We understand the thinking atheist. It's not a person, it's a symbol,
an idea. The population of atheists this country is going through the rule,
rejecting faith, pursuing knowledge, challenging the sacred. If I tell the truth,
it's because I tell the truth, not because I put my hand on
a book and made a wish and working together for a more rational world.
Take the risk of thinking, feels so much more happiness. Truth, Beausian
wisdom will come to you that way. Assume nothing, question everything, and
start thinking. This is the Thinking Atheist podcast hosted by Seth Andrews. Do
you ever wonder how Rich feels about all those memes that talk about Christmas coming?
You know, she sings the I think the most downloaded or popular Christmas
song in the world. Right all I want for Christmas is you, And
so it's become a punchline. And I love the memes myself. You know,
they talk about defrosting Mariah Carey in the month of I think it's October.
There is you know, there's so many of them, and I gotta
wonder, like, if it was me, I would think of it as
a ball. It'd be sort of the Rick role with Rick Astley that I
would think, look at all the free publicity. I get to be the
center of this cultural moment. And so I saw another Mariah Carey Christmas meme
about how you know here she is for another month of December, and always
like, wait not, I wonder how she feels about that. Just a
weird random thought to begin this random show. And if you've got something you
want to talk about, it doesn't have to be about religion or atheism,
politics today, I just let's just whatever. I don't care whatever you want
to talk about. I'm releasing just a few extra ones and a few extra
streams here in the last part of the year, just because, just because
we can. I'm going to see the new Godzilla movie tonight. I asked
Natalie, Hey, you want to go? Not really her bag, but
I mean, she respects the genre and the franchise, but it's not really
her thing. So I, buddy, you might are going to go and
catch a showing of Godzilla minus one. Now I own shin Godzilla on Blu
Ray and it is one of the greatest things in the known universe. It's
weird because it's a Toho production, which is important, but they manage the
balance between sci fi cheese and mind blowing knocked you out of your chair amazing
special effects, because there's both in it, so you're at first you're like,
what in the hell am I looking at? And then it's holy shit,
that's amazing. It's true to the classic Godzilla films of the mid twentieth
century. It's charming in that way. There's a lot of political subtext to
it, you know, about the maneuverings of governments in the wake of a
crisis. So I just thought shin Godzilla was amazing, and here is Godzilla
minus one with one hundred percent on Rotten Tomatoes. They're like, you must
see this film, and I guess they made the whole movie for about sixteen
million dollars. Hello Marvel, right, Hello hello Hollywood. In general,
it can be done for less, and stop bitching about how much money you're
losing on five hundred million dollar films. There's a way. Good storytelling and
creativity can make a way. So I'm going to go see Godzilla. Review
is forthcoming. Not that I won't watch almost anything, and here's a proof.
Last night I watched a Netflix documentary about people in England who chase a
piece of cheese down a hill. I'm just saying I did not know this
existed. The Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake, and I don't know what
they mean by wake. It is an annual event held in England at a
place called Cooper's Hill, and I guess the hill is really steep, almost
a fifty degree down angle. The television doesn't do it justice. I hear
that if you stand on the top of the precipice and lean over you'll get
vertigo. It's a steep hill. And apparently the origins are disputed, but
somebody somewhere decided they were going to take a round piece wrapped cheese and roll
it down, roll it down the hill and then people, I think by
the hundreds, would fling themselves after the cheese and this would be a sport
that would happen once a year. People get jacked up, busted limbs,
concussion stitches, the injuries or of people's ankles turned around. It's crazy.
You should see them. Part of the strategy that they know they are not
going to catch the cheese because the cheese is rolling much much faster than even
the falling human can get there. But part of the goal is to be
the first down to the bottom. And there's like a white line of chalk
line, and you don't just run in order to get there, you must
fall. You fall forward, and you tumble and you splat and you slam
and you crush and you just it's like you're in a tumble dryer and you're
getting the hell banged out of you, and then you manage to pop back
up. There's a strategy to how you fall and where you fall so that
you go boom boom, boom boom, you jump up and keep running.
People practice this. First one down to the bottom of the hill gets to
hold up the cheese and claim victory. Who thinks this up? Where did
it come from? But I watched a whole documentary on Netflix. It's called
We Are the Champions, and they do like everything from Champion Hot pepper eating
contests that was insane. Ur In Raw is big into hot foods. He
carries a bottle of this super spicy stuff. I don't even know what it
is. He's got a it's called the Schofield meter for the intensity of how
hot it is. He puts that stuff on everything. We are at a
convention we all go out to dinner, and he will order something that's hot
anyway. He's got his beer that looks like pens oil, right, super
black, dark, thick beer that's probably got a skull on the side,
and you know, includes the sacrifice you know, of a virgin and there's
virgin blood in it. Hell, I don't know. It's very gothic.
And he reaches into his long leather coat and he pulls out his bottle of
hot spice squillion on the Scofield meter? Is it Scofield? Am I saying
it right? And he will just do is just pour that stuff into his
drink, into his beer. He puts in his coffee, puts it everything.
