It’s the last episode of the Recombobulator Lab and Chris and Jason are taking a walk down season 2 memory lane with a little current affairs (Chinese balloon anyone?) thrown in too, because that’s what we do.  Chinese balloons Jason asks Chris what is going on in the United States, to which Chris replies nothing. He then asks if Chinese balloons ever float over Australian airspace. Jason points out that 90% of Australia is desert and that there’s nothing to see there. The Pandemic Jason and Chris then discuss how it was a bit more difficult to pull of season 2 post-pandemic. The pandemic gave them the chance to slow down and freed up a lot fo their time when they first started The Recombobulator Lab but now they are back to business as usual.    Chris says that pre-recording episodes helped them keep on top of it as they were both travelling a lot with work.  Highlights of Season Two To wrap up the episode, Jason and Chris talk about the highlights of season two. They talk about youth alcohol consumption (Ep. 10 with Dr Amy Pennay), fake meat (Ep. 11 with Dr. Tani Khara), and e-cigarettes (Ep. 16 with Dr Laura Crotty). Chris points out that the e-cigarettes episode was terrifying, and that the health harms just aren’t talked about in general conversation. Jason believes this is similar to a lot of the things they discuss on the show.    Other highlights included learning about the BeReal app with Mike Hanley (Ep.9) and getting into the reeds about authoritarianism with Dr Doug Keene (Ep. 4) and discussing guns and gambling in episode 5.

Chris and Jason are eager to understand the vaping or e-cigarette epidemic around the world. In this episode of the Recombobulator Lab they are joined by guest Dr. Laura Crotty Alexander, an Associate Professor in Residence of Medicine at UC San Diego, with undergraduate degrees in science and medicine, residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, and fellowship at Harvard. Laura busts some myths about vaping and shares some interesting stats and facts.   The origins of vaping E-cigarettes were invented in China in 2003 and went international in 2007. They rapidly evolved from looking like cigarettes to becoming more advanced and sleek devices that heat up a fluid containing nicotine and chemicals, turning it into an aerosol that users inhale.  While e-cigarettes were invented to help people quit smoking, the original devices did not achieve this goal. However, more modern e-cigarettes contain 10 to 15 times more nicotine, making them more helpful for quitting smoking. It has not been proven that they are more effective than nicotine patches, gum, or inhalers. The Vaping Epidemic in the US According to the FDA's 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey, more than 2 million middle and high school students use e-cigarettes in the US, and 85% of them use flavored products. This trend has led to concerns about the dangers of vaping, particularly in young people who have never smoked tobacco. The Dangers of Vaping Dr. Crotty Alexander and her team conducted a small study on the effects of vaping on teenagers who had never smoked tobacco. The study found that vaping alters inflammation and the immune system all over the body and causes DNA damage to cells, which is recognized as a critical factor in cancer development. The study also found that even e-cigarettes claiming to not contain nicotine actually do contain it.  Reducing E-Cigarette Use Dr. Crotty Alexander believes that to reduce e-cigarette use, the nicotine content should be reduced, and flavors should be limited to only tobacco. The big myth about e-cigarettes is that they contain water vapor and nicotine, but in reality, each puff of an e-cigarette contains 60-120 chemicals. Conclusion Dr. Crotty Alexander wants adults to have access to as much information as possible about the dangers of vaping so they can make informed decisions. The messaging around vaping is mixed, but it is more clear with regards to cigarettes, with many countries having warnings on the boxes and using price as a deterrent.

Chris and Jason have long been interested in the long term effects of concussion and head trauma. This week on the Recombobulator Lab they are joined by Dr. Ryan Takagi, nutritionist, chiropractor mechanical engineering PHD candidate. Ryan’s PHD is specifically looking at the prolonged after effects of concussion and how sleep impacts this.  The Dangers of CTE Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) brain condition thought to be linked to repeated head trauma. Unfortunately, the only way to diagnose CTE is through an autopsy, making it difficult to determine the extent of the problem in living patients. Symptoms of CTE can be similar to those of ADHD or depression, making it even more challenging to diagnose. Ryan became interested in CTE as a chiropractor, observing patients who had prolonged symptoms after a concussion. He wondered why some people made a full recovery from concussion while others had prolonged symptoms.  Concussions in children  Jason mentions that his son has had a lot of concussions from a variety of sports and activities and Jason wonders whether he should be worried. Ryan says there are a number of studies looking into potential neurodegenerative problems that may arise from repeated concussions or subconcussive events, such as too many headers in soccer. Using Technology to Monitor Concussions One of the methods used in these studies is the use of accelerometers in mouth guards or helmets. These devices can track the impact of hits to the head and provide data on where on the field there is more impact and at what age people can handle these impacts. This data can be used to help determine when certain elements of sports should be introduced, such as contact in baseball or headers in soccer. Ryan’s team are also using these in their research. The Importance of Sleep in Concussion Recovery Ryan's research explores the relationship between concussions and sleep. His research is looking at two things:  How a concussion results in injury to sleep centers thus causing sleep disturbancesHow these sleep disturbances impact recovery

