Podcast appearances and mentions of george w bush

The IRS has decided churches are no longer prohibited from endorsing political candidates. Is this a win for free speech or a reason for some churches to become even more partisan? The Department of Homeland Security has released a creepy new promotional video that uses the Bible to frame border security as a mission from God. The Christian who gave George W. Bush the idea of “compassionate conservatism” says the passing of the Big Beautiful Bill marks the end of an era for the GOP. Professor Ryan Burge is back with data about the religious outlook of Gen Z. Some see evidence of a revival, but Burge says it's probably wishful thinking. Also this week, animal fashion news: chimp drip edition.   World Relief: https://worldrelief.org/advocate/   Holy Post Plus: Bonus Interview with Ryan Burge: https://www.patreon.com/posts/134198348/   Ad-Free Version of this Episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/134204161/   0:00 - Show Starts   3:22 - Theme Song   3:44  - Sponsor - Rocket Money - Find and cancel your old subscriptions with Rocket Money at https://www.rocketmoney.com/HOLYPOST   4:48 - Sponsor - Hiya Health - Go to https://www.hiyahealth.com/HOLYPOST to receive 50% off your first order   5:55 - Chimp Fashion!   12:56 - Christian in Government with PEPFAR   16:07 - The Johnson Amendment   29:24 - Bible Verse in an ICE Recruitment Ad   40:59 - Why Is the Church So Libertarian?   55:33 - Sponsor - BetterHelp - This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://www.betterhelp.com/HOLYPOST and get 10% off your first month   56:42 - Sponsor - AG1 - Heavily researched, thoroughly purity-tested, and filled with stuff you need. Go to https://www.drinkag1.com/HOLYPOST   58:00 - Interview   1:00:45 - Why Are They Saying It's a “Revival?”   1:09:05 - Can Revival Be Predicted?   1:16:50 - Church and Loneliness   1:29:46 - End Credits   Links from News Segment: Chimps and Grassy Fashion! https://www.iflscience.com/chimps-are-sticking-grass-in-their-ears-and-rears-as-they-embrace-pointless-fad-79910   Other Resources: Ryan Burge's Article on Gen Z Revival: https://www.graphsaboutreligion.com/p/is-there-a-religious-revival-occurring   Holy Post website: https://www.holypost.com/   Holy Post Plus: www.holypost.com/plus   Holy Post Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/holypost   Holy Post Merch Store: https://www.holypost.com/shop   The Holy Post is supported by our listeners. We may earn affiliate commissions through links listed here. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.  

