Just Add Liberty

Growing your own food isn't always an option for everyone, and that can be pretty scary given the fragility of our supply chain. That's why we were excited to hear about a new farm not too far from us where we can buy pastured egg, poultry, pork & organic produce. I invited Christian Schwartz of PB Farms in Livingston, Texas to talk about what they're growing at their farm. We also discuss some of the challenges they've faced in getting their "homestead on steroids" up & running to provide quality products at reasonable prices to their local community.   

Can you believe I went 47 years without reading 1984? I was a bit incredulous about that myself. And when I mused about it on social media, former guest, Suzanne Gose was also flabbergasted. She wanted to chat with me about it after I finished to see what I thought about it, and, ever the opportunist, I suggested we turn it into a podcast episode. Voila. Enjoy!

In late August my son & I embarked on a cross country trip from Texas to VA then home again via a fairly circuitous route. Along the way we visited 7 different Civil War battlefields and stayed with multiple liberty friends. Since I finally slayed the October 15th filing deadline I decided it was high time I put out an episode recapping our eastward meanderings & share my thoughts on our experiences whilst travelling outside the borders of Texas. 

Bob Smilie, Texas state representative for the Fully Informed Jury Association, joined me today to discuss jury nullification. My conservative friends will likely recoil at the thought of not following the law & setting guilty people free. But as more legislation comes is introduced that infringes on our natural rights to bear arms or how & where we assemble or worship, it behooves us to have neighbors who are fully informed on their rights as jurors. This nation has a long tradition of judging both the law and the defendant. It's time we returned to that tradition rather than blindly enforcing the laws of a tyrannical government. 

We've all known that Big Tech uses our phones to spy on us for a long while, and we normally laugh it off. But the lack of phone privacy quit being a joke & turned into something a bit more dystopian when government started using it to track people & trace their contacts under the excuse of "public health". I asked Kevin with PrivatePhoneShop.com to join me to talk about de-googling phones & other ways we can protect our privacy on our phones & in other areas of our lives. Guest's Website Private Phone Shop

Imagine living in a Galt's Gulch style community surrounded by like minded people as. As our world around us continues to descend into the Dark Ages, wouldn't it be nice to get away from the madness and live among people who value liberty & just want to be left alone? More and more these days I find myself wishing for just a place, and with a little inspiration from Ayn Rand & blogger/twitterer Wrath of Gnon that pictures a little clearer these days. I'm mostly dreaming out loud in this week's episode, but if we don't dream big what's the point? Resources  Wrath of Gnon - How To Build a Small Town in Texas Population of Counties in Texas

Monica Perez joins me for a discussion on Event 201 - a pandemic planning simulation hosted by Johns Hopkins in October 2019. The 2019 event featured an uncontrolled coronavirus outbreak. Gee. Does that sound eerily familiar? Well, you aren't alone in thinking so. My fast talking, yet highly informed guest & I cover a slew of CV-19 related topics in a smidgeon over 60 minutes. If you're looking for backup of the info discussed look below for an EXTENSIVE list of references. Show notes: www.justaddliberty.com/27

After just a few minutes of speaking to Rebecca Vaughan you can tell she's head over heels in love with honeybees.  As the manager of *only* 100 hives she is considered a hobbyist beekeeper. In addition to managing all those bees & working fulltime she also serves as a director & event coordinator for the Texas Beekeepers Association. Beekeeping is such a natural fit for homesteading, so I asked Rebecca to join me today to answer some "newbee" questions. (see what I did there? haha) And if you're considering jumping into this bee-utiful hobby (I can't stop myself) & you live in the DFW area check out Rebecca's hands on beekeeping classes!  If I lived closer to her I would sign up in a heartbeet (bwahaha)!

Wanna know what advice I share with clients who are setting out to blaze an entrepreneurial trail? Tune in today to learn about the tax consequences of being self-employed, and some strategies you can employ to reduce your tax bill. I discuss the IRS definition of a home office & the types of business expenses the IRS considers deductible.  I also mention a few “above the line” deductions that can reduce your regular income tax expense.  In addition I share a couple of advanced tax strategies for saving money on self employment tax & income tax. I also counsel new sole proprietors on ‘best practices’ for tracking business income/expenses. And I opine on the importance of setting some fiat aside for the (inevitable) year end tax liability. All this expert advice is available to you for the low, low cost of zip, zilch, & nada! Full show notes at www.justaddliberty.com/25

Independent journalist & author Jeremy R Hammond joins me for a discussion on the 'rona jabs & the government response to the virus. (And, yes, I'm using euphamisms here to hopefully avoid censorship.) Jeremy first began researching vaccines when his son was born. Shortly after reading multiple studies related to vaccine safety, he began writing on the topic, and now focuses on it almost exclusively. He has been closely following the hullabaloo related to the lockdowns & the fast tracked shoulder stick for the past 14 months. I couldn't think of a person more well informed on the topic to help clear up a few questions I had. Full show notes can be found at justaddliberty.com/24

