Constellation, Episode 32 | Pandemic Nostalgia, Faking It 'Til You Make It, Illegal Immigration, Getting Away
Added 2023-08-14 16:00:11 +0000 UTCIt's time once more for Constellation, Last Stand's conversational podcast. This week, the Brothers Moriarty are reunited, and are joined by legendary game designer David Jaffe and LSM's associate producer Ben Smith. We've split this episode in half by design, frontloading it with lighter fare and ending it with political topics some may choose to skip. Thus, Dagan and Ben go first. Dagan regales us with a story about a time he pretended he had a skillset he actually didn't so he could get a specific job, and he wonders if any of us had ever 'faked it 'til we made it', as it were. Meanwhile, Ben wants to talk about getting away from your everyday life. Is seeing the world around us worth the time and effort, or is creature comfort the most important thing? The second half of the podcast, meanwhile, deals with more controversial fare. Jaffe has a little of what we term 'pandemic nostalgia,' a longing for the surprising upside to one of modernity's biggest calamities. Did we take anything positive from the experience? Finally, spurred on by a recent New York Times article about crowded schools in NYC, Colin wants to know the gang's thoughts on illegal immigration and its effect on our society. How come the average American citizen isn't more clued-in on the games being played at the southern border?
Comments
I'd love to hear more of chris for the political type discussions
Jake Nunley
2025-04-14 00:23:22 +0000 UTCI respect Jaffe but he lives in a bubble, there are plenty of studies showing numbers and comparisons about covid around the world. Go see the numbers in Africa, unvaccinated people X infected with covid, this “think about the others” is the most coward argument ever.
Marco Maluf
2023-09-06 16:28:28 +0000 UTCCouldn't agree more with Colin on his perspective on the pandemic. It was an experiment on compliance and it is clear that the methods they pushed did absolutely nothing to curb the spread of the virus
Chris King
2023-08-23 17:04:46 +0000 UTCMr. Jaffe please look into Event 201, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Animated
2023-08-22 23:55:17 +0000 UTCI had handful of people in my circle that had adverse reactions to the poke - even my wife’s 80 year old grandmother. I’m poke free
Alec Davis
2023-08-22 18:48:09 +0000 UTCColin not true on the immigration, the uk is bad, even though we've left the EU mass migration still happens with immigrants going to France from wherever then coming to uk illegally on boats supplied by people who scam the illegal immigrants of thousands for boat passage
Zack Fair
2023-08-22 16:26:21 +0000 UTCYeah, the "they were wrong the whole time!" Stuff with no actual data to prove it one way or the other was so eye rolling to me lol
Josh Gamez
2023-08-22 03:25:17 +0000 UTCI grew up in a very migrant worker heavy area (and worked in those same fields as a teenager/young adult) in Washington so needless to say my perspective on the topic is immensely different than than that of a bunch of dudes from the East Coast and Alabama lol.
Josh Gamez
2023-08-22 03:23:02 +0000 UTCJaffe derailed that conversation at the end unlike anything I've ever heard in my life lol
Josh Gamez
2023-08-21 23:22:18 +0000 UTCAgreed. Even the premise of “nostalgia” for a pandemic is just a complete lack of awareness. What Ben went through and articulated well, the completely stunted development of children, and for us healthcare workers, the trauma and stress, cannot be separated from the event itself. Jaffe seems like he had a good time with his family, great. But he could’ve done that without the pandemic. He brought Cuomo in the basement and didn’t even realize that Cuomo was caught out in public when he was allegedly in his basement.
Matt Llewellyn
2023-08-21 14:00:55 +0000 UTCI just look at the scientific studies directly (cut out the middle men) and they are very clear about covid, masks and vaccines. Its just more far right nonsense trying to pollute the pool and divert attention away from how crazy they are to deny literal scientific facts. I personally pay them no mind. Im one of the most anti government anti capitalism people there is, but the facts are right there. No ones problem but their own if conservatives refuse to accept them. We dont give anyone saying the Earth is flat a serious platform, this should be no different. The facts are there, and to deny them just shows who you really are IMO. Been proven to be a waste of time having discussions with these types of people. I find it immensely disappointing that Colins bought into it, but oh well. The only thing that is still unclear about the whole situation is the origin. We know it came from China, but we cant prove if it was a lab leak or not, or if it was man-made or not, they covered their tracks before sounding the alarm so we may never know. Anything else is a denial of cold hard fact.
