Culture Archives - Rampant Discourse

The Rampant Discourse Podcast: Episode 54 – Coronavirus: Part 2

April 23, 2020

It’s been about a month since the Rampant Discourse crew met to discuss the Coronavirus pandemic and the effect that it has (and will) have on society, the economy, and more. We’re back (this time remotely) to continue that discussion. Does this pandemic disprove libertarianism as a political philosophy? Or confirm it? What’s the deal with masks? How will society be permanently changed from this extended quasi-lockdown? When do we…

The Rampant Discourse Podcast: Episode 47 – Coronavirus

March 16, 2020

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Is the Coronavirus pandemic the biggest and most impactful event since the September 11th attacks? Is it just a bad flu? Are we all overreacting? Or are things about to get a lot worse? Paul and Andrew are by no means experts or doctors, but nonetheless discuss the steps they are taking to keep their families safe, how long they think this could last, and how bad it could get….

Super Bowl LIV – The Most Significant Commercials

February 3, 2020

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2020 marks the fourth anniversary of my Super Bowl commercial recap blog post here at Rampant Discourse. With four years down, we’ve rotated around through all of the hosting channels, NBC, ABC and for both 2020 and 2017, FOX. Having run this blog for a number of years now, I’ve gotten familiar with the trends. Every year has its own trends, but the generic trends of Super Bowl ads on…

The Necessity of Christ in A Christmas Carol

December 25, 2019

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A Christmas Carol might be Charles Dickens’ most long-lasting work, despite being one of his shortest. There are those who still read and enjoy his other works, such as Oliver Twist, which again regains modern legs with a musical rendition; or David Copperfield, who at least lends his name to someone moderately famous in the modern time. Dickens’ classics are still frequently read, but most typically only among the well-educated. …

The Rampant Discourse Podcast: Episode 27 – OK Boomer

November 20, 2019

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OK Boomer is a catchphrase and internet meme which has recently gained popularity as a way to reference the tension between the baby boomer and millennial generations. Join the Rampant Discourse crew on a meandering discussion over lunch about generations: Which do we associate with? What are the first major events we remember? And does it even make sense to divide people up based on the year they were born?

Why I Am Giving Up on Amazon’s Shipping

March 21, 2019

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I chose to pre-order my latest video game fascination, Kingdom Hearts III, from Amazon. Like most games these days, there were competing pre-order bonuses from various retailers, and the Amazon bonus wasn’t that impressive, but I had no real desire for any of the others, either. So I chose the convenience of direct shipping to my house on release day, price match guarantee, and free shipping thanks to my Prime…

The Barrs and the Bees: Freedom of Speech Can Be Messy

June 8, 2018

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Freedom of speech has been in the news a lot lately, with the reboot of Roseanne getting canceled after some controversial tweets from the star. Soon after, Samantha Bee was apologizing for profanely insulting Ivanka Trump and conservatives were questioning why Bill Maher and Keith Olbermann haven’t been punished for what they see as similar offenses. All of this comes less than a week after the NFL passed a new rule penalizing…

My Problem with Apu

May 10, 2018

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The Problem Have you heard about The Problem With Apu? It’s a 2017 documentary about a comedian’s exploration into the cultural impact of the Indian Simpsons character named Apu. It’s remained in the news thanks to some recent developments. First, an episode of The Simpsons aired which seemed to try to address the controversy. And while some people considered it to be a thoughtful response, many others were less than impressed. More recently, Hank Azaria, the…

Two Terms I Wish We Used Less

February 14, 2018

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Over the past few months, there have been a few terms being thrown around more and more often over social media that cause me to cringe a little bit every time I read them. I cringe because I worry that their overuse is contributing in some small way to the poisoning of our political discourse as well as making it hard to relate to and understand each other. Here are…

Nutritional Yeast is Awesome!

January 18, 2018

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Back when I was in high school, my brother went vegan and a bunch of weird ingredients started showing up in our house. As a huge meat lover I turned my nose up at most of this stuff, even made fun of it, but nutritional yeast immediately caught my taste buds. Decades later, my brother is back to eating meat and I have become vegetarian, but we both still like…

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