The Great Rehumanization

This is the return, relaunch of a project that hardly every got up and running in the first place. Why? I explain it all here. Yes, indeed, calling my podcast The Great Rehumanization is a bit like naming a garden "The New Eden" and forgetting to water it for six years!  

The Great ReHumanization: Naming the Podcast (and the Problems) 

Have you ever eaten a raw clove of garlic? I mean really eaten it. Not minced into a sauce, not roasted to sweet submission, but taken it whole and chewed it?

I love garlic. I’m the guy who uses three cloves if the recipe calls for one. But eating it raw? That’s a different thing entirely. It’s acrid, it burns, and then it sits in your gut like a rancid stone. And a lot of things we love in life are like that. You have to know how to appreciate things. Things deserve their proper setting, their proper treatment. Especially the things we love, the things that deserve to be appreciated the right way. Garlic being just one of those things.

So, I’ve had this idea to do a podcast for six years. Six years. I’ve done little things here and there, dabbled at the edges. And one of the things that’s has taking me so long, the real anchor around my neck, is that when I finally sat down to do it, I got a certain taste in my mouth. Too much. I’d been chewing on something, an idea, that maybe I’d been a little… overzealous with. You know what I’m saying?

The Great Rehumanization.

I liked the title. I still do!  It has a ring to it. But man, something about it. It’s supposed to sound urgent, it’s supposed to be a call to arms. And here I am, Super Procrastination wearing a cape! It’s hilarious. The whole thing, the name, The Great Rehumanization—that’s what I mean by chewing on a whole clove of garlic. I was pretty excited about it. And then, just as I was really getting into it, I realized: it’s grandiose. It’s pretentious. It’s really kind of corny.

Every time I sat down and started talking into a microphone, I felt like I had to give a TED Talk, a pep talk, a motivational speech. I had to lean into this… this Influencer Industrial Complex. 

Six years ago, in November 2019, I jumped out of bed. Literally. I was like, That’s it! That’s the name of the podcast! But it quickly felt a little nauseating. The rhetorical  implications of it, the weight of  carrying around such a name. And then I spell it with a capital ‘H’, ReHumanization: as if clever typography makes it any easier to manage, or easier to address the dehumanization, the very problem I aim to name. In six years, something that’s supposed to sound so urgent, hasn’t really budged. I wanted it to sound urgent and exciting, like something everybody could get on board with. Something that sounds like a movement! 

And what is that?

I want to address dehumanization. The problem of dehumanization from the top down, from our private lives into the public sphere. Because I really think there’s a direct line, a fucking straight shot, between our trauma, our interpersonal traumas, our deep brokenness, and the trouble and turmoil we see in the world. 

But this pretentious, corny, evangelical-sounding, TED-talky, influencer-friendly name—The Great Rehumanization—it conjures this image of internet gurus out there, selling packaged enlightenment. That’s what it seems like to me. What I’m talking about here, that—is spiritualism, friends. Not spirituality: spiritual-ISM. 

And here I am: it feels like I have to be giving testimonials about manifesting, which is exactly what I don’t want to do.

It’s ok if you’re like: whoa, that’s ironic, Martin! 

Ok, the irony is sitting down at my dinner table, eating my dinner

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Disclaimer--I talk about politicians in this episode. This is not a partisan piece, it is the opposite. We tend to immediately conflate any negative mention of a politician with support for that politician's opposition. THAT is not happening here. This is about the contagion of hypocrisy and what that means for the big picture. Hypocrisy is just a part of being human, but it does become a societal pestilence, a pernicious disease when left unchecked. And currently, we have left it unchecked for too long. The cost for this is enormous. Please listen carefully, and challenge yourself a little bit. Be uncomfortable. Thank you!

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On this first return episode we discuss ideology's grip. We talk about how we become possessive of ideologies. We get back to talking about the big picture and how it relates to us personally. This is the first of many more episodes to come which will follow a new format and will be published regularly. 

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On this episode we discuss becoming warriors for humanity and the value of "fighting" words. We talk about the purpose of opinions, myths related to the "self", "all or nothing" cognitive distortions, and the way propaganda focuses on the individual within the masses. I talk about mental health, make some confessions, and play some of my music.

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In this episode I discuss the three main corrupting influences on people and society. I share an old song and some thoughts about it. Our visit with artist and entrepreneur Jay Weinberg continues. I talk about kids who feel a lack of control and how teachers can help. Finally, I close with a warning from our first president, George Washington. 

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An introduction to the show. First part of our conversation with artist/songwriter/entrepreneur Jay Weinberg. School Days segment: Arbitrary Punishments. Jay's song Price Gougin'.

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