Podcasts about Henry David Thoreau

In this episode we embark on a search for the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe, guided by Henry David Thoreau and the mystery of the Hollow Earth. Our quest begins with a visit to a haunted saloon and an apartment building that is hiding a dark past.

American poet Henry David Thoreau wrote: “Friendship between a man and a woman is always a little tinged with romance, even if it never crosses the line.” That can be a challenge. Dr. Randy helps you to not cross that line and be intentional with your Opposite Sex Friendships. Sign up for Dr. Randy’s INTENTIONAL […]

This two-part video series provides a deep historical analysis of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD), tracing its ingredients from 19th-century New England intellectual and social revolutions to its status as America's de facto civic religion. We argue that MTD collapsed when the sexual and moral revolutions forced a devastating fracture between its Christian heritage and its core principles of self-actualization and benevolence, leading to the polarized political landscape of today.Moralist Therapeutic Deism Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eHYMzanOvs&t=4679s @triggerpod   @InterestingTimesNYT   @JonathanPageau   @PaulVanderKlay 00:00:00 - Introduction and Recap00:10:07 - MTD, Chicago, and Obama00:13:00 - Cornell as Microcosm00:25:15 - Tim Keller on programatic secularism00:35:55 - Mainline Christianity00:37:45 - Wokeness and MTD00:47:05 - MTD and Partisanship00:49:20 - Arena vs Agent00:51:00 - Donald Trump 00:56:15 - Nationalism vs Globalism01:03:40 - Who killed MTD?01:05:55 - Competing Arenas01:08:25 - The future of Christian NationalismIn this video I mention:Aaron Renn, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Baker, Alfred, Allen C. Guelzo, Amos, Andrew Jackson Davis, Ann Lee, Anagarika Dharmapala, Arthur Conan Doyle, Athanasius, Barack Obama, Benjamin Franklin, Billy Graham, Black Lives Matter, Bud, Buddha, Calvin, Cathleen Falsani, Catherine Fox, Charles B. Rosna, Charles Carroll Bonney, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Charlie Kirk, Christian Smith, Christopher Pearse Cranch, Clement of Alexandria, Conrad Grebel, Constantine, David Bentley Hart, Deepak Chopra, Donahoe, Donald Trump, Eddie Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, Elijah Muhammad, Eliott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Elizabeth Keckley, Ellen Todd, Emilie Todd Helm, Emanuel Swedenborg, Epictetus, Erica Kirk, Ernst Troeltsch, Ezra Klein, Fanny Hayes Platt, Faustus Socinus, Finney, Fox Sisters, Franz Anton Mesmer, Fred Shuttlesworth, Frederick the Wise, Friedrich Nietzsche, Galen, George Barna, George Fox, George W. Bush, Gregory of Nyssa, Henry Clay, Henry David Thoreau, Henry James, H. P. Blavatsky, H. Richard Niebuhr, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harold Ockenga, Harry Emerson Fosdick, Helen Schucman, Hosea Ballou, J. Gresham Machen, Jacob Blake, James, James Comey, James Lindsay, James Russell Lowell, Jared Sparks, Jean H. Baker, Jenkin Lloyd Jones, Jesus Christ, Jim Lindsay, John, John Adams, John Bunyan, John D. Rockefeller, John Henry Barrows, John Locke, John Milton, John Murray, John Stott, Jonathan Edwards, Jordan Peterson, Joseph Priestly, Joseph Smith, Judith Skutch, Julius Dresser, Kant, Karl Menninger, Karlstadt, Kate Fox, Kenneth Minkema, Koot Hoomi, Kyle Rittenhouse, Lelio Socinus, Leonard Zusne, Lou Malnatis, Luke Thompson (  @WhiteStoneName  ), Lyman Beecher, Madame Blavatsky, Margaretta Fox, Marianne Williamson, Mark Parker (  @MarkDParker  ) , Mark Twain, Mary Baker Eddy, Mary Todd Lincoln, Matt Herman, Meister Eckhart, Melinda Lundquist Denton, Mesmer, Micah, Michael Bronky, Michael Servetus, Monophysite, Morya, Moses, Nancy Pelosi, Napoleon Bonaparte, Nettie Colburn Maynard, Newton, Niccolò Machiavelli, Nicholas of Cusa, Norman Vincent Peale, Oprah, Origen, Paul, Paul Tillich, Paul Vanderlay, Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, Plotinus, Proclus, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ramakrishna, Rick Warren, Robert Schuller, Robin D'Angelo, Rod Dreher, Ronald Reagan, Ross Douthat, Rowan Williams, Rudolf Steiner, Samuel Johnson, Septimus J. Hanna, Shailer Mathews, Shakers, Shadrach, Socrates, Soyen Shaku, Swami Vivekananda, Tad Lincoln, Tertullian, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Starr King, Tracy Herman, Virchand Gandhi, Victoria Woodhull, Warren Felt Evans, William Ellery Channing, William James, William Lloyd Garrison, William Newton Clarke, Willie Lincoln, Winthrop, Zwingli.

American poet Henry David Thoreau wrote: “Friendship between a man and a woman is always a little tinged with romance, even if it never crosses the line.” That can be a challenge. Sign up for Dr. Randy’s INTENTIONAL ONE THING CHALLENGE. Here’s an Intentional Living Blog for inspiration! Opposite-Sex Friendships What is Intentional Living? At […]

DescriptionMoralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD) didn't just appear out of nowhere—it's the product of centuries of American religious and cultural development. In this video, we trace its roots from Puritanism through Unitarianism, Transcendentalism, therapeutic spirituality, and beyond.In this video I mention…Paul Vanderlay, Christian Smith, John Winthrop, Jonathan Edwards, Michael Servetus, John Calvin, Joseph Priestley, William Ellery Channing, John Locke, Isaac Newton, John Milton, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Mary Baker Eddy, Phineas Quimby, The Fox Sisters, Helena Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Helen Schucman, Marianne Williamson, Oprah Winfrey, Gregory of Nyssa, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Parker, Abraham Lincoln, Christopher Columbus, and more.

This past week I was privileged to go on a retreat with wonderful women from different states whom we got to explore the power of our own voices and the importance of living authentically. Through laughter, tears, and shared experiences, we discovered that to live deliberately means to embrace joy, peace, and resistance as revolutionary acts. Have you ever felt like something within you is whispering that you're not quite living your truth? Something is off, yet you can't pinpoint what it is? Well on today's episode borrowing  lessons learned from Henry David Thoreau and the forgotten stories of Black abolitionists who shaped history we discover how to live deliberately and embrace your true self, while challenging societal expectations. This episode is a call to action to awaken your spirit and live life fully! If you would like some help with figuring out how to transform your life! I can help you create a vision for a life that you absolutely love living. Click here to arrange a session with me. If you're enjoying the podcast, please share the show with a friend or, even better, leave a review to ensure others can benefit from it too! WHAT YOU'LL LEARN FROM THE EPISODE The importance of not just existing, but truly living. You are not here to check a box. You are not here to impress anyone but yourself. You are here to live your life and live it abundantly. To live deliberately means to resist deliberately. To claim joy is a revolutionary act. FEATURED ON THE SHOW: If you're enjoying the podcast, I'd love to hear from you! Please share the show with a friend or even better, leave a review to ensure others can benefit from the podcast.

Jesus calls believers to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him. But what does a life wholly yielded to God even look like in this day and age? It's marked by a willingness to: - Die to yourself - Trust God completely - Know His Word - Submit to His will - Point others to Jesus - Suffer for His name - Follow Christ alone - Love others selflessly We are unpacking all this and more this week on the Loving Life at Home Podcast. I hope you'll listen in and be encouraged. Show Notes VERSES CITED: John 12:23-24 – “...unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.'” Matthew 16:24 – “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” (see also Luke 9:23 and Mark 8:34) Mark 8:35 – “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel will save it.” 1 John 2:17 – “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” 1 Corinthians 10:31 – “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Philippians 1:21 – “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Luke 22:42 - “Father, not my will, but thine be done.” Hebrews 12:1 – “... let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” 2 Timothy 4:7 – “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” 2:10 – “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” 1 Corinthians 2:14 - “The unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 1:27 - “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,” Romans 8:28 – “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His” Hebrews 10:23 – “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Psalm 100:5 – “…the LORD isgood; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations.” Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Psalm 119:105 – “Thy word isa lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Ephesians 2:4-10 – “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ…” Isaiah 45:9 – “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker— An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?' Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands ‘? Romans 9:20-21 – “...Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use?” John 3:30 – “He must increase; I must decrease.” Philippians 1:27-29 – “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him.” Philippians 3:10 – “That I might know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death….” John 16:33 – “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me you might have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Psalm 23:4 – “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Matthew 10:28 - “Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 – “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Hebrews 12:2 – “…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Job 2:9 - “Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!'” Job 1:21 – “He said, ‘Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.'” John 14:6 – “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 1 Corinthians 11:1 – “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Matthew 25:35 – “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” Luke 10:27 – “Love the Lord thy God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength… and love your neighbor as yourself.” John 13:35 – “By this will all men know you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Philippians 2:3 – “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” Galatians 6:3 – “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Romans 12:3 – “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought…” Hebrews 3:14 – “… exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.” RELATED LINKS: Jim Elliot Was Not First to Say It - references Matthew Henry's biography of his father "For His Glory and My Good” - CityAlight praise song Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander – some of my husband's favorite books M Is for Mama Podcast: Episode 113 – a conversation between Abbie and me Suffering is Never for Nothing by Elisabeth Elliot EP 28:Bible Memory Tips & Tricks EP 85: Memorize Proverbs 3 with Me A Grand Investment - the Bible memory program I use with my kids & grandkids "Inspiration" - this poem by Henry David Thoreau contains the line I quoted without attribution, “Time cannot bend the line which God hath writ" "God Hath Not Promised" - the poem I quoted by Annie Johnson Flint STAY CONNECTED: - Subscribe: Flanders Family Freebies -weekly themed link lists of free resources - Instagram: @flanders_family - follow for more great content - Family Blog: Flanders Family Home Life - parenting tips, homeschool help, printables - Marriage Blog: Loving Life at Home- encouragement for wives, mothers, believers - My Books: Shop Online - find on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, or through our website

What does it mean to walk with God? The spiritual life is so often described as a walk, journey, or pilgrimage that it can be easy to dismiss the practice of walking as a mere metaphor.But in God Walk, author, pastor, and professor Mark Buchanan explores the way that the act of walking has profound implications for followers of the Way:“Hurry is the enemy of attentiveness. And so love as attentiveness is listening and caring and noticing, cherishing, savoring, being awestruck, these things that we feel in a relationship. I am deeply loved by this person because they notice me. I think that that's how God's built it. And we can't get that if we're moving too fast, if we're in a hurry.”This episode is drawn from an online conversation held in 2023. It'll give you a sense of what the Trinity Forum is about: a community of people renewing our culture by applying wisdom from the Christian tradition, and nurturing new growth in it, in our time. If that resonates with you, please join the Trinity Forum as a member, at ttf.org.As we ponder the spirituality of walking, our fall Trinity Forum Reading features naturalist Henry David Thoreau's ruminations on the art of walking, with an introduction by Trinity Forum President Cherie Harder. Stay tuned for pre-ordering later this week, and join our membership to receive a copy mailed directly to you.Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:AristotleSøren KierkegaardJean-Jacques RousseauGod Walk, by Mark BuchananSimone WeilThe Three Mile an Hour God, by Kosaku KoyamaWanderlust: A History of Walking, by Rebecca SolnitKnowing God, J.I. PackerKai MillerRelated Trinity Forum Readings:Pilgrim's Progress, by John BunyanPilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie DillardGod's Grandeur, by Gerard Manley HopkinsLong Walk to Freedom, by Nelson MandelaBrave New World, by Alduous HuxleyRelated Conversations:A New Year With The Word with Malcolm GuiteMusic, Creativity & Justice with Ruth Naomi FloydPursuing Humility with Richard Foster and Brenda QuinnReading as a Spiritual Practice with Jessica Hooten WilsonGet tickets for The Rabbit Room's Housemoot.To listen to this or any of our episodes in full, visit ttf.org/podcasts/ and to join the Trinity Forum Society and help make content like this possible, join the Trinity Forum Society.

Beyond Boston: Epic Day Trips & Weekend Getaways in New EnglandBoston is amazing, but here's the thing: sometimes you've gotta escape the city limits to really soak in New England magic. Lucky for us wanderers, Boston sits at the heart of some of the coolest, quirkiest, most historic little towns in the U.S. We're talking witch trials, fishing villages, patriotic battlegrounds, and even beachy boardwalk sunsets.Grab a rental car (yes, it's finally worth it outside the city), load up on Dunkin' iced coffee, and let's road trip Travel Brats style. Here are the best day trips and weekend escapes from Boston that'll make you fall in love with New England all over again. Salem: Witches, Ghosts & Seaside VibesAbout an hour north of Boston, Salem is basically Halloween Town year-round. It's spooky, historic, and surprisingly charming.Walking Route to Hit the HighlightsGedney House (21 High St) – One of the oldest timber-frame homes in Salem, creaky and full of character.Salem Jail (50 St. Peter St) – Atmospheric and eerie; you'll feel like you've stepped into a gothic novel.Broad Street Cemetery – Quiet, haunting, and beautiful.The Witch House (310 Essex St) – Former home of Judge Jonathan Corwin from the witch trials. Legit spooky.Ropes Mansion (318 Essex St) – Movie fans, this is Allison's house from Hocus Pocus. The gardens are gorgeous.Salem Witch Museum (Washington Sq.) – Dramatic, theatrical, and totally worth it for the immersive history lesson.Optional extra: Max & Dani's House (Ocean Ave) from Hocus Pocus. It's a bit of a trek, but fangirls/fanboys, this is your moment.Afternoon Treat: Schooner Fame CruiseFor a change of pace, hit the water on the Schooner Fame. You can help hoist the sails, steer the ship, and pretend you're a pirate for the afternoon. Way more interactive than your average harbor cruise.Eats in SalemVillage Tavern – Cozy, hearty, and pub-y.Longboards – Chill vibe, seafood-heavy menu.Oneil's – Local classic. Lexington & Concord: Where the Revolution BeganIf you geek out on history (hi, it's me ✋), this one's a must. Just 30 minutes from Boston, these twin towns are where the Revolutionary War kicked off.Drive between the sites because they're spread out, but don't expect Uber to save you here—it's not very ride-share friendly.Highlights:Lexington Battle Green – Where the “shot heard 'round the world” was fired.Minute Man National Historical Park – Scenic walking trails + reenactments.Concord's North Bridge – Stand where the colonists forced the British to retreat.Orchards & Farms – Depending on the season, you can go apple picking or just sip hot cider.It's basically a living history lesson, except with better snacks.Walden Pond: Nature Meets LiteratureWalden Pond is the kind of place that makes you want to throw your phone into the lake and live like Thoreau (minus the whole no-WiFi situation).For history lovers: This is where Henry David Thoreau lived in his tiny cabin and wrote Walden.For nature lovers: It's a gorgeous, swimmable pond surrounded by peaceful hiking trails.Pro tip: Visit in the morning to beat the crowds, especially in the fall when the foliage is next-level. Cape Cod & Martha's Vineyard: Beachy BlissAbout 90 minutes south of Boston, Cape Cod is summer in postcard form: sandy beaches, salty air, and clapboard houses.Cape HighlightsHyannisport – Kennedy family stomping grounds.Sandwich Boardwalk – Walk this at sunset for pure magic.From here, hop a ferry to Martha's Vineyard. Yes, it takes planning—parking, ferry tickets, bus passes—but it's worth every ounce of effort. Once you're there, rent bikes or hop the island buses to explore:Oak Bluffs – Cute gingerbread houses.Edgartown – Upscale shops and restaurants.Beaches – All of them. Pack snacks and beach hop.It's laid-back, stunning, and gives you all the coastal New England vibes. Gloucester & Rockport: Fishermen & Art LoversNorth of Boston, you'll find Gloucester, one of America's oldest fishing ports.Fishermen's Memorial – A powerful tribute with the names of those lost at sea.Harbor Walk – Scenic and lively with boats everywhere.Nearby Rockport is like a tiny storybook village with shops, art galleries, and ocean views for days. Perfect for an afternoon stroll with an ice cream cone in hand. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: A Seaport SurpriseDrive about an hour north and boom—you're in Portsmouth, NH. This little town is buzzing with cool restaurants, historic homes, and waterfront charm.Perfect for:A dinner out with fresh seafood.Wandering cobblestone streets.Starting a mini New England road trip if you're heading toward Maine. Foxborough: Patriots NationIf you're into football, a trip to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough is basically a pilgrimage.Training Camp (summer) is free, but it gets packed.Patriot Place is like an entertainment complex on steroids—restaurants, shops, and a museum.Even if you're not a Pats fan, the energy is infectious. Plymouth: Pilgrims, Lobster Rolls & Shimmer by the SeaWelcome to America's hometown—the landing spot of the Mayflower. And yes, the infamous Plymouth Rock is here (spoiler: it's… underwhelming).How to Spend a Day in PlymouthBreakfast at Café Nicole – Fuel up for exploring.See the Mayflower II – A replica of the original ship.Tavern on the Wharf – Grab a lobster roll for lunch.Shimmer by the Sea cocktail – Sparkly, fun, and Instagram-worthy.Monument to the Forefathers – Bigger than you'd expect.Cupcake Charlie's – Sweet pit stop.Shopping – Fave stores: Soft as a Grape & Fidel's.First Church in Plymouth – Founded in 1606.Marina Walkway – Perfect for catching the sunset.Dinner at 71 West – End with waterfront dining.It's touristy, yes, but in the best way. Bonus: Manchester, NH & Fall LeavesIf you're visiting in the fall, New England's foliage is basically the main event. A quick drive up to Manchester, NH, or even deeper into the White Mountains, will blow your mind with fiery reds, golden yellows, and Instagram gold. Bring a sweater, a thermos of cider, and your camera. Final ThoughtsBoston is the hub, but the real magic happens when you venture just beyond. From spooky Salem to sun-soaked Cape Cod, every trip feels like stepping into a different story. The best part? You don't have to pick just one. With a car, a little caffeine, and a sense of adventure, you can road trip your way through history, beaches, and small-town charm—all within a couple of hours of the city.So, next time you're in Boston, don't stop at the Freedom Trail. Go beyond. The witches, patriots, and fishermen are waiting. 

