby’s Douglas

Memory is a tricky, fuzzy thing; your recollection of past experiences may be funny, clever, and enchanting, but if viewed again now, it may instead feel infuriating, obvious, and obscure.

The word nostalgia is a compound word derived from Greek, meaning "homecoming" and "pain." The modern view is that nostalgia is an independent, and even positive, emotion that many people experience often. Nostalgia has been found to have important psychological functions, such as to improve mood, increase social connectedness, enhance positive self-regard, and provide existential meaning.

In this episode the guys discuss the allure and deception of nostalgia, how nostalgia works, the consequences and implications of distorted nostalgic memories, and finally how to navigate nostalgia with awareness.

Fortunately, only half of the hosts of this show derive pain from their memories.

Sierra made the games of my childhood. Are they still fun to play? - Ars Technica

Rosy retrospection - Wikiwand

Nostalgia - Wikiwand

Jets' Scheifele scores one for dad's memory in Game 6 against Stars | NHL.com

Jets teammates, Stars players, take extra time with Scheifele on handshake line | NHL.com

Watch Hannah Gadsby: Douglas | Netflix Official Site

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(0:00) Pre-Show

(0:53) Open

(1:30) National Rescue Dog Day

(2:08) cj's week: My Wife Can’t Stand Nonsense

(3:33) Jeff's Week:

(4:45) Headline: Programmers bore the brunt of Microsoft's layoffs as AI writes up to 30% of its code

(9:51) Headline: Laser-powered fusion experiment more than doubles its power output

(14:12) Headline: Google is about to unleash Gemini Nano's power for third-party Android apps

(17:22) Headline: RFK Jr’s plan to ban fluoride supplements will “hurt rural America,” dentists say

(26:15) Headline: AI Darth Vader goes rogue with profanity & slurs

(28:12) Quantex Multimedia Systems

Guess which role was hit hardest in Microsoft’s recent layoffs? The answer might surprise you if you didn’t already know that AI writes up to 30% of their code these days.

Did you know that turning diamond-encrusted, gold-encased fuel into plasma might be the secret to generating a whole pile of energy? Well, a laser-powered fusion experiment is doing just that - more than doubling its previous power output.

And a local, personal AI continues to inch closer for Android users as Google gives app developers access to Gemini Nano via an on-device AI API. What should we build with it first?

Sorry, a TIME Magazine Cover Did Not Predict a Coming Ice Age

Programmers bore the brunt of Microsoft's layoffs in its home state as AI writes up to 30% of its code | TechCrunch

Laser-powered fusion experiment more than doubles its power output | TechCrunch

Google is about to unleash Gemini Nano's power for third-party Android apps

RFK Jr’s plan to ban fluoride supplements will “hurt rural America,” dentists say - Ars Technica

Dihydrogen monoxide parody - Wikiwand

The empire strikes back with F-bombs: AI Darth Vader goes rogue with profanity, slurs - Ars Technica

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(0:00) Open

(0:37) The Lure of the Lie: Exploring Our Susceptibility to Falsehoods

(2:53) Quantifying Bullshit: Pseudo-Profound Bullshit

(6:28) Why Do People Still Believe in Falsehoods?

(29:55) Fighting The Untruth

(34:24) cj’s recommendation: ChatGPT Likes Me!

(35:40) Jeff’s Recommendation: Poker Face

Why do humans, with our big fancy brains, keep falling for obvious falsehoods? The short answer is because it’s comforting, convenient, and often way more fun than the truth.

Thinking critically is hard. Believing something that feels good or already fits your worldview is easy. Brains are efficiency machines - and unless you tell them otherwise, they’ll take the shortcut every time.

Plus, we are social creatures who desperately want to belong. If your group believes the moon landing was faked or that lizard people run the government, you’re more likely to nod along than risk exile from the brunch circle; especially if they sound confident, even if they’re making most of it up.

This episode the guys dig into what is so alluring about the lie by exploring our susceptibility to falsehoods. We all like stories, especially the ones that go down smoother than the bitter pill of reality, but as it turns out, facts, no matter how uncomfortable, are still the facts.

