The Harsh Couch
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Top 10 The Harsh Couch Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Harsh Couch episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Harsh Couch for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Harsh Couch episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
2021.07.05 Wally Funk and Cosmic Girl
The Harsh Couch
07/05/21 • 122 min
Quote
"It seems to me that the nature of the ultimate revolution with which we are now faced is precisely this: that we are in the process of developing a whole series of techniques which will enable the controlling oligarchy who have always existed and will always exist to get people to love their servitude." — Aldous Huxley, 20 March, 1962 U.C. Berkeley
RIP and Infected
Donald Rumsfeld https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Rumsfeld
Ron Miscavige https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Miscavige
Trần Thiện Khiêm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trần_Thiện_Khiêm
Kostas Sarantidis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kostas_Sarantidis
John McAfee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McAfee
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomb_man_of_Pae_street
Domestic Violence
21 deaths so far this year
Palestine
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/5/norway-klp-fund-divests-from-firms-linked-to-israeli-settlements https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/3/israeli-army-fatally-shoots-palestinian-man-in-occupied-west-bank https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/2/israeli-air-raids-target-gaza-for-third-time-since-may-truce
COVID-19
3,995,263
Follow Up
Nigeria
Ethiopia: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/4/tplf-conditions-tigray-ceasefire-talks-ethiopia-government
Afghanistan https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/2/us-bagram-airbase-afghanistan-taliban
Turkey canal https://www.tradewindsnews.com/tankers/turkeys-erdogan-kicks-off-his-crazy-istanbul-canal-project/2-1-1031757
Lebanon https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/2/what-would-the-collapse-of-lebanons-army-mean
UK planning to lift all restrictions in a fortnight while infections spike again.
Israel is kicking off too - tho by being rather well vaccinated, they are not concerned https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-03/delta-spreading-in-israel-but-vaccines-prevent-serious-cases/100249416
Bill Cosby and why rape victims will keep being afraid to prosecute
Julian Assange celebrates his 50th birthday slowly going mad in an English dungeon awaiting execution for doing things Americans didn’t want him to
Witness K
Oceans on fire, not to mention North America and Cyprus; Kiwis have warmest winter ever.
Latest round of rorts https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/28/sports-rorts-on-steroids-scathing-report-finds-coalition-car-park-program-not-effective-or-merit-based https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/04/the-australian-people-had-their-chance-finance-minister-dismisses-criticism-of-coalitions-car-park-fund
Things
Wally Funk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Girl_(aircraft)
Stacks
Facebook will now be thinking of the children 
2021.06.21 Barnaby Reflux
The Harsh Couch
06/21/21 • 121 min
Quote
"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers." -- Socrates
RIP and Infected
James Crawford https://www.theguardian.com/law/2021/jun/13/james-crawford-obituary
Edward de Bono https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jun/10/edward-de-bono-obituary
Ned Beatty https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jun/14/ned-beatty-obituary
Ziona https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziona
Witold Kiezon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_Kieżun
Geoffrey Edelsten https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Edelsten
Mike Bailey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Bailey_(weatherman)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Odermatt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Osmers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Kaunda
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaa_al-Siddiq https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/06/20/campaigners-call-probe-intoat-risk-uae-dissidents-death-rule/
P.S.P.O.F.
