Penn & Teller's Bullshit!

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bullshit has its heart in the right place but i think it's often a little too reactionary. genetically modified food will save the planet! greenpeace are nothing but dopey trust-fund college students! hey, i can appreciate indictments of the extreme left, but sometimes it seems like p & t's message is "sitting on your ass and doing nothing is better than being one of those earnest misguided dipshits who care about, like, stuff."

a collectivist romantic fling! (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 28 May 2005 20:00 (eighteen years ago) link

It's the reason I'm considering getting Showtime!

Unfortunate Prankster (Unfortunate Prankster), Saturday, 28 May 2005 20:05 (eighteen years ago) link

save your money and download the episodes!

a collectivist romantic fling! (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 28 May 2005 20:05 (eighteen years ago) link

It's the reason I'm considering getting Showtime!

Save your cash and get them off of BitTorrent.

Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Saturday, 28 May 2005 20:19 (eighteen years ago) link

that's what i said.

a collectivist romantic fling! (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 28 May 2005 20:28 (eighteen years ago) link

From the celebrity atheist site:

"Penn is such an ardent atheist he refuses to go to weddings" writes Joshua Quittner in a PJ profile in WIRED 2.09.

latebloomer: B Minus Time Traveler (latebloomer), Sunday, 29 May 2005 16:28 (eighteen years ago) link

im not sure whether to applaud that or call the dude out for being an asshole.

latebloomer: B Minus Time Traveler (latebloomer), Sunday, 29 May 2005 16:28 (eighteen years ago) link

http://www.theadvocates.org/celebrities/penn-teller.html

rational thought., Sunday, 29 May 2005 16:32 (eighteen years ago) link

i've never met a self-proclaimed libertarian that wasn't an asshole.

Did the glacier in the library bounce today? (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 29 May 2005 17:10 (eighteen years ago) link

I've got Season One on my Ziplist (Cdn version of Netflix) as a PRIORITY.

Huk-L, Monday, 30 May 2005 13:56 (eighteen years ago) link

if they had balls they'd do an episode on libertarianism. maybe a guest host would be required for that one... perhaps martin gardner?

fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Monday, 30 May 2005 20:23 (eighteen years ago) link

i still think it's a great series though.

fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Monday, 30 May 2005 20:36 (eighteen years ago) link

Penn is a FREAK. A FREAK.

His thinking is very simplistic and just as reactionary as the other side of the idiot polemic he argues against. The only decent things I've seen on the show are the less ideological stuff-like designer water, for example.

I know someone who loves him, but she's a sucker for any athetist with a penis.

Orbit (Orbit), Monday, 30 May 2005 20:46 (eighteen years ago) link

penn is an entertaining comedian and magician.

charleston charge (chaki), Monday, 30 May 2005 23:08 (eighteen years ago) link

They both brazenly flirted with my at the time 16 year old sister. Eww.

Melissa W (Melissa W), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 00:16 (eighteen years ago) link

ugh, skeevy.

fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 03:13 (eighteen years ago) link

Makes you wonder what else they do together.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 03:22 (eighteen years ago) link

penn's married, teller has a lifetime partner.

kingfish maximum overdrunk (Kingfish), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 04:00 (eighteen years ago) link

I only rented one DVD: Loved the Ouija Board debunking, but yeah, some "libertarian" pro-corporate types seem to see the world only in terms of people who work for a living versus wackos.

Pete Scholtes, Tuesday, 31 May 2005 16:50 (eighteen years ago) link

The PETA one is the scariest thing ever. But I think the recycling one failed.

jocelyn (Jocelyn), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 17:01 (eighteen years ago) link

some "libertarian" pro-corporate types seem to see the world only in terms of people who work for a living versus wackos.

OTM (your opinion, not the libertarian one)

The Pinup Girls of YANK (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 17:10 (eighteen years ago) link

Don't the randroids actually have terms for those? Productives vs. leeches or something.

milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 17:15 (eighteen years ago) link

I think "wackos" is a bit harsh. Often it's people who have an informed opinion vs. people who just have an opinion.

slightly more subdued (kenan), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 17:20 (eighteen years ago) link

no, on bullshit even those with informed opinions are wackos.

