The Speech Guys

What happens when the host of the episode loses contact with America and the Speech Guys while in Europe? Nothing good.

Ross, Matt, and Mike struggle to wrap their heads around Hal and the famous speech to his astronaut passenger, Dave, from Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film, "2001: A Space Odyssey".

Hear remnants from a 25-minute tangent into Bill Barr and COVID, consider how one truly learns about the stars ("Do you learn more about the stars by going outside and looking at them or researching them in a book?") and which Speech Guys might struggle to disconnect Hal.

If you still have some whiskey left in your glass when the episode finishes up, hang around for Matt's recitation of his original poem entitled, "Sculpture", in the post-credits scene.

Mike and Ross podcast solo in this special episode before the fourth and final installment of "Sci Fi Speeches". They tell the origin story of half of the Speech Guys that came about on the campus of the University of Illinois, Bradley University, and Illinois' State Parks and Catholic churches.

"I think we talked about dating, romance, and adventure... and I think we've been talking about those things ever since."

--Mike

"Rob knew you for 25 years and only got best man at your wedding. Julie and I knew you for four years and got groomsman and spouse. That's a pretty good rate of return on our parts."

--Mike

"We don't believe in things based on one thing. Science, logic, who tells you it... a lot of different factors. That's why evangelizing the culture is so important."

--Ross

Sip your favorite whiskey and think with the Speech Guys tonight as they unpack questions about scientific ethical questions that Ian Malcolm brings to the social foreground in the book and 1993 film, "Jurassic Park"... the post-credits scene, what is going to be Landon and Lauren's most special stop on their trip to Europe?

"What is the proper relationship between Man and Nature?"

--Matt

"What is the modern day Jurassic Park?"

--Matt

"A man with a car in a world designed for feet is a god. A man with a car in a world designed for cars is in traffic."

--Matt, quoting the article, "Christians Shouldn't Use Smartphones" by Marc Barnes

"Will Newman always be the one to destroy society's metaphorical Jurassic Parks?"

--Mike

"To treat someone as the summation of their genetic prowess is an inherently dehumanizing thing."

--Matt

"No one knows who the first person to have the genetic capacity to run a sub 4 minute mile was."

--Mike

"Ross is going to change the model for Jurassic Park. You can't see them out back in the wild. You're mostly going to eat them like

at a steakhouse."

--Landon

Sip your favorite whiskey and think with the Speech Guys tonight as they unpack questions about free will that Marty McFly and Doc Brown bring to the fore in the 1990 film, Back to the Future Part III...

"Son, there are only two things in life that are free... your will... and your last name."

"We wanted to show you movies that wouldn't morally corrupt you."

"Let's just assume we start building nihilistic schools of anti-free will..."

"How could something that influences everyone so dramatically and almost universally be seen as a positive... how could that not exist in some real way?"

The Speech Guys listen to and discuss excerpts from the speech presented by the fictional President in the 1998 film, Armageddon. This is the first episode in the "Sci-Fi Speeches" series.

Questions and topics explored in this episode consider how the Speech Guys thought about the (potentially) apocalyptic turning of the millennium in the year 2000, how the film contrasts with contemporary apocalyptic stories, what the Bible and Catholic and Protestant theology says about the End Times, and much more!

Stay tuned for the post-credits scene. Ross Johnson gives a review of Buffalo Rock State Park.

This episode utilizes audio from the President's speech in Armageddon. The scene was posted by "Speeches HD". No revenue is generated from use of this content.

The Speech Guys listen to and discuss excerpts from the 2005 Kenyon College commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace. This is the fourth and final episode in the "Speeches Before They Died" series.

Questions and topics explored in this episode consider the tension between objectivist and subjectivist perspectives expressed in the speech, the role that boredom plays in cultivating self-awareness and introspection, how the empathetic, conscientious vision of the "This Is Water" mindset is cultivated and built up within an individual, and more!

(Be sure to listen through for the post-credits scene ; )

This episode utilizes audio from the "This Is Water" speech posted by Ms. Lynn Skittle on YouTube. No revenue is generated from use of this content.

The Speech Guys read and discuss excerpts from the final speech given by Father Zossima, in the Russian novel, "The Brothers Karmazov". It was written by Fyodor Dostoyesky in 1879. This is the third episode in the "Speeches Before They Died" series.

Questions and topics explored in this episode consider how sincerity of prayer expresses itself inside and outside of oneself, the extent to which one can be responsible for others' sin, and what each Speech Guy might like to have read to their children at their death.

Special guest host includes longtime friend of the Speech Guys, Sam Mangieri of Fiat Films!

This episode is rated PG-13 as it discusses the significance of sex and sexuality in society and culture.

The Speech Guys read and discuss excerpts from the final interview Marilyn Monroe gave just a few weeks prior to her taking her life in August 1962. This is the second episode in the "Speeches Before They Died" series.

Questions and topics explored in this episode consider how Marilyn Monroe experienced both conflict and satisfaction with her fame and her depiction as a sexual object in culture, the masculine-feminine dynamic in the sexualization of women, the nature of beauty, glamor, and "sexualness", and the challenges in articulating and implementing an egalitarian notion of sexual responsibility!

Special guest hosts include Anne Marie Williams and her sister Clare Schultz!

Anne Marie references the contemporary academic consideration of sexual consent as an objective barometer of moral sexual behavior. Two pieces of scientific literature concerning this question are investigated in detail below. The first URL links a literature review published by the University of Tennessee in January 2017. The second links a paper published in Frontiers in Psychology in February 2020.

"Sexual Violence, Consent, and Contradictions: A Call for

Communication Scholars to Impact Sexual Violence Prevention "

https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1362&context=pursuit

"Contributions From Psychology to Effectively Use, and Achieving Sexual Consent"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7042399/

The Speech Guys listen to and discuss the North Carolina State University's Coach Jimmy V's speech he gave at the 1993 ESPY Awards, just two months before he died. This is the first episode in the "Speeches Before They Died" series.

Questions and topics explored in this episode ask why "laughing, thinking, and crying" each day is so important, when the last time each of the Speech Guys cried was, how crying is perceived in the West for men and how that might contrast with a more traditional Judeo-Christian perspective, and how modern day people might prefer keeping the material realities of death at a distance and more!

Ross asked me to point you to an episode of "Art of Manliness" that was referenced. Feel free to listen, but be sure to come right back when you're done.

Copy this URL into your favorite browser! https://www.artofmanliness.com/people/relationships/podcast-171-the-dying-experience-myths-and-answers/

The Speech Guys read and discuss the Seneca leader, Red Jacket's (1750 - 1830), speech he gave at a meeting between members of the Seneca tribe and missionaries from Boston who'd requested permission to evangelize his people.

Questions and topics explored in this episode include the relationship between theology and virtue, the socio-economic dynamics that influenced the actualization of Manifest Destiny, the logical antagonism of moral relativism and objectivism when different societies interact for the first time, and more!