What's wrong with people? At some point, do you stop tasting the
food. All you taste is hot. All you taste is the heat.
There's no actual taste of ingredients. Don't you get to the point where it's
pointless. It's too hot, you don't even taste the food. Can you
damage your taste buds? The people in this contest who were eating the hot
test foods on the planet engineered foods like not even in nature. Somebody went
and they cross pollinated different peppers and added a bunch of stuff and jacked up
the DNA and then prayed to Satan and got the peppers are evil, that's
how hot they are. These professional hot pepper eaters are on stage gushing sweat.
Their eyes are red, they're crying, they're huffing, they're puffing.
They're forbidden to drink any milk or whatever. I guess milk helps forbidden.
Are they damaging their bodies? Can you you can damage? Right? Could
you not burn out your taste butts so that then you won't taste anything for
the rest of your life. Somebody google it for me. Can hot peppers
damage taste butts? I haven't done it. Please do it for me and
include the answer in the comments section. Would you anyway? It? On
Netflix? We are the champions. But I mean, I'll watch almost any
documentary I will. I watched one on a children's group out of Australia that
I had never heard of. Now remember that I don't have any kids of
my own. But Natalie was all over it because her kids grew up with
a group called the Wiggles. I guess the Wiggles is a phenomenon in Australia
and it's branched out into the US and around the world. A group of
people who wear primary colors, who sing songs targeted to very young children,
and it's really sweet, and they seem to they're edgy. It was founded
by a group of educators who wanted to go out and just provide stuff for
young children, you know, wholesome stuff, and so they do these songs.
There's a hot Potato song and drive the car song. I don't know.
There's a bunch of children's song. I don't know anything about it.
I don't have young children, but it's on. Oh look, there's a
documentary. I think it's called Meet the Wiggles, and I watched the whole
damn thing and loved it, so now I'm well versed in Wiggles. Natalie
and I were in the kitchen lag we were humming the Hot Potato song.
I'm just saying we were doing the hot Potato song. I'm reading the comments.
Let's see to bast goat sauce in beer is pretty good, especially when
you get to the bottom spicy finish. Cashel says, your taste buds renew
every two weeks or so. You mean, like shark's teeth. The old
ones rotate out and you get new ones. Is that true? Your Batah
says you can destroy taste buds. They regrow quickly. If you eat salty
food, it damages your taste buds. That's one reason people keep eating more
to get the same effect. I'm just reading the comment. Don't take my
word for it. Okay, don't take my word for it anyway. I'm
setting up twenty twenty four. I know I'm going to be speaking in Canada
late summer. I have been asked tentatively to do a debate with a Christian
at a university in Virginia. I don't want to get too much into detail
until everything is solidified and confirmed. I think they're still going through certain channels.
Maybe they have to vet me. I don't know, but I was
contacted and they said, would you like to come out and do a debate.
My response was, well, I'm not a fan of the format.
And what I mean by that is opening statement, opening statement, rebuttal,
rebuttal, and then you've got three minutes, and you've got three minutes,
and you know that particular format doesn't work for my style. I'm more of
a conversationalist. I'm not interested in reading off of a script and then back
to you, Bob. But I you know, if we were sitting on
the stage together, one on one, in good faith, in a forum
that is structured with respect and goodwill, and we were just talking like real
people in front of a live audience of college students, that's my back.
That would be my thing. I feel like I would have something to bring
to the conversation. You know, I have a little bit imposter of imposter
syndrome when it comes to debate. I'm not trained in debate, and I
know it's a very specific skill. Matt Delahunty does a lot of debate that
kind of thing. But talking, you want me to talk about religion specifically.
You want me to get into Christianity. Okay, all right, have
your people call my people. That's a conversation I have had quite often and
would be happy to have again in an auditorium in Virginia. I will let
you know if that comes to fruition. I'll be at the American Atheist Convention
anyway. All of that's going to come into focus in the next few weeks
as twenty twenty four arrives, and you can always monitor the events page to
see what's up where and when the Thinkingatheist dot com slash events. Nothing is
on that page now, but there will be quite soon. Anyway. I'm
honored to be invited. I'm glad they thought of me. They said.
One of the reasons that they reached out is because they thought I was a
good guy. I don't feel like it was a setup. They said,
you know, you seem like a person of goodwill. You seem like you
would be a good ambassador for the subject, and we would like to have
you out. And I took that as a tremendous compliment, so thank you
for that. If it happens, I am going to try to get video
of it so that all of you can see what happened. And I'll try
not to be an embarrassment to the movement. I just want to go.
I just when I go on stage, just tell me I'm pretty and talented.
Just validate me. Let's see. Oh look there's some people who want
to talk on the switchboard. And again today's no rules. I don't care,
you know, just nothing grotesque or you know, not safe for work.
You know, I think i'd won the other day. I just edit
that edited that call right out. No, I don't know. I'm not
here to shock, but you know whatever, if there's something else, something
real, let's just chit chat. Seven eight zero. I think it says
Peter. Do I have that right? Yes? You do. What do
you want to talk about, Peter? What's happening? Brother? I want
to know, Like, I listened to you and our in law, and
I'm trying to remember the other guys. Matt delahunty, round guy, bald
with a kind of a white go tea, and I know you know him.
