Resources

Inside-Outside II

Introduction to Part II

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We began this journey with the Sophia Burns article on the movie, The Last Jedi.  Uncharacteristic for the Star Wars series, the general message was curiously populist—that people cannot rely on leaders or grand heroic figures to “fix things”.  We must rely on ourselves. In this second segment of Inside-Outside, we consider the driving forces within us and our collective experience as these forces impact our ability to choose.  Toward the end of the article, a simple exercise is presented—an exercise which, if employed diligently, could revolutionize our daily lives. (more…)

Timothy Snyder Speaks

Remember the post from last summer when we highlighted Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny?  He has begun a YouTube series called “Timothy Snyder Speaks”.  Take a look at episode 7, in which Professor Snyder talks about “The Evil of ‘America First’”.

Timothy Snyder Speaks

Prof. Snyder describes the series as informal talks that fall between “the 90 seconds” afforded during a TV interview and a 45 minute class lecture.  Each is a five to fifteen minute treat of a learned person concerned about the current political climate in America.  Agree or disagree, his gentle, almost offhanded style should allow you the opportunity to debate with yourself in an open, civilized manner. While your there, check out other episodes in the series.

What’s Old is New Again

Remember Dan Rather? Most of us who are even “just a little bit older” certainly do. Mr. Rather, a former anchor of the CBS Evening News, was one of the most well-known broadcast news journalists during a time when the news gave the appearance of being “truer” than many broadcasts manage these days. Some of us might find comfort in knowing such a persons is still at it.

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Apparently, Mr. Rather has teamed up with the Young Turks on their YouTube channel to present a weekly news broadcast. Take a look at the first one. Sober, direct, calm, seemingly non-partisan, the broadcast feels trustworthy enough. You might like it enough to subscribe.

Dan RatherThe endeavor, which Mr. Rather describes as “an answer to what TV news has become” is streamed on YouTube every Monday at 5:30 EST. You might at least get a bit of comfort, a brief respite from these troubled days of “fakenews”.

You might also want to check out the post “State of the Union Address” broadcast from the end of January.

 

State of the Blog

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The first posting on this site appeared one year ago.  The blog arose out of a desire to focus the thoughts and actions of a group of social scientists, artists, educators and others around the general topic “what is happening to the United States and what should we do about it”.  We began 2017 largely with small reposts of articles and videos that seemed noteworthy without appearing overly partisan.  As the months passed and the vagaries of WordPress formatting presented less of an impediment, the posts began to change, dramatically increasing in length, complexity and containing significantly more original content.

The reset for this New Year (2018) will initially return to more “light” fare until the major stories for the year emerge (just as net neutrality and democracy became the major themes of 2017).  The blog’s intention, however, is to shift focus from external or civic (socio-political) events to more internal psycho-social states we each experience as individuals. (more…)