You are in for a real treat on this episode. My guest this time is Greg Schwem. Greg is a corporate comedian. What is a corporate comedian? You probably can imagine that his work has to do with corporations, and you would be right. Greg will explain much better than I can. Mr. Schwem began his career as a TV journalist but eventually decided to take up what he really wanted to do, be a comedian. The story of how he evolved is quite fascinating by any standard. Greg has done comedy professionally since 1989. He speaks today mostly to corporate audiences. He will tell us how he does his work. It is quite interesting to hear how he has learned to relate to his audiences. As you will discover as Greg and I talk, we often work in the same way to learn about our audiences and thus how we get to relate to them. Greg has written three books. His latest one is entitled “Turning Gut Punches into Punch Lines: A Comedian's Journey Through Cancer, Divorce and Other Hilarious Stuff”. As Greg says, “Don't worry, it's not one of those whiny, ‘woe is me,' self- serving books. Instead, it's a hilarious account of me living the words I've been preaching to my audiences: You can always find humor in every situation, even the tough ones. Greg offers many interesting observations as he discusses his career and how he works. I think we all can find significant lessons we can use from his remarks. About the Guest: Hi! I'm Greg Schwem. a Chicago-based business humor speaker and MC who HuffPost calls “Your boss's favorite comedian.” I've traveled the world providing clean, customized laughs to clients such as Microsoft, IBM, McDonald's and even the CIA. I also write the bi-weekly Humor Hotel column for the Chicago Tribune syndicate. I believe every corporate event needs humor. As I often tell clients, “When times are good, people want to laugh. When times are bad, people need to laugh.” One Fortune 500 client summed things up perfectly, saying “You were fantastic and just what everybody needed during these times.” In September 2024 I released my third and most personal book, Turning Gut Punches into Punch Lines: A Comedian's Journey Through Cancer, Divorce and Other Hilarious Stuff. Don't worry, it's not one of those whiny, “woe is me,” self-serving books. Instead, it's a hilarious account of me living the words I've been preaching to my audiences: You can always find humor in every situation, even the tough ones. You can pick up a copy at Amazon or select book stores. Ways to connect with Greg: Website: www.gregschwem.com YouTube: www.youtube.com/gregschwem LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/gregschwem Instagram: www.instagram.com/gregschwem X: www.x.com/gregschwem About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:16 Hi everyone, and welcome to unstoppable mindset. Today we are going to definitely have some fun. I'll tell you about our guests in a moment, but first, I want to tell you about me. That'll take an hour or so. I am Michael Hingson, your host, and you're listening to unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. And I don't know, we may get inclusion or diversity into this, but our guest is Greg Schwem. Greg used to be a TV reporter, now he's a comedian, not sure which is funnier, but given some of the reporters I've seen on TV, they really should go into tonight club business. But anyway, Greg, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're here. I really appreciate you being here and taking the time   Greg Schwem ** 02:04 Well, Michael, it is an honor to be included on your show. I'm really looking forward to the next hour of conversation. I   Speaker 1 ** 02:10 told Greg a little while ago, one of my major life ambitions that I never got to do was to go to a Don Rickles concert and sit in the front row so that hopefully he would pick on me, so that I could say, Yeah, I saw you once on TV, and I haven't been able to see since. What do you think of that? You hockey puck, but I never got to do it. So very disappointed. But everybody has bucket list moments, everybody has, but they don't get around to I'm sorry. Yeah, I know. Well, the other one is, I love to pick on Mike Wallace. I did a radio show for six years opposite him in 60 minutes, and I always love to say that Wallace really had criminal tendencies, because he started out being an announcer in radio and he announced things like The Green Hornet and the Sky King and other shows where they had a lot of criminals. So I just figured he had to be associated with criminals somewhere in his life. Of course, everybody picked on him, and he had broad shoulders. And I again, I regret I never got to to meet him, which is sort of disappointing. But I did get to meet Peter Falk. That was kind of fun.   Greg Schwem ** 03:15 Mike Wallace to Peter Falk. Nice transition there. I know.   Michael Hingson ** 03:21 Well I am really glad you're with us. So why don't we start? We'll start with the serious part. Why don't you tell us, kind of about the early Greg schwim and growing up and all that sort of stuff, just to set the stage, as it were,   Greg Schwem ** 03:34 how far back you want to go? You want to go back to Little League, or you want to   Speaker 1 ** 03:37 just, oh, start at the beginning, a long time ago, right? I was a   Greg Schwem ** 03:41 very strange child. No, I you. You obviously introduced me as a as a comedian, and that is my full time job. And you also said that I was a former journalist, and that is my professional career. Yes, I went from, as I always like to say, I went from depressing people all day long, to making them laugh. And that's, that's kind of what I did. I always did want to be I majored in Journalism at Northwestern University, good journalism school. Originally, I always wanted to be a television reporter. That was as a professional career I was, I dabbled in comedy. Started when I was 16. That is the first time I ever got on stage at my school, my high school, and then at a comedy club. I was there one of the first comedy clubs in Chicago, a place called the comedy cottage. It was in the suburb of beautiful, beautiful suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, and they were one of the very, very first full time comedy clubs in the nation. And as a 16 year old kid, I actually got on stage and did five minutes here and five minutes there. And thought I was, I was hot stuff, but I never, ever thought I would do it for a living. I thought comedy would always be just a hobby. And I. Especially when I went to college, and I thought, okay, Northwestern is pretty good school, pretty expensive school. I should actually use my degree. And I did. I moved down to Florida, wrote for a newspaper called The Palm Beach post, which, don't let that title fool you. It's Palm Beach was a very small segment of of the area that it was, that it served, but I did comedy on the side, and just because I moved down there, I didn't know anybody, so I hung out at comedy clubs just to have something to do. And little by little, comedy in the late 80s, it exploded. Exploded. There were suddenly clubs popping up everywhere, and you were starting to get to know guys that were doing these clubs and were starting to get recognition for just being comedians. And one of them opened up a very, very good Club opened up about 10 minutes from my apartment in West Palm Beach, and I hung out there and started to get more stage time, and eventually started to realize at the same time that I was getting better as a comedian, I was becoming more disillusioned as a journalist in terms of what my bosses wanted me to report on and the tone they wanted me to use. And I just decided that I would I would just never be able to live with myself if I didn't try it, if I didn't take the the plunge into comedy, and that's what I did in 1989 and I've been doing it ever since. And my career has gone in multiple directions, as I think it needs to. If you're going to be in show business and sustain a career in show business, you have to wear a lot of different hats, which I feel like I've done.   Michael Hingson ** 06:40 So tell me more about that. What does that mean exactly?   Greg Schwem ** 06:43 Well, I mean, I started out as a what you would pretty much if somebody said, If you heard somebody say, I'm a comedian, they would envision some guy that just went to comedy clubs all the time, and that's what I did. I was just a guy that traveled by car all over the Midwest and the Southeast primarily, and did comedy clubs, but I quickly realized that was kind of a going nowhere way to attack it, to do comedy unless you were incredibly lucky, because there were so many guys doing it and so many clubs, and I just didn't see a future in it, and I felt like I had to separate myself from the pack a little bit. And I was living in Chicago, which is where I'm from, and still, still exist. Still reside in Chicago, and I started to get involved with a company that did live trade show presentations. So if you've ever been on a trade show floor and you see people, they're mostly actors and actresses that wear a headset and deliver a spiel, a pitch, like every, every twice an hour, about some company, some new product, and so forth. And I did that, and I started to write material about what I was seeing on trade show floors and putting it into my stand up act, stuff about business, stuff about technology, because I was Hawking a lot of new computers and things like that. This was the mid 90s when technology was exploding, and I started to put this into my stand up act. And then I'd have people come up to me afterwards and say, hey, you know those jokes you did about computers and tech support, if you could come down to our office, you know, we're having a golf tournament, we're having a Christmas party, we would love to hear that material. And little by little, I started transitioning my act into doing shows for the corporate market. I hooked up with a corporate agent, or the corporate agent heard about me, and started to open a lot of doors for me in terms of working for very large corporations, and that's pretty much what I've been doing. I stopped working clubs, and I transitioned, instead of being a comedian, I became a corporate humor speaker. And that's what I do, primarily to this day, is to speak at business conferences. Just kind of get people to loosen up, get them to laugh about what they do all day without without making it sound like I'm belittling what they do. And also when I'm not doing that, I work about eight to 10 weeks a year on cruise ships, performing for cruise audiences. So that's a nice getaway.   Speaker 1 ** 09:18 It's interesting since I mentioned Don Rickles earlier, years ago, I saw an interview that he did with Donahue, and one of the things that Don Rickles said, and after he said it, I thought about it. He said, I really don't want to pick on anyone who's going to be offended by me picking on them. He said, I try to watch really carefully, so that if it looks like somebody's getting offended, I'll leave them alone, because that's not what this is all about. It isn't about abusing people. It's about trying to get people to have fun, and if somebody's offended, I don't want to to pick on them, and I've heard a number of albums and other things with him and just. Noticed that that was really true. He wouldn't pick on someone unless they could take it and had a lot of fun with it. And I thought that was absolutely interesting, because that certainly wasn't, of course, the rep that he had and no, but it was   Greg Schwem ** 10:16 true. It is, and it doesn't take long to see as a as a comedian, when you're looking at an audience member and you're talking to them, it, you can tell very quickly, Are they enjoying this? Are they enjoying being the center of attention? A lot of people are, or are they uncomfortable with it? Now, I don't know that going in. I mean, I you know, of course. And again, that's a very small portion of my show is to talk to the audience, but it is something particularly today. I think audiences want to be more involved. I think they enjoy you talk you. Some of these, the new comedians in their 20s and 30s and so forth. Them, some of them are doing nothing, but what they call crowd work. So they're just doing 45 minutes of talking to the audience, which can be good and can be rough too, because you're working without a net. But I'm happy to give an audience a little bit of that. But I also have a lot of stuff that I want to say too. I mean, I work very hard coming up with material and and refining it, and I want to talk about what's going on in my life, too. So I don't want the audience to be the entire show, right?   Speaker 1 ** 11:26 And and they shouldn't be, because it isn't about that. But at the same time, it is nice to involve them. I find that as a keynote and public speaker, I find that true as well, though, is that audiences do like to be involved. And I do some things right at the outset of most talks to involve people, and also in involving them. I want to get them to last so that I start to draw them in, because later, when I tell the September 11 story, which isn't really a humorous thing. Directly,   Greg Schwem ** 12:04 i know i Good luck. I'm spinning 911 to make it I don't think I've ever heard anybody say, by the way, I was trapped in a building. Stick with me. It's kind of cute. It's got a funny ending. And   Speaker 1 ** 12:20 that's right, and it is hard I can, I can say humorous things along the way in telling the story, but, sure, right, but, but clearly it's not a story that, in of itself, is humorous. But what I realized over the years, and it's really dawned on me in the last four or five years is we now have a whole generation of people who have absolutely no memory of September 11 because they were children or they weren't even born yet. And I believe that my job is to not only talk about it, but literally to draw them into the building and have them walk down the stairs with me, and I have to be descriptive in a very positive way, so that they really are part of what's going on. And the reality is that I do hear people or people come up and say, we were with you when you were going down the stairs. And I think that's my job, because the reality is that we've got to get people to understand there are lessons to be learned from September 11, right? And the only real way to do that is to attract the audience and bring them in. And I think probably mostly, I'm in a better position to do that than most people, because I'm kind of a curious soul, being blind and all that, but it allows me to to draw them in and and it's fun to do that, actually. And I, and   Greg Schwem ** 13:52 I gotta believe, I mean, obviously I wasn't there, Michael, but I gotta believe there were moments of humor in people, a bunch of people going down the stairs. Sure, me, you put people get it's like, it's like when a bunch of people are in an elevator together, you know, I mean, there's I, when I look around and I try to find something humorous in a crowded and it's probably the same thing now, obviously it, you know, you got out in time. But I and, you know, don't that's the hotel phone, which I just hung up so but I think that I can totally see where you're going from, where, if you're if you're talking to people who have no recollection of this, have no memory where you're basically educating them on the whole event. I think you then you have the opportunity to tell the story in whatever way you see fit. And I think that however you choose to do it is there's no wrong way to do it, I guess is what I'm trying to get at.   Speaker 1 ** 14:55 Well, yeah, I think the wrong way is to be two. Graphic and morbid and morbid, but one of the things that I talk about, for example, is that a colleague of mine who was with me, David Frank, at about the 50th floor, suddenly said, Mike, we're going to die. We're not going to make it out of here. And as as I tell the audience, typically, I as as you heard my introduction at the beginning, I have a secondary teaching credential. And one of the things that you probably don't know about teachers is that there's a secret course that every teacher takes called Voice 101, how to yell at students and and so what I tell people is that when David said that, I just said in my best teacher voice, stop it, David, if Roselle and I can go down these stairs, so can you. And he told me later that that brought him out of his funk, and he ended up walking a floor below me and shouting up to me everything he saw. And it was just mainly, everything is clear, like I'm on floor 48 he's on 47/47 floor. Everything is good here, and what I have done for the past several years in telling that part of the story is to say David, in reality, probably did more to keep people calm and focused as we went down the stairs than anyone else, because anyone within the sound of his voice heard someone who was focused and sounded okay. You know, hey, I'm on the 44th floor. This is where the Port Authority cafeteria is not stopping. And it it helps people understand that we all had to do what we could to keep everyone from not panicking. And it almost happened a few times that people did, but we worked at it. But the i The idea is that it helps draw people in, and I think that's so important to do for my particular story is to draw them in and have them walk down the stairs with me, which is what I do, absolutely, yeah, yeah. Now I'm curious about something that keeps coming up. I hear it every so often, public speaker, Speaker experts and people who are supposedly the great gurus of public speaking say you shouldn't really start out with a joke. And I've heard that so often, and I'm going give me a break. Well, I think, I think it depends, yeah, I think   Greg Schwem ** 17:33 there's two schools of thought to that. I think if you're going to start out with a joke, it better be a really good one, or something that you either has been battle tested, because if it doesn't work now, you, you know, if you're hoping for a big laugh, now you're saying, Well, you're a comedian, what do you do? You know, I mean, I, I even, I just sort of work my way into it a little bit. Yeah, and I'm a comedian, so, and, you know, it's funny, Michael, I will get, I will get. I've had CEOs before say to me, Hey, you know, I've got to give this presentation next week. Give me a joke I can tell to everybody. And I always decline. I always it's like, I don't need that kind of pressure. And it's like, I can, I can, I can tell you a funny joke, but,   Michael Hingson ** 18:22 but you telling the   Greg Schwem ** 18:23 work? Yeah, deliver it. You know, I can't deliver it for you. Yeah? And I think that's what I also, you know, on that note, I've never been a big fan of Stand Up Comedy classes, and you see them all popping up all over the place. Now, a lot of comedy clubs will have them, and usually the you take the class, and the carrot at the end is you get to do five minutes at a comedy club right now, if that is your goal, if you're somebody who always like, Gosh, I wonder what it would like be like to stand up on stage and and be a comedian for five minutes. That's something I really like to try. By all means, take the class, all right. But if you think that you're going to take this class and you're going to emerge a much funnier person, like all of a sudden you you weren't funny, but now you are, don't take the class, yeah? And I think, sadly, I think that a lot of people sign up for these classes thinking the latter, thinking that they will all of a sudden become, you know, a comedian. And it doesn't work that way. I'm sorry you cannot teach unfunny people to be funny. Yeah, some of us have the gift of it, and some of us don't. Some of us are really good with our hands, and just know how to build stuff and how to look at things and say, I can do that. And some of us, myself included, definitely do not. You know, I think you can teach people to be more comfortable, more comfortable in front of an audience and. Correct. I think that is definitely a teachable thing, but I don't think that you can teach people to be funnier   Speaker 1 ** 20:10 and funnier, and I agree with that. I tend to be amazed when I keep hearing that one of the top fears in our world is getting up in front of an audience and talking with them, because people really don't understand that audiences, whatever you're doing, want you to succeed, and they're not against you, but we have just conditioned ourselves collectively that speaking is something to be afraid of?   Greg Schwem ** 20:41 Yes, I think, though it's, I'm sure, that fear, though, of getting up in front of people has only probably been exacerbated and been made more intense because now everybody in the audience has a cell phone and to and to be looking out at people and to see them on their phones. Yeah, you're and yet, you prepped all day long. You've been nervous. You've been you probably didn't sleep the night before. If you're one of these people who are afraid of speaking in public, yeah, and then to see people on their phones. You know, it used to bother me. It doesn't anymore, because it's just the society we live in. I just, I wish, I wish people could put their phones down and just enjoy laughing for 45 minutes. But unfortunately, our society can't do that anymore, so I just hope that I can get most of them to stop looking at it.   Speaker 1 ** 21:32 I don't make any comments about it at the beginning, but I have, on a number of occasions, been delivering a speech, and I hear a cell phone ring, and I'll stop and go, Hello. And I don't know for sure what the person with the cell phone does, but by the same token, you know they really shouldn't be on their phone and and it works out, okay, nobody's ever complained about it. And when I just say hello, or I'll go Hello, you don't say, you know, and things like that, but, but I don't, I don't prolong it. I'll just go back to what I was talking about. But I remember, when I lived in New Jersey, Sandy Duncan was Peter Pan in New York. One night she was flying over the audience, and there was somebody on his cell phone, and she happened to be going near him, and she just kicked the phone out of his hand. And I think that's one of the things that started Broadway in saying, if you have a cell phone, turn it off. And those are the announcements that you hear at the beginning of any Broadway performance today.   Greg Schwem ** 22:39 Unfortunately, people don't abide by that. I know you're still hearing cell phones go off, yeah, you know, in Broadway productions at the opera or wherever, so people just can't and there you go. There that just shows you're fighting a losing battle.   Speaker 1 ** 22:53 Yeah, it's just one of those things, and you got to cope with it.   Greg Schwem ** 22:58 What on that note, though, there was, I will say, if I can interrupt real quick, there was one show I did where nobody had their phone. It was a few years ago. I spoke at the CIA. I spoke for some employees of the CIA. And this might, this might freak people out, because you think, how is it that America's covert intelligence agency, you think they would be on their phones all the time. No, if you work there, you cannot have your phone on you. And so I had an audience of about 300 people who I had their total attention because there was no other way to they had no choice but to listen to me, and it was wonderful. It was just a great show, and I it was just so refreshing. Yeah,   Speaker 1 ** 23:52 and mostly I don't hear cell phones, but they do come up from time to time. And if they do, then you know it happens. Now my one of my favorite stories is I once spoke in Maryland at the Department of Defense, which anybody who knows anything knows that's the National Security Agency, but they call it the Department of Defense, as if we don't know. And my favorite story is that I had, at the time, a micro cassette recorder, and it died that morning before I traveled to Fort Meade, and I forgot to just throw it away, and it was in my briefcase. So I got to the fort, they searched, apparently, didn't find it, but on the way out, someone found it. They had to get a bird Colonel to come to decide what to do with it. I said, throw it away. And they said, No, we can't do that. It's yours. And they they decided it didn't work, and they let me take it and I threw it away. But it was so, so funny to to be at the fort and see everybody running around crazy. See, what do we do with this micro cassette recorder? This guy's been here for an hour. Yeah. So it's it. You know, all sorts of things happen. What do you think about you know, there's a lot of discussion about comedians who use a lot of foul language in their shows, and then there are those who don't, and people seem to like the shock value of that.   Greg Schwem ** 25:25 Yeah, I'm very old school in that. I guess my short answer is, No, I've never, ever been one of those comedians. Ever I do a clean show, I actually learned my lesson very early on. I think I think that I think comedians tend to swear because when they first start out, out of nerves, because I will tell you that profanity does get laughter. And I've always said, if you want to, if you want to experiment on that, have a comedian write a joke, and let's say he's got two shows that night. Let's say he's got an eight o'clock show and a 10 o'clock show. So let's say he does the joke in the eight o'clock and it's, you know, the cadence is bumper, bump up, bump up, bump up, punch line. Okay, now let's and let's see how that plays. Now let's now he does the 10 o'clock show and it's bumper, bump up, bump up F and Okay, yeah, I pretty much guarantee you the 10 o'clock show will get a bigger laugh. Okay? Because he's sort of, it's like the audience is programmed like, oh, okay, we're supposed to laugh at that now. And I think a lot of comedians think, Aha, I have just discovered how to be successful as a comedian. I will just insert the F word in front of every punch line, and you can kind of tell what comedians do that and what comedians I mean. I am fine with foul language, but have some jokes in there too. Don't make them. Don't make the foul word, the joke, the joke, right? And I can say another thing nobody has ever said to me, I cannot hire you because you're too clean. I've never gotten that. And all the years I've been doing this, and I know there's lots of comedians who who do work blue, who have said, you know, who have been turned down for that very reason. So I believe, if you're a comedian, the only way to get better is to work any place that will have you. Yeah, and you can't, so you might as well work clean so you can work any place that will have you, as opposed to being turned away.   Speaker 1 ** 27:30 Well, and I, and I know what, what happened to him and all that, but at the same time, I grew up listening to Bill Cosby and the fact that he was always clean. And, yeah, I understand everything that happened, but you can't deny and you can't forget so many years of humor and all the things that that he brought to the world, and the joy he brought to the world in so many ways.   Greg Schwem ** 27:57 Oh, yeah, no, I agree. I agree. And he Yeah, he worked everywhere. Jay Leno is another one. I mean, Jay Leno is kind of on the same wavelength as me, as far as don't let the profanity become the joke. You know, Eddie Murphy was, you know, was very foul. Richard Pryor, extremely foul. I but they also, prior, especially, had very intelligent material. I mean, you can tell and then if you want to insert your F bombs and so forth, that's fine, but at least show me that you're trying. At least show me that you came in with material in addition to the   Speaker 1 ** 28:36 foul language. The only thing I really have to say about all that is it? Jay Leno should just stay away from cars, but that's another story.   Greg Schwem ** 28:43 Oh, yeah, it's starting to   Greg Schwem ** 28:47 look that way. Yeah, it   Michael Hingson ** 28:49 was. It was fun for a while, Jay, but yeah, there's just two. It's like, Harrison Ford and plains. Yeah, same concept. At some point you're like, this isn't working out. Now I submit that living here in Victorville and just being out on the streets and being driven around and all that, I am firmly convinced, given the way most people drive here, that the bigoted DMV should let me have a license, because I am sure I can drive as well as most of the clowns around here. Yeah, so when they drive, I have no doubt. Oh, gosh. Well, you know, you switched from being a TV journalist and so on to to comedy. Was it a hard choice? Was it really difficult to do, or did it just seem like this is the time and this is the right thing to do. I was   Greg Schwem ** 29:41 both, you know, it was hard, because I really did enjoy my job and I liked, I liked being a TV news reporter. I liked, I liked a job that was different every day once you got in there, because you didn't know what they were going to send you out to do. Yes, you had. To get up and go to work every day and so forth. So there's a little bit of, you know, there's a little bit of the mundane, just like there is in any job, but once you were there, I liked, just never known what the day would bring, right? And and I, I think if I'd stayed with it, I think I think I could have gone pretty far, particularly now, because the now it's more people on TV are becoming more entertainers news people are becoming, yeah, they are. A lot of would be, want to be comedians and so forth. And I don't particularly think that's appropriate, but I agree. But so it was hard to leave, but it gets back to what I said earlier. At some point, you got to say, I was seeing comedians making money, and I was thinking, gosh, you know, if they're making money at this I I'm not hilarious, but I know I'm funnier than that guy. Yeah, I'm funnier than her, so why not? And I was young, and I was single, and I thought, if I if I don't try it now, I never will. And, and I'll bet there's just some hilarious people out there, yeah, who who didn't ever, who just were afraid   Michael Hingson ** 31:14 to take that chance, and they wouldn't take the leap, yeah,   Greg Schwem ** 31:16 right. And now they're probably kicking themselves, and I'm sure maybe they're very successful at what they do, but they're always going to say, what if, if I only done this? I don't ever, I don't, ever, I never, ever wanted to say that. Yeah,   Speaker 1 ** 31:31 well, and there's, there's something to be said for being brave and stepping out and doing something that you don't expect, or that you didn't expect, or that you weren't sure how it was going to go, but if you don't try, then you're never going to know just how, how much you could really accomplish and how much you can really do. And I think that the creative people, whatever they're being creative about, are the people who do step out and are willing to take a chance.   