Dungeons & Dragons, the legendary tabletop role-playing game featuring elves, dwarves, wizards, fighters, and legions of nerds is currently observing… its 50th anniversary! Really, no Really!

Over the five decades, the game has had its fair share of infamy with stories of “Satanic panic” and more recently, a resurgence after being featured on Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” But what is this game really about? And how can it be more popular than ever after 5 decades?

Jason and Peter, after much needling from the self -identified nerds on their production staff (and Jason’s son who is a proud Dungeon Master) bravely walked into the never-known realms of D&D with one of the game’s quintessential experts... Jon Peterson, who studies the history of games, especially tabletop role-playing games and wargames. His first book has just been re-released as “Playing at the World, 2E, Volume 1: The Invention of Dungeons & Dragons” which has been called "the first serious history of the development of Dungeons & Dragons" by the Village Voice.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• A painless and fun history of Role-Playing Games.
• D&D is an improvisational-collaborative- storytelling experience.
• What’s a Dungeon Master and does it involve black latex, mouth gags and whips?
• What’s the point of a game with no “winning”?
• Breaking down D&D to understand its appeal.
• Wait… watching other people livestream D&D is a multimillion-dollar thing?
• Why D&D has become popular in prisons, on death row and in solitary confinement?
• Is D&D a game or a lifestyle choice?
• D&D’s ongoing controversies.
• How should a novice approach starting to play D&D?
• How A.I. and other technology will affect the future of D&D.

FOLLOW JON:

X: @docetist

Facebook: PlayingAtTheWorld

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We’ve all seen videos of stage-hypnosis shows where seemingly random audience members are put to sleep, hypnotized and then… in no time, they’re clucking like chickens, dancing like ballerinas, or swatting away imaginary pests. Jason and Peter had to find out if this was something staged or “real” hypnosis.

Today’s guest, Dr. David Spiegel had the answer and reveals whether hypnotism can make people do things against their will, increase their physical strength and he even hypnotizes both Jason and Peter. Really, no really!

Dr. Spiegel has more than 40 years of clinical and research experience studying differing psychological disciplines, including hypnosis. He has used hypnosis since 1967, achieving and publishing results in more than 404 scientific journal articles, and 170 book chapters.

He is also the founder of Reveri, a self-hypnosis app.

So, sit back, get comfortable, and be prepared for a very, hypnotic episode…Really, no Really!

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Stage hypnosis… is it real? (You might be surprised!)
• The therapeutic aspect of making a football coach dance like a ballerina.
• What happens inside the hypnotized brain
• Can hypnosis retrieve long lost memories… induce false memories?
• Therapeutic problems hypnosis can help.
• Is self-hypnosis a thing?
• How hypnosis can help alleviate self-destructive thinking.
• Jason and Peter get hypnotized by Dr. Spiegel – Really, no Really?
• Jason reveals his never before discussed personal encounters with hypnosis.
• Googleheim: Famous people who famously used hypnosis.

FOLLOW DR. SPIEGEL:

Website: reveri.com

Instagram: @Reveri

X: @reveri_health

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We’ve all heard of The Nobel Peace prize and the Nobel Literature prize, Science, and Medicine prizes. Well, this episode has absolutely nothing to do with any of that!

But! If you come up with an idea that is an unusual or trivial or a bizarre achievement in scientific research, well then…we have an award for you. It’s called the Ig Nobel Prize, and anyone can win it, if their idea makes you laugh…and then… makes you think! Really, no really!

The Prize was created by today’s guest, Marc Abrahams who has awarded it annually since 1991. And the awards are handed out annually by genuine Nobel laureates, as they honor and celebrate the unusual, the creative and the imaginative… while also spurring people’s interest in science, medicine, and technology.

So be prepared to learn about woodpeckers and concussions, an unusual childbirth device and the importance of fish farts. That’s right… fish farts!

IN THIS EPISODE:

• The unbelievable way Marc first became editor of a scientific magazine.
• Amusing inventors & scientists doing obscure, yet noble things should be honored. Right?
• The scientists who defied a Prime Minister and proved the impending submarine invasion was not happening.
• Meet the guy who studied whether gonorrhea could be transmitted by sex dolls.
• Colonoscopy researchers won the Ig Nobel twice and performed a live on-stage demonstration you won’t believe.
• The Blonsky centrifugal birthing device will defy your understanding of natural childbirth.
• Why don’t woodpeckers get concussions and how that applies to football.
• Your foot size to genitalia size ratio is… real?
• Jason has some “genius ideas” he thinks should win an Ig Nobel.
• The small but notable list of inventors who were killed by their inventions.
• GOOGLEHEIM: Have any nobility won the Nobel Prize? Yep!

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FOLLOW MARC:

Website – Improbable.com

Ig Nobel Prize 2024

Mastodon - @MarcAbrams

Facebook - Marc Abrahams

Podcast – Improbable Research

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