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Podcast Benomtad: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Ben Lundy
Open, philosophically-oriented conversations about almost any topic with almost anyone, but focusing on culture, spirituality and personal growth.
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- 4 days ago1h 16m
Zombies, Meaning, and Ritual
Zombies are everywhere in our culture, in movies and shows, and even in real life (on zombie walks). They’ve gone from being an object of horror to one of fascination, one that seems to reflect something back to us. In “Zombies in Western Culture,” Ch. 2, Vervaeke et. al. discuss the change from aliens to zombies as the preeminent monster, and how this reflects the meaning crisis from the loss of the sacred canopy of Christianity. Ian and I discuss the meaning of zombies as a symbol of mindlessness, and of solutions of meaning, community, and especially mindfulness. We also discuss the false solutions of fanatical politics or religion, and of course consumerism or living life going through the motions. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction: Zombies are a Metaphor for Our Meaning Crisis 02:00 Zombies are Us 05:19 Zombies are the Stranger in the Absence of Christian Culture 11:00 Choosing to be Oblivious 15:50 Powering Through Life with a Singular Hunger 23:50 Incredible Life Meaning from Fanaticism 29:04 Mouth Feel and Roussean Virtue 32:30 99% of the Journey You’re not Pointing Straight 37:15 Meaning, “Fight Club,” and Initiation by Suffering 41:55 Initiation into Suffering 51:19 Initiation in Our Own Culture 54:09 Growing Mindful and Serious Play 1:01:15 Serious Play as Adults 1:05:58 Ritual is a Container with Space for Spirit 1:09:25 Meaning and Structure, the Zombie Antidote Thank you for watching! Please see below for more: Vervaeke et. al.’s book: “Zombies in Western Culture: A Twenty-First Century Crisis,” by John Vervaeke, Christopher Mastropietro, and Filip Miscevic: http://dx.doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0113 The Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T For more in this podcast, please go to: Podbean: https://benomtad.podbean.com Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863 YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ X: https://x.com/Benomtad Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benomtad About our guest: Ian Reclusado offers guidance services for those interested in facing and befriending their inner monsters: https://thekindknife.substack.com/p/guidance-services I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.
- 2 weeks ago8 min
A Dying Queen’s Wish Poisons Her Family’s Future
In Grimm’s Fur-of-All-Kinds, the beautiful, dying queen makes her king promise that he will only remarry another as fair as she. Why does she do this? She wants to live on in his memory, and this desire powers an image that with the king becomes an obsession. An obsession that darkens the whole kingdom. (From a discussion on the Grimm’s “Fur-of-All-Kinds (Allerleirauh)”) Thank you for watching! Please see below for the full conversation: A Summary of the Story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allerleirauh Our Video Summary: The Story’s Full Text: https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm065.html The full video episode: https://youtu.be/Tgb98hCPvMA Audio episode: https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/grimms-fur-of-all-kinds-allerleirauh/?token=20bdb9a95dac2d9296787ba60430da79 The Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T The Episode Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKCJ0vjS4OcM For more in this podcast, please go to: Podbean: https://benomtad.podbean.com Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863 YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ X: https://x.com/Benomtad Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benomtad About our guest: Ian Reclusado offers guidance services for those interested in facing and befriending their inner monsters: https://thekindknife.substack.com/p/guidance-services I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.
