Good afternoon and good evening, everyone.
Blair:Welcome to another episode of the Secular Foxhole podcast.
Blair:I think my voice sounds a little gravely and deeper because I've been suffering from some
Blair:sinus and cough issues the last week or so.
Blair:But anyway, this has Blair and Martin.
Blair:Hey, Martin.
Blair:How are you?
Martin:Hi, Blair. I'm fine.
Martin:So we are back now, as you said.
Martin:We are green room, back in the saddle, cowboys or crawling out of Foxhole here.
Martin:We are back and we are doing a catch up thing here, episode 68.
Blair:That's right.
Martin:Talking about future plans, some statistics, some good news that you have found
Martin:and whatnot that's right.
Blair:This will be a short episode, but we wanted to get this out for our listeners.
Martin:Yeah. And you had some nice memories there when I celebrated this national Record
Martin:store day on my Heartland digital Town Hall Tea Party media.
Martin:So you said in your partner you had been at a conference there.
Martin:That was interesting music, right?
Blair:Well, it wasn't a conference, it was a concert.
Martin:Concert? Yeah.
Blair:One of my favorite all time bands is ELO, the Electric Light Orchestra.
Blair:And this was a tribute band called they called themselves Evil Woman, the American ELO.
Martin:Okay. But they are not evil, I hope.
Blair:And no, of course not.
Blair:They were spectacularly talented.
Blair:They had a four piece string section and two guitarists, a bass player, a drummer and two
Blair:keyboardists.
Blair:It was quite two singers, female singer and a
Blair:male singer.
Blair:And they put on a two hour show that was
Blair:really good.
Blair:And sadly, though, I think it's where I cut my
Blair:cold nonetheless, that didn't subtract from the great show that they put on.
Blair:So, yeah, I think that was the same day as the National Record Store Day, which was almost
Blair:two weeks ago.
Blair:But thanks for mentioning that, or thanks for
Blair:bringing that up, because it was a great time and the tickets were free, so you can't beat
Blair:that.
Martin:Yeah. And as we know, we'll come into nothing.
Martin:There ain't no such thing as a free lunch reference.
Martin:So somebody has to pay.
Martin:But maybe they had a tip jar or of course,
Martin:merchandise selling that or some other things.
Blair:They also did that.
Blair:They did that after the show.
Blair:But this show was held at a casino here in Northeast.
Martin:Okay.
Blair:And of course, when you hit slots industry, when you hit the slots, you tend to
Blair:lose.
Martin:Han, when I have to mention this, this is like a local reference.
Martin:You have to take it as it is.
Martin:But the leading so called Social Democrat
Martin:Party in Sweden have something called the a lottery.
Martin:And they have special deals, like maybe as the casinos have also, some running them have
Martin:special deals with the state, no doubt, so they could get around all these taxes.
Martin:What or not.
Martin:It says in the media.
Martin:But it's huge money, cash cow for the Party and Propaganda Party.
Martin:And it's interesting that they're selling these tickets, and the people who buy the
Martin:tickets have the odds against them because you know about gambling like that.
Martin:But it's going directly to their cash for propaganda.
Martin:And the Socialist Party, good Social Democrat or the leading party, they are very hungry for
Martin:power.
Martin:So now it has been a debate here about that,
Martin:because the non socialist are now in government, but they have their own lottery
Martin:also.
Martin:But they have been very sneaky with saying who
Martin:is behind it.
Martin:So there was a bit of reference there.
Blair:Wow, that's interesting.
Blair:Now, believe me, the state where I live, in
Blair:order for the casino to operate, quote, legally, unquote, there was kickbacks.
Blair:And the state takes a certain percentage, which grows every year, so to speak, just to
Blair:keep their hands in the pocket, so to speak.
Blair:But anyway, yeah, that's neither here nor
Blair:there.
Blair:It was a great time, but I just had a few
Blair:things I wanted to cover today when I was thinking about what to talk about.
Blair:I was just looking at the news and everything, and I've just got the positive news right.
Blair:Because there's negativity all around us.
Blair:And I wanted to just stress to our listeners
Blair:there's many, many good things that they can do for themselves to alleviate the negativity.