The Recombobulator Lab is discussing an important topic today - sachets. What is a sachet and why is it important? Sachets are small plastic packets used to sell smaller servings of food and other groceries in lower income countries, but they come with a heavy environmental cost. Chris and Jason spoke with Yobel Novian Putra, Climate and Clean Energy Campaign Associate for GAIA Asia Pacific, to learn more about the issue. The use of incineration in waste management  According to Yobel, incineration is a problem for a number of reasons In some countries, rubbish is not separated, so everything gets burned in incinerators. Incineration is expensive for countries that can't afford the fees- incineration is the most expensive way to get rid of wasteIncineration is much more carbon intensive than burning coal.    Essentially incineration contributes to both the climate crisis and the debt crisis. Yobel pointed out that the environmental issue is a social issue as well.    Unilever sachet recycling programme  And now, the sachets. Yobel discusses the Unilever project in Indonesia that attempted to recycle sachets using a pilot technology called CreaSolv. The project was rushed through without proper permits and licensing, and the factory has since shut down. Yobel says the claim that it could recycle sachets, has since been debunked as a myth . He discussed a waste bank in Indonesia that pays people to collect sachets and separates them for recycling, but the sachets are no longer being collected by the recycling facility. The waste bank has continued to collect sachets, however, because people have created the habit of recycling them.  Indonesia as a young country  Instead, Yobel suggests that the solution lies in education and meaningful dialogue with communities. He emphasized the importance of accountability and preventing factories from shutting down without proper arrangements. Indonesia is a young country with opportunities to avoid the mistakes of the global north, leapfrogging right to sustainable solutions. Zero Waste Month  January is Zero Waste Month. Yobel says it is a month to celebrate the progress we have made in so many areas. The theme for this year's festival is Zero Waste Month is Zero Waste for Zero Emissions.  GAIA is hosting a number of events throughout the month. Events will be happening online and in person. The Zero Waste Digital Film Festival is taking place online for the rest of January. There are several conferences, marches and launches taking place throughout the month in India, The Philippines and around Asia.

It’s been a while since Chris and Jason did an episode with just the two of them on The Recombobulator Lab. So they have a lot to chat about. They are going to talk about some predictions for the year of 2023 and chat a bit about what’s been going on in their respective countries so far this year.  Inflation and employment  Chris and Jason note that inflation is super high at the moment in both the US and Australia. Chris notes that in his local shop free range chicken cost $9.99 for about a pound, but the organic one was $19.99. Chris quotes a friend of his: “Why do we have to pay more for someone not to poison us?” As well as this high inflation is a very high employment rate, but the tables are turning in this. Lay-offs are starting in some companies in the US. Amazon recently let a lot of staff go.  The prediction: Inflation will continue for a while anyway.  ChatGPT The guys speak about AI software ChatGPT, an AI bot where you enter a question or prompt and it writes content based on this.  Jason even challenged it to write in certain referencing and writing styles and it did a great job. And the writing was plagiarism free.  The prediction: that this won’t actually take people's jobs, but make them a lot easier.  Elon Musk   Jason and Christ discuss Elon Musk's latest negative publicity. He’s saying more outrageous things and his reputation is going down.  We can’t forget that he’s a genius with tech but Twitter is a different game. It is a sociological exercise, where he is potentially in over his head.  The prediction: Chat GP said it is hard to tell if Twitter will survive Elons leadership but based on his past history of success he might.  Work from home  Will we still do this in 2023? Chris and Jason think that the way we work will never be the same again. People have gotten used to a certain way of living that communing into an office does not allow. People may go to coworking spaces or work in the office sometimes but not full time.  Chris sees the benefit of the new remote work culture as in his company Tsongas they can now hire from all over the country. They have a much larger pool of potential employees to choose from, and on the flipside knowledge or support workers don’t have to choose between their career and their preferred homebase.  The prediction: online/computer work will never be the same again.

