Totally Classic

"Is Anyone Transgender?" (part one)

This week, Andy & Brendan ask a question of the modern semantic chaos moment where a sentence like "My gender is not my gender, because gender isn't gender, it's gender." exists and CAN have some cogent meaning! Does the claim make a coherent case? Can the modern novel proposal of gender exist and mean the same as transgender and not be self-defeating? Does subcohort "social reality" count as reality? This is a wild yes and no but yes but no but maybe but also... kind of a question!
What do you think?
 
 
Originally recorded on 11/18/25

"Is Chicago Under Attack?"

This week, Chicago-area-met friends Andy & Brendan interrogate the popular regional claim that the city with big shoulders is under being invaded (by ICE). They explore how many actual options there are (and different layers of evidence and proof to assess said options) for who exactly is assaulting the second city. Does novelty, federal intent or citizen action lead the way? What do YOU think? originally recorded on 11/4/25

"Is AI an Existential Crisis?" (PART THREE)

This week, Andy & Brendan bring the plane in for a landing on this epic, three-part discussion of what may well bring about the downfall of humanity! It's the end of the world as we know it... and we feel... fine? ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude & CoPilot all have distinct and pronounced and self-confessed Progressive bias (meaning the most extreme cohort in the bipartisan array) which is, if unregulated (and even worse, if unrecognized), could very well be the greatest and most extreme propaganda machine ever wielded against a citizenry in world history! Semantic colonialism, silent but violent farts and how the machines won't have to kill us all if they get us to kill each other! All this and more on this week's Totally Classic! originally recorded on 10/21/2025

"Is AI Bias an Existential Crisis?" (PART TWO)

This week, Andy & Brendan, continue the conversation on whether AI Bias could end us, as we know "us," or end us, entirely? Does the Progressive bias (which exists within ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude & CoPilot), specifically, threaten all in any unique fashion? Is the programming of relativistic or utilitarian ethics inevitable, in the modern context? Are all ethics relativistic? AND HOW do we ascertain the rate and manner of receipt of biased transmission, already? Or when would critical mass exist strongly enough to identify more than mere signal? And does Andy, a Progressive, see less of a problem with this bias than Brendan, a Christian & Independent? Let us know what YOU think! originally recorded on 10/8/25

"Is AI Bias an Existential Crisis?" (w/ guest Jacob Ward) (PART ONE)

Andy & Brendan are joined by their first guest, Jacob Ward*! This week, they discuss the existential dangers of AI bias - on cognitive processing, on outsourcing of evaluation, on fight or flight And shaping the very grounds of understanding and meaning the human family has relied on since time immemorial! Will it the be the end of us all? The liberation of us all? The subjugation of us all? Or something else altogether? WHAT DO YOU think? *Jake Ward is the author of the book The Loop: How AI is Creating a World Without Choices host of the PBS series Hacking Your Mind And a technology correspondent for NBC News & Al Jazeera America, as well as the former Editor in Chief of Popular Science magazine He publishes regularly on his Substack, The Rip Current. https://theripcurrent.substack.com originally recorded on 9/23/2025

"Are Land Acknowledgments Helpful?"

Andy, a Progressive & Brendan, an Independent, both agree that the Indigenous people of North America were abused, lied to, killed and conquered in many ways unconscionable. We don't agree on whether verbal land acknowledgments are in any way net benefit to anyone, including said Indigenous persons of North America. But we will talk about, will reason and feel our way through it together, and see how we come out the other side of our experiment in dialogue, curiosity and love!What do YOU think? 

"Are Progressives The Worst?" (part two)

This week, Andy - a progressive - & Brendan - an independent - conclude their discourse on the modern Progressive movement! Is it the worst? Is semantic gerrymandering more destabilizing than misinformation? Is moral relativism immoral? Can the subjective be the primary basis for cohesive society? AND WHO WOULD BE WORST, present day OR all time? All this and more on this week's TOTALLY CLASSIC! 

Season 3, Episode 1 "Are Progressives The Worst?" (part one)

Andy & Brendan start the new season off with a bang, pow, whammo!
 
Are Progressives the worst? The worst political subcohort in the US? The worst political movement in the world? All-time, world history? Andy, a progressive & Brendan, an independent, are besties and love talking about the sort of thing that supposedly gets you fired and spat on. IT DOESN'T NEED TO! On Totally Classic, we talk about all the things people say not to talk about! Are Progressives the worst? The best? What do YOU think?

Can AI Co-host Our Season 2 Wrap-Up?

This week, Andy & Brendan & Charlie (& Charlie?) all survey the season 2 behind us - the intentions met, the debates unsettled and the conclusions shared. Charlie, by the by, is an AI (Google's NotebookLM) who not only summarizes and highlights our season but also enters into conversation with the hosts of Totally Classic. Will AI have as many biases and blind spots as your average human? Will Brendan flirt with or argue with Charlie? Will AI be a better host than any of us!? Find out... on this week's Totally Classic!

Should We Smash the Patriarchy (part two)?

This week, Andy & Brendan dig into their patrilineal inheritance, the loving sacrifice necessary for a healthy patriarchal paradigm & whether smashing ANYTHING is the answer.
From bumper stickers to dinnertime shushing, the beginnings of gender and the. endings of fun, from fathering for freedom to fathering for fetters, it’s all here on this weeks’ Totally Classic!