Host Tony Hoshaw opens with a viral Donald Trump claim about immigrants eating pets and uses it to explore how we dehumanize people by turning them into "animals."

He traces his own journey from a hunting childhood to a Christian conversion and tentative vegetarianism, shares stories of his companion pets, and criticizes careless hunting and factory farming.

The episode brings in thinkers—Derrida, Ken Stone, Carol J. Adams, Val Plumwood, and Martha Nussbaum—to discuss animal sentience, the predator–prey dynamic in the Bible, and the ethical implications of edibility and sacrifice.

Hoshaw argues for treating sentient animals as beings with species-specific lives, calls for more compassionate practices, and closes the season asking listeners to "rest from cruel dominion" and rethink our relationship to animals.

EXPLORE:

Read a preview of Tony's essay, *The Bible Isn't Edible* here: https://gay-thoughts.com/2025/12/04/on-the-urgent-matter-of-the-bible-or-on-how-vegetarians-should-use-the-bible/

Read Tony's sermon, *Rest From Cruel Dominion* here: https://gay-thoughts.com/2024/05/15/rest-from-cruel-dominion-embracing-mercy-on-the-sabbath-day/

Read *Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy* by Matthew Scully: https://www.amazon.com/Dominion-Power-Suffering-Animals-Mercy/dp/0312319738

Read *The Animal That Therefore I Am* by Jacques Derrida: https://www.amazon.com/Animal-Therefore-Perspectives-Continental-Philosophy/dp/082322791X

Read *Reading the Hebrew Bible with Animal Studies* by Ken Stone: https://www.sup.org/books/religious-studies/reading-hebrew-bible-animal-studies

Read *The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegan Critical Theory* by Carol J. Adams: https://caroljadams.com/spom-the-book

Read *The Eye of the Crocodile* by Val Plumwood (edited by Lorraine Shannon): https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/eye-crocodile

Read *Justice for Animals: Our Collective Responsibility* by Martha C. Nussbaum: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Justice-for-Animals/Martha-C-Nussbaum/9781982102517

Read "Questions of Biblical Ambivalence and Authority Under A Tree Outside Delhi; Or, The Postcolonial And The Postmodern" in *Postcolonial Biblical Criticism: Interdisciplinary Intersections*, by Stephen D. Moore: https://www.amazon.com/Postcolonial-Biblical-Criticism-Interdisciplinary-Postcolonialism/dp/0567045307

Read *Jacob's Wound: Homoerotic Narrative in the Literature of Ancient Israel* by Theodore Jennings, Jr.: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/jacobs-wound-9780826417121/

In this episode, Tony explores how puberty and social media intersect, comparing Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation and Matt Richtel's How We Grow Up, and closing with Adam Aleksic’s Algospeak. He examines how smartphones, algorithms, and shifting social habits are reshaping adolescence, attention, gender norms, and mental health.

This episode outlines practical responses — more unsupervised play, better sleep, mentorship and community, digital age limits and biometric safeguards, and education about algorithms — to help young people navigate a faster, digital coming-of-age.

**Drinking Game:** Every time Tony says compelling, so on and so forth, and/or interesting, drink up! Drink responsibly! 

EXPLORE:

Hear *13: the Musical,* here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlzsPwQ_Dzs

Listen to Bill Maher's podcast, *Random Club,* with William Macy, here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/club-random-with-bill-maher/id1613459129?i=1000731550816

Read: *The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness,* here: https://www.amazon.com/Anxious-Generation-Rewiring-Childhood-Epidemic/dp/0593655036

Find out more about *Circle of Security of Parenting* here: https://www.circleofsecurityinternational.com/blogs/resources/videos-for-parents

Read: *How We Grow Up: Understanding Adolescence,* here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0063282062/?bestFormat=true&k=how%20we%20grow%20up%20matt%20richtel&ref_=nb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-pd-bk-d_k0_1_12_de&crid=E7DO5S68K3Z3&sprefix=How%20We%20Grow%20

Listen to "I Know Things Now" from Sondheim's *Into the Woods,* here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAsDInMEKvE

