Backyard Philosophy Podcast

Apples and oranges... fruit so different they are used in idioms to show differences. But what happens when humanity decides to try to combine the two, to combine multiple different types of trees into a tree that bares multiple types of fruit. Is this a crime against nature, or a modern miracle. No, its tree graphing... the art and act of combining different types of trees to grow as one. Join Nick and Mike as they go through the strange phenomenon which is tree graphing. 

Just about everything is run on electricity, homes, cars even toothbrushes... but what goes into and how did humanity make an infrastructure that is able to do all of this? Well like most things society has built is was pieced together with tons of errors and decided it was good enough. So join Nick and Mike as they discuss the flaws and weaknesses in power grids and power infrastructure. Why power lines are above ground rather than bellow ground. And the new emerging technology that is making countries grids safer, faster and more efficient... spoiler alert laser are involved. And how different countries are handling the problem of transferring electricity.

Popes and pirates, two classes of people that don’t usually cross paths in history. But in this event, they do. This is a tale of greed and boredom spiced up with opportunity. Vast treasure, open seas and sailors hungry for adventure leading to a mass of power shifts and fortune being lost and gained. This is about the treasure of Thibaud de Castillon.

War ... a terrible human phenomena but also an extremely profitable one. And where there is large sums of money there is complex structure. Perhaps non as complex as the military industrial complex. A mass production industry with trillions of dollars on the line. A line of business that depends on the politicians voting in their favor and the threat of war always being on the horizon. Join Nick and Mike as they discuss the military industrial complex. Where did it come from? How does it work? How do companies influence politicians, write laws and control governments and how the military industrial complex may be necessary in todays modern age.

When you think of Canadians, you probably think, hockey, maple syrup, ultra-nice people … too nice some may argue. Needless to say, you probably don’t think of fierce near unstoppable soldiers, defeating entire armies by themselves. Especially when I mention the word Canada. Well in the case of Canadian Leo Major he proved the sometimes the nice guys are the most dangerous especially when nice guys fight against the Nazis

Lobbying has been part of civilization since societies formed. There as always been representatives, people asking for favors and trying to rule behind the curtain. And in todays episode, Nick and Mike peel behind that curtain to see how lobbying groups truly work. How they control K street in Washington DC, how the are able to create laws, influence elections and dictate a path for humanity that aligns with their interests.

From time to time, we all miss place things or lose something, it is almost human nature to do so. But what happens when a government or more specifically a government agency loses something that makes you concern for your own safety, that makes countries concern for their safety. Something so powerful that you can’t believe they lost it. Well, you get the story of the CIA in the height of cold war, losing a nuke.

As we grow up we allowed by society more and more freedoms... freedom to drink, freedom to drive, freedom to get married. But why.... why are those age limits in place why has society decided you need to be a certain age to do a certain task. Well join Nick and Mike as they discuss from the romans to modern day why societies put age limits on certain abilities. How age limits has constantly changed in modern times and psychology and moral dilemma that is age limits.

Drinking, partying, fireworks. All around the world millions if not billions of people celebrate the coming of a new year. A changing of seasons, a changing of time and for many a vow to change themselves. But New Years took a long journey to get where it is now. For most of history it wasn’t even on January 1st. A day of new beginnings itself has had many new beginnings but stems deep in humanities history. This is where new year’s celebration and resolution comes from.

Legal jargon is hard to understand even when you're a trained professional, and it is even harder when you're a fool.  So how do fool understand legal written bills better... with alcohol. Join Nick and Mike as they turn congress chip bill into a drinking game, a pork hunt drinking game. Showing and sharing odd and funny things located in the bill all entertained with drinking. Laugh and learn as we drink to understand the US government.