Would you rather hear “you need a balanced diet, regular exercise, and sleep” or “this one weird trick will melt belly fat in 3 days”? Exactly.

Ray Bradbury - Wikiwand

The psychology of pseudo-profound bullshit: Insights from 8 studies

People with lower cognitive ability more likely to fall for pseudo-profound bullshit

Pizzagate conspiracy theory - Wikiwand

Political Bullshit Receptivity and its Correlates: A Cross-Country Validation of the Concept

‘You can’t bullshit a bullshitter’ (or can you?): Bullshitting frequency predicts receptivity to various types of misleading information - Littrell - 2021 - British Journal of Social Psychology - Wiley Online Library

Sorry, a TIME Magazine Cover Did Not Predict a Coming Ice Age

Superstition in The Pigeon

Milgram experiment - Wikipedia

Alternative facts - Wikipedia

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(0:00) Pre-Show

(0:58) Open

(1:47) cj's week: Smokin’ Beef!

(2:43) Jeff's Week: Dodgers & Ecobees!

(3:19) Headline: Europe launches program to lure scientists away from the US

(8:50) Headline: California overtakes Japan as fourth largest global economy

(11:34) Headline: Mexico is suing Google over how it’s labeling the Gulf of Mexico

(15:49) Headline: Soviet Spacecraft Crash Lands on Earth After a Journey of Half a Century

(20:11) Recommendation: The JFD Universal Print Buffer

Europe has been successfully luring Americans away for years - but now they are targeting an especially important, and recently shunned group that we probably don’t want to lose. Will their plan work?

In brighter news, California finally overtakes Japan - the Golden State taking aim at Germany now. How long can Germany hold their position?

And why is Mexico suing Google? No, it’s not for the Google Doodle from May 5th, but good guess!

And finally: what weighs over a thousand pounds, has been traveling since the early ‘70s, and recently took a dip in the Indian Ocean?

Europe launches program to lure scientists away from the US - Ars Technica

California overtakes Japan as fourth largest global economy

Mexico is suing Google over how it’s labeling the Gulf of Mexico | The Verge

Soviet Spacecraft Crash Lands on Earth After a Journey of Half a Century - The New York Times

The chance of getting hit by a Soviet spacecraft goes up next week | The Verge

Titan submersible implosion - Wikiwand

Every picture from Venus' surface, ever | The Planetary Society

The JFD Universal Print Buffer

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When the cost of importing goods goes up significantly with little notice, manufacturing orders get paused. Without orders to ship to the customers that normally make the orders, shippers reduce the number of boats that sail. When fewer boats sail, less stuff gets imported. When less stuff gets imported, there’s less stuff to buy at the stores.

We are currently in “Chapter 3: The Sinking of the Supply Chain” of this story on tariffs. We are going to see work pauses, layoffs, stockpiles of empty containers, less products to buy, less items on sale, and more of our own exports piling up in short order. For how long? Good question.

This is not the Spring 2025 that any of us ordered, but it is the one that shipped - and there is a strict no return policy. This episode the guys dip their toes into the pool of what we currently know is coming in the next couple of weeks for our supply chain among the chaos.

UPS to cut 20,000 jobs, close some facilities as it reduces amount of Amazon shipments it handles

Adidas warns it will raise prices on all U.S. products due to tariffs

Walmart, Target resume business with some Chinese factories after tariff-related halt, suppliers say

Chinese factories are stopping production and looking for new markets as U.S. tariffs bite

US farmers in ‘full-blown crisis’ as Chinese orders for pork, soybeans plunge over Trump tariffs

The White House has put itself and the country in a bad situation - Molson Hart

Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Declares National Emergency to Increase our Competitive Edge, Protect our Sovereignty, and Strengthen our National and Economic Security – The White House

Treasury Secretary Yellen on why Biden is targeting Chinese manufacturing with new tariffs | PBS News

Trump & Tariffs: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

How Trump’s tariffs actually work on the ground | The Verge

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