Backyard Philosophy Podcast

A city on fire, not caused by invaders, war, or a power plant explosion but rather... whiskey. Perhaps the most Irish way possible to start a fire. Join Nick and Mike as Nick tells the tale of how a distillery flooded the streets, caused the towns people to become drunk and set the city of Dublin on fire. And all the chaos that would ensue due to alcohol and flames. 

In last few decades the world has seen an increase in countries become authoritarian in nature. Entire governments being toppled for dictators and authoritarian governments. But why are so many countries becoming authoritarian? How do countries go from being democratic to authoritarian? What is the psychology of both the dictator and the people to allow such things to happen? Join Mike and Nick as they discus on the ins and outs of governments and people form authoritarian countries? What it means to be authoritarian and places in the world where authoritarianism has caused a better standard of living then some democratic countries. 

Crisper... it is everywhere now in multiple industries, but what exactly is it, how does it work, and what does the future entail for humanity? Join Nick and Mike as they discuss how crispr is changing science, the patent battles happening over who own crispr and the extreme experiments being conducted with experiment.

The world of myth and science has always butted heads with each other. One claiming the will of the gods the other claiming the sanity of reason. But what happens when a scientist creates a myth. A demon so pronouns that it would plague scientists for more than a hundred years. You get Maxwell's demon, a demon that can bend the laws of physics and thermodynamics to its whim. A demon that hundreds of scientist would fight against both as team and as individuals. Join Mike and Nick as they discuss Maxwell's demon, a demon that bends science to its command. 

The earth has changed many times over its life time. From being nothing but atoms and gas, to being a lava engulfed apocalyptic planet, all the way to the earth we know today. But many things has changed over the planets life time and it didn't all come at once. Join Mike and Nick as they talk about ice ages, tectonic plates and how the earth was formed through catastrophe.

Chaos, randomness, the unknown. A thing many hate and dread. To have no control, no way of knowing, to be helpless. But what if the very thing many fear, the chaos that engulfs our lives is one of the things that protect us in the modern world. What if I were to tell you, your safety and mine is dependent and reliant on randomness. What if I were to tell you your safety depends on lava lamps.

Chaos, mayhem and war, plague Syria right now in a more than decade long civil war. But this is a civil war unlike any others. There are many sides, fractions and international players in this civil war. From the Syrian government, to the Kurdish people, to Russia, Turkey, America and Iran. To many more countries in between. Join Nick And Mike as they try to explain the complex situation that is happening in Syria right now, and where the future may go. 

The valley of kings, land with hidden tombs, graves, and treasures. Filled with history, stories, and untold wealth. Only… This is probably not the valley of kings you are thinking of. No, this valley of kings is not land covered by a desert in Egypt. No this is land covered by snow, this is the valley of kings found not in Egypt but in Siberia. Join Nick and Mike as they talk about an ancient lost civilization that is being un-tombed in modern times.

Out of the pan straight into the fire! It seems as of late that the world is coming to the end and apocalypses is upon us. Which begs the question how did the first dark ages start? And more importantly how did they get out of the dark ages? Join Mike and Nick as they discuss overlap between the dark ages and modern times, how Europe fell into darkness and how they made it out of one of the worst periods of time. And perhaps ways to prevent and leave a new dark medieval ages that may be coming.

Once in a blue moon a perfect storm brews. Sometimes literally with flood, hurricanes, and tornados… and sometimes figuratively with a series of misfortunes all building upon each other. But occasionally… you get a mixture of figuratively and literally. A perfect storm that caused millions to abandon their homes in mass exodus in search of greener pastures. You get The Great Migration during the Great Depression. You get Okies.