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), and its main organisation UFC, has absolutely exploded in recent years with Irish fighter Conor McGregor becoming the highest paid sports person in the world in 2021, the first time an MMA fighter held this position.  Chris and Jason are fascinated by this rapid growth and want to know more. They are joined by Irish journalist Ronan O’Flaherty to learn more.  MMA versus Boxing  The UFC is now a billion dollar organisation and is overtaking boxing in popularity. Ronan discusses a number of reasons for this growth.  To start, people enjoy watching organised fighting with a ref. But why the UFC over boxing? Ronan says that boxing has become progressively damaged as a spectator sport because there are so many different governing bodies. Boxers could avoid fights by being in different competitions.  In MMA there are also lots of bodies and competitions but the UFC “is the only show in town”, Ronan says. “For a fighter starting out it's the only place to be.” Because of this unified organisation fighters can’t avoid each other making it much more satisfying for fans.  History of UFC  Jason asks Ronan about some of the previous UFC fighters, Ronda Rousey, Anderson Silva and Chuck Liddell.  Ronan says Ronda Rousey was one of the big fighters at the beginning of the current MMA boom. Anderson Silva still holds the record for longest undefeated streak as middleweight champion. And Chuck Liddell is one of the OGs in MMA.  But where did it all start? The UFC organisation was founded in 1993 in Denver, Colorado. Back then the fights basically had no rules. There were legal headbutts, hair pulling etc. Ronan says the fighting then couldn't even be classified as what we know as MMA today.  There were no regulations on what people wore either. Some wore tracksuit bottoms and no shirt, while others wore the traditional martial arts gi.  Winners would fight multiple times in one night in a knockout style tournament until one was crowned champion in the final. There was a “gladiatorial element to it”, Ronan says. MMA wasn’t allowed in every state in America. It had to change hugely and rules were brought in after a few years.  Chris notes that it didn’t form from martial arts competitions but was rather closer to fight club in its origins.  Pay per view  As soon as a fighter becomes popular Dana White,president of the UFC, gets them involved in the big performance fights to draw a pay per view audience. These fights are based in the US and fought at the right time for US audiences. US audiences are the most willing to pay for sports TV. Pay per view isn’t a big thing elsewhere in the world.  Irish fighter Conor McGregor fought Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018 and it  was the biggest pay per view fight in the UFC with 2.4 million views.  Concussion and injury in UFC UFC released a document on this a few years back addressing the dangers and guidelines about concussion. It was a huge document but R

Did you know that Australia's meat consumption is almost 3 times the global average? And 25 times higher than meat consumption per capita in India? This week on the Recombobulator Lab podcast Chris and Jason speak to Dr Tani Khara, research consultant with the Institute for Sustainable Futures. They talk about plant based trends around the world and discuss what role, if any, meat replacements play in this.  India and vegetarianism  20-30% of people report being vegetarian in India.  Religion and consumption  Only some types of Hinduism or certain practices within some types of Hinduism are prohibited from consuming all meat.    In Islam, Christianity and Judiasm people can usually consume meat, with some restrictions.  Hypocrisy in meat consumption  India is one of the biggest beef exporters in the world, despite their low consumption internally. Tani thinks this is a “nationalistic, right wing, religious protocol”.  Live export of beef from Australia  Jason asks Tani if the reason Australia exports cattle live to the Middle East is for halal purposes. She says it’s a factor, as well as freshness.    For any listeners wondering what halal is- it is a certification given to food meaning it has been prepared in a certain way in accordance with the Islamic faith.  Meat consumption and stomach cancer  In Japan as beef consumption increased so too did cases of stomach cancer. Tani says there is a lot of data on meat consumption, especially red meat consumption, and its association with diabetes, obesity and cancer.    The World Health Organisation also released a study about the carcinogens in red meat causing cancer.  Secret meat eaters in Dr Khara’s research  There is a taboo associated with eating meat in India. Tani has a whole paper about the different kinds of secret meat eating in the different segments of Indian society.    People in the study ate meat in secret during certain festivals or days of the week where they weren’t supposed to be eating meat. Or some weren’t allowed to eat meat in their homes so went to restaurants to consume meat in secret.  Protein based meat alternatives  These are meat alternatives made from other protein rich, plant based sources. Tani says these can include soy and legumes. Another option in mycoprotein, which is a fermented fungus product.  Dr Khara’s research  In a recent study Tani did with the Institute of Sustainable

