This Could Be Interesting

TCBI #34 - Depth Perception - Iain McGilchrist

Iain McGilchrist is one of the most important intellectuals in the world right now (he's also my favorite thinker and philosopher and a personal hero). Part of the impact of his work is due to the thorough and rigorous research supporting his theories (more than 5,000 papers and essays and deep understanding of countless authors and artists and their work from both ancient contexts as well as the modern conversation about these things). The other, perhaps even more impactful reason for his importance is his engagement with what I think is one of the more dire crisis' in the developed world, which is that of "Meaning". Iain's work engages the scientific literature deeply which allows him to make some of the most inspiring and intellectually respectable claims about religious perspective and the "sense of the sacred" of any modern academic thinker. He has made strides and leaps towards the re-marriage of philosophy and science, a divorce that has played a huge part in the fracturing of western culture and the modern person's ability to grapple with a sense of "meaning" in life. Iain is both an intellectual maverick and an extremely personable and friendly person. Getting to talk with him for an hour was an absolute blessing and I'm so incredibly thankful to have had the chance to interact with him and have a conversation about some of the things I deeply feel are most worth talking about at this moment in time.

Admittedly getting to talk to Iain was a bit of a geek out moment for me, so I apologize if my excitement shows. Speaking with him felt a bit like getting a chance to meet Kant or Hume or Nietzsche or someone doing historically important philosophical work while they were still alive, and I honestly deeply wonder if these aren't unfair comparisons. At least from my perspective in this moment, Iain is an absolute legend, and he may genuinely become one as time passes.

 

Some other great talks with Iain: Rebel Wisdom with John Vervaeke and Iain McGilchrist - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdB-B... Sam Harris and Iain - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJRx9... Iain McGilchrist: Matter and Consciousness - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7O1Q... Curt Jaimungal and Iain McGilchrist - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-SgO... Iain McGilchrist: Deep Longing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ysEV... Rebel Wisdom: The Matter with Things - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U99dQ...

 

Iain McGilchrist https://channelmcgilchrist.com/ https://www.amazon.ca/Master-His-Emis... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW0L... https://twitter.com/dr_mcgilchrist Garrett Vandenberg https://www.garrettvandenberg.com/​​ https://www.facebook.com/garrettvande... https://twitter.com/GarrettJVMusic​​/

TCBI #33 - Broken Identity and The ”Depths” - John Vervaeke

John Vervaeke PhD is an associate professor in Psychology and Cognitive Science whose work focuses on meaning and the science of wisdom. He's an award-winning lecturer at the University of Toronto, with his classes ranging from psychology, cognitive science to Buddhist psychology. His popular youtube lecture series "Awakening From The Meaning Crisis" has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times and has struck a chord with many struggling in the modern day to engage with a sense of "meaning" in life.

Awakening from the Meaning Crisis Lecture Series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54l8_ewcOlY&list=PLND1JCRq8Vuh3f0P5qjrSdb5eC1ZfZwWJ&index=1&t=1s

NOTE: Due to my lack of professional camera equipment, I generally don't manage to get the whole conversation on video when I record (the limits of video on a non-video DSLR). Beyond that, the hard drive the video files for conversation were stored on failed shortly before editing and the files needed to be reconstructed with some special software, which caused certain sections to be glitched out and unusable, which is why you'll see a few moments where the video fades away and comes back. If you'd like to help support me in getting a proper camera set up to continue with this project, feel free to reach out at thiscouldbeinterestingpodcast @ gmail.com

John Vervaeke

https://www.youtube.com/user/johnvervaeke/featured

http://johnvervaeke.com/

https://www.facebook.com/VervaekeJohn/

Garrett Vandenberg

https://www.garrettvandenberg.com/​​

https://www.facebook.com/garrettvandenbergmusic/

https://twitter.com/GarrettJVMusic​​/

 

