34 - The Taylor Swift Episode: (Greg's Version)

Rabbit Fighters

1:14:43

Artificial intelligence is evolving at an unprecedented pace—what does that mean for the future of technology, venture capital, business, and even our understanding of ourselves? Award-winning journalist and writer Anil Ananthaswamy joins us for our latest episode to discuss his latest book Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI . Anil helps us explore the journey and many breakthroughs that have propelled machine learning from simple perceptrons to the sophisticated algorithms shaping today’s AI revolution, powering GPT and other models. The discussion aims to demystify some of the underlying math that powers modern machine learning to help everyone grasp this technology impacting our lives, even if your last math class was in high school. Anil walks us through the power of scaling laws, the shift from training to inference optimization, and the debate among AI’s pioneers about the road to AGI—should we be concerned, or are we still missing key pieces of the puzzle? The conversation also delves into AI’s philosophical implications—could understanding how machines learn help us better understand ourselves? And what challenges remain before AI systems can truly operate with agency? If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits. Links: Read Why Machines Learn, Anil’s latest book on the math behind AI https://www.amazon.com/Why-Machines-Learn-Elegant-Behind/dp/0593185749 Learn more about Anil Ananthaswamy’s work and writing https://anilananthaswamy.com/ Watch Anil Ananthaswamy’s TED Talk on AI and intelligence https://www.ted.com/speakers/anil_ananthaswamy Discover the MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship that shaped Anil’s AI research https://ksj.mit.edu/ Understand the Perceptron, the foundation of neural networks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptron Read about the Perceptron Convergence Theorem and its significance https://www.nature.com/articles/323533a0…

hace un año 49:21

MP3•Episodio en casa

At the time this episode was recorded, Taylor Swift had not yet ascended to the Diamond Throne as Empress of The Known Universe, no, she was still simply a beloved (and occasionally divisive) Global Ultra Star whose wealth, beauty, influence (and wealth) continued to inspire legions, and we review her rise to fame as chronicled in the 2020 documentary/film Miss Americana. (Did we mention she was wealthy?)
SOMEHOW, 2/3rds of The Rabbit Fighters are pretty oblivious to her and on this episode we discover that it's US (us) WE'RE the problem (it's us...).
So join the Rabbit Fighters this week as Greg gets his Tay Tay knowledge tested by his Swiftie daughter and the gang gets a curated Taylor Swift playlist worth of pop straight to the dome! One thing's for sure: we'll never look at Super Bowl halftime shows quite the same way again.
Next Episode - Brian's Pick: Escape From New York
[Originally Published June 25, 2024]

And as always, you can check out the RF's ongoing companion playlist on Spotify and Youtube.

55 episodios

#Cinema #Rabbit Fighters

34 - The Taylor Swift Episode: (Greg's Version)

Rabbit Fighters

published hace un año

MP3•Episodio en casa

And as always, you can check out the RF's ongoing companion playlist on Spotify and Youtube.

55 episodios

#Cinema #Rabbit Fighters

Todos los episodios

1
51 - Thelma & Louise - Outlaws on the Other Side of the Fish Tank 1:01:52

hace 27 días1:01:52

1:01:52

The Rabbit Fighters hop in their convertible T-Bird and get the hell outta Dodge (or Arkansas) for a wild ride to NOT MEXICO! Two gals head out of their suffocating small-town lives for a little fun and suddenly find they are outlaws after Louise murders Thelma's would-be rapist in a parking lot. They hit the road and realize that they are better off as free outlaws than they ever were as trapped women. On the way, they see lots of water, Brad Pitt's hairless chest, a weepy desert cop, a surprisingly un-psycho Michael Madsen, sweeping desert vistas of Arkansas that's actually Utah, the Grand Canyon which is actually Utah, and the bottom of the Grand Canyon, which is STILL Utah. And they would've gotten away with it all if it wasn't for those meddling state troopers, led by the only nice-ish guy in the movie, Harvey Keitel. Where are the inept clowns from Super Troopers when these ladies need them? Next Episode - Brian's pick: The Outsiders [Published February 4, 2025] And as always, you can check out the RF's ongoing companion playlist on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ .…

