The Uncommonplace

A couple weeks back, we toured Earthaven Ecovillage, an intentional and sustainable community in western North Carolina. A week later, we reflected on the experience and talked about the possibilities and challenges involved in creating a new kind of society.Check out Earthaven's work here:https://www.earthaven.org/https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/earthaven-ecovillage-podcast/id1573135844We didn't talk about this on the pod, but also check out Earthship Biotecture here:https://www.earthshipglobal.com/

This week, we switch things up with a deep dive into the world of textiles and fabrics with Good Friend of the Pod, Nicholas Hammond. If you can endure the initial explanation of what a polymer is, you can hear plenty about raw denim, the ethics of fashion, and the unfortunate likelihood of eating your own clothes.Noteworthy Companies:https://tsdesigns.com/about-ts-designs/https://ginewusa.com/pages/our-storyhttps://www.nudiejeans.com/sustainability/sustainable-production/Noteworthy Books:The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Travels+of+a+T+Shirt+in+the+Global+Economy%3A+An+Economist+Examines+the+Markets%2C+Power%2C+and+Politics+of+World+Trade+New+Preface+and+Epilogue+with+Updates+on+Economic+Issues+and+Main+Characters%2C+2nd+Edition-p-9781118950142Blue-Blooded: Denim Hunters and Jean Culture https://us.gestalten.com/products/blue-bloodedMiscellaneous:https://toddshelton.com/blog/products/jeans/selvedge-denimhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7hx7vQj3wE&ab_channel=PikeBrothershttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bymILx6HuRQ&ab_channel=JeansLover%27sTripChannelhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5VjSRW_JcI&ab_channel=UCHIDAHOUSEI

The time has come to ride the coattails of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast and talk about that topic that's on everybody's mind: manhood. 

For this week's episode, we sat down with friend of the pod Brett Stonecipher to talk about a lesser-known powerhouse of 20th century philosophy, Simone Weil. We specifically discuss a chapter called "The Needs of the Soul" from her larger work, The Need for Roots.Originally released on our Patreon page: patreon.com/uncommonplacehttps://www.routledge.com/The-Need-for-Roots-Prelude-to-a-Declaration-of-Duties-Towards-Mankind/Weil/p/book/9780415271028https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v43/n13/toril-moi/i-came-with-a-swordhttps://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/lrb-conversations/ultimate-outsider

This week, we discuss a recent interview with Stanley Hauerwas and Will Willimon on the dangers of pastoral care. Spoiler Alert: Your pastor is not your therapist!https://www.christiancentury.org/article/interview/dangers-providing-pastoral-care

It's time for some obtuse phenomenology with the big man himself, Martin Heidegger. This one's a little dense, but we do our best to break down some of Heidegger's idiosyncratically delightful (and frustrating) by walking through Heidegger's 1971 essay "Building Dwelling Thinking." Lots of Being, lots of world, lots of places and bridges and other German fun. P. S. Please enjoy our last(?) discerning of spirits, the Baller Whiskey from St. George Spirits.https://www.harpercollins.com/products/poetry-language-thought-martin-heidegger?variant=32116588838946

This week, we talk about Flannery O'Connor's very bleak and very dark short story, "The Lame Shall Enter First." The episode is riddled with spoilers, so we recommend clicking the link below and reading the piece ahead of time. http://sites.nd.edu/ten-images-of-hell-2020/files/2020/02/The-Lame-Shall-Enter-First-1.pdf

It's time to talk about preaching. There's a lot of bad sermons out there, and many of them are preached by people who should know better! This week, we have a conversation about why that is and how things can change. www.patreon.com/uncommonplace

This week, we take a look at the first chapter of Richard Lischer's 1979 dissertation, Marx and Teilhard: Two Ways to a New Humanity. Topics include the idealism of Marx, the progressive role of science, and what it means for a community of humans to grow and flourish. https://www.amazon.com/Marx-Teilhard-Two-Ways-Humanity/dp/0883443031

