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In this week's episode, we share six tips and tricks for writing while traveling. 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates   Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 231 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is December the 13th, 2024, and today we're discussing tips for writing while traveling, which seems a timely topic as the Christmas holiday is coming up. First, we'll have an update on my current writing projects and do Question of the Week.   For my current writing projects, I'm very pleased to report that Orc-Hoard, the fourth book in the Rivah Half-Elven series is now out. You can get it at Amazon US, UK, Australia, Canada, and in Kindle Unlimited.   I am also very pleased to report that I have now published a million new words of fiction for 2024, which is the first time I've been able to do that in a year since 2020. I will probably talk more about that in an upcoming episode. Now that Orc-Hoard is done, my main project is Shield of Deception, the fourth book in the Shield War series. I'm 11,000 words into that and I'm hoping to have that out in January 2025, if all goes well. My secondary project will be Ghost in the Assembly. I haven't actually started that. I'm still in the outline writing phase, but I'm hoping that will be out in February or potentially March, depending on how long it takes to write Shield of Deception.   In audiobook news, Ghost in the Tombs is now out in audiobook (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) and you can get it at Audible, Chirp, and most of the usual other audiobook stores. She's also recording Cloak of Masks for us right now, and that should be out in January, if all goes well.   00:01:29 Question of the Week   Now it's time for Question of the Week, which is designed to inspire enjoyable discussions of interesting topics. This week's question: where do you obtain free media like free ebooks, free audiobooks, free movies, and so forth? There are no wrong answers though for obvious reasons please keep answers limited to legal media sources. No piracy, please.   The inspiration for this question was our 12 Days of Short Story Christmas, during which I'll give away a new free short story every business day until December 23rd. If you want some of those free short stories, head to my website now. They will remain free at my Payhip store until December 31st. Now on to answers from Question of the Week.   Our first response is from Grimlar who says: Well, it's not exactly free, but I do find myself buying books from LMBPN publishing every Saturday for $1 each (their new releases from earlier in the week, usually Thursday or earlier). They drop the price of new books for Saturday as a loyalty bonus for their readers. Also, when a series has been completed, they tend to release a box set (or several for a long series), also priced at a dollar per box. They tend to release several books a week, which is handy, provided you like their stuff, which is mostly urban fantasy with some fantasy and some sci-fi. As I said, not free, but does make reading a much more budget friendly pastime.   I should note that LMBPN publishing also puts nearly all their stuff in Kindle Unlimited so if you're paying for a Kindle Unlimited subscription already, that is an easy way to check out their books.   David says: Some places I buy ebooks and audiobooks from offer some free material from time to time. So when I'm looking for something new I stumble across the odd book that is free that I am interested in, when I do stumble across these free offerings, I sometimes look to see if these authors have other free books. I don't bother with free movies.   Jeanne says: I get emails from BookBub, which sometimes has free ebooks, but most of the ebooks are between $0.99 and $2.99. That's probably actually how I came across you (you being Jonathan Moeller in this case). Otherwise, Kobo has a selection of free ebooks, if small.   Jenny says: I love Libby, and back when it was available, Axis 360 and Hoopla. I'm not sure if they've just gone from my library or gone forever. (Side note from transcriptionist: Axis 360 changed names to Boundless in 2023. Hoopla is still in business.)   Adeline says: The only time I ever received free items is when they're directly given away by the owner. Downloading virtual freebies from somewhere just seems wrong since they would still belong to someone. Although I don't have any movie subscription services myself, I still don't download free movies.   Bonnie says: I use Amazon for ebooks. I usually pay quite often though. I get a free town newspaper every two weeks. I don't watch TV anymore, so that isn't an issue.   Rob says: Amazon (you can search and order by cost) and authors do free downloads with their newsletter, not just Jonathan Moeller, but PA Mason, Kelly Armstrong, etc.   Chris says: Kindle Library, following you online gets me updates.   For myself, I get free ebooks through Libby (the local library system's ebook app) and very rarely audiobooks as well. I also, if I see something I like on the Kindle store that's free, I will download that right away. For free and legal movies and TV shows, I usually go to Tubi, which is free but ad supported and has a surprisingly large collection of stuff. So that's it for Question of the Week.   00:04:38 Main Topic of the Week: Writing While Traveling   Now onto our main topic this week, tips and tricks for writing while traveling, since of course many people travel over the Christmas holidays, so this seems like a timely topic.   Two principles to start with: First, think of why you are trying to write while you're traveling. Is this something you really need to be doing and more to the point, is this really something you should be doing? This obviously depends on the nature of your trip. If you are traveling for business reasons and you're sitting in an airport for four hours waiting for your flight and then you have a five hour flight, that would be an excellent time to get some writing done since otherwise, you would just be like everyone else in the airport paying too much for coffee and staring at your phone. If you are on the kind of trip that is a vacation, it might be a good idea to put aside writing while you are doing that just for the sake of your own mental health. If you are on a trip that involves a lot of family obligations, like for example, a funeral, then it might be a good idea just to set aside writing for that time, focus on the emotional needs of the moment and then pick it back up once the trip is over. The other thing to keep in mind if why you are writing is if you have a deadline. That sort of focuses the mind quite a bit and if you have a deadline, you're going to have to plan accordingly. The other thing to keep in mind is flexibility, why you are writing and flexibility because as we know, modern travel is utter chaos. I mean, it was worse in the past. I mean, Odysseus tried to get home from the Siege of Troy and got lost for 10 years, which is less likely nowadays, but travel is still unpleasant and a lot of things can go wrong, and you have to be flexible and seize the moment when you can and accept that sometimes things are beyond your control. If you are working on a deadline while you are traveling, then you'll have to treat it like any other remote work job while you are traveling. Having a true external writing deadline means you need to plan your vacation or trip differently and in a more structured way if possible. You absolutely need to plan this with your traveling companions in advance (if you're traveling with people), so everyone's prepared for this and pick your destination based on internet access instead of relying on standard hotel Wi-Fi because as we all know if you travel, standard hotel Wi-Fi generally is pretty terrible. You may need to bring some sort of mobile hotspot with you or pay extra to use your phone as a mobile hotspot while you are traveling.   If you are genuinely on a deadline and don't want to burn through your mobile data, check the internet setup of your destination before you arrive. It might also be wise to check on guest internet use policies at nearby libraries or universities if your destination does not have reliable internet and you'll need to use the internet for a significant amount of time. Many of these places require registration or a fee for non-residents/non-students but tend to have far more reliable internet than coffee shops or hotels.   Also, if you're in the phase of writing where you're writing your rough draft, if you're not editing and relying on an online editing tool like Grammarly or Pro Writing Aid, then you can probably do without internet if you absolutely have to. If you're just writing, just open up your laptop, sit down and write, it actually might be beneficial to have the internet off if you are prone to being distracted by the internet, but if you do need internet, bear that in mind.   For the next part of this episode, we're going to focus on the second type of writing while traveling, the feeling that many writers have that they should be writing while traveling or on vacation and fear of missing progress or falling out of their hard-won routine. I'll also provide some suggestions if you decide you want to write while traveling in spite of the various obstacles you might face.   If you don't have a deadline and this isn't a necessity for you and you really want to get some writing done while you're traveling, you need to ask yourself why. Writing because you want to means you can be flexible, but you still want to plan your expectations in advance to make the trip smoother and to deal with things in accordance with reality (always a good idea).   If you're not on a deadline and you don't have to be doing this, why do you want to write while traveling? Do you just want to keep the streak going by at least writing something? Do you want to keep your normal writing routine exactly? Are the reasons why you want to write more important than the personal, work, or family obligations on this trip? Like I said before, there are some trips where it's really in the best interest if you put aside any writing or work for the time and focus on the needs of the trip, whether that's a vacation by yourself or a family vacation, a family gathering such as a holiday or a funeral or another family gathering that's a bit happier than a funeral, like a graduation or a wedding or a baptism, that kind of thing. Do you want a soothing writing retreat at a lakeside cabin, but really you're spending a week with ten relatives in a cabin that you just rented? Then you might need to rethink your expectations for writing during that week. Now onto some tips for writing while traveling.   #1: If possible, plan the time. Note that this may not always be possible. You may have to carve out your own time to get writing done because it's definitely not a group activity, especially if you are on vacation with friends or family or something of that nature. Are you going to be able to sneak in half an hour of writing while everyone else is off on the boat or going to town for ice cream? That's a far more realistic of a goal in that circumstance than an imagined weeklong writing retreat.   Here's a recent example for myself. Over Thanksgiving before dinner, I was the only one who was not taking a nap in the house. I was the only one who was awake. I could have used that time to read or play video games, but instead I pulled out my computer and wrote a thousand words of Orc-Hoard. Now obviously there is nothing wrong with playing video games or reading or quietly browsing the internet in that circumstance, but I felt like what I really wanted to do in that moment while everyone else was taking their naps was to get a thousand words down. So that's what I did, and that's also a good example of a flexibility of seizing the moment when it presents itself.   I should also note that traveling is definitely not the time to start a radical new habit. If you can't get out of bed before 07:00 during a normal day, getting up to write at 04:30 while traveling is unrealistic, especially if you're staying up later, dealing with jet lag, or not sleeping well as usual, since it's often difficult to get a decent night's sleep in a hotel or somebody's guest room.   One long block of writing time may be more realistic than every day of the trip, especially if you're traveling with groups or with small children. Maybe you use the train ride or flight (or better yet, the seemingly endless wait for a delayed flight) as your writing time for the trip, and don't worry about the days at your destination. Like I mentioned before, if you're stuck at the airport waiting four hours before a flight will take you on a three-day trip and you get 3,000 words written during those four hours, you've probably got your trip writing covered.   #2: If possible, minimize distractions/create a working setup. Find a low traffic area if you're going to write such as the guest bedroom or your hotel room or something. Some hotels have work areas or lounges that are more tucked away from the lobby because hotel lobbies can get pretty noisy, especially nowadays when people seem compelled to bring their dogs with them into hotels. We also cover how to minimize distractions pretty extensively in our November Writing Challenge episodes, specifically Episodes 225 and 226, so you can listen to those tips there.   #3: I think this might be the most important tip: find small windows of opportunity. In other words, be flexible. Find short bursts of opportunities to write such as when you're in line for the rental car or waiting for your coffee at a busy coffee shop. These short bursts of two to three minutes might be the most realistic goal for traveling while writing, especially if you can teach yourself to write on your phone with your thumbs.   This might sound a bit outlandish, but I do know people who do this and have written entire books thumb typing on their phones on their commute from rural Britain to London every day. Then you will give yourself a big leg up because there are small, modern laptops you can use pretty effectively in small moments and carry with you, but everyone carries their phones with them most of the time nowadays, so you can whip out your phone and thumb type out a few paragraphs while you're waiting in line. That would be to your advantage, and honestly, it's probably a better use of your time in line than idly browsing social media or the internet on your phone.   #4:  Find a way to store ideas on the fly (especially important for short bursts of writing). You can use the Notes app or voice memos on your phone. Test this before the trip so it feels like instinct to do, to write down things quickly or to record paragraphs or carry a small pocket notebook with a pen. I should note for that myself, I only very rarely write ideas down because I have lots of ideas and I've always figured that if the idea is good, it'll come back to me when I think about it later, and if it's no good, I'll forget about it. I's sort of a survival of the fittest for ideas inside my head, but a lot of people's brains don't work that way, so it's a good idea if your brain doesn't work that way to write down ideas as they come to you.   #5: Be realistic about your goal, and this also ties into being flexible and having a realistic idea of what's going to happen on your trip. Is it worth pausing writing to have undivided time with family/ friends on this trip or is it worth pausing writing so you can relax (for example, if you're going on vacation or if you are visiting family, whether for a happy occasion like a wedding or a graduation or for a sad occasion like a funeral)?   Believe it or not, coming from me who was just boasting about publishing a million new words of fiction this year, there are some advantages to pausing writing for a while when you're compelled to do so by something like a trip. The potential positives: you can come back fresh to your work and your progress, especially after seeing lots of new things. That can work well with some people and help someone out of a rut.   Another advantage is if you're traveling, you don't have to deal with traveling with your laptop or additional tech equipment just for writing purposes or risk getting them damaged or lost. It's a lot easier to travel with a modern smartphone than it is with a modern laptop. This can also give you more enjoyable and focused time with family on vacation, which will help if you need to focus on writing instead of them at some later point, like for example, not making your second cousin's play because of a later deadline won't feel like a pattern of neglect if you just spent a week visiting them at the lake. This can also believe it or not, help with family strife because if you are frustrated with not meeting your writing goals while on your vacation, but if you give yourself permission to take a break, you won't be frustrated and you will probably be better company for any people you are visiting. The advantage is you can enjoy your vacation and spend time with your family or friends being fully present in the moment and not being distracted by what you have to do.   For myself, I've been publishing for…in the coming April, I will have been self-publishing for 14 years and I've veered back and forth at different times over this over the years. There are some trips I've gone on where I've done a significant bit of writing at the time, and there are other trips I've gone on where I haven't done any writing at all and focused on the moment. Again, it really depends on the circumstances of the trip. If, for example, I'm visiting family and everyone's taking naps in the afternoon, why not whip out my laptop and start typing and see if I can get out a thousand words before everyone wakes up and it's time for dinner? But other trips, for example, I've spent all day in the car driving from various national monuments and landmarks, and if you're doing that, that is really not a good time to attempt any writing for those kinds of trips, and so I did not do any writing on those kinds of trips.   Let me use myself as an example here. This coming Christmas holiday between Christmas Eve and about December 29th/December 30th, I'm not planning on doing any writing at all. I might do some writing if, for example, everyone's taking a nap or everyone's out doing errands or on phone calls or something and I have nothing else to do, so I might as well whip out my laptop and see if I can squeeze out a thousand words, but for the most part, I'm planning to focus on the holiday and not do any writing or very much writing between Christmas Eve and the 29th and the 30th or thereabouts. Then usually if I do that kind of thing where I have to take a couple days off or a weekend off or that kind of thing, I feel pretty refreshed and eager to get back at it once I am done with the trip and the vacation or the holiday is over.   Additionally, is it more realistic to use the trip for inspiration instead of getting writing done? You could visit museums related to what you're writing about, historical sites or buildings, or visit new cities. If you're planning to set a book there someday. Thinking of it as a research/inspiration trip may help with a feeling of guilt from not writing and make the trip more enjoyable.   What I've been doing lately is, as I've mentioned before frequently on this podcast, I usually do my own covers now, and that requires, of course, a steady supply of stock photos. So when I'm on a trip lately, if I see something scenic, it's time to whip out the camera and take a few pictures because modern smartphone cameras are good enough and produce high enough resolution images that you can use them on book covers. Several of the book covers I have published this year with my books have elements in them that were taken from photos I took while I was on a trip. So that is one example of how I shut off writing entirely during these trips, but then still take a lot of pictures that I can use for later stock photo use in my book covers.   #6: And now for tip number six that I'm going to emphasize quite a bit, if you are in fact writing while you are traveling, make sure you have a method for backing up your work. This is so important. I'm going to repeat it again. Make sure you have a method for backing up your work to the cloud or a flash drive or something. One of the risks of traveling is that your laptop can be lost, damaged, or stolen, and if you don't have a backup of what you're working on the laptop, you will lose all your work, which is one of the most disheartening feelings you can have.   Fortunately, there are many, many low-cost options to back up your work. You could use a flash drive and copy your work to a flash drive at the end of every session. The advantage of that is your work's in two places. The disadvantage of that is that a flash drive like laptop can be lost, damaged, or stolen, so it's a good idea to use a cloud solution. We talked about finding reliable internet, but you might want to just find just enough internet to connect to a cloud service like Dropbox or Google Drive or OneDrive or Apple Service and then back up your work to the cloud, and that way if your laptop is lost, damaged or stolen, you will not lose your progress. It's an interesting thing nowadays that laptops, as expensive they can be, are often less valuable to their users than the data they contain. The data is the important part, and you want to make sure that you back it up regularly. Even if you don't have a cloud provider, you can just email yourself the file every day of your work progress, so that way if your laptop is again lost, damaged, or stolen, you have a backup copy in your email account.   Recently, I was talking to a relative who is subscribed to Dropbox and he's complaining that he's paying, I think it's like $90 a year for a Dropbox to back up his laptop, and I told him to think of it as the computer equivalent of car insurance. I mean, in the ideal world, if you have car insurance and you get into a car accident, the insurance company will declare your car totaled and write you a check for the value of the car that will help you get your next vehicle. Having a cloud subscription like that is the equivalent of car insurance for computers so that way if once again, repeat it with me, if your computer is lost, damaged, or stolen, all your data is safely backed up in the cloud and you can download it right away to your next computer. You can tell I used to work in IT because I'm really banging on about this, but if you are traveling and you are working, make sure you have a good backup solution for your work. This will avoid, trust me, much later heartbreak.   So to wrap up, I'd say what the main thing I've learned for many years of doing this is that if you want to write while you are traveling, be flexible, which is something I have to admit runs against my personality because I do have a very rigid and routine driven personality, and it was totally up to me, I would do exactly the same thing, exactly the same time every day, but obviously life doesn't work that way.   One must learn flexibility, and flexibility is especially important while traveling. I'd say that is the biggest thing to keep in mind if you want to write while traveling, accept that sometimes you're not going to get any writing done during your trip and that is for the best or accept that other times that there may be moments where if you need to, you can write a thousand words while you're waiting at the airport or everyone else you're visiting is on the phone or running errands.   So I hope these tips and tricks will help you if you decide to write while you are traveling. So that's it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes at https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave your review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.  

