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What does it take to achieve great things?  How do we define abilities and the differences between the able and the less able?
As a culture, we have long fixated upon the idea of talent, often given by God.  Seen as gifts that enable specific individuals to reach heights and achievements beyond their control, the concept serves as a balm to those who seek to minimize any labors involved, or admit to their own choices to do otherwise.
Yet, I believe the idea unnecessarily hinders far more than it ever encourages.  By removing an individual’s own agency in the matter, we discourage ourselves from pursuing our goals in the face of perceived mediocrity.  Likewise, by ascribing successes to the intervention of divine powers, we deny ourselves the rightfully earned joy of achievement from a job well done.
In this episode, we explore the topic of creativity and motivation in the hopes of reframing the idea of the pursuit as one in which we all can participate.

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Money and business.  Buyers and sellers.  Competition and the invisible hand of the market.  Our economy is an evolving ecosystem of producers and consumers, but who is producing and who is being consumed?
The simple trades that formed the foundation of merchant behavior in our past have long been replaced by more complex and evolved systems of shares and commodities, credit and finance, incorporation and mergers.  Yet we, as consumers, remain much as we were.  Left to browse the options in our markets, we choose what we are offered, and give up what we have to trade.
In this episode, we explore the vastly altered landscape of modern economies, and probe the methods behind their function.  Delving into techniques used to manipulate the buying public, we also search out ideas for effective actions to counteract the processes.
At a time when populations are farmed and milked like livestock, we seek to regain the authority to make impactful choices yet again.  After decades of being told, we seek to be heard.

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Night and day, hot and cold, childhood and adulthood, our lives are lived among recognized extremes, and yet it is the lines between these points that define us.  From birth to death, within to without, and all points in between, we gather together to celebrate the times of change, and yet our modern society seeks to blend these collective experiences into one of endless flux.  The appearance of on-demand culture, and a 24-hour flood of information has left no time to experience the ends and beginnings that give a life form.
In this episode we explore the forgotten benefits of establishing boundaries within our lives, and the peculiar joys of withholding that which we desire until the time is correct, not just for ourselves, but for society as a whole - Providing purpose and definition with delineation, and taking time to celebrate the unique aspects of each individual moment along the way.

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Music is not only a powerful art form that can make you move your body, stop to think, or vent your emotions.  It is also a complex and intricate language through which we, as humans, can communicate on a level sometimes beyond words.  While this experience is often one that occurs on an instinctive level, there are ways in which we can learn to recognize and explore layers of nuance within the sounds around us that can add to the experience.
More importantly, an informed listener can often find aspects within types of musics they would not ordinarily be drawn to that can offer value despite the initial impressions we so often base all decisions upon.  As a musician myself, I enjoy delving into more obscure areas of the art, and have come to appreciate much I had not before.  In this episode, we seek to bring forward forgotten levels of listening in a time when popular music leaves little or no space for them.  With luck, this will give us the chance to seek beyond the surface levels of a sound to find value beneath.  If nothing else, however, it is hoped that the discussion will offer up suggestions for how others can find value in ways you may not expect… giving credit and recognition to those within a genre striving to connect with the listeners, whoever they be.

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Bigfoot, the chupacabra, unicorns, dragons, and fairies… our world is filled with tales of amazing creatures spanning the depths of time.  Some, we have found.  Some, we have killed.  Some, however, we insist have never been, and never are.
But, what do we actually know definitively about our universe?  How do we know with such certainty things cannot be?  Is there room amongst our encyclopedias and specimen trays for new discoveries, and unexpected surprises?

In this episode we explore the topics, and discuss possibilities that may not have been given enough consideration.  The simple truth is, even in a world containing only those animals we know to be real, in the quiet corners of the planet, Thar Be Monsters!

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The rise of environmentalism, after centuries of neglect, has become the great transformation of our time.  Grasping, for the first time, our power to alter the very nature of the planet around us has been a long and slowly evolving shift of mindset not yet completed.
What is the roll of humanity among the planet’s inhabitants then?  How are our unique skills meant to integrate into the greater system?  More interestingly, what should be our eventual goal in the development of our world, and ourselves within it?
In this episode, we explore the place of mankind among all of nature’s children.  Our special powers, and their responsibilities when making decisions give us a fascinating potential, if we can manage to wield it wisely, not just now, but for ages to come.

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Every decade has its flavor and style, driven by unique circumstances, but over time the essence of a cultural era can be forgotten, or even corrupted.
In this episode we explore the particular motivations of each generation, and how their decisions led to an expression of life unique to their time.
In particular, I delve into the forgotten ideals of my own decade, the 1990s, and how their vital essence has been co-opted and manipulated by cultural institutions in the years after.
All in the hopes of better representing the most important parts, often least understood in retrospect.

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The transition to electric vehicles seems all but an inevitability.  The serious consequences associated with fossil fuels have made that clear.  Yet, despite the imperative, the transition has remained difficult and haphazard.
In this episode, I explore the possible reasons for this, and put forward a solution that has been on my mind for some time.
Times of systemic shifts often require a unified effort, and universal adoption means shaping the framework across the board.
For your consideration.

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Crafting artwork is the act of struggling to represent a vision, feeling, or idea through the manipulation of a set of materials.  Time and expertise can greatly facilitate the process, but ultimately the artist is faced with maintaining their inspiration through the tedium of actual creation.

Over time, with the development of tools and methods, this has become easier.  Breakthroughs in pigment creation, and the rise of more stable, forgiving, and predictable formulas, have given us a world of options our ancestors could never have imagined.  This has led to a flourishing of expression, and more people than ever having the power to create.

No single potential upgrade in capability comes close, however, to the possibilities offered by the conversion to a digital platform.  For the first time, an artist can utilize, not only a full spectrum of color, but the potential to use every kind of tool and technique without the serious investment in material this would usually require.

While interfaces and quality can vary as the format is honed, there is a single important issue found among nearly every program that can undo this utility.
In this episode, I explore this flaw, and the very basic shift in organization that could fix it. 

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Kids will be kids…
There comes a time in every generation, and in every person’s life, when doing what you are told becomes a very real struggle.  As we develop into adulthood, we are faced with periods where we experience an undeniable urge to deviate from expectations.  These phases of life become almost cliché for the level of angst they contain, and adults of every generation learn to anticipate their arrival.

Yet, even with generations of predictability, it seems our institutions and social norms continually fail to predictably mitigate these effects.  Time and again, we create for our descendants structures and rulebooks almost designed to fail those who fall under them.

But, by taking ownership of our agency within these structures, we gain the potential to create a more perfect system.

In this episode, we explore the nature of this collective experience, and the mistakes and assumptions behind each of our failures.  By reassessing our actions with the benefit of history, we can begin to achieve the wisdom we are meant to attain in our mature years, and become the sorts of people we wished we had known in our own pasts.

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