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. –Henry David Thoreau Check out John Lee Dumas' award winning Podcast Entrepreneurs on Fire on your favorite podcast directory. For world class free courses and resources to help you on your Entrepreneurial journey visit EOFire.com

Send us a textWithin the past few days, this podcast has dealt with Victor Hugo, Jonathan Swift, and Edgar Allan Poe - all these individuals were giants who challenged the status quo, but in vastly different ways. Today I would like to add Henry David Thoreau to the mix for a hopefully a compelling contrast. He's often misunderstood, just like Poe, but his rebellion was one of quiet solitude rather than gothic excess or satirical fury.Now when you think of a revolutionary, what comes to mind? A furious orator on a soapbox, a satirist wielding a pen like a sword, or a poet railing against the universe? We've talked about all of them: Jonathan Swift and his biting satire, Victor Hugo and his grand, sweeping social protests, and Edgar Allan Poe, the ultimate rebel of the interior self.But what about the man who rebelled by simply walking away?Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

News; birthdays/events; would email reminders of what you purchase help you budget better?; word of the day. News; game: trivia potpourri; travel mishaps that turned into good stories (a.i. topic); what makes an amusement park or theme park great in your opinion? News; game: word ladder; a.i. topic: quirky superstitions you follow;  secret family reipes and the stories behind them. News; game: what do these movies have in common?; is there anything you are exceptionally good or bad at?; goodbye/fun facts....National Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day. Cinnamon-raisin bread has a long history in the making. Its predecessors include stollen, a German fruit bread with spices and candied fruits, kulich, a tall Easter bread served in the Russian and Slavic regions, and panettone, a tall raisin-filled fruit cake made in Italy. But did essayist and poet Henry David Thoreau create cinnamon raisin bread? He did write about it in his journals...but it is believed that the rumor started by Concord housewives because they were delighted by Thoreau's antics. The rumor was perpetuated by a 1943 article in the Ladies Home Journal, that deemed the culinary invention as Thoreau's. This, however, was later disproved by Biographer Walter Harding, who corrected the rumor in the Thoreau Society Bulletin and stated that raisin bread, or plum cake at the time, occurred during the Elizabethan era. If you're going to make your own from scratch...Coating raisins in flour before mixing them into the dough helps keep them evenly distributed.

This week on The Bulletin, Mike and Clarissa discuss Fox's Brian Kilmeade's comments about the homeless and his subsequent apology. They touch on Marco Rubio's trip to Israel in the wake of strikes in Qatar, and whether or not Pope Leo could influence peace in between Russia and Ukraine. Finally, Mike sits down with Roger Berkowitz to hear why he thinks Trump's rise to power should be considered a revolution. REFERENCED IN THE SHOW: -Unpacking Trump's Revolution with Roger Berkowitz GO DEEPER WITH THE BULLETIN:  -Join the conversation at our Substack.  -Find us on YouTube.  -Rate and review the show in your podcast app of choice.    ABOUT THE GUESTS:   Roger Berkowitz is founder and academic director of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities and professor of politics, philosophy, and human rights at Bard College. Berkowitz is the author of The Gift of Science, the introduction to On Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau and Hannah Arendt, and The Perils of Invention. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The American Interest, Bookforum, The Forward, The Paris Review online, and Democracy.  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: Kevin Morris Graphic Design: Rick Szuecs Music: Dan Phelps  Executive Producers: Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper   Senior Producer: Matt Stevens -Unpacking Trump's Revolution with Roger Berkowitz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dave McArthur welcomes guest host Bill Hodges to do a not quite entirely sober short on Henry David Thoreau's 1854 work Walden.

Cathryn McIntyre is a natural psychic and clairvoyant and the author of two books about her experience living as a psychic in the historic town of Concord, Massachusetts. She is also an astrologer; a UFO experiencer; and an occasional ghost investigator. A blog McIntyre wrote about one of her investigations in Boothbay Harbor, Maine got the attention of author, Greg Latimer, who investigated and validated McIntyre's findings and included the story in his book, Ghosts of the Boothbay Region. Ronny LeBlanc, star of the Travel Channel's Expedition Bigfoot, featured an interview with McIntyre in the latest of his Monsterland series of books in which she discussed her alien abduction experiences and her ability to connect to spirit, including tapping into the consciousness of the creature known as Bigfoot. In her latest book, The Thoreau Whisperer, McIntyre writes about her experience channeling the spirit of Concord's most famous writer, Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau is best remembered for his essay Civil Disobedience, which was his plea in defense of the rights of man, and for his book, Walden, written about his experiment living alone in a cabin at Walden Pond in Concord. It was soon after moving from Michigan to Massachusetts in 1984 that McIntyre encountered the spirit of Thoreau at a home near Walden Pond but it wouldn't be until 2006, following an after-death encounter with her mentor, who was an eminent Thoreau scholar, that the channeling would begin. Cathryn McIntyre is the author of The Thoreau Whisperer: Channeling the Spirit of Henry David Thoreau (2018), and Honor in Concord: Seeking Spirit in Literary Concord (2008). She is also the founder of The Concord Writer, a literary and publishing concern dedicated to the words, wisdom and enduring spirit of Henry David Thoreau.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-x-zone-radio-tv-show--1078348/support.Please note that all XZBN radio and/or television shows are Copyright © REL-MAR McConnell Meda Company, Niagara, Ontario, Canada – www.rel-mar.com. For more Episodes of this show and all shows produced, broadcasted and syndicated from REL-MAR McConell Media Company and The 'X' Zone Broadcast Network and the 'X' Zone TV Channell, visit www.xzbn.net. For programming, distribution, and syndication inquiries, email programming@xzbn.net.We are proud to announce the we have launched TWATNews.com, launched in August 2025.TWATNews.com is an independent online news platform dedicated to uncovering the truth about Donald Trump and his ongoing influence in politics, business, and society. Unlike mainstream outlets that often sanitize, soften, or ignore stories that challenge Trump and his allies, TWATNews digs deeper to deliver hard-hitting articles, investigative features, and sharp commentary that mainstream media won't touch.These are stories and articles that you will not read anywhere else.Our mission is simple: to expose corruption, lies, and authoritarian tendencies while giving voice to the perspectives and evidence that are often marginalized or buried by corporate-controlled media. 

