Panhandle Primate Podcast

A campfire can be seen for miles, it provided warmth but it also projects your signal in all directions with a line of site. This episode is a modern campfire I am lighting because I don’t know what else to do. The Epstein file are released, not all and heavily redacted, and what was once ignorable and confined to conspiracy circles is now out for the whole world to see. Where do we go from here?...

In June of 2025 I attended the Cosmic summit in Greensboro North Carolina. After a great weekend of presentations and conversations, I left with more questions then I came with. Throughout the weekend I gained a new context through which to ask questions. This context create the inspiration for todays episode. In order to have a solid view of the past a person must develop a lens to view evidence...

I first met Trent in the summer of 2021 when we moved to Stephenville TX and we quickly became best friends. In 2024 Trent’s world was turned upside down when he experienced blood clots in his left arm and during his hospitalization suffered a stroke. In the subsequent year Trent had to relearn how to walk, eat and see again as well as learning to deal with other deficits. Through working with tal...

We live in a hyper specialized society where it is necessary to rely on others for their expertise. For example, everyone who drives a car has to pump gas but few people understand how a refinery works, what it takes to transport the fuel and how it has to be stored. For the most part expertise is apparent in the product produced, does the bridge stand? do the lights come on? But when it comes to...

This in the first episode in a series where I intend on laying out what my paradigm of the past is and my hope for the future. When talking of social change reference to the past is vital. It is natural to seek analogues from the past to observe what the "natural" arc of a civilization has been. It is from that perspective that first attracted me to Graham Hancock and his book "Fingerprints of the...

In this episode host, Dexter and Trent , introduce and discuss mesh networks, LORA devices, and some of the implications of “OFF” grid comms. Mesh networks are a system of series of nodes connected through radio waves to create a decentralized network, each node acts like a repeaters increasing possible range and reliability of transmissions. These devices vary from DIY to Military grade, coupled...

In this episode Dexter is joined by Shannon and sound guy Trent to discuss the pop culture phenomenon of the Max Headroom Incident from 1987 where the regular programming was interrupted by a pirate signal. This bizarre incident is still relevant today as we question our own reliance on our own “feeds”. Is the Medium the message? Is there anything that can shake our reliance on national narratives...

This is the second test recording for the new studio and we are talking about Identity Crisis. This comes on the heels of resurrecting the name Panhandle Primate Podcast, What is in a name? In this episode we talk everything from Shakespeare to my personal stages of identity. If you enjoy this episode please share it with a friend or drop a comment or a like on whichever platform you stream from!...

This was the first “test recording” in the new Brain Matterz studio. It is also the re-launch of this podcast’s original name The Panhandle Primate podcast. These past years I feel like I have struggled to define the podcast and the overall content that we aimed to produce. After a little soul searching I decided to go back to the original concept of just sitting down to the mic with friends and g...

In this episode I interview Darell Smith. My path first crossed Darell’s through kid sports and school functions, and I knew pretty early on that I wanted him to come on the podcast. Darell is a real-estate investor, works in the oil industry, and is an avid golfer. He is a jack of all trades and has a wealth of knowledge in many of the areas where I lack. While many of our ideological viewpoints...

It seems that since the inception of civilization, people have been predicting how it will collapse. A common trope in mythology, religion, and science fiction has been that of apocalypse and the ensuing struggle for survival in the aftermath. In the episode, hosts Dexter and Shannon explore evidence for possible cataclysms of the past and potential calamities of the future. The conversation ends...

This episode is a general approach to toxicity in the modern world. From chemical spills to relationships the word toxic is very versatile. In this episode we explore and stretch the definition of toxic and how applying literal Hazardous material response practices to figuratively “toxic” circumstances. Check out more content at TheCearleyCultivation.com there you can find some short stories, a bl...

