Blair:

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.