I've seen you on programs together, but I della hunt. Yes,
yes, I don't know. He's not very round anymore. But I am
going to bring that up at a party. I'm going to bring that up
at a party. I'm sorry, I just go ahead, go ahead,
Yes, Matt Delaunty. It's OK's odd times I see you guys. Gets
like older videos that I haven't discovered until elsively to pop up on my feet
on YouTube. Yeah, all you guys, Okay, I got to tell
you I'm as dumb as a stump. Okay, all you guys are way
smarter than me, way more educated than me, and it shows you have
so much command of the Bible and science and reality and stuff. But you
know, I was pretty much an atheist by the time I got to junior
high school, and I hated church. I always founded a creepy place right
from when I was a little young kid, I thought it was a creepy
place. I hated going to church, and my dad used to drag us
all off. So, and like I said, by junior high school,
I was pretty much sure this whole God thing was sort of like Sandy Claus,
another old guy with a big, big beard that wasn't true. So
how is a smart guy do you justify taking all that time? Well,
it's a great question. First of all, I may not be that smart.
I'm smooth, I can, you know, talk a pretty good game.
But I am not a great thinker, and I'll be the first to
admit it. But when we understand the power of indoctrination, programming, cultural
reinforcement, threats of hell, we see all the reinforcers that religions use.
They bring you up in an alternate normal. So when I was being raised,
I thought everything else was abnormal. The same people who taught me to
look both ways before I crossed the street never get in a car with strangers
that told me don't put your hand on the stove that fed my mouth and
put the shelter over my head that I gave absolute trust to for my survival.
Those were the same people who told me that the Bible is true and
Jesus was real, and I would one day go to heaven if I said
the salvation prayer. Once you get a kid early, and churches like to
call this the four to fourteen windows. Many of us raised in a devoutly
fundamentalist religious backgrounds, we just didn't know the difference. I said it this
way in my autobiography. Deconverted parents will install a program onto a child's mental
hard drive, and then they make sure that that program runs twenty four to
seven. There is an alternate, There is an uninstalled option, but they
don't tell you that. They say, no, no, this is the
only program that works. And so, you know, many of us grow
up and realize much later, or some never find out at all that actually,
no, you can uninstall the program, and there are much better programs
to do the job in this world. And so I really am convinced that
people, young children are victims of often even the best intentions of religious families.
But if everything you see and do who says God, Jesus, Bible,
Heaven, Hell, you know, it's you're in a cocoon, You're
in a bubble, You're in an alternate world, and that's hard to break
out of. It doesn't really have anything to do with intelligence. I think
some of the most intelligent people in the world can have bad ideas. We've
seen examples of that across the spectrum. Right, Yes, yes, indeed,
I've long thought that a lot of this religious indoctrination was child abuse.
It bothers me deeply. One of the things though, that set me on
the path to atheism was in grade four and I went to a Catholic school
and we had nuns. Not all the teachers were nuns, but some of
the teachers were nuns. And in religion class in grade four, sister Leona
was telling us that, you know, well, heaven isn't a place you're
not going to see. You'll hang out with your family and you know your
dead pets or anything like that. It's just a piece. You're at peace,
you have no thoughts or whatever. And that started to sound to me
a lot like well, not existing anymore. You cann't. Wait a minute,
Wait, you're at peace, but you have no thoughts. Well,
I guess that would be peace. I guess that would be laying in a
box and holding your breath forever. It's like that Twain quote, I had
not existed for billions of years before now and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience
from it. I think the same would be after I die. Right,
if I don't exist, I guess that's peace, maybe in some context.
But you know, cut some slack to those of us who took a long
time busting out of the faith. It's people like to say ridiculous things like
you need to grow up, or religion is a mental illness, that kind
of stuff. Those are horribly wrong, tremendously misguided, and often damaging points
of view. You know, a smart people can have and often do have
bad ideas. And smart people are very good at out smarting themselves. They
know how the two connect that may not even need to be connected. You
know, they are too clever sometimes, and so we have to you know,
we have to be vigilant regardless of IQ. Okay, yes, well,
I often get into discussions with believers and I always get hit with the
thing about how it's written here in our books, it must be true.
And I always tell them, well, you know, I have a book
that said Horton Herd of who, and I'm not sure that's true. And
they only have one book really, unless you count the apologetics books that explain
the book, and all the books that explain the book disagree, so they
have to have other books to explain the books which explain the books. Just
bizarre, Peter. But all my best up there in Canada. And I
hope the new year is very good to you, my friend, need to
I hope I get some cooperation with that, all right, hang in there,
brother, bye bye. I had somebody in the chat ask me about
talk about a topic switch, ask me about the big how's the bidet?
What's the update on the bidet? If you miss this conversation, I'll make
it fast. Natalie went to stay with a cousin. Cousin lives near the
beach in California, much prettier than where we live, so I'm thinking she's
out there having a good time, catching some rays, enjoying the waves,
drinking a mytie. I don't know, so i'd get her on the phone
because I'm still at the house here. Hey, Annie, how's your trip?