Greg Schwem ** 31:59 Yeah, yeah. And I told my kids that too. You know, it's just like, if it's something that you're passionate about, do it. Just try it. If it doesn't work out, then at least you can say I tried   Speaker 1 ** 32:09 it and and if it doesn't work out, then you can decide, what do I need to do to figure out why it didn't work out, or is it just not me? I want   Greg Schwem ** 32:18 to keep going? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.   Speaker 1 ** 32:21 So what is the difference between being a nightclub comedian and a corporate comedian? Because they are somewhat different. I think I know the answer. But what would you say that the differences between them? I think   Greg Schwem ** 32:33 the biggest thing is the audiences. I think when you when you are a nightclub comedian, you are working in front of people who are there to be entertained. Yeah, they, they paid money for that. That's what they're expecting. They, they, at some point during the day, they said, Hey, let's, let's go laugh tonight. That's what we really want to do when you're working in front of a corporate audiences. That's not necessarily the case. They are there. I primarily do business conferences and, you know, association meetings and so forth. And I'm just one cog in the wheel of a whole day's worth of meetings are, for the most part, very dry and boring, maybe certainly necessary educational. They're learning how to do their job better or something. And then you have a guy like me come in, and people aren't always ready to laugh, yeah, despite the fact that they probably need to, but they just they're not always in that mindset. And also the time of day. I mean, I do a lot of shows at nine in the morning. I do shows after lunch, right before lunch. I actually do very few shows in the evening, believe it or not. And so then you you have to, you kind of have to, in the while you're doing your act or your presentation or your speech, as I call it, you kind of have to let them know that it is okay. What you're doing is okay, and they should be okay with laughing. They shouldn't be looking around the whole time wondering if other people are laughing. You know, can I, can I? Can I tell you a quick story about how I drive that point home. Why not? Yeah, it's, I'll condense it into like five minutes. I mentioned that I worked on that I work on cruise ships occasionally, and I one night I was performing, and it was the first night of the cruise. And if anybody's ever been on a cruise, note, the first night, first night entertainers don't like the first night because people are tired. You know, they're they're a little edgy because they've been traveling all day. They're they're confused because they're not really sure where they're going on a ship. And the ones that have got it figured out usually over serve themselves because they're on vacation. So you put all that, so I'm doing my show on the first. Night, and it's going very well. And about five, six minutes in, I do a joke. Everybody laughs. Everybody shuts up. And from the back of the room in total darkness, I hear hat just like that. And I'm like, All right, you know, probably over served. So the rule of comedy is that everybody gets like. I was like, I'll let it go once, yeah. So I just kind of looked off in that direction, didn't say anything. Kept going with my active going with my act. About 10 minutes later, same thing happens. I tell a joke. Everybody laughs. Everybody shuts up. Hat now I'm like, Okay, I have got to, I've got to address the elephant in the room. So I think I just made some comment, like, you know, I didn't know Roseanne Barr was on this cruise, you know, because that was like the sound of the Yeah. Okay, everybody laugh. Nothing happened about five minutes later. It happens a third time. And now I'm just like, this is gonna stop. I'm going to put a stop to this. And I just fired off. I can't remember, like, three just like, hey man, you know you're you're just a little behind everybody else in this show and probably in life too, that, you know, things like that, and it never happened again. So I'm like, okay, mission accomplished on my part. Comedians love it when we can shut up somebody like that. Anyway. Show's over, I am out doing a meet and greet. Some guy comes up to me and he goes, hey, hey, you know that kid you were making fun of is mentally handicapped. And now, of course, I don't know this, but out of the corner of my eye, I see from the other exit a man pushing a son, his son in a wheelchair out of the showroom. And I'm just like, Oh, what have I done? And yeah. And of course, when you're on a cruise, you're you're on a cruise. When you're a cruise ship entertainer, you have to live with your audience. So I couldn't hide. I spent like the next three days, and it seemed like wherever I was, the man and his son in the wheelchair were nearby. And finally, on the fourth day, I think was, I was waiting for an elevator. Again, 3500 people on this ship, okay, I'm waiting for an elevator. The elevator door opens. Guess who are the only two people the elevator, the man and his son. And I can't really say I'll wait for the next one. So I get on, and I said to this the father, I said, I just want you to know I had no idea. You know, I'm so sorry. I can't see back there, this kind of thing. And the dad looks at me. He puts his hand up to stop me, and he points to me, and he goes, I thought you were hysterical. And it was, not only was it relief, but it kind of, it's sort of a lesson that if you think something is funny, you should laugh at it. Yeah. And I think sometimes in corporate America, my point in this. I think sometimes when you do these corporate shows, I think that audience members forget that. I think very busy looking around to see if their immediate boss thinks it's funny, and eventually everybody's looking at the CEO to see if they're like, you know, I think if you're doing it that way, if that's the way you're you're approaching humor. You're doing yourself a disservice, if right, stopping yourself from laughing at something that you think is funny.   Speaker 1 ** 38:09 I do think that that all too often the problem with meetings is that we as a as a country, we in corporations, don't do meetings, right anyway, for example, early on, I heard someone at a convention of the National Federation of the Blind say he was the new executive director of the American Foundation for the Blind, and he said, I have instituted a policy, no Braille, no meetings. And what that was all about was to say, if you're going to have a meeting, you need to make sure that all the documentation is accessible to those who aren't going to read the print. I take it further and say you shouldn't be giving out documentation during the meeting. And you can use the excuse, well, I got to get the latest numbers and all that. And my point is, you shouldn't be giving out documentation at a meeting, because the meeting is for people to communicate and interact with each other. And if you're giving out papers and so on, what are people going to do? They're going to read that, and they're not going to listen to the speakers. They're not going to listen to the other people. And we do so many things like that, we've gotten into a habit of doing things that become so predictable, but also make meetings very boring, because who wants to look at the papers where you can be listening to people who have a lot more constructive and interesting things to say anyway?   Greg Schwem ** 39:36 Yeah, yeah. I think, I think COVID definitely changed, some for the some for the better and some for the worse. I think that a lot of things that were done at meetings COVID and made us realize a lot of that stuff could be done virtually, that you didn't have to just have everybody sit and listen to people over and over and over again.   Speaker 1 ** 39:58 But unless you're Donald Trump. Up. Yeah, that's another story.   Greg Schwem ** 40:02 Yes, exactly another podcast episode. But, yeah, I do think also that. I think COVID changed audiences. I think, you know, we talked a little bit earlier about crowd work, right, and audiences wanting to be more involved. I think COVID precipitated that, because, if you think about it, Michael, for two and a half years during COVID, our sole source of entertainment was our phone, right? Which meant that we were in charge of the entertainment experience. You don't like something, swipe left, scroll down, scroll, scroll, scroll, find something else. You know, that kind of thing. I'm not I'm not entertained in the next four or five seconds. So I'm going to do this. And I think when live entertainment returned, audiences kind of had to be retrained a little bit, where they had to learn to sit and listen and wait for the entertainment to come to them. And granted, it might not happen immediately. It might not happen in the first five seconds, but you have to just give give people like me a chance. It will come to you. It will happen, but it might not be on your timetable,   Speaker 1 ** 41:13 right? Well, and I think that is all too true for me. I didn't find didn't find COVID to be a great inconvenience, because I don't look at the screen anyway, right? So in a sense, for me, COVID wasn't that much of a change, other than not being in an office or not being physically at a meeting, and so I was listening to the meeting on the computer, and that has its nuances. Like you don't necessarily get the same information about how everyone around you is reacting, but, but it didn't bother me, I think, nearly as much as it did everyone else who has to look at everyone. Of course, I have no problems picking on all those people as well, because what I point out is that that disabilities has to be redefined, because every one of you guys has your own disability. You're light dependent, and you don't do well when there's dark, when, when the dark shows up and and we now have an environment where Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb, and we've spent the last 147 years doing everything we can to make sure that light is pretty ubiquitous, but it doesn't change a thing when suddenly the power goes out and you don't have immediate access to light. So that's as much a disability as us light, independent people who don't   Greg Schwem ** 42:36 care about that, right? Right? I hear, I agree, but it is but   Speaker 1 ** 42:41 it is interesting and and it is also important that we all understand each other and are willing to tolerate the fact that there are differences in people, and we need to recognize that with whatever we're doing.   42:53 Yeah, I agree.   Speaker 1 ** 42:57 What do you think about so today, we have obviously a really fractured environment and fractured country, and everyone's got their own opinions, and nobody wants to talk about anything, especially politics wise. How do you think that's all affecting comedy and what you get to do and what other people are doing?   Greg Schwem ** 43:18 Well, I think Pete, I think there's, there's multiple answers to that question too. I think, I think it makes people nervous, wondering what the minute a comedian on stage brings up politics, the minute he starts talking about a politician, whether it's our president, whether it's somebody else, you can sense a tension in the room a little bit, and it's, it's, I mean, it's funny. I, one of my best friends in comedy, got to open for another comedian at Carnegie Hall a couple of years ago, and I went to see him, and I'm sitting way up in the top, and he is just crushing it. And then at one point he he brought up, he decided to do an impression of Mitch McConnell, which he does very well. However, the minute he said, Mitch McConnell, I you could just sense this is Carnegie freaking Hall, and after the show, you know, he and I always like to dissect each other's shows. That's what comedians do. And I just said to him, I go. Why did you decide to insert Mitch McConnell in there? And I, and I didn't say it like, you moron, that was stupid, yeah, but I was genuinely curious. And he just goes, well, I just really like doing that bit, and I like doing that voice and so forth, but, and it's not like the show crashed and burned afterwards. No, he did the joke, and then he got out of it, and he went on to other stuff, and it was fine, but I think that people are just so on their guard now, yeah, and, and that's why, you know, you know Jay Leno always said he was an equal opportunity offender. I think you will do better with politics if you really want. Insert politics into your act. I think he would be better making fun of both sides. Yeah, it's true. Yeah. And I think too often comedians now use the the stage as kind of a Bully, bully pulpit, like I have microphone and you don't. I am now going to give you my take on Donald Trump or the Democrats or whatever, and I've always said, talk about anything you want on stage, but just remember, you're at a comedy club. People came to laugh. So is there a joke in here? Yeah, or are you just ranting because you gotta be careful. You have to get this off your chest, and your way is right. It's, it's, you know, I hate to say it, but that's, that's why podcast, no offense, Michael, yours, is not like this. But I think one of the reasons podcasters have gotten so popular is a lot of people, just a lot of podcast hosts see a podcast is a chance to just rant about whatever's on their mind. And it's amazing to me how many podcast hosts that are hosted by comedians have a second guy have a sidekick to basically laugh and agree with whatever that person says. I think Joe Rogan is a classic example, and he's one of the most popular ones. But, and I don't quite understand that, because you know, if you're a comedian, you you made the choice to work solo, right? So why do you need somebody else with you?   Speaker 1 ** 46:33 I'm I'm fairly close to Leno. My remark is a little bit different. I'm not so much an equal opportunity offender as I am an equal opportunity abuser. I'll pick on both sides if politics comes into it at all, and it's and it's fun, and I remember when George W Bush was leaving the White House, Letterman said, Now we're not going to have anybody to joke about anymore. And everyone loved it. But still, I recognize that in the world today, people don't want to hear anything else. Don't confuse me with the facts or any of that, and it's so unfortunate, but it is the way it is, and so it's wiser to stay away from a lot of that, unless you can really break through the barrier,   Greg Schwem ** 47:21 I think so. And I also think that people, one thing you have to remember, I think, is when people come to a comedy show, they are coming to be entertained. Yeah, they are coming to kind of escape from the gloom and doom that unfortunately permeates our world right now. You know? I mean, I've always said that if you, if you walked up to a comedy club on a Saturday night, and let's say there were 50 people waiting outside, waiting to get in, and you asked all 50 of them, what do you hope happens tonight? Or or, Why are you here? All right, I think from all 50 you would get I would just like to laugh, yeah, I don't think one of them is going to say, you know, I really hope that my opinions on what's happening in the Middle East get challenged right now, but he's a comedian. No one is going to say that. No, no. It's like, I hope I get into it with the comedian on stage, because he thinks this way about a woman's right to choose, and I think the other way. And I really, really hope that he and I will get into an argument about to the middle of the   Speaker 1 ** 48:37 show. Yeah, yeah. That's not why people come?   Greg Schwem ** 48:40 No, it's not. And I, unfortunately, I think again, I think that there's a lot of comedians that don't understand that. Yeah, again, talk about whatever you want on stage, but just remember that your your surroundings, you if you build yourself as a comedian,   48:56 make it funny. Yeah, be funny.   Speaker 1 ** 49:00 Well, and nowadays, especially for for you, for me and so on, we're we're growing older and and I think you point out audiences are getting younger. How do you deal with that?   Greg Schwem ** 49:12 Well, what I try to do is I a couple of things. I try to talk as much as I can about topics that are relevant to a younger generation. Ai being one, I, one of the things I do in my my show is I say, oh, you know, I I really wasn't sure how to start off. And when you're confused these days, you you turn to answer your questions. You turn to chat GPT, and I've actually written, you know, said to chat GPT, you know, I'm doing a show tonight for a group of construction workers who work in the Midwest. It's a $350 million company, and it says, try to be very specific. Give me a funny opening line. And of course, chat GPT always comes up with some. Something kind of stupid, which I then relate to the audience, and they love that, you know, they love that concept. So I think there's, obviously, there's a lot of material that you can do on generational differences, but I, I will say I am very, very aware that my audience is, for the most part, younger than me now, unless I want to spend the rest of my career doing you know, over 55 communities, not that they're not great laughers, but I also think there's a real challenge in being older than your audience and still being able to make them laugh. But I think you have to remember, like you said, there's there's people now that don't remember 911 that have no concept of it, yeah, so don't be doing references from, say, the 1980s or the early 1990s and then come off stage and go, Man, nobody that didn't hit at all. No one, no one. They're stupid. They don't get it. Well, no, they, they, it sounds they don't get it. It's just that they weren't around. They weren't around, right? So that's on you.   Speaker 1 ** 51:01 One of the things that you know people ask me is if I will do virtual events, and I'll do virtual events, but I also tell people, the reason I prefer to do in person events is that I can sense what the audience is doing, how they're reacting and what they feel. If I'm in a room speaking to people, and I don't have that same sense if I'm doing something virtually, agreed same way. Now for me, at the same time, I've been doing this now for 23 years, so I have a pretty good idea in general, how to interact with an audience, to draw them in, even in a virtual environment, but I still tend to be a little bit more careful about it, and it's just kind of the way it is, you know, and you and you learn to deal with it well for you, have you ever had writer's block, and how did you deal with it?   Greg Schwem ** 51:57 Yes, I have had writer's block. I don't I can't think of a single comedian who's never had writer's block, and if they say they haven't, I think they're lying when I have writer's block, the best way for me to deal with this and just so you know, I'm not the kind of comedian that can go that can sit down and write jokes. I can write stories. I've written three books, but I can't sit down and just be funny for an hour all by myself. I need interaction. I need communication. And I think when I have writer's block, I tend to go out and try and meet strangers and can engage them in conversation and find out what's going on with them. I mean, you mentioned about dealing with the younger audience. I am a big believer right now in talking to people who are half my age. I like doing that in social settings, because I just, I'm curious. I'm curious as to how they think. I'm curious as to, you know, how they spend money, how they save money, how what their hopes and dreams are for the future, what that kind of thing, and that's the kind of stuff that then I'll take back and try and write material about. And I think that, I think it's fun for me, and it's really fun to meet somebody who I'll give you a great example just last night. Last night, I was I there's a there's a bar that I have that's about 10 a stone's throw from my condo, and I love to stop in there and and every now and then, sometimes I'll sit there and I won't meet anybody, and sometimes different. So there was a guy, I'd say he's probably in his early 30s, sitting too over, and he was reading, which I find intriguing, that people come to a bar and read, yeah, people do it, I mean. And I just said to him, I go, and he was getting ready to pay his bill, and I just said, if you don't mind me asking, What are you reading? And he's like, Oh, it's by Ezra Klein. And I go, you know, I've listened to Ezra Klein before. And he goes, Yeah, you know? He says, I'm a big fan. And debt to debt to dad. Next thing, you know, we're just, we're just riffing back and forth. And I ended up staying. He put it this way, Michael, it took him a very long time to pay his bill because we had a conversation, and it was just such a pleasure to to people like that, and I think that, and it's a hard thing. It's a hard thing for me to do, because I think people are on their guard, a little bit like, why is this guy who's twice my age talking to me at a bar? That's that seems a little weird. And I would get that. I can see that. But as I mentioned in my latest book, I don't mean because I don't a whole chapter to this, and I I say in the book, I don't mean you any harm. I'm not trying to hit on you, or I'm not creepy old guy at the bar. I am genuinely interested in your story. And. In your life, and and I just, I want to be the least interesting guy in the room, and that's kind of how I go about my writing, too. Is just you, you drive the story. And even though I'm the comedian, I'll just fill in the gaps and make them funny.   Speaker 1 ** 55:15 Well, I know that I have often been invited to speak at places, and I wondered, What am I going to say to this particular audience? How am I going to deal with them? They're they're different than what I'm used to. What I found, I guess you could call that writer's block, but what I found is, if I can go early and interact with them, even if I'm the very first speaker, if I can interact with them beforehand, or if there are other people speaking before me, invariably, I will hear things that will allow me to be able to move on and give a relevant presentation specifically to that group, which is what it's really all about. And so I'm with you, and I appreciate it, and it's good to get to the point where you don't worry about the block, but rather you look at ways to move forward and interact with people and make it fun, right,   Greg Schwem ** 56:13 right? And I do think people, I think COVID, took that away from us a little bit, yeah, obviously, but I but, and I do think people missed that. I think that people, once you get them talking, are more inclined to not think that you're you have ulterior motives. I think people do enjoy putting their phones down a little bit, but it's, it's kind of a two way street when I, when I do meet people, if it's if it's only me asking the questions, eventually I'm going to get tired of that. Yeah, I think there's a, there has to be a reciprocity thing a little bit. And one thing I find is, is with the Gen Z's and maybe millennials. They're not, they're not as good at that as I think they could be. They're more they're they're happy to talk about themselves, but they're not really good at saying so what do you do for a living? Or what you know, tell me about you. And I mean, that's how you learn about other people. Yeah,   Speaker 1 ** 57:19 tell me about your your latest book, Turning gut punches into punchlines. That's a interesting title, yeah, well, the more   Greg Schwem ** 57:26 interesting is the subtitle. So it's turning gut punches into punch punch lines, A Comedian's journey through cancer, divorce and other hilarious stuff.   Speaker 1 ** 57:35 No, like you haven't done anything in the world. Okay, right? So   Greg Schwem ** 57:38 other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln. Yeah, exactly. See, now you get that reference. I don't know if I could use that on stage, but anyway, depend on your audience. But yeah, they're like, What's he talking   Speaker 1 ** 57:50 who's Lincoln? And I've been to Ford theater too, so that's okay, yes, as have I. So it was much later than, than, well, than Lincoln, but that's okay.   Greg Schwem ** 57:58 You're not that old, right? No. Well, okay, so as the title, as the title implies, I did have sort of a double, double gut punch, it just in the last two years. So I, I got divorced late in life, after 29 years of marriage. And while that was going on, I got a colon cancer diagnosis and and at this end, I was dealing with all this while also continuing work as a humor speaker, okay, as a comedian. And I just decided I got it. First of all, I got a very clean bill of health. I'm cancer free. I am finally divorced so and I, I started to think, I wonder if there's some humor in this. I I would, I would, you know, Michael, I've been on stage for like, 25 years telling people that, you know, you can find something funny to laugh at. You can find humor in any situation. It's kind of like what you're talking about all the people going down the stairs in the building in the world trade center. All right, if you look around enough, you know, maybe there's something funny, and I've been preaching that, but I never really had to live that until now. And I thought, you know, maybe there's something here. Maybe I can this is my chance now to embrace new experiences. It was kind of when I got divorced, when you've been married half your life and all of a sudden you get divorced, everything's new to you, yeah, you're, you're, you're living alone, you you're doing things that your spouse did, oh, so many years. And you're having to do those, and you're having to make new friends, yeah, and all of that, I think, is very humorous. So the more I saw a book in there that I started writing before the cancer diagnosis, and I thought was there enough here? Just like, okay, a guy at 60 years old gets divorced now what's going to happen to him? The diagnosis? Kind. Made it just added another wrinkle to the book, because now I have to deal with this, and I have to find another subject to to make light of a little bit. So the book is not a memoir, you know, I don't start it off. And, you know, when I was seven, you know, I played, you know, I was, I went to this school night. It's not that. It's more just about reinvention and just seeing that you can be happy later in life, even though you have to kind of rewrite your your story a little   Speaker 1 ** 1:00:33 bit. And I would assume, and I would assume, you bring some of that into your ACT every so   Greg Schwem ** 1:00:38 very much. So yeah, I created a whole new speech called Turning gut punches into punchlines. And I some of the stuff that I, that I did, but, you know, there's a chapter in the book about, I about gig work, actually three chapters I, you know, I went to work for Amazon during the Christmas holiday rush, just scanning packages. I wanted to see what that was like. I drove for Uber I which I did for a while. And to tell you the truth, I miss it. I ended up selling my car, but I miss it because of the what we just talked about. It was a great way to communicate with people. It was a great way to talk to people, find out about them, be the least interesting person in the car, anyway. And there's a chapter about dating and online dating, which I had not had to do in 30 years. There's a lot of humor in that. I went to therapy. I'd never gone to therapy before. I wrote a chapter about that. So I think people really respond to this book, because they I think they see a lot of themselves in it. You know, lots of people have been divorced. There's lots of cancer survivors out there, and there's lots of people who just suddenly have hit a speed bump in their life, and they're not really sure how to deal with it, right? And my way, this book is just about deal with it through laughter. And I'm the perfect example.   Speaker 1 ** 1:01:56 I hear you, Oh, I I know, and I've been through the same sort of thing as you not a divorce, but my wife and I were married for 40 years, and she passed away in November of 2022 after 40 years of marriage. And as I tell people, as I tell people, I got to be really careful, because she's monitoring me from somewhere, and if I misbehave, I'm going to hear about it, so I got to be a good kid, and I don't even chase the women so. But I also point out that none of them have been chasing me either, so I guess I just do what we got to do. But the reality is, I think there are always ways to find some sort of a connection with other people, and then, of course, that's what what you do. It's all about creating a connection, creating a relationship, even if it's only for a couple of hours or an hour or 45 minutes, but, but you do it, which is what it's all about?   Greg Schwem ** 1:02:49 Yeah, exactly. And I think the funniest stuff is real life experience. Oh, absolutely, you know. And if people can see themselves in in what I've written, then I've done my job as a writer.   Speaker 1 ** 1:03:03 So do you have any plans to retire?   Greg Schwem ** 1:03:06 Never. I mean, good for you retire from what   1:03:09 I know right, making fun of people   Greg Schwem ** 1:03:12 and making them laugh. I mean, I don't know what I would do with myself, and even if I there's always going to be I don't care how technology, technologically advanced our society gets. People will always want and need to laugh. Yeah, they're always going to want to do that. And if they're want, if they're wanting to do that, then I will find, I will find a way to get to them. And that's why I, as I said, That's why, like working on cruise ships has become, like a new, sort of a new avenue for me to make people laugh. And so, yeah, I don't I there's, there's no way. I don't know what else I would do with   Speaker 1 ** 1:03:53 myself, well and from my perspective, as long as I can inspire people, yes, I can make people think a little bit and feel better about themselves. I'm going to do it right. And, and, and I do. And I wrote a book during COVID that was published last August called Live like a guide dog. And it's all about helping people learn to control fear. And I use lessons I learned from eight guide dogs and my wife service dog to do that. My wife was in a wheelchair her whole life. Great marriage. She read, I pushed worked out well, but, but the but the but the bottom line is that dogs can teach us so many lessons, and there's so much that we can learn from them. So I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to create this book and and get it out there. And I think that again, as long as I can continue to inspire people, I'm going to do it. Because   Greg Schwem ** 1:04:47 why wouldn't you? Why wouldn't I exactly right? Yeah, yeah. So,   Speaker 1 ** 1:04:51 I mean, I think if I, if I stopped, I think my wife would beat up on me, so I gotta be nice exactly. She's monitoring from somewhere

