Kinky Dolphins, Bodies in Barrels, and Seeing What We Want to See

We begin with a mystery:

What does it mean when a pair of sexually aroused river dolphins engage in rough play with an anaconda? Science has no definitive answers, but the media — from Business Insider to The New York Times to BroBible — will happily cover the confusion.

So begins an exploration into pareidolia, that cognitive quirk where we see faces in all kinds of stuff, and "find" patterns of meaning in just about everything else. In this episode, Brandon & Stephen ask whether pareidolia applies to how we read (and produce) the news, too.

Is the announcement that SpaceX wants to land on Mars within the decade a sign of progress or of terrifying corporate control of the future? Are bodies in barrels a story of Vegas mob crime or a larger story of climate crime? And are we the only ones who missed the living political cartoon that was a rabid fox biting a bunch of people around the White House?

We wrestle a big anaconda of a question: is every story actually a "choose your own adventure" tale of variable meanings? Or are some stories, like the psychosexual hijinks of a couple of river dolphins, immune to our ability to see what we want? Are some stories too weird to be about anything but themselves?

Dive into these murky waters with us and pray you don't rub up against any strange barrels.

JOURNOS is produced by Heather "Eagle Ears" Wilson.

 

NOTES

A message from Earth in the clouds // A handsome/scary face on Mars // Shep's mind is blown by Mars // A little more on pareidolia // A lot more on pareidolia, plus cute pics of car faces