Intellectual Freedom Podcast

For democracy to operate effectively it must have a free, vibrant, unbiased, and ethical press. The media is supposed to be the people's watchdog. Sadly, 4 out of 5 Americans (86%) believe news organizations advocate political viewpoints rather than report the news. This now extends to our social media platforms. The distrust has brought Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 i...

Joseph Stalin, ironically, once said, "the people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." Ouch. That quote stings a bit coming from a communist considering the current state of our 2020 election heading almost certainly to recounts, court challenges, and maybe even the Supreme Court.  Who knows? We made it, sort of, past the election. Yet the...

It has been said an American will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but will not cross the street to vote in a national election.  In 2016 only about 57% of Americans voted, over 80 million people didn't bother. I am not talking about the vaunted "undecided" the pollsters fixate, I mean Americans who choose to not participate, at all. There is a massive block of disengaged citi...

Society conditions us to conform. A complex civilization runs most efficiently when most people conform to a life of complacency, while the few push the boundaries of excellence. Most people willingly give in to this societal pressure. The beginning of living a fulfilled life is to understand the condition of your own mind. Most people, unfortunately, walk around stuck in a meek and timid state, u...

What if I told you the overwhelming majority of Americans never post anything political on social media?  What if I told you most voters don't think if you vote for Biden you are a socialist, or if you vote for Trump you lack intelligence? What if I told you 97% of the political tweets come from 10% of the users? What if I told you the daily "my team" versus "their team" p...

A Buddhist proverb says, "the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves." If this is true, we have a whole lot of people focused on themselves and not seeking truth or understanding.  A recent poll found 84% of Americans are angrier today compared with a generation ago. In the polarized and tribalistic world we live in, our...

If there was a theme song for the election rhetoric of 2020, it would be R.E.M.'s chart-topping song "It's the end of the world as we know it" from 1987.  We have been warned incessantly by both candidates that if they are not elected president, the world will come to an end in various creative ways. The truth is we suffer more in our imaginations than we often do in our realit...

Life is complicated. We tell ourselves this every day. Yet, the great spiritual leaders, philosophers, and intellectuals since the beginning of time have shown us the way to a deeper and more fulfilling life. This podcast suggests what you need is not more of anything. What you actually need is less. Yet, the human propensity to complicate life continues to be a serious problem in American society...

One thing that has become apparent is absolute power vested in our two political parties has proven our democracy to be un-democratic. The rhetoric from the mouths of the RNC and DNC is more Stalin-esque in their angry diatribes targeting the 'the other side' than the voice of an open democracy. Polls consistently show voter trust in politicians is at an all-time low, as well as the beli...

A famous French dramatist Jean Racine once said, "life is a tragedy to those who feel, and a comedy to those who think." Our emotions are powerful. They can help us reach our highest aspirations, but left unchecked can lead to destruction individually and collectively as a society. Politicians want voters angry, anxious, and fearful. These emotions elicit strong responses, which aids the...

Let's be honest. Every day we are closer to death.  You and I may have a lot of time or maybe we don't, we just don't know. Going through this hectic and busy modern life we live, our perspective gets clouded and we fail to appreciate the significance of time.  It is actually the most precious thing we possess, but we tend to treat it so flippantly all too often.  We can always get...

Before the debate began, I had a feeling of dread about even watching it.  My fear ended up being well-founded.  I lost 90 minutes of my life I cannot get back. I don't know who the winner of the debate was, but I sure know who lost--the American People. The thought that middle or high school students, college students, and other young adults would see the behavior of 'our leaders'...

Technology has evolved exponentially. The human brain has not. Psychologically, humans are still prone to think the same way, even with incredible technological and scientific knowledge gains. We need to objectively evaluate technology, not with hyperbole or conspiracy theory, but with clear eyes to understand how it has come to dominate our lives, so we can consider where a life 'fully integ...

The self-help industry in America was worth over 11 billion dollars in 2019. Seminars, courses, life and business coaches are some of the ways gurus get you to part with your money to 'reach your best self.'Not to disparage the industry, but I would argue there is a cheaper way, free in-fact, if one really wants to improve their intellectual self. It is called reading. When I say read, I...

"When even one American-who has done nothing wrong-is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth-than all Americans are in peril."  A powerful and ominous statement we should pay attention to.  The freedom of expression, a cornerstone of a democratic society, is under attack.  Could it be the Dark Web becomes the 'land of freedom & free-thought' in the 21st century...

What does it mean to be educated? The institution of higher education in the marketing brochures, pretty college catalogs, and mission statements paints the picture of a degree inextricably tied to being an educated citizen.  However, this is not necessarily true. The university is in a strong tug-of-war between an increasingly vocal camp that views the degree as a utility to learn job skills, whi...

It is election season, and you know 'that one friend' that 'one family member' you want to persuade to change their vote.  It is possible.  In the world of social media, effective and proper persuasive strategies are almost always abandoned for angry name-calling or posting snide memes meant more to mock or deride than actually have a real discussion.  Most online political deb...

One great way to increase our fear, anxiety, frustration, anger, and distrust about life in America is to turn on cable news, settle into your comfortable chair for a few hours as the evening prime time political shows kick-off on FOX News, CNN, MSNBC or CNBC.  It is almost a guarantee you will leave feeling worse about yourself and life in general.  Ironically, Democrats and Republicans found som...

Technology has made life easier; however, there are unintended negative consequences of technology as well.  This includes the ability for politicians from both political parties, and the media, to influence and even deceive the electorate. In this podcast, I discuss both cognitive and psychological human traits that we are more susceptible thanks to the ever-increasing role of technology, social...

Technology applied the wrong way, by the wrong people, over an extended period of time could end life as we know it in the United States of America. In this podcast, I will analyze how technology in the private sector and government institutions have been slowly eroding American personal privacy. It is important to understand how it happened and more importantly why it matters. Also, there are som...

The cost of higher education has been exploding.  We all know it.  It is ravaging students with debt and literally, causing students to drop out, and is preventing students, especially from lower socio-economic backgrounds, from even attending college.  The reason for the cost increases are many, but one is a completely controllable phenomenon, self-inflicted by colleges that must be addressed--th...

I really have no idea what I want to do after I graduate.  This statement is one of the most common I hear from students as a College Instructor.  This podcast discusses higher education, the benefits, and pitfalls, the idea of taking a GAP year to discover a future track, analyzing technical or vocational opportunities, as well as the military and options for the 'creative free-spirits.&apos...

In this podcast, I am going to reveal some of the most perverse tactics politicians use to manipulate our minds to meet their desired outcomes.  Both Democrats and Republicans are equally guilty. Politicians are keenly drawn to behaviorism and specific classical conditioning for one simple reason. It has the capacity to control your behavior.  You will learn how this happens.  In a democracy, for...

Society functions at its optimal level when nearly all people are conformists. This is a sad fact that those in power understand.  Modern civilization needs many sheep but very few shepherds.  Too many free-thinkers are dangerous to the status quo.  Thus, those that have power tend to manipulate the instruments of influence, the media, public institutions, social media, in a way to keep the majori...

Social Media and the Internet have changed, for the worse, the way Americans are communicating. The language of discourse and debate has degraded so severely in the last decade, it is in many ways unrecognizable from even 10 years ago.  This podcast will review actual online forum posts from far-left and far-right websites.  We then turn to how we can all become effective communicators in any sett...