This week on the Recombobulator Lab Chris and Jason have brought in Dr Amy Pennay to help answer the question that is puzzling older generations: why aren't the kids boozing it up any more?  Amy is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research at La Trobe University. Within CAPR she is the Strategic Lead of the 'Intersections of drinking cultures, health and policy' program.She has done extensive research on youth drinking patterns including the 2021 paper entitled Trends in adolescent drinking across 39 high-income countries: exploring the timing and magnitude of decline.  How Dr Amy Pennay started working in alcohol research  Amy joked that she has always enjoyed a drink and that as a young student the idea of doing studies in a nightclub seemed very appealing. Chris mentions that friend of the show, psychologist Dr Doug Keene said a lot of people in the field of psychology got into that to better understand their own issues.  Alcohol consumption in Australia  Australia is a ‘dry’ country, you might be surprised to hear. But ‘dry’ in this context has nothing to do with abstaining from alcohol but rather when most people drink said alcohol. A ‘dry’ country is somewhere where people don’t drink a lot during the week but binge on the weekends. Places like France and Italy would be considered ‘wet’ countries as they drink throughout the week in more measured doses.  Comparing alcohol consumption in Australia to other parts of the world, Aussies drink less than Americans, but are on par with the British.  Youth alcohol consumption in Australia  The current trend in youth alcohol consumption is that young people in all high income countries are drinking less. English speaking countries are noticing the highest decrease while Mediterranean and Eastern European countries are seeing the least change. This trend started around 2003.  This pattern is particularly noticeable in under age drinking but young adults of drinking age or older are also drinking less.  Is the reduction in youth alcohol consumption related to government intervention?  Researchers are struggling to identify policy changes as a driving factor to the change in behaviour. In Australia there have been no significant policy changes to affect behaviour.  However, education around alcohol has definitely increased and there is a lot more research showing the harms alcohol causes.  Impact of social media on youth

Social media is an unwavering conversation in our lives today. But was it this way 10 years ago? You and I as well as Mike Hanley, our guest for today’s episode of The Recombobulator Lab, would agree it wasn’t. But unlike most of us, Mike was part of a digital content agency before social media even became a thing. So, he’s witnessed its explosive growth more closely than a majority of us, and even contributed to some of the biggest marketing trends, like including a quote with a person’s picture on social media, for example! Mike has also served the World Economic Forum for over eight years before founding The Content Engine, a team that combines new technologies, including machine-learning, with best-in-class editorial and workflow processes to generate tailored, high-quality content at very high volumes for its clients. He comes with a trove of insights about social media, content marketing, and the degree of “realness” of social media platforms, and what can be done towards improving them. In today’s episode, sit with Mike, Chris and Jason, as they dig into it headfirst. Among the things they get into: Social Media: A Beautiful Constraint? A beautiful constraint, Mike explains, is a time or space constraint put to something essential, like explaining a thesis in 5 minutes for example. Social media relies on this beautiful constraint to capture people’s attention quickly. What one needs to remember, however, is that we don't have to capture everybody with every post/piece. As long as we capture somebody with every piece. Social Media: Faking Reality? Social media has democratized our society more powerfully than anything else in recent times, giving people authority over their lives, thoughts, and opinion, and strengthening free speech. But it has also become more toxic than flavorful, given how some people are using it to show lies and tinted realities. It’s also being used to create fake lives. Be Real: A Better Future for Social Media Be Real, a new social media app, is calling out on fake social media behavior by building what they call is the social graph – a network of connections that form by identifying the chain of people you know. There’s no advertising involved in their platform. It works by having everyone capture a photo within 2 minutes every day at a different time. While this sounds like a good place to begin the end of the fake social media game, we’ll have to wait for time to tell if it turns out well. Listen to this conversation to dive deeper into Mike’s knowledge database, including his experience meeting some of the world’s most renowned personalities like Bill and Melinda Gates, and discussing Microsoft’s neo-Nazi sexbot!