Listen to "All The Ladies" from *Operation Mincemeat,* here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2C4L3BXV7M

Listen to the *Rizzler Song,* here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4Ddg9JuOWY

Listen to "Lost in the Brass," sung by Lindsay Mendez, from the musical *Band Geeks,* here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za4T2yo8U94

In this episode, Tony examines recent Supreme Court decisions, North Carolina legislation, and Andrew Sullivan's op-ed for the New York Times to explain how legal and cultural forces are shaping public views of Trans* loves and lives. Tony argues that Trans* people are figures of change. And it is change that the forces opposed to Trans* loves and lives want to end. Tony introduces basic ideas from gender studies, focusing on Judith Butler's recent book, Who's Afraid of Gender. Tony hopes his listeners will be inspired to advocate for and protect the dignity of Trans* people and the right of parents to support and care for their beloved Trans* kids. 

Keep up with the cast at newthoughtspodcast.com. Send your feedback and stories about change in your life to [email protected].

Explore:

Listen to Lucia Lukas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaG48g0-3oo&list=RDeaG48g0-3oo&start_radio=1

Watch Into The Woods: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxPtnom2FP0

Find the 36 Questions to Love here: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/style/no-37-big-wedding-or-small.html

Read Mahmoud v. Taylor: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-297_4f14.pdf

Read U.S. v. Skrmetti: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-477_2cp3.pdf?page=86

Read NC House Bill 805: https://ncleg.gov/Sessions/2025/Bills/House/PDF/H805v6.pdf

Read Andrew Sullivan's op-ed for the NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/opinion/gay-lesbian-trans-rights.html

Read Tony's Response to Sullivan at gay-thoughts.com: https://gay-thoughts.com/2025/07/06/against-virtually-normal-law-politics-and-the-trans-queer-body/

Listen to Judith Butler explain gender: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD9IOllUR4k

Read Butler's Who's Afraid of Gender: https://www.amazon.com/Whos-Afraid-Gender-Judith-Butler/dp/0374608229

Read David M. Halperin, "Sex / Sexuality / Sexual Classification": https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo17888759.html 

Cardi B on why she thinks her security guard = fat: https://www.tiktok.com/@metroentertainment/video/7543549871274380566

Evangelical straight men like it up the butt: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/opinion-evangelicals-christian-sex-website-lgbtq-advice_n_5c102db7e4b0ac537179acd1

The summer has been full for Tony and his family, including weeks of theater camps and travel to Seattle, Alaska, and New York to enjoy musicals like Six and Death Becomes Her! 

Tony is working on two new episodes: 

Sex Changes: We will talk about Trans* loves, lives, and the struggles Trans* people are facing as a result of Supreme Court decisions and anti-Trans* activism, like that of Andrew Sullivan. We will also engage Judith Butler's new book, Who's Afraid of Gender?

Social Media Changes and Teens: In this cast, we will talk about two books, Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation and Matt Ritchel's How We Grow Up, both about social media and adolescence. We will question if social media really is as big a deal as advertised--and we will wonder about what we can do to help teens navigate the social media saturated world in which we are all living. 

As you wait for these new casts, enjoy the vocal effects of this update and the remaining days of summer! Talk soon! 

What is our relationship to sexual pleasure? How do we communicate it in subtle and explicit ways to our kids? What needs to change about our relationship to sexual pleasure?

Kids are being exposed, intentionally or unintentionally, to porn between the ages of 10-13. Porn is filling in a sexual pleasure education gap. So, it's time for us to have the talk. 

Three questions structure our sexual pleasure talk. What is the primary source of our kids’ education in sexual pleasure? We talk through a New York Times article that reported that for over 70% of teens, porn is how they get their sexual pleasure education. It also explores what our teens learn from porn about female sexual pleasure. The 2019 film Good Boys helps us think about this, too.

Is porn one reason why teens are nowadays not having as much sex with their peers? We talk about a recent study that seems to show teens are having less sex with one another and even masturbating less.