Blair:Of course, the number one thing is to read Iron Rand.
Blair:That was a great impetus for me to change my life some 40 years ago.
Martin:Have you read this is, like, for maybe a future guest here, but have you got that as
Martin:a recommendation, like Free Books by Rand? Have you read Romantic Manifesto lately?
Blair:Not lately, but I read it many years ago.
Blair:Yeah.
Martin:So maybe we should do a study group on that, because it was one that recommended
Martin:that.
Martin:Mr. Lehman yeah, and I thought that got me,
Martin:like, a reminder.
Martin:I definitely have to check that out again.
Blair:I think the Iron Institute, it may be more for students than for adults like us, but
Blair:they have reading groups.
Blair:They've started reading groups.
Blair:But it's something to think about.
Blair:But there's certain essay, a couple of essays
Blair:I wanted to mention to our listeners.
Blair:One is, how does one lead a rational life in
Blair:an irrational society? That's from it's in the virtue of selfishness.
Blair:Little book.
Blair:The essay is only about eight or ten pages,
Blair:but Virtue of Selfishness, maybe 120 pages.
Blair:Just read the whole book as well as that
Blair:essay.
Blair:And then the other essay, I'm not sure if it's
Blair:in the same nonfiction book or if it's in a different one.
Blair:It's called what can one do? In other words, what can one person do to
Blair:influence events where they live? I think one of the oldest things here in
Blair:America is all politics is local.
Blair:Had a bit of a coughing fit there.
Blair:Sorry.
Blair:All politics is local.
Blair:And reach out, speak out whenever you can, provided, as she would say, provided, you
Blair:know, what you're saying.
Blair:But two of the websites that I find
Blair:fascinating and helpful in keeping a positive frame of mind, one is called
Blair:HumanProgress.org, and they wrote that book, Superabundance that's just been out recently.
Blair:We hope to get those that author on Earth or if there's more than one, both of them.
Blair:And then therootsofprogress.org O-R-G with Jason Crawford.
Blair:I recently corresponded with him, and he will definitely be a future guest.
Martin:Great.
Blair:So when he's working on a book right now, he said.
Blair:And when that's done, he'll be glad to come on the show.
Blair:Go ahead.
Martin:Yeah. Blair because we want to stay positive.
Martin:And right now, what we could do right now, we thank you, as I said, always Industrial
Martin:Revolution, but also what's going on after and so on.
Martin:And the semi free market, capitalist market to reflect on that on a daily basis.
Martin:But on the other hand, we see powers and dark elements trying to go back, certainly.
Martin:And you had some thoughts about that also, that we'll probably talk about more in the
Martin:future.
Martin:The battle between Plato and Aristotle that
Martin:can come around in different shapes and forms.
Martin:Yes, it is.
Martin:That's great news.
Martin:Because you really need that because sometimes
Martin:you could focus on daily news.
Martin:And that's why we have a news segment, news
Martin:sandwich segment.
Martin:But we want to have at least double the
Martin:positive news and then the not so good news and learn from that.
Blair:I just thought of this again.
Blair:I do want to mention one other book.
Blair:It was by Dr. Leonard Pikoff called the ominous parallels.
Blair:The end of freedom in America was the subtitle.
Blair:And I would encourage listeners to try to find that book and not he edited it and rereleased
Blair:it as The Rise of Hitler, which I think is a weak substitute sorry, Dr. Peacock.
Blair:To his original work.
Blair:Because his original work there's at least one
Blair:or two chapters that is probably the greatest tribute to America that I've ever read in my
Blair:life.
Martin:To take it to context.
Martin:And we were gladly to take the input or
Martin:feedback or why it was because it took him a long time to write that, but it was so
Martin:important.
Martin:But maybe then this new one with Hitler in the
Martin:title is to really shake people and the attention grabber.
Martin:Maybe possibly because they have done one book about politics, for example, that Peter
Martin:Schwartz like a compilation also.
Martin:Right.
Martin:So it could be for that reason that you really want to reach new markets and coming out.
Martin:But I really appreciate that you said go back also.
Martin:And I think buy both and read both and then compare, as you said.
Blair:Okay. Yeah.
