Governing Ourselves: A Libertarian Atheist Podcast

Yep, this is the last episode for this podcast.  Thanks for listening!  In this episode, we reflected on our podcast; we took a look at where we were two-and-a-half years ago at the beginning of our podcast and where we are now, as well as our hopes for the future; and we listed our top three books and films that we covered.  Plus our usual Media Moment.

For our second-to-last episode, we have a returning guest: Rob with the Free State Project.  We discuss heroes; how to communicate better with people; what ways we can get into media and entertainment; and more about liberty and freedom in New Hampshire.

As we're nearing the end of our podcast, this is one of the topics that Adam most wanted to cover.  In our own different ways we both are happier without a belief in God.

As we're coming closer to the end of our podcast, one of the final topics Lisa wanted to cover is helping atheists and even Christians overcome their fear of Hell.  The main source she used is the book Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife by Bart Ehrman.

This week we discuss the rise of capitalism and how it benefits the average person, while also recognizing some of its flaws and where it could use some improvement.

We're wrapping up our entire podcast soon, and we want our last few episodes to cover topics that we feel the strongest about right now.  This week we covered "democratic socialism" and how it measures up to historical and modern ideas of communism and socialism.

This week in our catch-up segment, Adam explained how the conversation with his parents went when he told them that his wife also left the LDS church.  Then for our main topic, Adam discussed the legalities required to start a food truck business while Lisa discussed some of the ins and outs of actually running the business.

This week we finish up talking about cults by reviewing films that revolve around cults: "Jesus Camp", "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief", "The Master", "The Village", "Marjoe", and a couple of films about Jonestown.

Continuing with last episode's theme, we read and discussed a book by cult expert Steven Hassan, and we couldn't help but compare it to our experience in the LDS church.

This month Adam has been thinking a lot about the LDS church, and he realized he has some lingering programming from his years in the church.  So we chat about all of that.

This week we're catching up on what's happened so far in January: Trump's leaked phone call with Georgia, his Save America March and the protest/riot that happened at the capitol building, and theories that antifa infiltrated the protest.

For our last episode of 2020, we spend time just free-talking.  We talk about the LDS religion and how Adam's wife and her family are handling leaving the religion; how Lisa will start officially homeschooling her kids in 2021; and how the political climate looks as the election drama and Trump's presidency come to a close.  Happy New Year!

After a long break, we have a lot to catch up on: the lockdowns' effects on teenagers; Adam's wife left the LDS church; Lisa visited New Hampshire; Trump and the election; libertarians who don't vote on principle; blondes and redheads; spoilers for "The Good Place"; and Adam's gaming podcast.

We're taking a break from recording until the election, and we wanted to pause on a high note.  This week we covered the musical "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas", which talks about the libertarian concepts of whether or not prostitution should be illegal, who gets to decide what individual cities do, and the supply and demand of sexual services.

This week, after a while of catching up with each other, we covered the cerebral film "The Sunset Limited", starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson.  We discuss the film's coverage of arguments for Christianity, of nihilism, and of whether or not life has meaning.

This week we delve into why Ricky Gervais's film "The Invention of Lying" is on multiple best-atheist-films lists—from ideas of an afterlife and what Heaven is like, to the character of God and his role in people's life.  And, of course, lying vs. honesty.

This week we review "Dallas Buyers Club" which is based on a true story about a man who has AIDS and has to smuggle in the medication he needs to keep himself and other AIDS patients alive.  Many libertarian themes throughout the film; it was great!

This week Adam and Lisa share their tips for homeschooling—what Lisa learned from homeschooling her children last year, and Adam's decade-long experience as a high school teacher.  We hope these tips will help and encourage those who are doing the mandated "schooling from home", and those who may be considering officially homeschooling their children.

As promised, we've revisited our "I Side With" quiz and took it again, now that the presidential candidates have been finalized and we're closer to the election.  Adam compares where he agrees with Trump and with Biden, and we see where our thoughts and opinions have changed over the past year.

This week, we have a guest who moved three years ago from California to New Hampshire to be part of the Free State Project.  He shares with us what the movement is all about, what life in New Hampshire is like, sources you can go to for more information on the project, and tips for getting involved in the culture.

In this episode we wanted to take a break from serious stuff and talk about fun media that Adam likes to consume that have libertarian and/or atheist themes: various films, video games, YouTube channels, etc.

This week we have as a guest Adam's friend Colton who is a Christian and philosopher and who is the one that recommended "The Reason for God" to Adam.  We talk about Mormonism and what qualifies as a Christian, as well as different philosophical arguments about God.

In this episode we're covering Part 2 of Timothy Keller's book "The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism".  It's different from Part 1, but it's bad in its own way and doesn't redeem the book for us.  We also highlight some of Adam's problems with Christianity as a whole.

We realized that we've been neglecting the atheist side of our podcast lately, and so for this week's episode we're delving into the first half of "The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism" by Timothy Keller.  And boy do we have some strong opinions of this book so far!

In this episode we talk about Hobbes and Locke and where our country's social contract theories come from. We talked about the social contracts we have with each other and how we can strengthen them.  We also had fun talking about movies and books and such, which went on a bit longer than usual.

This week, we tackle atheism in America and why American atheists not only seem to be mostly liberals, but also why many of them think that conservative atheists can't be a thing.