This Flashback Friday is from episode 958, published last February 13, 2018. Jason Hartman kicks off the show today asking his ultimate question: compared to what? It's a question that will serve you well in all aspects of your life and will guide you down the right path. He also wants to invite you to join him on any of his adventures scheduled for this year to make your vacation planning even easier. Then Jason wraps up his interview with Macro Watch's Richard Duncan. The two tackle the topic of rising interest rates, better uses for going into further debt than giving it to tax reform, how the Fed will react to a tanking stock market, and what we can expect to see over the next few years. #FlashbackFriday #RealEstateInvesting #FinancialIndependence #InvestmentTips #WealthCreation #EconomicAnalysis #TaxReform #GovernmentInvestment #FiscalPolicy #QuantitativeTightening #StockMarketVolatility #PropertyInvestment #GlobalEconomy #RichardDuncanEconomics Key Takeaways: Jason editorial 4:06 Always view things in perspective, and remember, COMPARED TO WHAT? 6:45 Meeting fellow investors is crucial to success 8:12 Why doesn't Jason want you to plan any vacations this year? 12:07 Over Thanksgiving, while re-reading The Art of the Deal, Jason realized that Trump is a New York liberal Richard Duncan Interview 14:52 What people don't realize about interest rates "People buy houses on a payment, not a price" 16:04 What the Fed will do if the market drops 10% and what else will happen if it drops 20% 19:23 What Richard wishes the government had done with the $1 trillion in new deficits that will occur from the new tax reform 23:57 Why Richard thinks the government can invest as wisely as private companies 28:24 What are the next few years going to look like? 30:56 People need to get very familiar with quantitative tightening Websites: www.RichardDuncanEconomics.com (promo code: GLOBAL for 50% off) www.JasonHartmanUniversity.com www.JasonHartmanIcehotel.com www.VentureAllianceMastermind.com   Follow Jason on TWITTER, INSTAGRAM & LINKEDIN Twitter.com/JasonHartmanROI Instagram.com/jasonhartman1/ Linkedin.com/in/jasonhartmaninvestor/ Call our Investment Counselors at: 1-800-HARTMAN (US) or visit: https://www.jasonhartman.com/ Free Class:  Easily get up to $250,000 in funding for real estate, business or anything else: http://JasonHartman.com/Fund CYA Protect Your Assets, Save Taxes & Estate Planning: http://JasonHartman.com/Protect Get wholesale real estate deals for investment or build a great business – Free Course: https://www.jasonhartman.com/deals Special Offer from Ron LeGrand: https://JasonHartman.com/Ron Free Mini-Book on Pandemic Investing: https://www.PandemicInvesting.com    