For the longest time, consumer brands have made big billions by cunningly marketing their products as “green”. While FTC regulations against such marketing puffery have strengthened over time, has the average consumer gained any chance in the face of greenwashing? In the second installment of Tom Osdoba’s conversation with Chris and Jason on The Recombobulator Lab, we’re getting into just that. Plus more. If you don’t know yet, Tom Osdoba is the Director of NetZeroCities EU and the Senior Advisor at Climate-KIC. Technically speaking, greenwashing refers to the act of companies making unsupported environmental claims in a bid to convince consumers to buy their products. While this seemed like a small thing to do in the past, the practice has snowballed over time into an industrial scale, becoming a major issue, simply because of the enormous business gain it has brought for companies! How The Greenwashing Wave Hit Our Shores A few reasons that have contributed to the greenwashing wave in the US: One, the FTC in the US is apparently very weak unlike in the UK, for example, which seems to have nailed some of the biggest fashion brands like H&M and Zara among others. There need to be better laws against greenwashing to discourage it from the root. Another thing that makes people fall prey to greenwashing is its ability to hide behind mountains of technical language, dancing on the head of pin distinctions that most people not only wouldn't know how to evaluate, but don't want to evaluate. It is worthwhile to note here that despite the brain having a lot of capacity to process information, it only has so much attention. So, no matter the amount of information readily available about advertising puffery, the brain is drawn into patterns and habits, often leading us to repeat things that don’t serve us well. In fact, as Tom says, 80% of our choices are not even our real choices. Those are just our reactions to systemic behaviors and patterns that we’re part of. The World’s Biggest Polluters Start The World’s Biggest Environment Campaigns Surprising? We know. Consider the ‘Keep America Beautiful’ campaign, which was started by PepsiCo and Coca-Cola (among others)  – some of the biggest polluters in America in the 50s – to reduce litter. The whole idea translated to asking people to clean up their garbage, for the trash was largely generated by them. Irony much? But that’s not all. More for-environment campaigns like Keep Britain Tidy and Keep Australia Beautiful have followed over the years. The focus of the participating companies being recycling THEIR mess. Capitalism adds to these greenwashing scandals, making the campaigns even more deceptive. Is there a tidy way to go forward in society without letting greenwashing trick us? What more should we know about dissuading undeserving consumer brands and companies and making way for cleaner and honest ones? We unravel a lot of that stuff in this episode. Make sure to give it a listen!

This week on The Recombobulator Lab we are excited to announce our media partnership with the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) for their Zero Waste Month this January. Jason and Chris spoke to Froilan Grate, Executive Director of GAIA Philippines and Asia-Pacific Co-Coordinator for GAIA.  Zero Waste Month has traditionally been a South East Asian event but this year GAIA is encouraging people all around the globe to get involved. Froilan speaks to the guys about GAIAs mission and about the events we can look forward to for Zero Waste Month.  What is zero waste and how do we get there? Froilan says Zero Waste is both a destination and a journey. The idea is to reduce the amount of waste produced by managing resources. The movement wants to reduce toxicity in the world by making goods without toxic chemicals and avoiding burning and burying waste.  Is burning waste bad for the environment? Burning waste can be on a small scale or a larger scale. Small scale burning, called open burning, is people burning their own rubbish.  Incineration is when waste is burned on a large scale as part of a country or city’s waste management process.  Froilan says that either way, burning waste is problematic. These are some of the issues with burning waste:  1. Impact on human health  Burning waste pollutes the air, releasing toxic dioxin chemicals into the air.  2. The climate  Incineration releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere which contribute to climate change.  3. Wasting finite resources Resources used to make the products we use are finite. Burning these is a total waste of these finite resources.  4. Waste of government or municipal resources Building incinerators is expensive and they cost a lot to maintain. Typically governments will invest in incinerators and offset the cost over multiple decades. Making the initial decision to incinerate waste in a country means that country is committed to incinerating for the foreseeable future.  5. Impact on livelihood  There are far less jobs in incineration than there are in recycling.  Incineration around the world  Incineration has been “rebranded” around the world. Incineration companies refer to it as “waste to energy” processing.

