This episode features a lecture by evolutionary psychologist, research professor, and author Peter Gray from 2012 on the role of play on human child development among hunter-gatherers, 1950s America, and today. Gray also looks at the rise of emotional and social disorders as a result of the decline of play.
Tag: america
Killing COVID-19, Rules of Engagement, Politicized Sports, Zoom School, & Jeopardy (33m) – Episode 378
Episode 378 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following topics from r/blackpeopletwitter and r/whitepeopletwitter: America adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic instead of behaving autocratically and “eliminating” it completely; AIER.org article on Federal Court ruling pandemic orders unconstitutional; soldiers having better rules of engagement than American police officers; assumptions about booing at the Kansas City Chiefs home opening and the politicization of sports; realizing the school is about control and punishment instead of education; and the novel idea that one of the presidential debates should be a round of Jeopardy with relevant answer topics.
Chris J. Returns, Utah Windstorm, Sci-Fi Favorites, & Root Issues (1h15m) – Episode 375
Episode 375 welcomes back Chris Jenkins to chat with Skyler on the following topics: Utah windstorm fallout; California wildfires; Dune trailer; hero’s journey and Disney; sci-fi television; Star Trek movies; British comedy; Netflix’s Lost in Space; 13 year old Autistic boy shot by police in Salt Lake City; Rob Hustle’s “Call the Cops” music video; the War on Drugs and the War on Poverty and what they’ve done to the black community; University of Utah’s economics and humanities departments; Ben Swann on the Moderna vaccine; politician pedophile rings; their line in the sand for leaving the United States for greener pastures; American secessionary movements in their lifetime; and more.
China’s Dark Turn
A country that was once making strides toward freedom slides further into oppression and authoritarianism.
Silence Is Not Consent in Politics, Either
When you undergo a medical procedure or volunteer for a research study, you’re presented with forms to sign, outlining what’s going to happen (and what bad things could happen), and expressly consenting to have those things happen. If you’re accused of rape, “he or she didn’t physically resist” isn’t an acceptable defense. In fact, express consent is the emerging standard, sometimes to seemingly ridiculous degrees (i.e. re-requesting consent at each stage of an encounter). Consent, I think we can agree, is a big deal in America today.
Politics and Violence Go Hand in Hand
As America’s latest long hot summer drags into autumn, politicians and pundits are getting louder and more shrill in their denunciations of political violence. Considering the sources, those denunciations smack of hypocrisy.
Trump Regime vs. the ICC: The Wrong Side of “Sovereignty”
In June, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order providing for sanctions against persons who “have directly engaged in any effort by the [International Criminal Court] to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any United States personnel without the consent of the United States.”
Cop Power Remains Untouchable
For months now, people across the USA have been demonstrating and protesting police brutality. In some cities, such as Portland, Oregon, these protests/riots have gone on virtually nonstop. Protesters have demanded that city governments “defund” the police.
Teachers Unions Are More Powerful Than You Realize—But That May Be Changing
The pandemic is set to weaken the long-held grip of teachers unions on US education and social policy, and strengthen educational diversity and choice for more families. It may also prompt a closer look at the outsized influence of public sector unions more generally. Taxpayers should know what they are paying for.
Gallup Poll: Homeschooling Rate Doubles as School Satisfaction Plummets
Results of a new Gallup poll released last week may give us the sharpest look yet at how the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted American education and what may lie ahead. According to the poll, parents’ overall satisfaction with their child’s education dropped 10 percent over last year, while at the same time the number of parents saying they will choose homeschooling doubled in 2020 to 10 percent.