Sasha wants to know if she's being The Grinch for not wanting her husband's brother to bring a date when he comes to stay for Christmas. Over Thanksgiving her BIL brought a lady and they "had fun" overnight and she doesn't want a repeat. No one thinks it's a big deal but her.

Over Thanksgiving break my niece Kenzie came back on the podcast for the 3rd time (see also: episodes 23 & 83). This was an unplanned and unfocused conversation but we hit many important topics including high school, TikTok, ASMR, Magic 8 Balls, Gilmore Girls, and so much more. And keep your ears peeled for a surprise guest no one will see coming! Jeff Grant's Evolving Podcast is available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, & Google Play Music. Thanks for listening!

Over Thanksgiving weekend (?!) we talk about gratitude from Haggai 2. It's a PACKED chapter, listen in and see why the believer can always be thankful. -- more from us at  ⁠www.saarfellowship.com⁠ more from James at ⁠www.jamestravis.net⁠

I love spring and love moseying around my yard, marvelling at the flowers popping through the mulch and the abundance of - are they pink, magenta, maybe even purple - or simply, redbud tree blossoms. There's so much to be thankful for. That being said, please take a few minutes with me to consider the suppression of this beauty.  The culprit is grass. It's mid-April and I just mowed for the first time this year. Thankfully, over the last 5 years, I have slowly transitioned the lawn into mulched flower beds and raised vegetable beds - drastically cutting the square footage of space for my human powered, reel lawn mower. It may not be the cleanest cut, but it's pollution free and a good workout.  There are empty lawn lots across this country. Much of it is public space, maintained by the city or state.  There are some immaculate lawns full of fertilizer, herbicide, and perfectly mown lines - my favorite are the diagonal strips that make X's. Like a baseball field ready for the World Series.  But I'm not talking about the outfield of the St. Louis Cardinals. You may not realize where these lots are in your city because they are so incredibly unremarkable.  The purpose of these spaces is to keep the grass from getting too tall to not get a complaint.  They are the kind of places that no one cares much about, so they are rarely used.   The funny thing is that they don't serve much of a human purpose, but we, as humans, can't help ourselves from mowing the spaces every week to literally kill any chance of other living things from finding a reliable food source and safe shelter. If non-human life do risk taking up residence, they'll probably get killed by a mower blade or someone who decided that the dandelions simply cast too yellow a glow on the turf.   CNN reported in April 2022 that in Palm Springs, California, it takes 63,000 gallons of water per year to maintain the green in a 1,500 square foot yard. That's not even a big yard. I could go on with stats from various sources about the immense cost of maintaining a yard - Business Insider magazine reported in 2016 that Americans spend more than $30 billion/year on maintaining their yards.  Some reporters describe lawn as the largest “cash crop” in the United States because of that expense.  Not cash for the homeowners who spend hours and dollars to - it is very odd to say - “raise grass”, but cash for the companies that perpetuate the need for these great green monoculture carpets.   What is the benefit of this cash crop?   I think it has a lot to do with control, senseless social norms, and the fear of wilderness.   A couple years ago, my friend and I approached the Columbus, IN city airport about the possibility of adding native plant space to the AirPark.  We identified an acre of space between the Columbus Community Garden and a nearby subdivision.  Thankfully, the AirPark Director saw the vision of creating habitat using native plants in the space that was the type of mow over zone I've been describing.  The Director understands that maintaining the grass is expensive and takes up the labor time of his staff. I had no experience in converting grass to a native plant meadow, so I followed the suggestion of our local Sycamore Land Trust. We began with spraying the field with Roundup 2 times over the course of 4 months. In February, we broadcast 40 different native plant seed varieties across the area and let it grow until July.  In July, it was moved to about an 8 inch height to knock down the weeds and give more light to the germinating seed.   Over Thanksgiving weekend, I went out into the field and did a 360 video of the space to send to my friend at the Land Trust. He was happy with the growth in the first year.   I brought to the field a large bin of harvested seed heads from my home. I added this seed to the edge near the bench we dedicated to my friend, Chelsea. It is exciting to have an acre that is growing wild in our city.