Forest fires, historic droughts, dried-up rivers, and an ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war – certainly, not everything that's out of sight can be out of our minds. As the world conjures up innovative ways to end the global environmental crisis, inventing legislations, bills, carbon footprints, and the like, many of us are left wondering: how much of the shebang translates to actual field work? Do our contributions really matter in the big picture? Are our well-intended investments reaching the right hands? Most importantly, can you even pay your way out of your carbon footprint? Like, REALLY? Luckily for us, Tom Osdoba has qualified arguments explaining the factors that led to this crisis-laden state of the world. Tom is the Director of NetZeroCities EU and the Senior Advisor at Climate-KIC. Aside from our varying levels of cynicism the factors in question are as follows: be the loose state of country-to-country governancethe stealthy impact of capitalism on environmentalismpoor centralized control -yes, by forums and organizations like the UN and the G7 Chris and Jason invite Tom to The Recombobulator Podcast today to logically explain these factors. Tom's work on sustainability and core ecosystem preservation is laudable, his plans even more so. Tom intends to mobilize 100 cities to be climate-neutral by 2030! (Wait till you hear him get into the practical side of it today.) Listen in for all the knowledge you must know about the ongoing environmental crisis. A few important highlights from today’s conversation: What does capitalism have to do with governance and environmentalism? Capitalism has flourished in the absence of strong governance of markets and ownership structures. It’s challenging when governments lack the ability to make changes and pass necessary laws (including environmental laws) at the scale, speed, and precision needed. How do carbon footprints work? It’s the same as getting tax credits when paying taxes. When you invest in carbon-reducing activities somewhere, you’re allowed to represent your proportionate reduction in the global contribution. In some cases, the resources invested definitely move to places that can make meaningful progress. You'll have to do your research to figure this out. How does capitalism threaten governance? Capitalism deflects attention away from our own role in contributing to the systems that we participate in, even elections. The power of democratic capitalism lies in the creativity of the economic cycles. Tom will be back next week on the podcast to continue today’s discussion, and to talk a bit more about “greenwashing”! So, stay tuned!

Did you know that America is one of the few countries in the world where people have an entitlement to guns if they have all their rights? Something else that might surprise you entirely is the fact that Australia is one of the top 3 gambling countries in the world despite its low population. In today’s episode of The Recombobulator Lab, Chris and Jason get to discuss their respective country’s biggest issues. They have been kicking the idea around for a long time and have even teased it a bit in a previous episode. These issues are guns in America and gambling in Australia. Chris and Jason share a quiz on gun and gambling statics in both countries. They discuss the problem and share their thoughts on what can be done to curb the issues. Gun and Gambling Quiz Question 1: What are the top 3 gambling countries in the world? Answer 1: Australia, Singapore, and Ireland.   Question 2: What percentage of Australians participated in some form of gambling last year? Answer 2: 66% of the adult Australian population.   Question 3: If we think about 60% of Australians participating in some form of gambling, how many millions of people would've gambled 10% or more of their annual income each year? Answer 3: 10%   Question 4: How many dollars would the average American spend a year gambling? Answer 4: $400   Question 5: How much more do you think the Irish gamble than Americans per person per year? Answer 5: $600   Question 6: What do you think the average Australian spends a year on gambling? Answer 6: $1600   Question 7: What does the average Australian poker machine player spend? Answer 7: $2400   Question 8: How many people in the United States died from gun-related injuries in 2020? Answer 8: 45,000 people   Question 9: What percentage of those deaths were suicides? Answer 9: 54%   Question 10: What share of all murders and suicides in the US involve a gun? Answer 10: 79%   Question 11: What 3 states have the most gun-related deaths? Answer 11: Louisiana, Mississippi, and Wyoming.   Question 12: How many active shooter incidents were there in 2020? Answer 12: 40 moments Gambling addiction in Australia One of the problems with gambling addiction in Australia is that the government benefits from it. The government takes a cut of every dollar gambled and then throws it back into gamble responsibly education. Twenty billion dollars a year is spent on gambling, and 10 billion of it is on just the pokies or gaming machines. Jason explains how pubs in Australia are now valued purely on gambling revenue when selling rather than beer and food. Suicide rates are connected to gambling too as addiction is a mental health issue. The American gun problem When it comes to guns, in countries like Switzerland and Israel everyone has to do some time in the military so they learn about gun safety. In America, however, anyone can just get a gun without necessarily taking a test or anything of the sort. Guns have always existed in America, but the cri