We consider the incredibly funny and insightful Netflix series, A.P. BIO, especially episode 6 of Season 4, “Love, For Lack of a Better Term.” How does this episode of A.P. BIO help clarify our understanding of what kinds of sexual pleasure our kids are after . . . and why porn may be playing an outside role in their pursuit of sexual pleasure?

What's the big lesson? The sexual pleasure of love is the stuff of improv. It requires the oral feedback of others.

Explore:

Find the 36 questions to love here: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/style/no-37-big-wedding-or-small.html

Read Maggie Jones article for The New York Times, "What Teens Are Learning From Porn" here: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/07/magazine/teenagers-learning-online-porn-literacy-sex-education.html

Watch The Good Boys: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Boys-Jacob-Tremblay/dp/B07W5JTPX8

Watch A.P. BIO, 4.6, "Love for Lack of a Better Term": https://www.netflix.com/title/80177453

Learn more about Alain Badiou on love: https://aeon.co/videos/defend-love-as-a-real-risky-adventure-philosopher-alain-badiou-on-modern-romance

Read Adam Phillips's book: On Kissing, Tickling, and Being Bored: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674634633

Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) of *Legally Blonde* teaches us that small changes can have a big impact. When her boyfriend, Warner, dumps Elle because he thinks she's not serious, Elle makes a small change to her story: she takes herself seriously. Do you remember her LSAT score?

Elle's parents don't take her seriously. To them, she's not ugly, boring, or serious. One thing growing up means is rewriting the parts of our stories that were initially written by our parents that no longer work for us now. 

However, all this requires faith in change — no matter how small. We take a look at Mel Robbins's latest book, *The Let Them Theory* and discover a fatal flaw in it: there is no WE in her book. Why? Robbins lacks faith in US, *our* capacity to change. 

Keep up with the cast at newthoughtspodcast.com. Send your feedback and stories about change in your life to [email protected].

Explore: 

*Watch *Legally Blonde* here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS2ODDaGuZc

Find the 36 Questions to Love here: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/style/no-37-big-wedding-or-small.html

** Find Robbins's book, *The Let Them Theory,* here: https://www.melrobbins.com//the-let-them-theory/

*** Check out the *If Books Could Kill* podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/if-books-could-kill/id1651876897?i=1000704577681

Change happens. 

Change--good or bad--happens to us. We are all vulnerable to the forces of change. 

When change happens to us, it changes how we think about our lives. Change can scare us, trapping us in stories--lives--that no longer make sense to us or others. But change can also inspire us to change the stories we tell about ourselves.

We can change when change happens to us.

With Lizzo's help, Tony talks about saying, "Bye, B*tch" to the past and finding creative power in our vulnerability to the forces of change. When change happens, we can rewrite our stories and move into our futures.

Tony explores the suppression of Ezra Edelman's docu series covering Prince's life as an example of what happens to our stories when they become gods: unchanging. He also talks about Leor Zmigrod's new book, The Ideological Brain: The Radical Science of Flexible Thinking. 

If given the chance, we can adapt to change. It's possible to change our stories when change happens to us. 

Share your stories and feedback: [email protected] 

Visit www.newthoughtspodcast.com for more New Thoughts! 

Tony writes at www.gay-thoughts.com. 

Explore:

Find the 36 Questions to Fall in Love here: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/style/no-37-big-wedding-or-small.html 

Lizzo's performances of "Bye, B*tch!" on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. 

Hear Lizzo sing "What the F*ck, B*tch" with Creative Krystal on TikTok

Listen to the entire interview with Ezra Edelman on the Question Everything Podcast with Brian Reed, aired on April 17th

Learn more about Leor Zmigrod's book by listening to the entire Offline Podcast interview with Jon Favreau, aired on April 17th. 

Welcome to the New Thoughts Podcast! 

It's about the ew in the new. It's about how change shocks and thrills us. 

Join your host, Rev. Dr. Tony Hoshaw, Ph.D., as he risks conversations about how we do (not) want change. 

Check out www.newthoughtspodcast.com for more New Thoughts.  

Share your new thoughts with Tony: [email protected]. 

Tony writes at www.gay-thoughts.com.