The Pinup Girls of YANK (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 17:23 (eighteen years ago) link

Yeah, I haven't seen more than a handful of random episodes, but the one about second hand smoke not being bad for you was really, really unconvincing. I guess the claim was that you're unlikely to inhale enough to hurt you secondhand, but... look, I smoke like a chimney, and I don't like smoking in restaurants. It's just common sense. Come on, Penn.

slightly more subdued (kenan), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 17:25 (eighteen years ago) link

And I saw one with a lot naked people, and it was kinda pointless and icky.

slightly more subdued (kenan), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 17:26 (eighteen years ago) link

Oh! And the Global Warming Episode! I was OUTRAGED!

You know what? Every episode of this that I've seen has pissed me off. Ok, fuck this show.

slightly more subdued (kenan), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 17:28 (eighteen years ago) link

I started watching the one on college which was idiotic, but one of my best friends swears by the water episode.

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 17:34 (eighteen years ago) link

you don't really need to drink water?

s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 17:36 (eighteen years ago) link

the one on college which was idiotic

I watched the online clip of that last night because of this thread, and it seemed to follow the formula. Here's this venerated respectable person who agrees with us, and... sheesh! Look at this fuckin' idiot!... who represents our opposition.

slightly more subdued (kenan), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 17:39 (eighteen years ago) link

everybody knows that most bottled water is just tap water, but i'll still stand up for "smartwater" and eternally roll my eyes at people who insist on saying "i'll take my water stupid, thank you" (oh fuck off, you ignoramus).

The Pinup Girls of YANK (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 17:39 (eighteen years ago) link

Whenever I see it I keep thinking, well, that was fun and kinda-okay, but it might have been better if he'd done, like TWO MINUTES RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET. Or is empiricism bullshit, too? The idea's okay, the execution's flat-out lazy. And Penn can't do sarcasm.

Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 20:37 (eighteen years ago) link

Penn Jillette = Conan Doyle + Dave Sim

Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 20:39 (eighteen years ago) link

Even the designer water one, though hilarious (naming one of the gourmet brands "Agua de Culo" was pretty funny), didn't really prove the intended point. It said a lot more about people's behavior when being filmed than it did about expensive water.

Keep in mind, Penn is the type of person who claims to hate wacko pseudo-pundits... and then he pops up in shit like "Michael Moore Hates America." He's a boob.

On a Strict El Cholo Diet (Bent Over at the Arclight), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 20:45 (eighteen years ago) link

ten months pass...
Penn's seriousness is still grating, but the death penalty episode was pretty dang great.

LOL Thomas (Chris Barrus), Saturday, 22 April 2006 20:34 (seventeen years ago) link

the show's fun, but it should be called making fun of idiots, as they always find the stupidest possible people to advocate the position they're arguing against.

jhoshea (scoopsnoodle), Saturday, 22 April 2006 21:19 (seventeen years ago) link

otm

latebloomer (latebloomer), Saturday, 22 April 2006 21:44 (seventeen years ago) link

So a more libertarian TV Nation then?

I've only seen the War On Drugs episode thanks to Elvis and S. Cindy, and that one was great, incidentally.

DOQQUN (donut), Saturday, 22 April 2006 21:51 (seventeen years ago) link

what were they debunking in the death penalty episode?

s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 22 April 2006 21:51 (seventeen years ago) link

the show's fun, but it should be called making fun of idiots, as they always find the stupidest possible people to advocate the position they're arguing against.

yeah, i really dislike the show for this reason. it makes for good comedy, but i wish their targets weren't so easy. they sweep a stupid hippie off the beach so they can say "look! hippies are stupid!"

even cathy berberian's nose (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 22 April 2006 22:05 (seventeen years ago) link

after seeing more episodes, i'm less enthused.

fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Sunday, 23 April 2006 04:29 (seventeen years ago) link

what were they debunking in the death penalty episode?

Statistics used by pro-death penalty people that supposedly prove that capital punishment deters crime.