269. Questions for More Connection and Laughter in Marriage with Casey and Meygan Caston   *Disclaimer* This episode contains some mature themes and listener discretion is advised.   2 Corinthians 1:4 NIRV "He comforts us in all our troubles. Now we can comfort others when they are in trouble. We ourselves receive comfort from God."   *Transcript Below*   Questions and Topics We Cover: Will you share three of the questions from your most recent book, specifically the ones people have told you unlocked the best conversations in their own marriage? You say you're an unlikely couple to help support marriages. Will you share a glimpse of your own backstory? What are a handful of ideas for ways couples can strengthen their connection with one another?   Casey and Meygan Caston are the Co-Founders of Marriage365. Casey and Meygan were perfect examples of what not to do in marriage. Three years into marriage, they found themselves having racked up more than $250,000 in debt, fighting constantly, and were ready to call it quits. Despite the 12 failed marriages between their parents, they knew this wasn't the legacy they wanted for themselves or their children. They began reading and educating themselves on how to do marriage the right way. The result of their journey is Marriage365, where they millions of people worldwide through their books, social media, retreats, and their online streaming service, Marriage365.   Marriage 365 Website Marriage 365 App Marriage 365 Books Marriage 365 Coaching   Thank You to Our Sponsor: WinShape Marriage   Sample of Previous Episodes on Sexual Intimacy on The Savvy Sauce: 4 Fostering a Fun, Healthy Sex Life With Your Spouse With Certified Sex Therapist and Author, Dr. Jennifer Konzen 5 Ways to Deepen Your Intimacy in Marriage with Dr. Douglas Rosenau  6 Ten Common Questions About Sex, Shared Through a Biblical Worldview with Dr. Michael Sytsma 89 Passion Pursuit with Dr. Juli Slattery 108 Anatomy of an Affair with Dave Carder 135 Healthy Ways for Females to Increase Sexual Enjoyment with Tracey LeGrand 155 Sex in Marriage and Its Positive Effects with Francie Winslow, Part 1 156 Science and Art of Sexual Intimacy in Marriage, Part 2 158 Making Love in Marriage with Debra Fileta 165 Mutually Pleasing Sex in Marriage with Gary Thomas 186 Sex Series: Enhancing Female Pleasure and Enjoyment of Sex: An Interview with Dr. Jennifer Degler 218 Secrets of Sex and Marriage: An Interview with Dr. Michael Sytsma Special Patreon Release: Protecting Your Marriage Against Unfaithfulness with Dave Carder 252 Maximizing Sexual Connection as Newlyweds to Long Term Marriages and Recovering from a Sexless Marriage with Dr. Clifford & Joyce Penner   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook, Instagram or Our Website   Please help us out by sharing this episode with a friend, leaving a 5-star rating and review, and subscribing to this podcast!   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)   Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcript*   Music: (0:00 – 0:11)   Laura Dugger: (0:12 - 1:15)  Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.    Today's message is not intended for little ears. We'll be discussing some adult themes, and I want you to be aware before you listen to this message.    I'm thrilled to introduce you to our sponsor, WinShape Marriage. Their weekend marriage retreats will strengthen your marriage while you enjoy the gorgeous setting, delicious food, and quality time with your spouse.   To find out more, visit them online at winshapemarriage.org.    Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Casey and Meygan.   Casey Caston:  Thanks for having us. Excited to be here.   Laura Dugger: So, thrilled to have both of you, and let's just dive right into one of your sweet spots. How can open-ended questions change a marriage?   Casey Caston: (1:16 - 2:33)  Yeah, well, if you think about when we first met somebody that we fell in love with, fell attracted to that first date, as you're sitting across the table, you are looking at that person with so much curiosity. Like, who is this person? What are their hopes and their dreams and their life experiences?   What are they afraid of? Where are they going in life? And that curiosity drove us to ask really good open-ended questions.   Like, tell me more about yourself. It's funny because we were just reading in Proverbs this morning that in a man's heart, he has a purpose, but a man of understanding draws from the deep wells to pull that out. And I just, I always think about how a great question plums the deep wells of a man's heart or woman's heart.   And that attraction, that energy we feel, helps us with asking great questions. But then what happens is when we get married and we move into the wash, rinse, repeat of childcare and chores and, you know, the mundaneness of going to work, coming home, dinner, like, it can really sap all of the romance out of a relationship. And so, what happens is we fall into asking really boring questions.   Meygan Caston: (2:33 - 2:34)  Like, how was your day?   Casey Caston: (2:34 - 2:36)  What's picking up the kids?   Meygan Caston: (2:36 - 2:37)  What's for dinner? Yeah.   Casey Caston: (2:38 - 3:18)  So, we realize that when the well is dry, so to speak, you're not asking those great questions. We need prompts. We need an outside prompt because I don't think naturally we would ask great questions to spark this, you know, connecting conversation.   And I will tell you too, that if you just dropped in and, you know, just ask your spouse, like, “Hey, so, tell me some boundaries we need to set up with your parents.” People are going to be like, “Excuse me, where did that question come from? And what's the question behind the question?   What's your motivation here?” But those are conversations we need to have. We just need prompts.   So, yeah.   Laura Dugger: (3:19 - 3:32)  Well, I love that response. And I'm also curious after working with so many married couples, what have you seen as that connection between these amazing prompts for open-ended questions and emotional intimacy?   Meygan Caston: (3:34 - 4:20)  Yeah. Well, kind of like what Casey was mentioning about, um, just that curiosity of getting to know each other. I think the other part of asking those open-ended questions and having these deeper conversations is really about intentionality.   Like you still care about me. You still want to know about my heart. Well, for us, 25 years later, I still care about you.   I still love you. And I think that of course, as women, we long for that emotional connection. And I don't think that men realize it, but they actually long for that too.   And it's creating a safe place for spouses to share, to cry, to even, um, dream together about their future. And I think, again, if we don't give ourselves those opportunities and we're not intentional with that, we get stuck in the mundaneness of marriage.   Casey Caston: (4:20 - 5:03)  But, uh, and I would add to that, that curiosity, Meygan, I've talked about how curiosity is the pursuit of something. Right. And we all long to be desired to be pursued.   I mean, that is, that underlying communication is so powerful in relationships, because if you think about it, if you're not being pursued and your spouse isn't curious, I mean, that's like the, the heart of apathy. It's like, I don't care. And I know that people aren't intentionally trying to communicate that, but when you feel that, like my spouse doesn't really care about what I dream about or what I'm hoping to achieve this year, they just come home and they just watch TV or they're on their phone.   Meygan Caston: (5:04 - 5:18)  Right. That communicates a lot non-verbally. And so, that's why these open-ended questions are something that we should never stop being a learner of each other and of ourselves.   And that will provide that emotional intimacy.   Laura Dugger: (5:19 - 5:45)  That's so good. And obviously your resources are amazing. I would love, because you have these 365 Connecting Questions for Couples.   And so, I want to just hear maybe three of these questions that come to mind for you guys, especially as you've heard, these are the ones that tend to unlock something deeper in the conversation.   Meygan Caston: (5:46 - 6:07)  Absolutely. So, August 3rd is, are you someone who spends a lot of time in deep thought, processing things before making a decision, or do you tend to make quick decisions? Why or why not?   That question has genuinely sparked so much conversation between us and even like with our kids and other couples. Maybe you can explain why.   Casey Caston: (6:07 - 6:11)  Yeah. Well, I'm Mr. Impulsivity, so.   Meygan Caston: (6:11 - 6:29)  Yeah, you are. Where I, I don't, I wouldn't consider myself a deep thinker, but I definitely like to make pros and cons lists and think through things. But if you think about a dynamic between a husband and a wife, you know, there are so many decisions that you make together, small and large, your whole life, every day.   Casey Caston: (6:29 - 6:30)  Decision-making is huge in relationships.   Meygan Caston: (6:31 - 6:57)  And it's an everyday thing that couples are tackling. And it's important to know that no one is better than the other. It's not that a deep thinker is better than a more impulsive person. It's kind of more just naturally how you are. Have you always been this way? Do you like that about yourself?   Wow. You know, well, when it comes to these bigger decisions, I do spend, make more time, you know, thinking through and pros and cons. Oh, well, with small decisions, I'm more impulsive. I mean, you could just talk about that for hours and hours.   Casey Caston: (6:57 - 7:01) Yeah. But what's interesting is I tend to think more futuristic and big picture.   Meygan Caston: (7:01 - 7:01)  Yes.   Casey Caston: (7:01 - 7:03)  Even though I'm impulsive in the moment.   Meygan Caston: (7:03 - 7:05)  And I cannot, I can't do that.   Casey Caston: (7:05 - 7:06)  You are Ms. Realist.   Meygan Caston: (7:06 - 7:08)  Just tell me today, tell me this week.   Casey Caston: (7:09 - 7:10)  I can't think about this fun sponge.   Meygan Caston: (7:11 - 7:11)  Yes. Yeah.   Casey Caston: (7:12 - 7:15)  Because I'm like, let's dream big. And she's like, yeah, but what's happening today?   Meygan Caston: (7:16 - 7:49)  Yeah. Yeah. Another great question is January 18th.   How can we romance each other during the day in anticipation of sex? Because as we all know, us ladies, we need the foreplay. But again, I think that husbands also enjoy the foreplay.   But I don't think that couples are having these conversations. I think they think a foreplay is, well, once we enter into the bedroom, you know, and what we like to say is it's anything positive is foreplay. So, a thoughtful text, you know, a flirty I'm going to grab your hand to empty out the dishwasher.   Casey Caston: (7:49 - 7:50)  Amen.   Meygan Caston: (7:50 - 7:55)  Yeah. You know, it's those kinds of conversations. But like, I would never think of asking you that.   Casey Caston: (7:56 - 7:56)  Right.   Meygan Caston: (7:56 - 7:58)  Right. Thankfully for those.   Casey Caston: (7:58 - 8:10)  But as you know, Laura, like couples that need to talk about their sex life. And if you don't talk about your sex life, most oftentimes there's a lot of assumptions. And that leads to, you know, dysfunction.   Meygan Caston: (8:11 - 9:14)  Well, and missed expectations. Totally. Yeah. And then I have another question. April 25th is how do our differences help complement each other?   Oh, so, kind of another one of those things, like with making decisions. Every single couple has differences. And we always tell people Casey, and I are more different than alike.   I think people see us online and whatnot. And they hear, oh, we're both extroverts. We are. So, we have some similarities. We're both stubborn, very competitive, both competitive. But in the day-to-day operations of who Casey and Meygan are, we make decisions, we run our lives, run our business, run our business.   We are completely opposite. And what I think it's good to do for couples is to actually own your differences rather than shy away from them or make yourselves feel bad, like, oh, I wish we were the same. I get it.   You know, we actually are attracted to those things when we're dating. That's why opposites attract. But then when we get married, it's like, why doesn't he do everything the same way? I do it because I do it the right way. That's what we think. Right.   Casey Caston: (9:15 - 9:21)  Well, you heard the joke that marriage is about becoming one. And in the earlier years, it's about which one.   Meygan Caston: (9:21 - 10:14)  Yeah. Which one? Which figure out?   Yeah. And so, that question really allows you to identify your differences, but then go, how do they balance each other out? And I think for me, as someone who is organized, type A Casey's very spontaneous.   If we were both type A and structured, we wouldn't have a lot of fun. We really wouldn't. His spontaneity really brings out that side of me.   But if we were both spontaneous, our bills would never be paid, and we'd be broke. So, you know, I'm a I'm a saver. He's a spender.   You can see the balance in that. It's good that we're both those things. Right.   I'm on time. He's late. We could continue going on and on and on and on.   But I think that he's a risk taker. I'm a complete play it safer. And so, those really draw out a beautiful balance in our marriage versus trying to change one another.   So, I hope that question sparks listeners to really ask your spouse that and have fun with the conversation.   Laura Dugger: (10:15 - 11:03)  Well, you chose three great ones. I love it. And they draw out such different parts of our personality.   You highlighted where Casey's more futuristic. Meygan, you're more present. Some people will connect with questions that direct them more past oriented.   And so, our orientation to time comes out and the meta conversations, the talking like having the conversation about your conversation. Just so much goodness. And yes, especially with sexual intimacy.   So, many couples report that it is much harder to engage in conversation about sex rather than just have sex. And like you said, missed expectations can be one of the blow ups there, among many other things. So, you have questions that don't shy away from all forms of intimacy.   Meygan Caston: (11:04 - 11:10)  Yeah. And to also say we have a lot of fun questions, too. Like, tell me about what your bedroom looked like when you were a teenager.   Casey Caston: (11:11 - 11:12)  That's a great one. I love that one.   Meygan Caston: (11:12 - 11:47)  Let's talk couples. If you had a really hard day with the kids or at work, pick a fun question. You don't have to go by the date.   If you don't like the question, it's triggering, then flip to the next one. But going back to that emotional intimacy and connection that you were talking about, Laura, is you have to have those deep questions and those conversations. And you did when you were dating, because if you went on a date with your husband and you were like, hey, tell me, you know, what do you want to do when you retire?   And he was like, I don't know. Yeah, you'd be like snooze fest. This guy's boring, right?   Or if he was on his phone the whole time, there was something intriguing about your spouse.   Casey Caston: (11:47 - 11:48)  I don't know. I don't know.   Meygan Caston: (11:48 - 12:01)  Yeah, there was something intriguing about your spouse when you were dating and you were asking those questions that should never stop. Just like we hear that quote, never stop dating your spouse. Well, never stop learning about your spouse.   It's the same thing. Absolutely.   Laura Dugger: (12:02 - 12:16)  And I love how you two have such a humble approach because you say that you're a very unlikely couple to help support marriages. So, will you let us in on your own backstory?   Meygan Caston: (12:17 - 12:46)  Yeah, well, can I just start off by saying this? We live in a county that has one of the highest divorce rates in the nation. So, it's 72 percent divorce rate where we live.   We also come from there's 12 marriages between our parents. So, we come from so much divorce and trauma. And then we also got married very, very, very young.   So, all those statistics were against us on top of that. I'm just going to start off by saying that. Casey Caston: (12:46 - 13:18)  Yeah, my mom's been married six times. So, when by the time I hit junior high, I had probably like nine different iterations of home life and different dads and step siblings and half brothers. And all of that between both of our parents.   There's just there's some mental illness. There's affairs. There's all this trauma that was really unprocessed.   But then when Meygan and I saw each other, it was like we knew the wounds that we shared. It was like almost like a trauma bond.   Meygan Caston: (13:19 - 13:19)  Yeah.   Casey Caston: (13:19 - 14:08)  Like, oh, I've got abandonment. So, do you. And, you know, let's do it's like, wow.   So, let's make each other happy. And dating was just all the fun stuff, right? It was long walks along the beach.   It was going to street fairs or, you know, going out and having fun. And then we're like, if this is what life could be like, then we should do this forever and ever and ever. And just, you know, we were so doe eyed of like and optimistic about how marriage life would look like.   So, then once we did get married, done, done, done, we had to like work through stuff. Now, I was so conflict avoidant because I was afraid if there was conflict, then that means that there's going to be distance between Meygan and I and she might leave me.   Meygan Caston: (14:08 - 14:24)  Oh, there's another there's another difference. I'm a fighter. He's a fighter.   So, anytime we would have conflict triggers, you know, emotional regulation, I was like, we're going to go for it. Now, of course, my fighting tactics were not healthy. I yelled. I blamed. I was very aggressive, assertive.   Casey Caston: (14:24 - 14:37)  Conflict was very scary for me. Now. Now, Meygan, she's like wanting to deal with issues. And here I am, like trying to run for the hills. And she's like, he doesn't care about me. And I'm like, I'm trying to protect the marriage by not dealing with it.   Meygan Caston: (14:37 - 14:49)  So, you never really resolved anything. We would fight really bad. We broke all the fighting rules.   And then there was no true resolve, no apologies, no remorse. And you just kind of move forward.   Casey Caston: (14:49 - 15:06)  And so, then we piled ourselves like we had over two hundred fifty thousand dollars of debt when we started to try to work on getting pregnant. We we dealt with infertility. We I have ADHD, so that creates a lot of that's fun.   A lot of fun for the marriage.   Meygan Caston: (15:06 - 15:08)  The divorce rate is very high with ADHD.   Casey Caston: (15:08 - 15:10)  My life gets to teach you patience.   Meygan Caston: (15:11 - 15:11)  Yeah.   Casey Caston: (15:12 - 16:44)  But and then we have a child with special needs as well. So, we we had like if there's something that could go wrong, it it went wrong. We had you know, once we got married, there was toxic in-laws that boundaries that were crossed.   So, it just nothing for us came easy. And so, that's why we were the least likely to succeed in marriage. I mean, if we there was a couple doomed from the get go, it was Meygan and I believe a hundred percent that God used those trials, those hardships to create marriage.   Three sixty five. He gave us the strength to, you know, have the courage to say we're not going to follow in our parents footsteps. We're going to change that.    You know, it ends with us literally like we are going to change and break this generational sin because it goes back many, many generations for both of us. Our whole family is littered with divorce. And now like when we approach marriage, it because of where we've come from, it wasn't all flowery.   It was really tough. We have to be practical and very tactical with our advice, because when you're sitting across from a couple that's angry and resentful. We have to sit there and go, we know what that's like.   And here's exactly what you need to do next. I'm not going to give you a platitude. I'm not going to give you some flowery statement or we're not going to just talk through it.    No, we're going to give you a tool and an action step that's going to help you. Laura Dugger: (16:46 - 18:56)  Let's take a quick break to hear a message from our sponsor. Friends, I'm excited to share with you today's sponsor, WinShape Marriage. Do you feel like you need a weekend away with your spouse and a chance to grow in your relationship together at the same time?    WinShape Marriage is a fantastic ministry that provides weekend marriage retreats to help couples grow closer together in every season and stage of life from premarital to parenting to the emptiness phase. There is an opportunity for you. WinShape Marriage is grounded on the belief that the strongest marriages are the ones that are nurtured, even when it seems things are going smoothly so that they're stronger if they do hit a bump along their marital journey.   These weekend retreats are hosted within the beautiful refuge of WinShape Retreat, perched in the mountains of Rome, Georgia, which is a short drive from Atlanta, Birmingham and Chattanooga. While you're there, you will be well fed, well nurtured and well cared for. During your time away in this beautiful place, you and your spouse will learn from expert speakers and explore topics related to intimacy, overcoming challenges, improving communication and more.   I've stayed on site at WinShape before, and I can attest to their generosity, food and content. You will be so grateful you went to find an experience that's right for you and your spouse. Head to their website, winshapemarriage.org/savvy. That's W-I-N-S-H-A-P-E marriage dot org slash S-A-V-V-Y. Thanks for your sponsorship.   I'd love to hear even more into the redemption part of it, because Marriage 365, you had shared before we had recorded that you launched that in 2013. So, just to get the timeline straight, had you already done some work and some counseling before you launched that?   Meygan Caston: (18:56 - 19:26)  Or what was that journey? Yeah, so, we always say we it took us two years to fall in love and get married. It took us three years to destroy our marriage, and it took about four or five years to repair our marriage.   It was, as you know, Laura, it is not a quick fix when your marriage is as bad as ours. And so, our story is unique in the sense where we were both not wanting to get help for our marriage. I love you, babe, but he was resistant.   He didn't want to go to therapy. His family didn't go to therapy. That wasn't normalized.   Casey Caston: (19:26 - 19:31)  Well, my faith background said that therapy is bad from the from the devil.   Meygan Caston: (19:31 - 19:38)  It was specifically your parents. But from the devil. Yeah, because I have a faith background, too. And my parents went to therapy. But that's what I was saying.   Casey Caston: (19:38 - 19:40)  My background was that you don't do that.   Meygan Caston: (19:40 - 21:16)  Yeah. So, I was wanting to get divorced and he wouldn't divorce me. He was like, no.   So, if you're going to do it, you got to do it. And so, I got help for myself. And I had the most amazing woman who a therapist who just walked me through basically how to save my marriage by myself.   And she goes, listen, you know, at the end of the day, if you want to make a better marriage, it starts by making a better you. You have zero control over Casey. You have 100 percent control over you.   He's not here. You are. I can show you how to communicate, how to forgive him even without getting an apology.   I can show you how to bring to his defenses down. I can show you how to create boundaries so he doesn't yell at you anymore. I mean, and that's literally for 13 months I worked on myself. And I believe that that is what genuinely changed everything. And that's really the message behind Marriage 365 is if you want to make a better marriage, it starts by making a better you. Stop waiting around for your husband or your wife to get on board.   They may never. Then you're only going to build resentment while you sit there and wait. At the end of the day, you're responsible for how you show up.   And so, in that 13 months, the hope was, of course, that I would positively influence Casey, which I did. And he saw the change in me. Everything changed.   I mean, like we both used to be yellers, right? We would both yell and scream. And I was like, I'm not going to yell anymore.   Like, I just I don't want to be a yeller of a mom. I don't want to be a yeller of a wife. Like, I don't like this part of me. My mom was a yeller. I mean, oh, yeah, I hate this. And I just remember like one day he came walking in and he was all heated and frustrated and he started yelling at me. And do you remember what I did, babe?   Casey Caston: (21:17 - 21:33)  Yeah. She looked at me and calmly said, you know, I can tell that you're very upset. I really want to have to listen to what you want to share with me.   Why don't you go outside, take a break, come back in? We're going to sit back on the couch. We can talk about it. I'm here for you. And I was like, what a change.   Meygan Caston: (21:33 - 22:07)  Who is this person? I changed the way that we did marriage. I did that.   And I tell people that I didn't do that once. I didn't do it twice. I did that for months because we had habits we had created.   But I was like, that was like a new boundary. I'm like, I'm not going to engage with him when he's angry. It's been triggered.   Nothing good is coming from this. So, it was all of that we started to really adopt and learn together because he's like, you're a different person. Like, it was obvious we were doing the tango.   And now I was doing the rumba and he was over there doing the tango. And I'm like, come join me in the healthy rumba over here because it's way better.   Casey Caston: (22:07 - 22:09)  And so, for toxic tango.   Meygan Caston: (22:09 - 23:20)  Yeah, we went to a marriage. Yeah, we went to a marriage intensive. And we did some therapy.   We did a lot of self-help. But through that journey, this is kind of where we started Marriage 365 is. First off, we couldn't afford therapy.   We needed to pay off all that debt that we had with a lot of student loan debt, a lot of stupid debt. What do you do if you can't afford therapy? What do you do if you don't have a good therapist?   What do you do if you have a bad experience with therapy? What do you do if the books aren't enough? And that was there was a really big hole and missing part in the marriage.   I don't say industry, but in the marriage space, where were all the online resources? Because this was back again in like 2010 when like podcasts weren't even around, social media was just becoming a thing. And it was really hard.   We were really disappointed with the lack of resources there were for marriage. And it felt like every church you go to, there was, you know, the missions ministry and the children's ministry and the youth groups. And all those are great.   Where in the world are all the marriage ministries? Then we found out only 3% of churches have actual paid marriage ministries. And I thought, that's messed up.   That's reverse. It's supposed to be the opposite, because then everything else will work itself out, as we know, with what research shows.   Casey Caston: (23:20 - 23:21)  Same with men's ministry, by the way.   Meygan Caston: (23:21 - 23:22)  Yes, same with men's ministry.   Casey Caston: (23:22 - 23:23)  Men's and marriage.   Meygan Caston: (23:23 - 23:26)  That's like the stepchild.   Casey Caston: (23:26 - 23:33)  Tech guy slash men's guy slash, you know. Children's persons can also do marriage.   Meygan Caston: (23:33 - 23:40)  So, we really just started helping our friends out. Obviously, people could see the change. Then people would come to us. We started helping couples at our church.   Casey Caston: (23:40 - 23:48)  And we had a ghoul pool. Like people were like, we give you guys another like ten months and then we're expecting you.   Meygan Caston: (23:48 - 23:51)  Yeah, everyone that knew us thought we'd get divorced.   Casey Caston: (23:51 - 23:52)  We were messy.   Meygan Caston: (23:52 - 23:58)  We were bad. Yeah. So, to see the complete transformation. And again, I go back to that work we did was on ourselves.   Casey Caston: (23:58 - 25:31)  And I just have to say that if you want to make a better marriage, it starts by making a better you. If you're hearing that. And you're kind of in a one sided marriage right now, I got to just say, I know that message sucks because it's a message that says you have to go first.   And that's not fair. In a marriage, you're supposed to be a team. But I do want to say there's so many couples that are stuck. Waiting for their spouse to join them on the let's get healthy train. So, their spouse doesn't join them. And then what they do is they kind of lean back, fold their arms and go, well, I guess we're stuck.   But I want to say that that's there is a message of empowerment to say you do have influence and the ability to steer your marriage in a healthy way. I have lots of regret that I did not join that train much sooner. But the story is that Meygan, you know, became the hero of our journey.   