Stinkling
2023-08-18 09:15:34 +0000 UTCAgree, and Colins take is dog shit lmao, the shot was proven to be effective, it was not a cure all, no vaccine ever is a cure all. And who cares if people on the left called anti vaxxers exactly what they were, plague rats. and lol at his "masks dont work" yeah tell that to the certified N95's that filter out 99 percent of particles that are around the size of the covid virus. If you bought some cheap throw away junk or cloth mask thats on you.
Stinkling
2023-08-17 22:35:45 +0000 UTCOk, that is true. However, most people have suggested that AP and REUTERS is about as close to 'just the facts ma'am' as one can get. PBS was not a good example, I agree. But if you are saying EVERY news division is so biased that you can't really depend on them, then your only option is to sit out the conversation because YOU (as an individual) are not going to be able to suss shit out. How could you? Your own biases (and the ones reflected by the algorithms) are going to make that very difficult. It's VERY fair to say MSNBC has a very left leaning take on things. But you can't fairly say that and not also say FOX and - even moreso- OAN and NEWSMAX is so far right they may as well be owned by the Republican party. So then...what do you do?
David Jaffe
2023-08-17 22:07:34 +0000 UTCWhen Jaffe says "If I can see something from the AP, PBS or someone not invested in a narrative" you just know that this dude just doesn't get it. He is so in his bubble that even the thought of the corporate press outlets that he watches have a narrative is beyond him. Pick up "Hate Inc" and realize that it doesn't matter "left" or "right" they all have a narrative.
Context Should Matter
2023-08-17 21:55:24 +0000 UTCI feel immigration needs to be tackled in two ways. One, we need significant reform to the current legal immigration system that is broken in racist and classist ways. And two, respect the rule of law, and stop turning a blind eye. The current immigration system is incredibly broken. Systems like immigration caps to countries are not even subtle with its racist roots. On top of this, the current system heavily favors upper class immigrants. Doctors, ceos, scientists, ect have no issue getting through the system. However, lower classes, and impoverished would be immigrants are knocked way down the totem pole (that as noted, has hard caps). The current system needs to reformed to allow more legal immigrants from more social classes to enter, and also reform the immigrant worker system for those who are not looking to immigrate, but just work. However, we need to respect the rule of law. Turning a blind eye to millions of undocumented people in one's country is baffling. The fact illegal immigrants can get state issued driver licenses has me flabbergasted. Those who wish to live here should be able to, but they need to follow a proper immigration path. They need to respect the laws, pay taxes, and learn the language to properly assimilate. We don't Quebecs in America. Also part of respect the rule of law is coming down hard on companies who employ illegal immigrants to avoid paying legal workers a living wage. Fine the sh$t out of those companies.
NinjaDC
2023-08-17 17:48:01 +0000 UTCHave you ever been there? It’s plenty safe. Not any more dangerous than downtown LA.
Tanner Denso
2023-08-17 15:16:37 +0000 UTCI stated in a post last week that I’d love to hear you guys discuss more politics and you delivered. Excellent episode, guys. Raw, honest, riveting stuff!
Nikitas Gagas
2023-08-17 01:48:15 +0000 UTCColin..I would love if you did a podcast with a random blue collar guy (or gal) to get there perspective on this stuff. The whole kumbaya, this is America, let everyone in sounds great, but it is killing the construction industry. Illegal immigrants now get taken advantage of here and qualified citizens get the boot. IT KILLS ME that you don’t get more backup on these political topics because I personally love the conversation but it is what it is I guess.
Luke Wallace
2023-08-16 23:24:16 +0000 UTCThis was a wildfire of an episode. Who’d believe Jaffe would be the most centered voice of reason. I kinda wish the pandemic topic never got brought up. It really seems to bring up the worst in people.
cody lawson
2023-08-16 21:35:39 +0000 UTCBen with the train + "Why are you running?" chaos was great energy
Rayden
2023-08-16 16:13:07 +0000 UTCPhenomenal episode! I really need more of these types of episodes so if everyone could just calm down I would appreciate it.
Austin Clemence
2023-08-16 14:25:12 +0000 UTCColin, Jaffe, Gene political podcast?
Alvin Toro
2023-08-16 12:08:53 +0000 UTCSuch a thought provoking episode. I just watched the newest Peter Santenello video where he rode along with the sheriff at the border.
