As many of us are encouraged to purchase, acquire and own items and objects around them, how do our possessions affect us? What is our relationship to them and what rationale do we give to keep them around? This week, we welcome Ayelet Ronen to discuss the ways in which our ownership of things may actually work in the reverse: that to an extent, they own us. We create space for them, take out insurance policies, polish, guard and at times personify them. But how do possessions prevent or limit certain actions and lifestyles? Are we at our happiest, best or healthiest because of our belongings?
Episode 228: To Be Truthful
Truth represents a foundational element in human life. Whether religious, personal, psychological or scientific, many of us live our lives in pursuit of or relationship to truths around us. We try to define, contain and create them. But what does it mean to live in a truthful way? Is it as simple as expressing truthful thoughts to others? This week, we’re joined by Dan Farina to reflect upon what it means to be truthful. What do truthful actions look and feel like? Is our society structured in a “truthful” way?
Episode 226: The Struggles of Rural America
Recent years have illuminated many of the divides and differences within American society and culture. In particular, as citizens around the world are predicted to congregate in cities in coming decades, rural populations are worthy of consideration and conversation. This week, we welcome Gabe Brison-Trezise to discuss some of the difficulties facing the inhabitants of rural America. From occupational challenges and shifts in cultural attitudes to birth rates and economic pitfalls, there are numerous struggles to contend with. How do literal distances complicate empathy for those living in vastly different ways? What steps can be taken to limit social differences?
Further Reading:
Bloomberg, “Dollar General Hits a Gold Mine in Rural America”
The New Republic, “J.D. Vance, The False Prophet of Blue America”
Splinter, “The Labor of Bringing a Baby Into Appalachia”
The Washington Post, “The next big thing in American regional cooking: Humble Appalachia”
Topic Magazine, “The Last Days of the Appalachian Poverty Tour”
Episode 222: A Pale Blue Launch I
What would you send into outer space to commemorate Earth and humanity, to a potential audience of alien life? This week, we begin a new interview series to tackle that question. In each entry, we’ll interview someone about the five objects - with a stipulation - they would place in a space capsule to launch into the starry beyond. For our inaugural episode, we spoke with Leland Holcomb about the five objects that he would launch - all of which had to contain glass.
Episode 218: To Trust with Power
In the realm of humanity, our world is often dictated by those who have power and how they wield it around the less-powerful. But are there individuals with whom we can trust power more readily than others? This week, Sam Whipple joins us to explore how the collective places faith or suspicion on those in power. How do we discern and describe moral or just leadership in contrast to people in “wrongful” power? Are individuals who least want power the ones we could most trust to wield it carefully?