Martin:So I think that could be the reason that they wanted to reach new markets and
Martin:maybe see how that could be to package in that way.
Martin:But still, of course, in the new one also, because I have only the old one is so the
Martin:paperback is so yes, you really get your attention with the symbolic things there.
Martin:So maybe it could be also that they have a reference back to Voridinal also, of course,
Martin:and even Rand's works have been that also in different covers and different versions.
Blair:Yes, true.
Martin:But if you could find Voridnal and also I remember is that still around the paper
Martin:tiger?
Blair:No, he retired.
Martin:That gentleman retired because when I had you could afford it and find some games
Martin:and he was so friendly and reaching out.
Martin:I remember I think I bought like and others.
Martin:It was a great source of that.
Martin:And of course, if you want to have it, both
Martin:value the content, but also maybe like a collector, he had some great gems there.
Blair:Yes, gems, yes.
Blair:You could always try to find it PaperTiger.
Blair:I'm not sure if it's dot or something.
Martin:Yeah, we'll link to that in show notes.
Martin:Do you have anything else there? Any other good news that you want to share?
Blair:Well, I think let me touch a little bit on what we talked about in the green room.
Blair:We're thinking about doing a new trailer and also adding another jingle or two to the show
Blair:along with our original one.
Blair:The gentleman who created that for us, I
Blair:really liked that.
Blair:So we're going to go back to him and see if he
Blair:can do another one for us in the future.
Blair:But anyway, that's about it.
Blair:That's about it for me.
Martin:Yeah. So the trailer is similar to like a trailer for a movie.
Martin:Why should they listen to us? And again, thanks Kyrene Down of Mere Mortars
Martin:that did this podcast episode about our podcast.
Martin:And so great review.
Martin:So that's great to hear.
Martin:But when it's coming from us, in our words, sometimes it could be hard.
Martin:Why should they listen to us? We take it for granted now in a way.
Martin:And the show is running and we are doing it for our own sake and our selfish reasons.
Martin:Yes, but of course we want individuals to listen to us and give us positive feedback and
Martin:feedback loop and support us, our work.
Martin:But then a new trailer could be that maybe we
Martin:will reach new audiences, old ones will come back to us, et cetera and so on.
Martin:So I think that could be in place often trailer, they use it maybe then if you have a
Martin:new season or maybe they change the format of a podcast.
Martin:Otherwise the original trailer that you make will always be there.
Martin:But I remember when we did it, it was almost like a meaning episode also because we had so
Martin:much to say, wanted to cram it in into trailer.
Martin:So it was a long trailer.
Martin:So now it will be maybe it's more short and
Martin:sweet and so on.
Martin:But on the other hand, it's interesting when
Martin:you especially have guests that you could reach new audiences and they have their
Martin:friends and supporters and others.
Martin:And also the topic, of course.
Martin:Yes.
Martin:And we will think more about that in the
Martin:future, how we could mix it up a bit and develop.
Martin:And we are welcoming again thanks to the activist meeting there on Zoom that we had.
Martin:But so great feedback and input and questions about our podcast and the name and the blog
Martin:and so on.
Martin:I really appreciate that.
Martin:So thanks again for arranging that.
Blair:Oh, it's my pleasure.
Blair:Yeah, they had a great time as well.
Martin:Go ahead.
Martin:About what I've been up to.
Martin:I recently had a live event because we have a digital town hall on Heartland called the
Martin:Secular Foxhole.
Martin:So we will do something there.
Martin:Sometimes it's the chicken and egg situation.
Martin:We ourselves have to be more active, but it's
Martin:free.
Martin:But it's also one technical aspect of it and
Martin:the content aspect, it's free, it's privacy, it's no data mining, it's no algorithms, and
Martin:it's by an independent company like entrepreneurs, and we want to support them
Martin:also.
Martin:And I have great ideas about what we could do
Martin:with it, but of course we have to add value.
Martin:Why should we, for example, do a live event?
Martin:And I have some ideas, so we will talk about that bounce back and forth, blair and also
Martin:maybe we'll get input from other objectivists and other individuals that are interested in
Martin:this topic.
Martin:The separation of state and church, but also
Martin:state and economy and so on.
