Who is This SOB?

Hillary & Nancy vs. The S.O.B. - Hillary Clinton has a podcast? Who knew? Well, apparently Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi knew about it...and she was Hillary's special guest on a "Bonus" episode about the January 6th attack on the Capitol Building. Traitors, Insurrectionists, and Trumpsters Oh My...or is there a little more to the story? And...why are they bringing Putin/Russia into the conversation??? I disagreed with most of their points, but found myself agreeing with a few others. Either way, January 6th was a historic day in American history and we should all be discussing it to a certain extent.

Student of an S.O.B. - Chad Wylie grew up in a Christian home (his dad is a pastor)...attended an evangelical megachurch...took my Ethics class in high school...and recently graduated from the "Mecca" of Christian colleges, Liberty University. He was enthusiastic about voting for Trump in 2016, but has been disappointed by his presidency in many ways. Chad got to know some very liberal students while at Liberty; Experienced some censorship while writing for the school newspaper; and wasn't surprised by the recent downfall of Liberty's President, Jerry Falwell Jr. Chad is not quite the young man he was when he went off to college, but he's a better person for all that he experienced. He's also much more considerate of people who don't share his views...and he's concerned about how much emphasis evangelicals place on politics.

Nice White Parents - Apparently, that is who we need to blame for our failing public schools...at least according to this new podcast from The New York Times. And while the white parents that host Chana Joffe-Walt of the NYT talks about did plenty of obnoxious and dare I say privileged things...are they really the sole culprits? Could all of our educational woes really land a their feet exclusively? What about school leadership? School Boards? Local government? The teacher's union? Federal interference? Politics? This podcast gets a lot of things right...and the investigative journalism is excellent...but has she reached the right conclusion? Additionally, is the New York Times taking advantage of our current racial strife to make a buck? Is this kind of thinking healthy for our nation right now? Let's work through this together, shall we?

Son of a SOB? - We decided to move in a different direction with this episode after some difficult conversations with a few people in their early 30's that didn't like the previous episodes of Who is this SOB. They felt like I was too judgmental. Too preachy. Too much of an S.O.B., if you will. So...I decided to talk to our two older children about it/me. Hayden is 25 and Amelia is 22. That wasn't an easy conversation, either. The result is Episode 8 of Who is this SOB. Hayden is 25 and about to move to San Francisco...a decision that raises the eyebrows of our conservative Christian friends. He is quite smart, very empathetic, and not nearly as conservative as his parents. He would describe himself as left of center...but not on everything. He loves Jesus and he loves people, but our relationship went through some very difficult times over the past few years as we argued about politics in general, Trump, Andrew Yang, Universal Basic Income, Evangelicalism, Environmentalism, Pacifism, Southern Baptist's, Liberals, Conservatives, etc. It wasn't pretty. Today? Things are much better, but it wasn't an easy road. In this episode I interview my son about being raised in a very conservative Christian home, his time away at college, our "ugly" years, and where we are now in our relationship. It wasn't an easy conversation...and some things Hayden shared were really hard to hear...but I needed to hear them. Perhaps you do, too. Actually, I think most Americans need to hear this conversation. Too much unnecessary division. Far too little constructive conversation. At work...with friends...and sadly, even at home.  

GURU: The Dark Side of Enlightenment (by Wondery) - "When we face challenges in life, we seek answers from people we believe can help us. When tragedy strikes an exclusive retreat with a self-help superstar, many people are left to wonder: how far is too far?" Self-Help leaders are usually highly charismatic, and James Arthur Ray was at the top of his "Guru" game when three of his followers died after taking part in sweat lodge exercise at his $10,000 "Spiritual Warrior" camp near Sedona, AZ. What drives people to embrace the self-help culture, and why would they allow themselves to be taken in to the point where it cost them their life? GURU is a sad story that begs a lot of difficult questions.

Stuff You Should Know (6/23/20') - Did you know the guys at SYSK were pro-life? I'm not sure Josh and Chuck knew what they were doing for the pro-life cause when they did this show on how ultrasound machines work. Oops? The Ben Shapiro Show (6/19/20') - Ben Shapiro misses the mark a little when it comes to systemic racism. The Joe Rogan Experience (6/18/20') - Joe and his guest, Bret Weinstein, almost get to the point behind the protests, riots, looting, and monument destruction.

