I start the podcast with my rendition of the Prelude in F Major by JSB,  played on the Marnaves Pipe Organ.  The bulk of the podcast is an oral history of Project Hope and Fairness, which started with visits to 15 villages and donation of tools and then in 2012 a transition to building rice hulling and chocolate making factories.  I finish the podcast with  a report on what I'm accomplishing here in France and then the rest of the prelude.

Write to me at [email protected]

To learn more, visit www.projecthopeandfairness.org

A lot has been made of our decrepit electrical grid.  No words, however, are as powerful as Texas's experience just a month ago.  In this podcast, I explore an old technology, batteries, which are now undergoing quite a technological revolution.  Batteries promise to provide the stability that is so needed, as we wean ourselves from fossil fuels.  In this podcast, we learn about the lithium ion battery as well as two other technologies that hold great promise.

Today's music is once again provided by F. Chopin as I make a valiant effort to channel his Ballade No. 1.

This coming Saturday, I'm selling chocolates at the town market and the following Wednesday, my African truffles will be available for sale at Cordes au Bas, a store dedicated to local products.

Write to me at [email protected]

To learn more, visit www.projecthopeandfairness.org

This is the first of a series of podcasts about global warming.  It begins with a description of the history of the theory, the impact of different forcings both positive and negative, and the carbon cycle.  This podcast lays the foundation for the impact of technologies we will be exploring in the future. 

Write to me at [email protected]

To learn more, visit www.projecthopeandfairness.org

Apocalypses were many, starting in the 5th century BCE and terminating in the late Roman era.  A literary form with a social purpose, it originally served to provide those suffering under the yoke of tyranny with a way out.  Today's podcast borrows from the genre by proposing to replace the New Testament version of four horsemen with a Neo-apocalyptic five horsemen.  Today's podcast assumes that God is more along the Divine Watchmaker model, or non-existent.  It does not assume  the nosy Father-God of Evangelical Christianity.  I explore five different existential crises that humanity faces, using Apocalyptic thinking as a metaphor.   Instead of learned helplessness, perhaps we can get off our collective behind and face the music.  Cheers!

Write to me at [email protected]

To learn more, visit www.projecthopeandfairness.org

In this episode, I compare the approaches of three prominent scholars in religion:  Dr. Bart Ehrman, Dr Robert Wright, and Dr. Reza Aslan.  Ehrman has written 30 books about the New Testament that have gained much interest and favor in the faith community as well as among agnostics and atheists..  Wright's The Evolution of God takes a broader view of religion, focussing on a Darwinian perspective, pointing out how religion, politics, and economics are often intertwined.  And Aslan who is a master wordsmith has written about both Islam and Christianity.  His recent bestseller, Zealot:  the Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth has stirred a lot of interest by believers and non-believers, including the worst interview ever on Fox News.

Write to me at [email protected]

To learn more, visit www.projecthopeandfairness.org

Today's podcast is about impermanence.  Thanks to my wife's One Year to Live class, in which I took part, I spent some time thinking about impermanence and mortality.  In this podcast I have excerpted and developed five geological representations of impermanence, focused first on my first appreciation of rocks in kindergarten, then on a particular stone from Michigan, then certain ridges left by Lake Erie near my Alma Mater, then the stones of Cordes sur Ciel, and finally rocks and minerals associated with the four industrial revolution.

I then go on to a very fun story about our Ami, a Citroen electric that we purchased weeks ago.  And I finish with some news about the 1900 chocolate bars that have traveled thousands of miles from Depa, Cote d'Ivoire and are available for purchase at Mama Ganache Artisan Chocolates on 1445 Monterey St in San Luis Obispo.  

Hope you can join me!

Write to me at [email protected]

To learn more, visit www.projecthopeandfairness.org

1.  First part of Brahms' Intermezzo in A Major
2.  Anatomy of a Con
3.  Chocolate bars perfect for Christmas purchases
4.  End of Brahms' Intermezzo in A Major

I was relieved of 200 euros by a Cameroonian scam artist just last week.  In this auditory essay, I discuss 9 details that should have engendered a danger flag.  But because I so wanted the story to be true, I ignored the warning signs.

Write to me at [email protected]

To learn more, visit www.projecthopeandfairness.org

Today's podcast takes us up Rue de l'Acampadou past the medieval watchtower, then through Porte des Ormeaux (abalone), to Callipyge, then a two-hour practice on the grand piano, back out of the inner medieval city, left onto Rue Chaude, and back home.  Pictures are on my Facebook page and feature views of the Vallée de l'Aurosse, the watchtower, rampes, ramparts, the door into the inner city built in 1222, and the source of water, private rooms for sex, and public bathing spot.  I also give an update on progress to making Depa and Pezoan sustainable manufacturers of chocolate to be shipped to the US.  Music in today's podcast is Brahms'  Intermezzo in A Minor.

Write to me at [email protected]

To learn more, visit www.projecthopeandfairness.org

1.  Chopin Nocturne in G Minor
2.  An initial tour of Cordes sur Ciel
3.  Project Hope and Fairness
4.  End of Nocturne in G Minor

See Tom's Facebook page for 46 pictures from the tour.

Write to me at [email protected]

To learn more, visit www.projecthopeandfairness.org

Today's podcast includes the following gems:

1.  Part A of JSB's Toccata and Fugue in F Major, BWV 540 for Pipe Organ (Yours Truly)
2.  A Short Primer on Plant Pigments
3.  A Brief Tour of the Barri Neighborhood in Cordes sur Ciel
4.  Project Hope and Fairness
5.  Part C of JSB's Toccata and Fugue in F Major, BWV 540 for Pipe Organ (Yours Truly)

Write to me at [email protected]

To learn more, visit www.projecthopeandfairness.org