The Mind Renewed with Julian Charles

"Party politics is broken. It's time for independents."—Paul Greenall We welcome to the programme the psychologist Dr Paul Greenall for an interview on his campaign to stand as an independent candidate for Member of Parliament here in the UK, and on the role of the so-called "pandemic" in shaping his current view of politics at Westminster. Earlier this year, Paul, who works in the UK National Health Service, was facing the very distinct possibility of job loss—even career termination—because of the UK government's insane threat to make covid-19 injections mandatory for health workers. Thankfully, along with so many tens of thousands of his colleagues, Paul stood his ground and refused to give in to the pressure, a collective resistance which ultimately led to the government backing down on the idea, and an important signal to the vaccinators not to extend their mandates to further sectors of society. As a consequence— his life having been significantly impacted, and his trust in business-as-usual, party politics having evaporated—Paul is now preparing to stand as a truly independent candidate for MP in the local by-election here in West Lancashire, UK. [For show notes please visit https://themindrenewed.com]

"Party politics is broken. It's time for independents."—Paul Greenall

We welcome to the programme the psychologist Dr Paul Greenall for an interview on his campaign to stand as an independent candidate for Member of Parliament here in the UK, and on the role of the so-called "pandemic" in shaping his current view of politics at Westminster.

Earlier this year, Paul, who works in the UK National Health Service, was facing the very distinct possibility of job loss—even career termination—because of the UK government's insane threat to make covid-19 injections mandatory for health workers. Thankfully, along with so many tens of thousands of his colleagues, Paul stood his ground and refused to give in to the pressure, a collective resistance which ultimately led to the government backing down on the idea, and an important signal to the vaccinators not to extend their mandates to further sectors of society. As a consequence— his life having been significantly impacted, and his trust in business-as-usual, party politics having evaporated—Paul is now preparing to stand as a truly independent candidate for MP in the local by-election here in West Lancashire, UK.

[For show notes please visit https://themindrenewed.com]

"History began when humans invented gods, and will end when humans become gods."—Yuval Noah Harari

We welcome back to the programme Jeremiah Allen, a Christian entrepreneur now living in Belize, for a wide-ranging interview as part of the ongoing conversation here at TMR called: "Following Christ in the New Old Normal."

In the first conversation, with Rev Phill Sacre, we discussed "awakeness" in the church and beyond in the post-covid era. In the second conversation Pastor Stephen Buckley shared his perspective on the covid era, interpreting the response of so many churches in terms of God's constructive judgement upon the churches themselves. In this third conversation, Jeremiah Allen shares with us his conviction that only with the Fruit of the Spirit, developing in our lives through closeness to God, will the Christian successfully navigate the troubled waters of the days ahead.

Jeremiah joined us last year to discuss "Disruptions and Preparations", which in some ways could be seen as an introduction to the present series of conversations

"Jeremiah is a 42-year-old former US Army soldier and Iraq War veteran ('04-'05). After leaving military service, he worked as a Computer Network Security Expert for the US Missile Defense Agency. In 2013, he left his lucrative career and relocated his wife & two children to pursue ministry in Belize as an entrepreneur. Jeremiah is passionate about Jesus and sharing the Good News with others by living out the Great Commission in everyday life."

[For show notes please visit https://themindrenewed.com]

"History began when humans invented gods, and will end when humans become gods."—Yuval Noah Harari We welcome back to the programme Jeremiah Allen, a Christian entrepreneur now living in Belize, for a wide-ranging interview as part of the ongoing conversation here at TMR called: "Following Christ in the New Old Normal." In the first conversation, with Rev Phill Sacre, we discussed "awakeness" in the church and beyond in the post-covid era. In the second conversation Pastor Stephen Buckley shared his perspective on the covid era, interpreting the response of so many churches in terms of God's constructive judgement upon the churches themselves. In this third conversation, Jeremiah Allen shares with us his conviction that only with the Fruit of the Spirit, developing in our lives through closeness to God, will the Christian successfully navigate the troubled waters of the days ahead. Jeremiah joined us last year to discuss "Disruptions and Preparations", which in some ways could be seen as an introduction to the present series of conversations "Jeremiah is a 42-year-old former US Army soldier and Iraq War veteran ('04-'05). After leaving military service, he worked as a Computer Network Security Expert for the US Missile Defense Agency. In 2013, he left his lucrative career and relocated his wife & two children to pursue ministry in Belize as an entrepreneur. Jeremiah is passionate about Jesus and sharing the Good News with others by living out the Great Commission in everyday life." [For show notes please visit https://themindrenewed.com]