- 3 weeks ago10 min
Xenia: Ancient Greek Guest-Friendship (Clip)
This ancient Greek concept was a big part of their culture as well as Homer’s “Odyssey,” and according to translator Emily Wilson, the poem can be treated as a study in xenia. It facilitated travel in a time with far less safety, no hotels, etc. There was a series of actions to the custom: Welcome Wash Food Guest gives identity Guest given gifts to help him on his way The suitors back at Odysseus' home horribly violate this value. (From the episode “Xenia: Odysseus’ Blessing and Curse”) Thank you for watching! Please see below for the full conversation: The full video episode: https://youtu.be/0b5yLnBz7e4 Audio episode: https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/xenia-odysseus-blessing-and-curse/?token=53ae6153dd40c724465f3a9e26d0e0cd The Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T The Episode Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBXC0eYK6zoc The Odyssey’s translations we used: https://a.co/d/04Ud8j0d https://a.co/d/0dd7Svhh For more in this podcast, please go to: Podbean: https://benomtad.podbean.com Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863 YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ X: https://x.com/Benomtad Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benomtad About our guest: Ian Reclusado offers guidance services for those interested in facing and befriending their inner monsters: https://thekindknife.substack.com/p/guidance-services I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those. Thumbnail Painting: Odysseus before Alcinous, King of the Phaeacians Malmström 1853 (Wikimedia Commons, Swedish National Museum)
- Aug 18, 20264 min
Our Dual Nature and the Culture Wars (Clip)
Humans participate both in the animal and the divine nature, and I think this is behind much of the culture wars. We veer between overemphasizing the divine or, especially, our immanent nature. This reminds Ian of Odysseus’ need to bear his sufferings. We, on the other hand, often try to find the easy way out. (From the episode “Xenia: Odysseus’ Blessing and Curse”) Thank you for watching! Please see below for the full conversation: The full video episode: https://youtu.be/0b5yLnBz7e4 Audio episode: https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/xenia-odysseus-blessing-and-curse/?token=53ae6153dd40c724465f3a9e26d0e0cd The Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T The Episode Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBXC0eYK6zoc The Odyssey’s translations we used: https://a.co/d/04Ud8j0d https://a.co/d/0dd7Svhh For more in this podcast, please go to: Podbean: https://benomtad.podbean.com Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863 YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ X: https://x.com/Benomtad Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benomtad About our guest: Ian Reclusado offers guidance services for those interested in facing and befriending their inner monsters: https://thekindknife.substack.com/p/guidance-services I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those. Thumbnail Painting: Odysseus before Alcinous, King of the Phaeacians Malmström 1853 (Wikimedia Commons, Swedish National Museum)
- Aug 10, 20266 min
Sing, Muse, Remember the MAN Odysseus (Clip)
Homer’s second epic starts with an incantation of a man, a man who rejected godhood with alluring Calypso, a man who pined for years to be at home and hearth with his family. This is in contrast to the rage of Achilles that begins the first epic. Odysseus’ not forgetting through all the twists and turns of his journey and ruses reminds us of the concentration of the Buddha. (From the episode “Xenia: Odysseus’ Blessing and Curse”) Thank you for watching! Please see below for the full conversation: The full video episode: https://youtu.be/0b5yLnBz7e4 Audio episode: https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/xenia-odysseus-blessing-and-curse/?token=53ae6153dd40c724465f3a9e26d0e0cd The Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T The Episode Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBXC0eYK6zoc The Odyssey’s translations we used: https://a.co/d/04Ud8j0d https://a.co/d/0dd7Svhh For more in this podcast, please go to: Podbean: https://benomtad.podbean.com Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863 YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ X: https://x.com/Benomtad Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benomtad About our guest: Ian Reclusado offers guidance services for those interested in facing and befriending their inner monsters: https://thekindknife.substack.com/p/guidance-services I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those. Thumbnail Painting: Odysseus before Alcinous, King of the Phaeacians Malmström 1853 (Wikimedia Commons, Swedish National Museum)
- Jul 30, 20261h 35m
Xenia: Odysseus' Blessing and Curse