This week we have an extra public episode specifically dedicated to seminarians and divinity school students everywhere as they wrap up their school year. Long story short, we sat down for a conversation on Helmut Thielicke's short book A Little Exercise for Young Theologians and came to the simple conclusion that nothing you do in seminary will ever be more important than reading the Bible and growing in faith. https://www.eerdmans.com/Products/7415/a-little-exercise-for-young-theologians.aspx

This week, we have a very special episode with a very special guest! Professional scatter-brain Austin Hayden joins us for a conversation that begins (more or less) with Byung-Chul Han, but eventually delves into everything from the Pseudo-Christian logic of neoliberal capitalism to critiques of Western ontology and the fetishization of the commodified Self. Get ready, because y'all are in for a treat. You can support Austin's podcast on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/owlsatdawnYou can subscribe to Austin's youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/austinhaydenYou can buy Austin's book here: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781786611673/Sartre-Imagination-and-Dialectical-Reason-Creating-Society-as-a-Work-of-ArtYou can read Byung-Chul Han's article that we didn't end up talking about here: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/pandemic-burnout-society/

In this week's episode, we discuss two chapters from Through the Eye of a Needle by Princeton historian Peter Brown. Topics include the impact of Constantine on the 4th century clergy, Christian benefaction and patronage, and how Christians today can learn from these early models of giving in the Roman church. Spirit: Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Bourbon WhiskeyMain Segment: Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550 AD (Peter Brown, 2021)www.patreon.com/uncommonplacehttps://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691152905/through-the-eye-of-a-needle

This week, we're unlocking a patron episode that we recorded with Lil Gidding last month in preparation from our episode on Kierkegaard's The Present Age. If you like this episode and want more like it, consider subscribing to our Patreon page!https://www.patreon.com/uncommonplacehttps://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-present-age-soren-kierkegaard?variant=32122499760162

Everybody's talking about burnout, and now we are too. But more importantly, we do so with help from one of our house favorites, the philosopher Byung-Chul Han. In this episode, we start out with a quick overview of Han's diagnosis of burnout syndrome before diving into a conversation about burnout in ministry and seminary education. Spirit: Lustau Amontillado Main Segment: Burnout | 07:30www.patreon.com/uncommonplacehttps://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=25725

This week, Isaac and Dan are joined by a present friend and former alias, the poster formerly known as @LilGidding, for a conversation on The Present Age by Søren Kierkegaard. According to Kierkegaard, the present age is an "age of reflection" characterized by a distinct lack of passion and action, an abundance of prudence and sensibility. How are these characteristics currently embodied in our own age? How may the individual be recovered from the hegemony of what Kierkegaard calls "the public"? Questions like this and more feature prominently in this episode. Spirits: Hudson Bourbon Whiskey (Tuthilltown Spirits Distillery) | 03:00Main Segment: The Present Age (Kierkegaard) | 08:15https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-present-age-soren-kierkegaard?variant=32122499760162https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/353/35377/a-literary-review/9780140448016.htmlwww.patreon.com/uncommonplace

In this special guest episode, Isaac and Dan sit down with Uncommonplace patron and beer historian JT Menard to talk about the craft beer industry, prohibition, and the future of drinking. We chose to be teetotalers for this round, but feel free to crack a cold one as you listen!Spirits: Clausthaler Original & Worka Chelbesa Lot 8 | 02:45Main Segment: Beer | 10:36For Further Reading:https://www.yakimaherald.com/magazine/bert-grant-the-godfather-of-craft-brewing/article_670d4e54-5794-11e7-8414-97ba2e75a638.htmlhttps://www.harpercollins.com/products/bitter-brew-william-knoedelseder?variant=32206909210658https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781613737217https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295964669/the-dry-years/

