Comments on: Podcast Goodness: Brainwashing and Twinkies!

By: Roger

Roger — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:45:57 +0000

Dear Josh and Chuck

I was looking for shoes for my baby daughter online a few days after listening to the Twinkies podcast and came across these real life “twinkle-toes” shoes:

http://www.startriteshoes.com/childrens-shoes/2160_6/TWINKLETOES_SPARKLE

(BTW you don’t often see Twinkies outside of the USA?). May be their shelf life means they don’t travel too well.

Roger from New Zealand / Hong Kong

By: Jessi

Jessi — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:08:04 +0000

Hey Chuck and Josh,
I love your podcast in general, but have a correction for your Twinkie show. You sidetracked from Twinkie The Kid to the other cowboy-hatted cartoon guy of the 80’s. The cheese guy in the cowboy hat has no pockets…what he says is ” I hanker for a hunka…a slab, a slice, ‘r chunka…I hanker for a hunka cheese!” That is a phrase I think of often, for some reason, and I thought you’d like to know!
Keep up the good work!
***jessi from South Dakota

By: Gustavo

Gustavo — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:21:53 +0000

I really enjoyed this podcast. Learning about brainwashing was like remembering my jaded past in certain (allegedly) “spiritual” congregations. I was glad that you didn’t bring it into a religious context, but the parallels are amazing, especially after having watched Jesus Camp. Since coercion is not necessarily involved for certain contexts, I suppose one could argue that (political/social/religious) indoctrination is brainwashing by choice.

By: Mons Soseman

Mons Soseman — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:24:17 +0000

I think Josh said he was fascinated at a new age workshop that people were seeking out anything.

An old phrase I once learned says

“in an age of incredulity, people will be most credulous,”

so, in an age when traditional values, truths, etc. are disbelieved or attacked strongly, people will latch onto any novelty, superstition, etc.

By: Bradley

Bradley — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:32:52 +0000

Hey guys,

Great podcast you guys are putting out. I’m enjoying all the topics, and I’m always the one at events who’s got the random information about things like déjà vu, lucid dreaming, and cannibalism (as long as it’s not a dinner event)!

Thanks to your podcast about propaganda, and the conversation I then had with a friend about the subject, I finally picked up a copy of and read 1984. I was amazed to see and recognize all the propaganda throughout the book. Just about everything associated with the life of the main character was devoted to propagandizing Big Brother.

And then you guys put out this brainwashing podcast, and I couldn’t help but thinking of the last section of 1984. I actually went back through and read that part again, only to find exactly the tactics you both mentioned in the podcast! It’s almost like George Orwell drank some highly concentrated Vul Nut Wine (guess the reference w/o using google!), listened to your podcast, read Julia Layton’s article, then wrote the end of the book!

By: Shalom Pennington

Shalom Pennington — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:09:56 +0000

There is a video on Hulu that shows the production process of Twinkies.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/47236/man-made-sweet-tooth

By: kate

kate — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:05:47 +0000

I don’t think it’s a cliche to hate mimes. I think it’s natural to hate strangers covered in makeup who make fun of you, or at least, do things that aren’t funny and want you to laugh and give them money. Yuck. It usually happens when you’re minding your own business, or talking to your friends in the park. There are just so many reasons to hate them.

Also… I think the twinkie experiment needs controls. The next person to do this should also use a piece of homemade cake and see how the two compare… judging by the amount of time I had a grocery store torte in my fridge last year… I think the results could be suprizing.

By: Charles

Charles — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:03:46 +0000

Hey Ross – thanks for the love, and uh, read the blog post above for the correction.

By: Ross

Ross — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:00:00 +0000

Hey Josh, absolutely love the SYSK podcasts. I’m catching up today because I was in the hospital last week having mini-strokes as Andrea so eloquently spoke of already (not due to Twinkies, but I figured it would be a good tie-in). I know you guys mentioned Jonestown twice in two consecutive podcasts, but you only made what I consider to be a picky mistake in the Twinkie-cast. I promise I have no affiliation with the company, but I just want to let you and Chuckers know that it was not Kool-Aid that was used at Jonestown, it was Flavor-Aid. Not sure if anyone else cares to defend the Kool-Aid man, but they got a bad rep for being the most recognizable drink in that scenario. Thanks man – and again, I love everything you guys cover. Thanks for the laughs and education all at once!

By: Seth B.

Seth B. — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:20:38 +0000

I have a different sort of brainwashing to speak of:
Years ago, when I was maybe in my young teens, my brother loaned me a CD called Orbvus Terrarvm containing a track called “White River Junction” wherein there is some clip of a self-help voice-over telling you how ‘worth-while you are’ etc. I used to listen to this CD all the time as I went to sleep, for years, off and on. Later, in high school, I came up with this nifty, original philosophy that interactions with people would be so much easier if we could all try to simply be “Open, honest, and direct” with each-other. Years later again, I popped that CD in again, only to be shocked to hear that exact phrase come out of the song. I couldn’t get over the fact that I had, apparently, conditioned myself (in my sleep)into a whole life philosophy.

does that seem like a relevant correltaion?