Year(s) Discussed: 1935-2025 Like all of us, presidents need a place where they can relax and unwind. Having served as its commanding officer under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush, Michael Giorgione shares with us some of the history of the presidential retreat, Camp David, and what it takes behind the scenes to have it ready for the president, the first family, and their guests at a moment's notice. Links to more information about Michael and his book, Inside Camp David, can be found at https://www.presidenciespodcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Mike, Russell, and Clarissa discuss evangelicals abandoning support for PEPFAR with Peter Wehner. Then, the IRS says churches can endorse political candidates. Is that okay? Finally, the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act' has officially passed. Ingrid Delgado of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul stops by to help us understand the implications for the vulnerable.    REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE: “Why Evangelicals Turned Their Back on PEPFAR”—The Atlantic This month's episode of Tuesday Night Live with Mike & Clarissa. GO DEEPER WITH THE BULLETIN:  Take our survey for a chance to win a free sweatshirt.  Join the conversation at our Substack.  Find us on YouTube.  Rate and review the show in your podcast app of choice.   ABOUT THE GUESTS:   Peter Wehner is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the Trinity Forum. He was formerly a speechwriter for George W. Bush and a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Wehner is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, and his work also appears in publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and National Affairs. Ingrid Delgado is the national director of public policy and advocacy at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA, an organization that seeks to raise the profile of issues such as homelessness and protection for the most vulnerable. She previously worked for the US. Conference of Catholic Bishops as associate director of government relations and, before then, as a domestic policy advisor.  ABOUT THE BULLETIN:  The Bulletin is a twice-weekly politics and current events show from Christianity Today moderated by Clarissa Moll, with senior commentary from Russell Moore (Christianity Today's editor in chief) and Mike Cosper (director, CT Media). Each week, the show explores current events and breaking news and shares a Christian perspective on issues that are shaping our world. We also offer special one-on-one conversations with writers, artists, and thought leaders whose impact on the world brings important significance to a Christian worldview, like Bono, Sharon McMahon, Harrison Scott Key, Frank Bruni, and more.    The Bulletin listeners get 25% off CT. Go to https://orderct.com/THEBULLETIN to learn more.    “The Bulletin” is a production of Christianity Today Producer: Clarissa Moll Associate Producer: Alexa Burke Editing and Mix: TJ Hester Music: Dan Phelps Executive Producers: Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper   Senior Producer: Matt Stevens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joe Grogan, former senior official of the George W. Bush administration and the first Trump administration, operates an active consultancy, hosts a podcast, writes commentaries for USC Schaeffer Center, and is an active member of the CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security. Drug shortages remain a real problem, with the potential to scale and impose political costs. What to make of the Big Beautiful Bill? It might provoke a backlash. How to understand the rising vulnerability of the aging foundational programs—PEPFAR, Gavi, the Global Fund? And how to understand what happened during Covid-19? It was a “toxic brew.” We need to be “radically transparent.” 

