Foreign.

Ladies and gentlemen, hello and welcome to another, the 96th episode of the Secular

Foxhole podcast.

Number nine.

Number nine.

Number nine.

Number nine.

Martin, do you know why I'm saying that?

No,

it's recent.

Well, it's because the Secular Foxhole

podcast,

in a survey of the top 25 secular podcasts in the United States, I'm assuming we are number

nine.

Wow.

I think that is incredibly fantastic.

And let me give a shout out.

Let me bring this article up if I can get my mouse to work.

Yeah, that's in the secular category, right?

Yes, exactly.

The secularism is what they call it.

We are curated and handpicked and we got an email from that.

So thanks for remember that.

And I will include that in the show notes so

they will get the link back.

I know how this is working, but it's great that they have this kind of list because one

thing, out of 4 million podcasts out there, maybe 500,000 active, how could you find a

podcast?

I think regarding word of mouth marketing and of course, guests that have been on the show

saying, now I've been on the show, I'm now known by.

From radio, so to speak,

and fellow listeners, maybe some have mentioned our podcast during the latest

podcast conference in Berlin.

Wow. I hope so.

I hope so because I know that Mark Moses from California was there.

Is he from California? Yeah.

And also Roland Horvath, loyal listener and a true fan of our podcast.

Visit that conference in Berlin and soon it will be a conference in your neighborhood.

Right, in Boston.

I believe that's true.

I believe maybe some, you know, individuals will talk about our podcast there

and others, of course.

So back to your.

To the list.

All right, this is a website called Feedspot F W E D S P O T.

And the link is podcast.feedspot.com secularism underscore podcast.

And it lists the top.

This is as of March 19th.

And we have under the 25 best secularism podcasts, we are listed as number nine.

Wow.

So I think that is supremely.

And we have an Apple rating of five out of

five.

Yeah.

A Twitter of 15, which I don't know what that means.

15 of what?

And they gave us our August of 2020 as our start date.

Okay, so that.

Let's see.

Let's highlight a couple other ones since.

Yeah,

number six is the scathing atheist.

Yeah.

And let me read a little short bio of their podcast.

A weekly look at religion and the stupidity that breeds it.

Bada Bing.

I second that.

And then we have at number five, the secular

left and let's see, number three, new books in secularism.

That sounds interesting.

But Anyway, to be ninth out of 25,

I think that is pretty darn.

Good or how you say it.

That's pretty darn good is correct.

We can say that we have to praise somebody.

And so let me get back to the.

Where is that?

Where is the email? Let me see here.

I want to mention this gentleman, when.

You look for that and I ask where they were located, I think they are located in

California.

Also, they had listed an email there to us

that you have your TrueFans FM email.

And I informed them that was for sending satoshis.

Right, right.

And they are welcome to do that.

And you as a listener are welcome to support

our show with sending a booster gram or a super comment at Sarufans FM now or streaming

satoshis during listening to an episode.

And we want, I will give that goal to onboard 30 plus of our guests so they also could get a

split of our future donations.

So.

Right, right.

That's my goal.

So that's,

that's a good part of our new sandwich, if you will.

And, but I, I'm, I'm sorry to say I can't bring up at the moment, I can't bring up the

gentleman's.

Name, but we will include that in the show notes.

Yes. Right. Okay, good.

And then I want to talk about some bad news, I

guess,

although there is good in response to it.

Let me swing over here to.

We have, and my guess is it has to do something with politics in usa.

I'm sorry to say it does.

But this new newly formed Institute for the

study of Modern Authoritarianism, which is isma global.org they now have a, a feature

called Executive Watch tracking presidential abuses of power.

And that is initially by Robert Krasinski, who's been a frequent guest of our show.

And they have several categories and I'll name them Executive Watch under Political

Corruption Policy, Illegality,

Personal Grift,

Presidential Retribution and Power Consolidation.

So these are categories that they list various abuses of Mr. Trump's sword.

I want largess perhaps, but I, and when I first saw this, this I did, I wrote to Robert

because we've known each other for quite a long time and he's been a guest on our show.

And I asked him, I said, you know, gee,

why now? I mean, what, you know, what about the abuses

under Obama?

And he wrote back and said, well, you know,

just to, you know, just to show the record, you know, he, he listed me a couple of his

stories that he wrote about Obama's abuses.

So I was glad to see that and yeah.

But anyhow.

Yeah for for the record I I think I've been abuses you have to go back pretty far

back in the history.

I'm afraid so.

Yes. I'm afraid so but it's unfortunately

they're accelerating and but so that's in a good bad news sort of in the middle there.

But then have a you know, positive our latest episodes before this episode 95.

I mean this the content there with the conversation and for finding the new

intellectuals.

Where to find the new intellectuals.

True.

If that will be spread word of mouth I think I see really hopeful for the future.

Great content and conversation and great work by our guest fair.

So yeah.

Well I know that although a prominent leader of the Objectivist movement predicted a

religious form of authoritarianism,

he he thought it was 50 years down the road and now I think he sees which it's like right

upon us.

So anyway that that's the bad news that's so

to speak although it's a great it's a great organization called the Institute for the

Study of Modern Authoritarianism.

Yeah.

And there again they have a great website and Executive Watch is one of one of

the links on that website.

And then the only other thing I.

