The Ridiculous, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Idea

Snap Judgment

Snap Judgment and PRX

Snap, Glynn, Storytelling, Wnyc, Society & Culture/personal Journals, Performing Arts, Washington, Society & Culture/documentary, Arts/performing Arts, Music, Arts

4.8 • 11.2K Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2021

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A computer learns to speak with emotion and conviction but lacks the ability to distinguish good ideas from absolute madness. And a man has a chance to work on a secret project involving millions of flying mammals that could put an end to World War II.

STORIES

Theodora

Making sense of the world is always a struggle. And that's why, as far back as time has existed, some people have chosen to stand up in front of others and tells stories and share ideas that make sense of the chaos around us. We call them "orators" or "the ones who speak" They turn the chaos into meaning and inspiration.

But there's a bad side of orators too—it's the snake oil salesmen....the buzzword charlatans...the intellectual xenomorphs who prey upon those who just want to find some deeper truths.

Producer Jeff Emtman is particularly sensitive to this dual nature of public speaking...he's got some of those darker traits himself. So he developed a simple robot named Theodora who could speak to him about the highly porous barrier that separates inspiration and madness.

This piece comes to us from the podcast Here Be Monsters (HBM146: Theodora). Music by James Li, of Liance. Album: This Painting Doesn't Dry

Theodora's also a Twitterbot. Read her latest meanderings on Twitter at @hypo_inspo.

The Other Secret Weapon

A young man has the chance to work on a very secret, very powerful weapon that could put an end to World War II. The project involves no toxins, no chemicals, no shrapnel and no bullets. Instead, the project involves lots and lots of flying mammals. Lots.

This story details a war situation involving both people and animals, sensitive listeners please be advised.

BIG thanks to Jack Couffer, who is now 97, and BIG love to the entire Couffer family.

Special thanks to producer Elizabeth Nakano & to Doctor Peter Kuznick from the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University.

The bat recordings were made for us by artist & composer Geneva Skeen. Learn more about Geneva’s work.

Produced by John Fecile, original score by Renzo Gorrio, sound design by Pat Mesiti-Miller, artwork by Teo Ducot

Season 12 - Episode 32

Transcript

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0:00.0	Okay, so I'm thinking some tea as I want to do in the morning time reading a paper.
0:23.5	And I come across this line right here.
0:27.3	Well, in the latest advance, researchers in the US and China announced earlier this
0:33.2	month that they made embryos that combined human and monkey cells for the first time.
0:41.4	What?
0:42.4	Again, the Wall Street Journal says they made embryos that combine human and monkey cells.
0:48.0	What?
0:49.0	Have any of these clowns ever seen any movie of any type ever in life and I ask you?
0:57.3	If you think it's going to happen in the final scene, what?
1:00.6	I'd like to know the paper.
1:03.8	It says as well, in Florida, they're introducing genetically modified mosquitoes into the wild
1:09.4	population, obviously, because if anyone knows how to manipulate wild environments for the
1:16.2	greater ecological good, it is Florida, man.
1:21.2	Is it me?
1:22.2	Is it me?
1:23.7	Then, I see a former NASA scientist talking about draining the Great Lakes and sending
1:30.9	the water somewhere out west is an inevitability and we need to get started right now.
1:39.7	Because you know, instead of reclamation, instead of addressing climate change and the
1:44.2	fracking of the clean water supply, you want to drain the Great Lakes so you can continue
1:49.6	the f***ing NO!
1:51.6	No, no, no, no.
1:55.2	If recent American history proves anything, it's that not only do the dumbest people have
	...

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