Men in Gorilla Suits
Men in Gorilla Suits Ep. 104: Last Seen…Evolving

There are those who do not believe that animals evolve. Not just evolution about certain animals based on the strongest evidence we have, but outright -- people who believe nothing evolves.

This is probably not a show for those people...even though we'd argue that it really is.

Evolution. No nice way to say it: some people (usually neo-conservative people who fear science), don't believe in even the facts surrounding evolution. Fortunately, most religious people, liberals, and actual conservatives we know DO believe in evolution. (Because only a very stupid person -- or a person with an agenda -- would look at the facts about evolution and deny them.) Obviously, evolution is the topic of discussion in this week's Men in Gorilla Suits. (We're probably not doing our side any favors by using a baboon in a top hat as the image for the week, but...BABOON IN A TOP HAT, PEOPLE!!!) So stretch that back, stand upright, and evolve with us...

We begin with what has probably been more than established with that introduction: do we believe in the theory of evolution? (Christopher doesn't even like prefacing that statement with the inclusion of "theory" ... find out why.)

Find out when the concept of humans evolving from other animals was first introduced to us, and find out the moment when we actually pictured ourselves evolving from another primate.

Also clear by our introduction: some people don't believe in evolution. Some of these people have come up with some very wacky "arguments" against evolution. Find out the craziest anti-evolution arguments we've ever heard.

What do we feel are the most evolved forms of life on the planet? We talk about that before jumping to what evolved intelligent life on other planets might look like.

We throw humans out of the mix and talk about what we feel is the apex predator out in the wilds...and then we talk about the next step in human evolution. We also talk about how humans have changed in the last 100,000 years or so, before we talk about whether or not we believe humans are evolved...or just a stepping stone to something else down the line.

We wrap it all up talking about the future of the human race (from a biological point of view).

We'd love to hear what your evolved fingers can type about this topic in the comments below.

Direct download: migs104.mp3
Category:Pop Culture -- posted at: 6:57am CDT

Men in Gorilla Suits Ep. 103: Last Seen…Sick and Injured

Poor, poor Christopher. New Year's Eve he felt it...a slight scratching in his throat. The thought went through his head: "That EVIL family that came in late to the last Hobbit movie, sat up front, and THEN...saw the seats next to me and SAT IN THEM...the hacking girl who should NOT have been out an about...IT'S ALL HER FAULT!!!" (Not even knowing her Christmas must have been spent being miserably sick summoned compassion from a very compassionate individual because...poor, poor Christopher began the new year SICK!!! As in, missed two days of work sick...when I didn't plan to take ANY time off until late April.)

But let's talk about Shawn and all his broken noses. His cauliflower ear. A semi-professional fighter in all kinds of fighting styles in his youth, Shawn is not a stranger to injury. Hell, in this very episode...he friggin' bled all over the place from the side of his head! Not kidding...we were chatting away and he rubbed at a shaving injury. BOOM! It looked all Helter Skelter! Were Christopher not used to goofy, bloody injuries himself, he would have insisted on Shawn stopping and cleaning up...but Christopher's only regret was that he did not get a photo of all the blood.

"What the hell?" you might be thinking? "This is no way to begin show notes for an episode!" But you have probably figured out by now that we are talking, this week, about sickness and injury...

We kick this episode off talking about our earliest memories of being sick or injured...before jumping to the sickest we've ever been. (Christopher apparently ate a shit sammich in Chicago in the mid 90s...)

Injuries. It's not like we plan them. We discuss our most surprising injuries before talking about...surgery! Find out if we've ever had surgery and, if so...why we let someone cut into our bodies.

Medicine. Some say, "Great stuff -- LOVE medicine!" Others...not so much. Find out where we stand on medicine and, if you've ever really wondered, find out what medications we take on a regular basis.

Many who are not fans of medicine push holistic cures even more quickly than the most prescription-happy doctor. Find out where we stand on natural remedies (although we probably just showed our hands with that last line).

Do we consider ourselves sickly or healthy? Find out before we jump to mental health. Is mental health an illness, or all in the heads of those who experience it? Find out where we stand on that and then...find out if either of us are hypochondriacs.