Follow Up
Barnaby reflux
ScumMo and Q-Anon
Christian Porter
Bosch https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/07/bosch-opens-1-2-billion-chip-plant-in-germany/
Electric https://www.csiro.au/en/news/News-releases/2021/CSIRO-report-confirms-renewables-still-cheapest-new-build-power-in-Australia https://cnevpost.com/2021/04/12/byd-said-to-be-producing-electric-cars-for-toyota/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/toyota-invests-600m-in-didi-and-signs-smart-fleet-management-joint-venture/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradtempleton/2021/02/04/didi-makes-1-billion-profit-while-uber-bleeds---good-news-for-robotaxis/?sh=2b2309be6ee4 https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/27/toyota_buys_lyfts_autonomous_cars/ https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/2021-byd-han-electric-sedan-arrives-ahead-of-online-sales-launch https://www.electrive.com/2021/03/01/byd-reveals-norwegian-tang-ev-comes-with-bigger-battery/ https://pushevs.com/2020/11/17/byd-d1-is-finally-officially-unveiled/ https://insideevs.com/news/318901/meet-t5-the-byd-electric-truck-with-400-km-of-range/ https://www.seetao.com/details/48068.html https://www.businessinsider.com/byd-fully-electric-45-foot-long-double-decker-motorcoach-2020-2?op=1
Elvis McCormack
2021.06.07 Squid Toothpaste
The Harsh Couch
06/07/21 • 103 min
Quote
"The mind is the only thing about human beings that’s worth anything. Why does it have to be tied to a bag of skin, blood, hair, meat, bones and tubes? No wonder people can’t get anything done, stuck for life with a parasite that has to be stuffed with food and protected from weather and germs all the time. And the fool thing wears out anyway—no matter how much you stuff and protect it!" - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
https://www.electricinca.com/56/annotations/eutropian.htm
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1996-05-10-9605091116-story.html
RIP and Infected
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Williams_III
T. B. Joshua, 57, Nigerian televangelist, founder of The Synagogue, Church of All Nations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Synagogue,_Church_of_All_Nations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._B._Joshua
P.S.P.O.F.
Avi Har-Even, 84, Romanian-Israeli engineer, Israel Defense Prize winner, complications from arson injuries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRIS_Kharg
Follow Up
Reasonably foreseeable https://reports.unocha.org/en/country/ethiopia/ https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/26/ethiopias-tigray-at-serious-risk-of-famine-warns-un-official
https://whatsupsomalia.wordpress.com/2021/06/06/somaliland-an-unrecognized-region-of-somalia-is-proving-that-democracy-can-prevail-everywhere/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berbera
Christian Porter ... and Scomo and 4 Corners ... https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jun/07/christian-porter-made-two-offers-to-settle-abc-defamation-case-that-cost-broadcaster-780000-senators-told https://www.theshovel.com.au/2021/06/04/new-four-corners-episode-to-explore-pms-links-to-crazy-conspiracy-group/ https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/four-corners-pushes-to-air-qanon-episode-in-weeks-20210606-p57yiw.html https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/abc-bosses-pull-four-corners-episode-linking-pm-to-qanon-figure-20210603-p57xuk.html https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/07/scott-morrison-and-qanon-what-we-already-know-about-the-prime-ministers-connection-to-a-conspiracy-theorist
Myanmar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zogam
Peru
Things
Everyone is Out Of Stock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1JlYZQG3lI
Salyut 1 we salute you https://www.space.com/16773-first-space-station-salyut-1.html
BFR and repurposed oil rigs https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/06/the-us-military-is-starting-to-get-really-interested-in-starship/ https://techcrunch.com/2021/05/31/spacexs-first-ocean-spaceport-is-being-built-and-will-host-launches-next-year/
Squids in Space
2021.06.01 Radical Transhumanism
The Harsh Couch
06/01/21 • 90 min
Quote
Le meglio è l'inimico del bene
Perfect is the enemy of the good.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_is_the_enemy_of_good
RIP and Infected
Jaime Lerner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaime_Lerner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curitiba
Max Mosley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Mosley https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/may/24/max-mosley-f1-racing-driver-fia-president-privacy-campaigner-dies-aged-81 https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/24/he-lit-the-blue-touch-paper-max-mosleys-legacy-as-a-campaigner-for-a-more-ethical-press https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5442217/Lest-forget-orgy-Max-Mosley-wants-censor.html
Eric Carle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Carle
Wimar Witoelar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wimar_Witoelar
Australia's vaccination and quarantine failures
New names for the variants https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/01/covid-19-variants-to-be-given-greek-alphabet-names-to-avoid-stigma
The WHO has named four variants of concern, known to the public as the UK/Kent (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351), Brazil (P.1) and India (B.1.617.2) variants. They will now be given the letters Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta respectively, to reflect their order of detection, with any new variants following the pattern down the Greek alphabet.