In 2020 Covid-19 exposed the rigidity & fragility of the American food supply chain. For the first time in their lives many Americans found themselves facing food shortages & scarcity. As a result more resourceful folks turned to alternative grocery sources rather than just relying on the grocery store. Pastured poultry is one such alternate that Americans turned to. And what is pastured poultry? You've got questions.  We have answers. I invited Mike Badger, the Executive Director of APPPA.org & host of Pastured Poultry Talk on to discuss the industry. We also commented upon the disruption of the consolidated food supply chain & how pastured poultry provides more resiliency.  Full show notes justaddliberty.com/23

As a public school Spanish & public speaking teacher, Suzanne Gose had never considered homeschooling as an option to educate her children. So when her first child was born her plan was to stay home with him until he was 5 and then return to her career in education. After a little while at home with her infant she became a bit bored  caring for only one child and wanted to teach again. She posted a message to a YahooGroup offering her services up as a Spanish tutor & was overwhelmed with the response to that offer. Now 19 years later she is the mother of 5 wonderful kids, all of whom have been homeschooled, and the founder of a spectacular Spanish Curriculum - Flip Flop Spanish.  Show notes for today's episode can be found at www.justaddliberty.com/22

I invited Rebecca Dillingham - founder, blogger & podcaster over at DissidentMama.net - on to chat about her journey from an atheist feminist to a stay-at-home mom, home educator, & defender of the Southern tradition/history. We also talk about her progression from Catholic to atheist & back to a Christianity as an Orthodox Christian.   Full show notes can be found over at www.justaddliberty.com/21

Kirk Martin founder of Celebrate Calm & host of both Calm Parenting Podcast & Calm Christian Parenting Podcast joins me today to talk about his journey to become a calm parent. He didn't start out his parenting journey being calm.  He was kind of a jerk, but he found that if he would control his own reaction to his son's behavior their relationship was transformed. Now he & Casey go into schools to share their story & share the methods they used to improve their relationship with teachers, children & parents. We also discuss his transition from a corporate employee to an entrepreneur.  Full show notes can be found at www.justaddliberty.com/20

Functional medicine practitioner Dr. Justin Marchegiani joins me to discuss his field and how it contrasts with traditional medicine. We cover a host of health related topics including the importance of diet & nutrition, ways to proactively boost our immune system, gut health, germ theory vs terrain theory, and much more.  Full show notes can be found at www.justaddliberty.com/19.

Picture this. A privately owned city with no government. It sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? But today’s guest Joyce Brand is joining me to discuss a new private city being built in Honduras as a ZEDE (Economic Development and Employment Zones). Joyce has been hired to chronicle the life of the ZEDE from construction to operation. As a lover of liberty herself Joyce was overjoyed at the opportunity to be involved with a project that is the heart’s desire of many libertarians. And I was just as ecstatic to welcome her onto the show to talk about Morazan City which will soon go from a pipedream to a reality. Find full show notes at www.justaddliberty.com/18

Today I'm recapping my family's experience with the Texas sized cold weather event. I discuss what we did to get ready for the freezing temps, what we got right & what we could have done better. 

Filmmaker & photographer Gus Cantavero joined me this week for a discussion about his path to entrepreneurship. We chat about a couple of his film projects including his documentary, A Drop of Water, & his most recent YouTube series with Scott Horton about the history of the war on terrorism.  Gus also makes some recommendations for those who are interested in pursuing a career similar to his. Full show notes at www.justaddliberty.com/16

Podcast host & entrepreneur John Odermatt started a path to better health a few years ago.  During his quest to improve his well being he began researching how gut health can affect the whole body.  I invited John on to share some of the knowledge he's gathered over the past few years with me.   Full show notes www.justaddliberty.com/15

PG rated for a few four letter words Prepper & podcaster extraordinaire Jack Spirko joins me today to share some down-to-earth tips for increasing your self resiliency & self sufficiency which can greatly add to your individual liberty. We also discuss some of the causes of the brittleness in the US supply chain. Discover a couple of looming shortages that Jack is predicting.  They are a couple of food items that you & I may not consume on the regular, but they are staples in the diet of most commercial livestock. Full show notes can be found at www.justaddliberty.com/14

On today's episode I discuss vulnerabilities that have been exposed in my own life as I reflected on the events of 2020 and in the opening week of 2021. I also discuss some of my plans for addressing these weaknesses & challenge you to do the same.   Show notes can be found at www.justaddliberty.com/13

Nurse researcher Linda Benskin, PhD, RN joins me for a discussion of Vitamin D's impact on immune health & specifically the impact of Vitamin D deficiencies on the severity of Covid-19 symptoms/outcomes. Show notes with links to the many studies referenced in today's episode & the guest's website can be found at www.justaddliberty.com/12

Self reliance is a key component of living a free life. If you're dependent on others you're not really free. A lot of people around the world learned in 2020 that many of the luxuries (like open grocery stores) we take for granted are not inevitable.  You may not always be able to run down the road to the store. A lot of coulda/shoulda's were coming off people's lips this spring/summer. But prepping can seem overwhelming & expensive.  However, it doesn't have to break the bank or paralyze you with overwhelm.  Prepper extraordinaire Suzanne Sherman joins me to share some practical tips on food preservation & keeping a well stocked pantry. Full show notes can be www.justaddliberty.com/11