David Frum is a staff writer at the Atlantic and host of “The David Frum show” podcast. He is the author of ten books, most recently TRUMPOCALYPSE: Restoring American Democracy. David has been active in Republican politics since the first Reagan campaign of 1980. From 2014 through 2017 he served as chairman of the board of trustees of the leading UK center-right think tank, Policy Exchange. In 2001-2002, he served as speechwriter and special assistant to President George W. Bush. This conversation has such deep personal meaning to me, as David and i talked not just about politics, but also about loss and grief and his emotional journey these past seventeen months as he and his family mourn the devastating loss of his daughter Miranda, 32. Got somethin' to say?! Email us at BackroomAndy@gmail.com Leave us a message: 845-307-7446 Twitter: @AndyOstroy Produced by Andy Ostroy, Matty Rosenberg, and Jennifer Hammoud @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff Design by Cricket Lengyel

Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 750 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Check out StandUpwithPete.com to learn more Sam Youngman is a veteran political campaign reporter and former White House correspondent. Youngman covered the presidential campaigns of 2004, 2008 and 2012, countless U.S. House and Senate races, and the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama while working for The Hill, Reuters and other news organizations. A native of Kentucky, Youngman has a BA in journalism from Western Kentucky University and now lives in Los Angeles. Today's Big Stuff is a Monday through Friday newsletter for progressive Americans who want to save their democracy while making fun of people like Donald Trump Jr. and Lauren Boebert who might actually be the same, really dumb person. . Today's Big Stuff (TBS) was founded in early 2019 by “Ready for Hillary” creator and Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko and former White House correspondent and veteran campaign reporter Sam Youngman. What started as a small clip service for six people, quickly expanded as thousands of stressed out Americans searched for a news source that tells it how it is — with lots of sick jokes and cuss words. In 2020, the more than 75,000 members of the Big Stuff community — also known as Sexy Patriots and Big Stufferinoes — mobilized along with 81 million other Americans to send Donald Trump crying back to Mar-a-Lago leaving a trail of urine along the way. And we're just getting started. If laughter is the best medicine, then TBS is like an injection of bleach right to the fucking face. Sign up and don't forget to share with your friends who share your twisted senses of humor and righteous outrage! Join us Monday and Thursday's at 8EST for our  Bi Weekly Happy Hour Hangout!  Pete on Blue Sky Pete on Threads Pete on Tik Tok Pete on YouTube  Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page All things Jon Carroll  Follow and Support Pete Coe Buy Ava's Art  Hire DJ Monzyk to build your website or help you with Marketing Gift a Subscription https://www.patreon.com/PeteDominick/gift

In this powerful episode, Ghost is joined by CannCon to unravel the tangled history of America's longest war. The conversation begins with George W. Bush's televised announcement of Operation Enduring Freedom, then pivots into a deep exploration of how U.S. policies and covert funding shaped Afghanistan's fate. CannCon shares vivid, firsthand accounts from multiple deployments, from building the remote 7171 base to daily firefights and confronting the grim reality of poppy fields fueling the opioid crisis back home. The discussion examines how the CIA's Cold War strategies birthed the mujahideen and laid the groundwork for decades of conflict. Alongside personal reflections on brotherhood, trauma, and the sense of futility, the episode challenges official narratives, questioning whether the war's failures were incompetence or by design. Stories of bizarre moments, like discovering a massive IED in a bulldozer bucket and witnessing UFOs on patrol, punctuate the grim recollections. Packed with unflinching honesty, historical context, and hard-won perspective, this chapter is a sobering look at the cost of endless interventionism.

National Fried Chicken day.  Entertainment from 1963.  First Rabbi's vaccine given, US choses dollar for name of its currancy, Record hot temps in Minnesota and North Dakota.  Todays birthdays - Bill Haley, Janet Leigh, Della Reese, Ned Beatty, Burt Ward, George W Bush, Sylvester Stallone, 50 Cent, Kevin Hart.  Louis Armstrong died.Intro - Pour some sugar on me - Def Leppard    defleppard.comFried chicken song - Der WitzEassier said than done - EssexStill - Bill AndersonBirthdays - In da club - 50 Cent    50cent.comRock around the clock - Bill Haley and his cometsDon't you Know - Della ReeseBatman TV themeCandy shop - 50 CentWhat a wonderful world - Louis ArmstrongExit - its not love - Dokken    dokken.net

From 2003- Michael Waldman discusses the book "My Fellow Americans- The Most Important Speeches of America's Presidents, from George Washington to George W. Bush." (the book was re-released in an updated version in 2015 to include speeches by Barack Obama.)

This special 4th of July Progrum features the fellas reminiscing about their favorite American moments and traditions. They share personal anecdotes and iconic historical clips, from the Wright Brothers' first flight to the Miracle on Ice, discussing moments that embody American ingenuity, resilience, and patriotism.    Join the fellas as they count down the greatest moments on film, and watch their analysis of unforgettable scenes, like Trump's assassination attempt.    PLUS your comments and a fond farewell to the beloved Spaghetts. Good luck, Nick!   00:00 - Happy 4th of July & Patriotic Beginnings 08:00 - Iconic American Moments: NASCAR & Creed 12:15 - The Great "First in Flight" Debate 18:15 - Defining Moments: Miracle on Ice & Bin Laden 29:57 - Trump's "Fight, Fight, Fight" & American Resilience 36:00 - Iwo Jima, Moon Landing 45:30 - Your Comments from YouTube 54:30 - A Fond Farewell to Spaghetts   Our Sponsors: -Help Trump get his big, beautiful, bill. Go to https://protectprosperity.com/ -Find out the true power of America's oil and natural gas. Go to https://lightsonenergy.org/

I remember the exact moment when I realized I loved my country. The year was 1997. The place was Italy. The affliction was love. The guy had a Che Guevara poster on his wall. I had no idea who that was. He was talking about Israel and how terrible they were. I had no idea what he meant, so I just nodded along. But then he started trash-talking America.So I said, “Well, you sure like our Marlboros, our Levis, and our movies, don't you?” It could have been a joke, but it somehow wasn't. I wasn't mad exactly, I was defensive. And that's how I knew I loved my country, and why I was an unapologetic American.Like Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda:As we gather together on the Fourth of July to celebrate the nation's birthday, I'm struck by just how polarized we still are. It is as bad as it was during the last Civil War. So, how can we feel as if we are still “One nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all?”They don't feel that way on the Left, and they make sure everyone on the Right knows it. They hiss and shriek and moan and scream at Trump and his supporters as though they are living under an oppressive emperor rather than just having suffered a humiliating defeat in November.If only they called him an emperor. They've gone all the way to Hitler. Once you've reached Hitler, there's nowhere left to go.But maybe that's wrong. Perhaps there is still somewhere else to go, taking what is a virtual Civil War and transforming it into a hot war, or at the very least, a violent uprising. If, say, a few blue states decided to secede from the union, over mass deportations or transgender ideology, what then?Zohran Mamdani has promised, if he's elected, to obstruct ICE, even if it means he gets arrested by the feds.Gavin Newsom has already taunted Trump into arresting him for obstructing ICE. Mayor Karen Bass in Los Angeles and all of the wealthy donors who put her in power are making mass deportations the central issue for the Democrats. Is it a cause worth fighting and dying for?They've taken to social media to proclaim “Alligator Alcatraz,” which is designed as a deterrent to discourage gang members, drug smugglers, and other criminals from risking crossing the border illegally, “Alligator Auschwitz.”This illustrates perfectly how it is that the Left has become the crazier side. What Trump says could be seen as potentially removing American citizens, but it's not clear exactly what he means. If you do not exist in reality, what he says can mean whatever you want it to.They react with the same level of panic as they had with the Access Hollywood tape, Russiagate, E. Jean Carroll, Stormy Daniels, “good people on both sides,” “losers and suckers,” Ivanka Trump, Elon is a Nazi, impeachment, impeachment, indictment, indictment. They are the party that cried wolf.Their helplessness in the face of Trump's wins is then taken out on those they know.Most people on the Right have a story like that. I have lost many friends over the past ten years, and much of it even before I ever decided to vote for or support Trump. It's just that I asked too many questions. I didn't follow the rules.It isn't just the betrayal of voting for Trump, although that's a big part of it; it is the mandated directive from inside their Doomsday Cult. They must purge those who do not align with their views, and even those who know or are friends with Trump supporters are also banished, swarmed, and attacked.So, how can we celebrate as one country if so many of those who rule our culture and dominate so much of our society are this intolerant?A New America OnlineI've lived online for 30 years. I helped build what would become a vast utopia of a new America. Our superpower was creating our own reality and then presenting it to the media, who then transformed it into the status quo.Much of the early internet took shape in the George W. Bush era. Not many people realized the power of social media back then, but Barack Obama did. It's not likely Bush would have even been elected if social media had been around. The Republicans were slow to catch on. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sashastone.substack.com/subscribe

Happy Independence Day! We'll be back next week with a new episode, but today we're sharing the episode that started us on the path to “Interesting Times.” Ross Douthat talks to Reihan Salam, the president of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. Together they wrote the book “Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream.”They review their George W. Bush-era prescriptions for the Republican Party to reclaim the working-class vote and the ways they were right (and wrong) about building a new Republican majority.03:47 George W. Bush era12:06 Rise and fall of the Tea Party18:19 Trump's 2016 “blood and guts” message28:11 Trump's effect on the right and left35:48 Trump's first term economic agenda39:30 Elon Musk vs JD Vance46:50 Imagining an activist, conservative government(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

This best of Garage Logic features a call from then-Governor Jesse Ventura about a potential Presidential run, Joe checks in with the Lake Detective about the worst lake names in Minnesota and we foretold the coming of the Failed Academy while sailing on Spoon Lake. Plus a special call from future President George W. Bush after touring Sharing and Caring Hands.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Federal education funding is put on hold, leaving administrators scrambling to evaluate what programs may be affected and what comes next – not just for young students, but Texans in adult education programs as well.What could rural schools teach the rest of us about how to better get along? New research by the George W. […] The post Adult education programs feel the squeeze as federal funds remain on hold appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Tradie hit with $100,000 bill after failed rape prosecution, Rising Tide plans Action Camp ahead of Newcastle Port blockade. Plus, George W Bush joins Trump critics to slam closure of USAID as a colossal mistake.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two summers ago, Ashley J. Tellis published an essay in Foreign Affairs titled, “America's Bad Bet on India,” which led to an extended, highly charged debate about the future of the U.S.-India relationship.Just a few weeks ago, Ashley published another big-picture piece in Foreign Affairs titled, “India's Great-Power Delusions,” which has once again got people talking.In his new piece, Ashley argues that India is on its way to becoming a great power, but perhaps not the kind of power that many in the world are expecting.On this week's season finale of Grand Tamasha, Ashley makes his return to the show. Ashley holds the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He served in the U.S. government during the George W. Bush administration, where he was intimately in involved in negotiating the U.S.-Indian civil nuclear deal.Ashley and Milan discuss the U.S. policy of “strategic altruism” toward India, compare India and China's growth record, and unpack the drivers of India's quest for multipolarity. Plus, the two discuss India's growing illiberalism and the complex ways domestic politics shapes foreign policy.Episode notes:1. “Reexamining America's Bet on India (with Ashley J. Tellis),” Grand Tamasha, June 21, 2023.2. Ashley J. Tellis, “Great Expectations: India amid US-China Competition,” in Hal Brands, ed., Lessons from the New Cold War: America Confronts the China Challenge (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2025).3. Ashley J. Tellis, “India Sees Opportunity in Trump's Global Turbulence. That Could Backfire,” Carnegie Endowment Emissary (blog), April 9, 2025.4. “Trade, Tariffs, and India's Silver Lining (with Shoumitro Chatterjee),” Grand Tamasha, April 16, 2025.5. “The Precarious State of U.S.-India Ties (with Rajesh Rajagopalan),” Grand Tamasha, February 26, 2025. 

There are many fun, wonderful opportunities to learn about White House history all across the country. Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association, takes a road trip to the outskirts of Williamsburg, Virginia, to see what has become a social media hotspot: the Presidents Heads. Situated within a recycling facility on private property is a collection of 42 massive, decaying statues featuring the likenesses of U.S. presidents from George Washington through George W. Bush. Each statue is made of concrete and steel, averaging 15 feet in height, and weighing approximately 1.5 tons. They were rescued from a bankrupt outdoor museum called Presidents Park. When the park closed over a decade ago, the land was sold and the statues were set to be destroyed. Local businessman Howard Hankins was hired to do the job but he just couldn't bring himself to destroy the statues, so he transported them about 11 miles down the road to his property. Howard has allowed history buffs and photographers John Plashal and Fred Schneider to host organized tours several times a year where people can buy tickets to visit the statues (which cannot be seen from the road, so showing up unannounced is discouraged and considered trespassing). Stewart met John and Fred on one of their tours, and also encountered a few excited visitors. Come along for a ride and learn more about this remarkable piece of Americana.

There are many fun, wonderful opportunities to learn about White House history all across the country. Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association, takes a road trip to the outskirts of Williamsburg, Virginia, to see what has become a social media hotspot: the Presidents Heads. Situated within a recycling facility on private property is a collection of 42 massive, decaying statues featuring the likenesses of U.S. presidents from George Washington through George W. Bush. Each statue is made of concrete and steel, averaging 15 feet in height, and weighing approximately 1.5 tons. They were rescued from a bankrupt outdoor museum called Presidents Park. When the park closed over a decade ago, the land was sold and the statues were set to be destroyed. Local businessman Howard Hankins was hired to do the job but he just couldn't bring himself to destroy the statues, so he transported them about 11 miles down the road to his property. Howard has allowed history buffs and photographers John Plashal and Fred Schneider to host organized tours several times a year where people can buy tickets to visit the statues (which cannot be seen from the road, so showing up unannounced is discouraged and considered trespassing). Stewart met John and Fred on one of their tours, and also encountered a few excited visitors. Come along for a ride and learn more about this remarkable piece of Americana.

