Here's A Thought

In which I witness a semiannual Idaho tradition — when sheep take over a major roadway on their way to greener pastures. It's an Idaho thing.Want to learn more? Helpful links:Andy Little, the “Idaho Sheep King"Idaho sheep ranchers Frank Shirts and Henry Etcheverry Boise's Basque Block -- where you can find funky, cozy Bar Gernika  and enjoy the once-every-five-years cultural Basque cultural festival, Jaialdi  A few more fun quotations about sheep (that aren't insulting to sheep):We’re a nation of sheep. If you go out and look up at the sky, people around you will start looking up at the sky. — Alan AbelIdeas are easy. It’s the execution of ideas that really separates the sheep from the goats. — Sue GraftonWe are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then go with the drove. — Mark TwainThe shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same. — StendhalIf Someone wants a sheep, then that means that he exists. –Antoine de Saint-ExuperySheep sound effects courtesy Pixabay SoundSupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

This week, we give thought to how much of us is really "us" — turns out it's way less than we thought. You really do contain multitudes.Pardon a few technical glitches this week, thanks to a crabby audio system and a very tight schedule due to travel. Or just pretend I have hiccups.Resource links:First complete human genome sequence"Dr. Martin Blaser on sacred cows, ear infections and the nature of science" by Ashton Applewhite, American Museum of Natural History magazine Archaea (they're not bacteria!)Really cool if slightly horrifying PBS video on DemodexSupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

The Jonestown Massacre happened 46 years ago. But to me, it feels way too close — because one of the people who died there was a girl I went to school with.  She was a quiet, shy girl, the daughter of a pastor when I knew her. For years I thought of her as a duped, innocent victim. But it turns out she was one of the leaders, and an architect of the plan to have everyone drink the poison. Is there a way to make any of this make sense?Content warning: suicide, murder, cults, sexual abuse, child murderReference links:Jonestown, basic background from Brittanica: https://www.britannica.com/event/JonestownMaria Katsaris, Wikipedia entryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_KatsarisJonestown: The Women Behind The Massacre documentary filmhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt8020376/"revolutionary suicide"https://inthesetimes.com/article/jonestown-mass-revolutionary-suicide-socialist"Moonies" (Unification Church)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_ChurchScientology/Church of Scientologyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology#:~:text=Scientology%20is%20a%20set%20of,or%20a%20new%20religious%20movement.Baghwan Shree Rajneeshhttps://www.neh.gov/humanities/2018/spring/feature/rajneeshpuram-was-more-utopia-desert-it-was-mirror#:~:text=Named%20after%20the%20iconoclastic%20Indian,utopia%20in%20the%20Oregon%20desert.Jonestown 45th anniversary article, Daily Journal:https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/45-years-later-peoples-temple-and-the-peninsula/article_3b001bee-85cc-11ee-aa8d-579b5c0b7b99.htmlAlternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Templehttps://jonestown.sdsu.edu/-transcript of Charles Garry's interview with Maria Katsaris re: sexual abuse by fatherhttps://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=125494Charles Garry, Wikipedia entryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Garry#:~:text=Charles%20R.,during%20the%201978%20Jonestown%20tSupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

A brief meditation on how my dog and I may walk the same path, yet our journeys differ. Trigger warning: contains haikuSound Effect from PixabayHaiku Music by Inner Tune from PixabaySupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

It's spring at last — a season that brings hope, energy, renewal — and for far too many of us the dread of swimsuit season. In this episode, I celebrate reaching the threshold of Summer Body Exemption.Spring Sound Effect from PixabayBoomerang Sound Effect by Jurij from PixabaySupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

In which I describe our recent experience with what's politely called a "low-cost carrier" airline. They aren't all this sketchy, thank God.Opening Music by Oleg Kyrylkovv from PixabaySound Effect by UNIVERSFIELD from PixabaySupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

Sometimes our best intentions have completely unanticipated results. Here's what happened when I signed up for a research study.Resources for Alzheimer's and dementia:Alzheimer's AssociationAlzheimers.govCareforth (resources for dementia caregivers)National Institute on AgingSupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

