The Federal Reserve, U.S. Politics, and The Order: 1886: Game/Life Balance U.S. Podcast Ep. 007

Summary: Jon tells a hilarious story about a “free to play” game he’s been playing on his phone, and Cody discusses how he’s learning about the Federal Reserve. Then, he and Jon delve into U.S. politics for a bit before Cody goes FULL GAMER and reviews The Order: 1886 for the PlayStation 4.<br> <br> Show Notes:<br> <br> * Jon tells a ridiculous story about Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, featuring a ONE HUNDRED DOLLAR “micro” transaction<br> * Cody discusses the book he’s reading, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Power-Independence-Federal-Reserve/dp/0691164002/" target="_blank">The Power and Independence of the Federal Reserve</a>, and talks about his foray into learning about the Federal Reserve System… including how it somehow explains the assassination of John F. Kennedy (???)<br> * Jon talks about The Big Short, which he saw over the weekend, and how it differed from his expectations<br> * Cody jokes about the idea of doing a political podcast, then explains the resemblance between politics and playing a very complicated game<br> * Jon brings up a good point about anti-establishment rhetoric in the current U.S. political environment, critical of a sometimes overly reductive and dismissive public<br> <br> * Both Jon and Cody take issue with presidential candidates and their supporters demonizing their opponents and making broad generalizations about people running for political office<br> * Cody expresses reservations about Donald Trump as a human being, and asks deep, impactful questions about human nature<br> <br> <br> * Life Stuff<br> <br> * Jon is hosting a gigantic family get together in his new house this weekend, and he’s pretty excited about it<br> * Result: rampant references to Full House and Too Many Cooks, followed by an aside about how Jon’s son constantly gets him sick<br> * Valid question: would Jon rather change a diaper, talk to Cody, or change Cody’s diaper? Riveting conversation, plus smoothies<br> <br> <br> * Full Gamer<br> <br> * Cody reviews The Order: 1886, a PlayStation 4 exclusive video game he actually finished (!!!), by first focusing on the plot, and then how the in-game violence affected his experience<br> * Were movies / cinema ever called “talkies?” Learn the answer in this piece of edutainment!<br> * Cody and Jon discuss the pros and cons of quick time events<br> <br> <br> * Cody plugs a cool Amazon price tracker tool called <a href="http://camelcamelcamel.com/" target="_blank">camelcamelcamel</a>, and explains why he used it to buy a copy of Wrestlemania X-Seven<br> * Learn how to connect with us on the <a href="http://gonnageek.com" target="_blank">GonnaGeek Network</a>, syndication on <a href="http://wgnplus.com/category/gamelife-balance-u-s/" target="_blank">WGN Plus</a>, our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/unqualifiedpodcast" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a>, and more!<br> * Podcast theme song intro/outro credit: ‘<a href="http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01730" target="_blank">Subterranean Kamikaze</a>‘ by <a href="http://ocremix.org/artist/4685/sixto-sounds">Sixto Sounds</a>, <a href="http://ocremix.org/artist/4628/zircon">zircon</a>, via OverClocked ReMix (<a class="external free" href="http://ocremix.org/" rel="nofollow">http://ocremix.org</a>)<br> * Game/Life Balance AUS official web site: <a href="http://bit.ly/GLB-AUS" target="_blank">http://gamelifebalance.podomatic.com/</a><br> <br>