Fred's Front Porch Podcast

Utopia, of a reasonable sort, is a dream we all pursue when we reach for the stars.  It is often dismissed for being impossible.  It absolutely is possible.  In her book, "One Dear Land," Ellen Hadley shows us, through both a novel and a set of essays, both how it could be done and what it would look like.  I'm taking half an hour to explain it to you.  You would be wise to read her book.  She explains it better than I do.

This is the link to her book.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=one+dear+land&i=stripbooks&crid=SVVR0KH7SU99&sprefix=One+Dear+%2Cstripbooks%2C122&ref=nb_sb_ss_c_2_9_ts-doa-p

I'm extra proud of this one.  This is delightful.

I'm ecstatic that Milne has become public domain!

Special thanks to my friend, Kathy Ruiz, who taught me to love this story more than 30 years ago.

This week, we're having a guest host, my friend and former student, Christian Swoboda.  He's the person who rescued me from California, and he wants to explain why he did.  This is, in some ways, a sequel for "Unlocking The Gate."

Did you ever wonder what a dog is thinking?  Speedy Shine shares his thoughts with us tonight.

The Beatles said it first in 1968.  While the world is in better shape than it has been throughout human history, we still have a long, long way to go.  

It sometimes seems as though our culture encourages desperation.  It doesn't have to be this way.  It shouldn't be this way.

They say that revenge is a dish best served cold.  How would the world be if we removed it from the menu?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Maurice_de_Talleyrand-P%C3%A9rigord

You get to decide who you are.  How you spend your minutes helps to define that.  What do your minutes tell you about yourself?

We can remake our world, just as Scrooge remade his.  Let's do that together.

Links:

https://www.rent.com/research/national-apartment-rent-price-analysis/

http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/odnirast.html

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattles-minimum-wage-hikes-didnt-boost-supermarket-prices-new-uw-study-says/

Suicide prevention is more than posting the number for a hotline.  On Fred's Front Porch, I often discuss the idea that was can all Shine in our own ways.  I've never really explained what I mean by that, though.  

The album is here.  You should really really buy it:

Someone went out of her way to remind how it felt to be intensely alive last week.  It's gone now, but I will forever be grateful for the 72 hours of Joy I got to experience.