In this episode, Isaac and Dan take the plunge into the incredibly sticky topic of LGBT inclusion in the life of the church. Specifically, they take a look at two very different statements, one from the ACNA bishops and one from The Black Trans Prayer Book, and consider how both of them in their own unique ways end up being not only insufficiently theological, but also incredibly inhumane. As the first "gay" episode of The Uncommonplace, the selected libation is a round of Manhattans. Spirit: Manhattans | 03:25Main Segment: "Sexuality and Identity" & #TransPeopleAreDivine | 08:18https://theblacktransprayerbook.org/https://anglican.ink/2021/01/20/sexuality-and-identity-a-pastoral-statement-from-the-college-of-bishops/

Well everyone, we made it to one whole year! To celebrate The Uncommonplace's first birthday, Isaac and Dan team up to reflect on the method of philosophy through conversation and also to discuss the future of the podcast, including the new Patreon page (Patreon info starts at 47:50). Spirit: Isaac Bowman Port Barrel Finished (A. Smith Bowman Distillery) | 01:28Main Segment: A (Podcast) Year in Review | 09:50https://www.patreon.com/uncommonplacehttps://asmithbowman.com/isaac-bowman/

This week, we have coffee! And a guest! Isaac and Dan are joined Maxwell Mooney, founder of Narrative Coffee in Everett, WA for a conversation on coffee, small business, and, you guessed it, Aristotelian virtue ethics. This episode is best enjoyed with a warm blanket, a window seat, and a fresh cup of your favorite single origin coffee. Spirits: "Black Sheep" (Manhattan) & "La Estrella" (Blanchard's) | 02:50Main Segment: Coffee | 15:34(Note: This is an abridged version of a longer conversation that will be made available on January 25th. Stay tuned for details!)To hear more from Maxwell, check out the following links:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/covid-19-focus-w-maxwell-mooney-narrative-coffee-everette/id1191265255?i=1000472850244https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coffee-educator-maxwell-mooney-ep-52/id977905081?i=1000379657711Instagram: @maxwellamooney & @narrative.coffeehttp://narrative.coffee/

Boy oh boy, it's time for the Uncommonplace Year In Review! Well, sort of. Really it's just a meandering conversation covering all your favorite topics and more, including pandemic macro-narratives, Maangchi (the Korean Julia Child), Donna "WE LIVE ON A SCIENCE ROCK" Harroway, MF DOOM, sci-coms, Žižek, and the books that will (hopefully) carry us into 2021.Spirits: Woodford Reserve Rye & Wanderlust IPA (Breakside Brewery) | 01:30Main Segment: 2020 | ???https://www.maangchi.com/bighttps://www.177milkstreet.com/radio/maangchi-korean-julia-childhttps://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/09/21/the-mask-of-doom

It's the return of the idiosyncrasies with one of our favorite philosophers, Byung-Chul Han! In this episode, Isaac and Dan discuss some of the themes found in the translation of Han's 2013 text, In the Swarm: Digital Prospects. Tune in for a spirited dialogue about the Eclipse of the Other, the Twitter shitstorm, agrarianism, and the modus operandi of the chronically online otherwise known as "lurking and sniping," all over a pot of mulled wine.(Note: If you're new to the show or new to continental philosophy, we recommend listening to our second episode where we discuss Han's work at a more introductory level.)Spirit: Glühwein (w/ Pinot Noir) | 01:50Main Segment: In the Swarm: Digital Prospects (Han, 2013) | 07:25https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/swarm

We're back with a text-based episode, this time with a translation of Josef Pieper's classic 1948 essay, "Leisure: The Basis of Culture." At the center of our conversation are several important questions: How is our understanding of the human being correspond with our understanding of work and leisure? Where do we locate the completion (or perfection) of work itself? And when all is said and done, is there any hope of escaping the state of "total work" in which so many of us find ourselves? This episode also contains good coffee. "Spirit": El Eden Pacamara (Black & White) | 03:58Main Segment: "Leisure: The Basis of Culture " (Pieper, 1948) | 11:40https://www.blackwhiteroasters.com/https://www.ignatius.com/Leisure-P1445.aspx

