Ask A Genius 1159: Gaffes of J.D. Vance

*Interview conducted October/November, 2024.* Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What gaffes and flaws do you see in Vance, similar to the commentary about Trump and about Walls?  Rick Rosner: Vance has been attacked by Trump and others for changing his political stances. Most famously, maybe, is about fracking. He was, at some point, in 2016, against fracking, …

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Ask A Genius 1158: Trump and Walz at the Time

*Interview conducted October/November, 2024.* Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What’s going on with Trump’s party?  Rick Rosner: Yesterday, Trump was holding another rally, and it was hot. Two people fainted. That somehow gave Trump the excuse to stop taking questions from the audience. He’d only taken four, and then he decided instead to play music. For 39 …

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Ask A Genius 1157: You Can’t Have Road Rage If You Don’t Drive

*Interview conducted October/November, 2024.* Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, in an article in Noesis, the journal of the Mega Society years ago, you wrote an article about road rage. Do you still have it? Why is it more? Why is it less? Rick Rosner: It’s mostly less because I’m older, and not necessarily wiser, but people’s …

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Ask A Genius 1156: 2085

*Interview conducted October/November, 2024.* Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What about 2085? Rick Rosner: In 2085, everyone will have an all-purpose robot that does everything. It’ll be like a smartphone, but with more functions—a Swiss army knife of technology. They’ll be called “Obes,” I’d guess. They’ll start as “omnibots,” then shorten to “obots,” and eventually just “obes.” …

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Ask A Genius 1155: Demoblicans and Republicrats

*Interview conducted October/November, 2024.* Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I've heard commentary from Democrats suggesting that if they lose the next election, it will be the last Democratic election. I've also heard Elon Musk say that if the Democrats win, it will be the last Democratic election for the Republicans. So, let’s talk about it. Rick Rosner: …

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Ask A Genius 1154: Dyed Hair and Instruments

*Interview conducted October/November, 2024.* Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Is there any damage to your hair from dyeing your hair? Rick Rosner: It depends on how much you dye it. If you dye your hair repeatedly blonde, that’s super harsh if you’re starting from black or dark brown. So yes, you’ll—why are we talking about dyeing your …

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Ask A Genius 1152: Favourite Philosophers

*Interview conducted October/November, 2024.* Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Who is your favorite philosopher? Rick Rosner: That I have one? What Wittgenstein’s or Kierkegaard’s or most people’s most famous philosophers’ philosophy was, I don’t know. I can say one sentence about existentialism. I started taking a grad-level course in phenomenology when I was at CU, but I …

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Ask A Genius 1151: Walz to the Wall at the Time

*Interview conducted October/November, 2024.* Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Do you think Walz is doing a good job and a bad job at as the running mate? Rick Rosner: Yes. He’s behind. He had little glitches that the Republicans tried to make hay off of, but they don’t seem persuasive. Walz claimed to have been in Hong …

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Ask A Genius 1150: Pre-Election Project 2025

*Interview conducted October/November, 2024.* Rick Rosner: So Project 2025 has been around longer than a year or two, but it had different names in the past. I'm not sure how old the Heritage Foundation is, but it’s probably 40 or 50 years old. It's their agenda, but it’s not necessarily Trump’s agenda. Even if Trump …

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