Episode 252: The Chocolate Boys

TOPIC: Something something the things we own.

This week, Dan and Merlin talk about the way shopping changes how we buy stuff—and how buying is changing what we can actually shop for.

Then, there's a ruminative discussion of the Mast Brothers chocolate dust-up and what it might say about our sense of story, identity, and "authenticity."

Links for this episode:

• What the Mast Brothers Scandal Tells Us About Ourselves - Eater
  One of the ascendant virtues of the new culinary landscape is the murky, poorly defined quality of authenticity. It's an idea that means wildly different things depending on who's saying it and what they're applying it to, but in all circumstances it boils down to a fundamental notion of quality by fiat: if something is authentic, it is necessarily good. Authenticity implies a purity of history, a purity of purpose — in short, if something is authentic, it isn't enjoyed because we've been barraged with external indicators that have instructed us to enjoy it
  
  
• Milgram experiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  
• Veblen good - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Veblen goods are types of luxury goods, such as expensive wines, jewelry, fashion-designer handbags, and luxury cars, which are in demand because of the high prices asked for them.
  
  
• Snob effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  In microeconomics, the snob effect is a phenomenon referring to the situation where the demand for a certain good by individuals of a higher income level is inversely related to the demand for the good by individuals of a lower income level.
  
  
• The Emperor's New Clothes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  
• Mast Brothers Admits It Hasn't Always Made 'Bean-to-Bar' Chocolate - Eater
  
• Ugly Christmas Sweaters & Tacky Christmas Sweaters
  
• 21-87 (English Version) by Arthur Lipsett - NFB
  
• Reconcilable Differences #15: Emotional Swimsuit Season - Relay FM
  
• Caillou - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  
• Bookshop West Portal | Your Neighborhood Bookstore
  
• Kitbashed
  
• Four-quadrant movie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  In the movie industry, a four-quadrant movie is one which appeals to all four major demographic "quadrants" of the moviegoing audience: both male and female, and both over- and under-25s
  
  
• Arthur Lipsett - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  
• The Spiritual Disenchantment of the Super Machine Age — Kitbashed
  
• Dr. Zaius Song - YouTube
  
• Dr. Zaius - YouTube
  
• Narcissism of small differences - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  

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