And that is something that I work actively so that I'm never in that place again, that I am the one that's always actively trying to improve myself, that I'm a better communicator, that I'm not a yeller, which we've ditched that a long time ago, that that I'm considered of Meygan's needs. And I'm even like attuned to like, what is she feeling? And how do I meet her where she's at?   Laura Dugger: (25:32 - 25:54)  Which is amazing that watching Meygan, it was compelling enough for you to join in. And it's admirable on both sides, the work that you've done. And are there any specific areas that you grew in that now you teach couples? I'm thinking specifically under conflict and repair or communication.   Casey Caston: (25:55 - 27:42)  Yeah. So, I remember those early years and every single week was chaos to chaos. Like coming home, it'd be like, what's for dinner?   I'm hungry and we need to make a decision now. Or, you know, it's Friday night or Saturday morning. What's going on this weekend?   Or where's all our money going? It was very, it was very reactionary. And I remember reading through Stephen Covey's, you know, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.   And the first habit is be proactive. You cannot be intentional with your life. You cannot create purpose and meaning unless you are proactive with your life.   So, Meygan and I, you know, I'm working in a company and every single week we get together and we go through what are everyone's goals? What do we need to accomplish this week? We find alignment and the week goes really well.   We've got KPIs. We've got all these like, hey, as a team, you know, work team, here's what we're trying to accomplish this week. And it just kind of dawned on us like, well, why don't we do that in marriage?   Why don't we do that for a family? You got a family of six. You got six people running around the house. All have agendas. And you are trying to find alignment so that, hey, this is what the family is all about this week, right? We've got tournaments.   We've got parties. We've got projects. We've got meals.   And I think for so many couples we talk to, they live. Life with purpose on like building their career or their business or purpose with other areas of their life. And then when it comes to family, they wing it.   Meygan Caston: (27:42 - 27:43)  They just wing it.   Casey Caston: (27:43 - 28:31)  Yeah. And it's like, well, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. It's the winging attitude creates chaos.   And so, Meygan and I love to teach this tool called the Weekly Marriage Business Meeting. And it is all of the logistics of our relationship schedules, meal plans, budgets, connection time, sexy time, alone time, self-care time. Yeah.   And and we kind of set with intention the week ahead for us. And we go through all the decisions of who's going, what, where, when. And all of that's done.   So, when you walk into the day, you're not like stressed about what's supposed to be happening. There is alignment and there's no missed expectations.   Meygan Caston: (28:31 - 29:27)  Yeah, there's no fights anymore about, well, you said you'd be home at six. No, I didn't. I said I'd be home at seven.   We sync our calendars. And I think, too, a big thing with this is we've noticed we fight when we don't do this now. It's one of those tools that it's prevented most of conflict.   I mean, we say it will on average for the most couples that use it. We have at least over 10,000 couples we know right now currently using it that are our members that they say it cuts conflict in half in half, because what you're doing is you're even scheduling that connection time or date night time where you're like, no matter how busy we are, when are Casey and Meygan going to get to be Casey and Meygan?   And that's so important, because again, if you're winging it and you're just trying to find time to connect, well, you've got four kids, we've got two teenagers. It's never going to happen. Right. And so, the weekly marriage business meeting is definitely one of the amazing and favorite worksheets and tools that we've taught and that we use ourselves because it works.   Casey Caston: (29:28 - 29:28)  Yeah.   Laura Dugger: (29:28 - 29:59)  What a game changer. That is awesome and so practical, so intentional, which we're all about. But then also we had talked about emotional intimacy earlier and emotional intimacy is interconnected with sexual intimacy and communication is the root issue.   And that's what you teach couples. So, what are some conversations that couples can begin so that they can grow in both of those types of intimacy and enjoyment?   Casey Caston: (30:01 - 31:34)  Yeah, so, I feel like I have to start off by saying I got this so wrong when we were first married. It's OK. I forgive you now.   Yeah, because, you know. Let's just let's be we'll be we'll be completely transparent. So, Meygan and I waited to have sex until we were married.   So, now I actually waited till I was married to have sex. And I thought that under that purity guideline, I was promised maybe by a youth group, maybe by a convention, that if you withhold sex and remain pure, God is going to bless you with the best sex life when you're married. And that just simply did not happen.   Like when we first got married, I really got went into the bedroom thinking. I don't know what foreplay is, but let's have intercourse until I come and then we're done. And that's sex. That's our sexual intimacy. And we missed out on so many intimate ways of knowing each other and sex being an obligation and something like I just was demanding of it from Meygan. And. What I've come to discover and what I love to teach other men is that sex is so much more broader than just having intercourse. I mean, there was this total understanding like, well, I feel good during intercourse. This feels very stimulating, which means that Meygan must feel the exact same way while we're having intercourse.   Meygan Caston: (31:35 - 31:35)  Nope.   Casey Caston: (31:36 - 32:35)  Because that's because listen, I never had sex before. But anytime I watched a rom com, you know, the guy threw up, you know, against the wall or they're having intercourse and she's going and he's going and they're having a great time. Like this must be what sex is all about.   And what I've discovered now and I get to teach other men is that emotional intimacy is kind of the birthplace of sexual expression of love, right? That we we create safe places for our wives to to open up. And because of that, they become more willing and wanting that that sexual expression rather than us just coming in and saying, OK, it's time for sex.   Let's go. And so, when we talk about just this book, this 365 Connecting Questions for Couples, I tell my guys, I'm like, hey, if you want to have great sex, start here because that is foreplay.   Meygan Caston: (32:35 - 33:48)  That's start here. It's good to know my heart, not just use me for my body, which can feel like that for a lot of people. And I think going back to the emotional intimacy, I think that, again, you had that when you were dating or you wouldn't have gotten married.   There was no way you were. If the person was boring, closed off, if, you know, your spouse was just completely on their phone every time, you wouldn't have had that second, third, fourth date. So, there was emotional intimacy at some point, which means you can't ever say we never had it.    You can always get it back, but you can have to be intentional. And I think a great way is we call it connection time. I think date night scares a lot of people.    I think it's the idea of. We have to go to a restaurant, we have to spend money, we have to find a babysitter, all these hurdles that you have to go through to make it happen, so then couples just don't even do it. So, we're like, listen, if you if that's overwhelming to you, then try connection time.    And really what that is, it's still undivided, you know, attention and time with you and your spouse. Maybe it's smaller, maybe it's 15 minutes, 30 minutes. And I know for when our kids were little, we played board games and card games and they'd go to bed, you know, at 7:30 or 8:00 PM.    And we would bring out Yahtzee.   Casey Caston: (33:48 - 33:51)  There'd be a lot of trash talking over chutes and ladders.   Meygan Caston: (33:52 - 34:29)  But we would play. We would play games. And it was our time to connect.    And when we didn't talk about the kids, you know, we just chatted about our day and again, going through some of these connecting questions that didn't even really exist yet, but they were in our heads. Taking a walk with the dog and, you know, going to a little local coffee shop, even if it's just 30 minutes and sharing and talking and exploring that emotional intimacy should never stop again. And that's going to give people opportunities to then go into the bedroom, like Casey mentioned, more willing and more excited to be intimate to each other because it's like, oh, that's right.    We like each other. We're still married. We're still friends.   Casey Caston: (34:29 - 35:15)  You bring up a great point. Like I said, I think sitting down over the table, staring at each other can be intimidating for a lot of guys, because especially if this is not a regular habit in your relationship and taking a walk for guys when we're doing something and maybe it's less intimidating because we're not even staring at each other. But that kind of like getting the, you know, oxytocin going, like getting moving, like that kind of adrenaline can actually stimulate guys for good conversations and processing things.    And so, what we hear from a lot of couples that take our book, maybe they'll take a picture of the question and they'll go, Hey, let's take a walk. And then they'll use the question on their walk.   Meygan Caston: (35:15 - 35:15)  Yeah.   Casey Caston: (35:15 - 35:24)  And that gets conversations going. So, if that's like a on ramp onto this, that's a that's a great starting point for a lot of people.   Laura Dugger: (35:24 - 36:48)  Oh, that's so good. And I love how you say just an on ramp, because the goal is more intimacy overall together to know one another, be known. And I love that you're showing this is not a manipulation factor.    This isn't ask these questions so we can be more active in the bedroom, regardless of whichever spouse is the higher desire one. But this is to really enhance all levels of your relationship. And as you talk about oxytocin, it just makes me think such an interesting cycle that the Lord created where I will speak more stereotypically that where women require the emotional connection and then they open up and enjoy sex more.    But then men, once they've had sex and they just have this like 500 percent increase of oxytocin in this neurochemical bath that opens them up emotionally. And we could see it even as we view our differences. You could be upset because they're opposite or we can see it as a gift that they can fuel one another.    And then we get more of a holistic picture of overall intimacy. So, I'll also link to quite a few episodes because we do about one per month where we dive deeper into sexual intimacy. S   o, I can link all of those in the show notes.    But Casey, were you going to say something?   Meygan Caston: (36:49 - 36:50)  I want to say something to it.   Casey Caston: (36:51 - 37:16)  He loves. Well, so, we're talking chicken and egg, right? Like who gets the emotional intimacy, who gets the physical intimacy first?    And I just think that there's if we approach our relationship with selfishness, well, then neither people get satisfied. But if we are in an approach to serve one another and be selfless lovers. So, men would be like, you know what?    I want to meet my wife's emotional needs.   Meygan Caston: (37:16 - 37:16)  Yeah.   Casey Caston: (37:17 - 37:38)  Like and I do believe that men are the spark of initiation. If you're a husband out there listening to this, like that one of your greatest gifts to marriage is initiation. You were the one who asked for the first date.    You were the one who got down one the knee. You are the spark of initiation. And I believe that God's created women as nurturers of that initiation.   Meygan Caston: (37:39 - 37:41)  And to clarify, you're not talking just about initiating sex.   Casey Caston: (37:41 - 37:43)  Well, yes. Just everything.   Meygan Caston: (37:43 - 37:55)  Initiating, just initiating, initiating a weekly marriage business meeting. Women are so turned on by when a husband's like, hey, I don't necessarily know what we want to do for a date night, but I want to take you on a date. Can I get an amen, Laura?   Laura Dugger: (37:55 - 37:56)  Right, sister?   Meygan Caston: (37:57 - 38:14)  Hey, women are turned on. Listen, men, women are turned on. If you say, you know what?    I know that like this has been an issue with my parents and I don't even know how to handle it, but I really want to have that conversation. Oh, my gosh. Just initiating the conversation is all we're looking for.    It's OK that you don't have all the answers.   Casey Caston: (38:14 - 38:14)  Yeah.   Meygan Caston: (38:14 - 38:23)  But for men that avoid stonewall, escape, numb out, busy themselves, it is such a turnoff. It is so not what we want.   Laura Dugger: (38:23 - 39:55)  I want to make sure that you're up to date with our latest news. We have a new website. You can visit theSavvySauce.com and see all of the latest updates. You may remember Francie Heinrichsen from episode 132, where we talked about pursuing our God given dreams. She is the amazing businesswoman who has carefully designed a brand-new website for Savvy Sauce Charities. And we are thrilled with the final product.    So, I hope you check it out there. You're going to find all of our podcasts now with show notes and transcriptions listed a scrapbook of various previous guests and an easy place to join our email list to receive monthly encouragement and questions to ask your loved ones so that you can have your own practical chats for intentional living. You will also be able to access our donation button or our mailing address for sending checks that are tax deductible so that you can support the work of Savvy Sauce Charities and help us continue to reach the nation with the good news of Jesus Christ.    So, make sure you visit theSavvySauce.com.    Okay, so, then continue the conversation with just overall intimacy. What are some examples of de-escalation techniques that you recommend to couples who are in conflict, ones that can maybe help the strained relationships so that they can be repaired?  Yeah.   Meygan Caston: (39:55 - 42:19)  Yeah. So, a big thing that I've learned as someone who's very direct, I can tend to be on that, like I mentioned, fighter side. And I know a lot of women, studies have shown 75 percent of us ladies are the ones that typically bring up the issues.    So, just be aware that there is a gender difference there. And if you're a dude, there's nothing wrong with you if you're in, you know, that 75 percent or 25 percent. But I think the biggest thing I've recognized is to remind your spouse in the very beginning of the conversation, why you're having the conversation.    You know, I love you. I love us. I want to see us be the best people that we can be.    I want to see us enjoy marriage and enjoy life. I love you. Like bring the positivity and the reminder that you're better together than apart.    And really, that's part of what we call a soft startup, right? There's a lot of different soft startups you've heard of. You know, I feel when you I need those work to but I like to take it a little bit deeper to say, remind your spouse how much that you love being married to them.    Or again, whatever the issue is like we have the most. Let's say it's parenting. Casey and I are very different in our parenting styles.    Last night would have been a great difference of how that happened. But like reminder that like we both love our children. We both want the best for our kids.    No one doubts that. We both have made we made two beautiful, wonderful, quirky children. Right.    And so, even you can start the conversation with that. But I wish that more people did that because I think people are are, you know, I'm really upset about something. OK, well, the second you say that defenses, sorry, but defenses are going to go up.    We want to keep the conversations defenses low, guards low, right, de-escalation. And so, use soft startups, use kind, positive language. But I think another thing behind that would be come to the conversation processed.    Do not have these conversations 11 o'clock at night when you're tired or when you're hungry. Do not have these conversations when it just happened and you haven't had the time to just like stop. Think about what do I really need?    Why did that trigger me? What am I hoping to achieve? Why is my husband acting this way?    Oh, is he under a lot of stress? Yeah, we got to give ourselves time to sit and process before we even use those soft startups. So, that would be my advice for de-escalation.   Casey Caston: (42:20 - 43:04)  And mine actually would be an apology. I think that we all make mistakes. And when you think about a couple that's maybe living reactively, just winging it, I doubt that there's ever an apology that's given on either side because it takes a little it takes awareness to recognize, gosh, you know what?    My that little comment I just made that probably had a little zing to it. Or, you know, I really let my spouse down by not parenting the children the way she would want me to. Or, you know, I said I was going to do something and I didn't.    And I let my partner down. You want to de-escalate a tense situation. Apologize.   Meygan Caston: (43:04 - 43:04)  Yeah. Own it.   Casey Caston: (43:05 - 43:12)  When you apologize, you know, you're taking all of the heat out of the fire. They really are.   Meygan Caston: (43:12 - 43:16)  And you're validating your spouse's feelings. Who doesn't want to be validated and seen? Everybody does.   Casey Caston: (43:16 - 43:38)  And then you're taking responsibility and accountability for your actions, which is the trust builder for relationships. So, that's why when you talk about high conflict relationships, there aren't a lot of there's not a lot of trust there. It's not a safe place anymore.    So, to create that safety, we want to we want to build trust back into the relationship.   Laura Dugger: (43:39 - 43:50)  Those are fantastic. And do you guys just have maybe a handful of ideas for ways that couples can strengthen their marriage with one another?   Meygan Caston: (43:51 - 44:09)  Absolutely. I would say, obviously, the weekly marriage business meeting. I mean, I know we talked about it, but the important thing is to schedule it, put it in the calendar because you don't want to wing it.    And that way it's showing, oh, you're prioritizing us. Taking walks has been a big one for us. Playing games is a big one.   Casey Caston: (44:09 - 45:18)  The 60 second blessing is where we intentionally spend time. 60 seconds reminding our partner of how much we love them, using our words to say, like, I saw how hard you work for the family. I love how you take care of the kids and kind of reminding your partner, like I see the goodness in each other.    I think it's really important because. Day to day life, we can just be very transactional, and if we again, we have any sort of criticism or, you know, our words just are not flavored with life, well, proverb says, you know, our words have the power to give life or to give death. Right.    So, the words that we speak, if we evaluate. Are we producing what I call weed seeds? Or are we planting fruit trees?    Because weed seeds choke out the garden. Those sharp, critical words can leave your garden looking pretty shabby, whereas being intentional by speaking positive over each other. It's like planting fruit trees.    And who doesn't like a good, juicy orange? Right.   Meygan Caston: (45:18 - 47:15)  Well, and the 60 second blessing, you know, you start off by writing five to seven positive things you love about your spouse. And so, one spouse shares their list for 60 seconds and then the second spouse shares their list. And it's this habit that we actually started doing after our marriage intensive that we did as we were repairing our marriage because we had yeah, we had we had spoken such mean and harsh words or just a lot of roommate stuff.    And we needed that positivity. And it's a great foreplay tip, by the way, just to sit, sometimes sit down and go, I just need to tell you how wonderful you are. Like, who doesn't want to hear that about themselves?    I think another thing that Casey and I have recognized it is the only thing, by the way, Laura, in our marriage, the only thing that has ever stayed consistent. That's we have fun together. We laugh a lot, even in hard times.    Yeah, it wasn't as enjoyable, but we still had fun. And, you know, again, fun is different for everybody. We don't ever want to judge someone else's fun.    But we are constantly like we we are sarcastic. But that's for us because we have high trust levels. I usually tell couples if you're, you know, in a fair recovery or you have low trust levels, sarcasm is probably not great.    But we're very playful. We have again, we play a lot of fun games and we play ping pong and cornhole and we take our dogs on our dog on a walk. And we, you know, we're going to try to go ax throwing in April.    We've never done that before. Like there are fun that we've taken dance lessons. So, we like to think out of the box and do new things or things that we know that like how many games of Yahtzee have we played?    I don't even know. I mean, we've lost count. Or gin rummy, you know, I mean, we just play Sequence or Rummikub like we play them all.    And for that for us, that's really fun. We dance a lot. We love the 90's music.    Like get out your favorite playlist and just dance and sing and be goofy. Like I think if couples were to laugh and enjoy each other more and be able to laugh with themselves, I think that there would be more marriages that would stay together. Laura Dugger: (47:16 - 47:39)  That is something that I've even experienced in this time together. You guys are so fun to be around. And that's very life giving to others.    But I can see where it starts in that secret place between just the two of you, your best friend. And you share a lot of this goodness with Marriage 365. So, can you let us know all the different things that you have to offer?   Casey Caston: (47:40 - 48:48)  Yeah, I would probably say the number one way that people experience all of the resources that we've created over the years is through our mobile app. So, we have an app that has over a thousand pieces of videos, workshop, worksheet, excuse me, courses, challenges. We even have a checkup so you can actually rate kind of your marriage.    And that is a great way for people to be able to have access, you know, on the spot if they're dealing with an issue, they don't know how to get through and they're looking for a tool or a conversation to help them work through that. That our app provides such a valuable resource. I mean, beyond that, you know, some couples need a little bit more hands on approach.    So, we do coaching. We have a coaching staff actually to handle all the incoming couples that are saying, hey, can you can you help us out? And again, I just want to say coaching is really, really focused on giving action plans and homework and accountability to our clients.    And coaching is really, really helpful if you're like, I just need to know what to do next.   Meygan Caston: (48:48 - 49:17)  Yeah. We do intensives for couples that are in crisis, you know, there that are seriously considering separation or divorce or an affair recovery and that we have an over 90 percent success rate because we went through an intensive when we were struggling and it was something we knew we wanted to get trained on and do. And it's a full two days with Casey and I.    I mean, two days back-to-back. We know you. We get Christmas cards from all of our couples, you know, every year.    We love it. And it's they become almost I mean, yes, they're our clients, but they almost become like our friends.   Casey Caston: (49:17 - 49:45)  Yeah. And then probably personally, one of my favorite things that we do is we host our own couple's getaway. And this is a four-day experience.    It's not your it's not like a typical retreat where you're sitting in a conference room, you're just getting lectured all day. We're actually facilitating tools and then giving couples opportunities to work on them. Then some free time to really spend some time making great memories.    We have a dance party. It is a ton of fun.   Meygan Caston: (49:45 - 49:55)  We make sure. Yeah, we make sure it's fun. It's more it's definitely more for couples who are doing OK or want to do better, not they're not ideal for couples in crisis because it's going to be very uncomfortable.   Casey Caston: (49:55 - 49:56)  I love our retreats.   Meygan Caston: (49:56 - 49:57)  I know.   Casey Caston: (49:57 - 49:58)  I love interacting with her.   Meygan Caston: (49:58 - 50:05)  And of course, we have our social media. You can just search Marriage 365 and then we have our website, too. And we have our books, of course.   Casey Caston: (50:05 - 50:09)  Oh, and I have a men's group. I know I launched a five-week men's reset. . Meygan Caston: (50:09 - 50:34)  Needless to say, Laura, we're really busy. I do a lot. I think that's what's funny, right?    I think that people see us online and they think that we just have an Instagram, or we just have Facebook. And I'm like, we've been doing this for 12 years and we have a staff of 12 people. So, we reach a lot of people.    And we because marriage is never a one stop, you know, one size fits all. It's it's true. There are so many different dynamics, and we want to be able to help as many people as we can.   Laura Dugger: (50:35 - 50:59)  Wow. Thank you for sharing that. We will add all of those links.    I love all these different offerings that you have and that will meet people in whatever phase they're in. But you two already know we are called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge. And so, as my final question for both of you, what is your Savvy Sauce?   Meygan Caston: (51:00 - 51:47)  Mine would be I would want every single person to think about becoming more confident. And that starts with becoming more self-aware. I think that that is completely changed who I am.   And I'm we're raising two kids, and I see the confidence that they have. And we're modeling that but also walking them through how to be self-aware. And really, that starts with having to be one with your thoughts, turning off the phone, sorry, turning off the podcast, sometimes turning off the music and just actually sitting and really going.    Do I really know my thoughts, my feelings, my values, my personality, my good, my bad, my ugly? And we don't do this enough. We are busy ourselves.    We're distracted constantly. And I think that it's really harming our mental health. And so, that would be my savvy sauce.   Casey Caston: (51:47 - 52:30)  Hmm. I love that, babe. It's kind of hard because we find so much alignment.    I mean, I would that's exactly what I would say, too. Um, I, you know, my focus in twenty, twenty-five has really been turned towards helping husbands. And there's a quote that Henry David Thoreau says that many men live lives of quiet desperation and they die with their songs still inside them.    And most guys are terrified of stopping and evaluating. And so, for me, creating space too. Listen, I do a 10, 10, 10 practice in the morning.   Meygan Caston: (52:30 - 52:32)  That's what I thought you were going to say.   Casey Caston: (52:32 - 52:32)  Yeah, yeah.   Meygan Caston: (52:32 - 52:36)  Well, I was like, I bet you he's going to talk about it because it's been life changing for you.   Casey Caston: (52:36 - 53:01)  Yeah. So, I spend 10 minutes of scripture reading. So, that's input.    Then I spend 10 minutes of quiet meditation where I'm sitting and I'm in a listening posture. And I mean, I think about everything from lasagna to the last wave I serve to. But there's intentionality about just opening myself like here I am.    I'm ready to be downloaded on like what you have for me today.   Meygan Caston: (53:01 - 53:02)  God be one with your thoughts.   Casey Caston: (53:03 - 53:18)  Yeah. And all sorts of things come up. And then I spent 10 minutes journaling.    And that process is just and that's like the output. Right. So, now I've got input.    I've been listening and now I get to write stuff out. And that's been a huge game changer for me.   Laura Dugger: (53:19 - 53:43)  Wow, I love both of those. You two are just refreshingly vulnerable and such an incredible mixture of intentional and lighthearted. And it has been so great just to sit under your teaching today.    So, thank you for sharing your story and for helping all of us. And thank you just for being my guests.   Meygan Caston: (53:43 - 53:45)  Oh, you're welcome. It was a pleasure to be here.   Casey Caston: (53:45 - 53:49)  Yes, you asked great questions that plumb the deep wells of Casey Meygan.   Laura Dugger: (53:52 - 57:35)  One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term gospel before?   It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there is absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death, and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved.   We need a savior. But God loved us so much, he made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him.   That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus.