1
50 - End-of-the-Year Re-Grades 54:34

hace 9 weeks54:34

54:34

The Rabbit Fighters have had a year. We all have, right? And at the end of the year, we all like to look back and reflect on what’s gone well, what’s gone OK, and what we’ve totally effed up. In our final episode of 2024, we look back at our past movie and album grades and make amends for our snap judgments. What did we rate too high? What did we rate too low? What’s the dumbest thing we've reviewed this year? What pleasantly surprised us? What do we wish we’d seen/watched sooner? We hope you enjoy this funny and sometimes brutal reevaluation of our evaluations. We promise more laughs and eff-ups in 2025! Next Week - Greg's pick: Thelma and Louise [Published December 31, 2024] And as always, you can check out the RF's ongoing companion playlist on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ .…

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49 - Trading Places - If There's Anything Worse Than A Billionaire, It's A Billionaire-Sociologist 56:29

hace 10 weeks56:29

56:29

On this Very Special Episode(TM) of Rabbit Fighters, we find our pals cracking wise about the 1983 John Landis Christmas-(adjacent)-classic, Trading Places: THE FIRST FILM TO BE ADDED TO THE RABBIT FIGHTERS RANDOMIZER 3000! Somehow, Joshua failed to see this holly jolly/racially-and-class-warfare charged buddy comedy when he was 5 years old, starring Eddie Murphy, Dan "Too Many Y's In His Name" Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Amtrack. It's a pseudoscientific glimpse into the 80's day trader psyche as we finally put to rest the age old question: "If you committed multiple counts of criminal conspiracy in the states of Pennsylvania and New York FOR SCIENCE, would you still make it onto Santa's Naughty List"? Join us, won't you? Next Episode - End-of-the-Year Re-Grade [Published December 24, 2024] And as always, you can check out the RF's ongoing companion playlist on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ .…

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48 - Tron - A Cinematic Cracked Glowstick 53:50

hace 11 weeks53:50

53:50

The Rabbit Fighters get rotoscoped, forget how to act, and ride their glowcycles back to 1982...when Disney was floundering and desperate to get those hip kids to love them. Jeff Bridges stars as Kevin Flynn/Clu, a software guy who has his ideas stolen by a desk with a British accent. As the only person in the movie who can act, he must jump into a supercomputer to save the day! Bruce Boxlightningpantstner stars as Alan Bradley/Tron...a total mopey turd in real life who also plays the titular character of Tron, who, surprisingly, has no real point in the plot. Cindy Morgan also kind of stars as Lora/Yori, a scientist who likes dissolving oranges and rebuilding them with lasers. She also likes it when Jeff Bridges takes his top off, even though she is dating the mope. Together, they battle The MCP, or Master Control Program, a supercomputer who wants to take over the world and force everyone to play Jai Alai at a rave. Next Week - RF Christmas Special: Trading Places [Published December 20, 2024] And as always, you can check out the RF's ongoing companion playlist on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ .…

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47 - Midnight Run - Brest is Best at Build-A-Bear 55:59

hace 12 weeks55:59

55:59

The Rabbit Fighters hit the road to examine the frenemy road pic, Midnight Run, which was directed by middle school boy-favorite director Martin Brest. Brest also directed such hits as “Beverly Hills Cop”, “Scent of a Woman”, and “Meet Joe Black,” before the movie “Gigli” made him quit directing forever. Noted comedian Robert DeNiro stars as Jack, a chain-smoking ex-cop bounty hunter who just wants to open a goddamned coffee shop, OK, you sunuvabich?! But FIRST, he has to capture The Duke, a chatterbox accountant who crossed the mafia, played by dog-lover and professional dad, Charles Grodin. Yaphet Kotto from Alien, John Ashton, aka Taggart from Beverly Hills Cop, Dennis Farina aka that guy who plays a cop or gangster in every film, Joe Pantoliano, aka Joey Pants, and Philip Baker Hall round out the star-studded cast. WILL Jack get the Duke to LA in time for a big payday? WILL Joey Pants' wig stay on while he screams on the phone? WILL all the actors develop lung cancer from all the damn smoking? And how about those chickens? Those were some good-lookin chickens, amiright? Next Week - Greg's pick: Midnight Run [Published December 10, 2024] And as always, you can check out the RF's ongoing companion playlist on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠ .…