I love spring and love moseying around my yard, marvelling at the flowers popping through the mulch and the abundance of - are they pink, magenta, maybe even purple - or simply, redbud tree blossoms. There's so much to be thankful for. That being said, please take a few minutes with me to consider the suppression of this beauty.  The culprit is grass. It's mid-April and I just mowed for the first time this year. Thankfully, over the last 5 years, I have slowly transitioned the lawn into mulched flower beds and raised vegetable beds - drastically cutting the square footage of space for my human powered, reel lawn mower. It may not be the cleanest cut, but it's pollution free and a good workout.  There are empty lawn lots across this country. Much of it is public space, maintained by the city or state.  There are some immaculate lawns full of fertilizer, herbicide, and perfectly mown lines - my favorite are the diagonal strips that make X's. Like a baseball field ready for the World Series.  But I'm not talking about the outfield of the St. Louis Cardinals. You may not realize where these lots are in your city because they are so incredibly unremarkable.  The purpose of these spaces is to keep the grass from getting too tall to not get a complaint.  They are the kind of places that no one cares much about, so they are rarely used.   The funny thing is that they don't serve much of a human purpose, but we, as humans, can't help ourselves from mowing the spaces every week to literally kill any chance of other living things from finding a reliable food source and safe shelter. If non-human life do risk taking up residence, they'll probably get killed by a mower blade or someone who decided that the dandelions simply cast too yellow a glow on the turf.   CNN reported in April 2022 that in Palm Springs, California, it takes 63,000 gallons of water per year to maintain the green in a 1,500 square foot yard. That's not even a big yard. I could go on with stats from various sources about the immense cost of maintaining a yard - Business Insider magazine reported in 2016 that Americans spend more than $30 billion/year on maintaining their yards.  Some reporters describe lawn as the largest “cash crop” in the United States because of that expense.  Not cash for the homeowners who spend hours and dollars to - it is very odd to say - “raise grass”, but cash for the companies that perpetuate the need for these great green monoculture carpets.   What is the benefit of this cash crop?   I think it has a lot to do with control, senseless social norms, and the fear of wilderness.   A couple years ago, my friend and I approached the Columbus, IN city airport about the possibility of adding native plant space to the AirPark.  We identified an acre of space between the Columbus Community Garden and a nearby subdivision.  Thankfully, the AirPark Director saw the vision of creating habitat using native plants in the space that was the type of mow over zone I've been describing.  The Director understands that maintaining the grass is expensive and takes up the labor time of his staff. I had no experience in converting grass to a native plant meadow, so I followed the suggestion of our local Sycamore Land Trust. We began with spraying the field with Roundup 2 times over the course of 4 months. In February, we broadcast 40 different native plant seed varieties across the area and let it grow until July.  In July, it was moved to about an 8 inch height to knock down the weeds and give more light to the germinating seed.   Over Thanksgiving weekend, I went out into the field and did a 360 video of the space to send to my friend at the Land Trust. He was happy with the growth in the first year.   I brought to the field a large bin of harvested seed heads from my home. I added this seed to the edge near the bench we dedicated to my friend, Chelsea. It is exciting to have an acre that is growing wild in our city.

Over Thanksgiving, I decided to go to the Santa Fe, NM area. I had been wanting to go to this area since we had done the Enchanted Rockies Trail back during 2020 and had driven through there. The town is epic in that the downtown area is so interesting with many historic places to see and visit. The area has the Carson National Forest and many different National Parks and trails to explore. We had such a great time exploring this area and being able to adventure around, taking it all in. Join Gia and I as we talk about our time there and the different ways we were able to experience Santa Fe, NM. Thank you for listening! And special thanks to Artemis Overland Hardware for sponsoring this podcast! Visit www.artemisoverland.com for all of your Overland, Off-Road and Outdoor Needs! To follow me on my social media, you will find me at... Instagram - @brofessoradventures YouTube - Brofessor Adventures Facebook - Brofessor Adventures Twitter - @jsthebrofessor Have a wonderful Day! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/joeythebrofessor/support

The Rich Zeoli Show- Hour 3: According to reporting from Luke Rosiak of The Daily Wire, “[a] 14-year-old transgender runaway from Virginia endured a six-month nightmare that saw her twice fall into the hands of sex traffickers, the second time after Baltimore bureaucrats refused to return her to her home state because they accused her adoptive parents of “misgendering” her.” In a new survey conducted at California's Davis Joint Unified School District, 6% of the student body self-identifies as transgender or nonbinary. According to a report in the New York Times, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) summoned exorcists to her home to rid it of bad energy and evil spirits after her husband Paul Pelosi was attacked by a hammer-wielding intruder. Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of Nancy and Paul, said of the assault: “I think that really broke her. Over Thanksgiving, she had priests coming, trying to have an exorcism of the house and having prayer services.” The Rich Zeoli Show bids farewell to the 2023 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. We laugh, we cry, and we play some of WEF's greatest moments. See you in 2024, Klaus Schwab! The gunman suspected of killing 10 people at Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California ended his own life after being pulled over by police on Sunday. When questioned by reporters, Karine Jean-Pierre could not point to a single instance demonstrating that President Joe Biden takes classified documents seriously. An avian flu outbreak has caused egg prices to skyrocket across the United States. One state hit particularly hard: California—due to its requirement that all chicken in the state be free-range, which is more expensive. According to a report from CBS San Diego, some citizens have become so desperate for affordable eggs that they've begun crossing the U.S. Southern border to gain access to cheaper prices. 

The Rich Zeoli Show- Full Episode (01/23/2023):  3:05pm- On Friday, Justice Department investigators conducted a 13-hour search of President Joe Biden's Wilmington, Delaware home. During the search, six more misplaced classified documents were discovered—some documents dated back to Biden's time as a U.S. Senator, which concluded in 2009. White House lawyers emphasized that President Biden had consented to the DOJ's search. 3:30pm- In a recent New York Post editorial, columnist Miranda Devine hypothesized that Hunter Biden's access to his father's Wilmington home, and subsequent access to classified files, could have been used to generate greater interest in Hunter's services in foreign business dealings.  3:45pm- During Monday's press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre refused to directly answer questions about President Biden's mishandling of classified materials—referring reporters to the White House Counsel for answers to their questions. At one point, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked if President Biden is “involved in a cover-up”? 3:55pm- While appearing on Fox News, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) told Maria Bartiromo that “Americans would be shocked if they saw how many connections the Biden family had to people directly affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party.” 4:05pm- While on ABC's “This Week,” Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) dismissed President Biden's recklessness with classified documents—explaining, that his actions aren't keeping Americans “up at night.”  4:15pm- Surprisingly, in her opening monologue, ABC's Martha Raddatz was highly critical of President Biden's conduct. While appearing on television over the weekend, typical White House allies Democrat Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) voiced disapproval of Biden's recklessness with classified documents. If Biden is losing his friends in the media and the Senate, is he in serious trouble?  4:25pm- A Canadian man has gone viral on social media after expressing his objections to a new health guidance that suggests adults consume no more than two alcoholic beverages per week.  4:35pm- According to Ari Blaff of National Review, “Charles McGonigal, a former FBI official involved in the investigation of Donald Trump's ties to Russia, has been charged with violating sanctions and collaborating with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.” 4:45pm- According to Yahoo Finance, ChatGPT has passed an exam at University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. Professor Christian Terwiesch said the Artificial Intelligence chatbot would have received a B or B- on the examination had it been an actual student in the course. 5:00pm- According to reporting from Luke Rosiak of The Daily Wire, “[a] 14-year-old transgender runaway from Virginia endured a six-month nightmare that saw her twice fall into the hands of sex traffickers, the second time after Baltimore bureaucrats refused to return her to her home state because they accused her adoptive parents of “misgendering” her.”  5:05pm- In a new survey conducted at California's Davis Joint Unified School District, 6% of the student body self-identifies as transgender or nonbinary.  5:10pm- According to a report in the New York Times, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) summoned exorcists to her home to rid it of bad energy and evil spirits after her husband Paul Pelosi was attacked by a hammer-wielding intruder. Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of Nancy and Paul, said of the assault: “I think that really broke her. Over Thanksgiving, she had priests coming, trying to have an exorcism of the house and having prayer services.” 5:25pm- The Rich Zeoli Show bids farewell to the 2023 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. We laugh, we cry, and we play some of WEF's greatest moments. See you in 2024, Klaus Schwab! 5:30pm- The gunman suspected of killing 10 people at Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California ended his own life after being pulled over by police on Sunday.  5:45pm- When questioned by reporters, Karine Jean-Pierre could not point to a single instance demonstrating that President Joe Biden takes classified documents seriously.  5:50pm- An avian flu outbreak has caused egg prices to skyrocket across the United States. One state hit particularly hard: California—due to its requirement that all chicken in the state be free-range, which is more expensive. According to a report from CBS San Diego, some citizens have become so desperate for affordable eggs that they've begun crossing the U.S. Southern border to gain access to cheaper prices.  6:05pm- While appearing on Meet the Press, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) hinted that he might run for president in 2024—and, notably, refused to commit to supporting President Joe Biden's potential candidacy in 2024.  6:20pm- According to auditors, the Pentagon cannot account for over $220 billion in military gear given to contractors—which includes ammunition, missiles, and torpedoes.   6:55pm- In his memoir, “The Spare,” Prince Harry references his private parts fifteen times—including one especially awkward story. Rich makes us listen to a clip from the audio book…

Hello and welcome to the Enchanted Ears Podcast, where we discuss anything and everything Disney. Before we jump into the main topic, it's time for a little Disney News! This week in Disney News, the Splash Mountain redo is moving ahead with more images coming out this past week. Splash Mountain is set to close at Disney World on January 23, 2023.  You can now cancel your dining reservations up to 2 hours before without incurring a charge.  Lastly, a new Enchanted director's commentary with Kevin Lima is on Youtube now. It's designed to be synced up to the movie to give you a peek behind the scenes of many of the facets of being a director of one of the best Disney live-action movies of all time!  Good journey! Over Thanksgiving break, we had the pleasure of going to the Galactic Starcruiser Hotel in Disney World. So this week, we're going to have 2 episodes. This one's our Halcyon 101 crash course. Our second one will be a deeper dive into our experience. So enjoy this spoiler-free episode and if you're curious, you can listen to the second episode later this week that's rife with spoilers!  On this episode, we discuss the backstory of the Halcyon and its characters. We share some insights about how to best enjoy the Starcruiser. Then we answer some general questions about the ship and our experience. Finally, we end by answering the all-important question: Was it worth it?   As always, thank you so much for listening! Don't forget to check us out on Facebook and Youtube or submit a question/topic for us to discuss on a future episode or support us on Patreon. Have a magical week!

