Heavy Things Lightly

Welcome back and welcome to a small announcement. This week we kick off a monthly (maybe biweekly series) talking about immersion and something like "flow." WAWTAR will bring on Field Workers, artists, and people who are looking to talk about deep immersion. Think you are a person like that? Reach out to Andrew at andrewschwark@first-things.org and let him know with a small pitch. For al...

Today John talks with Kilts Khalfan (a pen name, see bio below) to talk about how the West has lost its nations and instead adopted the corporation as its uniting principle. In effect, the West has become populated with Vending Machine People . Today is a dive into that idea. Bio (from the Dragon Common Room website): "Anticonservative, but definitely not antiChrist, Kilts is a Medieval think...

Hello and welcome back to "Why Are We Talking About Rabbits?" Paul Kingsnorth returns as a guest to talk about his path to Orthodoxy, what it took to get there and what Orthodoxy is in the modern world.  Kingsnorth is an English writer and thinker currently living in Ireland. Growing up he was actively involved in protests, at one point going so far to chain himself to a bridge. He has w...

This week WAWTAR takes a brief look at the telos underpinning almost all modern stories. The show Ozark provides a great contrast to that of Crime and Punishment by Feydor Dostoevsky. Redemption vs nihilism.  Beauty vs chaos. The material vs the spiritual.  You should definitely check out Keipi Restaurant 👉 www.keipirestaurant.org WAWTAR now has a Facebook group: Why Are We Talking About (More) R...

Welcome back Uncle Seth! This week it's monsters and how we deal with them in our culture. Also abortion and what the heck is going on there. But really, the question Heers and Seth try to come to grips with is, "What ideal is our country elevating above all else?" WAWTAR now has a Facebook group: Why Are We Talking About (More) Rabbits? Join us for more conversation at: https://www...

Orthodox priest, speaker, writer and long time friend of FTF joins Heers to talk about his ministry, the challenges men and women face in contemporary culture, and of course, the structure of reality. This one goes deep and you wont want to miss a second! Links: St. Paisios Brotherhood - https://www.stpaisiosbrotherhood.com/ Bulgakov, Philosophy of Economy - https://tinyurl.com/2p8dvwac Pageau, Th...

From a recent talk that John gave concerning the death and dying in the Old World. How do different cultures confront the ultimate unknown? And what is the status of the soul in our modern age? WAWTAR now has a Facebook group: Why Are We Talking About (More) Rabbits? Join us for more conversation at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/797121200908155 If you like this podcast, please consider leaving...

A growing trend in the NBA for seasons now has been the rise in players missing game time. As in more and more players are missing more and more games (previously unimaginable). is this laziness? Or is a reflection of something deeper, something tied to our western work ethic that is breaking down? WAWTAR now has a Facebook group: Why Are We Talking About (More) Rabbits? Join us for more conversat...

On a recent (domestic!) flight, Heers had the chance to see a rather interesting movie called the Night of the Kings, from the Ivory Coast (link below). The story it tells is fascinating and old world, but does everyone receive the story in the same way? Are other narratives constructed to fit a particular world view? Here comes a heavy dose of universal storytelling...lightly. Links: Night of the...

Most of us at one point or another have been on the receiving end of that phrase. Maybe we've even dished it out a few times. But what can this seemingly innocuous statement tell us about the culture we live in? To do that we go back to Aristotle and Plato and it gets old world fast here on WAWTAR. WAWTAR now has a Facebook group: Why Are We Talking About (More) Rabbits? Join us for more conv...

Jonathan Pageau rejoins John and WAWTAR for a sprawling conversation that winds between themes of Orthodoxy, proper aid, the internet, America, and what the future may hold for us. It's a lot of heavy ideas done lightly. Jonathan Pageau is a professional icon carver & founder of the Symbolic World podcast: https://thesymbolicworld.com/content/videos/ WAWTAR now has a Facebook group: Why A...

Fellow podcaster and philologist Richard Rohlin joins WAWTAR today to explore the roots of European Christianity and by extension American Protestant Christianity. Along the way John and Richard talk about Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and the history of the European church (just a little anyways). Links: Amon Sul Podcast: https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/amonsul WAWTAR now has a Facebook group: Why A...

