The Dissidents

In the Hold my Drink — navigating culture with a chaser of civility, and Counterweight podcast, Episode 38, we speak with Gabs Clark, a biracial and widowed mother of five children. After recently recovering from a disability that had her in a wheelchair for years, she stayed at home during the pandemic so her children could attend school online. What she discovered shocked her. In addition to the struggle to find a school that taught her daughter how to be a scientist instead of a social justice warrior, she found her pale-skinned son was being forced to identify as an oppressor or fail his civics class. After numerous attempts to negotiate with teachers, she filed a First Amendment lawsuit. Join us as we discuss her story, all with a chaser of civility, of course, and a peach tea, a shot of Southern Comfort, and a mojito. To read a recap of the conversation and additional thoughts, and to see what we are each reading, visit our post Education & Indoctrination on the Hold my Drink website. You can also watch the conversation on the Hold my Drink YouTube page.

In the Hold my Drink — navigating culture with a chaser of civility, and Counterweight podcast, Episode 37, we speak with Erec Smith and Jason Littlefield. Both Erec and Jason are working to introduce empowerment and compassionate humanism back into education. The theory of empowerment, which takes a tiered approach to social and emotional learning starting with the individual, has recently been subsumed in anti-racist pedagogy that focuses on group identity at its foundation. This focus on the group segregates us making it harder to see ourselves in each other. It has also led to a mistrust of liberal values such as individualism, freedom of speech and deliberative democracy, promoting the destruction of current systems to usher in a new framework for social interaction and governance. All discussed with a chaser of civility, of course, and a virgin vodka with lime (aka water), bourbon, Gatorade & coffee. To read a recap of the conversation and additional thoughts, and to see what we are each reading, visit our post Empowerment & Indvidualism on the Hold my Drink website. You can also watch the conversation on the Hold my Drink YouTube page.

In the Hold my Drink — navigating the news and politics with a chaser of civility — and Counterweight podcast, Episode 36, we speak with the President and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) and best-selling author, Greg Lukianoff. As things evolve since the publishing of the book, The Coddling of the American Mind in 2018, Greg has been “catching up with coddling” in a series of blog posts, and we catch-up with him here. He tells us that 2020 was the worst year he’s seen in terms of ideological censorship, and one of the busiest years for FIRE. This freedom of speech warrior shares with us his concerns, but also his hopes and aspirations for navigating us through the rhetorical battleground. It took us a long time to get here and it is going to take time to get out, but with FIRE at the helm, there is a light ahead. All discussed with a chaser of civility, of course, and a pink lemonade Spendrift, a Diet Coke and a coffee. To read a recap of the conversation and additional thoughts, and to see what we are each reading, visit our post Catch-up with Coddling on the Hold my Drink website. You can also watch the conversation on the Hold my Drink YouTube page.

In the Hold my Drink — navigating the news and politics with a chaser of civility — and Counterweight podcast, Episode 35, we speak with the Executive Director of the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation, Wenyuan Wu. Wenyuan’s grassroots group was instrumental in voting down Prop 16 in California, which aimed to repeal part of the state constitution to keep discrimination illegal. The Foundation is currently working to expose initiatives in public education that seek to center racial identity and racial essentialism in K-12 curricula. We speak with Wenyuan about education, educational activism in Asian communities, and what it means to be an American. All discussed with La Croix Pamplemousse sparkling water (which as Wenyuan says is a sign of her successful assimilation into American culture!), a MacDonald’s $0.99 Diet Coke and a spiked lemonade. To read a recap of the conversation and additional thoughts, and to see what we are each reading, visit our post American Values: Beyond the Hyphen on the Hold my Drink website. You can also watch the conversation on the Hold my Drink YouTube page.

