Episodes
Wednesday Jan 15, 2020
TalkBack 15: Declaring War on 'Just Say No'
Wednesday Jan 15, 2020
Wednesday Jan 15, 2020
From an endgame perspective, the so-called "war on drugs" was never intended to generate the equivalent of permanent prisoners of war in the form of mass incarceration, but that is probably the true face of the political strategy that seemed to directly target my generation. The focus came after the Summer Of Love crowd, hitting instead the younger brothers, sisters, and cousins. It's hard to cite any wins because "Just Say No" as a campaign was far more about the image than the results, pure style over substance. Perhaps it was only about winning electoral strategies. I say this because I first had to resist this facile nonsense before I could commit myself to truly resisting any temptations to "experiment" with drugs.
Yes, "temptations" is plural. This issue was never so simple that "just say no" was credible advice. And that was just part of the problem that persists today. Other parts include the false equivocation about the relative dangers of different substances, and whether keeping people alive long enough to get the help they truly need was ever among the goals (hint: evidence suggests it was not).
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/15-declaring-war-on-%e2%80%98just-say-no%e2%80%99/
Thursday Jan 09, 2020
222: Displeasure
Thursday Jan 09, 2020
Thursday Jan 09, 2020
To our shame, our society still tends to teach women to separate themselves from their sexuality, treating pleasure as something regrettable while looking the other way with a "boys will be boys" shrug about men pursuing pleasure. Even within committed relationships, this has unfortunate and unnecessary consequences. Wise women have spoken against this, and their counsel is well worth considering.
Different Drummer: Ruth K. Westheimer
Friday Jan 03, 2020
TalkBack 14: Sex Education the Protestant Way; Then, Not Now
Friday Jan 03, 2020
Friday Jan 03, 2020
Considering how prominent sex is on the logo for Inappropriate Conversations, I haven't touched that topic as often as I could. I may explore some reasons why in the next Inappropriate Conversations recording for #IC #222. We'll see. In the meantime, this past episode from 2010 provides valuable background information, recalling a time when the church taking sex education seriously did not have anything to do with protesting, banning, or undermining it.
http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/14-sex-education-the-protestant-way-then-not-now/
Happy 2020!
Tuesday Oct 29, 2019
220: Mirror Universe Different Drummers
Tuesday Oct 29, 2019
Tuesday Oct 29, 2019
What if I go low instead of high? The named Different Drummers might be people like:
Mitch McConnell
Rick Wiles
Franklin Graham
Candice Keller
As opposed to the real answer this time.
Different Drummer: Michelle Obama
Wednesday Sep 25, 2019
219: Proud To Know You 4 - Gregarious
Wednesday Sep 25, 2019
Wednesday Sep 25, 2019
For two consecutive years now, the Pride48 podcasting expo in New Orleans has been a landmark in summertime vacation plans. Each year has been a combination of seeing old friends again and meeting new ones. These are conversations I intend to continue.
Different Drummer: Bernie Taupin
"He's my brother. Let us live in peace." (Taupin)
Monday Sep 02, 2019
218: Why We Watch
Monday Sep 02, 2019
Monday Sep 02, 2019
Spoiler alert regarding Avengers and Marvel Cinematic Universe. One of the Life In Hell strips Matt Groening wrote years ago featured his criticism of film critics. One-liners included newspaper critics writing tight capsule reviews and more serious magazine critics wearing sweaters and giving away endings. I don't often wear sweaters, but I do struggle with how to openly discuss subtext without spoilers. For the movie The Sixth Sense, I ended up writing two reviews, one for before you've seen the film and one for after. That seemed to work. At the #p48EXPO #p48NOLA #p48LIVE event this year, I didn't have the time to offer such a dual perspective. If you are behind (as I was until this summer) on Infinity War and Endgame, you've been warned.
The primary focus of this episode was looking more deeply at what draws us into the popular art we consume. With movies, for example, the impetus seems to be different for comedy, horror, documentary, etc. What occurred to me about the draw of characters, regardless the actor or director, seemed most significant within the superhero genre. The tie-in with the Different Drummer seemed obvious.
As a live show, the format of this one is appropriately different. We dive right in, for one thing, with introduction and theme music coming along the way. For another, I've bookended this file with interstitials from the podcasting suite. Since it takes a few minutes to move one podcast off-stage and another one on, these interstitials tend to focus the audience toward something other than headphones being plugged in and drinks-of-choice being poured. The opener is the intro to Inappropriate Conversations this year, and the closer is one from the next day when I was invited to participate. There is more after the #IC live outro music.
Thanks to Taylor and Taffy from Pod Is My Copilot. Bookends, indeed.
Different Drummer: Stan Lee
"Life's an essay test; we're obliged to give essay answers." (The Author)
Tuesday Apr 23, 2019
215: Parental Controls
Tuesday Apr 23, 2019
Tuesday Apr 23, 2019
The concept of parental control, even censorship, was clearly a part of my upbringing. I could cite numerous examples of inconsistencies, though:
Three's Company, Soap, American Graffiti, National Lampoon's Animal House, Queen, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Harold Robbins (The Betsy), Xaviera Hollander (The Happy Hooker), Hermann Hesse (Siddhartha), Alex Comfort (The Joy of Sex, More Joy of Sex), Bari Wood & Jack Geasland (Twins).
Different Drummer: Dolly Parton