Captain Kidd
2023-08-16 07:06:26 +0000 UTCIt's actually pretty fascinating/clever/horrible (depending on your take- I honestly don't mind it but I get why and respect why others would). But here, this was a pretty good explanation as to how it works (Hint: it's not a trick of the mind; it IS happening but not- it seems- because they are listening in...): https://www.mcnuttpartners.com/why-we-see-digital-ads-after-talking-about-something/
David Jaffe
2023-08-16 05:47:51 +0000 UTCOh sure, we’ll just take your word for it then.
Adam Barnes
2023-08-16 05:38:27 +0000 UTCSame here in Miami. Fastest commutes I’ve ever had. 😄
NeO JD
2023-08-16 05:27:47 +0000 UTCIt was only a passing comment, but I'm curious how people think that the phone listening to you at all times to show you targeted ads works at a technical level. Is the processing of all this audio data done client-side or server-side? If it's client-side then there would need to be a process running on the phone at all times that's processing all the audio it receives. We can see all the processes that are running on phones, but Google and Apple could have some hidden process doing it I suppose, unless the phone was rooted/jailbroken, but I guess Google and Apple could disable the feature on jailbroken/rooted phones or something. If it's server-side, then there would be network requests containing all the audio data being sent to the server for processing. Again, all network requests can be monitored, so if all phones were making network requests that no one could account for researchers would have noticed. What is it even listening for? What would count as a "hit" for this algorithm scanning all of the audio data the phone receives? Literally any product name or even type of product? Is there some massive database of all product names and product types that it compares against? I've been hearing the argument that phones are spying on us to show us ads for a long time, so I don't think the argument could be made that this is somehow an AI powered process for picking up what words in the audio stream would count as something it should show you an ad for. Then there is the fact that you'd need teams at Google and Apple that are completely locked down and no one can leak the fact that our phones are spying on our every word to show us more ads. I work for a big tech company, so I would be VERY surprised if a feature of this size would be contained to a single team. It'd likely be an org or at least several teams handling different aspects of it. That is a lot of people that need to keep quiet about this. I get where people come from when they say this, I've had it happen too. I'm talking to my girlfriend about cat litter and then BAM an ad for cat litter. But I just don't see at a technical level how something like this would be done secretly by 2 separate tech companies without any researchers or anyone else finding any concrete proof of this taking place.
Nick Blackwell
2023-08-16 04:12:11 +0000 UTCEmpty trains and streets here in NYC during COVID was awesome
Angel DeJesus
2023-08-15 22:57:46 +0000 UTCappreciated the conversation. interesting to hear the points everyone offered up
Jacob
2023-08-15 22:35:58 +0000 UTCI cannot imagine how bad things must be for people to pack up their families and set out on a long arduous trek to go to another country that doesn’t exactly want you, but it will still be better than where you came from.
Jason Hjartarson
2023-08-15 17:39:32 +0000 UTCDid you have any major complications or symptoms from COVID like hospitalization or being put on a breathing machine?
Dustin
2023-08-15 17:12:49 +0000 UTCExactly and the recent study coming out showing that after wide Vaccine availability Republicans died at 43% higher rate even though they were in less densely populated areas really showcased how effective they were.
Dustin
2023-08-15 17:09:45 +0000 UTCHearing jaffe is like watching a political youtuber destiny. He's so ignorant (immigration is late stage capitalism and his whole COVID revisionist perspective) hard to take serious. Colin did a terrible job articulating his argument. Hard skip next time he's on.
Joshua
2023-08-15 17:05:39 +0000 UTCWhat people aren’t understanding about the COVID vaccine is that it was never supposed to prevent you from getting it, or prevent you from spreading it. The flu vaccine doesn’t do that either. It was to help lessen the severity of the symptoms and, by proxy, lessen the transmission of it from person to person.
Brandon Garvin
2023-08-15 16:56:29 +0000 UTCGreat pod. Made me think about AI businesses. There should be a law in place that AI ran business must pay higher taxes from profit. 70/30 more. So at least if we as consumers use these services it will mostly go into the country.
Mysterious (xo) Narrator
2023-08-15 16:53:25 +0000 UTCI’ve had four COVID vaccines and I’ve had confirmed COVID three separate times. Idk what to believe anymore.
king_ryan_james
2023-08-15 15:57:58 +0000 UTCI think Jaffe’s point kind of sums up the whole Covid discussion. Healthy skepticism is good, and it’s ok and to make claims that oppose the message pushed by those in power. On the other hand, what are you backing up your opposing claims with? Sure you can distrust the data presented on one side, but that doesn’t make the opposite true. You need your own data to back up your opposing claim.