In today’s episode of The Recombobulator Lab, Chris and Jason have the pleasure of having the knowledgeable Doug Keene on the show, who is a third-time guest in the Lab. Doug, a former clinical psychologist and an epic trial consultant, will discuss authoritarianism in this episode, including studies done over the years to support it and its positive and negative impacts. What is authoritarianism? Authoritarianism is the process and exchange where there is essentially a strong leader and a subject that will be expected to comply with the instructions or guidance of the strong leader. Authoritarianism is not purely political. There are lots and lots of circumstances where people either turn toward or against authoritarian leadership. It could be in religion or it's how children are parented. In general, Doug says, people may look toward authoritarian solutions when they're scared.  The Stanley Milgram Experiment In the 60s’, American social psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted research on how far people would go to comply with authority figures' commands. A researcher instructed the participants to shock a different person with electric shocks that got stronger. Two-thirds of the subjects were willing to continue shocking them even after they stopped responding. This was horrifying to Milgram, who had expected 3% or 4%, somewhere in that range. The participants were unaware that the shocks were phony and that the person receiving them was an actor. Authoritarianism and American individualism Doug thinks American Individualism is a a form of autocracy. The idea being that "The cultural and environmental bath we have been stewing in from birth just makes us singularly qualified to accomplish great things and representative of all things good, which is incredibly autocratic." One myth about authoritarianism Doug would do away with fake news and the alternative realities people are trying to spin up, creating constant anxiety and fear. It's really important that people monitor the way it's affecting them and the degree to which they expose themselves to fake news, making sure it gets balanced and counterweighted with things that are authentically loving and genuine. Pros of authoritarianism It has the ability to deliver reliable outcomes across the country.It saves time during the decision-making process.It puts the burden on having to decide on the leader.It improves hierarchy within the executive branch of government.It c

This week on The Recombobulator Podcast, Jason and Chris are diving into part two of their conversation with Zane Lamprey on taking offense. Who gives it, where and why do we take it? From our siblings to strangers on social media, we are all capable of being triggered by something or someone. Later in the episode, the trio discuss the importance of maintaining a clear head before going on stage and Zane delightedly divulges how he whimsically came up with his brand’s unique name. Comedians and Offense Zane begins by quoting Ricky Gervais in that there is a certain “arrogance” in the belief that “everyone can walk around the world and not be offended.” Chris agrees stating that if Gervais or Dave Chappelle walk off stage and no one is offended, they would question where they went wrong. What offends you ? Jason asks Zane what he gets offended by, to which Zane concludes that “everyone gets offended by something” and that “we all have these triggers”, referring again to one of many people’s earliest memories: our siblings offending us as they “know our triggers” more than most. Onstage presence Zane highlights the importance of “being in the best state of mind” before going on stage, divulging his pre-show routine of calling his wife to “talk about nothing” because she puts him “in a good mood”. Warriors in a Culture War ? Jason highlights the contemporary issue of ‘third-party’ offense on social media wherein people get offended by another person offending someone else. Zane describes who he calls the ‘PC Police’ who are “speaking on someone else’s behalf.” Chris chimes in with the concerning matter of people who “are looking for an opportunity to blow something up” and consequently receive “free media” attention. You don’t know me Zane makes a connection between people who comment on other people as someone “who had a trigger” themselves and describes the internet as a place “where you can speak before you think”, leaving the mess to be cleaned up by other people. Pleepleus Zane discusses the struggle for his apparel company in competing with “the big dogs” and their name switch from ‘Adventure’ to ‘Pleepleus’, the uniqueness of which Chris compliments Zane on, which originally came to Zane during his trip to Galway, Ireland. Rebranding Zane discusses the importance of reminding people that he is a comedian, and of rebranding himself to allow him to continue growing his brand today.