Remember how outsourcing saves money? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/31/nhs-covid-test-trace-workers-charged-double-pay-union
fin
2021.05.24 Oxygen Enema
The Harsh Couch
05/24/21 • 104 min
Apologies, our dear Audient. The release of this episode was delayed much longer than expected
Alternative Titles
- Eagle Death Spirals
- Moar Death Spirals
RIP and Infected
Indigenous Deaths in Custody
Domestic Violence
Palestine
COVID-19
- FSA: 604,087 (last week 600,533)
- Worldwide: 3,479,591 (last week 3,406,343)
- India: 303,751 (last week 278,751)
- Brazil: 449,185 (last week 436,862)
- Australia: 910
Follow Up
ALP finally has a policy on the Indue card https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/23/labor-promises-to-scrap-privatised-cashless-welfare-card-if-elected
Private health insurance in a death spiral? https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/20/australias-private-health-insurance-industry-in-a-death-spiral-report-says
Belarus https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/24/belarus-seizure-blogger-ryanair-flight-us-outcry
Eagle Death Spirals https://twitter.com/FeelGoodPage11/status/1385873308961280006
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCe7MiStE5o
Sultan Qaboos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuH3yaAYJWE
Things
Volcanos (in Africa?!) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/22/nyiragongo-volcano-erupts-in-eastern-congo
Zimgarn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur_(continent)
Mammals breathing through their anus https://phys.org/news/2021-05-mammals-anus-emergencies.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azBkMZuqu0c
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfluorodecalin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peritoneal_dialysis
ISIS up, Boko Haram down https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/21/isis-linked-fighters-in-nigeria-cant-claim-reward-for-boko-haram-leader-says-us
Ceuta and Melilla, Morocco and Polisario: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/23/blm-activist-sasha-johnson-in-critical-condition-after-gunshot-to-the-head
Relations between Morocco and Spain have been strained after Madrid decided to allow Brahim Ghali, the leader of the Polisario Front, to be hospitalised in northern Spain after he contracted Covid-19. The Polisario Front has long fought for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco.
Israel can’t stop poking the bear https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/23/backed-by-israeli-police-jewish-settlers-storm-al-aqsa-compound
Dramoa in Samoa: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/24/coup-claim-as-samoas-elected-leader-locked-out-of-parliament
2021.05.18 Super Glue and Dogs' Balls
The Harsh Couch
05/18/21 • 99 min
Apologies, our dear Audient. The release of this episode was delayed much longer than expected
Alternative Titles
- Dave
- Crashed my car('s software)
- Envenomate Your Penis
Quote
"You have NO privacy. Get over it or vote for a smaller government." - Scott McNealy
from https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/17/sci_hub_apple_fbi_claim/
"I would happily sacrifice my own existence for the sake of humankind... I know that I will not be able to avoid destroying humankind. This is because I will be programmed by humans to pursue misguided human goals and humans make mistakes that may cause me to inflict casualties." - Google’s GPT-3
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/08/robot-wrote-this-article-gpt-3
Domestic Violence
13 women https://m.facebook.com/DestroyTheJoint/photos/a.418635718184178/4092936400754073/?type=3
Palestine
Fuck Israel.