What's the best part. What's the best thing you've done? And she
said, the best thing I have done is to sit on Shanna's toilet because
she has a heated seat and a bidet, and I just I went blank,
like what. Before I know it, Natalie is shopping online and she
finds this attachment that you attached to the top of your toilet. You take
the actual the old seat off the pad seed or whatever, and you put
this bidet thing and it is heated, nice and warm. And then when
you want the bideta work, you have a remote control and you hit It's
got a picture of an ass with water spraying on it on the remote and
I Am not kidding. So you hit the ass water button and this little
rod comes out and then water sprays up into your rectal area, warm water.
And then whenever you think you are clean, there's a dryer. There's
a sensation. What do I think? I can't describe the sensation. I
feel like this is not something that I'm there should not be that since in
that part of the body. Does that make any sense? But I will
say I will say that the warm toilet seat is bliss. Three o'clock in
the morning, I wake up, you know, I have to go to
the bathroom and if I have to sit down and I hit that warm seat.
Oh man, that's nice. So I mean, what review can I
possibly give it? It's warm and it's comfortable, and it's weird. But
day update December twenty twenty three, we continue with our little bonus broadcast here
as we kick off the month of December. Your calls and who knows what
else coming up next. If you would like to give a Christmas gift or
holiday gift to this broadcast, become a patron. It makes a big difference
Patreon dot com slash Seth Andrews and you can choose how much and for how
long and whatever Patreon dot com slash Seth Andrews. Thanks so much, David
at eight zero three, let's chat. What do you want to talk about?
Well, since you brought up Godzilla, I thought I would bring a
little bit of trivia that I learned from a friend of mine who is a
huge Godzilla enthusiast, and even those like Godzilla based artwork. But something that
a lot of people may not realize that the early models of Godzilla. What
a lot of people think are scales was never scales. The pattern of skin
is actually modeled after the burn victims from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The original Godzilla
was a political piece more than it was a monster movie. Yeah, Godzilla
was always symbolic. He was always a what's the word I'm looking for.
It was always a commentary on the nuclear age, on the recklessness of man,
very much so. But I thought that little tibot might be interesting to
you and the viewers. So we're talking about the old classics right where he's
wearing the rubber suit and running around destroying Tokyo. Those aren't scales you're saying
that was. They're emulating the skin burns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I'm going
to go and after this live stream look up some classic Toho Godzilla and I'm
gonna go check out the skin and because now I'm all curious. But that's
great trivia. Thanks for sharing. No well, and if I can do
a minor little plug for my friend, check out his his site. It's
neomonsteriland dot com. Those Godzilla based artwork he's got up there. I think
he might have a little bit of that early trivia on there as well.
But there's some interesting work on there. If you like God's you might find
it of interest. I appreciate you, man, thanks so much for calling.
You're welcome. You have a great day. Yeah, see you later.
Neomonsteriland dot com. Yeah, send some clicks and maybe some love their
way. Yeah. I like to find out more about that hated, hated
the film God's Illa Versus Kong. Like, I realize people say, well,
it's a dumb monster movie, and so if it does something stupid,
you're supposed to just shut your brain off and go with it. Yeah,
no, like you got to at least try. God's Illa Versus Kong starts
so strongly with the story about Kong and the little girl and the connection that
they have, and then they go off into oblivion and talk about what this
jungle home hidden under the Earth's crust where Kong lives. What the what?
I'm sorry, So if you drill down into the Earth's core you'll find Kongville.
Go. I almost I almost left. I was so disappointed. Let's
take a look here. Oh, I've got Jeff calling in. He is
almost cued on the switchboard. I did like the Gareth Edwards Godzilla film,
the first one that they wasted Brian Cranston, but it was actually pretty good
movie. And then what was the next one? Was it King of the
Monsters? The one with Rodin. I need someone to guide me into the
correct films. Jeff from south West Washington? Are you with me? My
friend? Yeah? Here? How are you? I'm well, what's on
your mind? You know, it's something I wanted to ask you about for
a while now, and I really like to get r Ns and Matts and
Noah's take on it too. Is when I was still a practicing pagan,
I heard some of the horsemen talking about religion, you Dokins and Echins and
whatnot, and they always focused on the absurdity of Christianity, the absurdity of
Islam. Not a whole lot of people touch on the belief systems that are
sort of a part of the neopagan movement. And you know, first of
all, the neopagans aren't the ones in power trying to change laws to you
know, affect other people, so perhaps they don't need as much attention.