The Daily – Host Michael Barbaro has a difficult discussion with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey about the murder of George Floyd, the resulting protests and riots/looting, as well as the need for police reform. They make many important points…but miss others. What about the role of Democrat leaders in these urban areas? What about personal responsibility? What about the fact that all police are not bad? What about black crime rates? What about the impact of poverty? What about the brokenness of the human heart and condition? We have lots of questions, but does anybody have any answers? In His Service & Yours,

The Joe Rogan Experience – He is the #1 podcaster in the world and made an astonishing $30M in 2019, but he recently got in trouble with a lot of his fans because he dared to flaunt his status and privilege as a Hollywood elitist with respect to the Coronavirus pandemic. My Favorite Murder – What’s with Karen and Georgia’s fascination with brutal and disturbing murder cases? They had the #2 podcast in America last year and made about $15M so obviously they aren’t the only ones who love to hear the grisly details. What’s our deal, people? The Daily (featuring AOC) – The Daily is a remarkably well-done podcast by the folks at the NY Times so it’s no wonder that the leader of “The Squad”—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—felt comfortable enough to let loose with respect to the coronavirus, identity politics, and virtue signaling. However…her district is one of the worst areas in America when it comes to the impact of the virus and we should all have a broken heart about that.

POD Save America – Former Obama aides, Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer, lose their junk over President Trump’s obvious change in demeanor back in early April when it came to the COVID-19 situation. Warning: If you have sensitive ears, these guys drop a lot of f-bombs! (SPOILER ALERT: These guys are former Obama aides ☺ ) Jon and Dan get a few good jabs in here and there, but mostly what they do is confirm their amazing confirmation bias along with validating a positive diagnosis of TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome). NOTE: I’m not a MAGA hat-wearing type Trump supporter, and TDS certainly exists on both sides of the political aisle, but I think the POD Save America guys are a perfect example of what’s wrong with far too many of us when it comes to politics…myself included.

Dolly Parton’s America – One of the biggest podcast series of 2019 was dedicated to exploring the amazing life of cultural icon Dolly Parton. What? I mean, she’s a legend and all, but from a bygone era for most podcast listeners, I would think. Apparently not. The series is incredibly well done and Dolly Parton is easy to like, but when it comes to her faith—the “Theology of Dolly Parton” as they say in the final episode—she is all over the map. From the podcast description: “As Dolly will tell you, so much of who she is - her creativity, her music, her stance on life - emanates from her faith, but what exactly is that faith? The answer is deeply surprising.” It certainly was to me.

Call Her Daddy - Alex and Sofia talk about the Plan B “day after” birth control pill like it’s Vitamin C, despite the fact that it can cause an abortion at the earliest stage of life (unless you are a science denier). Ben Shapiro’s Sunday Special – I agree with Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh almost all of the time, but in this case, they are both 100% wrong about the exact same thing? Indeed. And this one is a matter of life and death. NPR’s Up First – Suicide in America is growing at an alarming rate and I appreciate Up First for taking on this tragic story, but where is the hope? TED Talks – What happens when you connect a bunch of southern Trump supporters with a bunch of Hillary supporters from the Northwest? You may be shocked to see what happened with this social experiment on the heels of the 2016 presidential campaign.

See Comments Who is this S.O.B.? That’s quite a name for a podcast…and quite a question, as well. For some of my conservative Christian friends, it has caused no small amount of consternation. “What does the S.O.B. stand for?” they ask, with a rather concerned look on their face. “It stands for exactly what you think it stands for,” I reply, somewhat glibly. Most of the top podcasts in America come from a rather liberal perspective, to say the least. “My people” aren’t listening to them, for the most part, and “their people”—maybe people like YOU—aren’t listening to the conservative talk shows and podcasts “my people” are listening to. I decided to challenge that rather boring and lazy approach to life. Why? How? Give this short introductory episode a listen to get the answers…and maybe, I won’t be quite the S.O.B. some people expect me to be. Only time will tell. PS – We will drop the first four FULL episodes next week, which respond to 10 of the most popular podcasts out there…so be sure to come back and check them out! I dare you.