In the Hold my Drink — navigating the news and politics with a chaser of civility — and Counterweight podcast, Episode 34, we speak with Buck Angel on the difference between transsexual and transgender, generational differences in the trans community, new language and labels, and his own experience and transition. Buck, who is also affectionately called Tranpa, speaks to people on perseverance and overcoming hardship, self-acceptance, and moving beyond stereotypes to live authentic lives. A former model, who later experienced homelessness, addiction and prostitution before transitioning and becoming the first transsexual porn star and now a successful entrepreneur, Buck does not allow what’s in between his legs to define him. All discussed with a chaser of civility, of course (plus some bonus tips on Buck’s work-out routines), and some water and wine. To read a recap of the conversation and additional thoughts, and to learn more about Buck, visit our post Talking with Tranpa on the Hold my Drink website. You can also watch the conversation on the Hold my Drink YouTube page.

In the Hold my Drink — navigating the news and politics with a chaser of civility — and Counterweight podcast, Episode 33, we speak with Wilfred Reilly, a Political Science Professor at Kentucky State University and author of the book Taboo. Reilly is a master of assessing and debunking current narratives on race and identity with quantitative and comparative analysis using factual data. In essence, he gives language and insight around many issues that have become taboo in our society, including policing and race in America. In this episode we discuss the taboo, the spread of critical social justice theories and Reilly’s optimism that we can move beyond this moment of cultural revolution with an emphasis on objective reality. All discussed with a chaser of civility of course, and some Kentucky bourbon libations. To read a recap of the conversation and additional thoughts, and to see what we are each reading, visit our post Talking Taboo on the Hold my Drink website. You can also watch the conversation on the Hold my Drink YouTube page.

In the Hold my Drink – navigating the news and politics with a chaser of civility – and Counterweight podcast, Episode 32, we speak with Debbie Hayton, a controversial trans activist who embraces viewpoint diversity within the community. We speak about her transition, definitions of sexuality, gender and the importance of individual experiences. She shares with us her views on biology that have sparked offense within the trans community and the difficulties of navigating monolithic views of a trans identity in a complex world. All discussed with a chaser of civility, of course, and a diet Mountain Dew, a pinot noir and a beer. To read a recap of the conversation and additional thoughts, and to see what we are each reading, visit our post Heterodox Humanity in Trans-Activism on the Hold my Drink website. You can also watch the conversation on the Hold my Drink YouTube page.

In the Hold my Drink — navigating the news and politics with a chaser of civility — and Counterweight podcast, Episode 31, Izabella Tabarovsky, a Russian-Jewish American immigrant, and Asra Nomani, an Indian-Muslim American immigrant join me to talk about the framing of the Israel-Palestine conflict. The new social justice movement has replaced the nuance and complexity of the situation with binary stereotypes of oppressor and oppressed. We discuss how the real-world application of such simplistic dogma has dangerous implications beyond the rise of antisemitism. All discussed with a chaser of civility, of course, and a shot of humanity. To read a recap of the conversation and additional thoughts, and to see what we are each reading, visit our post Antisemitism's New Narrative on the Hold my Drink website. You can also watch the conversation on the Hold my Drink YouTube page.

In this week's Hold my Drink + Counterweight podcast, we speak with Angel Eduardo, who penned the idea of star-manning. Angel shares with us how he star-mans his conversations and interactions, especially in the divisive world of social media. His motto is to reject, refute and refuse bad faith actors and hostile conversations, but never reciprocate. All discussed with a chaser of civility of course, and a hot tea (in a Superman mug), a watermelon spritzer (now I sound like my mom), and a glass of white wine. To read a recap of the conversation and additional thoughts, and to see what we are each reading, visit our post A Lesson in Star-manning on the Hold my Drink website. You can also watch the conversation on the Hold my Drink YouTube page.

In this week’s Hold my Drink + Counterweight podcast, we speak with Neil Shenvi, writer and author of a forthcoming book on Christian apologetics. Neil explains how the basic foundation of Critical Social Justice is not compatible with Christianity, especially some of the most important principles of unity and kinship under Christ. All discussed with a chaser of civility, of course, and a pinot noir, bourbon and a seltzer water. To read a recap of the conversation and additional thoughts, and to see what we are each reading, visit our post Christianity and Critical Social Justice on the Hold my Drink website. You can also watch the conversation on the Hold my Drink YouTube page.