In which your devoted overthinker contemplates the manner and method of her own final exit. Not being negative or nihilistic here -- just stating my preference.I might even have stumbled on a loophole.Support the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

Thanks to the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision that says frozen embryos in test tubes equal are human beings, yours truly has been listening to the fallout (for example, what this means for IVF treatments) and overthinking what this means. Clearly, the GOP has a real problem with the woman question. Luckily, I have a solution.Content advisory: political satire, mention of abortion, oblique references to Christian nationalism.Reference links:https://abcnews.go.com/US/indiana-reprimands-doctor-ohio-rape-victim-abortion/story?id=99612853https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/12/11/1218625460/texas-woman-who-sued-state-for-abortion-travels-out-of-state-for-procedure-inste#:~:text=Hourly%20News-,Texas%20abortion%20ban%20leads%20woman%20to%20leave%20state%20for%20emergency,Texas%20to%20get%20an%20abortion.https://www.newsweek.com/idaho-republican-representative-apologizes-womens-health-farm-animals-1773507https://apnews.com/article/alabama-frozen-embryos-conservative-christian-views-ruling-d9b7f720b5ef865ab35205ad36061f2dhttps://states.guttmacher.org/policies/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5-uuBhDzARIsAAa21T-SrxE6nlipaxKbWzVCiEGioglq_FhUfmZ2hELKUqeXanmd2g-CRJ8aAl15EALw_wcBhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Mountain_Mandatehttps://abc7chicago.com/abortion-ban-map-where-banned-restricted-protected/13299140/#:~:text=Idaho%20has%20one%20of%20the,state%20lines%20without%20parental%20consent.https://abcnews.go.com/US/idaho-governor-signs-abortion-trafficking-bill-law/story?id=98399580https://apnews.com/article/alabama-abortion-justice-department-2fbde5d85a907d266de6fd34542139e2https://www.axios.com/2023/11/15/us-abortion-ban-republican-president-2024-trumpSound Effect from PixabaySupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

For a habitual overthinker like me, the happiest of occasions can cause a spiral. Especially when there's nothing to worry about. IYKYK, and if not, don't tell me to calm down.Support the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

In this episode, Here's A Thought reaches a milestone that a lot of podcasts never achieve — and that is entirely thanks to listeners like you. So I'm enormously appreciative.I'm also thinking deeply -- which is distinct, I hope, from overthinking — about the interview I did for another podcast I'm involved in, and how it was driven home to me by the recent news about Derek Chauvin — the former Minneapolis cop who was sentenced to 22 1/2 years for killing George Floyd in 2020 — being stabbed in prison.Whatever offense a convict has committed, violence, sexual assault, and dehumanizing conditions are not supposed to be part of the punishment. And the hard truth is that not everyone who is languishing in prison even belongs there.It's a reality that most of us are insulated from confronting — but after my  interview  with Dr. Greg Hampikian, co-founder of the Idaho Innocence Project, for an episode of the Crow's Feet: Life As We Age podcast (release date January 24, 2024), I've lost my insulation. I don't think that's a bad thing. Here's A Thought will be taking a hiatus after this episode -- so check out any of the previous ones you may have missed and please join me in the meantime at:Crow's Feet: Life As We Age -- on all major podcast platforms.Links for today's episodes:Dr. Greg HampikianIdaho Innocence ProjectAmanda KnoxBureau of Justice Statistics, report cited on sexual victimization in prisonsNew York Times, November 27, 2023: "The Stabbing of Derek Chauvin: What We KnowJesse Lerner-Kinglake, Just Detention InternationalPrison Policy InitiativeSharia Law and punishmentOpening Sound Effect from PixabaySupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

In  this 99th episode of Here's A Thought, we think about Thanksgiving, which is happening in the U.S. this week — what it means, what it's supposed to mean, how it started, and what happens when it doesn't live up to expectations: a meditation partly in rhyming verse for your consideration and (hopefully) amusement.ound Effect by UNIVERSFIELD from PixabaySupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