LOL Thomas (Chris Barrus), Sunday, 23 April 2006 16:25 (seventeen years ago) link

ok good!!

s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 23 April 2006 18:33 (seventeen years ago) link

the infamous p3t@ epsiode

latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 25 April 2006 19:39 (seventeen years ago) link

I like the fact that the show spends a good chunk of time actually considering some of the key problems/debates of our time. Ultimately I disagree with the conclusions and even the methodology, but what other show even tackles these issues? My fellow Berkeley/SF/Oakland residents are a bit of a Green Party hivemind, so it's nice to be confronted with a wildy divergent opinion that isn't based on an impulse toward theocracy, xenophobia, etc.

polyphonic (polyphonic), Tuesday, 25 April 2006 20:29 (seventeen years ago) link

tru dat. i do wish they weren't so disingenuous with their editing choices and arguments sometimes. but it's no worse than michael moore i suppose.

latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 25 April 2006 20:32 (seventeen years ago) link

ha ha good job not calling "BULL.. SHIT!" on the center for consumer freedom as you quote them & base your entire argument on their assertions

+--++--++, Tuesday, 25 April 2006 21:09 (seventeen years ago) link

yeah, it's basically asshats calling out other asshats for being asshats when all the various asshat factions in question should just get together and have asshat sex and have asshat children. er...not have asshat children, i haven't quite done the asshat math completely.

latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 25 April 2006 21:37 (seventeen years ago) link

in any case, asshats!

latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 25 April 2006 21:42 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh, I'm sure...

Also, for every action there is a reaction.

As in, we get to have our burgers in biodegradeable boxes, only get a shopping plastic bag when we really need it, and so on. So, Newspapers are given out free to train travellers, everyone tales one, only 50% of them are read, and 95% are left on the train to get recycled and reprinted. I vote we sack free papers.

Mark G, Wednesday, 30 March 2011 15:04 (thirteen years ago) link

xp ok (or not, depending on whether that's true) but recycling is not just about energy saving, it's about not giving over the whole of your countryside to massive stinky unhealthy landfill sites.

and the hint of parp (ledge), Wednesday, 30 March 2011 15:15 (thirteen years ago) link

Yeah, I was thinking about that. And not stripping the countryside of natural resources in the first place.

kkvgz, Wednesday, 30 March 2011 15:16 (thirteen years ago) link

stuff like paper might be better made from renewable resources rather than recycled, iirc. like to see the arguments against recycling rarer materials with finite supplies.

a SB-in' artist that been in the game for a minute (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 30 March 2011 15:28 (thirteen years ago) link

aren't these guys more or less global warming sceptics tho? fucking libertarians

a SB-in' artist that been in the game for a minute (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 30 March 2011 15:28 (thirteen years ago) link

Wow - he just posted on it for the third time today.

kkvgz, Wednesday, 30 March 2011 16:03 (thirteen years ago) link

Getting the trash picked up at my curb is more expensive and uses more resources than simply throwing it out the window and letting it pile up in my backyard. Therefore trash pickup is bullshit.

wk, Wednesday, 30 March 2011 17:02 (thirteen years ago) link

That's the level of thought these libertarian asshats seem to operate under. Teller is a great magician though. Shame they had to go down this path.

wk, Wednesday, 30 March 2011 17:04 (thirteen years ago) link

Getting the trash picked up at my curb is more expensive and uses more resources than simply throwing it out the window and letting it pile up in my backyard.

this is only true in the short-term duh

in my world of loose geirs (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 March 2011 17:13 (thirteen years ago) link

three months pass...

Teller speaks! Wizard-level misdirection!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5x14AwElOk

Stockhausen's Ekranoplan Quartet (Elvis Telecom), Thursday, 14 July 2011 06:52 (twelve years ago) link

This is still his best piece. Too bad there's not a clean version up without people talking on top.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un1pNtmYguA

lizard tails, a self-regenerating food source for survival (wk), Thursday, 14 July 2011 07:12 (twelve years ago) link

I remember a "travels around the world" TV series they did, which was excellent and one I'd buy if it were available..

Teller did a bit of a video diary on it.

Mark G, Thursday, 14 July 2011 09:35 (twelve years ago) link

nine months pass...