And I just wondered if you have any kind of send up for neopaganism at
all. I think the reason that the primary focus is on the Big two
is because these are the wildfires that require our immediate attention. I mean,
even on this show, we've gotten into some other stuff, more of the
culty stuff, from time to time. But I think most of the reason
you hear Christianity Islam over and over and over is because that's where the main
threats are. I myself don't know much about neopaganism, and I would welcome
experts to guide me through those conversations and maybe even do an entire broadcast on
them. Is this your wheelhouse? Uh? Well, I mean as somebody
who practiced for a long time, and as somebody with a degree in psychology,
you know, I can kind of break it down a little bit,
but I wouldn't call myself an expert. Well, I mean, give me
the premer, give me the reader's digest version of neo paganism. Okay,
So for me, it's a focus on the cycle of the year in life
and death and rebirth. So at October thirty first is the new year.
That's what we would call the blood feast in ancient Europe before the Romans came
and mucked things up, and what happened during the blood feast is that you
would slaughter the animals who weren't expected to make it through the winter. You're
bringing the rest of the crops that you were going to store, and then
you throw a big party and invite everybody in town and you celebrate the bountiful
harvest that you have and that we're you know, we're going to be able
to get through these cold, dark times together. And then there's different points
throughout the year, the softsses, the equinoxes, they call them quarters and
cross quarters. But at different times of the year there are different things to
do, such as you know, October is obviously harvest. In February we
have mol which is the first of the planting season, right, And to
take it to a metaphorical place, you know, I think about harvest the
lessons that I've learned throughout the year, and when I'm planting, I'm planting
ideas and thoughts and desires and goals I want to see throughout the coming year
and hopefully harvest off of again. So in a nutshell, that's kind of
a primer. I guess, yeah, what I have liked about and we
talk about Pagan traditions as precursors to many of our Christian traditions. I have
always liked the gratitude, you know, the connection with the earth, the
preparing for the future, and the honoring of the past. Those elements of
paganism always kind of struve I always thought they were kind of romantic and actually
quite human in that way. I don't know if I'm overreading it or overthinking
it. Would you agree, I mean it's sort of an earthy connection,
a connection to life, kind of a vibe, right, yeah, and
yeah, exactly. And the quote that comes to mind is be noble for
you are made of stars, Be humble, for you are made of earth.
Right, I'm writing that down. I'm writing that down. That's so
good. So my connection with the Earth is important because every molecule that's in
my body right now was already here on Earth, and then some chemical reaction
came along and stacked it up into me. And so understanding and appreciating the
cycles that the Earth goes through and how life evolved here and why we have
the practices that we do around you know, finding agriculture and whatnot. I
mean, obviously industrial agricultures found ways around you know, like having to leave
a field sallow in order to replenish the soil, and you know that kind
But you know, I think taking that connection to the earth and then metaphorically
transferring it my connection to other human beings. Yeah, you know, it's
kind of romantic. So maybe maybe there's not much to send up here.
I mean, I'll ask the listeners if they would be interested in a show
on paganism, neo paganism, et cetera. But I would have to lean
on shoulders much bigger and taller than my own. So yeah, let's let's
kind of let me float a trial balloon on that one to do because you're
like six' five, right, six one, But you're very kind.
Now you want to see somebody tall and looming, just look at ur and
Raw. You know, he's he doesn't need lifts like Ron DeSantis does.
He just walks and looms and then he pulls out the hot powder. He's
such a teddy beer. I just want to sit on his lap and tell
him what I want for Halloween. Yeah, that's a whole other party right
there. All right, my friend, be safe, Jeff, thanks for
calling. Talking to see you later. I think it's romantic to think that,
and when I say it, it sounds like a freaking Hallmark movie.
But we are all star dust, right. The elements that came from the
stars constitute everything that we see around us and constitute too, and what we
are. And from stars we came, and to stars we will one day
return. I think that's magical. It's a kind of I guess what I
call it? Eternal life? As we pass away, right, my day
comes and the elements of my body are reconstituted into the earth, and then
over the course of time into other things, and then the earth finally goes
away and the sun burns up, and I don't know what the universe is
going to do, what it's but we continue on in that way. We're
not conscious of it, but it is a kind of eternal life. I
don't know. I mean, do you see it as romantic in that way?
I kind of do, But maybe I'm just a big sap. Paul
at six one two, Thanks for your patience. Are you with me?
Hey? How you doing, Seth? I'm great, my friend. Let's
talk what's on your mind? Well, first of all, I wanted to
say quickly, it was really nice to meet you. When you're out in
Minneapolis last time. That was a really good talk, really fun time,
so I really appreciate that. Thank you. So I was going through some
of your old episodes and you talked about really liking Spanish guitar and you always
wanted to learn, and you wrote a pretty neat little composition as well.
But I thought was pretty cool. Tell me a little bit about that.
I'm curious. Flamenco is actually one of my specialities, and I'm curious as
to what is it about Spanish guitar that really kind of speaks to you When
you say I did an arrangement, I did it on a keyboard with the
Spanish guitar kind of a program. So I totally cheated. I am not
a great pianist. I play only by ear. I was a nightmare for
all my music teachers because as they were trying to teach me scales and all
of those clefts and everything else, I just wanted to go play my own
thing. But I took guitar lessons for a few months. I just couldn't
get my fingers around the fret. I couldn't get them to connect with the
strings. I wasn't and I became so frustrated. And everybody I've spoken almost
everybody I've spoken to who plays guitar and even teaches guitar, they say,
that's normal. You will feel like it is never going to happen, You're
going to be terrible, and then suddenly you will connect with the instruments.