Want to discuss,

may I add another news that I told you before here in Green Room and I'm open for that if

somebody will come as a guest to set the record straight if I'm wrong here.

But I've heard that Donald Trump wants to shut down Voice of America and that's include also

Radio Free Europe.

And if you know the history of that, I really

wonder why.

So that's something to ask and question and see if that's really true that that will

happen.

And then you could also see Trump's way of reacting on things because I think Voice of

America is probably maybe made some comments or maybe doing some radio shows about his

actions,

but he doesn't then understand the history of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty and for

example Radio Farda in Persia and then Voice of America.

So that's something to come back to.

I think so I will include a link in the show notes also about that.

So. Yep.

Yeah.

Well the good news then.

Well, let me just I'll follow up with your just from the Associated Press.

One day ago,

a federal lawsuit says that the Trump administration has unlawfully shuttered the

Voice of America.

A lawsuit filed by the Voice of America

reporters, some unions and press and oppressed freedoms.

Let's see.

Anyway, that's an incredible stupid idea.

Yeah, it is.

But then I will also say for a record when you

mention associate press, I had some grudges against them back in the day when they didn't

allow you to directly link to them when you were a blogger.

But that was back in the day.

So the old media, mainstream media, they don't

really get how new media is working and it's frightening when president wants to shut down

freedom of expression and free speech in that way.

Maybe it's something with the governors or how you run these positive propaganda radio

stations and websites, that could be one thing.

But I don't think that was the reason why he tried to shut down.

But we will follow this along and see if we could get something.

And as I mentioned it, I have been on Radio Farida back in the day also.

So I will contact and reach out to the journalists there and see if we could have her

on the show in the future.

Yes, I would love that.

I would love that because it was recently the new Persian year here about and I

included that on my personal Facebook.

It was now.

Was it 2000?

Was it 4 or 14? Yeah, a long time ago now.

So about the Bonfire of the Mullahs by Cox and Forkham.

A cartoon, editorial cartoon around this time because around March 20, 21st or 19th or

whatever it is the new year if you look at the nature regarding earth and the planets and the

sun and so on.

So that's something historically and also and it's a non religious celebration and the

mullahs vary, they don't really like that the citizens are doing that.

So that could be the resistance.

We have to spread that word also be Iran.

That'd be good.

Yeah.

And then the other piece of really good news is a hat tip to Jason Crawford's Progress

Institute.

He sends out a monthly newsletter.

It's the Roots of Progress Institute.

Excuse me.

And let's see this is something really good news.

Open Philanthropy announced a 120 million dollar progress fund and they excited to

announce the new fund.

And the pro, you know know Roots of Progress received initial funding from this open

philanthropy to get to get them started.

And so that's a hat tip to both of them.

And there's also although I'm not a fan of David Brooks, the New York Times alleged

conservative writer.

He I will quote him.

This winter the abundance movement is having

its coming out party in the form of three spectacular books by some of its more

prominent champions.

Next month Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein.

Ezra Klein's book Abundance will be published offering A comprehensive indictment of the

current problems and clear path forward.

This month brought us Yoni Applebaum's stuck historical account of the forces that have

produced the current housing crisis and its social and cultural effects.

And then Mark Dunkelman's new book, why Nothing Works.

There's an apt title,

is an intellectual history that describes the ideas and values that first drove people like

Moses to act the way that they did and the values that drove the next generation of

activists to oppose them.

These three books have significantly altered the way I see our current political morass.

Well, I think if these three books help in Jason Crawford's forthcoming book,

if they kick off a solidified abundance movement, progress movement,

again, there's another shift in the culture for good.

Again, there's always currents, underlying currents, undercurrent of good, regardless of

how the media portrays everything.

And that's.

But that's a wrap on my new sandwich,

Martin.

And you had also follow up there that it was a successful boom.

Oh, right, boom.

Supersonic had successful.

Had a successful test flight of their engines.

Yeah.

Which I think is phenomenal.

Yeah.

So they're one step closer to becoming commercial commercially viable.

So again, there's a lot of good news out there.

Yeah, that's great to hear, Claire.

And I want to say also that for the record,

when we are planning for the celebration of our milestone of hundred episodes,

and if I could publish the hundred episodes around my birthday end of May, May 25, that

will be great.

Goodness.

Excuse me.

Yep.

Yeah, that's.

That'd be okay.

Well, I'll see what I can do as far as getting guests or whatever.

Yeah, guest and.

And our duo show.

And you as a listener, if you have any suggestions or ideas how you want to celebrate

together with us, support us, come up with ideas and so on and spread the good word so we

could end up off on new lists in the future.

That will be good.

So that's right.

Number nine.

So with that lair, I think we will do a wrap up and.

Yeah, so of course, my.

That number nine is a tribute to the Beatles,

obviously, on their White Album.

Yeah.

So it's all good.

It's all good is correct.

Yeah.

Martin, I appreciate your time always.

As always.

Yeah.

And I'll try to.

Yeah, I'm going to try to get Andrew Bernstein

to talk about his detective novels.

Yeah,

that'll hopefully be next.

And then I want to get a reach out to Brad

Thompson and Dr. James Lennox.

So we'll see how they all shake out.

Yeah. Great.

So.

All right, sir.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Bye.

Bye.