For the 11th of our TMR Movie Roundtables we welcome back our good friends Mark Campbell, Frank Johnson and Antony Rotunno for a four-way discussion on the 1973 eco-dystopian thriller movie Soylent Green, starring Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young and Edward G Robinson, directed by Richard Fleischer.

By 2022, the processes of industrialisation and consumerism have depleted the world's natural respources and led to extreme global warming, overpopulation and severe food shortages. To meet demand, the Soylent Corporation—a massive, government-connected enterprise supplying countless millions—has developed subsistence foodstuffs in the form of highly processed wafers known as Soylent Red and Soylent Yellow. But now, the inhabitants of New York City (numbering around 40,000,000) can look forward to a new product: Soylent Green, a highly nutritious wafer ostensibly made from plankton. But not all is as it seems, as detective Richard Thorn (Charlton Heston) and his researcher Sol Roth (Edward G Robinson) discover as they investigate the assassination of an influential board member of the Corporation. Soylent Green, it turns out, isn't quite as advertised. "Soylent Green is ******!" (Just in case you haven't seen it yet).

Joins us as we discuss the film's production and storyline and consider some of its messages in relation to the real world of 2022.

[For show notes please visit https://themindrenewed.com]

For the 11th of our TMR Movie Roundtables we welcome back our good friends Mark Campbell, Frank Johnson and Antony Rotunno for a four-way discussion on the 1973 eco-dystopian thriller movie Soylent Green, starring Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young and Edward G Robinson, directed by Richard Fleischer. By 2022, the processes of industrialisation and consumerism have depleted the world's natural respources and led to extreme global warming, overpopulation and severe food shortages. To meet demand, the Soylent Corporation—a massive, government-connected enterprise supplying countless millions—has developed subsistence foodstuffs in the form of highly processed wafers known as Soylent Red and Soylent Yellow. But now, the inhabitants of New York City (numbering around 40,000,000) can look forward to a new product: Soylent Green, a highly nutritious wafer ostensibly made from plankton. But not all is as it seems, as detective Richard Thorn (Charlton Heston) and his researcher Sol Roth (Edward G Robinson) discover as they investigate the assassination of an influential board member of the Corporation. Soylent Green, it turns out, isn't quite as advertised. "Soylent Green is ******!" (Just in case you haven't seen it yet). Joins us as we discuss the film's production and storyline and consider some of its messages in relation to the real world of 2022. [For show notes please visit https://themindrenewed.com]

"They are not really in control. We have an illusion of democracy in this country. If you think Boris is the one making the decisions, if you think that Liz Truss is going to be the one making the decisions for this country, then I'm afraid you're completely out of touch with reality."—Matt Le Tissier

We welcome to the programme the football legend Matt Le Tissier, who joins us to talk about his experience of speaking out against aspects of the UK government's response to the so-called "pandemic" during the last two and a half years, and to share with us about his ongoing efforts to persuade footballing authorities to investigate the cause(s) of—what he believes to be—the worrying rise in cardiac-related events among fellow footballers. We also chat about his remarkabale career, the reasons why he has earned the affectionate nickname "Le God", and I get schooled in some of the basics about The Beautiful Game.

