The Overthinkers

How Should We Feel About Guns?

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/
 

Why Are We So Obsessed With The Multiverse?

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

Should We All Be Vegan? (With Jessica Schroeder)

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 Like The Inklings or The Overthinkers? (150th Episode! With Nathan Sherrer)

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 Good For The World? (With Meagan Clark Saliashvili)

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.

Are Revivals Real?

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? (With Dallas Jenkins)

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.

What Makes A Movie Good? (With Kevin McCreary)

What determines the quality of a movie? Or is all artistic quality subjective? We bring on defender of movie quality Kevin McCreary on The Overthinkers show. 
 
Rogerebert.com’s Much More Than The Movies - The Best of Rogers Journals
 
https://www.rogerebert.com/features/much-more-than-movies-the-best-of-rogers-journal#:~:text=Roger%20writes%2C%20%E2%80%9CIf%20I%20have,That's%20what%20it%20does%20best.%E2%80%9D
 
What Makes A Film Great
By Simon Dillon
 
https://medium.com/fan-fare/what-makes-a-film-great-f208de3f03a5
 
In Depth Cine
https://www.indepthcine.com/videos/what-makes-a-movie-great
 
Dead Poet’s Society Is A Terrible Defense of The Humanities
 
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/02/-em-dead-poets-society-em-is-a-terrible-defense-of-the-humanities/283853/
 
In Defense of the Pritchard Scale
 
https://integraphy.co/in-defense-of-the-pritchard-scale/
 

What Is A Christian Film? (With Ben ”Ironside” Koppin)

There's a lot of debate around the topic of Christian/faith-based films. But what is even a Christian film? And have we artificially limited what a Chrisitan film can be? Christian filmmaker Ben "Ironside" Koppin joins The Overthinkers to discuss this important topic and encourage a better path forward for Christian filmmaking.

Are There Lines Artists Shouldn’t Cross? (With Spencer Folmar)

Are there lines artists shouldn't cross when it comes to the content they create? Can art be too violent? Too sexual? Is there a line where art can cause harm? Nathan Clarkson and Joseph Holmes welcome back award-winning director and producer Spencer Folmar to find that line in this latest episode.
 
Video Games Don’t Cause Violence
 
https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/jul/22/playing-video-games-doesnt-lead-to-violent-behaviour-study-shows
 
Harms of Porn:
 
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170926-is-porn-harmful-the-evidence-the-myths-and-the-unknowns
 
Harms of Movie Violence
 
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-baby-scientist/201801/violent-media-and-aggressive-behavior-in-children
 
https://oxfordre.com/criminology/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264079-e-189;jsessionid=CF7391319EEDCB072410BB4C7AD9E649
 
 
Representation
 
https://www.vice.com/en/article/zmwq3x/why-diversity-on-screen-is-important-black-panther