TCBI #32 - Ghosts, Spirits, Astrology, and The Unconscious - Ashtyn Dolenuck

TCBI #31 - Demons and Dominion - Fady Hana

TCBI #30 Latter Day Apostasy - Alex Williamns

Alex Williamns has hosted over 10 (different) podcasts, so he's a pro. He's also an ex-Mormon, which is something that came up when I had the opportunity to be a guest on one of those podcasts (an episode still to be released). As soon as it came up, the topic threatened to take over our conversation, but I knew it deserved its own conversation another time. I asked Alex after our chat if he'd be willing to come on this project and chat about his experiences in the Mormon church, and he graciously agreed. Ever since someone first explained to me as a kid who the Mormons were and what they (approximately) believed in, my curiosity about what it would be like to grow up living in a "real cult" festered. Friends talked about how Mormons would knock on their doors and want to talk with them and a part of me always thought "Man, I wish they'd knock on my door. I want to know what these guys are all about and have a good long conversation". Well, I finally got my chance, at least sort of. Alex is no longer a believer but was generous enough to tastefully share some stories about his experience growing up in the community of the Latter Day Saints, what they believed, and what ultimately lead him to step away from his faith as an adult. It was deeply meaningful to me to get a chance to compare and contrast our stories as well as spend some time thinking about more meaningful ways to engage with family members and friends in beautiful ways despite parting ways in a religious context.\\

 

Alex Williamns

https://mechoradio.com

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-wax-museum/id1397565082

 

Garrett Vandenberg Website https://www.garrettvandenberg.com/​​ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/garrettvandenbergmusic/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/garrettvandenberg/ Twitter https://twitter.com/GarrettJVMusic​​/

TCBI #29 - Adventures in Mental Health - Dave Griffin

Dave Griffin is an actor, writer, creative, father, husband, and delegate officer in his local Democratic party. Dave is also the voice of the beloved character "Jimmy Barclay" in the well-known audio drama "Adventures in Odyssey". He started on the show in its first official season around the age of 10 and continued to voice the popular character for many years until ultimately the character was written off the show.

Struggling with mental illness growing up, the show became an escape from the everyday lows of life. As that season came to a close Dave was confronted with many deep questions about faith, life, and politics. He'd been hesitant to come out and discuss much of this journey up until this point, but recently felt it was time to share some of this journey with those who are interested with the hope that honesty and vulnerability on the fronts of subjects like mental illness, dealing with the medical system, and experiencing religious and political ill-treatment might help advance our conversations on these fronts.

It was great to talk to Dave. In the past we've had a few chances to chat a little bit and have worked together on a few projects, but up until now we haven't had a chance to go quite this deep. I'm thankful Dave took the time to chat. I think you guys will appreciate his story and our conversation. There are some heavy bits, some light fun bits, and some crazy stories. I found it challenging on multiple fronts, but ultimately it gave me a lot of important stuff to think about.

 

Subscribe to the podcast

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1ezktLCKtpdpPCvZHvFPvF?si=u35WcMD-TVqDLQFT9N2ebA&dl_branch=1 

iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/this-could-be-interesting/id1554166655

Google Podcasts https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL3RoaXNjb3VsZGJlaW50ZXJlc3Rpbmdwb2RjYXN0L2ZlZWQueG1s

Podbean https://thiscouldbeinterestingpodcast.podbean.com/

Dave Griffin

https://www.facebook.com/jave1

http://breadfilm.com/film/

http://bunker21.com/

https://www.aiowiki.com/wiki/David_Griffin

https://www.javegriffin.com/

Garrett Vandenberg

Website https://www.garrettvandenberg.com/​​

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/garrettvandenbergmusic/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/garrettvandenberg/

Twitter https://twitter.com/GarrettJVMusic​​/

I also make music. You can check it out here:

Instrumental/Meditational Project https://open.spotify.com/track/7E1CfMCcl8NNfpIXriFApt?si=942e22dc144942d0

Covers EP https://open.spotify.com/album/0DZaK7WYBzERovmrNK7lgw?si=91nky4TITiawgYtD2mf8Yw&dl_branch=1

 

 

