The Overthinkers

Abortion is one of the most controversial issues in America right now. Typically the controversy is framed as disagreements about whether to prioritize the needs of the child (if one believes the fetus is a child) or the mother. But a growing part of the debate is about whether abortion is even good for the mother. Author and scholar Dr. Erika Bachiochi joins Joseph Holmes and Nathan Clarkson to discuss new paradigms by which to think about the dignity of women in society, and how abortion might make a true feminist society that much harder.
 
Ethics and Public Policy Center: We Must Acknowledge That Abortion Harms Women: 
 
https://eppc.org/publication/we-must-acknowledge-that-abortion-harms-women/
 
https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/06/we-must-acknowledge-that-abortion-harms-women/
 
Lifesite News: Abortion is Bad For Women’s Health, Here’s Why
 
https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/why-abortion-is-bad-for-womens-health/
 
https://eppc.org/pro-life-principle-and-political-prudence/
 

Can words change reality? Or are words just labels we put on things. We talk to translator and philosopher Matas Gelezauskas on this latest episode. 
 
 
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7246-the-basic-tool-for-the-manipulation-of-reality-is-the#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20basic%20tool%20for%20the%20manipulation%20of%20reality%20is%20the,people%20who%20must%20use%20them.%E2%80%9D
 
https://psychcentral.com/blog/words-can-change-your-brain
 
https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-blue-and-how-do-we-see-color-2015-2

Is morality subjective or objective? If subjective, why do we intuitively think it's objective? If objective, why don't we agree on it? We invite cultural apologist Dr. Zak Schmoll to discuss on this latest episode.
 
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/morality
 
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-relativism/
 
https://medium.com/writers-blokke/is-morality-subjective-or-objective-953193b78601

Gun violence is all too common in America. And conversations around them are all to commonly toxic. How do we think better about having conversations around guns? Nathan Clarkson and Joseph Holmes give it the old college try.
 
List of mass shootings: https://www.axios.com/2017/12/15/deadliest-mass-shootings-modern-us-history
 
General facts about guns in America: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/13/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/
 
General facts about gun deaths in America: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/02/03/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/
 
UK has twice the violent crime as US: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2013/jun/24/blog-posting/social-media-post-says-uk-has-far-higher-violent-c/#:~:text=For%20England%20and%20Wales%2C%20we%20added%20together%20three,rate%20of%20775%20violent%20crimes%20per%20100%2C000%20people.
 
Australia/did not experience drops in gun deaths that could be attributed to their buybacks and bans https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-used-to-think-gun-control-was-the-answer-my-research-told-me-otherwise/2017/10/03/d33edca6-a851-11e7-92d1-58c702d2d975_story.html
 
90s Assault Weapons Ban didn’t work: https://www.propublica.org/article/fact-checking-feinstein-on-the-assault-weapons-ban
 
States with least gun control laws often have highest gun violence: https://www.statista.com/statistics/200445/reported-violent-crime-rate-in-the-us-states/
 
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/these-states-have-the-highest-rates-of-gun-violence-and-deaths#Heres-where-gun-violence-is-the-highest-in-the-U.S.
 
Gun control advocate and statistician Leah Libresco switches positions to be against it. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-used-to-think-gun-control-was-the-answer-my-research-told-me-otherwise/2017/10/03/d33edca6-a851-11e7-92d1-58c702d2d975_story.html
 
States like Vermont which have lowest gun violence also have lowest gun regulations: https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/vermont-safe-and-happy-and-armed-teeth-charles-c-w-cooke/
 
Gun sales went up during 2020 protests and riots: https://www.npr.org/2020/07/16/891608244/protests-and-pandemic-spark-record-gun-sales
 
Over half of gun deaths are suicide. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/02/03/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/
 
Mash shootings have gone from three per year in 2000 to 40 a year in 2020. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/02/03/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/
 
