Free Talk Cast

035 - Prison Abolition with Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins

This week I sat down with Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins to discuss the prison system in the United States, and the abolition of that system. Rizzn and I discussed our experiences in prison and the ways in which prison shaped us and changed our perspectives. I suppose in my case it would be more accurate to say that it hardened the views and perspectives that were already there. It was a really enlightening discussion, and very surprising to me how wildly different our prison experiences were, whether because of regional differences or because of the size of the respective facilities.
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034 - Silly Earth Monkeys

A scripted show? WTF is this?
My pet hypothesis is that existence is traumatizing, and that we spend our entire lives without coming to terms with the trauma. It's this trauma that chases us into the arms of religion, the state, and other forms of false certainty, because they help us escape the nagging, exhausting, horrible thought that we don't know who we are or what we are doing in this ocean of chaos.
In order to do this idea justice, I wrote a short script and recorded it. The video form is coming in the next few days, as it requires more extensive editing. I hope you enjoy, and be sure to like it, leave a comment, and share it on social media!
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033 - I argued with a creationist

"It was aliens."
Mark didn't actually say this--at least, not in those exact words. But he did attribute ancient monuments to ancient aliens, and even cited the Ancient Aliens show on the History Channel. In this video, we discussed cosmology, natural selection, ancient monuments, and morality.
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032 - The Deep State & Creationism

What a doozy!
I knew this one would be interesting when I saw that Rob Roselli had recently talked with someone who suggested that Trump was chosen by the Christian god to clean out the deep state, and I was not disappointed. We mostly discussed the deep state, the Federal Reserve, and power, but we got derailed for about 10-15 minutes into a discussion about natural selection and cosmology, prompted by Rob calling evolution "the greatest scam in history." I could not leave that unchallenged.
Rob returned this week for a much longer discussion about evolution and cosmology. Stay tuned for that!
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031 - Let Women Choose with Nathan & Emily Berning

Is the pro-choice side really pro-choice? Do women who choose to have abortions truly choose to have abortions, or do they have choices systematically eliminated until there is no option remaining except to have an abortion? These are not simple questions to answer, but thankfully people are out there working to solve some of these complex issues. This week, Nikki joins me as we talk with Emily & Nathan Berning of Let Them Live, an organization dedicated to helping women and mothers have the choice to keep a child.
Oh, yeah, the audio. Apparently I would have to pay VMix another $250 to have another Zoom user in the video, so my VMix software was not set up to facilitate this. So it turned out to be easier to just use Zoom.
Check out our Youtube channel for the video version!

030 - "God Laughs," with Mark Biltz

Have you noticed the abundance of paganism in Christianity? Jesus probably has, and probably isn't super thrilled about it. Whether we're talking about the many ways in which Christianity borrowed from pagan traditions to ease conversion, countless mistranslations in the Bible (some even intentional), and scribes touching up stories here and there, there is very little about Christianity that is widely agreed upon or not controversial. In today's episode of Free Talk Cast, Aria has a chat with Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries about Mark's take on Christianity.
The most important thing to take away is that the Creator laughs. It's heartwrenching observing how many people seem to believe in a humorless god. Mark believes that the Creator laughs. Aria once remarked that one of her biggest problems with Christianity is that there seems to be no joy or laughter in the Bible: "You watch a rabbit eat a carrot and tell me that God doesn't laugh."
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029 - Was it worth it?

Well, Trump is president now. Libertarians sold their votes to Donald Trump to free Ross Ulbricht. That isn't a criticism. Aria admits she was going to do the same thing, and only didn't because her boyfriend was in the hospital. But... she's glad she didn't. The horrors we've already seen from the Trump Administration... Richie Rich points out that we didn't necessarily get equivalent authoritarianism with Trump. 

028 - LPNH Changes

The LPNH has a messaging problem. They have several messaging problems, actually. This week, Aria sits down with Rachel and Spencer to talk about those problems, and the prospect of having new leadership in the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire.

027 - Opting out of Birth Certificates

Treating human beings like cars is kinda strange when you stop to think about it. Just like when you buy a new car and have to register it with the government, you're supposed to register your new child with the government. And that... is crazy and a little sick. This week, Aria and Nikki talk about this, and the myth that it's something that is actually critical to do shortly after the birth. 

026 - Good, Great, Wonderful

Following the catastrophe that was losing an entire episode recorded with Richie Rich, Aria sits down and goes back over the information that was discussed in the Lost Episode--the greatest episode in the history of podcasts. Aria talks about the Crypto 6 case, the plea agreements, the motions to dismiss, her reluctant plea deal, and finally Ian's upcoming appeal. If you're curious about federal court and that process, this episode probably has information you're interested in.