Thoughts Off The Stem

Category: Rants

  • Everyone Just Wants To Be Right All The Time

    Let’s get into it. A UFC commentator texts the president about psychedelics on a Saturday. By Monday he’s in the Oval Office watching an executive order get signed. Men are literally hitting themselves in the face with hammers to get dates. Africa is cracking in half. The government published alien documents so redacted they might…

  • Swiss Chalet: They’re Supposed to Be Good at Chicken

    Restaurant Horror Stories They Had One Job This week on Thoughts Off The Stem, Justin Barone breaks down a Swiss Chalet dinner that went completely off the rails — and then takes it further with the most stomach churning restaurant horror stories the internet has ever produced. There are restaurants that try to do everything…

  • Conned By Cuteness: Kids Are Shapeshifters, Hear Me Out

    The Greatest Con In Human History Conspiracy theorists have spent years searching for shapeshifters. They’ve been looking in all the wrong places. The real shapeshifters have been right under our noses the whole time — sitting in your living room, eating your food, using your WiFi, and asking you for money. They’re called kids. In…

  • Give A Big F**k You to Privacy with Meta Glasses

    New tech is cool. I genuinely love it. That is, if you’re willing to give a big F**k you to privacy with gadgets like meta glasses. Don’t get me wrong innovation is amazing and the fact that we live in a world where you can walk around with a computer on your face like you’re…

  • They Love to Say they Know a Stoner

    They Love to Say they Know a Stoner

    They Love to Say They Know a Stoner: Cannabis Stigma Normalization Let me paint you a picture. You’re sitting across from someone in a suit. Nice office. Firm handshake. The kind of person who irons their shirt collar and says “synergy” without irony. You’re there for a job interview, you’re trying your best to look…

  • Everything Is Fake: Your Reality Is For Sale

    Everything Is Fake: Your Reality Is For Sale

    Someone slid into my DMs last week and asked me to have a guest on the podcast. Now I get approached from time to time and most of the time it’s pretty straightforward. But this one stopped me cold. Because the person reaching out was Kristin M. Davis — better known as the Manhattan Madam…

  • From the Manosphere to Marijuana: Big Ego’s make Cranky Toddlers

    From The Manosphere to Marijuana: Comparing Tactics and Ideologies From the Manosphere to Marijuana, what do a 1930s paper tycoon, the DuPont family, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and a modern-day “Alpha” influencer have in common? They are all fueled by the same thing: A massive, fragile ego, an overabundance of…

  • Stop Working For Free: Social Exposure Doesn’t Pay The Bills

    Stop Working For Free: Social Exposure Doesn’t Pay The Bills

    Paying with exposure is a hustle that belongs in a buddy’s garage, not a professional business. Why Paying With Exposure Doesn’t Work in the Real World Imagine walking into a local pot shop, asking for an ounce of top-shelf flower, and offering to settle the tab with a shout-out on your Instagram story. You’d be…