Are guns used in self-defense?: https://www.npr.org/2018/04/13/602143823/how-often-do-people-use-guns-in-self-defense
 
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/firearms/fastfact.html
 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulhsieh/2018/04/30/that-time-the-cdc-asked-about-defensive-gun-uses/?sh=bd10946299aa
 
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/oct/5/guns-used-more-for-self-defense-than-crimes/
 
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-01-31/gun-defense-myth
 
Young people now more likely to do mass shootings. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/02/us/politics/mass-shootings-young-men-guns.html
 
 
Gun show loophole is kinda true, kinda not: https://www.businessinsider.com/gun-show-loophole-biden-remarks-spur-conservative-fact-checks-2021-4
 
Norway and Finland have similar rates of gun ownership but are among the safest places: 
https://theconversation.com/us-shootings-norway-and-finland-have-similar-levels-of-gun-ownership-but-far-less-gun-crime-183933
 
Handgunst most commonly used for mass shootings: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/07/12/mass-shootings-weapons-legal-what-to-know/7814081001/
 

Joseph Holmes and Nathan Clarkson discuss why the multiverse is everywhere in pop culture nowadays--from blockbusters to TV to even Oscar Best Picture winners--and what it says about modern society.
 
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/multiverse
 
 
https://www.space.com/why-is-the-multiverse-so-popular-in-sci-fi
 
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220425-doctor-strange-and-the-historical-roots-of-the-multiverse

Vegans are widely both celebrated and made fun of in modern society. But what is veganism? Should we all be vegans? Writer, podcast host, and adjunct theology professor Jessica Schroeder joins Nathan Clarkson and Joseph Holmes to discuss her vegan journey, and wrestle with the dietary, ethical and theological reasons one might advocate for veganism.
 
A Brief History of Veganism: https://time.com/3958070/history-of-veganism/
 
History of Veganism: https://genv.org/history-of-veganism/
 
Veganism Might Not Be the Most Sustainable Diet: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/08/meat-veganism-climate-change-agriculture-environment/671200/
 
Eden + Me: https://edenandme.com/ This Real Journey: http://thisrealjourney.com Jessica's IG: https://www.instagram.com/jessicajschroeder/
@jessicajschroeder
The Proof podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-proof-with-simon-hill/id1367773989

How do you build a community of creatives who can change the world? Joseph Holmes and Nathan Clarkson bring on Nathan Sherrer to discuss how world-shaping communities like CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien's The Inklings (and The Overthinkers?) got started and can be maintained.
 
LInks to articles referenced in the episode: 
 
 
 
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-americans-are-lonelier-and-its-effects-on-our-health
 
https://www.americansurveycenter.org/research/the-state-of-american-friendship-change-challenges-and-loss/
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/23/americans-alone-thanksgiving-friends/
 
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/02/america-social-recession-less-friends-sex-mental-health

Is religion on balance more good or bad for the world? Joseph Holmes and Nathan Clarkson are joined by religion reporter Meagan Saliashvili to discuss.

Everyone's talking about revivals today. But are revivals real? And if they are, are they overrated? Joseph Holmes and Nathan Clarkson give their unorthodox takes on this controversial episode.
 
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/02/christianity-secularization-america-renewal-modernity/672948/
 
https://time.com/6258703/asbury-christian-revival-america-connection/
 
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-revivals-america/
 
https://hebraicthought.org/asbury-revival-biblically-informed-pentecostal/
 
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/09/13/modeling-the-future-of-religion-in-america/
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk3EE3wxO0c&t=511s&ab_channel=PremierUnbelievable%3F
 
https://religionunplugged.com/news/2023/2/21/jesus-revolution-gives-an-unhelpful-vision-for-revival

Why is Jesus so popular that he is beloved by everyone, even those who aren't Christians or belong to rival faiths? Joseph Holmes and Nathan Clarkson welcome back showrunner behind "The Chosen" Dallas Jenkins to discuss this question and many more.