After three months. I never got there, and I think I put the
guitar on eBay and went to go do other things. But do you play,
do you teach? What's your story? Yeah? Yeah, so again,
I don't know if you remember me so many people, but I'm actually
a music professor and I own a little guitar and music school out here,
and yeah, I've been teaching for a long time. And one thing I
told all my students is I say, you gotta be okay with sounding like
shit, and that's normal. You're gonna be fine, right, And I
think that kind of allows them to relax a little bit, because a lot
of people come into lessons with this idea that, oh my gosh, I
gotta sound perfect, I can't make any mistakes. And I tell everyone you've
got to make mistakes, you got to you have to suck before you're good.
And I find that generally speaking, that kind of puts a lot of
people at ease, and it's just fun to see people kind of grow with
the instruments, whether they want to be a really great guitar player or they
just want to pick up a couple of giant cash tunes. Hey, if
they're having a great time and they're picking up the instrument because they love it,
that makes me happy as a teacher. Well, I'm not saying it's
impossible. It's it's out of the cards that I will let never pick up.
I may one day try again. It's probably like anything that you do.
You know, if you're going to be a singer or a writer or
some sort of painter, you know you're probably going to be horrible for a
while until you are not. But you know, are there some people,
Paul, that just will never get there? Come on, I know you've
had some students and you're like, you need to do something else with your
life. Do you ever just write somebody off, Because you'd probably write me
off if I showed up in your classroom. Paul. I'm just saying,
well, you'll have to show up some time, and then you know,
I've the students that I mean, I've never like so much kicked somebody out.
But you know, I can usually tell if someone if it's in their
heart or not, you know, and they're just like maybe too afraid to
say, hey, this just isn't my thing, and I'll just sit them
down and just have a nice frank talk with it, and I'll tell them,
hey, I tried some instruments too that I thought it like and I
and I've didn't, but you gave it a shot and that's perfectly fine,
and that's perfectly okay. If you ever want to come back, you're welcome.
So I've never you know, I've never sat down and told someone,
you know, you can't do this in no way. I work with a
lot of kids who are autistic, and usually with those kids is they have
sort of an inn. They have a thing that they're really good at,
and that can be Like example, I have a student who is really into
training, especially injurines, and you can you can tell this kid any year,
any year, any date, and he can tell you everything about that
steam engine and how it was built and what it takes. So what we
do is rewrite songs together that sound like those engines. So I'll say,
nineteen forty two, what does the engine sound like? And he'll write a
song making sounds with his guitar that sounds like that engine toom And so that's
a super gratifying thing to see. And also it's neat to allow him in
introduction and experience with music via something he understands. I don't know if that
makes sense or not. It does. It's ingenious. What a great way
to sort of go into their wheelhouse and make it personal and unique to them.
That's fantastic. Well, thanks for the encouragement. And you know,
for me, I just love the way it sounds acoustic guitar in general.
One of my favorite songs is a song that released I want to say in
the late eighties by staying it's called Fragile and it's mostly just him on the
acoustic guitar and I could listen to that tune and songs like it all day
long. It's funny you mentioned that I was actually just teaching that to a
student yesterday. So that's a nice ole coincidence. Powerful message, really really
good stuff. Yeah, absolutely, one more thing before I go. And
I know you get tons of emails, but a while ago I tried to
send you a link to a free copy of my Flamenco album. I don't
know if you've got that or not. I would have brought you a copy
when you were here in Minneapolis, but I sold out of all my copies,
which is a good problem to have. But can I go ahead and
read send that to you and give you just a link for a free DOWB
Just kind of my way of saying thanks for everything you've given us as a
community. Yeah, I'd be honored forgive my inbox it is now. I
have not seen it, but I think I've got ten thousand emails in the
box. I've read a bunch, but I can't keep up because that plus
the Facebook messages, plus all of the comments that are coming on, plus
everything else that's in the pipeline. And I'm just one guy. So if
I missed it, it is not personal. Send it to me again.
Would it be under your name? Well, I see Paul, Yes,
Okay, I'll look for Paul. Just send it to me tonight. I'll
go take a peek before we call a day. All right, And again,
a big thanks for your show, a big thanks for everything you do.
You know, I know you've questioned before whether you're making a difference.
You are. I just want you to know that and keep doing what you
do. And I hope to see you in Minneapolis Saint Paul again. Sometimes
all right, all right, my friend, take care of yourself. We'll
see you later. Hey, you too. Thanks that. I find myself
apologizing a lot for having a difficult time keeping up. But you know,
I like being busy. I'd rather have too much than not enough, although
occasionally it is a little bit overwhelming. So and I probably and Natalie says,
I do it to myself. She's like, you started a second podcast,
Yes, honey. She's totally supportive. She's like, with all that,
wait, with all that you're doing, you have a set yes?