In this fiery monologue, the host exposes how Senate Republican leader John Thune and the entrenched Bush-era establishment are sabotaging efforts to remove over a million illegal immigrants from taxpayer-funded Medicaid. Despite clear federal law barring non-citizens from these benefits, Thune, backed by the same open-borders donors who funded George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Karl Rove's decades-long globalist agenda, is accused of hiding behind parliamentary maneuvers to keep the system alive. The segment argues this is the last gasp of a corrupt political machine desperate to preserve illegal immigration as a tool to reshape America—and warns that unless the Bush-aligned “cancer” inside the Republican Party is defeated, the nation faces permanent transformation.

During a moment of historic turbulence and Christian polarization, Trinity Forum president Cherie Harder stepped away from the political and spiritual vortex of Washington, DC, for a month-long pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago—a.k.a. “the Camino” or “the Way.” In this episode, she reflects on the spiritual, emotional, and physical rhythms of pilgrimage as both counterpoint and counter-practice to the fracturing pressures of American civic and religious life. Together, she and Mark Labberton consider how such a posture of pilgrimage—marked by humility, presence, and receptivity—can help reshape how we understand Christian witness in a fraught and antagonistic time. Harder explores how her Camino sabbatical offered her a deeply embodied spiritual liturgy—one that grounded her leadership and personal formation after years of intense service in government and faith-based institutions. She also reflects on the internal and external catalysts that led her to walk three hundred miles across Portugal and Spain, including burnout, anxiety, and the desire to “walk things off.” What emerged was not a single epiphany but a profound reorientation: a reordering of attention, a rediscovery of joy, and a new kind of sociological imagination—one that sees neighbourliness through the eyes of a pilgrim, not a partisan. Episode Highlights “Being a pilgrim, one is a stranger in a strange land, one has no pretensions to ruling the place. … It's a different way of being in the world.” “There was a widespread belief in the importance of persuasion … a very different posture than seeking to dominate, humiliate, and pulverize.” “Every day is literally putting one foot in front of the other. And you spend each day outside—whether it's in sunshine or in rain.” “There's a pilgrim sociology that is so counter to how we interact in civic space today. … It's a different way of being in the world.” “You're tired, and there's an invitation to stop and to pray.” “I didn't have an epiphany, but what I had instead was a daily practice that fed my soul.” Helpful Links and Resources The Trinity Forum The Way (film) – a film about the Camino starring Martin Sheen Off the Road: A Modern-Day Walk Down the Pilgrim's Route into Spain by Jack Hitt Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan (Project Gutenberg) Sabbath as Resistance by Walter Brueggemann Camino de Santiago Overview – Wikipedia About Cherie Harder Cherie Harder is president of the Trinity Forum, a non-profit that curates Christian thought leadership to engage public life, spiritual formation, and the arts. She previously served in multiple leadership roles in the US government, including in the White House under President George W. Bush, and as policy director to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. A graduate of Harvard University, she is a writer, speaker, and advocate for grace-filled public discourse and thoughtful Christian engagement in civic life. Show Notes Cherie Harder is president of the Trinity Forum, a non-profit based in Washington, DC, and focused on Christian thought leadership. She previously served in the White House and as policy director for the Senate Majority Leader. Harder reflects on how leadership now requires “counterforce just to stay in the same place.” She critiques the rise of “performative belligerence” in both civic and Christian life. “There's a premium placed on humiliating and deeply personally insulting the other side—and somehow that's seen as strength.” She contrasts past politics, which valued persuasion, with today's polarization, which valorizes domination. “Persuasion takes others seriously. It assumes they're reasonable and open.” The Camino de Santiago and pilgrimage Harder walked over three hundred miles, from Lisbon to Santiago, along the Portuguese Camino. She frames pilgrimage as an act of spiritual resistance against anxiety, burnout, and cultural chaos. “I need to find a way to walk this off.” The daily rhythm of the Camino offered physical and spiritual rest: wake, walk, eat, reflect, rest, repeat. “Every day was the opportunity to just move, to see, to attend to what was in front of me.” She was struck by the liturgical nature of walking: “There's no perfect walk, but you have to start.” Each step became a form of prayer, an embodied spiritual practice. Embodied spiritual formation Harder calls the Camino “a liturgy of the body”—a spiritual discipline grounded in physical motion. “Being in your body every day changes you—it makes your needs visible, your limits felt, your joy more palpable.” She found that physical needs—food, rest, shelter—highlighted spiritual hungers and gratitudes. The rhythm reoriented her from leadership stress to lived dependence on grace. “I didn't have an epiphany. But what I had instead was a daily practice that fed my soul.” Spiritual renewal and rhythmic practices Harder affirms that the Camino gave her a hunger for spiritual rest she hadn't fully realized. “It showed me the deficiency was greater than I thought … I've missed this.” She explores how practices of solitude, walking, and prayer can carry over into her work. Mark Labberton proposes Sabbath-keeping as one way to embody pilgrimage back home. “We may not all get to Portugal—but we can still find a Camino in our days.” Harder is now exploring how to sustain “a rhythmic alteration of how we hold time.” Pilgrim sociology and neighbourliness Harder describes a “pilgrim sociology”—a social vision rooted in vulnerability, curiosity, humility, and shared burdens. “We're in a strange land. We're not here to rule, but to receive.” The Camino fostered solidarity through shared hardship and generosity. “You literally carry each other's burdens.” She draws a sharp contrast between the posture of a pilgrim and the posture of a combatant. “It leads to a much kinder, gentler world—because it's not a posture of domination.” Spiritual lessons from the Camino The convergence at Santiago prompted reflection on heaven: “All these people, from different paths, looking up at glory.” She was reminded of Jesus's words, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” “The Camino literally means ‘the Way.' You're relying on direction that is true.” The historic path invites pilgrims into the long, sacred story of the church. “You feel part of something bigger—millions have gone before you.” Production Credits Conversing is produced and distributed in partnership with Comment magazine and Fuller Seminary.

What do guys talk about? How do male friendships work? How can you be vulnerable in an environment where you've been conditioned to "bottle it up" and not share what's really on your mind? That's the topic of this episode of the podcast as we welcome back former guest, Ben Feller, to the show to discuss his latest project, the new podcast "Pour It On".  Joe and Ben get into a great conversation about Ben's podcast, how much it means to him, and what he hopes listeners of the podcast get out of it. Enjoy! About Ben Feller Ben Feller is an award-winning writer who covered two presidents and now helps people and organizations tell their own stories. He is also a writing coach, moderator, media adviser and public speaker on parenting, politics and the power of communications. In his first career as a journalist, which spanned 20 years, Ben distinguished himself as one of the finest reporters in the nation. He ultimately served as the Chief White House Correspondent for The Associated Press, a role in which he led presidential coverage for the largest news organization in the world. Ben spent more than six years covering President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush, traveling aboard Air Force One across the United States and to more than 25 other countries. He often asked the first question at press conferences and was honored as a “master of deadline reporting.” Ben then pivoted to business, becoming a communications adviser who specializes in guiding companies, universities, foundations and leaders on their messaging and their biggest strategic decisions. He is now a partner at maslansky + partners, the world's leading language strategy firm, where the power of story is used to achieve goals and solve problems. A native of State College, Pa., Ben graduated with distinction from Penn State in 1992 with a degree in journalism, and he has been honored as an Alumni Fellow of the university for success across his communications careers.   About "Pour It On" Pour It On is a podcast hosted by Shaun Emerson, Ben Feller and Chris Lozier about male friendship, life's challenges and joys, and making the most of our time here. When the chaos of life makes you want to bottle it in, don't let it. Grab your drink of choice, enjoy the moment, and let's pour it on!   Make sure to check out the Dtalkspodcast.com website! Thanks to Empire Toys for this episode of the podcast! Nostalgia is something everyone loves and Empire Toys in Keller Texas is on nostalgia overload.   With toys and action figures from the 70's, 80's, 90's, and today, Empire Toys is a one-stop-shop for a trip down memory lane and a chance to reclaim what was once yours (but likely sold at a garage sale)   Check out Empire Toys on Facebook, Instagram, or at TheEmpireToys.com AND Thanks to Self Unbound for this episode of the podcast: Your quality of life: physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, is a direct reflection of the level of abundant energy, ease, and connection your nervous system has to experience your life!    At Self Unbound, your nervous system takes center stage as we help unbind your limited healing potential through NetworkSpinal Care.    Access the first steps to your Unbound journey by following us on Facebook, Instagram, or at www.selfunbound.com  

Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush offered sharp criticism of the Trump administration in a farewell video marking the closure of USAID. The foreign aid agency, created by President Kennedy, was dissolved and its duties moved into the State Department under a new initiative called “America First.” Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed with the latest news from a leading Black-owned & controlled media company: https://aurn.com/newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In an all-new episode of Late Night's podcast “A Closer Look Back,” A Closer Look Supervising Writer/Producer Sal Gentile discusses Trump's desperate attempt to sell his illegal strike on Iran and debates whether Saddam Hussein was more like Wile E. Coyote or the Road Runner. He also discusses Bernie Sanders' interview with Joe Rogan and Zohran Mamdani's win in NYC. Sal is joined by Supervising Producer Emily Erotas.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Over the last decade, centrist Democrats have diligent courted Never Trump Republicans, hoping that this cohort could help create a new consensus politics to oppose the MAGA coalition. From the start, this strategy seemed flawed: after all, this faction is very small and also carries a lot of baggage. In particular, neo-conservatives such as William Kristol and David Frum, now Never Trump stalwarts, were responsible for two of the biggest foreign policy disasters in American history, George W. Bush's War on Terror and the invasion of Iraq.Have this Never Trump conservatives learned from history? Alas, as my colleague David Klion points out in a recent column, many of them haven't. Kristol and Frum are now cheerleading the attack on Iran (although to be fair their former ally Robert Kagan is more skeptical). I talked to David about the neocons and why they remain a pernicious force in American politics even if they vote against Trump. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Do you ever reminisce about the good old days? We took a trip down memory lane to a time when political decisions were based on strong moral values, and when faith allowed men of consequence to weather tumultuous times. Our source material for this nostalgia sesh is GEORGE W. BUSH: FAITH IN THE WHITE HOUSE, a “documentary” (heavy emphasis on the scare quotes) produced by GRIZZLY ADAMS creator Charles E. Sellier Jr. and hosted by conservative radio host Janet Parshall. The thesis of the documentary is that the 43rd American president's strong personal Christian faith is what gave him strength during the September 11th terrorist attacks, the toughest circumstances ever beset upon an American president since George Washington. On the DVD jacket for the documentary, it bills itself as alternative programming to Michael Moore's FAHRENHEIT 9/11, a cultural product also from 2004 that argues active malice among politicians and the media class leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths in the Iraq War. Wanting to be more fair and balanced than Michael Moore, GEORGE W. BUSH: FAITH IN THE WHITE HOUSE takes the funny tone of pretending to present sides of praise and criticism of George W. Bush, but then immediately settling on the most maudlin stories of Bush giving great hugs and being caring to his staffers during hard times in their lives. The obvious point of view here is to launder Bush's difficult and destructive political decisions through the lens of him being a real sweetie. The stories of Bush's day-to-day demeanor may be true, but how does that explain his desire to enter the Iraq War? Did God guide Bush to the “lesser of two evils” that protected American lives and liberated the Islamic world? I guess we'll never know for sure, because God hasn't allowed us to live in the reality where we saw the other side. It could have been even worse! GEORGE W. BUSH: FAITH IN THE WHITE HOUSE assures us that is probably the case; after all, Bush's is constantly seen praying in the Oval Office, always wears a suit, and donated money to the evangelical “crusades” of roving minister Arthur Blessitt, whom he met at a Holiday Inn. A guy like that is probably gonna do the right thing, so don't worry about it! View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

A productive, peaceful workday morning in 2002, suddenly shifted into a frenzy of quick decision-making and high-profile event planning. What turned it? An unexpected phone call from the White House transformed that ordinary Wednesday into something truly extraordinary. Join me, Skip Lineberg, on "The Main Thing Podcast" as we explore a remarkable tale of seizing unexpected opportunities. Seizing Serendipity: A 4th of July to Remember When my former company, Maple Creative, was invited to assist with President George W. Bush's 4th of July 2002 visit to Ripley, West Virginia, it was all thanks to a former student intern who remembered us. This unexpected opportunity highlights the significance of relationships and the ripple effect they can have on our lives and careers. Beyond that, this unique story illustrates the power of saying “Yes,” even when you don't yet have all the answers or resources. Join us on this wisdom journey and discover how such moments can shape our lives and careers in the most unforeseen ways.   Where's the Special Guest and What's a “Skip's Quip?" We are doing something a little different. I'll be sharing a wisdom lesson with you—but there won't be a guest. Just me, sharing wisdom. A short wisdom lesson - about 10 minutes total. We plan to do these about 6 times a year. We're calling these special editions - “Skip's Quips.” Don't worry, we will still bring you wisdom conversations with our special guests twice a month. Additionally, you will receive “Skip's Quips” to supplement to our regular wisdom programming. Let us know what you think, and please share your feedback. You can do that via SpeakPipe.   For More Information About Skip Lineberg Please visit our website.   Credits Editor + Technical Advisor Bob Hotchkiss Brand + Strategy Advisor Andy Malinoski PR + Partnerships Advisor Rachel Bell Marketing, Social Media and Graphic Design Chloe Lineberg   Stay Connected with Us on Social YouTube @themainthingpod Twitter @themainthingpod Instagram @themainthingpod Facebook  @TheMainThingPod LinkedIn TikTok @TheMainThingPod   Help Support and Sustain This Podcast Become a subscriber. Share the podcast with one or two friends. Follow us on social media @TheMainThingPod Buy some Main Thing Merch from our Merchandise Store. Buy a book from our curated wisdom collection on bookshop.org. Become a patron and support us on Patreon with funding.

