VOTING IN AMERICA

WAS THE 2016 ELECTION REALLY BETWEEN THE SAVIOR AND THE ANTICHRIST?  WHAT IS AT PLAY WHEN WE CHOSE A POLITICAL CANDIDATE?  DO THEY MERELY REPRESENT OUR INTERESTS AND VALUES, OR SOMETHING FAR DEEPER? WHAT MYTHS DO THEY TAP INTO IN ORDER TO SWAY THE PASSIONS OF THE ELECTORATE?  ARE WE ELECTING A PERSON ... OR A SUPERHERO?  THIS EPISODE LOOKS AT WHY WE VOTE HOW WE DO, THE IRRATIONALITY OF IT ALL, AND THE PHENOMENON OF DONALD TRUMP.  FOCUS:  RELIGION IN POLITICS – DID GOD CHOOSE TRUMP?

  MYTHS OF RACE

NONE OF US WANTS TO ADMIT IT, OR EVEN REALIZE IT.  BUT DEEP-SEEDED IDEAS ABOUT “US” AND “THEM” MAY BE AT THE ROOT OF THE MISTRUST AND CONFLICT WE HAVE IN RACE TODAY.  IN A COUNTRY THAT – FROM THE BEGINNING – WAS SETUP IN TERMS OF RACIAL “SUPERIORITY,” WE STILL STRUGGLE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE ISSUES IN PLAY, AND HOW THEY IMPACT OUR LIVES.  PERHAPS IT IS TIME TO FACE THE ROOTS OF OUR EMOTIONS AND FEARS TIED TO SKIN COLOR. FOCUS: HOW AMERICA WAS DESIGNED TO ADVANTAGE WHITES.

                                             
   PROPHECY AND THE END TIMES

AS IF ALL THE STUFF IN BETWEEN WAS NOT ENOUGH TO MESS WITH OUR HEADS, IT WOULD APPEAR HOW IT ALL STARTED AND HOW IT ALL ENDS ARE NOTIONS THAT POSSESS THE MOST MEANING.  AS SCIENCE HAS DETERMINED HUMAN ORIGINS, THE BATTLE TO CHANGE THE NARRATIVE IS AS STRONG AS EVER.  EVOLUTION AND CREATIONISM BOTH HAVE MEANING, BUT IN OPPOSING DIRECTIONS. AND END TIMES THEOLOGY – BOTH RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR – PLAYS AN ODD ROLE IN HAVING IT ALL MAKE SENSE.  FOCUS:  THE CHRISTIAN PUSH TO BRING ABOUT ARMAGEDDON NOW.

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LEFT V. RIGHT

WHY, IF YOU ARE A WHITE, CHRISTIAN REPUBLICAN, IS THERE A MUCH GREATER CHANCE OF YOU DECIDING THAT GLOBAL WARMING IS A HOAX?  AND IF ARE FOR SMALLER GOVERNMENT AND LOWER TAXES, WHY ARE YOU MORE LIKELY TO BE ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE?  HOW WE VIEW THE DEBATE ON GUNS, IMMIGRATION AND OTHER ISSUES TENDS TO GO ALONG PARTY LINES, GIVING US NOT JUST MEANING BUT A SENSE OF BELONGING WITH LIKE-MINDED OTHERS; A “TRIBE” THAT SHARES YOUR VIEW OF REALITY WILL ALWAYS BE A HUMAN NEED.  FOCUS:  GAY MARRIAGE – IT’S NOT ABOUT THEM, IT’S ABOUT OURSELVES.
 

 

 

MYTH IN MEDIA

JUST WHAT IS…”THE NEWS?”  IN AN AGE WHERE WE CAN CHOSE THE HEADLINES THAT JUST “FEEL RIGHT,” THE TRUTH ITSELF SEEMS OPEN TO DEBATE.  IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE TO PRESENT INFORMATION WITHOUT SOME DEGREE OF BIAS?  AS WE FIND COMFORT IN OUR VARIOUS “BUBBLES,” WE MAY BE MISSING INFORMATION WORTHY OF OUR ATTENTION.  BUT WHY SEEK THE TRUTH…WHEN WE CAN BE RIGHT???  FOCUS:  CONFIRMATION BIAS AND WHY THE MEDIA IS “LIBERAL.”