Na estante desta semana, temos “Desobediência Civil”, de Henry David Thoreau; “O Cérebro Ideológico”, de Leor Zmigrod; “Os Costumes do País”, de Edith Wharton; e “Latim em Pó”, de Caetano Galindo.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daily QuoteThe surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. (Henry David Thoreau)Poem of the DaySleeping in the Forestby Mary OliverBeauty of Words鼎湖山听泉谢大光

In June 1853, Thoreau wrote of an enchanting encounter with the Wood Thrush: "This is the only bird whose note affects me like music. It lifts and exhilarates me. It is inspiring. It changes all hours to an eternal morning." Wood Thrushes thrive in large expanses of forest. And their numbers have declined as forests have been cut on their breeding grounds. Protected areas like Adirondack Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Ozark National Forest give them a chance to thrive.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible. 

Diesmal widmet sich Matussek dem Gebot der Stunde: Widerstand in ganz Europa gegen eine irre Politaristokratie, die in einer Mischung aus Hochmut und Stümperei das Land wirtschaftlich ruiniert und in einen Krieg mit Russland verwickeln möchte. Welche Formen des Widerstandes gibt es, wenn selbst die Kirchen mit der Macht paktieren? Reflexionen zu Ernst Jüngers „Waldgang“ und David Engels „Freiheit und Ideal“ mit zwölf Lebensbildern im Widerstand. Erinnerungen an Henry David Thoreau und seinen Großessay „Über die Pflicht zum Ungehorsam gegen den Staat“. Amerikas Gründungsmythos: ein einziger Akt des Ungehorsams. „No taxation without representation“, keine Steuern ohne parlamentarische Vertretung – ein Schlachtruf, den auch die deutschen Wähler anstimmen könnten, denn sie bekommen nicht das, was ihnen versprochen wurde, allem voran: Eindämmung der Immigration und sichere Innenstädte. Gibt es eine Gegenwehr des christlichen Europas gegen die islamische Invasion? Briefe. Musik, die nicht weiter stört, von der Steve Miller Band aus den 1970er-Jahren, „Fly Like an Eagle“.