I'm finally watching this show, it's pretty great. The show about going green was so awesome. Some of them present really interesting points of view that I hadn't thought of, and never really see when these topics come up. They must get a lot of shit from leftists. Also, <3 the blonde with the perfect huge tits

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:30 (eleven years ago) link

definitely some interesting POVs on this show, but I certainly wouldn't take anything away from it, it's about the least objective thing on TV right now

That's a pretty funky dance, Garfield. Show me how you do it. (frogbs), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:34 (eleven years ago) link

Nothing's objective on TV.

The organic one was awesome too

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 30 April 2012 21:40 (eleven years ago) link

one year passes...

seeing doc directed by Teller, Tim's Vermeer, tonight. It's on the Oscar shortlist of 15.

eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 12 December 2013 21:23 (ten years ago) link

I like crawetur

Brian Eno's Mother (Latham Green), Thursday, 12 December 2013 21:45 (ten years ago) link

There was good Vanity Fair article about that Vermeer story and the accompanying documentary recently.

The Glam Of That All The Way From Memphis Man! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 13 December 2013 04:21 (ten years ago) link

yall know this show sites fake corporate research real news sources wont touch right

lag∞n, Friday, 13 December 2013 04:23 (ten years ago) link

aka liberty

lag∞n, Friday, 13 December 2013 04:24 (ten years ago) link

eh their smugness would be more tolerable if i knew they were using reliable data instead of sourcing it from whatever shady corporate funded fake laboratories

― ice cr?m, Friday, 7 January 2011 14:06 (2 years ago) Permalink

They're talking about a different thing, a documentary about Vermeer.

bamcquern, Friday, 13 December 2013 05:12 (ten years ago) link

Verneer of respectability

Mark G, Friday, 13 December 2013 10:24 (ten years ago) link

I think I got through about 3 seasons, possibly more, a couple of years ago before I gave up on it.
At that point i just found the inherent political slant too grating. Seemed they only wanted to be cynical in one direction.

Not sure how many series there are and that was around 2009 or 10 that i was watching it. Had to download it from Demonoid or something.

Stevolende, Friday, 13 December 2013 10:55 (ten years ago) link

man I forgot how much I hated this show

frogbs, Friday, 13 December 2013 13:47 (ten years ago) link

They're talking about a different thing, a documentary about Vermeer.

wow i couldnt tell that by all the posts talking abt the documentary abt vermeer *j/o motion*

lag∞n, Friday, 13 December 2013 15:26 (ten years ago) link

i read the vanity fair piece it does sound cool tho but the more important point is bullshit is bullshit these guys are disgusting

lag∞n, Friday, 13 December 2013 15:27 (ten years ago) link

yes but tell me amore about the blonde with the huge perfect tits?

ian, Friday, 13 December 2013 18:12 (ten years ago) link

So, they are touring the UK next year

Mark G, Friday, 13 December 2013 18:15 (ten years ago) link

two years pass...

this diet :/

http://www.grubstreet.com/2016/08/penn-jillette-thinks-watermelon-is-magic.html

just sayin, Sunday, 14 August 2016 22:53 (seven years ago) link

If it worked for him, ok, that's fine. Some people need a drastic change from old habits. Not anything I'd recommend for others. Especially anyone who isn't worth at least a few million dollars and can afford whatever medical assistance they need if things go south.

a little too mature to be cute (Aimless), Monday, 15 August 2016 04:55 (seven years ago) link

he had some awful illness a couple years ago, was painfully thin after.

I guess there's a whole bunch of things he can't eat anymore.

Mark G, Monday, 15 August 2016 08:04 (seven years ago) link

that's contrary to everything he's publicly said over and over, which is that he lost weight deliberately for health reasons

Shakey δσς (sic), Tuesday, 16 August 2016 01:11 (seven years ago) link

with all that fiber and hot pepper his shits must just be phenomenal

El Tomboto, Tuesday, 16 August 2016 01:25 (seven years ago) link

I don't see anything wrong with his diet? It doesn't seem as unpleasant as most vegans I know with the fake meats and stuff.