You've heard of podcasting,  now get ready for COVIDcasting. That's right, it's a superspreader event for spicy virus-related takes! Although we provide no answers, we hope you walk away with some thoughts on social institutions,  social control, and what communities need in order to thrive in the middle of a global pandemic. If you can, we recommend taking a minute to read the Byung-Chul Han interview in the first link below. Believe us when we say that its content is much more coherent than whatever we're about to say. Spirit: Holy Hand Grenade Imperial Stout (Lost Colony Brewing) | 04:45Main Segment: Riffin' on Coronavirus | 10:30https://www.efe.com/efe/english/destacada/byung-chul-han-covid-19-has-reduced-us-to-a-society-of-survival/50000261-4244328https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/09/24/hbcus-experiencing-better-student-compliance-pandemic-restrictions-other

The boys fire up the mics for some spicy political takes in the wake of the 2020 US presidential election.

After a longer-than-usual hiatus, the boys are back with some more 'riffin'  of the topical variety. In this episode (recorded about a month before its release), Isaac and Dan discuss the idea of prayer and community in the digital age and whether we're fooling ourselves into thinking these things are more compatible than they actually are.Disclaimer: No allusions to actual Twitter users (living or deceased) are intended or should be inferred.Spirits: Kentucky Breakfast Stout (Founders Brewing Co.) and a South African Pinotage | 7:10Main Segment: Parasocial Twitter Prayer? | 16:05

We're back, with an episode on Stoicism! Using Epictetus' handbook as a guide, Isaac and Dan talk materialism (the ancient version), metaphysical gaslighting, and why Christians should take such things more seriously than they do. https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300180121/one-true-life

As the great Aristotelian philosopher Spongebob Squarepants once said, "'F' is for Friends who do stuff together." And this week, we're talking about Aristotle's conception of friendship in the Nichomachean Ethics and what it might have to do with politics, faith, and how we relate to the world around us. Dan also finally comes out swinging against the idea of Twitter "communities".Spirits: Can-O-Bliss Hazy IPA (Oscar Blues Brewery) & Toronto | 01:28Main Segment: Friendship | 07:50https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/4759/the-basic-works-of-aristotle-by-aristotle-edited-by-richard-mckeon-introduction-by-cdc-reeve/

We planned this episode with the intention of discussing friendship, but it turned into a more basic conversation on the concept of a "Great Books" program. In this episode, we address questions like, what makes a book "great"? What is the purpose of studying and writing within a tradition? How do these questions impinge on our engagement with western philosophy today? We think these kinds of questions are essential for grounding a critical reading of texts that have been passed down to us.Spirits: Summerfest (Sierra Nevada) & Gin Gimlet | 03:10Main Segment: What is a Great Books Program? | 10:49

After emerging from the forest of spooky Platonic metaphysics, Isaac and Dan are ready to take on something a little more methodical: the Nichomachean Ethics by Aristotle! In this episode, our hosts talk evangelical youth group, virtue ethics, and what makes a good musician. Spirits: Manhattan, $4 Tuscan Wine, and Coors Light | 04:15Main Segment: Nichomachean Ethics (Aristotle, 4th cent. BCE) | 09:58*PRODUCTION NOTE: For about the first third of the episode, Isaac's audio may sound a bit shaky and there will be some minor overlap in the tracks. The first issue resolves around 38:00, and the second one about halfway through. 

This week, Isaac and Dan discuss another Platonic dialogue, the Phaedrus. How can we discern the relationship between love and rhetoric? What is the true nature of the soul? What do philosophy and Red Bull have in common? Tune in to find out the only right answers to these questions and more.Spirits: Sweet Josie (Lonerider) and Miller Lite | 02:35Main Segment: Phaedrus (Plato, 4th cent. BCE) | 11:50https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trRc1_CATfo&t=7shttps://www.hackettpublishing.com/philosophy/complete-works