Thanksgiving is our favorite time of the year and we love to spend Thanksgiving Eve with our special friends.  It's a Taking the Over Thanksgiving night special episode with Jason from Dome Patrol.

Bob Garfield sits down with private equity tycoon and author David Rubenstein to discuss his latest book, The American Experiment: Dialogues on a Dream, consisting of interviews with scholars and other notable Americans.TEDDY ROOSEVELT: Surely, there never was a fight better worth making than the one which we are in.BOB GARFIELD: Welcome to Bully Pulpit. That was Teddy Roosevelt, I'm Bob Garfield, with Episode 23… “The Botched Experiment.”In his day job, David Rubenstein is a private equity tycoon who made his fortune buying undervalued companies, restructuring them into profitability for his investors and earning huge management fees as a steward of their stakes. The Carlyle Group, which he founded, has enriched him to the tune of $4.5 billion. Rubenstein also has many side hustles, from philanthropy to amateur historian to T.V. interviewer of the rich and powerful. In these excerpts from Bloomberg T.V. we hear George W. Bush and Oprah Winfrey.RUBENSTEIN: Over much of the past three decades I've been an investor, the highest calling of mankind, I've often thought, was private equity, and then I started interviewing. GEORGE W. BUSH: (laughs)RUBENSTEIN: When I watch your interviews I know how to do some interviewing. OPRAH: (laughs)His conversations with cultural, political and business icons have been edited into two books, the latest being The American Experiment: Dialogues on a Dream. Collected within are conversations with the likes of Madeline Albright, Ken Burns, Henry Louis Gates Jr. Wynton Marsalis and Billie Jean King.While acknowledging inequities and fault lines in our society, these conversations are in all a celebration of the so-called “American experiment,” which Rubenstein compares to the unique assortment of genes that determine the nature of the societal organism. Had they not converged, he says, “we would not be who we are, we would not be who we are. Rubenstein joins me now. David, welcome to Bully Pulpit.RUBENSTEIN: My pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me.GARFIELD: Your book takes these 13 genes and kind of divides them up among various scholars and cultural icons. What's on the list? RUBENSTEIN:Well, the genes are ones like the belief in the democracy, the belief in the importance of voting rights, the importance of of things like the military should not be in control of the civilian government, the civilians should control the military, the belief in the importance of diversity and importance of the belief in and then having elections and the right to vote. Those are the kind of things I think are parts of our culture; now, increasingly, the belief in diversity is a very important part of our culture, and the belief in the American dream is an important part of our culture. GARFIELD: I want to begin, as you do in the book with the Democracy Gene and your conversation with Harvard professor Harvard Professor Jill Lepore, author of the staggering 900 page survey of American democracy, titled These Truths. She has two insights which blew me away. One was the democratizing role of permitting personal bankruptcies, non-corporate bankruptcies — which was unknown to the world — and which played out as a safety net for entrepreneurial risk. Right in your wheelhouse, that one.RUBENSTEIN:Yes, her point is that when individuals couldn't pay their debts before they were put in jail as opposed to be allowed to be bankrupt, and that the fact that that was changed was an incentive for people to try to take greater risks than they might have taken before. So, yes, it's a very good point that she made. GARFIELD: Yeah, freedom of religion it ain't, but has taken an outsized role in the development of the democracy, but also the American form of capitalism. RUBENSTEIN: That's correct. You know, remember in our country we started, which started for religious freedom, but only to make sure that people could worship the way that those people wanted to worship. The Puritans and pilgrims didn't really want people to worship any way other than theirs. Now we have a system where people can worship the way they want it. But our Founding Fathers honestly didn't believe so much in the idea that you could worship any religion you wanted.GARFIELD: Yeah. Hold that thought because we will return to it. Lepore's second poignant observation was the grotesque collateral damage of the victorious American Revolution and that damage being the perpetuation of slavery, which the British had vowed to abolish. Instead, slavery and its associated injustices have been with us now for 400 years. You used the term original sin. Now, at least in Catholic doctrine, that is something inherent that permanently corrupts our nature, and it has sure done that, slavery has. Now you are in the valuation racket. Was the independence from Britain worth the incalculable human cost? RUBENSTEIN: Well, counterfactuals and history are always difficult to come up with and give definitive answers. I think they — if we had not won the Revolutionary War, I suspect we would have become like Canada, a member of the Commonwealth of Britain, and basically had pretty much the country we've had. But I think that the British probably would have ended slavery quicker than we did, though, because Britain had ended slavery in its country before. But I don't know that it was going to be that easy to end slavery that quickly in the 1700s; the economy of the South increasingly depended on it.GARFIELD All right. So if the slave trade was, as you put it, our original sin, after 150 years came the the bloodbath of the Civil War and after that, the reconstruction of the South, brief, as it was. You spoke to Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., about the ruinous backlash to reconstruction from the infamous compromise of 1877 that effectively obliterated reconstruction and laid the foundation for Jim Crow and white supremacy to the retrograde Plessy v. Ferguson “separate but equal” decision. Gates also told you something I'd never heard of that, the newly restored white power structure called itself “Redemption” — that was how they described the the end of reconstruction. It occurs to me that maybe this foreshadows today's Christian Right using biblical text to whitewash what to my eyes are obscene ideas. With redemption like that, who needs sin? RUBENSTEIN: Well, the redemption that he was referring to was basically the belief that they had restored the white order that had existed before the Civil War. Their so-called lost cause of those in the South was what they believed in, that they had a cause — not to preserve slavery, that was what they were saying they weren't fighting for as much as preserving the southern way of life. But in the end, it was really to preserve slavery. But they believed that they were restoring the original sin or restoring the Southern Order was what redemption was all about. GARFIELD: Now, since the end of World War Two, there have been acts of legislation and judicial decisions now enshrined in law — the principles of the founding documents codified: women's suffrage, desegregation, the Miranda decision about the rights of the accused criminals, removing prayer from public schools, marriage equality and so on, as the United States followed a general Western path towards liberal democracy. These very advances have infuriated conservatives for 60, 70 years, because they believe that their values and their hegemony are under attack. Make America Great Again seems to share a viewpoint with Redemption. Which country are we, do you think? Are we open hearts or are we closed minds? RUBENSTEIN: Well, that's a difficult question to answer. I would say that the beginning, the rhetoric, of the Founding Fathers was wonderful: all men are created equal. But as we all know, we had slavery; we didn't allow women to have certain rights, including the right to vote; so we've been trying to live up to the rhetoric over the 250 years, and we still have a long way to go. Many people in this country, as you suggest, are not happy with the idea that minorities have the same rights that majorities have, that women have the same rights as men have, that people of different skin color are to be treated the same as whites. There are many people who think that that's not necessarily the way the country should be. In my view, that's a mistake, but that's the way that many people look at the situation.GARFIELD: A mistake? I would say a nightmare — an ongoing nightmare. To what extent do you believe that what we haven't done as a nation to fulfill our founding promises has corrupted the American experiment?RUBENSTEIN:  The American experiment has been evolving over 250 years. It still has a long way to go. We still are a country that more people want to come to than any other country. Forty-seven million people in this country are immigrants. Very few people leave this country voluntarily, so it's still the best country on the face of the Earth. But we have these challenges that are just endemic. One of the challenges is income inequality, racial discrimination, also homelessness and illiteracy. We have an enormous amount of illiteracy in this country. It's hard to believe that such a wealthy country can have 14 percent of its population being functionally illiterate. But anyway, that's the case. So I would say that we are a country of — it's a tale of two cities, as Charles Dickens might say. We have the wealthy people, the internet-connected people, the people that are well-educated, and then we have the underclass. And I think the gap between those two is getting wider and wider. GARFIELD:  Well, we shall return to this. And in fact, let's turn now to the subject of capitalism, which you discussed with author Bhu Srinivasan. He says that the notion, and we discussed this earlier, the notion of religious pilgrims fleeing persecution and putting down roots in the new world is at best exaggerated, such as in this educational video.NARRATOR: About 400 years ago, 13 years after the first English settlement in America called Jamestown, there was another group of travelers who came to America in search of religious freedom. They wanted to worship God in their own way and separate from the Church of England.That America was a capitalist endeavor, an explicitly capitalist endeavor from the get-go, supercharged by the industrial revolution, the invention of the cotton gin, the Louisiana purchase and, of course, slavery. And we know it has all yielded a superpower of unimaginable wealth and influence in the world. Yet you have these regrets about inequity and you regret those who, in your terms, have been left behind. How so? RUBENSTEIN: Well, many people in this country have believed in the American dream and have lived the American dream. I feel I have lived the American Dream coming from very modest roots and to be more successful in life than my parents ever dreamed possible. But many people have given up on the American dream, and they think that they can't catch up to where they should be or where they'd like to be. And therefore, we have lots of poverty, lots of inequities, and it's a real challenge. GARFIELD: Yeah, Kristin Lems's song comes to mind.LEM: (singing) It's $1200 a month before the SSI and tax, the take-home pay is 900 and a half, and the rent takes half of that leaving $475, and a hundred for the groceries to keep us all alive…RUBENSTEIN: Overall, I think the American experiment has worked reasonably well, but not perfectly well. And I think right now the country is assessing whether we can move forward together or whether we're just going to move forward in a divided way if move forward is the right verb. Because right now the Congress is divided. We have a very difficult time getting anything through Congress, and social progress is made very, very sparingly right now and it's been hurt a lot by COVID because a lot of people have been left further and further behind than they were before COVID.GARFIELD: [00:11:48] Yeah, well, more details on the collateral damage: In the past 50 years, as the inflation-adjusted GDP has grown 400 percent, real wages have grown 10 percent. Now, you've just enumerated some of the reasons that society has failed its citizens. You say “regrettable,” I'd say “s**t show.” But turning it to you, not as an author or interviewer or a businessman, but to you as a citizen: I've gone through your writings and I don't see you advocating for more regulation of banks, or high marginal tax rates or higher minimum wages, or a far more robust social welfare system to provide