Virtue In The Wasteland Podcast

The Winriches are former Jesus Freaks.  They are currently highly involved in youth work, music, and nonprofit organizations.  We talk about the good, the, bad, and the musical as it relates to working with adolescent religious education.

What does the average person NEED to know about video games? Jeff's son joins the show to share the top five things folks need to know (especially parents) about the world of video games.  We find that it is a world that you are probably too worried about in some regards and not wary enough of in other regards.  

Freak out.  Dr. Kristen Koenig joins us again, this time to discuss those who are outside the societal norm. I'm surprised we never got to mentioning Michel Foucault.  But we did deal with important issues related to what it means to be normal and how we should respond to the other.  We mix a little sociology with a bit of good old human decency.  And some awkwardness.

When scandals strike, or big decisions need to be made, do we let the masses decide how to respond?  Clippers owners, media stars, and your neighbor all are involved in this one.  How helpful is the popular opinion?  Do we seek an honor culture or a virtue culture?

Commencement is about beginnings.  We address those who graduate this spring and all those who are adults and out of school.  We talk abou the importance of ongoing exploration of the world and ways to stay sharp.  We share some of our favorite podcasts for learning as adults.  

What do amateur ornithology and coffee snobbery have to do with anything?  We explain the personal and cultural value that avoocations bring.    Dan explains some ways to enjoy a better coffee.  Jeff explains why he loves birds so much and explains how to get started as an amateur bird watcher.

What is virtue anyway, and can it be taught?  This is not our dissertation on the subject, just some friendly conversation with several colleagues who participated in a panel conversation on great texts.  Dr. Scott Ashmon, Dr. John Lu, Dr. C.J. Armstrong, and Prof. Dan Deen gathered in Dr. Ashmon's Hilton suite for beverages and conversation.  We talk about ethos, pathos, logos, virtue, habituation, Aristotle, Virgil, and love.  This affects everything from parenting to pedagogy, so give it a listen.

We explore the beauty of language, classic and contemporary with Dr. Stanley Lombardo, a translator of classics like the Illiad and Aeneid.  Listen even if classic Latin and Greek epics aren't familiar to you.  If nothing else, listen for the first twenty minutes to hear Dr. Lombardo recite poetry in classical Greek.  The sound itself will demonstrate the importance of our topic.  Topics include the art of translation, Homeric legends, Virgil, Zen Buddhism, and poetry in general.   B-Sides are in depth discussions with professors and professionals about the beauty and importance of their callings.

Classicist C.J. Armstrong explains the importance and beauty of Homer's Iliad.  This is the first of several Wasteland Companions, shows where we give you the important background and summary of a great book.  Unfortunately, Jeff's mic wasn't working right.  Fortunately, this is one of the few shows where he doesn't talk too much.  Share with a high schooler or college student perhaps who is reading this in their studies, or a friend who likes to go back and pick up great works they missed in school.

Dr. Uwe Siemon-Netto has seen it all.  The JFK assassination coverage, the rise of the Nazis, a famous drinking horse in Germany, the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, and of course the Vietnam War.  Uwe talks about getting a doctorate after a not so good high school experience.  We learn why our news media has gone so far away from its original calling or vocation today.  Learn why you should not criticize a German town’s beer. Learn who can drink more beer and not slur: Catholic priests or Lutheran pastors.  Find out how clumsy and immature JFK was, but also how he rose to the occasion when global annihilation loomed.  What should a journalist do when they come across a scandal?  Find out why Uwe wouldn't mind being a horse poop specialist.  By the way, you wish you were as cool as the guy in the picture here.  I suppose you can be.  Just become a journalist in the old school style.  Learn about how Uwe came to study with Peter Berger, thanks to his wife, Gillian's wise sense of Uwe's suitability for the cl

We list great classical, early modern, and modern books and why they are worth reading.  

Art prof Rachel Hays raps with Dan and Jeff about art, its history, and why Jeff is wrong to dig Banksy so much.  

Veteran journalist, author of a new book on the Vietnam War,  Triumph of the Absurd: A Reporter's Love for The Abandoned People of Vietnam shares a story from his travels, and explains how unethical journalism failed the people of Vietnam.

We discuss holidays associated with American immigrant communities and ask whether they might be culturally inappropriate. Joe Laughon joins us once again.  We discuss Public Enemy's "By the Time I Get To Arizona" video, St. Patrick's Day, and Cinco De Mayo.  

Dan and Jeff start by a list of regrets, clarifications and retractions from prior shows. Then they talk about MBTI (Meyers Briggs) profiles and what celebrities share them.  Finally they answer listener questions.  We talk Lana Del Ray, Putin, the Big Lebowski, nihilism, and narcissism.

On this, our 50th episode (enter fanfare) we discuss the nature of sanity and insanity. Wait, before you think that this is a highfalutin' philosophical show (well, it does have some philosophy) we came to this show by way of a question we asked ourselves: who is the sanest person we know?This lead us down a rabbit hole for a week as we tried to put together a composite of the "sanest person" we know. Perhaps, sanity is illusive. Perhaps we are all insane. Or, like most things... it's complicated and we're not quite sure. But, join us as we discuss Dan's adventure with his two boys and missing cat, Jeff's new bike, and we think out loud through the thought of G.K. Chesterton, Soren Kierkegaard and others. We play some Old 97's and Beastie Boys and get around to making a little more sense of the world, our collective selves, and what it means to be sane.  The closing song is a cover of "Crazy Train" by the Denver country band The Railbenders.

We share things we wish were true but probably aren't.  We share things we are pretty darn sure aren't true are not true.   We discuss conspiracy theories, the Melanchthon Circle, Santiago Sam, kambucha, alchemy, neoplatonism, St. Augustine's Confessions, Masonry, Airborne, occult philosophy, esoterica, the JFK assasination, Ethiopia's claim to have the Ark of the Covenant, and postmodernity.

We discuss the history of immigration in the United States and converse with Joe Laughon, a contributor to Cafeconlecherepublicans.com.  He helps to dispell some misunderstandings about immigration laws and attitudes past and present.  We discuss the use of terms like "illegal immigrant" and "undocumented worker".  What's the virtuous response to todays immigration debates?  Listen in to hear a unique, and arguably sane, perspective.

We talk about several recent scandals and leaders who have fallen from cultural grace.  Then, we call Jeff's old friend Chris to talk about his experience with the movement led by Bill Gothard. We discuss authoritarianism, spiritual abuse, Woody Allen, Ted Haggard, Anthony Weiner, and Lance Armstrong.  

With Jeff Macaré, a favorite Lutheran hippy.  We talk about music,  the nature of digital and analog sound, Dan's diet of caffeine, nicotine and prozac and more importantly: the ambiguity of the word "nature" and Jaff Macare on his vocation of filtering water (that's right! water filtering! Seriously, hear what he has to say about that bottled water you're drinking)