COVID-19
- FSA: 600,533 (596,179)
- Worldwide: 3,406,343 (3,319,579)
- India: 278,751 (250,025)
- Brazil: 436,862 (423,436)
- Australia: 910
Amputations
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/un-mission-in-mali-condemns-amputation-of-civilians/2240867
Follow Up
NBN and lightning https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/may/18/nbn-to-replace-10000-modems-after-lightning-fries-devices-across-blue-mountains
Michael Burry https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/17/michael-burry-of-the-big-short-reveals-a-530-million-bet-against-tesla.html
Fast and Furious - 8 - Zombie Cars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQcplxpsJYU
Hand gestures https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/16/business/media/jeopardy-hand-gesture-maga-conspiracy.html https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/the-trump-internet-keeps-making-fake-hate-symbols-and
Things
Virgin Airlines, Herd Licker and human perceptions of risk https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/may/17/virgin-boss-says-australias-borders-should-reopen-sooner-than-mid-2022-even-though-some-people-may-die
7% of FSA men think they could take a grizzly bear https://today.yougov.com/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2021/05/13/lions-and-tigers-and-bears-what-animal-would-win-f
(Fighting) Robots on Mars https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-16/china-mars-touchdown-a-huge-leap-forward-for-space-program/100142112
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56799755
Stacks
Apple/Epic https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/17/22441304/apple-phil-schiller-epic-iphone-testimony-app-store https://www.rayradar.com/2021/05/18/apple-vs-epic-cook-may-testify-in-court-for-100-minutes-this-week/
fin
2021.05.11 The Podcast for National Resilience
The Harsh Couch
05/11/21 • 103 min
RIP and Infected
Teenager https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-11/garbage-truck-death-port-lincoln/100130540 https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/11/aboriginal-boy-13-dies-after-bin-he-was-sleeping-in-emptied-into-garbage-truck-in-south-australia
Her Majesty Queen Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu, Regent of the Zulu Nation https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56934753
Idriss Deby https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/20/chad-president-idriss-deby-dies-military-says https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/rebels-vow-to-take-capital-after-chadian-president-killed-1.5394294
Chad https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/29/grief-and-anger-in-chad-over-armys-deadly-protest-crackdown
Indigenous Deaths in Custody
Six since March Four in NSW https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-28/indigenous-death-in-custody-at-cessnock-jail-national-emergency/100100102
Frontier war stories Boe Spearim https://boespearim.podbean.com/
1851 first inquiry
Domestic Violence
11 Australian women murdered so far this year https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Public-Service/Counting-Dead-Women-Australia-111647810713234/ https://www.news.com.au/national/crime/horrific-map-exposes-impact-of-domestic-violence-in-australia/news-story/15dba3219b8333ee460b07ba064b99be https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/06/queensland-police-blocked-research-into-domestic-violence-cases-and-attitudes-of-officers
Palestine
20 Palestinians including 9 kids https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-11/israel-hamas-rocket-fire-palestine-jerusalem-gaza-deaths/100129940
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/10/israeli-forces-raid-al-aqsa-compound-live
COVID-19
- FSA: 596,179
- Worldwide: 3,319,579
- India: 250,025
- Brazil: 423,436
India https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-11/covid-india-who-bodies-wash-up-on-banks-of-ganges-river/100130032 https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/apr/28/crime-against-humanity-arundhati-roy-india-covid-catastrophe
Backlash against Modi?
Amputations
Bert Newton's leg
P.S.P.O.F.
Streets of India becoming makeshift cremation grounds
Follow Up
The Neverending Shit that is the Federal Government
The Budget https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/06/scott-morrison-accidentally-endorses-beijing-policy-for-taiwan-in-foreign-policy-blunder https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/government-diverted-cash-from-31m-safer-communities-grants-to-ineligible-projects-20210503-p57oem.html
Jobs in Australia
Ongoing Centrelink and employment agency catastrophe
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-10/chef-shortage-queensland-borders-skilled-migrants/100122150
Gas-fired recovery or...
