Eighteen Inches of Daylight

Episode 40 of The Far Middle (available below, on Apple, Spotify and Amazon) is dedicated to Gale Sayers, the “Kansas Comet.” Nick recalls the legendary rusher’s famous quote, “Give me 18 inches of daylight. That’s all I need.” And he compares that to the use-to-be work ethic of the American worker, “just give me a job, that’s all I need.”

Nick examines America’s declining workforce participation and how that will have far-ranging economic impacts. Nick goes on to discuss: his attempt at tackling James Joyce’s Ulysses; Winston Churchill’s sage observations on the elite class (and the relationship to the themes discussed in Precipice); and, the elite class’ suppression of the Great Barrington Declaration. Nick concludes with an insight on how the NFL playoffs apparently cured the league’s Covid cases and closes with a few Super Bowl reflections.