Martin:Education and everything is connected.
Martin:That's something to do.
Martin:So then I had about Podcasting 2.0 and about
Martin:Value for Value model new podcast apps that you could, for example, make a clip and send
Martin:donation and boost the grams with Digital Telegram with a note of appreciation.
Martin:And you could also stream sets.
Martin:So I think that will be the model in the
Martin:future that you would make a conscious decision that I want to support this podcast
Martin:on a regular basis and say I want to stream ten sets, 100 sets, whatever per minute.
Martin:Similarly, when you use the service, like for example Apple Music or Spotify or whatever,
Martin:you pay something per month.
Martin:Now you could decide with your own means and
Martin:budget because it takes some time, energy and cost in order to run a show.
Martin:And if you get that appreciation in different ways, it could be that somebody share
Martin:something like what Karen Downe again did for us with doing a review.
Martin:Yes, that's priceless in a way.
Martin:And then you could have like Jim that we have
Martin:paid for, of course, to do this, but that's also some talent to do and we want to add him
Martin:and include him in the show notes, and we talking about that.
Martin:We should probably update our artwork also in the future.
Martin:And then we have some ideas who we could contact.
Martin:I had a good contact on Fiverr doing that, but maybe even more artistic or more what we want.
Martin:But you and I, we can't do it ourselves because we are artists, but then we have to
Martin:pay for that and then we want to in one way cover that and maybe that could become
Martin:merchandise.
Martin:And we have all kind of ideas here.
Martin:So talking about a little bit about stats.
Martin:So now on this Op free that I sent you, this
Martin:project by John Spurlock with Openstats service, there we are.
Martin:Fountain app is number two after Apple and ahead of Spotify in the recent period and
Martin:podverse is also on the list.
Martin:So I think that's fascinating that the new
Martin:podcast apps are now used.
Martin:And I know, for example, I could do a shout
Martin:out directly to him, roland Horowatt, he's using that because I see his streaming sets.
Martin:So he's streaming sets to us and we get that.
Martin:But also when he streams, he gets some
Martin:satoshis for listen to podcasts on Fountain.
Blair:Yeah, good.
Martin:So that's a great example.
Martin:And we're now even more markets and countries.
Martin:But I thought it was nice to see new podcast apps and new alternatives that you could use
Martin:that really could benefit us and also the app developers and also stir around in the pot a
Martin:little bit because we probably will come up with that in the future.
Martin:We are for all commercial businesses, if are acting in a good way, of course.
Martin:But we also see this, how do you say, positionized with when the state and Big
Martin:Brother and others, starting with lobbying and agendas and platforming.
Martin:It's a bit scary.
Martin:And also these algorithms that putting you in
Martin:certain buckets and you get feeded in different information, right.
Martin:So that's probably something we'll come back and we have also already touched on that in
Martin:different episodes.
Blair:I think we have, yes.
Martin:So the call to action here is download a new podcast app like Fountain, podverse, et
Martin:cetera, and check out newpodcastapps.com or the shorter URL is now podcastapps.com.
Martin:And that was a guy who bought that domain and gave it to the Podcast Index and Dave Jones
Martin:and Adam Curry.
Martin:So Roland Harvard, I think he has streamed and
Martin:sent 1488 sets.
Martin:And I will also include in the show notes what
Martin:one set is converted into the fiat currency.
Blair:Okay.
Martin:And then mere mortals carrying down 1066 sets and then a new donor and sponsor
Martin:that is into music, more electronic music and so on.
Martin:I think the tone record 852 sets and right now I can't find it.
Martin:But I think he made a comment on Fountain also saying thanks for explaining value for value
Martin:in your way.
Martin:Yeah, good, that's great.
Martin:And that's probably thanks to that I had posted on Podcast Index, social on Mastodon
Martin:and promoting our episodes now and then.
Blair:That's great.
Blair:Martin good.
Martin:And it was fun talking about music.
Martin:Dave Jones, he is a drummer also and he will
Martin:maybe do a show there with like a cover band.
Martin:And now you have to help me with the name
Martin:again.
Martin:I like her much.
Martin:Twain.
