Dave drags Tamler into the nerd abyss by making him watch an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (“Tapestry,” from the 6th season. It's available on Netflix instant in the US, and likely worldwide on many sites of varying legality). We talk about the themes of the episode: regret, risk aversion, the arrogance of hindsight, and the dream of living your past “knowing what you know now.” What are the things that shape our character? Should we embrace our mistakes or would we change something if we could? How should we think of our lives--as one long continually unfolding story or as a series of unrelated episodes?

And speaking of regret, we reflect on our comedy episode and some listener dissatisfaction (we agree with much of it) and talk about yet another fraudulent study with sexy results. Plus, Dave finally learns what ‘chuchma’ means.

"Science Retracts Troubled Gay Marriage Study." [retractionwatch.com]
"Michael Lacour Responds to Critics." [latimes.com]
"The Strangest Thing about Lacour's Response" (nymag.com)
Star Trek: The Next Generation. "Tapestry" [en.memory-alpha.wikia.com]
Best Episode Ever #30: Star Trek: The Next Generation [craveonline.co.uk]
Patrick Stewart on Extras [youtube.com]

Episode 68: Risky, Reckless, and Regretful