Have you ever thought about your death? “Memento Mori” has been chanted by monks and proclaimed by stoics for hundreds of years. They thought it was important to meditate on their deaths to enrich their lives. In this episode, we discuss Memento Mori as a philosophical practice and explore the modern applications as represented by “YOLO” culture and in cheesy country songs. More importantly, we di...

In this episode of the Cearley Cultivation, we discuss Oliver Anthony Music’s viral song “Rich men north of Richmond” which exploded the internet and left a sea of knee-slapping dissidents and outraged socialites in its wake. We watched the climb from a no-named average guy to interviews with Joe Rogan and Jordan B Peterson! The climb was not free of controversy, however, with encoded messages tha...

We hope you’re wearing pink because today is all about Barbie! The blockbuster movie and pop culture icon has caused quite a stir since its release. Many people (we’re lookin’ at you, Shapiro) have denounced the movie for its feminist brainwashing agenda, while others have praised the movie for its refreshing and nuanced perspective of growing up in a male-driven society. In this episode, we give...

Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase “The medium is the message,” and it’s never been better exemplified than in the modern expression of Social Media. In this episode, we talk about our personal relationships with social media, the rise of internet culture, and how this new media will destabilize culture as we know it. Love it or hate it, social media is as revolutionary as the printing press, and...

It’s time for another episode of “The Cearley Cultivation.” In this episode, we explore how the simple architectural element of the white picket fence became associated with the American Dream and the idealized image of suburban bliss. The white picket fence has an interesting and complex history in the American past and remains an iconic symbol in culture today. From Korn to Leave it to Beaver, i...

Archeologists say they can determine quite a bit about a society based on the trash they left behind. What would our trash say about us? For most of history, “trash” would have been animal bones, hides, pottery, glass, wood, but within the last 100 years, our trash has evolved significantly. Despite this change, we often take out our trash and never think of it again. Yet, the trash doesn’t just g...

Highways allow us to get where we’re going at high speeds, but this convenience doesn’t come without risk. We have the ability to easily travel between locations, but we now have to worry about high speed car wrecks. Our modern lifestyle creates new hazards. Thus, the guardrails were designed to offer protection and minimize risk, but what are other areas of society that need metaphorical guardrai...

Roald Dahl has recently become a hot topic of debate regarding censorship, sensitivity, and posthumous changes to art. At the start of 2023, Puffin Books decided to make hundreds of revisions to Dahl’s large collection of works due to feedback from sensitivity readers. Many of these revisions change or erase any text which discusses weight, race, gender, and violence. These changes have many peopl...

Do you own your culture? Or does your culture own you? I have always been curious about the line between cultural characteristics and genuine persona. Where does your culture stop and the individual start? In this episode, we explore the way cultures around the world modify their bodies to participate and play a role within their culture. We then turn the lens onto our own post-internet culture to...

This episode was years in the making. Shannon has been in graduate school at Texas Tech for the last 5 years, and she is now officially finished. She has been an inspiration to me through this process, and I couldn’t be more proud. For this episode, we really just wanted to talk about her experience in school and explore the world of linguistics. Shannon nerds out about topics such as linguistic h...

This episode is following up on some concepts introduced in the last episode, The Zero. When people talk about metrics, it’s usually used to discuss something quantifiable…things like money or data. What if we instead applied it to other, less-quantifiable things as well - things like happiness or time well spent. Shannon and I explore how metric and data collection, when applied outside of the no...

When I first presented the idea of doing an episode over Zero, Shannon was skeptical. How much is there to say about nothing? Turns out, quite a lot. In this episode, we explore Zero as a number, a concept, and as an abstraction. Zero may seem like nothing, but as with most things, there is more than meets the eye.

Stranger Things season four just came to an end, and it grabbed the attention of the masses. The show’s 80’s culture, supernatural twists, and detective narrative are a few aspects which contribute to the show’s popularity. Hosts Dexter and Shannon dive into Hawkins to explore the themes, symbols, and characters within the show and what our fascination might say about our own culture.   We ho...