Cai
2023-08-15 15:30:21 +0000 UTCI love most of Colin’s video game analysis but his susceptibility to conspiracy at times does get the better of him. It’s a shame that there isn’t an actual profesional doctor on here to explain to Colin how categorically incorrect he is about the vaccine and that one off anecdotal news story does not equal data. I know Colin has stated int the past he’s not good with math, but it really shows here in his lack of understanding of statistical risk.
Dustin Johnson
2023-08-15 15:12:21 +0000 UTCExactly a study just came out last month that showed republicans died at 43% higher rate than there democrat counterparts due mostly to being unvaccinated. This is just so ridiculous. https://www.npr.org/2023/07/25/1189939229/covid-deaths-democrats-republicans-gap-study
Dustin
2023-08-15 15:02:14 +0000 UTCMaybe I’m ignorant… what exactly does pureblood mean in this context?
Joban
2023-08-15 14:55:21 +0000 UTCYikes. Colin and I agree so closely on so much, but the absolute irony of Colin saying he hated how everyone talked so authoritatively about COVID and then turning around and making definitive statements that are unfounded is too much. Masks don’t work? The vaccine didn’t work? They never said they were doing the best with the info they had? Come on man. Do better. That’s just ludicrous.
Joban
2023-08-15 14:01:23 +0000 UTCSeems like this episode triggered people on all sides. Should be an interesting watch 😂.
TheChosenOne
2023-08-15 12:18:21 +0000 UTCYeah this confused me too. He's usually pretty good at articulating his points but it seems like he didn't really back up these absolutely wild claims here. Like...of course they work. Masks and vaccines were never going to be 100% effective, no vaccine is. That doesn't mean it's 'not a vaccine' lol.
Madsines
2023-08-15 11:11:39 +0000 UTCI’m very confused by Colin’s perspective on the vaccine. Maybe I didn’t understand or something. But if the vaccines and masks did their job, of course you wouldn’t notice. It could be the general compliance saved countless lives, or maybe it did nothing. But there is no way to know that. I can’t locate the data he’s really talking about.
Zackery Parkerson
2023-08-15 10:14:06 +0000 UTCPureblood here. I sacrificed a 15 year career as a surgeon’s assistant to defy the mandate. Col, you said we were tested, and I could not agree more. I am still being tested today in what it cost me, but I do not lie awake at night wondering if my heart will stop, and there is a victory in that. Also, fuck Jaffee’s constant need to work in a Trump bash wherever he can. I understand you like his irreverent energy Col, but that dude is a leftist huckster in his post relevance years, intent on atoning for his self-perceived capitalistic excesses, a rich self-hating-flagellant in the digital town square. Every turgid economic analysis from him feels painfully introspective, hoping to bond with the “common man” video gamer, hoping to shed a little more of the guilt over just how high on the hog he rode, and for how long he did. Every word out of his mouth that isn’t the recollection of brighter days is shit and flat out audio poison.
Saint947
2023-08-15 07:49:53 +0000 UTCThe COVID discussion is interesting, and I was in a place where I was facing both the extremes of how people dealt with it Back home where my family has a Dairy Farm, you wouldn't have know the pandemic was happening (besides economically as Farmers weren't able to sell all the milk they produce and it was getting dumped down the drain). Nobody masked and nobody was getting the shot Then back at the large college I attended everything was the opposite. Tight mask mandates, vaccine requirements, everyone 6 feet apart and of course Zoom classes. It felt crazy
Billyb
2023-08-15 04:55:38 +0000 UTCSame am an overnight stocker so I was out and working the whole time lol
Zack Meyer
2023-08-15 04:43:17 +0000 UTCColin, I have tremendous respect for what you said about Covid and tremendous respect for the conversation that took place with Jaffe, that’s how it should be done. Best Constellation yet 👍
Ben Haner
2023-08-15 01:55:05 +0000 UTCGreat episode. I get covid nostalgia to degree although my life didn’t change that much. I’m a mail carrier in rural Georgia so we saw a big spike in package volume so if anything I was busier. But I can also say I’ve seen what people not caring or making any effort to stem the tide of it will do. My best friends mom was hospitalized and on a ventilator for around a month and has permanent lung damage to the point that a transplant might be needed. I don’t think there’s any shame whatsoever in trying to be a “good citizen” as Colin put it. I just don’t see it as compliance for compliance sake. It’s not that big a deal to me to be somewhat inconvenienced if it might keep somebody else from dying or ending up in a situation like my friends mom did. So many people here were quick to not make any effort and our local community suffered pretty bad because of it. Also, love these episodes with Jaffe. I feel he and I are kindred spirits lol.
