Theral is joined today by the founder and CEO of Nucleus, a company which began offering whole genome sequencing to everyone for $400 earlier this year.

Why should you have your genome sequenced? For that matter, what is your genome, and what is “sequenced?”

Kian is a young founder who became passionate about genetics when his cousin suddenly died, and it was later revealed by her doctor that knowing about her genome could very well have saved her.

Theral shares his own results from the Nucleus test today, exploring what he learned from his genome and how the service works. Theral tested above average risk for four conditions, two of which match with his medical history.

What about your genome? How determinative are our genes? And how many other Americans have had their genome sequenced?

“People are getting healthier as they become more cognizant and thinking more preventatively,” says Kian. “They want to measure their blood, their urine, all the way to their genetics. Genetics is part of this broader movement in America where people are quantifying themselves. Genetics is the foundation of your health.”

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Some of us groove out on life in the country.  The city has its congestion and myriad problems: crime, high rent, noise.  There are so many things one has to think about in the city—for example, a parking space and, oh yeah, clean air.  Gone are the myriad stars at night. 

But country life has its challenges.  In Sinclair Lewis’ 1920 novel on this topic, Main Street, a girl from St. Paul, Minnesota marries a boy from the country who is now a doctor.  He wants to settle in his hometown.  When she first walks down its Main Street after unpacking in her new house, a certain Stephen King-like horror envelops her.  But it will only get worse at the first dinner party she throws.  Yes, she sees a life of boredom ahead.  She also feels suddenly dulled by the local prejudices.

Main Street is one of the great American novels.  We have all felt what it is to be Carol Milford—a strong young personality who comes into conflict with the small town mentality of Gopher Prairie.  Still, if we live long enough, we might come around to the importance of towns like Gopher Prairie—having a small house with your own tomato patch out in the backyard of our broad expanse— in defining what it is to be a happy American.    

So what is to be done about that small town mentality and those prejudices which lend themselves so well to satire?  They are very real and must constantly be questioned and expanded. Rural towns ultimately benefit from characters like Carol Milford.  Which brings me to today’s podcast.  

Courtney Tanner is a journalist in Salt Lake City who has covered the polygamous towns of Colorado City and Hildale on the Utah/Arizona border for The Salt Lake Tribune.  Last month she attended the first drag queen show to take place in the town, staged at the town’s first bar.   She wrote up a marvelous article weaving the history of the town—my hometown—with one of the performers at the drag show, Violet Vox.  

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We’re on vacation this week, so we’re rerunning a podcast from early last summer with Native American chef, Sean Sherman.  For those of you who are into fine cuisine, Sean could inspire you in using local and natural ingredients.

Sean made news with his restaurant in Minneapolis, Owamni which won the James Beard Award in 2022 for best new restaurant using only “pre-colonial” ingredients, food basics which existed in America before Columbus.  Berries, fowl, bison.  The restaurant is always sold out.  

Sean was honored with the Julia Child Award in 2023.  

“Control your food, and you control your destiny,” he says.

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How do you define minority in the political sense?  Is it merely a group with fewer than half the population?  Are polygamists minorities in America beyond the simple math with all that the political term confers?Shirlee Draper is a former member of the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints community.  When the group was taken over by Warren Jeffs, now jailed for life, she bailed.  It wasn’t easy.  She says that she wanted to leave the community for six years, but it was less friendly out “with the majority.”  Shirlee and Theral come from the same town on the Utah—Arizona border, which for a hundred years or so offered a romantic and religious reprieve from modernity. Both of them left the town and the religion. Shirlee is now the Director of Operations for Cherish Families, a nonprofit offering assistance to those in her hometown setting. Is it only for those who are leaving? No. It is for anyone and everyone.Much has been written about the polygamists in Colorado City.  The FLDS religion has been a magnet for sensationalist news stories from all of the major American channels.  Perhaps the most famous book on the town and culture was written in 2003 by former outdoor journalist John Krakauer, entitled Under the Banner of Heaven.  Neither Shirlee nor Theral are fans.  

Many books have been written by former members who often talk about “escape.”  This word holds no meaning for Shirlee or Theral.  Escape from what?  A vibrant strong community that served as their home “village?”In his book, Krakauer relies heavily on the term “cult.”  Shirlee says the word has little utility for framing her hometown and is harmful, pushing away the healing possibilities of integration and societal cohesion.

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There is nothing more human than the creation and appreciation of music, says today’s guest,  Richard Timpson.  A few years ago, as part of his undergraduate degree, he wrote a thesis entitled Modeling Expressive Musical Performance with Transformers.  Today, Richard is a software engineer working at Salesforce with a passionate interest in AI music generation.  He also happens to be Theral's nephew.