Brad and Lesley break down the interview with Dr. Celeste Holbrook, a sex educator and author who helps people move beyond shame and create healthy intimacy. They explore how harmful cultural narratives impact women, why communication matters more than technique, and how to reclaim your sexual choices as your own.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co .And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How to make your own Pilates sandbag and what size cord works best.The impact of purity culture on women's sexual experiences.Why sex isn't static and how it evolves as you mature.The people-pleasing responses that block real connection.Dr. Celeste's four-part guide to heal any sexual challenges.The importance of prioritizing oneself and going at one's own pace.Episode References/Links:UK Mullet Tour - https://opc.me/ukP.O.T. Chicago 2025 - https://pilates.com/pilates-on-tour-chicagolandCambodia October 2025 Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.comWinter Tour Waitlist - https://opc.me/eventsHow to Make Your Own Pilates Sandbag - https://www.youtube.com/live/tn4yUcEQnnMSubmit your wins or questions - https://beitpod.com/questionsMissionary Position: A Slightly Irreverent Guide to Sex After Purity Culture by Dr. Celeste Holbrook - https://a.co/d/3UimUKxI Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris - https://a.co/d/38uINCkI Survived I Kissed Dating Goodbye Documentary - https://streamable.com/1ldz9cEpisode 202: Jake Kelfer - https://beitpod.com/jakekelferIf you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Brad Crowell 0:00  People who came from the culture that she did, which was like raised in a super, super strict religious home in purity culture, and so when she got married, she, for, like, it wasn't like, you can't just flip a switch, right? So she was like sex is bad, sex is bad, sex is bad, sex is bad. And then she gets married, and all of a sudden, sex is good. Lesley Logan 0:19  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 1:02  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the freeing convo I had with Dr. Celeste Holbrook in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that interview, feel free to pause this now and then listen to it, and then come back and join us here. I'm gonna tell you right now. We talked about sex, baby. So you're gonna wanna listen to it. I also have her book. I'm so excited about it. We talked about a lot of stuff it. We went all places. Yeah, we didn't really talk about positions or things like that. We just, like talked about the things that people don't talk about.Brad Crowell 1:36  Actually, you know what you talked about more than anything else, was communication.Lesley Logan 1:39  Yeah, oh, yeah, we did. Oh, and, you know, what's really interesting, her book is so timely at the time we're recording this in my fucking Instagram feed, some stupid man decided to talk about stinky coochies. Oh, yeah. And your coochie needs to be Christian if you don't want your husband to cheat on you. The fucking bullshit that people lie to women about. Lie, just bold face fucking lie. Brad Crowell 2:05  There's no such thing as a Christian coochie Go fuck yourself. That is insane. Lesley Logan 2:09  It also, also, also, I don't care what you believe, it is never your fucking fault if someone cheats on you, it's never your fault. It's always about them. There's something going on there. It's not your fault. Period.Brad Crowell 2:24  Yeah, I was incensed after watching that video. And there's a special place in hell for that pastor.Lesley Logan 2:30  Yeah, there really is. And then I just listened to an interview about some girls who were, like, raised in a purity culture, and I forgot, I had forgotten a lot of the shit that I was, like, told and now and then I read, I've been reading her book, and it's like, holy fuck. It's a wonder, it's a wonder women anywhere are having actual sex that's not painful. So anyways, go read her book. Go listen to that episode. We're gonna talk about some good stuff in a second. I promise. I promise. I do think that the world does get better at some point. I do. I do. I have to believe in that. Lesley Logan 3:00  Today is September 4th 2025 and it is National Wildlife Day. And on National Wildlife Day, hold on, I pulled up, oh. Brad Crowell 3:11  America marks National Wildlife day every year. Lesley Logan 3:14  No, no, no. Don't take this away from me. Brad Crowell 3:16  On September 4th. Lesley Logan 3:17  It's an opportunity for everyone to step back, take a deep breath and think about all that surrounds us. It is inspiring to consider preservation and conservation efforts that work to improve in the natural world, there remains so much to learn, as Henry David Thoreau once wrote, "In wildness is the preservation of the world." Okay, but we couldn't agree more, so let's take a closer look at this day. Yeah, go spend some time out in a preserve near you. We have a preserve near us. Brad Crowell 3:50  We do, it's really close. Lesley Logan 3:51  We actually have the wetlands. And then if we go up two hours, is a really cool preserve we can go camping at, people go fishing at, there's a fucking lake. Brad Crowell 3:58  There's one lake right here, like, a couple blocks from us. Lesley Logan 4:01  Oh, there is another preserve. Brad Crowell 4:02  Yeah, like, literally in the city, this preserve. Yeah.Lesley Logan 4:04  Yeah, yeah, yeah. So go find a preserve near you. You know, I know people like to get mad about the coyotes or the mountain lions that live there. They were there first, so take that in. And second, like it's, there's just something like, it's kind of cool that the way this wildlife that we live and go to a zoo. I mean, make sure it's a good one. But like, take it in, take in the wildlife. Because one, it's going away and. Brad Crowell 4:04  I think the zoo would be the opposite of wildlife.Lesley Logan 4:30  Okay, maybe. But I bet you, I bet you, some of them donate to wildlife. Maybe. Brad Crowell 4:35  I'm, you know. Lesley Logan 4:36  Go camping. Brad Crowell 4:36  They can be well intentioned. Lesley Logan 4:38  So what do you want them to do? Go camping? Brad Crowell 4:40  Yeah, go camping. Lesley Logan 4:41  This wasn't very clear. So I guess take a moment to consider how you're going to preserve the wildlife near you and conserve efforts, like your conservation efforts. You know, can you stop putting plastic straws near you know, water, like the ocean and things like that. The turtles are choking, you guys, so. Brad Crowell 5:02  Yeah, let's not choke any turtles. Lesley Logan 5:04  No, it's so sad, it' so sad. I can't watch those things. So anyway.Brad Crowell 5:07  Our neighbor has a tortoise. Lesley Logan 5:08  Yeah, Tortimer. Brad Crowell 5:09  Tortimer the tortoise, the tortoise, Tortimer the tortoise, and he's like, 15 or something.Lesley Logan 5:15  But he's not even a desert tortoise. He's an African, something tortoise but. Brad Crowell 5:19  Yeah, I can remember the name. Lesley Logan 5:20  Speaking of preservation out here in Vegas, So the desert tortoise is about to go extinct. There's actually we're having some huge problems with them, and have enough space for them, because they actually need flat desert land to crawl on. And then, of course, flat desert land is what everone wants to develop because. Lesley Logan 5:42  Was it extinct, or we're just destroying their habitat here? Lesley Logan 5:42  We're destroying their habitat here. Brad Crowell 5:43  Yeah, I'm not sure if this is their only environment. But, but, yeah, like the the Las Vegas Valley, you know, is expanding. They're expecting something like 400,000 people to move here in the next decade. And so they're, they're slapping together.Lesley Logan 5:53  The lack of rain is not deterring anyone so. Brad Crowell 5:55  Well, they're slapping together all these expansions all around the city in, you know. And basically, they're driving out the they're changing the desert landscape, which is driving away the turtles.Lesley Logan 6:03  And the desert tortoise can't live near the mountains because they don't climb rocks. They just walk on the flat desert. Also, also, I learned this fun fact, you like, they have, they have territories, right? Like, you can't have two male tortoises near each other, and they need to have a burrow during the hot part of the day, and if they don't know the area, you just can't pick up a tortoise and, like, move it to another part of the desert. They got to know where to burrow. So anyways, these are important things to know, and so if you live in an area that's got some wildlife, maybe take it upon yourself to find out what's going on, and your local city council meetings, and who's trying to develop those areas, and yell and scream because it's really cathartic, and you can save a wildlife animal near you. We are we've been recently yelling and screaming to keep Las Vegas loud, so downtown loud. So, you know, it's fun. It's fun to be part of things in the community, to, like, take care of other people. Okay, enough about this day. Lesley Logan 6:04  Coming up. Oh, like now we're actually. Brad Crowell 6:33  Yeah, we're literally en route. Lesley Logan 6:51  So we're in the U.K., by the way. Brad Crowell 6:57  We just we just landed. Lesley Logan 7:03  No, we've been here a day. We're in Scotland today. Yep, we are actually at the very top of Scotland. We're as far up as we can go. And because, that's because we're gonna take a little vacation, we're gonna see some interesting Scottish games, and then we're gonna drive all the way down to Essex, where we're teaching for two days The Movement Base. And there might be a couple spots left in the workshops, and then we're going up to Leeds to teach there on the weekend in September. So this is all happening in September, September 8th, 9th and 10th, and then 13th and 14th. Anyways, it's a Tuesday and Wednesday. Brad Crowell 7:33  I don't actually remember the specific dates, but a. Lesley Logan 7:36  And a Saturday and a Sunday and. Brad Crowell 7:38  Go to opc.me/uk for the specifics. Lesley Logan 7:41  Yeah, and don't miss out, because we're not coming back. Okay.Brad Crowell 7:46  Not anytime soon. Last time was two years ago, so yeah, you know, but yeah, we're never gonna be back. Lesley Logan 7:50  No, we'll come back. Then we're gonna go home for two days, and then we're going to go to Pilates on Tour in Chicagoland. Brad Crowell 7:56  Two days? Lesley Logan 7:57  Two weeks. Brad Crowell 7:58  Two weeks. Lesley Logan 7:59  Two weeks. Brad Crowell 7:59  Yeah, I was gonna say. Lesley Logan 7:59  Two weeks. Brad Crowell 7:59  Two weeks, we're home for two weeks. Lesley Logan 8:02  We're home for two weeks, and then we go to Chicagoland, no, just three weeks. Chicagoland. And the time that we're recording this, we heard it was 75% sold out. It's probably changed, but I think there's, I think the early bird ends next week, if there's any room, and then we'll be in Cambodia. And the time you're hearing this, you've got a month, you can still sign up, you can still buy a plane ticket, like there's still time,Brad Crowell 8:24  There's definitely still time. I'm still having conversations with people, and there's there's room, so.Lesley Logan 8:28  crowsnestretreats.comBrad Crowell 8:30  PS, if you have ever wanted to walk around with elephants, we go to an elephant sanctuary at the after the retreat is over, it's an extra curricular activity after that we love to do, and so we always stay an extra day. And we also go to a waterfall, which is super magical. And maybe that's the thing that you're just like, really that excited, you know, that's what you want to do. So I just want to throw those out there that you can join us for those, in addition to the retreat. Go to crowsnestretreats.com crowsnestretreats.com, and come join us.Lesley Logan 9:05  Yeah, and we're as we're, by the time we're recording this, we're also trying to lock in a day of teaching in Singapore. So my Singaporeans, hello, we are coming your way. And then we're gonna go see the botanical garden. So if you wanna walk around the gardens with us, you can. Then, December is our winter tour, and we're getting a ton of people asking us if we're going to Texas, and things like New York, and things like that. Yes, it's in the winter tour. So go to opc.me/events to get on the waitlist for that because if you're on the waitlist, you hear right away. And let me tell you, when we announce our tours, some cities literally sell out, especially on the winter tour. So because we've been doing the winter tour the longest, and people are really excited about it. So, opc.me/events. Okay.Brad Crowell 9:43  You're not wrong. Lesley Logan 9:44  Before we get into. I know, I know. We went to bed after announcing it. Woke up, two cities were sold out.Brad Crowell 9:50  Two cities were sold out in less than 24 hours last year, yeah. Lesley Logan 9:53  Okay, all right, Brad, we have an audience question to answer. Brad Crowell 9:56  Yes, we do. Lesley Logan 9:57  And actually, this is really for you. Brad Crowell 9:59  Oh would you like to read the question? Lesley Logan 10:06  Yes. Brad Crowell 10:06  Okay. Lesley Logan 10:02  @gp_pilates_studio, that's Greenpoint Pilate studio, hi, Allyn, on YouTube asks about How to Make Your Own Pilates Sandbag video. Hey, Brad, what is the diameter, the diameter of the rope and cord, the paracord that we use? What's the diameter of it? Brad Crowell 10:16  Okay. So this was on a video that we made, Lesley and I made called How to Make Your Own Pilates Sandbag, right? And if you're familiar with the sandbag, it's the bar, and then there's the cord, and then there's the weights, and you can twist it back and forth. And so we actually made one our own, and we showed you how to make your own. So if you're interested in that, it's on YouTube. Great question here, Allyn, gp_pilates_studio on YouTube. So, it doesn't matter really what the diameter is. You don't want, like, you know, an inch thick piece of rope that would be just annoying and bulky. But what I used was just like your typical, like, cheapo bought it at the hardware store, nylon cord, you know, I think it was like 10 bucks for 100 meters of it, or something like that, you know, and they wrap it around that little h looking thing, and you just spin it around it, and it's like, you know, I don't know, like, there was no real diameter. It's just the smallest thing.Lesley Logan 11:13  Okay, I found it. I found it. Three-eights of an inch.Brad Crowell 11:16  Yeah, but, but honestly, if you get a quarter of an inch, it's fine, you know, I wouldn't. I probably, like, at a half an inch or an inch thick rope, it would just be annoying because you're twisting it around this, you know, it would, it would become like a spool, and that's just silly. So smaller is fine. The reality is, it just needs to support, you know, a pound or two pounds of weight, you know, so we're not, we're not trying to lift a house here. We're just.Lesley Logan 11:39  I'm pretty sure it's a three-eights of an inch one that looks like what we got. And also it, because I remember, it fits like, right through, if you just drill a hole we didn't get anything fancy.Brad Crowell 11:40  Yeah and I just, yeah, I just took a, you know, a quarter inch drill bit right through the middle, and then I just threaded that through. So as long as you can get the rope through, it's fine. That's really, you know, that all that matters.Lesley Logan 12:00  Yeah, I love it. So you can all make your own sandbag. We did it for the Accessories Deck, which is now shipping worldwide.Brad Crowell 12:07  Yeah. We actually did. We showed you how to build three different pieces of equipment. One was the push up handles. One was the the two by four, and then finally, was this one, this Pilates sandbag. So, yeah, great question. Thanks for that. If you have a question, you can text us at 310-905-5534, or you can submit your question or your win to beitpod.com/questions beitpod.com/questions and we kind of need you to submit y'all so we have some wins to talk about on our Friday pod so let's go. Let's go right now. Pull out your phone, go to beitpod.com/questions beitpod.com/questions. All right, that's enough of that.Lesley Logan 12:50  You know how easy a win is. This is my new win. So, I have been trying to figure I love my I love my red light mask and neck. And when I got them, I was using them really regularly, and we got really busy and and I've everything else, all my other habits were really good, but that one is has just been hard to fit back in. And I saw the dermatologist, and he's like, yeah, my wife uses hers every night. And I said, oh, when? He was like, before bed, and you know, so she washes her face and she use them. I'm like, oh, I can do that. And so I have done it four nights in a row, right before bed. I just put them on my face and I lay there. And you know, what's crazy is, like, I actually am getting some really good, deep sleep, like I'm sleeping really well. And I think it's that there's a time before I fall asleep that I'm just laying there waiting to go to sleep. So that's a win. Brad Crowell 13:35  Like, it's on for like, 10 minutes. Lesley Logan 13:35  Yeah, it goes off on its own. So even if I fell asleep with them, like, I wouldn't want to do that, but I could fall asleep with them laying on my face, and like, you know, yeah. See how easy that was. I just came up with a win on the spot. Lesley Logan 13:41  That's a win on the spot. Lesley Logan 13:43  You can do it too. Brad Crowell 13:46  Yeah, yeah, I love it. Well, stick around. We'll be right back, because we're going to dig into this juicy conversation that we have with Dr. Celeste Holbrook, and also celebratory. It was really awesome. So we'll be right back. Brad Crowell 14:01  Okay, now let's talk about Dr. Celeste Holbrook. PhD, right? Yeah, she's no joke. Dr. Celeste Holbrook is a sex educator with a PhD in health behaviors and a post grad emphasis in sexual behaviors. She helps women and couples overcome challenges, heal from shame, and create better, more fulfilling sex lives. Her new book, Missionary Position: A Slightly Orreverent Guide to Sex After Purity Culture, tackles the complex interaction of sex, religion and personal freedom. Celeste is known for her practical, down to earth approach that makes conversations about sex accessible and empowering and honestly, not awkward. But she's just really good at making it just, it's just a conversation. It doesn't have to be the silly thing. Some, for some reason it's like, it feels like we revert to sixth grade whenever this this conversation comes out, and it's like everyone like, hee-hee-hees in the corner. It's so weird, and it's and you might not be doing it out loud, but you're kind of cringing a little on the inside. She just takes that whole thing away and, like, you know, I mean, it was, it was, she's very matter of fact, matter of factly talking about having dildos in her social media posts, you know, like, oh, okay, yeah, there's that. But, but yeah. I mean, she's, she's not being like, risque or weird about her the conversation. She's specifically serving people who came from the culture that she did, which was, like, raised in a super, super strict religious home in purity culture. And so when she, when she got married, she for, like, it wasn't like, you can't just flip a switch, right? So she was like, sex is bad, sex is bad, sex is bad, sex is bad. And then she gets married, and all of a sudden, sex is good. Like, that's not how it works in the body. And she had to tackle that. Lesley Logan 15:43  Yeah, definitely listen to her first interview on the show, because it actually goes into that if and, and I think it's really interesting. I think, like, even if you weren't raised in a super like, if you, if I, if I say purity culture, and you don't think automatically. Brad Crowell 15:55  That doesn't mean anything to you, right. Lesley Logan 15:55  And you never had a ring on your finger that was turned one different way, and you were, like, betrothed to your father until, until someone's picked for you. Laugh. Had that ring, guys. Brad Crowell 16:07  Not laugh. It's like a, it's like a sardonic shudder. Lesley Logan 16:11  Oh, I know. Because, like, we thought that was normal. Brad Crowell 16:13  Totally thought it was normal. Lesley Logan 16:15  Did you read the book I Kissed Dating Goodbye? Brad Crowell 16:16  Yeah. Oh yeah. Josh, Josh something, right? Lesley Logan 16:17  Yeah. I think he's come out and said everything I taught was wrong. I'm almost positive one of the guys.Lesley Logan 16:19  He got a follow up book and then I think he got, like, ostracized from the churches. Lesley Logan 16:26  Yeah, one, one of the, one of the purity culture dudes, and I think it's kiss dating guy, goodbye guy has come out and said his book was extremely harmful, and he doesn't believe that anymore. Brad Crowell 16:36  Joshua Harris. Lesley Logan 16:37  Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, so thank you, Josh for doing that. But like, for the women who are listening, if you have friends in your life, if you weren't raised like this, who literally were told that like that is the worst thing they could do is to as to at all make a man lust. If you did anything that can make a man lust, you were causing him to go to hell. So you are, like, doing everything you can to, like, not be, not be attractive, and not be feminine, and then you get married, and you're supposed to just be sexy and have sex and, like, make babies. And, you know, Dr. Celeste and many women, they actually go through this painful experience with sex. And maybe you don't have that, but also you don't actually know, and she talks a lot about communication. How do you want to feel like you were never taught that sex could be something that you could enjoy? A lot of women are taught, not taught that you can enjoy sex. Brad Crowell 17:23  I just went down the rabbit hole. He, 20 years after writing the book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Joshua Harris left the church he was pastoring, divorced his wife and made a document, a documentary about the repercussions of the book. Oh, I want to watch the documentary. It's called, I Survived I Kissed Dating Goodbye. Lesley Logan 17:47  Okay, well, we're watching that. That's tonight's show. The it's an eye and it's really interesting, because, like, I had a very interesting childhood where I there was definitely purity culture at the church, at the church camps I went to. My parents tried to do these things, and then also my parents would kick us out of the house so they could have sex. So, like, sex was a conversation that they had. My grandparents would talk about how they had sex a lot. So, like, I It's not like I I lived I knew that married couples had sex, right, so, but it's just the reason that I bring this up is I actually think a lot of women, whoa, you good? Brad Crowell 18:10  Sorry, I found it. Somebody pulled it off of YouTube. He doesn't have the rights to it, and so it was on YouTube for years. I'm still down the rabbit hole, y'all. This is (inaudible) online. I went to his own website, and I found a post, a blog post, from May, so two months ago, saying, I don't know why they pulled it off of YouTube. It used to be here. Here's a link to it. That was on a pirated website. I don't know how long it's going to be available, but you can still watch it. So, very interesting.Lesley Logan 18:54  Love him. Okay, we do need to get back to Dr. Celeste. Brad Crowell 18:54  Sorry, I'm focused. I'm in. Okay. Lesley Logan 18:57  So I, I just, I'm really obsessed with what Dr. Celeste is doing, because I just know too many women who, whether or not you had a ring and you're were married to, like, dating your dad, until you were dating someone else, you were not offered the opportunity to understand that you could feel good during sex. Like, that's just very few people. Some, some people had brilliant mothers who were like hippies and like, told about that that is not, that is not most of my friends' experience. So, so one of the things, so, get her book, okay, you'll get her book. So she said American society tends to view sex in binary extremes, but it's rather a more nuanced middle ground. And we've seen this. You can see this in social media today. Like, people don't think that sex and gender are two different things. They are. Like, so, like what you're what you're attracted to, and like the gender. All these there's there's differences, and it's not so black and white, and everyone wants to make it like this is how it is, where sex is often placed on either end of the spectrum, either don't think about it or don't talk about it until a certain age or a marriage. And then that makes it really difficult. Because you know, most of the things, like, when you're a little kid, everyone asks, like, what do you want to be when you grow up? So you have your whole life to change your mind. You're like, I'm gonna be a judge. I'll be this. And you get to, like, explore and take classes and to do that. And when you're in this country, most people, like, don't do sex, don't have sex, don't get pregnant. And girls are also taught it's your fault if you get pregnant and there's something wrong, like you did something wrong. Yeah, if you get pregnant.Brad Crowell 20:22  Well, your shoulder straps were too skinny, that's why you're pregnant. Lesley Logan 20:26  Yeah. And then all of a sudden, you're married. So now you should know, you should know how to do sex. You should know what, what to do, but no one let you talk about it. No one like, it's just a whole mess. It's a mess. It's a mess. So anyways, I really like, that's why she wrote her book. But she also explained, we are not binary people, as far as what we want to do in our sex life. And she said, like, she advocates living in the glittery middle, like, just like, you know, like, it doesn't have to, like, just because you liked it one way, at some point is like, another way. Brad Crowell 20:54  So, just so that, like, we like, when we say binary, I think what she's what she's saying there is, it's okay for sex to change over time. Because the conversation you were having is like, you know, sex is, is different at different stages of life, right? When you're, you know, in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 70s, like, it changes, right? And so that's I, you know, I think that makes, that makes sense.Lesley Logan 21:21  And she so, she advocates for that glittery middle and, like, also, you know, exploring and, and it's, I think what's interesting is, like, she is so open to, like, helping you figure out what you want. And I have some amazing, interesting friends in this world. I have one friend who, like, has a partner who's a sexual, has a partner that she dates, but they date someone else, and then she prefers to have one other one. And I'm like, like, the 12 year old me is like, oh my god, what the fuck are you doing? Like, that's so weird. And then, like, the person who's like, gone through some work, done a lot of reading, I'm like, that is very fascinating. I don't like looking at my calendar that much, and that sounds like way too many. Brad Crowell 22:03  It's a lot of scheduling. Lesley Logan 22:04  A lot of scheduling. It's also a lot of testing, it's a lot of things. But she looked at me and she's, like, 10 years? Like, are you bored? So like, you know, it's really funny how we all have a different thing and she and Dr. Celeste is just like, advocating for, like, live in your glittery middle, understand that you're what you're gonna want out of your sex life is gonna change, and that's okay, and that's there's nothing wrong with you as it changes. Like, just explore that. And so she basically said you could decide what is best for you, and that right there is like the opposite of what purity culture and dickhead people in this country want you to think. They don't want you to think it's what's best for you. They want you to think it's what's best for the dick headed man they think you should be married to. Anyways.Lesley Logan 22:05  Tell me more about how you feel. Lesley Logan 22:12  Fucking Christian coochie. That's never gonna leave my mind. Lesley Logan 22:36  Yeah. Like, what a woman hater. Gross.Lesley Logan 22:58  That's the interesting thing. Like, I think a lot of, I think a lot of people in that world just don't like women. But it's, anyways.Brad Crowell 23:05  Yeah. Well, I mean, I was gonna say as a comment to that, you know, how do you get to the point, like, the reason I made the comment at the beginning was that it was mostly about communication. Is because, if you have been with someone for a long time, what does it look like to have that conversation of, like, things are changing and shifting in your sex life, you know? How is that? What does that mean? And, like, you know, I'm not talking about like, like, promiscuity. It could be that, you know, but, but, but maybe it's just simple things like, hey, you know what? Like, I want to make it I want to change it up, you know. Like, let's change it up today, you know, whatever, and but the communication is where I think it gets awkward, and hopefully, you know, with your partner, you have the the type of relationship where you can just simply have a conversation about it. Lesley Logan 23:55  Also, I really, am I gonna take away your takeaway talking points? I really loved how she talked about the funny, like the faking the orgasm, is that in your section?Brad Crowell 24:05  My section, no, I was talking about how things changed over time. In fact, I even jumped ahead to it without realizing it myself. Fawning is really interesting, if you're not familiar with the definition. What is fawning?Lesley Logan 24:16  So essentially, like, there's flight, fright, fight, right? And I used to, when I studied biology, it was like, and fuck, like, some people, well, that's like, it's all part of the same part of your brain system. So that's kind of funny, but fawn is like, this, like, people-pleasing, or you've seen it in movies where the guy gets really mad and he hits her, and then she's like, oh, it's okay. Actually, that was my fault. I tripped into you. Like, they do this whole, you know, like, you're okay, everything's like, and acting like, really small and toss out like a little lamb, and then that makes a person, usually a man, like, calm down. Everything's fine. She talked about faking orgasms as a fawning response, as a people-pleasing response, and we talked, oh my, you guys have to listen to this, because she talked about, like, she believes in being honest, but also being kind. And we taught and like. Brad Crowell 25:03  She said there was a difference between honesty and full transparency. She said she doesn't believe in full transparency, but she does believe in honesty, and she said people can use full transparency as honesty and be cutting and hurtful, right? Lesley Logan 25:20  Because, like, because she also has, and this is an interesting thing. If you have been faking orgasms in your entire marriage, it's you can't always just blame your partner, because you never told them what it would take to please you, and so they're just doing what you have responded to in the past, you know? So it's a and I thought was really fascinating. So it's like, yes, be honest, like, hey, I would like to try something different that's no longer working for me. And so then it's not something that you're rejecting the other person or making them feel like shit, and you're also able to then start articulating what you want. And it does take practice. You're right. It's all about communication. It's such you guys have to go listen. If you have, you gotta listen, go, listen. Brad Crowell 26:00  Yeah. And just to wrap that up there, you know, as things change over time, she said, hey, we mature as humans. Why wouldn't our sex life mature too? And it's important to allow our sex life to mature as we mature. It's the most helpful thing that we can do for ourselves. So, you know, I just thought it was really a topic that nobody ever talks about that's really helpful. So, yeah, there's a lot of room to allow ourselves compassion to grow as we grow, right? And then, you know, and that's like.Lesley Logan 26:30  Oh, you guys, I mean, when you get older, when you get older, like, your bones get brittle. So, like, there's going to be some positions that neither person, no matter what your gender is and who you want to have sex with, can do, like, you're gonna have to start doing sideways sex, because, like, you could fucking break your pelvis or a hip. So, like, just start getting.Brad Crowell 26:49  You could break it while fucking is what you meant to say. Lesley Logan 26:52  Yeah, that too. But anyway, so just like, if, if this is a conversation that you are, like, already going, I don't know if I can have this. Read her book, follow her, because the more I do, the more I might able to go, oh, what an interesting thing that I haven't been able to articulate that was really helpful. Thanks so much, you know. So anyways.Brad Crowell 27:13  Yeah, well stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna dig into those Be It Action Items that we have with Dr. Celeste Holbrook. Brad Crowell 27:20  All right. So finally, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Dr. Celeste Holbrook? She said, hey, I've got a four-part guide, and you should use it. And she maps it out in detail in her book, but high level, it's the analyst, the assassin, the healer and the explorer. And I thought, this is kind of cool. And she said, she said, it's like the archetypal woman. So the analyst helps you understand, what are we actually carrying around? Is the are these mental bags full of shame, full of neglect, full of fear, right? And then the assassin is taking what the analyst has found. So this is like a progression, right? So it's not just like you're only stuck in one it seems like this is a progression. So the assassin then is taking what the analyst has found and is just slicing through it, like deconstructing, you know, the, in her case, she's specifically talking about purity culture, and, like, all the baggage that we're saddled with from that kind of a thing. And then after the assassin is the healer who facilitates, like, she helping regenerate ideas about sex through, like, education.Lesley Logan 28:34  Yeah, right. Re-education.Brad Crowell 28:36  Yeah, gentle re-education about what is sex and what's okay. And, you know, like, why do we have this guilt around sex and, like, what, like, why does that even like, there's just a lot of history that blows my mind. Finally, we have the explorer, like, you know where you've kind of, after you've gone through some healing, you're now, like, feeling more confident, more willingness to, you know, be like, explore having sex, right? And you know that could be with your partner, with yourself, or whatever, you know. So, yeah, it's an interesting, like, progression out of.Lesley Logan 29:11  I think it's a cool idea of a process, because it it if you think, oh, my god, I have to figure all this out, or you might hear about the explorer part and be like, what the I you can't even wrap your head around that. It's because you got to go through the process. Brad Crowell 29:23  Yeah, and I think it's great, because it really sets her up. Like, you know, she's she, she jokingly said a lot of my conversations are pretty boring, like, what? Because she's got clients, one-on-one, clients and, and it's not, they're not like, crazy, like, it's, it's not, it's not, like, telling, not story time. She's actually, you know, helping people go through the process that she created here. So it depends on what's, you know, part of the flow that you're in, you know, might just simply be analysis for a while, you know, and coming to terms with it. And then it won't be until you've come to terms with that you can move on to the next phase. And but what's great is that she has a process. And I think that's really cool. Lesley Logan 30:01  Yeah, she also has a couple other things for you, which is something you can repeat. She said to, free to repeat, I prioritize myself by allowing myself to go at my own pace. I prioritize myself by allowing myself to go at my own pace. I think that is so important, no matter what the topic is, no matter what you're trying to be it till you see, like, if you got nothing out of this episode but that affirmation, great. And she also, we've talked about her being like a slow reader and like her writing and all that stuff. And she, she really learned to prioritize herself and appreciate being considerate and slow and thoughtful. Like, that's actually her prioritizing herself by her, not quite I'm a slow reader, but instead going, I am a slow reader, so I am going to be considerate and slow and thoughtful. That's how I do things. Brad Crowell 30:47  Yeah and give myself the time and space to do that. Lesley Logan 30:49  I thought that was so cool. Like, what a, what an amazing way to prioritize yourself is to, like, do the things the way you you need to do them. Brad Crowell 31:00  Yeah and that's like, you know, across any element of life, it's not just, you know, around sex, so I think that's great.Lesley Logan 31:06  And then finally, she said, and this is for your sexual life, she said, where the goal for sexual choice is to be your decision, and not one manipulated by society or cultural values or religious values, and I think that is so important, because even if you aren't someone who is religious, but maybe your culture had a different kind of pressure, or a different way of seeing your body, or maybe you feel a different way with society. Your sexual life is your and choices are your decision, and not wanting to be manipulated by anybody else. So I think that's so important. I just fucking love her. I wish she lived closer. I want to have coffee with her all the time. Brad Crowell 31:43  Yeah, she was a lot of fun to listen to. And also her story about how her book came to be, what a roller coaster. That was, how cool that, you know, that you were a part of it. I think that's pretty neat. Lesley Logan 31:53  Honestly, honestly, like, this is like, you know, like, everything happens for a reason, like how we interviewed him two years ago. Jake. And I forget how Jake got to me. I actually. Brad Crowell 32:05  I think he was connected through. Lesley Logan 32:07  Somebody told no, no, no, no, no, no, no. He's a Christian. Lori Harder friend, person, so somebody sent Jake to me. And then. Brad Crowell 32:16  Jake Kelfer. Lesley Logan 32:17  Yeah, and then, and then I watch Celeste stuff, but sometimes she ends up not in my feed because of algorithms. And that day, I just happened to not only watch, but like, actually turn, like, read the whole thing. And I was like, what's going on? I tap through. I watched every story, and I was and I was just like, call me, I got, so but, like, it's just like.Brad Crowell 32:36  Jake. Jake was interviewed on episode 202. Lesley Logan 32:38  But this is how you, you can't this is something for me too, we can't worry, oh my god, what if I missed out on this? Because, like I had I was meant to watch her stories on that day, like I was meant to, because it could have been so easy for me to not pick up my phone that day and not watch them. There was a reason why I opened my phone up and I watched her stories. I do not watch that many people's stories, and it was because I was supposed to see them and introduce her to Jake. That was my whole goal. That was, like, the universe working for her. Universe was like, okay, Celeste, we're going to make sure Lesley sees it, because Lesley knows Jake, and you need to know Jake. Boom, it's done. And, like, she had to write the book. I love it. I love it. I love you, Dr. Celeste Holbrook, I love the book. You guys, go get it. I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 33:22  And I'm Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 33:23  Thank you so much for being you. Now. Go share this with a friend who needs to hear it, and go get her book. And go leave us a review, because we really appreciate that. And go be it till you see it.Brad Crowell 33:34  Yeah. And just one last time. Her book is called Missionary Position: A Slightly Irreverent Guide to Sex After Purity Culture. Lesley Logan 33:41  I love it so much. I love it so much. Brad Crowell 33:44  Bye for now.Lesley Logan 33:46  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 34:28  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 34:33  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 34:38  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 34:44  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 34:48  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