Neil Davis
2023-08-15 01:32:56 +0000 UTCI've been to Japan twice, to large cities, and I was surprised at how few people I communicated with that spoke fluent English, because I always heard the opposite to be true. This might be anecdotal, but it was definitely a heads up for me to not return with zero Japanese linguistic knowledge.
Sindri
2023-08-14 23:46:07 +0000 UTCMexico City is not a safe place.
Deathspank
2023-08-14 22:28:33 +0000 UTCHard agree
Peter Jansen
2023-08-14 21:03:36 +0000 UTCHe needs to be a permanent constellation host.
Peter Jansen
2023-08-14 20:48:18 +0000 UTCNew Constellation format needs to be Colin x Jaffe having a friendly debate every week. Was great to hear Colin really fired up. This episode also reminded me of my favorite Colin tweet, “You’ve got to imagine bats are feeling pretty smug right now.”
Peter Jansen
2023-08-14 20:47:57 +0000 UTCGreat conversation that was elevated even more by Jaffe. He is so smart and articulate. I’m glad you have him on these political topics and have some respectful debates/discussions. He really should just be a permanent member of LSM at this point.
Dakota Brown
2023-08-14 20:13:24 +0000 UTCI wouldn't say I'm especially nostalgic for the pandemic. Like Colin, my life was largely unaffected by the event. But it is a strange time to reflect on, especially the early days and weeks. Personally, the thing that sticks out now. Is the short period of time where the civilization felt as of it came to a halt. It'll be a interesting to try and explain in the coming decades to those that weren't alive to experience it. Now if something more bat shit happens. The future generations likely won't care much about the pandemic.
Lovat
2023-08-14 20:05:13 +0000 UTCThis isn't the place- I assume- for this but I'll say this and give you the last word: The theory that the Dems crashed the American economy to get Trump out would be something politicians would do; I believe it. However, it wasn't just America. It wasn't just America's allies. You think China chose to lock down more than America did cause they wanted to tip the election? Russia had what was called the 'self-isolation regime' and people could not leave their homes. I'm pretty sure Putin was hoping Trump would be president today. As I said on the show, I think it's healthy and smart to be skeptical of politicians. They've earned out disdain and mistrust on both sides of the isle. But I think it's also important to be skeptical without throwing out logic.
David Jaffe
2023-08-14 19:41:05 +0000 UTCThank you Colin for speaking truth about Covid. Btw i never had a day off at my shop, thank god for too. Unemployment isn’t a living. Always remember that Nancy told everyone to come down to Chinatown, just to contradict Trump and start the pandemic in the US. China created Covid and released it, and the Dems weaponized it because Trump would of won in the re-election because the economy was humming. When H1N1 happened during the early 2000s, we didn’t shut down.
Michael Thew
2023-08-14 19:08:04 +0000 UTCIt continues to be crazy hearing about people’s experience with the pandemic. I was out in town and working the entire time (and didn’t catch it myself until 2022), work was purely harder and socially more strained. “Essential worker”
Noah Friscopp
2023-08-14 18:42:08 +0000 UTCBen pressing the why are you running button has me in fucking stitches
Daddy T
2023-08-14 18:39:23 +0000 UTCi think he's thinking of old tokyo, where they used to not give a shit. but lately they've finally acknowledge their status as an international destination
Gene Park
2023-08-14 17:52:20 +0000 UTCJapan is very bilingual. Visiting for months at a time was no issue. Their subway system is very legible for English speakers and almost every vendor, restaurant and passerby was able to speak it fluently. Don't know what Jaffe was talking about lol.
Abel
2023-08-14 17:29:52 +0000 UTCPandemic nostalgia is real yo. I miss gaming with the boys when we were all free. I miss just being on discord hanging out. I also kind of miss the free money that we were getting.
Asique Alam
2023-08-14 17:14:13 +0000 UTCI love Jaffe!!!!
Joshua Jones
2023-08-14 16:50:10 +0000 UTC🔥
Agony
2023-08-14 16:11:11 +0000 UTC
