Leah and I recorded this podcast about a week before the election. We had some cautious optimism, but alas things were not to be. So many people voted the man back into office, and he has made so many problematic claims and promises, that I thought that no one was that delusional to vote him into office. But the polls showed that he was popular and the thing happened. This strikes me as troubling because critical thinking is so important in our world, and many people lack that ability. I guess that we just need to put our heads down and keep plowing forward. Keep working in our own ways to create a safer and more sane world for all people. What is sad is that so many people think that we need to make America great again, and that we need to take America back, and that we need to save America. But what they don't realize is that we are losing our identity because of the ideology of the MAGA movement. We're creating a less perfect union that only has room for those who think, look, act, pray, live like them.

I hope you enjoy this episode of our podcast. When we recorded it, we felt a little more positive about our futures, we hope that we can feel better as we move forward over the next few years.

In today's podcast Leah and Jamie discuss the book: Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch. The title says most of what the wide-ranging discussion was about, but we focus on how food was used as a way to subjugate and conquer indigenous cultures and the implications this had on tribes in today's world. We also look at the way food was used to as a way to keep Indigenous Africans under control as slaves in the early U.S. We discuss the way food insecurity still affects these two vulnerable communities even today.

Finally, we tackle the school lunches - something we all have had experience with. Click the link above to see a Good Reads reviews of this incredible book!

In this episode, Leah and I jump into the book "Cultish," by Amanda Montell. This is a book that delves into the idea of "in-groups," and "out-groups" that are found in every part of our culture today. A highly recommended read!

Welcome Back to Season 2 of Skeptical Thinker!

I have asked my oldest daughter to join me on the Skeptical Thinker Podcast because we share so many incredibly interesting conversations! So a warm welcome to Leah!

Today's Discussion is how connected we can be to the natural world. We are discussing parts of a book by Tristan Gooley called How To Read Water . Another book that comes up in our discussion is Self-Compassion by Kristen Neff. I (Jamie) have not read How to Read Water, but I did read Self Compassion and I have learned a lot from it to use in my daily life!

Hope you enjoy our new format! I know there are audio issues with our discussion - we were using Discord for the recording, but I just got a new computer, and I think I forgot to change the microphone from computer to the mixing board, so I sound a little like I'm in a tin can!

Best Regards!

Jamie

Show Notes

This month, I look at a couple of areas of sociology. Enjoy! Check out my show notes, and be sure to subscribe!

Here's the two books I mentioned in the podcast today:

hÓgáin, O. D. (2001). The sacred isle: Belief and religion in pre-Christian Ireland. Boydell.

On Amazon

Sapa, H., & Brown, J. E. (1989). The Sacred Pipe Black Elk’s account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux. University of Oklahoma Press.

On Amazon

The Sum of All Our Experiences

Trigger Warning: This episode does have references to physical and emotional abuse.

This Skeptical Thinker Episode looks at my life as the sum of all my experiences.

Some readings come from a journal I wrote in the summer of 2021 when I took a short trip on my bike to New Glarus Woods State Park in Wisconsin.

It leads to some insights as to how even Skeptical Thinkers have to come from somewhere, and that the person we are today, might just be the sum of all our experiences.

In this episode, I have the honor of welcoming my oldest daughter, Leah! While growing up in the late 1990s and 2000s, she was exposed to some unique experiences that shaped the way she thinks. Leah fills me in on the origination of the term, “woke” while giving me some insight on how it is being co-opted to become the conservative talking point and “boogeyman” for the party. If you are interested in learning more about the history of the woke movement, feel free to click on any of the links below.

https://www.naacpldf.org/woke-black-bad/

https://www.vox.com/culture/21437879/stay-woke-wokeness-history-origin-evolution-controversy

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/woke-meaning-word-history-b1790787.html