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46 - Boondock Saints - To Poke A Caveman In The Amygdala 54:35

hace 13 weeks54:35

54:35

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT - "The Rabbit Fighters would like to wholeheartedly apologize on behalf of the podcast and decent folk everywhere. This movie is all kinds of awful and watching it made us feel icky (Joshua will never be clean again). That said, the Fighters did enjoy ripping on it because in 1000 years (if humanity survives, which, let's face it, ain't looking too great) we'd like to be on the right side of history (cinematic and otherwise)." - The Fighters Next Week - Greg's Pick: Midnight Run [Published December 3, 2024] And as always, you can check out the RF's ongoing companion playlist on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠ .…

1
45 - I Am Trying To Break Your Heart - With A Chicago Style Side Of "Where Are You, Jay Bennett?" 1:01:01

hace 14 weeks1:01:01

1:01:01

This week the Fighters wrestle with the 2002 Sam Jones documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, about the troubled recording of Wilco's seminal album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot but in doing so, find more questions than answers and so also dive into the 2021 Bechard/Uhter documentary Where Are You, Jay Bennett? Was Jay unfairly kicked from the band? Was this the beginning of the end for Wilco's street cred and the beginning of their evolution into Dad-Rock scions? Was Chicago in the late 90s/early 00s rad? Join us and find out! Next Week - Brian's Pick: Boondock Saints [Published November 26, 2024] And as always, you can check out the RF's ongoing companion playlist on ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠ .…

1
44 - Raising Arizona - Dreams, Hayseeds, And Bad Parenting in Reagan's America 58:10

hace 15 weeks58:10

58:10

This week the Rabbit Fighters revisit a dreamworld of magic: Tempe, Arizona! In the 80's! Why, it's the Coen Brothers' second film, Raising Arizona! Its a madcap story about a convict (Nicholas Cage) who falls in love with a cop (Holly Hunter), cleans up his act and marries her, settles down to experience the "salad days", but things quickly spiral out of control when they discover they can't conceive or adopt. And so they decide to kidnap one of the Arizona Quintuplets (as one does). Is it all a dream? Is Nicholas Cage actually good in this? Are spherical balloons funny? Join us, won't you? Next Week - Joshua's pick: I Am Trying To Break Your Heart [Published November 19, 2024] And as always, you can check out the RF's ongoing companion playlist on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠ .…

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43 - Johnny Dangerously - His Name is an Adverb! 49:07

hace 16 weeks49:07

49:07

The Rabbit Fighters travel back in time to NYC's Lower East Side in the 1930s, where a humble Irish delivery boy named Johnny Kelly is about to become New York's most notorious gangster, Johnny Dangerously. Amy Heckerling directs this parody of gangster movies that 2/3rds of the Rabbit Fighters absolutely hate. Michael Keaton is the suave, fast-talking gangster Johnny. Former funnyman turned greaseball gym rat Joe Piscopo is the villainous Danny Vermin. Taxi alum, redhead, and MENSA member Marilu Henner is Johnny's main squeeze, Lil' Sheridan. Maureen Stapleton is Johnny's foulmouthed, hardworking, bisexual mom, Ma Kelly. Peter Boyle is peak-Boyleness Irish mafia boss, Jocko Dundee. Griffin Dunne is Johnny's weasel-faced, clueless, horny younger brother, District Attorney Tommy Kelly. Dom DeLuise plays Dom DeLuise in a Pope costume. Danny DeVito plays Danny DeVito in a smoking jacket. And for absolutely no reason, legendary Chicago Bears linebacker Dick Butkus plays some schmo with 4 lines driving a car. Next Week - Brian's Pick: Raising Arizona [Published November 12, 2024] And as always, you can check out the RF's ongoing companion playlist on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠ .…

1
42 - E.T. - A Search for Weed Goes Terribly Wrong 58:04

hace 17 weeks58:04

58:04

The Rabbit Fighters hop on their BMX bikes and pedal past the full moon as they examine this beloved Steven Spielberg movie about a blobby, hammerheaded alien with googly eyes and glowing fingers that fix boo-boos and geraniums. E.T.'s ship lands in Los Angeles to gather California kindbud for their condom garden. When men with jingly keys approach, E.T.'s comrades ditch him on Earth, where a lonely boy named Elliott lures him into captivity with free candy. From there. E.T. makes a phone out of a Speak-N-Spell, gets drunk on Coors Banquet beer, brings fame to Reese's Pieces, telepathically forces Elliott to free hundreds of frogs, bumbles around the house in front of Elliott's clueless mom, and finally dies and comes back from the dead...destroying the hearts of Gen-X kids and preventing them from ever crying again as adults. This episode brought to you by special guest, #1 E.T. fan, and professor of Xenobiology and Exobiology: RYAN! Next Week - Greg's pick: Johnny Dangerously [Published November 5, 2024] And as always, you can check out the RF's ongoing companion playlist on ⁠Spotify⁠ and ⁠Youtube⁠ .…