durée : 00:58:15 - Le Book Club - par : Marie Richeux - Les arbres occupent une place centrale dans la pensée du philosophe américain Henry David Thoreau, qui vécut une partie de sa vie dans les bois. La parution d'extraits de ses journaux est l'occasion d'évoquer son œuvre en compagnie du traducteur Thierry Gillyboeuf et la philosophe Pauline Nadrigny - réalisation : Vivien Demeyère - invités : Thierry Gillyboeuf Écrivain et traducteur; Pauline Nadrigny Philosophe, spécialisée en esthétique et maître de conférences à l'université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

Send us a textWhat if the laws that govern our societies didn't originate on Earth? The foundations of modern civilization rest upon statutes that date to 1754 B.C. in ancient Babylon. The Code of Hammurabi—possibly the oldest discovered legal decree— bears striking similarities to Biblical passages that would emerge centuries later.Unearthed in Iran 1901 and now housed in the Louvre in Paris, the Code of Hammurabi was inscribed on a basalt stele that depicts the Babylonian god Utu-Shamash bestowing laws upon King Hammurabi—a scene remarkably similar to Moses receiving the Ten Commandments. This ancient legal framework contains 282 laws covering everything from trade and marriage to theft and labor practices, establishing the principle of proportional justice we still use today. When compared with Levitical/Talmudic law and its 613 precepts, the structural similarities suggest a possible common origin.The Biblical record itself contains fascinating clues pointing to extraterrestrial involvement. Deuteronomy 32:8-9 describes how El Elyon (the Most High) divided nations among his sons, with Israel assigned to Yahweh—hinting at a pantheon of powerful beings rather than a single deity. Ancient Sumerian texts describe humans as "mixed ones," suggesting our genome contains elements from the Anunnaki, advanced beings who allegedly combined their DNA with primitive hominids. This genetic intervention might explain why humans alone among Earth's species have developed complex legal systems—perhaps we inherited this tendency from our cosmic progenitors.Without laws, our primal nature would likely lead to chaos. As Henry David Thoreau observed, "the savage in man is never quite eradicated." The legal frameworks established by ancient civilizations—whether inspired by gods or aliens—continue to serve as the cornerstone of human progress. "Space Journey" by Geoff HarveyCopyright © 2021 Melody Loops LPFull License Royalty-Free Music https://www.melodyloops.com Support the showVisit our website

What can a lifetime of storytelling teach us about unity, socialchange, and spiritual growth? In this week's The No BS Spiritual Book Club, Sandie Sedgbeer talks with Robert Atkinson—developmental psychologist, storyteller, and author—about the mentors, books, and experiences that shaped his personal and professional journey. He reflects on the influence of Joseph Campbell, Pete Seeger, Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, and Kahlil Gibran, along with his own commitment to life story interviewing, authenticity, and unity consciousness. Through stories of mentorship, transformative books, and his own work in social change, Robert reveals how storytelling can be a bridge between personal growth and collective evolution. **Guest:** Robert AtkinsonWebsite: https://www.robertatkinson.net/

Ever feel like your mind is constantly buzzing with notifications, social media, and endless to-do lists—yet you're not actually moving your life forward?     Over 170 years ago, Henry David Thoreau warned about the dangers of constant busyness and distraction in his classic book Walden—wisdom that feels even more relevant in today's always-connected world.     On today's episode, I'm sharing 5 practical strategies to help you overcome mental overload, reclaim your focus, spark creativity, and restore peace of mind.     So if you feel like you are suffering from mental "brain rot" join me on Cabral Concept 3475 to learn how to unplug, reset your mind, and make space for the life you truly want.     Enjoy the show, and let me know your thoughts!   - - - For Everything Mentioned In Today's Show: StephenCabral.com/3475 - - - Get a FREE Copy of Dr. Cabral's Book: The Rain Barrel Effect - - - Join the Community & Get Your Questions Answered: CabralSupportGroup.com - - - Dr. Cabral's Most Popular At-Home Lab Tests: > Complete Minerals & Metals Test (Test for mineral imbalances & heavy metal toxicity) - - - > Complete Candida, Metabolic & Vitamins Test (Test for 75 biomarkers including yeast & bacterial gut overgrowth, as well as vitamin levels) - - - > Complete Stress, Mood & Metabolism Test (Discover your complete thyroid, adrenal, hormone, vitamin D & insulin levels) - - - > Complete Food Sensitivity Test (Find out your hidden food sensitivities) - - - > Complete Omega-3 & Inflammation Test (Discover your levels of inflammation related to your omega-6 to omega-3 levels) - - - Get Your Question Answered On An Upcoming HouseCall: StephenCabral.com/askcabral - - - Would You Take 30 Seconds To Rate & Review The Cabral Concept? The best way to help me spread our mission of true natural health is to pass on the good word, and I read and appreciate every review!  

Daily QuoteI always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter. (Walt Disney)Poem of the DayI saw thee weepGeorge Gordon ByronBeauty of WordsThe Battle of the Red and the Black AntsHenry David Thoreau

A centuries-old conspiracy regarding Soothsayers' Oaks in the Bible, plus a walk in the woods with good old Henry David Thoreau. Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's August 13th. This day in 1846, Henry David Thoreau is thrown in jail -- for one night -- for refusing to pay his back taxes.Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why Thoreau objected to the poll tax, and how his political stances intersected with the more personal work that emerged from his two years living on Walden Pond.Don't forget to sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical tidbits.https://thisdaypod.substack.com/Find out more about the show at thisdaypod.comThis Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories.If you want to support the show directly, you can do so on our website: ThisDayPod.comGet in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypodOur team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Ever feel like your mind is constantly buzzing with notifications, social media, and endless to-do lists—yet you're not actually moving your life forward?     Over 170 years ago, Henry David Thoreau warned about the dangers of constant busyness and distraction in his classic book Walden—wisdom that feels even more relevant in today's always-connected world.     On today's episode, I'm sharing 5 practical strategies to help you overcome mental overload, reclaim your focus, spark creativity, and restore peace of mind.     So if you feel like you are suffering from mental "brain rot" join me on Cabral Concept 3475 to learn how to unplug, reset your mind, and make space for the life you truly want.     Enjoy the show, and let me know your thoughts!   - - - For Everything Mentioned In Today's Show: StephenCabral.com/3475 - - - Get a FREE Copy of Dr. Cabral's Book: The Rain Barrel Effect - - - Join the Community & Get Your Questions Answered: CabralSupportGroup.com - - - Dr. Cabral's Most Popular At-Home Lab Tests: > Complete Minerals & Metals Test (Test for mineral imbalances & heavy metal toxicity) - - - > Complete Candida, Metabolic & Vitamins Test (Test for 75 biomarkers including yeast & bacterial gut overgrowth, as well as vitamin levels) - - - > Complete Stress, Mood & Metabolism Test (Discover your complete thyroid, adrenal, hormone, vitamin D & insulin levels) - - - > Complete Food Sensitivity Test (Find out your hidden food sensitivities) - - - > Complete Omega-3 & Inflammation Test (Discover your levels of inflammation related to your omega-6 to omega-3 levels) - - - Get Your Question Answered On An Upcoming HouseCall: StephenCabral.com/askcabral - - - Would You Take 30 Seconds To Rate & Review The Cabral Concept? The best way to help me spread our mission of true natural health is to pass on the good word, and I read and appreciate every review!  

“If we can listen we shall hear.” Henry David Thoreau, January 26, 1841

Daily QuoteFor both excessive and deficient exercise ruin bodily strength, and, similarly, too much or too little eating or drinking ruins health, whereas only moderation can produce, increase, and maintain physical strength and health. (Aristotle)Poem of the DayAutumn RefrainWallace StevensBeauty of WordsThe WaldenHenry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau's Walden was written in 1854 but has lessons for life in the 21st century. In her new book Finding Your Walden, Charlotte author Jen McGivney explores how the ideas in Walden can help people navigate modern life—from career crossroads to everyday overwhelm—with more clarity and intention.