Over the last decade, centrist Democrats have diligent courted Never Trump Republicans, hoping that this cohort could help create a new consensus politics to oppose the MAGA coalition. From the start, this strategy seemed flawed: after all, this faction is very small and also carries a lot of baggage. In particular, neo-conservatives such as William Kristol and David Frum, now Never Trump stalwarts, were responsible for two of the biggest foreign policy disasters in American history, George W. Bush's War on Terror and the invasion of Iraq.Have this Never Trump conservatives learned from history? Alas, as my colleague David Klion points out in a recent column, many of them haven't. Kristol and Frum are now cheerleading the attack on Iran (although to be fair their former ally Robert Kagan is more skeptical). I talked to David about the neocons and why they remain a pernicious force in American politics even if they vote against Trump. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy.Donald Trump's rise in U.S. politics over the past decade has been inextricable from his "America First" foreign policy and withering criticisms of the Iraq War, nation building, and both the neoconservatism that led the Republican Party to disaster during George W. Bush's presidency and the Washington establishment that still thought America could police the world. Trump's message of a restrained foreign policy and pledge to avoid getting dragged into forever wars especially seemed to resonate as he ran to take back the presidency in 2024—there was no end in sight to the war between Ukraine and Russia, and Israel was committing genocide in Gaza as Bibi Netanyahu walked all over an exhausted, only occasionally lucid Biden.But less than half a year into President Trump's second term and the failure negotiations with Iran, Israel bombed that country's nuclear facilities and assassinated their negotiators and nuclear scientists—and just over a week later, so did Trump when he ordered the dropping of massive "bunker buster" bombs to try to destroy the nuclear facilities Israel could not.In this episode, we once again talk to executive editor of The American Conservative, Curt Mills, a leading voice of the restraint and realism wing on the right, to try to understand the war within MAGA set off by the "Twelve Day War" with Iran. Why did Trump bomb Iran? Who was he listening to, or not, as he made that decision? How did the various factions within the MAGA movement respond, and what is the state of play currently in Trump World? What was Israel's role in all this? And how much longer will Trump tolerate Netanyahu's constant efforts to get the American military to fight in Israel's wars? We take up these questions, and more.Sources:Ian Ward, "The MAGA Split Over Israel," Politico, June 13, 2025Joe Gould, et al, "MAGA Largely Falls in Line on Trump's Iran Strikes," Politico, June 21, 2025Katy Balls, "Trump is Taking Fire Over 'Forever Wars,' but MAGA's Real Battle Awaits," The Times of London, June 22, 2025Jude Russo, "What Next?" The American Conservative, June 24, 2025Sohrab Ahmari, "Did Iran win the 12-day war?" Unherd, June 25, 2025

AS FRANK AMODEO met with President George W. Bush at the White House to discuss NATO operations in Afghanistan, no one knew that he'd already embezzled nearly $200 million from the federal government—money he intended to use to bank roll his plan to take over the world.From Amodeo's global headquarters in the shadow of Florida's Disney World, with a nearly inexhaustible supply of the Internal Revenue Service's funds, Amodeo acquired multiple businesses and amassed a mega corporate-conglomerate. Driven by his delusions of world conquest, he negotiated the purchase of a squadron of American fighter jets and the controlling interest in a former Soviet ICBM factory. He began building the largest private militia on the planet—over one million Africans strong. Simultaneously, Amodeo hired an international black-ops force to orchestrate a coup in the Congo, while plotting to take over several small eastern European countries.The most disturbing part of it all is, had the U.S. government not thwarted his plans, Amodeo might have just pulled it off.Buy The Book: https://www.amazon.com/Its-Insanity-Bizarre-Megalomaniacs-Domination/dp/B08KFYXKK8Follow me on all socials!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insidetruecrime/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@matthewcoxtruecrimeDo you want to be a guest? Fill out the form https://forms.gle/5H7FnhvMHKtUnq7k7Send me an email here: insidetruecrime@gmail.comDo you want a custom "con man" painting to shown up at your doorstep every month? Subscribe to my Patreon: https: //www.patreon.com/insidetruecrimeDo you want a custom painting done by me? Check out my Etsy Store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/coxpopartListen to my True Crime Podcasts anywhere: https://anchor.fm/mattcox Check out my true crime books! Shark in the Housing Pool: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0851KBYCFBent: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BV4GC7TMIt's Insanity: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KFYXKK8Devil Exposed: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TH1WT5GDevil Exposed (The Abridgment): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1070682438The Program: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0858W4G3KBailout: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bailout-matthew-cox/1142275402Dude, Where's My Hand-Grenade?: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXNFHBDF/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1678623676&sr=1-1Checkout my disturbingly twisted satiric novel!Stranger Danger: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSWQP3WXIf you would like to support me directly, I accept donations here:Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/MattCox69Cashapp: $coxcon69

Charles is reflecting on the accuracy with which Israel took out Iranian targets, saying that A.I. tech is helping militaries achieve such a high degree of precision. That could mean fewer civilian casualties and more victories. Former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush, Pippa Malmgren, joins Charles to discuss how A.I., Big Data, and "the Digital Panopticon" will play a role in society and the conflicts to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Freddie Sayers, Editor-in-Chief of UnHerd, interviews Dr Fiona Hill, renowned Russia expert and former Senior Director for European and Russian Affairs in the first Trump administration (2017–2019). A senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and Chancellor of Durham University, Dr Hill has advised three U.S. presidents (including George W. Bush and Barack Obama) on foreign policy, and recently guided UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, authoring the UK Strategic Defence Review 2025, shaping UK defence policy and supporting NATO's increased spending commitments.Dr Hill analyses the ‘12-day war' between Israel and Iran in June 2025, ended by U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, resulting in a fragile ceasefire. She explores the risks of increasing global nuclear proliferation and the defence ties among China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, and debates NATO's 2025 Hague Summit pledge to raise defence spending to 5% of GDP and Western military preparedness against these threats.Dr Hill and Freddie Sayers examine whether foreign policy is turning more hawkish and realist, ask whether today's volatile world of hybrid warfare and global instability brings us closer to World War III. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Days after Donald Trump’s election victory in November, we sat down with Pippa Malmgren, founder and CEO of the Geopolitica Institute and former advisor to President George W. Bush, and Helen Thomas, CEO of the consultancy BlondeMoney and former special advisor at the UK Treasury, to ask what they expected out of the US president’s second term. On this week’s Merryn Talks Money, they join host Merryn Somerset Webb yet again. This time to discuss his policies thus far, what they think is going to happen next and what it all means for your investments. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During his first term President Donald Trump adopted a vacillating stance toward Iran—initially issuing threats and then suggesting diplomatic negotiations.  In this video guest host Misty Winston and Jimmy talk to antiwar.com's Scott Horton about the White House's decision to keep “all options on the table,” calling it irresponsible brinkmanship tantamount to terrorism against a non-threatening nation. The hosts underscore that preemptive war violates international norms and point out that even past U.S. presidents with far greater threats refrained from such actions.  Plus segments on Donald Trump belittling Iran's weak missile attack on a U.S. airbase in Qatar and Trump using the same warmongering rhetoric as his predecessor George W. Bush. Also featuring Misty Winston, Stef Zamorano, Mike MacRae and Kurt Metzger. Plus a phone call from Andrew Cuomo!

My conversation with David begins at about 36 mins Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you! Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 700 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Subscribe to Rothkopf's new Substack  https://davidrothkopf.substack.com/ Follow Rothkopf Listen to Deep State Radio Read Rothkopf at The Daily Beast Buy his books David Rothkopf is CEO of The Rothkopf Group, a media company that produces podcasts including Deep State Radio, hosted by Rothkopf. TRG also produces custom podcasts for clients including the United Arab Emirates. He is also the author of many books including Running the World: The Inside Story of the National Security Council and the Architects of American Power, Superclass, Power, Inc., National Insecurity, Great Questions of Tomorrow, and Traitor: A History of Betraying America from Benedict Arnold to Donald Trump. Sam Youngman is a veteran political campaign reporter and former White House correspondent. Youngman covered the presidential campaigns of 2004, 2008 and 2012, countless U.S. House and Senate races, and the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama while working for The Hill, Reuters and other news organizations. A native of Kentucky, Youngman has a BA in journalism from Western Kentucky University and now lives in Los Angeles. Today's Big Stuff is a Monday through Friday newsletter for progressive Americans who want to save their democracy while making fun of people like Donald Trump Jr. and Lauren Boebert who might actually be the same, really dumb person. . Today's Big Stuff (TBS) was founded in early 2019 by “Ready for Hillary” creator and Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko and former White House correspondent and veteran campaign reporter Sam Youngman. What started as a small clip service for six people, quickly expanded as thousands of stressed out Americans searched for a news source that tells it how it is — with lots of sick jokes and cuss words. In 2020, the more than 75,000 members of the Big Stuff community — also known as Sexy Patriots and Big Stufferinoes — mobilized along with 81 million other Americans to send Donald Trump crying back to Mar-a-Lago leaving a trail of urine along the way. And we're just getting started. If laughter is the best medicine, then TBS is like an injection of bleach right to the fucking face. Sign up and don't forget to share with your friends who share your twisted senses of humor and righteous outrage! Join us Monday and Thursday's at 8EST for our  Bi Weekly Happy Hour Hangout!  Pete on Blue Sky Pete on Threads Pete on Tik Tok Pete on YouTube  Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page All things Jon Carroll  Follow and Support Pete Coe Buy Ava's Art  Hire DJ Monzyk to build your website or help you with Marketing Gift a Subscription https://www.patreon.com/PeteDominick/gift  

The men cover the possible WAR with Iran amid Trump's escalatory strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, 4 big tech executives being given ranks in the military for no reason, SCOTUS ruling against trans rights, and why national parks are cool actually and shouldn't be sold off to fund tax cuts for the wealthy. If you enjoy the show, make sure to check out the Patreon for early access to episodes, leave a 5-star review on Apple, and follow our other socials!Pride HITO Merch fundraiser!: https://headintheoffice.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/headintheofficepodGet 40% off Ground News: https://check.ground.news/headintheoffice YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4iJ-UcnRxYnaYsX_SNjFJQTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headintheoffice?lang=enInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/headintheoffice/Twitter: https://twitter.com/headintheofficeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/headintheoffice.bsky.social Discord: https://discord.gg/hito Collab inquiries: headintheofficepod@gmail.comSeen on this episode:Trump bombs Iran - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9r4q99g4o https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/world/middleeast/iran-retaliate-us-strikes.html https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-tulsi-gabbard-wrong-iran-nuclear-program/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/khamenei-has-not-authorized-what-tulsi-gabbard-said-in-march-about-irans-nuclear-program/articleshow/121995676.cmshttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn840275p5yohttps://www.politico.eu/article/iran-reportedly-moves-shut-strait-hormuz-us-attacks/Trump gives tech execs ranks in the military - https://www.wired.com/story/what-lt-col-boz-and-big-techs-enlisted-execs-will-do-in-the-army/SCOTUS hates trans folks - https://www.vox.com/scotus/417281/supreme-court-skremett-transgender-tennessee-health https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5361546-transgender-health-challenges-supreme-court/ Mike Lee takes aim at national parks - https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2025/06/18/mike-lee-heres-public-land-that/

Adam's Paternity Leave continues, so let's get down with some wildly problematic Jeremy Irons episodes? Patreon payments are frozen for the time being. A few resourceful new Munchies have figured out a work-around where you can join as a free member and upgrade from there to a paid account which charges you for one month and unlocks the back catalog behind the respective tier of the paywall. After that first payment, you won't be charged again until we're dropping new content (which we'll warn everyone is coming), so if you want more of this it can be had, along with access to the fully uncut episodes from 100 to present and Movie Club episodes.Super famous Oscar-, Emmy-, and Tony-winning actor Jeremy Irons sashays through this week's wonderfully messed up episode of SVU—S12E13 Mask. He attempts to reckon with his out-of-control Cape Cod Summer o' Sex two decades prior. Of course, if it comes up in the course of an investigation on this program, you know the effects are still being felt of his indiscriminate adulterous boning of everything that moved in Falmouth, and this time, they've gotten his daughter and her lover attacked.This gleeful voyage into the world of sexual addiction is fertile ground for plenty of discussion about such subjects as: parsing the paradoxical simultaneous adoration of Tony Blair and loathing of George W. Bush, tattoo critique, teen boys having pervdar, the strange ol' days of Spice, summers on the Cape (and the corresponding nighttime water temps), the Kamadeva, and the broad, beautiful spectrum of paraphilias. Turns out, there's tons of fun to be had when Jeremy Irons is a recovering sex addict trying to get his addiction codified in the DSM-5.[Note: Apologies for the hints of static intermittently creeping into Josh's audio channel. As much was filtered out as was possible without making him sound like an alien. Such are the perils of recording in foreign environs.]Music:Divorcio Suave - "Munchy Business"Thanks to our gracious Munchies on Patreon: Jeremy S, Jaclyn O, Amy Z, Diana R, Tony B, Barry W, Drew D, Nicky R, Stuart, Jacqi B, Natalie T, Robyn S, Christine L, Amy A, Sean M, Jay S, Briley O, Asteria K, Suzanne B, Tim Y, John P, John W, Elia S, Rebecca B, Lily, Sarah L, Melsa A, Alyssa C, Johnathon M, Tiffany C, Brian B, Kate K, Whitney C, Alex, Jannicke HS, Roni C, and Nourhane B, and Erin M - y'all are the best!Be a Munchie, too! Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/munchmybensonBe sure to check out our other podcast diving into long unseen films of our guests' youth: Unkind Rewind at our website or on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcastsFollow us on: BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Reddit (Adam's Twitter/BlueSky and Josh's BlueSky/Letterboxd/Substack)Join our Discord: Munch Casts ServerCheck out Munch Merch: Munch Merch at ZazzleCheck out our guest appearances:Both of us on: FMWL Pod (1st Time & 2nd Time), Storytellers from Ratchet Book Club, Chick-Lit at the Movies talking about The Thin Man, and last but not least on the seminal L&O podcast …These Are Their Stories (Adam and Josh).Josh discussing Jackie Brown with the fine folks at Movie Night Extravaganza, debating the Greatest Detectives in TV History on The Great Pop Culture Debate Podcast, and talking SVU/OC and Psych (five eps in all) on Jacked Up Review Show.Visit Our Website: Munch My BensonEmail the podcast: munchmybenson@gmail.comThe Next New Episode Once We're Back from Adam's Paternity Leave Will Be: Season 16, Episode 14 "Intimidation Game"Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/munch-my-benson-a-law-order-svu-podcast--5685940/support.