1
41 - Shaun of the Dead - Where Were You When Second Wave Zombie Fever Struck? 49:57

hace 18 weeks49:57

49:57

Whether it's "Dead," "Un-Dead," "the Zed-Word," "White Walkers," or "Zombies," back in the mid to late aughts you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting some sort of media that featured societal collapse at the hands of these brain eaters. And the 2004 Edgar Wright comedy horror film Shaun of The Dead had a lot to do with that. This Halloween Week we find the Fighters going crate digging across the zombie and horror movie genres and swing by the Winchester to talk about late 90's British Comedy's place in the world when everything comes crashing down and the dead walk the Earth. How's that for a slice of fried gold? Next Week - Special Guest Star Ryan's pick - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial [Published October 29, 2024] And as always, you can check out the RF's ongoing companion playlist on ⁠Spotify⁠ and ⁠Youtube⁠ .…

1
40 - UHF - A Podcast Divided Cannot Find The Marble In The Oatmeal 59:08

hace 19 weeks59:08

59:08

Never before has a pick proved so divisive to the Rabbit Fighters as "Weird" Al Yankovic's 1989 absurdist opus "UHF." Filmed entirely in Tulsa, Oklahoma and filled to the brim with Weird Al's brand of pop culture parody and inanity, the Rabbit Fighters find themselves debating this time capsule of a film. Will Brian try a Twinkie Weiner Sandwich(TM)? Will Greg figure out how to get turtles unsuction-cupped from the ceiling? Will Joshua finally admit that some of this movie has aged poorly? Join us this week as we take a drink from the firehose! Next Week - A Very Special Halloween Episode: Shaun of The Dead [Published October 22, 2024] And as always, you can check out the RF's ongoing companion playlist on Spotify and Youtube .…

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39 - A Playlist for Killing Sharks (Desert Island Jukebox) 1:12:43

hace 20 weeks1:12:43

1:12:43

In today's episode we hit the eject button on our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a state-sponsored experiment entitled “Desertion and the Psychological Effects of Music.” Liability waivers have been forged, beneficiaries replaced and blindfolds distributed as the gang is whisked away in their respective ornithopters towards the deep desert. Equipped with piss suits, food pills and a crate of 10 albums, our three Fighters must survive the harsh vastness whilst continuing to bring the thumpty thump. Only he who playeth the best 10 shall entice the maker and drink the water of life. All else shall be consumed and forced to live out their days within the belly of the beast ... naked, alone with only the entire Steely Dan discography to comfort them.... "can I volunteer?" "“NO, BRIAN YOU CAN'T F*CKING VOLUNTEER!” Let the games begin. Next Week - Joshua's Pick: UHF Check out the RF extra special companion playlist for this episode on YT and Spotify.…

1
38 - American Fiction: Johnny Walker Blues 52:18

hace 21 weeks52:18

52:18

The Rabbit Fighters dive into this Cord Jefferson-directed adaptation of the 2001 novel Erasure, by Percival Everett. American Fiction follows a frustrated African-American novelist-professor Thelonious "Monk" Ellison. While his novels receive academic praise, they sell poorly, and publishers reject his latest manuscript for not being "Black enough". In a fit of despair about his writing not being taken seriously, he writes a book full of stereotypes called My Pafology as a joke under the pseudonym Stagg R Leigh…except the book rockets him to fame in the publishing and movie world. He has to decide whether to reveal himself and accept the fame or blow the whole thing up. The film stars Jeffrey Wright , Tracee Ellis Ross , Issa Rae , Sterling K. Brown , John Ortiz , Erika Alexander , Leslie Uggams , Adam Brody and Keith David . Next Week - Brian's Pick: Desert Island Selections And as always, you can check out the RF's ongoing companion playlist on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠ .…

1
37 - Bull Durham: The Rose Goes in the Front, Big Guy 53:35

hace 22 weeks53:35