Marta Regn, one of the hosts of the Weathering podcast, joins us to discuss Ted Chiang’s “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom.” We agree that Chiang’s imaginary PRISM gives us a practical way to think through concepts of free will and individual morality.

Show notes:

• “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom” on Wikipedia - note the fan art book cover
• Read “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom” on Medium
• Or buy Exhalation: Stories, the collection containing this story
• The Weathering Podcast – More discussions of Earth systems, chaos, and the meaning of life from Marta, Marshall, and Alden
• Kierkegaard’s The Concept of Anxiety on The Marginalian
• Stoner by John Williams
• No Way Recordings on YouTube

The artwork!

Kim Daehyun (a.k.a Moonassi) is the artist who created the images for “Better Versions of You”. These are images taken by sleuthing through his website. The captions are the names of the files.

My top 10 albums and the list they were derived from

As discussed in the episode, I’m sharing my favorite albums because this version of me is a huge snob.

There’s a sad parallel universe out there where I didn’t happen to get the best freshman roommate imaginable. Thanks to Ian for prompting me to assemble a list of my top 10 albums. I’m not saying these are the best, but for whatever reason, they are the albums that have shaped me the most along the way. I’ve restricted myself to one album per artist and I’ve allowed myself to cheat by including compilations. Listed in order of release:

• The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses (1989)
• Pixies – Trompe Le Monde (1991)
• Breeders – Last Splash (1993)
• DJ Shadow – Endtroducing… (1996)
• Radiohead – OK Computer (1997)
• Boards of Canada – Music Has the Right to Children (1998)
• Modest Mouse – Building Nothing Out of Something (2000)
• Destroyer – Streethawk: A Seduction (2001)
• Grouper – Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill (2008)
• Pantha du Prince – Black Noise (2010)

And here’s the longer list I had to cull these down from:

• Led Zeppelin – IV (1971)
• Francesco Messina & Raul Lovisoni – Prati Bagnati Del Monte Analogo (1979)
• The Smiths – Louder Than Bombs (1987)
• New Order – Substance (1987)
• R.E.M. – Eponymous (1988)
• The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses (1989)
• Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet (1990)
• Pixies – Trompe Le Monde (1991)
• My Bloody Valentine – Loveless (1991)
• De La Soul – De La Soul Is Dead (1991)
• Sonic Youth – Dirty (1992)
• Beastie Boys – Check Your Head (1992)
• Breeders – Last Splash (1993)
• Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (1993)
• U2 – Zooropa (1993)
• Massive Attack – Protection (1994)
• Weezer – The Blue Album (1994)
• Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral (1994)
• Nirvana – Unplugged in New York (1994)
• Björk – Post (1995)
• Tricky – Maxinquaye (1995)
• Morrissey – World of Morrissey (1995)
• Heat – Soundtrack (1995)
• DJ Shadow – Endtroducing… (1996)
• Radiohead – OK Computer (1997)
• The Chemical Brothers – Dig Your Own Hole (1997)
• Pavement – Brighten the Corners (1997)
• Boards of Canada – Music Has the Right to Children (1998)
• Modest Mouse – Building Nothing Out of Something (2000)
• Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000)
• Destroyer – Streethawk: A Seduction (2001)
• Aphex Twin – Drukqs (2001)
• Black Dice – Beaches and Canyons (2002)
• Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It In People (2002)
• The Wrens – The Meadowlands (2003)
• Lilys – Precollection (2003)
• Timonium – Until He Finds Us (2003)
• Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – The Letting Go (2006)
• Psychic Ills – Dins (2006)
• Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago (2007)
• Grouper – Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill (2008)
• Deerhunter – Microcastle / Weird Era Continued (2008)
• Beach House – Devotion (2008)
• Wilderness – (k)no(w)here (2008)
• Pantha Du Prince – Black Noise (2010)
• M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (2011)
• Future Islands – On the Water (2011)
• Clams Casino – Instrumentals (2011)
• Beach Fossils – Clash the Truth (2013)
• Protomartyr – The Agent Intellect (2015)
• Skee Mask – Compro (2018)
• Purple Mountains – Purple Mountains (2019)
• Dehd – Flower of Devotion (2020)
• Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg (2021)