for working parents or universal preschool or free higher education or other entitlements such as Europe largely provides. I mean, if we were to accept your DNA analogy — and it's a pretty good one — must we not also recognize the fact of genetic mutations, changes or errors in the DNA that can make the organism adapt or just go completely haywire? As a video from HealthTree University explains:MAN: Every once in a while a mistake occurs in a gene, in which one of those bases, one of those coding segments, gets altered and if it gets altered in a gene that causes more cells to more rapidly divide, that's a mutation we want to know about.”GARFIELD: Such as: campaign finance, systemic racism, gerrymandering, deregulation, vilification of the free press, stripped away voting rights and what I see as the broken founding promise to promote the general welfare. In short, David, you've achieved the American dream, but what the hell has happened to so many others? RUBENSTEIN: Well, obviously, the American dream hasn't worked for everybody, and we have lots of social challenges here. We are not likely to go to the European style of social capitalism or socialism that many European countries take great pride in; it's just not endemic to our American system. Capitalism has been ingrained in our system, and capitalism leaves a lot of people behind. So I just don't think we're going to change it dramatically. I haven't written on all these issues because that's not my role in life, probably, to address every social issue as possible. And I, you know, my basic mission in life has been to kind of move forward my career. I'm now giving away all my money, but giving away all my money is not going to solve our social problems, I don't have enough money to solve those problems. So I'm trying to point out some of the challenges, but I don't claim to be a great reformer and I don't claim to be a politician. If I had the answers to all these problems, I would have been in Iowa and New Hampshire a long time ago.GARFIELD: All right. We will continue momentarily, but please let me remind you what we are trying to achieve here with Bully Pulpit and the other BooksmartStudios.org podcasts. We are here to coalesce a community of listeners who value complexity over glibness, argument over doctrine, curiosity over certainty.  It's a community, in other words, built around both skepticism and  intellectual honesty. But as our friends in public broadcasting also incessantly remind you, it is a costly enterprise. Our content is largely free of charge, but our future hinges on your willingness  to pitch in. Please consider a paid subscription, which gets you not only our basic offerings, but bonus content from all three shows and my weekly column, which is a really, really good MRI of my tortured soul. Eighty-four bucks a year — less than a preowned 1985 Cabbage Patch doll on eBay. Please consider investing in BooksmartStudios.org, and please, please rate us on iTunes. Those ratings and reviews really matter. Now then, I was about to ask David Rubenstein my next question.You say that you don't see us going towards the European model of —RUBENSTEIN: That's correct. GARFIELD: — socialist capitalism or capitalist socialism, where there's greater entitlements, the welfare state is much more robust. Now, apart from our particular political problems of the moment, why do you think we'll not veer in that direction?RUBENSTEIN: Because I think the country is not, in its DNA, a socialist country. We've experimented with things that are maybe not as capitalist-oriented as we currently have and during the Great Depression, there was a view that maybe socialism would be the better system, but we've rejected that in the country by and large and I would say right now, it's hard to see any interest in the kind of socialist capitalist system that they have in Europe. If anything, we're probably retrogressing and providing fewer social benefits in some ways than we provided in the past. GARFIELD: Although, It was never great. Here's an excerpt from the Phil Donahue Show in 1979, where an audience member challenged economist Milton Friedman — the high priest of trickle-down economics. I'm cutting off his answer; it's the questions that still resonate:WOMAN: Why is it we have so many millionaires and everything in the United States and we still have so many impoverished people who try to get up into the world. Why is it we have this lack of money where people who can't support themselves decently and get a decent job, where all these big men are up on top making oodles and oodles of money — they don't need it, they can only eat that much. FRIEDMAN: And what do you suppose they do, if they don't need it and don't use it —WOMAN: They hoard it.GARFIELD: And what about business regulation and soaking the rich? Well, at least at the highest marginal tax rates.RUBENSTEIN: Congress clearly reflects the fact that it doesn't want to do that. All the efforts to increase marginal tax rates don't seem to be getting very far. And I suspect that Congress is just not going to get there. Remember, the Congress is dividing pretty much 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, and it's generally thought that the Republicans will win Congress for the midterm elections, so I don't see any of those kinds of changes that you're talking about likely to happen. GARFIELD: This conversation on Bully Pulpit will follow a two-part series with Anne Nelson, who has written about the Council for National Policy, which I guess is an anodyne-sounding name for the great right-wing conspiracy. They have stuck to their knitting and put their shoulders to the wheel for 60 years to kind of hack the democratic system, to take advantage of gerrymandering and the Electoral College to create a kind of permanent majority in legislatures for what is, by the numbers, clearly a minority party. Does it concern you that these archaic structures of democracy are subverting democracy?RUBENSTEIN: Well, it's interesting. We believe in democracy, but actually, when the Founding Fathers created it, they didn't let American citizens vote for senators; the state legislatures did that. And we created the Electoral College, which is anti-democratic, you could argue. In fact, I think of the last seven presidential elections the person who got the most majority — the most votes — didn't necessarily become President. George W. Bush didn't get the majority of popular votes when he was elected President, and obviously Donald Trump didn't get the majority of popular votes when he was elected President. And so we've got a system where people who are minority, in terms of popular vote, often get elected President. It's not a perfect system, but it's not going to change. To change the system of electing presidents requires a constitutional amendment which requires two thirds of each house and three quarters of the states. And it's inconceivable that you're going to do that.GARFIELD: Such as in this educational video:MAN: “Of the nearly 7000 amendments proposed in the centuries since, only 27 have succeeded.”GARFIELD: There's a chapter in your book that is particularly dear to my heart: your conversation with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the subject of civics education. RUBENSTEIN: Right.GARFIELD: I myself am a co-founder of an organization called the Purple Project for Democracy, which seeks to address the plummeting faith and trust in American democracy and an accompanying appetite for extreme politics, including violence. It's my belief, and Sotomayor's, that a big problem is that Americans have lots and lots of opinions about government, but vanishingly little knowledge of even the most basic facts of how it all is meant to work and how it does work. Is that fixable? RUBENSTEIN: It's fixable, but we have to remember a couple of things. One, it has been a problem for some time. It's not like all of a sudden people don't know much about government. If you go back to surveys 50 years ago, it was a similar problem. Secondly, you're pointing out the reality that ninety one percent of people who take the citizenship test to become citizens who are foreigners pass, whereas a majority of Americans cannot pass these tests, whereas given by an organization recently in 49 out of 50 states, a majority of Americans couldn't pass the basic citizenship test that foreigners have to pass. So it's a sad situation. We don't teach civics very much anymore, as you know, in school and people know very little about the way our government works and operates.GARFIELD: And so there's ignorance; I don't mean that pejoratively, there's just a lack of basic knowledge. And there is the tidal wave of misinformation and disinformation, which competes very well against no information. Any thoughts about —RUBENSTEIN:Well, yes. Yes, look, I'm involved with a lot of civic education efforts and will announce some more projects that I'm going to support to do that. But right now, we have not only misinformation and disinformation, but we have I-don't-care information, which is to say some people put information out, they don't really care whether it's true or not, they just think it's politically helpful to them. And so we have another factor where a lot of people aren't really checking whether these facts are true when they say something and people are being misled, in my view, dramatically.GARFIELD: All of what we've discussed has made me look at America's future with a sense of doom. You don't see it that way.RUBENSTEIN: I don't think doom; I would say we've always had challenges. The Civil War was a big challenge, we got through that; the World War II was a big challenge, in many ways, we got through that. But clearly, the most recent stress-test of the election and the January 6th event is not a cause for optimism. So I think we have to address it, but I think we can't put our head in the sand and just say, “woe is me, the country is falling apart”; we have to try to do the best we can as you're doing and others are doing to educate Americans and basically inform them on the theory that the best informed democracy will be a better democracy. So we want to make our citizens well-informed. But it's not going to happen overnight. GARFIELD: Would you go long in American democracy? Would you short it? What?RUBENSTEIN: It depends on what period of time, of course, but I think generally nobody betting against American democracy has generally made a lot of money. America is going to be a strong country and a very powerful country for quite some time. Our democracy is not quite as beautiful as many people would like it to be, and many people around the world question whether our democracy is as good as we say it is. We say to people around the world, “Follow our system,” but many people say, “Well, your system isn't working so well, look what's going on in your country.”GARFIELD: One last thing, David. Over Thanksgiving, you hosted the President and the First Lady for a few days at your bungalow, is it Martha's Vineyard? I don't remember where your summer place is. But before they left, did they strip the beds? I mean, were there wet towels all over the place? Was Biden blasting his Motown playlist all night?RUBENSTEIN: Well, actually they used the place that I owned. They used it before, when he was vice-president. I was not there, so I can't talk about the issues that you're asking me about. But, you know, I did see him since then. I saw him at the Kennedy Center Honors over the weekend, he said he had a very good time. And he does listen to Motown a lot, as he said in his remarks at the White House recently.GARFIELD: Uh huh… So you don't know if he's a good houseguest. He didn't burn it down. RUBENSTEIN: I never heard any complaints from any of the people that have been working there. So I think he's a very good houseguest and I'm sure you know you'll be enjoying having him as your house guest at some point if you invited him.GARFIELD: Uh, well, it's a thought. It's a thought. Let's see. What can I say that would be even remotely funny? (Mumbles in Bob.) You know, I don't think it's possible. I don't think — I use 2% milk and I don't; I think he's a whole milk kind of guy. David, I want to thank you so much.RUBENSTEIN: My pleasure. Thank you very much.GARFIELD: Private equity billionaire David Rubenstein is author of The American Experiment: Dialogues on a Dream. All right, we're done here. Bully Pulpit is produced by Matthew Schwartz and Mike Vuolo. Our theme was composed by Julie Miller and the team at Harvest Creative Services in Lansing, Michigan. Bully Pulpit is a production of BooksmartStudios.org. I'm Bob Garfield. Get full access to Bully Pulpit at bullypulpit.substack.com/subscribe