Blair:Oh, Shania Twain.
Blair:Yeah.
Martin:That's great.
Martin:And also this Rush album boostogram 2112.
Martin:It's neat to send a donation like that.
Martin:And also that Dave Jones is a tracker, so he
Martin:would have like a meet up with Shatner.
Martin:Is that the correct name?
Blair:Yeah, William Shatner.
Martin:Yes. So that's pretty cool.
Blair:Yes, it is.
Martin:And you maybe will sooner or later meet Rob Greenley because he's in your area.
Blair:Yes, I know.
Blair:I reached out to him, but he's pretty busy.
Blair:But we'll see if I can follow up with that someday.
Martin:Yeah, so that's great.
Martin:And I could recommend you to check out New
Martin:Media Show with Todd Cochrane and Rob Greenley and I often talk about this value for value,
Martin:so that's great to hear.
Blair:Yes, it is.
Martin:And also for us, as podcasts, they give lots of great tips and talking about
Martin:trends and what's going on.
Martin:And we have talked about that in Green room.
Martin:Also, we are maybe not bleeding edge or cutting edge, but in some cases we are ahead
Martin:of a game.
Martin:And I remember how you introduced me to
Martin:bitcoin and this orange pill and swan bitcoin and other things like that, and also
Martin:podcasters that are talking about this topic now and then.
Martin:So that's great to get introduced to new things.
Martin:So, again, thanks to Dave Wexler for giving us a primer on bitcoin.
Blair:That's right.
Martin:So we will do probably a follow up on that also topic.
Martin:We will so how to onboarding guests and listeners and fellow podcasters.
Martin:It's a new project here and a new service and an app called podfans FM by Sam SETI.
Martin:So, Blair, I think you should also join that.
Martin:It's in Alpha mode right now, so it's not when
Martin:it will be B time, when it will be in full blown application.
Martin:But I had a great team with him demonstration and I really saw the lightware what this could
Martin:do in the future.
Martin:So he have lots of great features and it will
Martin:be easier for guests to be onboarding and also with a bit of gamification.
Martin:But if you are listeners, you will earn Satushis also in that way he has a cooperation
Martin:with Getalbie.com Albie.
Martin:That is like a wallet that you could send
Martin:Satushis directly if you want.
Martin:You have that also.
Martin:Is it secular Foxhole at Getalba you have or what do you have?
Blair:I do not.
Martin:Okay. We will include that in the correct one.
Martin:If I want to send Satoshis, I have Lyceum@getalba.com and I even put that on my
Martin:Twitter profile talking about that.
Martin:That probably have come back to Twitter,
Martin:what's going on there? And he's interesting crypto there, Elon Musk
Martin:and so on.
Blair:Yes, he is a little bit.
Blair:Yeah.
Martin:I did an episode on Teapotty Media, my podcast there about podfans FM that I will
Martin:include in the show notes.
Martin:Okay.
Martin:And we'll talk more about what's going on in this area regarding crypto and this
Martin:decentralized finance system.
Martin:And it's really important to talk about it
Martin:because, as you said, go to your local because it's different in different states, right?
Blair:Yes, it is.
Martin:And we also see, like in South America, what's going on there.
Martin:It's really fascinating what's happening.
Blair:There a lot of activity.
Blair:Yes.
Martin:Yeah. So we'll come back to that.
Martin:So I think that's what's, for now, we said we
Martin:will do it short and sweet, and we're already babbling for almost half an hour, so we should
Martin:do a wrap.
Blair:All right, go ahead.
Martin:Yeah. You will give me more book recommendations and so on.
Martin:Do you have anything here to the listeners that you recommend or reading or listening to
Martin:right at the moment? Well, more than the one that you have
Martin:mentioned already.
Blair:That's a great list.
Blair:Let me just reiterate the book superabundance
Blair:by the foundersofhumanprogress.org.
Blair:I think that would be, again, uplifting to
Blair:read.
Blair:But that's it for me.
Blair:I've got to do some other things here, my friend.
Blair:Yes.
Martin:So take care and get well, Blair, and talk to you soon again.
Blair:I will do my best.
Blair:And you take care also, Martin.
Blair:Bye bye.