TCBI #28 - Spiritual Techno Optimism - Caleb Weidman

Caleb Weidman is a Media wiz, and has been creating quality content for Spiritual communities for the past decade. He's the president of Blackbar Media, a youtube channel focused on exploring how Christianity can be complemented and augmented by technology and media, and how people working within positions related to media production can better engage with their faith. I've known Caleb for a very long time now, and we've worked together professionally on many different projects including short films and various musical productions. Caleb is also an incredibly talented graphic designer and has produced album covers and book covers for me and my peers on multiple occasions. I wanted to talk to Caleb about what his project is about, and dive deep into what it would mean for a spiritual community to be entirely online-based, and whether or not the online environment was capable of hosting the level of engagement necessary for meaningful spiritual engagement with a community.

Caleb and I aren't on exactly the same page concerning this topic, but that's exactly why I thought it would be meaningful and beneficial to have a conversation. Whether you're part of a spiritual community or not, I think you'll find this discussion both interesting and relevant to your life and our greater cultural problem of processing what exactly the creation of the internet entails for us socially, spiritually, personally, and culturally. Also, if you enjoy this conversation and would like to hear more of Caleb, please be sure to check out his youtube channel and podcast (linked below). If you especially appreciated our dynamic, make sure you check out the new episode releasing very soon where Caleb invited me on to join in for a conversation about Christian Deconstruction and how to engage with it meaningfully.

Subscribe to the podcast Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1ezktLCKtpdpPCvZHvFPvF iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/this-could-be-interesting/id1554166655 Google Podcasts https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL3RoaXNjb3VsZGJlaW50ZXJlc3Rpbmdwb2RjYXN0L2ZlZWQueG1s Podbean https://thiscouldbeinterestingpodcast.podbean.com/ Caleb Weidman / BlackBar Media Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTwQJMZl2HKGWntO-sDlKsg Discord - http://discord.blk.bar Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/blkbar Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/5nQZluqztP1FvBv19hhZ5F?si=5bluELXkRQmOO06Z3xx7Pg&nd=1 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Blackbar-100159521451113/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/blk.bar/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/cjweidman?lang=en Garrett Vandenberg Website https://www.garrettvandenberg.com/​​ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/garrettvandenbergmusic/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/garrettvandenberg/ Twitter https://twitter.com/GarrettJVMusic​​/

TCBI #27 - Learning From a Master - Nadje Noordhuis

Pre-order Nadje's new album: https://nadjenoordhuis.bandcamp.com/album/gullfoss Check out my favorite of Nadje's past work (Ten Sails): Bandcamp - https://music.lukehoward.com/album/ten-sails Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/album/7k6LMeVKzWrL9XHzNTPkXu Nadje Noordhuis is my favorite trumpet player, and is the primary reason I worked up enough determination to (try to) learn the trumpet. Yeah, that bit of trumpet in the intro is me, heh. She's from Brooklyn, though she grew up in and moved from Australia. She is a wonderful teacher and performer, and an wonderful person to chat with. I first met her at a very small and intimate studio performance she did with my favorite pianist (Luke Howard). To this day, that's one of my absolute favorite musical experiences ever. Nadje has a very interesting and inspiring story, as well. She had to struggle to make her way into a male-dominated scene where it was thought that "a woman couldn't handle the position of audio engineer" and being pigeonholed into "female only" jazz bands. She's since made some incredible contributions to music both through her composition/performing and her teaching. Check out "Ten Sails" by Nadje Noordhuis and Luke Howard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QzMcUb3bOM&list=PLHJ8mCjIjmVPfl8wz7RvtyMLW6Ieo0RGv Subscribe to the podcast Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1ezktLCKtpdpPCvZHvFPvF iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/this-could-be-interesting/id1554166655 Google Podcasts https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL3RoaXNjb3VsZGJlaW50ZXJlc3Rpbmdwb2RjYXN0L2ZlZWQueG1s Podbean https://thiscouldbeinterestingpodcast.podbean.com/ Who's in this episode? Nadje Noordhuis https://www.nadjenoordhuis.com/ https://www.instagram.com/nadjenoordhuis/?hl=en https://open.spotify.com/artist/2gMxxfDcVbNcJH5VG2FCmY?autoplay=true