Sean and Brad take a breather from sports movies and tackle a marathon of a documentary.  Over Thanksgiving, they watched every minute of Peter Jackson's new movie about the legendary Let It Be sessions called Get Back.  Cigarettes, toast, tea, and surprisingly, Ringo's air biscuits are covered.  It's a bonus mini episode!  At least Sean and Brad are more pleasant to listen to than Yoko's screeching.  Seriously, can she not just sing actual words into a mic?You too can watch Get Back on Disney Plus.Coming very soon, as promised, Fever Pitch.Support the show

Over Thanksgiving weekend, Bradley read 'Humankind: A Hopeful History' by Rutger Bregman and came away with big questions about his own worldview. Though there's one thing Bradley refuses to be hopeful about: The New York Mets.

Welcome to Bibble and Babble, the non-sensical musings between friends. This week we have no idea what we are taking about. Join us for a truly random Bibble and Babble Conversation. Over Thanksgiving break Bibble went to Goodwill and Babble had family fun. We both came up with a scheme at work to take breaks. Grab a cup of tea and join us today!

Over Thanksgiving break, the Supreme Court struck down New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s strict coronavirus related occupancy limits to 10 or 25 worshipers in churches and synagogues located in orange and red zones in the state. In a 5-4 per curiam decision, the majority sided with Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Agudath Israel, who argued that Cuomo’s COVID-19  regulations treated houses of worship differently from comparable secular institutions, especially considering the religious plaintiffs in question went above and beyond in preventing COVID-19 outbreaks within their doors.    “From the standpoint of the plaintiffs,” David argues, “it’s sort of a double whammy of good facts. One, expressions of animus from public officials and hypocrisy from public officials. And two, they’re coming to the court with clean hands.” Later in the episode, David and Sarah also dive into a host of abortion related lawsuits and the U.S. census case before ending with some thoughts on election litigation. Show Notes: -Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, New York v. Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of New York, Jacobson v. Massachusetts, South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over Thanksgiving weekend 2009, Tiger Woods crashed his Escalade into a tree. In the tabloid drama that followed, Tiger's picture-perfect image was shattered, too.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I had so many quality influences growing up, but not many in the entrepreneurial path until my mom remarried Paul Tibbitts when I was 10 years old. Paul grew up with entrepreneur parents who owned multiple businesses, held real estate, owned an airplane, and understood excellence in all they put their hands to. I didn't understand this until later in life and this episode shares my journey.Monty & Shellie Tibbitts were wonderful to me as a step-grandson. I watched them and always wondered HOW they had so many people working for them, how they had two new Jags in the driveway, how they had a beautiful main house and beach house, how they could afford their own private airplane, boat, and wave-runners. I wondered WHY they entertained so extravagantly, inviting family and business associates to their homes & boat. I wondered why they were members of private golf clubs and yacht clubs. To be honest, I never connected my wonderings of HOW to WHY. It never struck me that they purposely lived their lives with their family and people of influence to better their life and the lives around them. I never understood the extraordinary efforts they took in presenting their home for parties with classical music in the background, jumbo shrimp bowls, perfectly matched table decor, a clean home, fine clothing & jewelry, and even a live-in cook to care for the family & guests. If I was wiser as a kid, I would have noticed that the way they lived their lives is the reason why they had what they had. Instead, I viewed their life through the wrong lens thinking they were "Rich People" who were flaunting. That mindset wasn't often, but I'd be lying if I didn't think it. The truth was this. They weren't flaunting anything. They just understood something about relationships and excellence that I did not. Plus, their character and the way they treated me was always first class. That's why I was so saddened when Pop-Pop Monty passed away last year. Over Thanksgiving, we finally fulfilled a promise to visit Grandma Shellie for brunch. When we arrived, I was brought back to childhood with the smells, sounds, and appearance of excellence all around me. It was something to behold. This time it clicked. I am a Presentation Cleaning Specialist with over a decade of training by realtors & stagers how to prepare a house for sale. I've used this in real estate cleaning, office, and recurring house cleaning to great advantage. Therefore, I asked Grandma Shellie."Why do you go through such effort to make everything look so good even when it's just your family coming over?"Grandma Shellie replied. "Kenny, you eat with your eyes before before you eat with your Mouth".That was all I needed to hear. I understood everything I ever witnessed as a kid. I understood that every wonder I had aligned. You must be congruent. If the way your live your life at home and with guests is exquisite and excellent, your business products & services must also be excellent. Monty & Shellie knew that they were public servants as business owners and therefore they wanted the community to know that they cared so much that even the finest details were covered in excellence. This is why they were so richly blessed with growing companies and employees that loved them.The proof of their lifetime commitment was during Monty's Memorial Service when so many shared their memories. I was so impressed with a life well lived. Honestly, I am not sure that I can attain the level they ascended, but I can start now and so can you. Be excellent.

