Fabricated

"Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps""America is a Melting Pot""Anyone can succeed in America"These are just some of the idioms you've probably heard that make up America's national mythos. In this episode, MK and Ben breakdown these myths, draw out a distinction between mythology and identity, and pick through the wreckage of our nation's crumbling mythos for what is salvageable. FABRICATED Premise:Beyond the narratives we recognize as stories, we discuss the stories that shape our lives, the power they have over our actions and beliefs, and how we might wrest back some personal agency when stories designed to control permeate our media and political landscape.Our mission is to dissect the stories we take for granted as truths, unravel them, and see if we can find story threads that weave a better personal, spiritual, and social fabric.Join our Patreon to support the podcast:https://www.patreon.com/FabricatedPodcastSpecial Shoutout to our Patrons!Our Patrons!Mary RiceZach Longstreet Follow on IG: @benjamin.leaf @instantly_mkSpecial thanks:Music by James Morgan Music Logo Design by Brian SchroederAudio Consulting by Cameron HoffmanOur Patrons!Mary RiceZach Longstreet 

In this special episode, MK interviews Ben about his experience as an Asian American. They break down some misconceptions about the AAPI community, examine how anti-asianness is a symptom of greater issues, and talk about some ways to prevent violence against the AAPI community going forward.FABRICATED Premise:Beyond the narratives we recognize as stories, we discuss the stories that shape our lives, the power they have over our actions and beliefs, and how we might wrest back some personal agency when stories designed to control permeate our media and political landscape.Our mission is to dissect the stories we take for granted as truths, unravel them, and see if we can find story threads that weave a better personal, spiritual, and social fabric.Join our Patreon to support the podcast:https://www.patreon.com/FabricatedPodcastFollow on IG: @benjamin.leaf @instantly_mkSpecial thanks:Music by James Morgan Music Logo Design by Brian SchroederAudio Consulting by Cameron Hoffman

In this episode, we talk about the media hysteria over the presence of looting at some of last summer's protests for racial justice. Does looting get outsize media attention? Did the coverage of property damage obfuscate what is really important? Why do some forms of protest get lionized in our national myths while others are met with violence and contempt? At the time of publishing, officer Derek Chauvin has gone to trial for the murder of George Floyd, one of the horrific incidents of violence against African Americans caught on camera that caused a massive surge of support for the BLM and last summer's protests. The work continues to address our nation's inequalities, deadly police violence, and our justice system.  FABRICATED Premise:Beyond the narratives we recognize as stories, we discuss the stories that shape our lives, the power they have over our actions and beliefs, and how we might wrest back some personal agency when stories designed to control permeate our media and political landscape.Our mission is to dissect the stories we take for granted as truths, unravel them, and see if we can find story threads that weave a better personal, spiritual, and social fabric.Join our Patreon to support the podcast:https://www.patreon.com/FabricatedPodcastFollow on IG: @benjamin.leaf @instantly_mkSpecial thanks:Music by James Morgan Music Logo Design by Brian SchroederAudio Consulting by Cameron Hoffman

In our third episode, we take our first deep dive into a fictional narrative. Wicked is a story near and dear to both of our hearts and the hearts of millions across the globe! We dissect this musical megahit for what it says about the nature of good and evil. Who gets decide who's the hero? Why did Wizard of Oz still resonate with us even after Wicked rewrote what we knew about the iconic villain? What do women in particular have to sacrifice to own their personal authority?We talk about all this and more!FABRICATED Premise:Beyond the narratives we recognize as stories, we discuss the stories that shape our lives, the power they have over our actions and beliefs, and how we might wrest back some personal agency when stories designed to control permeate our media and political landscape.Our mission is to dissect the stories we take for granted as truths, unravel them, and see if we can find story threads that weave a better personal, spiritual, and social fabric. Join our Patreon to support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/FabricatedPodcastFollow on IG: @benjamin.leaf @instantly_mkSpecial thanks:Music by James Morgan Music Logo Design by Brian SchroederAudio Consulting by Cameron Hoffman

In our second episode, we tackle the unwieldy concept of truth itself. In a time of deep division, created, aided and abetted by a fractured media ecosystem, is it even possible to get back to some semblance of shared reality?We discuss how we got to this post-truth world, try to define what truth even is, and  how we might be able as a society to create a shared "truth".Join our Patreon to support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/FabricatedPodcastFollow on IG: @benjamin.leaf @instantly_mk

In the premiere episode, Benjamin Leaf and MK Lawson discuss what exactly constitutes a story.  Is storytelling merely fiction? Or is it the defining trait that gave our species dominance over the planet?Beyond the narratives we recognize as stories, we discuss the stories that shape our lives, the power they have over our actions and beliefs, and how we might wrest back some personal agency when stories designed to control permeate our media and political landscape.Our mission is to dissect the stories we take for granted as truths, unravel them, and see if we can find story threads that weave a better personal, spiritual, and social fabric. Join our Patreon to support the podcast: https://www.patreon.com/FabricatedPodcastFollow on IG: @benjamin.leaf @instantly_mk