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A weekly show about history worth knowing, questions worth asking, and ideas worth considering, all in response to the incomplete education that so many of us have. Most episodes consist of an interview, but some are solo. All run about 25-30 minutes in length. A new episode will be publish each week on Wednesday.
I'd like to extent my thanks to the following individuals for their help: my wife, Krista, for her support; my daughter, Mikayla, for the cover art; Ed Castillo, for writing and performing the intro music; and Nicole Maza for letting me use some of Ryan Maza's music for the outro. Rest in Peace, Ryan - you were taken far too soon.
I'd like to extent my thanks to the following individuals for their help: my wife, Krista, for her support; my daughter, Mikayla, for the cover art; Ed Castillo, for writing and performing the intro music; and Nicole Maza for letting me use some of Ryan Maza's music for the outro. Rest in Peace, Ryan - you were taken far too soon.
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I believe that this will be my final episode of this podcast, after a year of working on it and this, the 71st episode. It's been a great learning experience, at times stimulating, interesting, fun, and also at times tedious and frustrating. I'm glad I've done it, and while I think it makes sense to close it down, this won't be my last program...I've got other ideas.
In the meantime, make sure to download any earlier episodes, since this will likely disappear at the end of June 2021.
Herein I discuss some ideas at the core of American political culture and traditions, and how they don't all square with one another.
How would proof of alien life impact the world's religions? I survey the possibilities, in light of the emergence of late in the mainstream media of serious stories about recent alien contact, or the chance of it.
Suggested Readings:
The Conventional Wisdom on UFOs is Shifting
Would the discovery of alien life disprove the Bible?
How Would Religions React?
Aliens and Islam
The Quran and ET
Catholic News Agency - Do Aliens Exist?
Belief in Alien Life Varies Widely By Religion
The Flying Machines of Ancient India
I've heard a lot about CRT in the news lately and, like most things in our hyper-partisan times, it's become a political hot button that lots of people talk about, but it seems few know much about. I hope this episode will help to fill in some background and give you something to think about.
Suggested Readings:
Op-Ed on CRT
The Marxist Roots of BLM's Founders and Founding Ideas (including CRT)
Falsifiability in Research and Theory
Analysis of CRT
MLK's "I Have a Dream" Speech
Some thoughts on a few widely-used terms and grammatical mistakes that annoy me, and why they ought to annoy you, too.
Iron Maiden writes a lot of songs about history and war, and Aces High, about the Battle of Britain during WW2, is one of their classics.
Aces High Lyrics
Aces High Video
"Spitfire" documentary on Amazon
A Higher Call - great book about the air war from a German perspective
"We Shall Fight on the Beaches," Winston Churchill, 4 June 1940
"The Few," Winston Churchill, 20 August 1940
The Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed the World - another good book
Court packing's a thing again, is it? Listen as I discuss the Constitution, acts of Congress, and FDR's attempt to pack the court in 1937 provide a lens through which we can consider current Democrat efforts to expand the court (by four justices).
Covers are great...when they're good. In this episode I discuss a few of my favorites and compare them with the originals. I suggest listening to all of them, with a fresh ear.
Gloria Jones - Tainted Love
Soft Cell - Tainted Love
The Commodores - Easy
Faith No More - Easy
Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire
Social Distortion - Ring of Fire
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Paul Anka - Smells Like Teen Spirit (link to the album on Amazon)
The Kinks - You Really Got Me
Van Halen - You Really Got Me
Slade - Come on Feel the Noise
Quiet Riot - Cum on Feel the Noize
Beckett - A Rainbow's Gold
Iron Maiden - A Rainbow's Gold
The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) - Fleetwood Mac
The Green Manalishi - Judas Priest
Breadfan - Budgie
Breadfan - Metallica
Summer Breeze - Seals & Croft
Summer Breeze - Type O Negative
In response to the controversy over Georgia's new voting law...
Georgia Voter ID Card site
New GA Voting Law, in full
CO List of Acceptable Forms of ID for Voting
DE Voter ID Requirements
Herein I provide a brief history of the Senate filibuster, its evolution and use over time, and commentary on the threat of majoritarianism.
Is Aaron Burr Really the Father of the Filibuster?
Politifact: Is the Filibuster a Relic of Jim Crow?
The Dems Change the Filibuster
My thoughts on the state of our media today and the importance of a free and quality press for the functioning of our republic.
Check out RealClearPolitics and its associated sites for the best, most balanced, selection of news articles, daily, on a variety of topics. I get no money from them; they don't know I exist.
In light of the last year of impeachment-palooza and the possibility of NY's governor facing it soon, too, I thought it would be helpful to discuss the origins of the mechanism at the federal level and how we understand it has, unfortunately, changed over time.
Suggested readings:
U.S. Constitution - look at Art. II, Sec. 4.
NY State Constitution, Art. VI, the Judiciary
Here's a short follow-up to my full length takedown of GnR, in which I bring to bear hard evidence and adroit reasoning to put this issue to rest.
I have evidence and reasoning to support this ridiculous point...bear with me.
CPAC - the annual Conservative Political Action Convention - took place in Florida over the last weekend of February and, among other luminaries from the Right, featured Donald Trump as a speaker - his first public appearance since leaving the White House. I read his speech, and speeches from some others, in search of some kind of unifying theme, direction, or identity for the conservative movement - or this part of it - in America post-Trump.
If you want to understand the politics, processes, and outcomes of Biden's cabinet and other agency and ambassadorial nominations, pay attention to moderate Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia. I introduce and give some background on him and his out-sized power in the Senate in this episode.
After a lot of years in education and working with a great many student teachers, I have come to the realization that it seems that structure and supposed quality of a teacher preparation program has virtually no bearing on whether a person ends up a good teacher or not. Hear some of my thoughts on this in this episode.
This relatively short episode includes some comments from me about podcasting and this show in general, followed by an explanation of why monopolies - especially government monopolies - are generally bad, and it's not for the reason that I often hear from people.
Viewing the Declaration of Independence as associated with the Constitution is essential understanding the latter. In this short episode I discuss a brief, but essential Lincoln document wherein he made the clear connection between those two documents. I have my wife, Krista, and childhood friend, Jeff, to thank for the inspiration that led to this episode.
Suggested Readings:
Declaration of Independence
Constitution of the United States
Fragment on the Constitution and Union
This episode is in response to the social media crackdown on Donald Trump and others, and how we as individuals ought to consider this as something a lot bigger than one loudmouth with bad hair.
Suggested readings:
Speech on the Amendments to the Constitution, 8 June 1789, James Madison
Bill of Rights, 15 December 1791
The Origins of the Bill of Rights by Amendment
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