TCBI #26 - A Typical Yogi - Markus Schneider

Markus grew up in a fundamentalist Christian home but later upon examining his religion rejected it in general and began to think more deeply about his beliefs and his philosophy. In this conversation Markus shares a bit of his story and how he ultimately ended up practicing and teaching Yoga and meditation from a primarily secular framework. I challenge Markus on this perspective towards Yoga and we dig deep into what it means to "listen to your body" and have a relationship with the "unknown".

Markus Schnieder runs the local hot yoga studio in my hometown and is one of the friendliest and most interesting people I know. The first time we chatted was at the studio after a session and I asked him about one of the poses I was struggling with. His response was extremely detailed about the various physiological and psychological effects of the pose and how it should be approached. I was immediately struck by his gentle demeanor and intelligence. The next time we saw Markus at the studio he remembered both mine and my wife's names. Markus is a great guy, and every time I chat with him I learn something.

Subscribe to the podcast

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1ezktLCKtpdpPCvZHvFPvF

iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/this-could-be-interesting/id1554166655

Google Podcasts https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL3RoaXNjb3VsZGJlaW50ZXJlc3Rpbmdwb2RjYXN0L2ZlZWQueG1s

Podbean https://thiscouldbeinterestingpodcast.podbean.com/

 

Who's in this episode?

Markus Schneider

https://modoyoga.com/brantford/teacher/extra-test/

https://www.instagram.com/themarkuslife/?hl=en

Garrett Vandenberg

https://www.garrettvandenberg.com/​​

https://www.facebook.com/garrettvandenbergmusic/

https://www.instagram.com/garrettvandenberg/

https://twitter.com/GarrettJVMusic​​/

I also make music. You can check it out here:

Instrumental/Meditational Project https://open.spotify.com/track/7E1CfMCcl8NNfpIXriFApt?si=942e22dc144942d0

Covers EP https://open.spotify.com/album/0DZaK7WYBzERovmrNK7lgw?si=91nky4TITiawgYtD2mf8Yw&dl_branch=1

 

TCBI #25 - The Bones of Creationism - Ian Juby

Ian Juby is a prolific hobbyist whose interests range from driving trains to amateur archeology to UFO theorizing to creation science. Ian's name has come up frequently in my house over the past several years whenever the topic of "evolution" was brought up. Many/most evangelical Christians (especially those of the generation before mine) hold very tightly to a model of creation and existence that is consistent with a literal interpretation of Genesis--that is, 6 day creation. Other key Biblical stories are considered deeply historical as well, such as the idea of a universal flood (Noah's Ark) or the Israelite crossing of the Red Sea. While most Christian Evangelicals take the literal historicity of these stories at face value, Ian has spent the last 15 years of his life actively teaching and researching more technical arguments concerning the age of the earth, the fossil record, and other key components to unpacking this theory of origins scientifically. Growing up I noticed a common pattern of dismissal of this conversation from those on either side. Most practicing Christians I knew brushed off evolution and claims about an old earth as simple propaganda by those seeking to destroy the church, whereas those outside of the church that I talked to about these concepts brushed off those who believed them as simpletons who didn't know anything about science. When Ian agreed to chat with me for this project, I was excited. Ian is a pretty smart guy, and has bothered to spend a good chunk of his time trying to deeply get to know the science behind this conversation. I on the other hand find the evolutionary model compelling, yet still find the Christian faith meaningful and worth engaging with. I was hoping that between the two of us we might be able to manage having the conversation that I hadn't seen happen very well growing up and attempt to engage and discuss these two positions honestly and in good faith without premature dismissal. It was a difficult task, and I don't know if we managed it perfectly, but I'm excited about the forward motion of this conversation in my home community, and I'm hoping this conversation can be a small contribution to this greater conversation within Evangelical Christiandom.