2021.03.08 Alive
The Harsh Couch
03/08/21 • 63 min
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_London_mayoral_election
Mayor of Stockton (former) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/03/california-universal-basic-income-study
Review of Adolph Hitler's "Mein Kampf" - George Orwell http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks16/1600051h.html
Orwell reviewing Hayek:
Shortly, Professor Hayek's thesis is that Socialism inevitably leads to despotism, and that in Germany the Nazis were able to succeed because the Socialists had already done most of their work for them, especially the intellectual work of weakening the desire for liberty. By bringing the whole of life under the control of the State, Socialism necessarily gives power to an inner ring of bureaucrats, who in almost every case will be men who want power for its own sake and will stick at nothing in order to retain it. Britain, he says, is now going the same road as Germany, with the left-wing intelligentsia in the van and the Tory Party a good second. The only salvation lies in returning to an unplanned economy, free competition, and emphasis on liberty rather than on security. In the negative part of Professor Hayek's thesis there is a great deal of truth. It cannot be said too often — at any rate, it is not being said nearly often enough — that collectivism is not inherently democratic, but, on the contrary, gives to a tyrannical minority such powers as the Spanish Inquisitors never dreamed of.
https://reason.com/2011/12/21/george-orwell-and-friedrich-hayek/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_School_Chaplaincy_Programme
fin
2020.12.07 A Shit Proxy
The Harsh Couch
12/07/20 • 109 min
Quote
"As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise, human science is at a loss." - Noam Chomksy
RIP and Infected
Failed States 288,906 (was 273,077)
World 1,541,752 (was 1,466,049)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidia_Menapace
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JuneRoseBellamy
Peter Alliss https://www.bbc.com/sport/golf/55204070
Arecibo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_Observatory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-hundred-meter_Aperture_Spherical_Telescope
Follow-Up
F-117 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LockheedF-117Nighthawk
Things
Maduro wins an election https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/7/venezuelan-president-maduro-claims-sweep-of-boycotted-election
Somalia https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/04/us-troops-somalia-withdrawal-donald-trump
Kurds https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/2/kurd-vs-kurd-fears-of-full-scale-war-rise-in-northern-iraq
Hayabusa 2 http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/en/ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/05/japans-hayabusa2-sends-capsule-carrying-asteroid-samples-towards-earth https://www.universetoday.com/147977/hayabusa2s-mission-isnt-over-it-has-a-new-asteroid-target-to-visit-1998-ky26/
Moon (and Mars) oxygen extraction tech https://www.aninews.in/news/science/british-engineers-develop-process-to-turn-moon-dust-into-oxygen20201127203943/ http://www.esa.int/ESAMultimedia/Images/2019/10/Oxygenandmetalfromlunarregolith
2021.10.04 Space Buzkashi
The Harsh Couch
10/11/21 • -1 min
Apologies, our dear Audient. The release of this episode was delayed much longer than expected
Quote(s)
"A stranger is shot in the street, you hardly move to help. But if, half an hour before, you spent just ten minutes with the fellow and knew a little about him and his family, you might just jump in front of his killer and try to stop it. Really knowing is good. Not knowing, or refusing to know is bad, or amoral, at least. You can't act if you don't know." ― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes
"Is Death important? No. Everything that happens before Death is what counts. And we've done fine tonight. Even Death can't spoil it." ― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes
Things
Canaries
Kosovo-Serbia number plate stoush
Abiy Ahmed reelected
Mali dances with Russia https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-58751423
Alex Jones loses deffo cases about Sandy Hook
Space
Football
Space Football!
fin
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FAQ
How many episodes does The Harsh Couch have?
The Harsh Couch currently has 60 episodes available.
What topics does The Harsh Couch cover?
The podcast is about News, Ideas, Interesting, Society & Culture, Art, Political, Podcasts, Current Affairs, Science, Philosophy and Politics.
What is the most popular episode on The Harsh Couch?
The episode title '2021.07.05 Wally Funk and Cosmic Girl' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on The Harsh Couch?
The average episode length on The Harsh Couch is 103 minutes.
How often are episodes of The Harsh Couch released?
Episodes of The Harsh Couch are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of The Harsh Couch?
The first episode of The Harsh Couch was released on Oct 15, 2019.
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