Throughout his professional club career Matt Le Tissier played for Southampton Football Club. Affectionately dubbed "Le God" and a footballing "geniius" by adoring Southampton fans for his creative and techincal brilliance as an attacking midfielder, Le Tissier became the first footballer to score one hundred goals in the Premier League, won eight "caps" for England, and is listed by UEFA as one of the top penalty scorers of all time. After retiring from the game, Le Tissier turned to broadcasting, and for fifteen years he regularly appeared on the Sky Sports programme "Soccer Saturday" until August 2020.

[For show notes please visit https://themindrenewed.com]

"They are not really in control. We have an illusion of democracy in this country. If you think Boris is the one making the decisions, if you think that Liz Truss is going to be the one making the decisions for this country, then I'm afraid you're completely out of touch with reality."—Matt Le Tissier We welcome to the programme the football legend Matt Le Tissier, who joins us to talk about his experience of speaking out against aspects of the UK government's response to the so-called "pandemic" during the last two and a half years, and to share with us about his ongoing efforts to persuade footballing authorities to investigate the cause(s) of—what he believes to be—the worrying rise in cardiac-related events among fellow footballers. We also chat about his remarkabale career, the reasons why he has earned the affectionate nickname "Le God", and I get schooled in some of the basics about The Beautiful Game. Throughout his professional club career Matt Le Tissier played for Southampton Football Club. Affectionately dubbed "Le God" and a footballing "geniius" by adoring Southampton fans for his creative and techincal brilliance as an attacking midfielder, Le Tissier became the first footballer to score one hundred goals in the Premier League, won eight "caps" for England, and is listed by UEFA as one of the top penalty scorers of all time. After retiring from the game, Le Tissier turned to broadcasting, and for fifteen years he regularly appeared on the Sky Sports programme "Soccer Saturday" until August 2020. [For show notes please visit https://themindrenewed.com]

We welcome back our good friend Antony Rotunno—host of Life and Life Only podcast— for a conversation on the BBC's recent self-styled "documentary" entitled "Unvaccinated".

The programme was billed as an "eye-opening investigation" hosted by mathematician and British TV personality Professor Hannah Fry, the aim of which (according to the BBC) was to understand why a significant proportion of the UK population has decided to remain "unvaccinated against covid-19".

"To fully explore" (sic) the "complex and deeply divisive debate" (again, according to the BBC), Hannah Fry (or the BBC) invited seven covid-19-injection-free participants to share a house with her for several days (or part days?) in order to "unpack long-held opinions, beliefs and fears", "meet leading experts", "confront the latest science and statistics" and "dissect how misinformation spreads on social media"—all in anticipation of a final question: Would they change their minds and "take up the vaccine"?

Instead we were treated to a tendentious and patronising piece of establishment propaganda that -- while it could have been a lot worse, and was admittedly entertaining and engaging -- was essentially aimed at reinforcing the collapsing covid narrative.

Join us as we discuss the "documentary" and dissect its subtle—though, more often, not so subtle—use of propaganda techniques.

[For show notes please visit https://themindrenewed.com]

We welcome back our good friend Antony Rotunno—host of Life and Life Only podcast— for a conversation on the BBC's recent self-styled "documentary" entitled "Unvaccinated". The programme was billed as an "eye-opening investigation" hosted by mathematician and British TV personality Professor Hannah Fry, the aim of which (according to the BBC) was to understand why a significant proportion of the UK population has decided to remain "unvaccinated against covid-19". "To fully explore" (sic) the "complex and deeply divisive debate" (again, according to the BBC), Hannah Fry (or the BBC) invited seven covid-19-injection-free participants to share a house with her for several days (or part days?) in order to "unpack long-held opinions, beliefs and fears", "meet leading experts", "confront the latest science and statistics" and "dissect how misinformation spreads on social media"—all in anticipation of a final question: Would they change their minds and "take up the vaccine"? Instead we were treated to a tendentious and patronising piece of establishment propaganda that -- while it could have been a lot worse, and was admittedly entertaining and engaging -- was essentially aimed at reinforcing the collapsing covid narrative. Join us as we discuss the "documentary" and dissect its subtle—though, more often, not so subtle—use of propaganda techniques. [For show notes please visit https://themindrenewed.com]