How often does it release? Three times a week? How much research does
it require? You do not want to know, but you know people are
noticing the true stories with Seth Andrews podcast. If you haven't heard it,
I would encourage you to check it out. I should do one for you
here, just since we have a second I'll get to Dave on the switchboard
in just a moment. This was I think one of the first stories that
I released in August. I think of twenty twenty two. If you've heard
this one, forgive me. And if I screw up a couple of the
details, it's because I'm doing it for memory. I don't have the script
in front of me, but this is the kind of thing that I'm doing.
On the second show. The year is nineteen fifty three. If I
recall man named John, he's a codebreaker for the United States Air Force.
This is roughly eight years after the ending of the Second World War, but
the Cold War between the superpowers is in full swing, specifically the United States
and Soviet Russia with their spies in our midst our spies in their midst John
was a codebreaker in the Air Force. His job was to intercept and translate
coded Soviet transmissions, and then he would report those messages to his superiors and
they would go up the chain of command. And one day there was a
lot of traffic, a lot of chatter about Joseph Stalin, the dictator.
Now. Stalin had been the totalitarian dictator of Russia since the nineteen thirties,
brutal tyrants. In fact, historians would say Stalin was responsible for the deaths
of around twenty million of his own citizens. Many by starvation. But what
happened to Stalin would affect the balance of power in the rest to the world.
And so whenever John was sitting in the codebreaker's chair he heard these messages,
he decoded them and they said, Joseph Stalin is in failing health.
He is very ill. It doesn't look good. Doctors have been summoned.
I mean, this was big news, and this was news that Russia wanted
to protect. John caught it and he sent those messages translated up the chain
of command until finally the message came in, Joseph Stalin has died. John
the codebreaker translated that. He gave it to his superior and immediately it rushed
up the chain of command to reach President Dwight Eisenhower. Now what's interesting about
this true story is not about Stalin. It's about John. Because John,
John, whose message went up to reach the ear of a president's would in
his life go on to meet and shake ends with presidents. John in his
off hours, was a musician. He wrote songs, played guitar. He
was honorably discharged, and he started to pursue music more seriously. Before he
knew it, he was writing and recording and performing in front of hundreds,
than thousands, and then tens of thousands of people. John would eventually go
on to be inducted into both the Rock and Roll and the Country Music Hall
of Fame. That same John who sat in the Codebreaker's chair. That was
the John who walked the line, who went down to that burning ring of
fire and sang the fulsome prison blues, Johnny Cash. And that's the kind
of fun stuff I get to release for you three times a week, True
Stories with Seth Andrews streaming on all major podcast apps. This is still my
first love. That is, it's becoming a close second. We got more
to talk about and more calls next. Hard to believe it is the month
of December already on Time flies, and I think time flies more quickly as
we get older. When we were kids and somebody said, oh, you
can do this in a week, we'd be like, I don't want to
wait a week. A week is forever. I can't believe it's going to
be a whole week. We would whine and moan and carry on because a
week was eternity. Now I blink and it's next week, Like all of
a sudden, it's December twenty twenty three, The new year reproaches. Twenty
twenty four is around the corner. It's weird. Time goes faster as I
get older, and I'm kind of freaked out about it when I'm sixty five.
What am I just going to like? We'll look around in January turns
into August like that. I don't know. I'm I'm just saying, Dave
fits seven to one nine. Thanks for waiting on me. What do you
want to talk about? Hey, well, thanks for taking my call real
quick. I guess in the same vein, I didn't know that story about
Johnny Cash. It's really cool, but with the music and the guitar speak
and everything like that, it got me thinking for a moment, I really
wish that within our education, I really wish there was more of an emphasis
putting on the acceptance of failure and trying and not succeeding. But that's okay,
because it feels like the way the mark is set, it's either you
or you don't, and if you don't, it's bad across the board.
And I mean, nobody wakes up able to play guitar. You know,
it's something you kind of got to work out a little bit, But I'm
sorry, that's a little bit of a tangent. No, I like it.
I like the sentiment of it. You know, does it bring you
joy, does it fulfill you? Does it feed something in you? Is
a hell of a lot more important than are you a master of it?
I think that's valid. Sure, sure, I would say that if you
had the same passion for playing guitar as you do for your podcast, you'd
probably be a rock star. I don't know you if you haven't seen me
with a guitar, but you know, I get it. It's like,
I'm not a great pianist at all, but it does feel good to go
and just kind of peck away at the keys, and who cares if I'm
never going to be on stage at Carnegie Hall. It's a great release and
it's you know, it's something that feeds something in me. So yeah,
that's a great point. I appreciate you making a day. What else.
Yeah, it's more important to love than it is to succeed. It's the
love for it will help you succeed. But I wanted to talk a little
bit about you know, the holidays are coming up for people of us non
belief and skeptical persuasion. It can be a difficult time, especially if we
have, you know, some ostracization from families and things like that, and
going into that. It's a little bit of a struggle for me as I've
come into my own here and started breaking away from a lot of the things
that I used to think and how I've developed as an adult on account of
religion. It's men me realize a lot of the subtle evils that kind of
come along with growing up in a faith based institution. You have a lot
of people who kind of express those sentiments towards you or I hear a lot
from people stressed about the holidays. I myself had a whole conversation about how
much do you engage over at the Thanksgiving holiday? Is it worth it?