Using three stories pulled from our work and observations on science and thought today, John wonders aloud about the decline of meekness. He dives into the bicameral mind, the overthrow of the old gods and the rise of a new, singular one. Please consider helping our sister organization as they attempt to continue giving critical care to Guatemalans and Nicaraguans: he-he.org WAWTAR now has a Faceb...

Uncle Seth! Need we say more? Today he and John talk about the new (old?) American God: politics. Seth and John take a little "test" designed for middle school students to help determine where they land on the political spectrum. Are Seth's new world ideals Liberal? Are John's old world leanings Conservative? Time to find out... Links: Political Views Survey: www.first-things.o...

This week Heers talks with Fr. Deacon Ananias about science, scientism, and our cultural obsession with it. Borrowed from Fr. Ananias's website: "Fr. Deacon Ananias Sorem, PhD is CEO, Founder, and President of Patristic Faith. Father is an Orthodox apologist and Professor of Philosophy at Fullerton College and Carroll College... Father is the author of several articles and peer-reviewed...

Today on WAWTAR, Heers is excited to bring on the authors of the book, Development in Mission. Monty Lynn, Rob Gailey, and Derran Reese discuss poverty alleviation, the traps missionaries and foreign aid workers can easily find themselves in, and how we can all adopt a better method moving forward. From their book description: "Jesus's words, "Blessed are you who are poor," are...

This week Heers takes a look at a new world phenomena of becoming our own kings and queens. In Haiti this even goes so far as building castles...with moats. But in breaking all this down we need to examine what royalty throughout history and whether or not we really want the same today... WAWTAR now has a Facebook group: Why Are We Talking About (More) Rabbits? Join us for more conversation at: ht...

So what the heck happened with Whoopi and her (Old World?) take on race? Heers takes a quick look at why Whoopi may not be as crazy as she seems and how her ideas are fundamentally an Old World view. Don't think that's true? Get ready for the Greeks to blow your mind. Links: Race and Ethnicity in the Classical World: https://www.amazon.com/Race-Ethnicity-Classical-World-Translation/dp/16...

The Supra (also sometimes known as a Keipi ) is an ancient feasting dinner from the Georgian Republic. Today Heers talks about how this feast unites heaven and earth and exposes deep truths about ourselves and each other. You can find more information about the Supra below. Links: The Symbolism of the Supra, Daniel Padrnos: https://thesymbolicworld.com/articles/the-symbolism-of-the-supra/ 2 Part S...

Welcome back! We apologize for the short hiatus last week, but we are back on schedule and this week John talks postmodernism. What were all those crazy French philosophers talking about? And how is it in fact a sort of return to old world thinking? If you're interested in joining our podcourse and want a deep dive into the same themes and ideas as WAWTAR follow the link below to find out mor...

Jake Marquez and Maren Morgan join the WAWTAR podcast to talk about the major ecological and societal issues facing us today. Jake and Maren are partners, environmental activists and the creators of "Death in the Garden," a multimedia project that spans film, writing, and podcasting to talk about and educate on issues like globalization, our cultural aversion to death and its consequence...

Uncle Seth returns to help answer the burning question, "What or who is an American?" As expected there are some differences of opinion. As always John takes the time to lift Seth's spirits at the end with comments from the listeners. If you're interested in joining our podcourse and want a deep dive into the same themes and ideas as WAWTAR follow the link below to find out mor...

This week Heers returns to wrap up the question of children. In the first part he examined the new world view on children. This week he goes old school, as in 7th century old school. Historically how were children viewed? And how does that inform our understanding of them today? If you're interested in joining our podcourse and want a deep dive into the same themes and ideas as WAWTAR follow...

Nicholas Kotar joins WAWTAR again for a discussion about the narratives we are using to find our way through life. Nick walks us through ideas of rootedness in story telling, the coming metaverse reality, and how it all got to this point. Nicholas Kotar is a storyteller, vocalist, and translator with his own podcast, In a Certain Kingdom, that explores Slavic myths and their symbology: https://pod...

What are children? Cosmic mystery? Pain in the ...? It's a very large question, but one that invites all sorts of interesting discussion when viewed from different perspectives. In the West we see a rise in the percentage of parents regretting having children. Is that even a possibility in the Old World? Join Heers as he takes on children in part one of this two part series. If you're in...