“I set alarm clocks and scattered Legos across the carpet, then put the clocks across the room so I had to step on Legos to shut them off. The pain was supposed to wake me up. Instead, I stepped on Legos, turned off the clocks, and went back to bed.”
*Interview conducted in November, 2024.* Rick Rosner: I’ve been feeling bad about our recent conversations because it’s mostly me complaining about Trump. So, I tried to think more philosophically or metaphysically for a moment. We’ve often talked about the principles of existence and things that can exist, but that made me wonder: what about things …
*Interview conducted in November, 2024.* Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You mentioned tweeting about infrastructure projects. Rick Rosner: Yes, I tweeted that 10,000 infrastructure projects had been completed as of May. That’s a significant number. Biden managed to pass the first major infrastructure bill since Obama, and the U.S. badly needs it, given the poor state of …
Continue reading Ask A Genius 1184: Infrastructure and Tweeting Online
*Interview conducted in November, 2024.* Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When was the last time you went to synagogue, Rick? Rick Rosner: The last time was for my mom’s memorial, over two years ago. Besides that, I haven’t been back. But we did watch No One Will Watch This, which is about Jews and stars Kristen Bell …
Continue reading Ask A Genius 1183: Rick’s Mixed Relationship with Synagogue
*Interview conducted October/November, 2024.* Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What’s up, buddy boy?! Rick Rosner: So, it looks... Iran looks like they tested a nuke a day or two ago. It’s not confirmed, but they had what reads on the Richter scale as an earthquake, except it’s not in a place that has earthquakes, and the timing …
[Recording Start] Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, you have had opportunities to gain fame. Rick Rosner: Yes, I have done four pilots centered on either myself as a smart person or involving other people as well. None of these pilots have been successful, which is not unusual, but it is frustrating. I have a significant number …
Continue reading Ask A Genius 936: Opportunities for the Fabled Fame
[Recording Start] Scott Douglas Jacobsen: There it is. So we are back after a while. I wanted to cover a little bit about the colossal amount of work over a decade or more, in fact, more than a decade, doing a lot of the independent journalistic work that I've done. I typically pick a topic, and …
Continue reading Ask A Genius 935: Mathematicizing Our Collaborations
[Recording Start] Rick Rosner: All right, I eat fruit with a knife because I’m a badass, or maybe because I don’t want to break off my old teeth. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I’m skeptical of the badass. Rosner: Say again? Jacobsen: I’m skeptical of the badass. Rosner: I’m sitting here with a knife, just cutting on a peach. I don’t even …
Continue reading Ask A Genius 934: A badass with fruits and a knife
[Recording Start] Rick Rosner: Okay, we will discuss population dynamics and energy consumption. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Do you want to start with population or energy? Rosner: Well, I am just going to start with how I came upon it. I just read an article that people have been saying for a while because it’s true that a quarter …
Continue reading Ask A Genius 933: Population Dynamics and Energy Consumption
[Recording Start] Rick Rosner: Carole and I started watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the TV series inspired by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, a Doug Liman movie from probably 15 years ago. It's where Brad and Angelina met and fell in love, perhaps 17 or 18 years ago. In both the film and the series, the …
Rick Rosner 