Daily QuoteBelieve nothing you hear, and only one half that you see. (Edgar Allan Poe)Poem of the DayResults and RosesEdgar Albert GuestBeauty of WordsThe Bean-fieldHenry David Thoreau

Daily QuoteThe beauty or ugliness of a character lay not only in its achievements, but in its aims and impulses. (Thomas Hardy)Poem of the Day渔家·卖得鲜鱼二百钱郑燮Beauty of WordsThe Bean-fieldHenry David Thoreau

Why do we resist turning inward — and what does it cost us? In this spirited episode of Wisdom of the Sages, Raghunath and Kaustubha confront the uncomfortable truth: that we each have a choice to make — either we discover our true self, or we don't. And if we don't, we risk living an empty life and perpetuating cycles of conflict and injustice. Drawing from the words of Henry David Thoreau, the insights of Black Elk, and the timeless teachings of Bhakti Yoga, they unpack how society's “conveyor belt” keeps us distracted, how desires and fears cloud our inner vision, and how real healing and real justice can only begin with the soul. They also explore the yogic science of purification: how austerity purifies the senses, charity purifies material possessions, and satisfaction purifies the mind — and how these practices open the door to inner peace that transforms not just ourselves but the world around us. ********************************************************************* LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108

Why do we resist turning inward — and what does it cost us? In this spirited episode of Wisdom of the Sages, Raghunath and Kaustubha confront the uncomfortable truth: that we each have a choice to make — either we discover our true self, or we don't. And if we don't, we risk living an empty life and perpetuating cycles of conflict and injustice. Drawing from the words of Henry David Thoreau, the insights of Black Elk, and the timeless teachings of Bhakti Yoga, they unpack how society's “conveyor belt” keeps us distracted, how desires and fears cloud our inner vision, and how real healing and real justice can only begin with the soul. They also explore the yogic science of purification: how austerity purifies the senses, charity purifies material possessions, and satisfaction purifies the mind — and how these practices open the door to inner peace that transforms not just ourselves but the world around us. ********************************************************************* LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108

Love to hear from you; “Send us a Text Message”What epic tale have we fallen into, and what role are we meant to play? This question lies at the heart of our exploration of authentic masculinity and spiritual warfare in a chaotic world.Drawing from the wisdom of St. John Paul II, Henry David Thoreau, and even Sam Gamgee from Lord of the Rings, we examine the profound crisis facing today's young people. In a culture where 50% of teen girls report persistent sadness and 30% have considered suicide, something has clearly gone terribly wrong. Yet within this darkness, we're witnessing young men awakening to the realization that they were created for something more.The Claymore sword—the heavy, two-handed weapon made famous in Braveheart—represents our approach to spiritual combat. Unlike the emasculated vision of manhood promoted by our culture, we recognize that authentic masculinity requires courage, strength, and a willingness to fight for what matters. But as St. John Paul II taught, the first battle must be fought on the battlefield of our own hearts—between love and lust, between selfishness and self-giving.Download the Claymore Militus Christi Battle Plan and join us in reclaiming what it means to be a man. Share this episode with someone and discuss the questions together: What tale have we fallen into, and what role will you play in it?Jacks Latest Blog Young Men United in the Eucharist: Heroically Rebuilding the Three Necessary SocietiesFollow us and watch on X: John Paul II Renewal @JP2RenewalSubscribe to our Newly Resurrected YouTube Channel!Sign up for our Newsletter: https://jp2renew.org/Discussion questions:What are some moments in your life when you felt a deep longing for truth, meaning, or purpose? How did you respond to that desire?“You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, says the Lord.”—Jeremiah 29:13–14Sam Gamgee asks, “I wonder what sort of tale we've fallen into?”—do you feel like your life is part of a larger story? If so, who is writing it, and what role might you be playing?“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”—Ephesians 2:10In a world full of noise, opinions, and competing truths, where do you go—or where could you begin to go—to seek what is truly good, beautiful, and true? “And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”—John 8:32The chapter mentions the “line between good and evil running through every human heart.” Where in your own life do you feel that tension most, and what helps you stay grounded in the fight for the good?“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”—Matthew 26:41Support the show

In this Shortcast edition, John Jantsch, author of The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur, draws wisdom from great American writers like Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain, and William Wells Brown to explore three essential traits for thriving in life and business: perseverance, perspective, and resilience. Rather than chasing productivity hacks, John invites us to dig deeper—into reflection, discomfort, and slow growth.In this Shortcast, we explore:Perseverance Through Practice: Inspired by Thoreau, John explains why repeated effort—like walking a mountain trail—is not wasted energy but the very process that builds mastery and meaning.The Danger of Indestructible Contentment: Borrowing from Twain, John challenges the idea of being too comfortable, encouraging us to embrace discomfort as a path to perspective and growth.Redefining Resilience: With a reading from William Wells Brown, John reframes procrastination not as laziness, but as strategic patience born of experience—knowing when to act, and when to wait.Growth Beyond Hustle: John reminds us that true self-reliance isn't about grinding harder—it's about trusting yourself, honoring the process, and staying open to what life is teaching you through repetition and challenge.This episode is a refreshing reset—a deeper look at what it really takes to keep going, stay grounded, and lead with presence.Find more ⁠Shortcasts like this one on Blinkist here⁠. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 20:45:00 GMT http://relay.fm/focused/233 http://relay.fm/focused/233 David Sparks and Mike Schmitz Kara Monroe joins us to talk about creative problem solving, the power of coaching, and why you should have a Facts of Life book. Kara Monroe joins us to talk about creative problem solving, the power of coaching, and why you should have a Facts of Life book. clean 3022 Kara Monroe joins us to talk about creative problem solving, the power of coaching, and why you should have a Facts of Life book. This episode of Focused is sponsored by: Incogni: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code FOCUSED with this link and get 60% off an annual plan. Guest Starring: Kara Monroe Links and Show Notes: I Wanna Be Me When I Grow Up The Library Community Kara's Facts of Life Book course Bookworm podcast The Confident Mind by Nate Zinser Ultralearning by Scott Young Ultraspeaking | The best way to learn public speaking Stream Deck Keyboard Maestro AirFly Pro 2 | Twelve South The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 20:45:00 GMT http://relay.fm/focused/233 http://relay.fm/focused/233 I Wanna Be Me When I Grow Up, with Kara Monroe 233 David Sparks and Mike Schmitz Kara Monroe joins us to talk about creative problem solving, the power of coaching, and why you should have a Facts of Life book. Kara Monroe joins us to talk about creative problem solving, the power of coaching, and why you should have a Facts of Life book. clean 3022 Kara Monroe joins us to talk about creative problem solving, the power of coaching, and why you should have a Facts of Life book. This episode of Focused is sponsored by: Incogni: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code FOCUSED with this link and get 60% off an annual plan. Guest Starring: Kara Monroe Links and Show Notes: I Wanna Be Me When I Grow Up The Library Community Kara's Facts of Life Book course Bookworm podcast The Confident Mind by Nate Zinser Ultralearning by Scott Young Ultraspeaking | The best way to learn public speaking Stream Deck Keyboard Maestro AirFly Pro 2 | Twelve South The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins Walden by Henry David Thoreau

So, in the part 1 write-up, I referenced this speech class I took in the summer in high school. This is probably the closest in my experiences to doing something like a Project Runway or Top Chef-style reality show–where you are expected to pump out creation after creation on long hours with very little time to recoup or really think through the thing you're making. You're basically just getting a crash course, then expected to pop out some genius.  Unsurprisingly, I don't remember many of the presentations I put together for this class. Except for one. It starts out much like any episode of Project Runway or Top Chef–Heidi or Padma come out to the contestants, say a witty, scripted preamble, then go into the “Challenge” for the day: prepare a dramatic reading, complete with at least one physical prop. Must be at least three minutes in length. You have one day for this challenge. (I do not remember the teacher at all but am willing to bet she was not Heidi Klum or Padma Lakshmi levels of hot–few of us are.) So after sitting through the presentations from whatever nonsense was assigned yesterday, we are released and allowed to go work on what is due tomorrow.  I hear many people joke about snagging a skull from the science department to do Hamlet, in that sort of desperate way where they're trying to gauge how this would land, because no other ideas are coming and they're dying inside. The idea of trying to learn and be able to recite Shakespeare with one evening's worth of prep did not sound appealing. So like many successful competition-based reality show contestants, I thought about what I knew and how I could fit this challenge to it. Like most moody teens from the early 2000s, I did not know Shakespeare. I did not have Robert Frost or Henry David Thoreau committed to the dome. What did I have embedded in my brain? Song lyrics. The metaphorical lightbulb of genius clicked. I knew what I had to do. And what I had to do was walk over to the nearest Walgreens and buy a puzzle.  The next day, presentations began, and we saw a fair amount of fumbling through Hamlet and other Romantic poets. Someone recreated the space landing audio with a toy spaceship. It was a lot of uninspired mediocre dishes. It was a ton of napkin-style mini-dresses in the unconventional materials challenge. I started to panic–either I messed this up royal, or I've done this better than anyone ever has, and I won't know until I volunteer to get up there and present.  I finally get the nerve, go up there, quiet with my unopened puzzle, knowing I only had one shot at this. This was pre 8 Mile coming out, so I couldn't even mom's spaghetti to hype myself up. I just had to commit. What was I committing to? Well, ripping apart the box of a puzzle, throwing pieces around the room for a full minute before reciting the lyrics to Dashboard Confessional's song “This Ruined Puzzle”. I also apparently committed to giving myself a few gnarly cardboard cuts on the stupid box, but…it landed. I got a 100 on the assignment and Padma would've definitely named me the winner of the challenge. Heidi gave me immunity for next week's show, so I'm definitely not getting eliminated. Love that for me. Shout out to Claire from the last writeup, whose feedback included the joke “But not all of the pieces were face down :( ” which is still objectively hilarious, good job Claire.  What does this have to do with part 2 of our 2024 Musical Wrap-up conversation? You have to embrace who you are and let it drive you. If you are an emo teenage dirtbag, Shakespeare doesn't got you, Chris Carrabba does. Also, a healthy dash of chaos and Committing to the Bit ™ always helps. And that's the TLAT way. Enjoy the episode.

How did Thomas Jefferson's thoughts on fatherhood influence the American Revolution? What did Charles Darwin learn about evolution from watching his own kids? And why did Bob Dylan tell everyone he couldn't stand his father? After becoming a father himself, historian and author Augustine Sedgewick dove into the past to learn more about these and other hugely influential men, and how being a father and a son shaped their lives and work, for better or worse. On this episode of Paternal, Sedgewick reflects on why he went looking through the past for paternal role models, and why the lives of Jefferson, Darwin, Dylan, Henry David Thoreau and Norman Rockwell reveal problematic habits dads can avoid today. Sedgewick is the author of Fatherhood: A History of Love and Power, available now wherever you buy books.

Episode 152: Wildness Tonic gets wild with musings about the museum's upcoming book club on nature themes inspired by Henry David Thoreau, among others. Sandy Burford, local naturalist and volunteer extraordinaire, joins us as we discuss kleptotrichy, utility company tree maintenance, the speed of the telegraph, and actual poetry. We get wild. It is wild. You should be wild.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 5, 2025 is: sea change • SEE-CHAYNJ • noun Sea change refers to a big and sudden change or transformation. // The early 2000s witnessed a sea change in public opinion about smoking in public places. See the entry > Examples: “Over the course of my grandmother's lifetime, gender expectations for women underwent a sea change. My grandmother ended up pursuing an education and becoming a doctor, leading an independent life that made her mother proud.” — Wendy Chen, LitHub.com, 20 May 2024 Did you know? In The Tempest, William Shakespeare's final play, sea change refers to a change brought about by the sea: the sprite Ariel, who aims to make Ferdinand believe that his father the king has perished in a shipwreck, sings within earshot of the prince, “Full fathom five thy father lies...; / Nothing of him that doth fade / But doth suffer a sea-change / into something rich and strange.” This is the original, now-archaic meaning of sea change. Today the term is used for a distinctive change or transformation. Long after sea change gained this figurative meaning, however, writers continued to allude to Shakespeare's literal one; Charles Dickens, Henry David Thoreau, and P.G. Wodehouse all used the term as an object of the verb suffer, but now a sea change is just as likely to be undergone or experienced.

Help MuggleCast grow! Become a MuggleCast Member and get great benefits like Bonus MuggleCast! Patreon.com/MuggleCast  Grab official merch! MuggleCastMerch.com Pick up overstock merch from years past, including our 19th Anniversary Shirt! MuggleMillennial.Etsy.com On this week's episode, we're starting Pride Month 2025 off by revisiting the topic of Potter series author J.K. Rowling, whose recent actions along with the continued assault on the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals worldwide, warrant further discussion. We are joined by a guest who is an ethicist, philosopher and college instructor, and all of our hosts dive head-first into sharing their feelings on what is happening. And to lead off our discussion, we cover the topic of the casting of the new trio for HBO's upcoming TV series. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Receive 10% off your first month of therapy at BetterHelp.com/mugglecast News: Harry, Ron and Hermione have now been cast in HBO's Harry Potter TV series! The hosts react. Welcome to the podcast, Sunny Williams! Sunny's roots in fandom and wizard rock, and her impressive academic career, make her a perfect fit for our episode today. We revisit the topic of J.K. Rowling, whose new 'Women's Fund' will help advance anti-trans legal cases. Our previous episodes that addressed the author were Episode 447b and Episode 469, both worth a re-listen. The hosts share their thoughts on the last 5 years of disappointment, from infinite double-downs to behavior that is antithetical to the works which we celebrate. Eric takes us through the most recent year in anti-trans legislation, featuring two huge pseudoscientific reports, not peer reviewed and forcefully discredited by major medical organizations, which are nevertheless being used to strip transgender people from accessing healthcare through legislation. The actual science is so in-favor of trans people receiving healthcare, that its opponents have suggested other ways of measuring its efficiency, like whether receivers currently have a job. Rowling's astonishing cruelty is on display daily on X, and her initiatives and gender-policing have been shown to affect ALL women, as the rise on assaults of women in rest areas has grown around hostility towards anyone seen as gender non-conforming by strangers empowered to act. The hosts use scenarios from the Potter books to illustrate what's presently happening. Sunny guides us through the ethics of financially supporting problematic creators, with thoughts from Socrates, Hannah Arendt, Henry David Thoreau, and others! To wrap, we discuss our continued strategy for keeping the fandom progressive and inclusive. Next week, a return to Chapter-by-Chapter will see us introduced to another bully, as it's time to experience Chapter 28, “Snape's Worst Memory.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clay's conversation with writer Craig Childs of western Colorado. Childs is the author of more than a dozen books about America's backcountry. He's spent months, even years, exploring the Grand Canyon and a hundred lesser but magnificent canyons in desert country. Childs has been a river runner, a guide, and a consultant, but mostly, he is a writer of beautiful, spare, sometimes mystical prose about the Colorado Plateau. Clay and Craig talked about how he became a writer, about taking risks in the backcountry, being lost, and getting oneself lost. They also discuss the great 19th-century explorer John Wesley Powell, Henry David Thoreau, and Edward Abbey — the author of the enormously influential book Desert Solitaire. Childs is currently wandering through mountain lion country in western Colorado, trying to understand the ways of these magnificent creatures. You'll love this quiet discussion of things unrelated to America's current politics. This interview was recorded March 20, 2025.

News headline roundup. The politics of tyranny.  Find us on YouTube. In this episode of The Bulletin, Mike and Clarissa discuss cruelty, the talks between the US and Russia, the bombing of a fertility clinic in California, former president Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis, and the anniversary of George Floyd's death. Then, Mike talks with Roger Berkowitz about the politics of tyranny.  GO DEEPER WITH THE BULLETIN: Join the conversation at our Substack Find us on YouTube. Rate and review the show in your podcast app of choice. ABOUT THE GUEST:  Roger Berkowitz is founder and academic director of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities and professor of politics, philosophy, and human rights at Bard College. Berkowitz is the author of The Gift of Science, the introduction to On Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau and Hannah Arendt, and The Perils of Invention. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The American Interest, Bookforum, The Forward, The Paris Review online, and Democracy.  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: Kevin Morris Music: Dan Phelps Executive Producers: Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper Senior Producer: Matt Stevens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Episode 392 Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger explore the shores of Plymouth, Massachusetts search for a giant sea serpent that as spotted here by multiple witnesses back in the mid-1800s. One of those witnesses was none other than stateman and orator Daniel Webster.    See more here: https://ournewenglandlegends.com/podcast-392-the-plymouth-sea-serpent/    Listen ad-free plus get early access and bonus episodes at: https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends         Check out Jeff's new underground publication Shadow Zine! https://shadowzine.com/        Listen to Ray's Local Raydio! https://localraydio.com/    

Welcome to The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series on radio and podcast. In 1839, five women gathered in a Boston parlor, asking two profound questions: What are we born to do? How shall we do it? Their answers helped shape one of the most important intellectual movements in American history—Transcendentalism. We know the names Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. But what about Mary Moody Emerson, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Sophia Peabody Hawthorne, Lydia Jackson Emerson, and Margaret Fuller? These women weren't just observers of the movement; they were its architects. They nurtured its philosophy, challenged its leaders, and laid the foundations for American feminism. Yet, history largely ignored them. Their ideas, often groundbreaking, were overshadowed by the men they inspired. Until now. Today, we welcome Smithsonian Associate Dr. Randall Fuller, the Herman Melville Distinguished Professor of 19th-Century American Literature at the University of Kansas, to uncover the hidden story of Transcendentalism.  Smithsonian Associate Dr. Randall Fuller will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates coming up. Please check out our show notes today for details on his presentation, titled Bright Circle: Five Remarkable Transcendentalist Women. His book of the same name, available at Apple Books, Bright Circle: Five Remarkable Women in the Age of Transcendentalism, challenges what we think we know about this movement and restores these women to their rightful place in history. Did Emerson's most famous ideas actually begin with his aunt? Did a woman's journal from Cuba shape the way Americans saw nature? And how did one wife push her husband to take a stand on abolition? This is a conversation about the influence, erasure, and intellectual power of women in a time that tried to silence them. So, let's step back into the 19th century and meet the women who changed America—without ever getting the credit. My thanks to Smithsonian Associate Dr. Randall Fuller will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates coming up. Please check out our show notes today for details on his presentation, titled Bright Circle: Five Remarkable Transcendentalist Women His book, of the same name, and available at Apple Books, Bright Circle: Five Remarkable Women in the Age of Transcendentalism. My thanks to the Smithsonian team for all they do to support the show. Please wish them a Happy 60th Anniversary this year! My thanks to Sam and Miranda Heninger for all they do to help ths show, too. And my thanks to you, our wonderful audience here on radio and podcast. Be well, be safe, and Let's Talk About Better™  The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series, thanks, everybody and we'll see you next time.