That rodent outside of Pittsburgh saw his shadow last week, which as everyone knows means that CIB will blow especially hard these next six long, dark weeks. Today we’re inexplicably yapping about hip hop, balloons, fat Americans, AI chatbots, masks, and plenty more! Listen, if you must! Has something we said, or failed to say, made you FEEL something? You can tell us all about it on Facebook or Twitter, leave a comment on the show’s page on our website, or you can send us an email here. Enjoy!

Show Rundown
Open — Did we watch The Grammys, is Busta Rhymes good, and Abe pokers an old pal
14:14 — Chinese spy balloon!
26:55 — Amusement ride manufacturers are doing their part to incentivize American weight loss
1:05:52 — Checking in on the Taliban
1:08:40 — AI Jerry Seinfeld booted from Twitch for being a TERF, why won’t the AI say racial slurs, and arguing with the robits about dubious tax proposals
1:36:14 — A new study of studies indicates that wearing masks does little to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and influenza-like-illnesses
1:48:17 — Wrap-up! Infinity Pool, Knock at the Cabin, Elvis, Don’t Pick Up the Phone, and The Last of Us

Relevant Linkage

The tribute to 50 years of hip hop from the Grammys ceremony was awesome but CBS/VIACOM keeps making copyright claims on anyone who posts it online, so until they post an official clip I guess we’re shit out of luck, which is extremely lame.

US DoD — Senior Defense Official and Senior Military Official Hold an Off-Camera, On-Background Press Briefing Update on the High-Altitude Surveillance Balloon

Gizmodo — The Average American Male Is Too Large to Ride Super Nintendo World's Mario Kart Ride

Kotaku — Nintendo’s Big Mario Kart Ride At Universal Can Only Be Ridden By Thin People

Disney Tourist Blog — TRON Lightcycle Run Problems for Larger Guests

Watch how fast the world became obese

NYT — New Guidelines Underscore How Complicated Childhood Obesity Is for Patients and Providers

NYT — Why the New Obesity Guidelines for Kids Terrify Me

Telegraph — Taliban fighters who moved to Kabul are ‘bored’ and fed up with traffic

Afghanistan Analysts Network — New Lives in the City: How Taleban have experienced life in Kabul

NBC News — Twitch temporarily bans 'Seinfeld' parody AI after transphobic remarks

VICE — Conservatives Are Obsessed With Getting ChatGPT to Say the N-Word

TIME — Exclusive: OpenAI Used Kenyan Workers on Less Than $2 Per Hour to Make ChatGPT Less Toxic

Forbes — A Closer Look At The National Sales Tax Proposal

Daily Mail — Does this finally put the mask debate to bed? 'Gold standard' analysis of 78 studies and 1million people finds face coverings made 'little to no difference' to Covid infection or death rates

Cochrane Library — Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses

The Conversation — Yes, masks reduce the risk of spreading COVID, despite a review saying they don’t
(CIB note — I’m including this link because it’s the first attempt I’ve seen to reject or explain away the findings of this study. What it mostly does, in my humble opinion, is miss the point—yes, of course, in a perfect setting, never breathing in any virus particles and always properly disinfecting oneself after potential exposure is going to mean that “masking is effective,” but that is a point that is entirely moot in the actual world we live in. This article seems like a weird ret-conning of the last three years. The question “do masks work” has generally meant “will this surgical mask reduce my chances of getting COVID?”