Over Thanksgiving break, I had the opportunity to go on a trip to Costa Rica with just my family of four. Now before I talk more about it you don't have to take a trip to unplug, this was just my planned unplugged time and I'm bringing it to my daily life. I turned my phone completely off for an entire week. I didn't wake up and check my phone in the morning. I didn't lay down for bed and check social media just one more time. I found myself not being short with the kids, not fussing at my husband, and I thought wow there is something to this. So after you listen to today's episode try to unplug with me! Start with two-hour chunks and see how you do! Plan ahead your time off your phone and stick to it. You've got this! Want to learn more about Community Connections head over to their website http://www.communityconnectionsar.org/ I hope you join me in this unplugging challenge daily and as always share your journey on Instagram with #walkinginworth! Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to You’re Worth It!, so you don’t miss a single episode! If you would like to get in touch, head over to jessicahefley.com to see the free resources, collaborate or just send us a message!

Over Thanksgiving break we sit down with men's soccer leading scorer Tyler Young. With Tyler we discuss his multi-talented personality as we touch on his team's historic season, then focus in on the effect that music has had on not only his life, but those around him. 

Over Thanksgiving weekend, I stopped watching news, checking Twitter, and binging political podcasts- which I'm pretty sure upped my IQ by a solid 20 points. I didn't even spend extra time reading, writing, or listening to classical music. I just decluttered my mind for a few days and feel so much clearer now. I think there is a ripple from how the news makes us feel individually to the ills we see at a national level in America today. "If people in the media cannot decide whether they are in the business of reporting news or manufacturing propaganda, it is all the more important that the public understand that difference, and choose their news sources accordingly." -Thomas Sowell Individual: I feel my blood pressure spike when watching main stream outlets, even if it's people I agree with, because that's what it's intended to do. That's not healthy. I switched more to podcasts because the format is less conducive to the short segments of outrage that the MSM does to maintain viewership, but it's still so often top of mind. It's important to be aware of the news around the world, but watching the news is not necessarily the best thing. Family & Friends: Not only does politics divide family and friends now, but the news outlet you watch does. The siloing of ideas to ideology is dangerous, but to present one as news is utterly, and purposefully, destructive. This divides people along fanatical lines rather than allowing people who should love each other to unite despite these issues. Community: What happens to families and friends occurs in communities as well as the people segregate by ideology. This makes it hard to be a minority viewpoint in any place, so people become more entrenched, which reinforces the ideology and pushes out any disagreeing viewpoint. America: Now, since we have nowhere to turn in our personal lives- family, friends, community- we turn to the national politics, social media, or mainstream outlets to find a tribe. Instead of falling into a tribe that has disagreements, scuffles, and other struggles, we find ourselves in a tribe based on an ideology shared by people online or on TV that we will never meet. Join the Conversation of Our Generation!!! Subscribe to The Conversation of Our Generation's Podcast now on iTunes!! Want to learn more, but don't know what to read? Check out my Amazon Affiliate Page, and use those links to shop for books to help you learn and grow! Subscribe to our email list for our Recommended Reading, reviews on books and other content that can grow your store of knowledge. New products will be coming soon, exclusively for subscribers. If you would like to join me in the Conversation of Our Generation, follow me on Twitter @ConOfOurGen, Facebook Conversation of Our Generation Facebook Page and SteemIt @jamell Also, you can find me on YouTube Conversation of Our Generation YouTube Channel. I am just trying to join the Conversation of Our Generation. Let's get the dialogue going with comments, shares, questions- just say something! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/conofourgen/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/conofourgen/support

Over Thanksgiving weekend many women who offer sex related services such as nude videos and photos through social media were being mass reported to the IRS by men. The issue quickly went viral with #ThotAudit trending in the top 10 on Twitter. From the MGTOW and INCEL movement to the typical Instagram model this issue had many people intrigued. The Apes break this situation down and give their take on the many social layers of this topic. The guys share their thoughts on the new Lion King "live-action" teaser trailer. Finally, the guys talk about the best video game to movie adaptions and why so many video game based movies end up flopping in the box office.

Over Thanksgiving dinner they say to avoid talking about faith and politics... so with the holidays approaching, we're going to talk about both! Sponsors: Deeply Curious Merch Articles referenced: https://nyti.ms/2QiNWbz – https://nyti.ms/2yKRqgZ Cody: YouTube — Instagram — Twitter Sarah: YouTube — Instagram — Twitter

Encore release August 25, 2018. Encore release May 18, 2017.   Critics of Barack Obama take the president to task for not having enough god-talk in his annual Thanksgiving message. Not so much a War on Christmas as a Theocratic Beachhead Established over the Christmas Break: Georgia Republican Senator Bill Heath submitted a bill on November 15th to make the national motto ("In God We Trust") mandatory on all state license plates. If they want to cover it up, motorists can purchase a sticker with their county's name for an extra dollar.  Over Thanksgiving weekend, the Pope addressed a delegation of US bishops to say that child molestation isn't just a Catholic problem--it's a societal problem. Finally, we share our Top Five Holiday Gift Suggestions for Nonbelievers: David's picks: 5. The Faith Healers by James Randi, Inside Scientology by Janet Reitman, or any number of freethought-related books. 4. A Kindle, because portable freethought has never been so easy. 3. Membership in the new Atheist Alliance of America 2. DVD of the recent AAA convention, including Christopher Hitchens' Richard Dawkins Award acceptance speech (when it's available). 1. Flying Spaghetti Monster merch. John's picks: 5. Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens. 4. Stocking stuffers from Unemployed Philosopher's Guild. 3. Books about 19th century fossil hunter Mary Anning: The Fossil Hunter by Shelley Emling, Remarkable Creatures by Tracey Chevalier, and Curiosity by Joan Thomas. 2. Trip to the Reason Rally and the American Atheists convention in March 2012. 1. The Life an Morals of Jesus of Nazareth by Thomas Jefferson (aka "The Jefferson Bible") [Amazing high-speed photography by Alan Sailer] CONTACT Visit our blog at AmericanFreethought.com. Visit the podcast at AmericanFreethought.LibSyn.com. Email us at john@americanfreethought.com or david@americanfreethought.com. (John and David are available, either together or separately, to speak in person to your group.) If you like what you hear, take a moment and leave feedback on our iTunes page. Join our communities at Facebook, Atheist Nexus, Think Atheist or Yahoo Groups. Shop through us at Amazon.com or at CafePress.com. If you'd like to donate to the operation of this podcast, you can contribute through PayPal to editor@scifidimensions.com. We promise not to spend it on beer. November 20, 2011. Hosted by John C. Snider and David Driscoll.  

Jason Hartman kicks off the show today asking his ultimate question: compared to what? It's a question that will serve you well in all aspects of your life and will guide you down the right path. He also wants to invite you to join him on any of his adventures scheduled for this year to make your vacation planning even easier. Then Jason wraps up his interview with Macro Watch's Richard Duncan. The two tackle the topic of rising interest rates, better uses for going into further debt than giving it to tax reform, how the Fed will react to a tanking stock market, and what we can expect to see over the next few years. Key Takeaways: [3:53] Always view things in perspective, and remember, COMPARED TO WHAT? [6:16] Meeting fellow investors is crucial to success [8:09] Why doesn't Jason want you to plan any vacations this year? [11:41] Over Thanksgiving, while re-reading The Art of the Deal, Jason realized that Trump is a New York liberal Richard Duncan Interview: [14:26] What people don't realize about interest rates "People buy houses on a payment, not a price" [15:38] What the Fed will do if the market drops 10% and what else will happen if it drops 20% [18:57] What Richard wishes the government had done with the $1 trillion in new deficits that will occur from the new tax reform [23:31] Why Richard thinks the government can invest as wisely as private companies [27:58] What are the next few years going to look like? [30:30] People need to get very familiar with quantitative tightening Websites: www.RichardDuncanEconomics.com (promo code: GLOBAL for 50% off) www.JasonHartmanUniversity.com www.JasonHartmanIcehotel.com www.VentureAllianceMastermind.com

On this episode of the podcast, we tell you about one of the worst winter storms to ever hit the Appalachian region. Over Thanksgiving weekend of 1950, Pennsylvania and New York saw record flooding, parts of West Virginia saw five feet of snow, there were tornadoes and heavy rain on the eastern side of the […]

Over Thanksgiving, Ashley’s parents reveal that they still misunderstand her transgender status, claiming that she’s cross-dressing and that she’s making...

Over Thanksgiving, Ashley’s parents reveal that they still misunderstand her transgender status, claiming that she’s cross-dressing and that she’s making...