The usual suspects were heard on by drive this week. Due to some…just…lovely…construction on the highway, another hour was added to my drivetime once again. No problem for me! It just means another podcast episode. Yay!

Just in case anyone from CalTrans might be reading, though: There has got to be a better way to repair the one highway in and out of a small town. Like, what if we just used one side while you repaired the other, instead of one lane stopping and crawling while you move equipment in and out of the lane?

I get it. It does need repair, desperately, and I’m grateful it’s being done. But there are a lot of people in this town that work down the hill every day and for the next month or so, the construction is adding an hour to their one-hour commute. The tension is building. I seriously sat there trying to project peace into these poor people the whole time I sat there inching along. And then there’s the poor construction guys in the hot sun with all the angry around. Man, what a mess. All the technology in the world and we can’t find a better way to do this? I think figuring this out would be a better use of time and energy than space travel.

One more thing before I dive into the “Roundup.”

My trail cam photos are so much fun. I’m posting some of them on my page Desert Photos: Enjoy the view, but I had to share this one here because it was so funny.

That one watching in the background looks like he’s smirking. Like he did something to the water and is just about to tell them and they’ll spit it out. “What the hell, Joe?! What’s wrong with you!?” And he’ll be rolling on his back laughing at them.

If anyone knows an EASY way to make a video of a couple hundred photos (like a fast slideshow), I’d love to hear about it. Sometimes the progression of the pictures is the best part, and I can only post photos right now.

Let’s get on with the show!

Secular Buddhism – #107 Learning to be Silent

Can you guess why I picked this one? Silence is not my strong suit. I have a lot to say, people! But the takeaway for me today was when he said, “Have you ever judged a person by what you see or experience in one instance?” Made me think, “Yes, I have.”

That guy that cut me off. That mother in the store. That fast food worker. I could go on and on. People are not horrible in general. Let’s give each other a break.

Philosophy Bites – Kathleen Stock on What is a Woman?

Made me think on issues I didn’t even realize were there. What is the dividing line that makes one “woman”? And maybe we’re going about this gender thing the wrong way?

Interesting article, “Ignoring Differences Between Men and Women Is the Wrong Way to Address Gender Dysphoria” on Quillette, if you’d rather read her work instead of listen to an interview about it.

BBC Radio: Books and Authors – Making it new? Literature of the Twenties Special

We’ve been talking about the similarities between the 1910’s and the 2010’s for a while now. Will the 20’s continue in the same vein? I’m all for “roaring” but maybe we can avoid “depression” and “war.”             I already have “Ulysses” by James Joyce sitting on by TBR shelf. I’m inspired to conquer it once again.

CATO Daily Podcast – Will Onerous Regulations Stay Gone After COVID?

Takeaway: If you can suspend a regulation because of an emergency, did you need the regulation in the first place? Or were you using government to protect the status quo?

BBC Radio: In Our Time, Philosophy – Marcus Aurelius

I liked this but didn’t listen to the whole thing. The interviewer kept trying to get them to read quotes from “Meditations,” but they kept going back to explaining him and arguing whether or not his work was philosophy or self-help. And what’s the difference? Something I’ll be looking at in a future post.

BBC Radio: Bookclub – Lissa Evans – Old Baggage

Suffragettes and old women friends! Yes, please! This one is a comedy, too. Bonus. What do you do when you’ve accomplished your goals and now you must move on? My ears perked up when I heard the author say, “The character had been treading water since they got the vote for women and was still trying to find her new thing.” Hey! That’s a bit like me!

Book Added to the TBR List: Old Baggage by Lissa Evans

Conversations with Coleman – Critical Race Theory with Christopher Rufo

This links to YouTube but you can listen on any podcast platform. The more I hear about this, the more I don’t like it. It seems to be building walls between people instead of bringing people together. I like what Christopher Rufo says about building up on commonalities instead of separating by differences.

And there you go!

Yeah, it is the usual suspects. I have the same six shows I listen to the most, but they lead me in such interesting directions. I know there’s more conversation to listen to out there. Do you have a favorite podcast? Let me know in the comments. Hearing yours will help me expand my influential input!