Kiarostami bag (milo z), Tuesday, 16 August 2016 02:49 (seven years ago) link

The blueberry cayenne thing, I'm going to try.

Kiarostami bag (milo z), Tuesday, 16 August 2016 02:51 (seven years ago) link

yeah that piqued my curiosity tbh

bagging area (map), Tuesday, 16 August 2016 02:55 (seven years ago) link

diet sounds pretty healthful to me too, any vegetarians around to weigh in on this? like he says, seems like he eats a lot, it's just mostly fruits and veggies. isn't that what we're all supposed to be doing?

it's sort of a layered stunt (sheesh), Tuesday, 16 August 2016 04:55 (seven years ago) link

He starves himself and then he overeats. He also has periods of not eating nutritiously, which is disguised by all the veggies and fruit he eats, but most of us are guilty of that.

bamcquern, Tuesday, 16 August 2016 05:15 (seven years ago) link

Intermittent fasting isn't starving yourself.

Only thing that sticks out to me is that it's very light on protein but Furman is largely anti-protein IIRC.

Kiarostami bag (milo z), Tuesday, 16 August 2016 16:49 (seven years ago) link

He describes eating several pounds of food, really prodigious quantities, and he'll follow that up with huge snacks four hours later. And periodically going 36 hours without food sounds more like deprivation than fasting.

bamcquern, Tuesday, 16 August 2016 17:04 (seven years ago) link

No, that's a pretty standard fasting style - eat dinner, skip a day, eat breakfast.

His 'pounds of food' is watermelon, which has a crazy high water content even for fruit. It's not like eating four pounds of beef or French fries.

Kiarostami bag (milo z), Tuesday, 16 August 2016 17:31 (seven years ago) link

but I don't see any particular health benefit in eating tons of watermelon?

ælərdaɪs (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, 16 August 2016 17:40 (seven years ago) link

like it's a nutritious and hydrating fruit to consume but id imagine the absorption of the vitamins in it isn't infinite, and like there's only so much fiber and fruit sugar you really need in a day?

ælərdaɪs (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, 16 August 2016 17:41 (seven years ago) link

Watermelon has low calorie density (filling but not terribly calorific) and the red pigment is lycopene, the same skin protecting carotenoid that colors tomatoes.

Penn's diet follows Dr. Fuhrman's guidelines, basically caloric restriction with optimal nutrition style, but achieved via ranking foods into seek/reduce/avoid categories rather than the spreadsheets etc. used in CRON, and there are few healthier. Some of Fuhrman's rhetoric about "toxic hunger" is unfounded, and I didn't care for the recipes. Most data sees diminishing returns on fruit and vegetable intake after 8 or so servings a day, and I'm increasingly convinced the health benefit of whole plant based diets owes more to what they don't include (fats and excess protein), so I've opted for a more comfort food diet (ie, more potatoes, beans, & corn tortillas), but I'll sometimes have a Fuhrman-style dinner salad with over a pound of greens, veggies, 'shrooms etc.

no ends, only meanness (Sanpaku), Tuesday, 16 August 2016 18:13 (seven years ago) link

It's not just pounds of watermelon. He eats two entrees and rice at the Indian place, and then at the airport he eats two containers of pineapple. He eats four big containers of blueberries, and the "big" containers I get in the stores around here are all 32 ounces. Maybe he means a smaller container, but he says "big." He eats an "insane" amount of watermelon, a "whole" container of cherry tomatoes, a "big, big" bowl of soup, and "a lot" of blueberries; that's just one evening meal. On the 8th, he seems to eat a reasonable amount of food, albeit three meals' worth in the evening, but he appends that entry with "I eat a lot of food," which makes me wonder how large the portions are. For one meal, the base is three pounds of spinach (is one container even a pound?) to which he adds brown rice and four vegetables, including four ears of corn. This is the evening after he eats a store bought wrap, so much peanut butter "it would make you sick," a whole watermelon, and the blueberries snack in the afternoon. At midnight he eats three melons, popcorn, and more peanut butter.

And whose fasting style is this? For what purpose? It sounds like a gimmick diet fast to me.

bamcquern, Tuesday, 16 August 2016 18:30 (seven years ago) link


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