After that, we talk about the illness or injury that most terrifies us.

We close the episode out talking about our weirdest health boasts and what the future holds for illness and injuries.

Want to chime in? Feel free to talk about anything in this episode (or anything we missed that you wished we talked about) in the comments below...

Direct download: migs103.mp3
Category:Pop Culture -- posted at: 9:56pm CDT

Men in Gorilla Suits Ep. 102: Last Seen…Playing Fantasy Football

If you listened to our episode about sports, you know we like sports well enough. We have games and players we like, and we enjoy watching these games and players...but if sports one day ceased to exist, life would go on for us. The thought of a world without sports, for some, is the thought of a world they could not live in. We've argued before that sports fans have the potential to be more geeky than any comic book fan, and with the rise of fantasy sports, that geekery is taken to new levels.

There are fantasy leagues for so many sports, but the biggie -- by far -- is American football. So much, that we're dedicating this week's show to fantasy football. (Also because we played fantasy football this season.)

We begin by talking about when we first got into football in general, and then jump to when we first played fantasy football. Who roped us into playing? Find out!

There are people who live for fantasy football, to the point that some speculate it costs workplace productivity 13 billion (yes, BILLION) dollars a year. Find out how often we checked our lineups and how much time we lost playing. Fantasy football consumes weekends for some; we talk about how invested we were in our teams on game days.

It's clear fantasy football isn't going away. We talk about why we think it's only grown in recent years before dedicating some time to our own strategies: how we decided what to do. (Were we into stats, or did we play from the gut?) We also talk about the lessons we learned from our season of fantasy football.

For some, fantasy football is all about winning -- and as silly as it sounds (especially when playing friends) -- a win can feel good. We talk about our best wins (and most heartbreaking losses) of the season.

Anyone listening to Men in Gorilla Suits knows we are fascinated by why people do things. We talk about the appeal of fantasy football to non-football fans and the most die-hard fans...which really comes down to this question: do you even need to be into football to enjoy fantasy football?

Many sports fans equate sports to life, so...we wrap up this episode equating our fantasy football season to a life lesson. (Because SPORTSBALL!!!)

As always, we'd love to hear your thoughts about this episode in the comments below...

Direct download: 102.mp3
Category:Pop Culture -- posted at: 9:28pm CDT

You hear a lot of people say that people don't go outside anymore, but whenever we go outside, whether it's a state or national park, or just a walk around our neighborhoods, people are always out and about, enjoying nature. We hear people at work say things like, "I wish I could get outside more." We've seen backyards that, while they may be a bit manicured, fall away into wide fields with views of nothing man made. It's our experience that humans crave being outside.

So that's what we're talking about this week: nature!

We begin by talking about our earliest memories of nature, and then jump right into what we love best (and hate most) about nature. (Spoiler alert: Christopher hates these possibly more than stinging insects. And THIS is the most accurate image of a wasp ever created!)

After that, we discuss how important nature is in our lives -- and talk about some of our favorite memories in nature. If we had complete dominion over nature, find out what we would change about it...and find out the scariest things that have ever happened to us outside. Next, we jump to our favorite natural places visited...before talking about where we would visit (and what we would do) if time and money were no object.

While it's sometimes just "You kids get off my lawn!" curmudgeony hype, it's true that -- at least in America -- kids are urged by busy parents to stay inside more. Latchkey kids were once more an exception than the norm, and we discuss what kids who don't get to go outside frequently lose in the trade for what is often only perceived safety. And adults aren't immune; after all, they are usually the people telling their kids to stay inside...and as busy as they are (or have at least convinced themselves they are), they also gain something by being outside. We talk about that for a bit, and at least Christopher urges you to go check out Alastair Humphrey's blog and, ESPECIALLY, his #microadventures YouTube videos.

We wrap up this episode talking about what the future has in store for nature.

As always, we'd love to hear about your favorite places, best (and worst) experiences outside, and your favorite things about nature in the comments below.

Direct download: migs101.mp3
Category:Pop Culture -- posted at: 7:19pm CDT

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