Why do it? What's the cost benefits? What do you want to get
out of it? And I understand, you know, it's some people just
light up in the months of November and December in the United States, and
there are other people who have the opposite feeling. It's hard. They've lost
people, maybe the death of a family member becomes much more forefront in their
mind. You know, there's an empty chair at the family gathering. Maybe
the season causes them to feel depressed as the weather has gotten colder and darker.
It's so many factors, and you know, you make a great point
that despite the fact that we are surrounded by all of those happy, clappy,
nauseatingly cheery, bell filled holiday songs playing on the you know, on
the loud speakers at the department stores, it's not really that reality for a
great many people. So it's a good point. I've always been really appreciative
of the sense of you know, giving and camaraderie with people, and you
know, for me, the season is very much so about that, just
you know, basic humanity, the people that you don't get to see all
the time, and you want to let them know that you're thinking about them,
and you want to enjoy those sorts of things with them. But I've
suffered with depression for a very long time, and unfortunately, I come from
a very religious family, and by that I mean Pentecostal evangelist, So it's
a really hard thing for me. Who's somebody who's skeptically minded, who's you
know, I want to consider myself a rationalist, But that's one of those
things, you know, can't put a title on yourself to be Oh,
I'm a rationalist, you know, just like I'm so humble and so caring
and giving. But no, well, I don't think that's necessarily egotistical,
Dave, to say that. You know, I am a person who is
a promoter of rationality, and that's a focus for me. I understand that
you don't want to come off as haughty and presumptuous and egotistical. But I
you know, if you're a rationalist, you sound like a rationalist to me.
So yeah, i'd call you that, Dave. I'd call you that.
But it's a difficult thing to call out for help when you have these
mental issues that are going on in the background, and I've had to kind
of lean on outside sources. Talking with the family members the other day,
they actually suggested that I go and see a therapist that Focus on the Family,
and I didn't quite know how to tell them no, other than you
know, I won't be a part of that evil and it's hard if I
may. For those who don't know what Dave's talking about, Focus on the
Family is a religious organization that was founded and run by James Dobson, who
is a fundamentalist Christian apologist. He's a hardliner, and he's just a freaking
human rights nightmare. He's a science nightmare, he's a history nightmare. He's
a propaganda nightmare. And so the idea that's focus on the family would be
guiding any counseling is terrified because they would likely be rooting it in notions of
obedience and disobedience and divine destiny and Jesus is watching you and pray more and
all that craziness. So I'm glad you escape that when that would have been
a nightmare. Whenever I need to remind myself that I'm a good person,
I remember one time I was called to deliver a pizza to their offices,
and I resisted the temptation to do anything to it. So I said,
yeah, I think I'm a decent person in that respectively. You did your
job with honor, Dave, you know, and I appreciate that you didn't
bring your own agenda into the pizza delivery, and I appreciate that. I
know it's hard for a lot of people. I don't think there's any wrong
way to spend the holiday unless you are in denial of yourself, your authentic
self. I think that's wrong, But don't beat yourself up too much,
you know, I think struggles are part of the human experience, and I'm
glad that you are pursuing options. Just know you've got support and family,
unconditional support here. And I hope the holiday and I hope the new year
brings really good things for you. Okay, indeed, And thank you all
very much. The likes of yourself, Matt Dillahunty the round one. As
far as I'm concerned going forward, he's not round an. I know he's
not. But now that's going to be stuck in my head forever. That's
going to get back. But the likes of you, Bennett Docum and the
people like that who I got to lose and talk and reassuring me that I
was not alone. You are among that, and I thank you very much.
I look at you as an uncle that is saying I get to be
the same uncle during the holidays. Well, I'll take that seat at the
table, and I hope the holidays are good for you. Thanks for calling,
Thank you very much. Have a good season. Matt will be the
first to tell you that he lost He lost a lot of weight, since
the first time we met back in twenty eleven, and so I think there's
still a publicity photo or three of him floating around from back then. So
when somebody said he's the round one, I think they're either referring to the
bald head which makes them think round, but mad. I mean, he's
pretty lean these days, so I don't know, but that is going to
get back to him. It's just whatever I did, whatever, I'm just
going to leave that out there. I appreciate you watching and listening. I
appreciate you being a part of my life over the year twenty twenty three and
again, there's no wrong way to spend the holidays. I call it Christmas.
That's the name of the holiday. You can call it whatever you want.
Some people love to do the whole thing, tree, presence, music,
everything else. Some people say, screw it, I'm not going to
do a damn thing. Absolutely fine. Maybe you want to decorate with your
own flavor of Christmas, traditions, your own color, scheme, different foods,
different different stuff. The aesthetic I think doesn't have to be any one
thing. There's no wrong to do the holiday season. Just make it right,
make it yours and enjoy yourself, and that's my hope for you,
and I will see you back here next time. Follow the Thinking Atheist on
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