In Homer’s “Odyssey,” Book 7, Odysseus, who has at this point lost all his men and washes up alone on the Scherian beach, has through his wit and bearing, and with the goddess Athena’s help, been accepted into the royal Phaeacian court. Here, he throws himself at the mercy of Queen Arete, and then settles himself in the ashes. An elder at court reminds everyone of their duty under Zeus, Xenia–guest-friendship– and they honor Odysseus the wanderer. In fact, they offer their beautiful daughter to Odysseus in marriage. We discuss Xenia, this all-important custom in the ancient Greek world that allowed for people to trade and travel, and which was used and abused in so many ways in Homer’s epic poem. 00:00 Xenia (Hospitality & Guest-Friendship) 01:30 Book 7 Summary 20:02 Poseidon’s Wrath for Odysseus Falls on His Hosts 29:19 The Lost Paradise of Mythology (Utopia) 33:03 Royal Cousin Marriage Among the Phaeacians 38:13 The Humanity of Odysseus 44:43 The Man Who Rejected Godhood 52:16 Achilles’ Regret 54:27 Odysseus Learns from Achilles’ Regret 56:55 The Culture Wars and Our Divine & Emanant Nature 1:01:28 Why Odysseus and Penelope Suffer 1:07:50 Xenia (Ancient Greek Guest-Friendship) 1:18:05 Giants are Precivilizational Primordials 1:19:40 What is Natural? 1:23:11 The Phaeacians and the Fear of the Stranger 1:31:06 The Gut Feeling Thank you for watching! Please see below for more Open-Minded content: The full video episode: https://youtu.be/0b5yLnBz7e4 The Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T The Episode Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBXC0eYK6zoc The Odyssey’s translations we used: https://a.co/d/04Ud8j0d https://a.co/d/0dd7Svhh For more in this podcast, please go to: Podbean: https://benomtad.podbean.com Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863 YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ X: https://x.com/Benomtad Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benomtad About our guest: Ian Reclusado offers guidance services for those interested in facing and befriending their inner monsters: https://thekindknife.substack.com/p/guidance-services I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those. Thumbnail Painting: Odysseus before Alcinous, King of the Phaeacians Malmström 1853 (Wikimedia Commons, Swedish National Museum)
- Jul 28, 202610 min
Beauty is Sus to Us (Clip)
Modern German philosophers like Marx, Nietzsche and Freud have spread the "hermeneutics of suspicion" in our culture. We have a deep suspicion of appearances and, therefore, beautiful things (the beauty of which is often seen as merely on the surface or subjective). This is connected to the ugliness of modern buildings. It seems we are blind to beauty around us. I think this has something about the values of society's elites. They don't seem to believe in an edifying transcendent. Instead, it's more about "edginess," transgression of some sort. (From a discussion on Odysseus, Nausicaa, & Beauty’s Education) Thank you for watching! Please see below for the full conversation: The full video episode: https://youtu.be/WsujhE2muTQ Audio episode: https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/odysseus-nausicaa-beauty-s-education/?token=9ad8205849556b9910a95e0b5885fc5a The Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T The Episode Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIszqVpagDQ The Odyssey’s translations we used: https://a.co/d/04Ud8j0d https://a.co/d/0dd7Svhh For more in this podcast, please go to: Podbean: https://benomtad.podbean.com Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863 YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ X: https://x.com/Benomtad Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benomtad About our guest: Ian Reclusado offers guidance services for those interested in facing and befriending their inner monsters: https://thekindknife.substack.com/p/guidance-services I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those. Sea Short Photo by Henrique Hanemann on Unsplash Photo of Nausicaa by Leighton (1878), courtesy of picryl
- Jul 20, 20265 min
Odysseus Appreciates Nausicaa's Beauty (Clip)
Pornography participates in beauty, but also is consumptive, and especially, unappreciative. This is contrasted to Odysseus' paise of Nausicaa in his speech to her, without the ritual supplication at her knees. Perhaps in trying to own beauty, we lose it. (From a discussion on Odysseus, Nausicaa, & Beauty’s Education) Thank you for watching! Please see below for the full conversation: The full video episode: https://youtu.be/WsujhE2muTQ Audio episode: https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/odysseus-nausicaa-beauty-s-education/?token=9ad8205849556b9910a95e0b5885fc5a The Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T The Episode Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIszqVpagDQ The Odyssey’s translations we used: https://a.co/d/04Ud8j0d https://a.co/d/0dd7Svhh For more in this podcast, please go to: Podbean: https://benomtad.podbean.com Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863 YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ X: https://x.com/Benomtad Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benomtad About our guest: Ian Reclusado offers guidance services for those interested in facing and befriending their inner monsters: https://thekindknife.substack.com/p/guidance-services I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those. Sea Short Photo by Henrique Hanemann on Unsplash Photo of Nausicaa by Leighton (1878), courtesy of picryl
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