The United States is a global leader in food waste. I was recently listening an episode of my friend Dann's Culinary Libertarian podcast, and he mentioned that restaurants can be either winners or losers depending on what gets thrown away vs repurposed. Given our current economic landscape with projected food shortages across the globe, his comment struck home for me, because we do throw a lot of things out that could probably be utilized in other ways.  So that gave me the idea for today's episode, and I invited Dann on the show. I sent him a list of things I typically throw away when I'm cooking meals at home, and he & I discuss some ways that we home chefs can utilize those items instead of tossing them in the bin.   Full shownotes justaddliberty.com/10

Access to reasonably priced health insurance is a big reason a lot of people stay in their unfulfilling jobs.  It's one of the reasons I stayed at my old employer as long as I did, because I knew how expensive health insurance was on the open market, and I didn't want to go without.  And if you're an uninsured adult you're looked upon as though you are irresponsible, so I was astounded when I listened to an episode of The Paradocs when Dr. Eric Larson & his wife Marcy discussed their year spent without health insurance.  After the episode I still had a few questions about their experience, so I invited Dr. Larson on to ask those questions & have a discussion about the health care industry. Full show notes can be found at www.justaddliberty.com/9

Karen Quinones aka Mrs. Q joins me to talk more about her historical walking tours of New York City circa the late 1700's/early 1800's. We discuss how she stumbled into her second career as a historian & tour guide. We also examine how she has had to shift gears a bit during her state's & city's lockdowns. Check out the full show notes over at www.justaddliberty.com/8

Andrew Pudewa, founder of the Institute for Excellence in Writing, joins me today for a wonderful conversation about a variety of topics. We start by briefly reviewing his 7 children's integral role in helping him start his business. A discussion about John Taylor Gatto then followed.  And finally we explored our role as parents in helping kids learn how to ask good questions so they can become better writers and more logical thinkers. Full show notes www.justaddliberty.com/7

One step toward living a free life is in my opinion becoming a critical thinker. If we are able to look at the information we are consuming or beliefs we currently hold and evaluate them honestly while applying reason, we can truly free our mind.    Kerry Baldwin, host of the Mere Liberty podcast & writer over at MereLiberty.com, joins me today to discuss the Socratic method of thinking and her Socratic seminars.   Full show notes can be found at www.justaddliberty.com/6

I know a lot of people eschew politics, and think we should completely opt out of the system. But with so many of our neighbors seemingly bent on their own destruction (and dragging us along with them to their damnation), I believe it behooves us to pay attention to what's going on in our city, county, and to a lesser extent state. I was thrilled to learn that Big Spring, Texas had a liberty lover as its mayor, so I invited Shannon on to talk local politics & give advice to those of us who want to effect change in our town. Full show notes can be found at www.justaddliberty.com/5

Choosing a math curriculum was a struggle for us, y'all. A struggle! Not because there aren't plenty of programs out there, but because my child thinks he doesn't like math. At least he thought that until we discovered a program that revolutionized our homeschool math experience - Shiller Learning. So I was giddy when the founder & CEO of Shiller Learning, Larry Shiller, agreed to come on the show to discuss his program as well as a Montesorri approach to education. Larry wants his programs, both math & language arts, to empower kids & fuel their passions & help them learn to think critically. It has worked for my son. He calls Shiller Math "fun math". Check out our show notes over at www.justaddliberty.com/4

James Bovard's first Op Ed was published by the New York Times in 1979.  His satire piece was a response to Congress's complaints about the all volunteer military as they mulled over a return to conscription.  Jim extolled the (lack of) virtues of the current Congress & pointed out how unqualified & ineffective many of those in Congress were as he recommended that ordinary citizens be drafted to fill the roll of representatives.  After that success more doors opened for him as an investigative writer. Jim recently wrote a piece for the Mises Institute explaining why he writes, and I thought it would be fun (and informative) to get him on to discuss his career & pick his brain for those who are interested in following in his literary footsteps.  I also liked the way Jim wrapped up the aforementioned article by saying that as long as we are fighting for freedom we are winning.  And that folks is what we're hoping we can inspire you to do - keep fighting.   Full show notes can be found at www.justaddliberty.com/3

The artist formerly known as Mance Rayder & Pete Raymond, Peter Quinones joins me on episode 2.  Pete is the managing editor of the Libertarian Institute, host of Free Man Beyond the Wall podcast, an Executive Producer on the documentary The Monopoly on Violence, & in all his spare time he writes books like Freedom through Memedom & The Kids are Not Alright. He sits down with me to discuss agorism as a vehicle for implementing more liberty in our lives. Full show notes can be found at www.justaddliberty.com/2

Another podcast? Yep.   Join host Rachel Kennerly as she explain the impetus behind creating this podcast and the topics we'll be exploring in future episodes.   Don't forget to subscribe to the show!