 

 

 

 

THE NEW NATIONALISM

FROM OUR EARLIEST DAYS WE LEARN THAT WE ARE THE BEST COUNTRY, WITH THE BEST IDEALS, THE BEST OPPORTUNITY, THE BEST PEOPLE, THE BEST HEROES, AND THE BEST WAY OF LIFE.  WE MAY BE ALL OF THAT, BUT OTHERS FEEL THE EXACT SAME – ABOUT THEIR COUNTRIES.  THIS EPISODE EXPLORES NATIONALISTIC FEELINGS THAT GIVE US MEANING AND PURPOSE IN LIFE, FROM MANIFEST DESTINY TO AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM, AND RISING LEVELS OF U.S. HUBRIS.  FOCUS:  DOES THE VALUE OF NATIONAL PRIDE OUTWEIGH THE DANGERS?

 

 

 THE MEANING OF WAR

IS THERE SOMETHING DEEP WITHIN US THAT ACTUALLY LIKES WAR?  DOES IT FEEL GOOD IN SOME PERVERSE WAY TO DEMONIZE AND EVEN OBLITERATE A PERCEIVED ENEMY?  THE IRAQ INVASION SERVES AS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW A SOCIETY CAN JUSTIFY ITS ACTIONS AND THEN SEEMINGLY HAVE AMNESIA ABOUT THE EVENTS.  FOCUS:  THE DRONES AND HOW THEY HAVE CHANGED THE RULES OF WAR, AND SANITIZED IT FOR OUR TASTES.
 

 

  GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN AMERICA

PERHAPS THE TWO MOST STUNNING FACTS WE LEARN AS HUMAN BEINGS ARE 1) THAT OUR LIVES WILL END (DEATH), AND 2) WHERE THOSE LIVES CAME FROM (SEX).  THESE SIMPLEST AND YET GRANDEST TRUTHS CREATE --- UNDERSTANDABLY – TREMENDOUS ANGST AND A PLETHORA OF MYTHS.  THIS EPISODE EXPLORES WHAT IT MEANS TO BE MALE AND FEMALE IN AMERICA, AND THE RULES OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN TO “THE MEANING OF IS.” FOCUS:  THE IDEA PUT FORTH BY A DOCTOR THAT HOMOSEXUALITY IS EVOLUTIONARY, WITH PURPOSEFUL FUNCTION.  WHAT IF?
 

 

  THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CONSPIRACY

THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ANCIENT RELIGIOUS STORIES AND MODERN MYTHS ARE MANY; NARRATIVES THAT REVEAL GREATER TRUTHS – LARGER THAN LIFE EVENTS CLOAKED IN MYSTERY, UNCERTAINTY AND ALTERNATE ACCOUNTS. FROM JFK TO ROSWELL, THE ILLUMINATI AND 9-11, MYTHS OF NEFARIOUS DOINGS HAVE PUT THE IDEA OF REALITY ITSELF UP FOR GRABS.  AND WITH THE ADVENT OF THE INTERNET – WE’RE JUST GETTING STARTED.  FOCUS: AS THE IDEA OF THE ILLUMINATI SHOWS, BELIEF IN A CONSPIRACY IS A STRONGER FORCE THAN THE CONSPIRACY ITSELF.

 

 U.S. JESUS

WHILE WE AMERICANS HAVE MANY MYTHS ABOUT OURSELVES, PERHAPS THE MOST VITAL IS THE EMERGENCE OF AMERICAN JESUS – THE ULTIMATE EXAMPLE OF “RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM.”  FOR IF WE WERE TO FOLLOW HIS TEACHINGS, WOULD WE HAVE THE LARGEST MILITARY, THE MOST WARS, AND THE MOST PEOPLE INCARCERATED? OR IS IT POSSIBLE THAT MANY QUOTES ATTRIBUTED TO HIM NEVER CAME FROM HIS MOUTH?    FOCUS:  HOW THE ATTRIBUTES WE GIVE TO GODS ARE REALLY ABOUT OURSELVES AND OUR AGENDAS. 
 

 

 

 

 

CONTENT EXPERTS: MYTH – DENNIS FORD, AUTHOR OF “THE SEARCH FOR MEANING.” MEDIA – BENJAMIN RADFORD, AUTHOR OF “MEDIA MYTHMAKERS.” POLITICS -- PROF. SAMUEL ABRAMS, SARAH LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY; RACE – DEBBY IRVING, AUTHOR OF “WAKING UP WHITE”