Theral pushes “record” during another chat with friend Sean Tanamera.  

From current events to rapping ancient poetry, relax to the rhythm of amicable conversation.

Special Offer from the Sponsor: Let’s face it, after a night with drinks, I don’t bounce back the next day like I used to. I have to make a choice: I can either have a great night OR a great next day. That is until I came across Zack and his genetically engineered probiotic. ZBiotics is offering the Mendelspod audience 15% off your first order. Click here and use discount code “THERAL.”

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Are the brain and mind the same thing? Is the universe fine-tuned for consciousness?  What is consciousness?  These are some of the questions that Robert Lawrence Kuhn has asked leading scientists and philosophers for years on the PBS and YouTube series Closer to Truth. 

We’re excited to welcome Robert to Five O’Clock to preview a new series, Philosophy of Biology, which premiered this month on PBS. In his work, Robert asks some of the biggest questions more consistently than anyone I know.

Show titles in the new series include Why Philosophy of Biology?, Reductionism and Emergence, and Philosophy of Sex and Gender. We spend some time on all three of these.

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At a recent biotech conference, I met Ukrainian American Rostyslav Semikov.   He agreed to come to Five O’Clock to talk about the war going on in his country, what he says is their “War of Independence, their 1776.”Rostyslav’s parents live in Ukraine near the Zaphorisia nuclear power plant.  Not only are bombs dropping around them, but there could be a horrible nuclear accident. “Every time we talk, they say we may not see you.  And if something happens to us, we love you,” he says at the outset of today’s show.What is the history of the cultures between Ukraine and Russia?  Rostyslav says Russian President Vladimir Putin thought he would be welcome in Ukraine and overtake Kyiv within three days.  Twenty-one months later, the war drags on. This week, Senate Republicans blocked additional support for Ukraine.  Are Americans growing weary of support?  Rostyslav reminds us that the support of France turned the tide in the American War of Independence.

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Chapters:

0:00 Malvasia Blanc, a winner in this year’s harvest. How do you choose varietals?

8:20 What is the diurnal shift?

13:35 Why single varietals?

17:20 Today’s trends

22:15 Wine for Thanksgiving?

Southern Utah is home to some of the nation’s choice national and state parks, including Zion and Bryce Canyons. But there are more than park trails. The region now boasts one of America’s newest wine trails.

For our pre-Thanksgiving show, we’re coming to you from the Bold and Delaney Vineyard in Dammeron Valley just outside St. George. John Delaney is an award-winning sommelier turned winemaker in one of America's newest wine regions. What is standing out this year? Is there a Southern Utah character emerging in grapes grown in the sand and volcanic lava?

We finish by tasting John’s newest vintage, a stellar 2022 Petite Syrah that just went in the bottle. Join us for a relaxing stroll through the vineyard as we chat about today’s trends in wine and think about the right wine for Thanksgiving.

Special Offer: Let’s face it, after a night with drinks, I don’t bounce back the next day like I used to. I have to make a choice: I can either have a great night OR a great next day. That is until I came across Zack and his genetically engineered probiotic. ZBiotics is offering the Mendelspod audience 15% off your first order. Click here and use discount code “THERAL.”

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Chapters:0:00  Tonebase and celebrity pianists5:45 Seymour Bernstein21:10 Thoughts on Glenn Gould35:45 The classical music listenerWill we look back on the pandemic as the great age of YouTube?  Of all the online platforms, YouTube has delivered me the most value.  The promise of the internet was that it would connect us with our peeps, with those of like mind.  Whereas Facebook re-connected us with our high school crowd, YouTube puts us in touch with our current deep interests, and not just once or twice, but the algorithms deliver steady content that is tailored for us.For me, this has included a channel devoted to classical piano called Tonebase.  Ben Laude is the host of the channel, and after watching his great shows for three years now, I’m thrilled to engage with him in conversation on some of my favorite topics, the piano and pianists.  An accomplished concert pianist himself, Ben’s interviews with today’s greatest pianists are as entertaining as they are informative.“Music education is very private.  We practice by ourselves,” says Ben.   "Compare it to youth sports where we see everyone else doing it.  When you turn on the TV, everyone’s talking about the same game.  You see great athletes at the highest level.  A kid is going to want to play more piano if they see that others are playing.  They can now turn on YouTube and watch people who are really good at this, and they can enjoy it.  There is so much potential for cultivating a culture of participation in piano."

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