On this week's conversation Paul and Wally discuss Paul's recent article highlighting Arizona's superior policies relative to New Mexico's. Matt Mitchell recently gave a talk on economic freedom in NM. Here are his slides and an interview with Bob Clark of KKOB. Social Security could have been solvent with private accounts full of cash if Congress had followed George W. Bush-style reforms 20 years ago.  MLG wants to completely delete emails quickly after just 30 days. Albuquerque's Mayoral race is set with 7 candidates. Paul and Wally discuss some best and worst case scenarios. 

He's rolling out the George W Bush playbook for regime change war and playing it note for note, while still trying to ride the support he garnered with his populist messaging about draining the swamp and ending the wars. Reading by Tim Foley.

Donald Trump has betrayed his promise to be a pro-peace president. Prodded by Washington hawks and the Israeli government, he has green-lit Israel's attack on Iran, which the Untied States might soon join directly. A new Middle Eastern war would be a catastrophe. In order to stop it, Democrats will need to recover the anti-war politics that they adopted in opposition to George W. Bush's Iraq War. I spoke with Matt Duss, vice-president of the Center for International Policy on how popular mobilization can push both Democrats and Republicans in congress to stand up to Trump's war. Matt recently wrote on this topic for Foreign policy. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

To justify war on Iran, the Donald Trump administration is repeating the same disinformation used by George W. Bush to justify the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003, based on false claims it had "weapons of mass destruction" (WMDs). US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard went from condemning Trump as a warmonger and liar in 2020 to helping him manufacture consent for this war, even after admitting in March 2025 "that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon". Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_EsEQ-1yp8 The real reasons for the US-Israeli war on Iran, explained: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwH780cEcEQ Topics 0:00 Trump admin pushes for war on Iran 0:58 Reports: Trump approved attacks on Iran 1:50 USA wants regime change in Iran 3:10 Regurgitating Iraq War "WMD" propaganda 5:24 No evidence of Iranian nuclear weapons 6:36 (CLIP) Trump criticizes his own intel 6:53 US spy agencies: Iran not building nukes 7:41 Tulsi Gabbard helps Trump sell Iran war 9:11 (CLIP) "Iran is not building a nuclear weapon" 9:21 Tulsi Gabbard helps Trump sell Iran war 9:49 Trump White House pushes Iran war 12:00 When Tulsi Gabbard condemned Trump 13:14 (CLIPS) Gabbard: Trump wants Iran war 14:38 Gabbard: Trump wants regime change 16:24 Iran nuclear deal 18:44 Negotiations with Iran 20:02 Propaganda war 20:47 Déjà vu: George W Trump's war 21:09 Reasons for US-Israeli war on Iran 22:03 Outro

On June 24, members of New York City's Democratic party will select their nominee for the mayoral election that is scheduled to take place in November of this year. As of last year, 56 percent of registered voters in New York were Democrats, but even that number doesn't fully express the extent of the Democratic party's hold over the city's affairs. Democrats hold a supermajority on the city council and control the three major citywide offices—mayor, comptroller, and public advocate—and all three of New York City's congressional representatives are Democrats. New York is a Democratic city, and it is widely believed that the winner of the Democratic primary will be heavily favored in the fall vote. Even though the official election isn't until November, the most important element in that election will be determined next week. Because New York remains the most important Jewish city in the United States, next week's primary election will have outsized consequences for more Jews than any other municipal election. To discuss the candidates and to explore the Jewish questions that are going to be put before the next mayor, Jonathan Silver is joined by Jay Lefkowitz, a senior partner at Kirkland and Ellis, an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, and a member of Tikvah's board of trustees. Lefkowitz also served the George W. Bush administration as the United States envoy on human rights in North Korea and the deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy.The conversation touches on anti-Israel and anti-Jewish violence, domestic terror, and education and funding in haredi schools—all of which are election issues in way or another—and on what matters most to Jewish voters. The conversation touches on anti-Israel and anti-Jewish violence, domestic terror, and education and funding in haredi schools—all of which are election issues in way or another—and on what matters most to Jewish voters.

Tara and Lee dive into the coming collapse of Social Security, now projected to go bust by 2034. With biting sarcasm and sobering facts, they expose how Congress raided the so-called “lockbox,” replacing real money with IOUs and creating a $6 trillion shortfall. The discussion unpacks how privatization—once proposed by George W. Bush and Paul Ryan—could have yielded five times the returns for Americans if enacted. Tara connects the crisis to broader systemic failures, including illegal immigration's impact on unpaid taxes and the misuse of Medicaid. Plus, a breakdown of Trump's “Big Beautiful Bill,” featuring 100% factory expensing and the potential for a blue-collar boom. A must-hear warning and call to action on America's financial future.

President Donald Trump is weighing U.S. actions amid Israel and Iran's ongoing strikes. Plus, MAGA infighting grows on the issue. And there are risks for Trump of 'regime change' in Iran: Just ask George W. Bush.USA TODAY Supreme Court Correspondent Maureen Groppe breaks down the high court's move to uphold Tennessee's ban on transgender minors using puberty blockers and hormone therapy.The Social Security crisis is coming a year earlier than we thought.Karen Read has been acquitted of murder in the death of her police officer boyfriend.The FDA approves a new twice-yearly HIV shot.USA TODAY Chief Political Correspondent Phillip M. Bailey discusses the importance of Juneteenth and how some communities are marking the day.Let us know what you think of this episode by sending an email to podcasts@usatoday.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As tariffs and global economic uncertainty weigh on businesses, Walmart EVP Dan Bartlett joins Mo News from the company's shareholders meeting in Bentonville to break down how the retail giant is navigating tariff and economic uncertainty. Bartlett explains how Walmart is approaching increasing prices, how it's absorbing costs as President Trump tells them to “eat the tariffs,” and believes it will still “win on price.”  Bartlett dives into how the world's largest private employer and America's largest grocer is looking at the future. He discusses how AI and automation could lead to a revolution in how we do our purchasing—enabling re-ordering, restocking of the literal shelves in our homes and guiding our shopping lists with little to no effort from consumers anymore.  Plus, Bartlett reflects on his time as former President George W. Bush's former counselor and communications director and the lessons he learned about leadership and crisis.  —- Mosheh Oinounou (⁠@mosheh⁠) is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist. He has 20 years of experience at networks including Fox News, Bloomberg Television and CBS News, where he was the executive producer of the CBS Evening News and launched the network's 24 hour news channel. He founded the @mosheh Instagram news account in 2020 and the Mo News podcast and newsletter in 2022.

Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you! Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 700 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Subscribe to Rothkopf's new Substack  https://davidrothkopf.substack.com/ Follow Rothkopf Listen to Deep State Radio Read Rothkopf at The Daily Beast Buy his books David Rothkopf is CEO of The Rothkopf Group, a media company that produces podcasts including Deep State Radio, hosted by Rothkopf. TRG also produces custom podcasts for clients including the United Arab Emirates. He is also the author of many books including Running the World: The Inside Story of the National Security Council and the Architects of American Power, Superclass, Power, Inc., National Insecurity, Great Questions of Tomorrow, and Traitor: A History of Betraying America from Benedict Arnold to Donald Trump. Sam Youngman is a veteran political campaign reporter and former White House correspondent. Youngman covered the presidential campaigns of 2004, 2008 and 2012, countless U.S. House and Senate races, and the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama while working for The Hill, Reuters and other news organizations. A native of Kentucky, Youngman has a BA in journalism from Western Kentucky University and now lives in Los Angeles. Today's Big Stuff is a Monday through Friday newsletter for progressive Americans who want to save their democracy while making fun of people like Donald Trump Jr. and Lauren Boebert who might actually be the same, really dumb person. . Today's Big Stuff (TBS) was founded in early 2019 by “Ready for Hillary” creator and Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko and former White House correspondent and veteran campaign reporter Sam Youngman. What started as a small clip service for six people, quickly expanded as thousands of stressed out Americans searched for a news source that tells it how it is — with lots of sick jokes and cuss words. In 2020, the more than 75,000 members of the Big Stuff community — also known as Sexy Patriots and Big Stufferinoes — mobilized along with 81 million other Americans to send Donald Trump crying back to Mar-a-Lago leaving a trail of urine along the way. And we're just getting started. If laughter is the best medicine, then TBS is like an injection of bleach right to the fucking face. Sign up and don't forget to share with your friends who share your twisted senses of humor and righteous outrage! Join us Monday and Thursday's at 8EST for our  Bi Weekly Happy Hour Hangout!  Pete on Blue Sky Pete on Threads Pete on Tik Tok Pete on YouTube  Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page All things Jon Carroll  Follow and Support Pete Coe Buy Ava's Art  Hire DJ Monzyk to build your website or help you with Marketing Gift a Subscription https://www.patreon.com/PeteDominick/gift

Join Jim and Greg for Friday's 3 Martini Lunch as they assess Israel's bold strikes on Iran's nuclear program and how President Trump and the U.S. are navigating this conflict. They also weigh in on the controversy surrounding California Sen. Alex Padilla being handcuffed after interrupting a Homeland Security press conference in Los Angeles.First, they lay out what we know about Israel's attacks against Iranian nuclear sites, air defenses, and top military personnel. Jim points out that every president since George W. Bush has stated Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon and the Israelis clearly believe they could not wait any longer. They also marvel at the depths which the Mossad infiltrated Iran to help carry out the attacks.Next, they examine the U.S. response to the strikes. While initial American statements distanced the U.S. from involvement, President Trump voiced strong support for Israel and warned Iran to return to nuclear negotiations. However, Iran now claims it is abandoning those talks altogether.Finally, they break down the confrontation between DHS Sec. Kristi Noem and California Sen. Alex Padilla. Sen. Padilla interrupted Noem to shout questions. It was only after Secret Service and FBI began restraining him that Padilla identified himself as a U.S. senator. He was eventually handcuffed but quickly released when his identity was confirmed. Jim and Greg agree that Padilla's approach shows he wanted to create a spectacle. Jim also marvels that no one - even in LA - seemed to know what Sen. Padilla looks like.Please visit our great sponsors:Talk it out with Betterhelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at https://BetterHelp.com/3MLRight now, with zero commitment, try OCI for free.  Go to https://Oracle.com/MARTINIIt's free, online, and easy to start—no strings attached. Enroll in Understanding Capitalism with Hillsdale College. Visit https://hillsdale.edu/Martini

Where is Obama? Where is George W. Bush? A Marine battalion and the National Guard have been deployed in response to a spark Trump set off by sweeping up people who aren't doing anything illegal besides being present here. And the administration may ramp up the tension if it uses the military for domestic law enforcement purposes. At least Gavin is finally angry. Plus, MAGA is built around conspiracists and conspiracy theories, so RFK Jr can do what he wants with vaccines because he's only making doctors and public health experts mad—constituents Trump couldn't care less about. Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller. show notes Bill's 'Bulwark on Sunday' interview with Adrian Focus Group Pod on the Dem primary for governor in NJ For an extra 25% off your order and a special gift, head to Pacagen.com/THEBULWARK

Tonight's rundown: Hey BillOReilly.com Premium and Concierge Members, welcome to the No Spin News for Thursday, June 5, 2025. Stand Up for Your Country.  Talking Points Memo: Bill outlines the growing scandal involving former President Joe Biden and his use of an autopen. What we know about Donald Trump's Thursday morning phone call with Chinese President Xi. A look at the countries included in Trump's travel ban on entry to the United States. How does President Trump's rating compare to former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during their second terms? This Day in History: Ronald Reagan dies at age 93. Final Thought: Bill's advice on honoring your parents.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Civic knowledge in America is declining. AI is rapidly advancing. And the Iran-Russia-China alliance is pushing the world closer to the brink of global war. Dr. Condoleezza Rice joins Rep. Dan Crenshaw for a frank conversation about the greatest threats to the future of Western Civilization—and how Stanford's Hoover Institution is working to confront them.   Dr. Condoleezza Rice is the Director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and served as the 66th U.S. Secretary of State (2005–2009) and National Security Advisor (2001–2005) to President George W. Bush. Follow her on X at @CondoleezzaRice and stay up to date on the Hoover Institution's research at @HooverInst.