In this episode, we're covering what led up to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the events surrounding his death, and the aftermath in Minneapolis and around the country.  We also discuss police and what can be done to change things.

This week we delve into logical fallacies.  We've picked the twelve that we see as the most common in modern discourse, and we explain what they are and we highlight them with examples from politics and religion.

Lisa's husband joins us this week as we discuss our country's financial situation—the national deficit and debt, the causes of our current situation, and some solutions.

In this week's episode we delve into who Congressman Justin Amash is, why he's seeking the nomination for president of the United States, and we find out just how libertarian he is with how he's voted and his stances on some major political topics.

This week we ask the question of what is the best role for government to have in a crisis.  We bring in examples of Michigan, of Sweden, Trump and his press conferences, and classic libertarian philosophy.

This week we ask the question, "Where can we turn in a crisis?", and we answer it with current events during this COVID-19 time, such as how religions are responding, how the government is acting or failing to act, and what businesses and individuals are doing to help.

Hey folks!  After much thinking and discussing, we've decided to make some changes to our podcast.  We're changing our name from Governing Ourselves to Libertatheists, a silly name that will reflect the new fun direction where we want to take our podcast.  We'll also have a more structured, segmented format.  Let us know on social media what you think!

In this second half of our BITE model episode, we're covering Thought control and Emotional control.  We tally up the numbers of all four sections at the end and see where the LDS Church lands, and we discuss that it all means.  If you think of examples we missed, let us know.  We also announce some changes we're going to make to our podcast!

As two ex-Mormons we have a lot of insight into the LDS church, and so we're taking two episodes to apply Steven Hassan's BITE model to the LDS Church.  BITE is an acronym for Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotional control, the four areas where destructive cults try to control their members.  In Part 1, we're covering Behavior and Information control.

This week we cover two topics: the first is the current event that has everyone talking—COVID-19—and the other topic is in honor of St. Patrick's Day where we cover what happened with the Irish Great Hunger, or the Irish Potato Famine of 1847.

Super Tuesday was last week on March 3rd, and Adam and Lisa talk about the remaining candidates for the Democratic Party, how they match up against President Trump, and our thoughts on the Libertarian Party and a few of its 2020 candidates.

This week, we discuss the informative comedy-drama "The Big Short", based on the true story of a few men who saw that the '07-'08 housing crisis was going to happen and they bet against the market and made a ton of money doing so.  A pretty good companion film to Ron Paul's End the Fed.

This week we're reviewing a YouTube video of a round-table discussion between Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Dan Dennet, and Sam Harris, which earned them the nickname "The Four Horsemen of new atheism".  Whether you're new to atheism or a seasoned veteran of atheism, these are men whose work you should know.

This week for a belated Valentine's Day episode, we review a book called "The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts" by Gary Chapman.  This book gives you information and teaches you skills that you can learn to realize the power you have to improve your marriage by making your spouse feel loved.  It also helps you discover your own "love language" so you can know yourself better and so you can know what to request of your spouse to help you feel loved in return.

This week we cover what brought Lisa to libertarianism: learning about US government's mass surveillance revealed by Edward Snowden.  He came out with a book in late 2019 and that's what we're reviewing today.

For our first libertarian movie of the year, we're covering one of Adam's favorites: "Captain America: The Winter Soldier", and how its messages of government spying and the digital world are especially relevant to us today.

We're starting off 2020 by reviewing an excellent book by the person who got Adam into libertarianism: Ron Paul.  He explains the history of the Federal Reserve, what it is and how it affects our economy, and he lays out several good cases for abolishing it.

For our final episode of the Christmas season and of 2019, we're covering the new Netflix original movie "Klaus", a family-friendly animated Santa Claus origin story.

The historical Jesus wasn't always thought of as divine, much less as God, but he came to be thought of as such after his death.  The book we're covering this Christmas month is by a historian and Biblical scholar who tells us the evidence that historians and scholars have discovered of how Jesus was seen during his ministry and how that view changed through the following few centuries.

This week we chat about our own Christmas traditions—how we used to celebrate Christmas when we were Christians and what's changed now that we're atheists.

This being the start of the Christmas season, we decided to tackle a movie that deals with Jesus... sort-of.  "Monty Python's Life of Brian" is a hilarious movie about an average guy who becomes seen by some as a messiah.  Considered one of the best comedy films of all time and it's on many atheists' must-watch lists, we had a great time watching it and reviewing it as well.

Many kids have to read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich in high school, and Adam did but Lisa did not.  So together we talk about this classic novel and the main reason why it's significant—for showing the true side of socialism during a time when the world didn't know gulags existed, much less what they were like.

Adam flies solo again this week as he reviews "Joker" (2019).  He also critiques the film critics who have given negative and "woke" critiques of recent Marvel films and of The Last Jedi.

Some folks might be wondering how libertarians are similar to the Right and the Left, and how we're different.  So here we give many examples of our similarities to both sides of the political spectrum, and two of the biggest ways we're different from both sides.  We also give the Right and the Left a score from 1-10 on how close we think they are to libertarianism.

This week we review the book "God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales" by Penn Jillette (of the magician duo Penn & Teller).  This is the book that made Adam realize he's probably an atheist, so we wanted to talk about the book and share what we think it has to offer other atheists.