I keep the journals I've written over the years — but now, as the recipient of the many private journals and diaries that my mother wrote over the course of decades, I'm rethinking whether I should hang onto mine. Or, hers. What's the right thing to do with my mother's journals? How do I respect her memories, especially when they're at odds with mine?Opening Music by Zakhar Valaha from PixabaySupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

In this 97th (!) episode of Here's A Thought, I offer the lessons that horses have taught me about adolescent humans (they have a surprising amount in common), and why I write for them — adolescents, that is, not horses. Sound Effect by UNIVERSFIELD from Pixabay Support the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

Here's hoping you and yours enjoyed a lovely Halloween! This episode is going live on November 1, traditionally the Day of the Dead: so I've been overthinking about a news article I read not long ago about a very rich, very determined man who is convinced he's got a plan that will allow him to beat the Grim Reaper — forever.Not only that, but his body — including his man parts — are going to revert to age 18 and stay that way. That is, if his algorithm works the way it's supposed to.Most of the information  and quotes in this episode are taken from a profile of Bryan Johnson written by Time correspondent Charlotte Alter:"The Man Who Thinks He Can Live Forever", Time Magazine, September 20, 2023Also referenced:Nir Barzilai, M.D., Albert Einstein College of MedicinePinchas Cohen, M.D., Dean, Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California Blueprint Protocol: BryanJohnson.comarguably immortal jellyfish: Turritopsis dorhrniiOpening Music by Pixabay MusicSupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

There's a lot of thought and discussion about the three aspects of the feminine: the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone. All three have their positive and negative aspects, but in our youth-obsessed culture, a lot of women find it very, very painful to relinquish their youthful allure — and embrace the aspect of the wise but sometimes fearsome Crone.But which has more power, the Maiden or the Crone? If you could choose to be either, what would you be giving up?All these are hints as to the story for this week, "Turn" — written by yours truly, and I do hope you find it . . . haunting.Link to quoted book: The Singing Woman: Voices of the Sacred Feminine   by Elizabeth S. Eiler Ph.D. Opening and Incidental Music by Alexey Ivanov from PixabaySupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

For the third installment in our Halloween-ish story series — all written by yours truly — we consider the question: do devils and demons ever take a day off? And if they do, how do they spend it?Episode Music by SPmusic from PixabaySupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

It's the haunting season, which makes this a suitable time for another short, twisted tale written by yours truly — in one of my darker moods. This one is a tale in rhyming verse. That doesn't mean it's nice, but you may find it . . . satisfying.  Settle back and give a listen to "Sweet Boy" by Jan M. FlynnMusic for this episode by Alexi Action from PixabaySupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

To honor the fall of the year — the time when the veil between the worlds of the seen and unseen grows ever thinner with each passing, lengthening night — Here's A Thought offers a series of short, somewhat twisted stories, all written by me, that I hope you'll find suitable for the season.This one has some adult language and, of course, deals with the supernatural — so be warned.Opening  Music by Dmitry Taras from PixabaySound Effect from PixabaySupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music

There are some things in life that are just the thing to do, even when we don't relish the thought of doing them. Going to funerals probably ranks below even paying taxes. And in a lot of cases, if we just don't go, who's going to know?In this episode, we consider how that's not really the point, and hopefully find some encouragement for showing up whenever we can.Quote on Varanasi, India from Francesca Mills writing in National Geographic, April 2019:  https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2019/01/india-life-and-death-in-varanasi#:~:text=Varanasi%20is%20the%20city%20where,human%20being%20is%20entrapped%20in.Advance Care Directive information: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/advance-care-planning-advance-directives-health-careDo Not Resuscitate (DNR) Order information:https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/8866-do-not-resuscitate-orders#:~:text=A%20do%2Dnot%2Dresuscitate%20(,or%20other%20serious%20medical%20condition.Opening Music by michaelhersch from PixabaySupport the showDo you have comments to share or an idea for an upcoming episode? Need something overthought? I'd love to hear from you!Email me at HeresAThought8@gmail.comOr, contact me on my website at www.JanMFlynn.netOr, DM me on Twitter: @JanMFlynnAuthorTheme music courtesy of Pixabay Music