Jason is third party offended by a frozen pizza raising some questions with Chris about the nature of offense and how it relates to comedy. Is offense a key part of comedy? Is targeting certain demographics just a bit of fun, or is it part of a bigger problem in society? What about targeting WASPs? Is that ok?  Zane Lamprey- also known as the Anothony Bourdain of drinking- joins The Recombobulator Lab to help tease this out. Together they try to identify 'the line' in part 1 of this 2 part episode and better understand the idea of taking offense.  After such a fun episode in season 1 with Zane, Chris and Jason couldn't wait to get him back on for season 2 to talk about the hot topic of taking offense. Since they spoke last Zane has been doing a stand-up tour around breweries in the US. He also did a show at a weed farm. It was a shareholders night with a difference. Everyone was h1gh and Zane had to figure out the audience dynamic a little differently to how he usually does. Zane addresses a question that is on a lot of people's minds about being a comedian on tour. How on earth do they stay in shape while drinking at every show? Alcohol and comedy go hand in hand almost as well as comedy and offense. So what is Zane's secret and how does he stay such an 'attractive man' to quote Jason? The topic of offense is on the tip of everyone's tongues in interviews with comedians, according to Zane. The way he sees it the landscape is always changing. Comedians are consistently setting and moving the bar. That's how comedy works. the problem now is that there's video. Things that were ok to say 10 years ago can be shown again now and ruin someone's life. The job of a comedian is to push the envelope and ride the edge but the edge is always moving. Zane thinks that some people deliberately keep things up their sleeves as ammunition and use it at a time that will really hurt someone's career or life. This is part 1 of a 2 part episode. In episode 2 Chris and Jason will talk about Ricky Gervais' view on taking offense and hear more of Zane's stories. For more about Zane Lamprey see https://zanelamprey.com/

It has been over a year since season 1 of The Recombobulator Lab finished. Chris and Jason’s schedules have filled back up with everything from Jason and his wife presenting at the World Economic Forum to Chris jet setting all over the USA. But somehow they managed to pull together season 2.  This episode Chris has a COVID quiz for Jason and the guys discuss their highs and lows of the pandemic. Why bring COVID back up, you might ask? To package it up and put it away for good. Thanks to everyone who made season 1 such a success and for making season 2 possible.   Since the pandemic eased both Jason and Chris have been travelling with work. Jason and his wife had the honour of doing a presentation at the World Economic Forum about G-Diapers, their environmentally friendly diaper company. Some highlights of the trip include sharing an umbrella with Bill Gates and finding out that the world is not being controlled by 3 people.  Chris has also been ‘back on the big metal bird’ since last season with work trips to Longview, Texas; Seattle, Washington; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Oklahoma City; Dallas, Texas; Eugene, Oregon; Las Cruces, New Mexico; Washington DC; Las Vegas, Nevada and Denver, Colorado. He learned a thing or two on his travels including the fact that the view in Longview is actually not that long. There’s not much of a view at all.  COVID podcast quiz  Question 1: In the first half of 2020 name 5 Google searches that saw a huge percentage increase. Eg. Yeast grew (or rose?) 280%  Answer 1: Any of 5 of the following.  Take out Dumbell Standing desk Paint-by-numbers Hair clippers Netflix Recipe Electric bike Blender    Question 2: How many people died in Australia during the COVID 19 pandemic as of Aug 2022?  Answer 2: 13,000 people   Question 3: How many people died in the US during the COVID 19 pandemic as of Aug 2022?  Answer 3: 1 million people    Question 4: What percentage of the world is fully vaccinated? Answer 4: 62.8%

A diaper executive and a jury consultant walk into a bar...madness ensues--for the second season in a row! The Recombobulator Lab covers knowledge and society topics from the perspectives of two old friends who are both dedicated to facts, evidence, science, and bouts of comedic rants.  "The Lab" is hosted each episode by the Co-Founder of gDiapers, Jason Graham-Nye, from Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia, and The President of Tsongas Litigation Consulting, Chris Dominic, from Portland, Oregon, USA.

Jason & Chris wrap Season 1 with internet pioneer and entrepreneur Pascal Finette. Pascal shares some history of his journey, beginning with his education in Cologne, starting his first company, and the Internet when the first web browsers were being developed.   The three discuss Pascal's "No Bullshit Zone" and relate it to some of their own experiences with people presenting as less than "real."   Pascal then shares some of the exciting new developments in business,  technology, and society and answers the question, "will the robots kill us?"   Pascal's podcast is at The Heretic.   MealPass inquiries, please contact Jason Graham-Nye at jason@mealpass.org.

Jason & Chris catch up about challenges in their respective backyards before making an important announcement and gratefully reflecting on the last 31 episodes of The Recombobulator Lab. MealPass inquiries, please contact Jason Graham-Nye at jason@mealpass.org.