Vernacular

March has March Madness. December has Merry Madness! In this crossover edition, we hop onto The Popped Cast to talk with hosts Josh and Maureen Goldman about the best Christmas songs of all time. Sixteen candidates go head-to-head in a bracket tournament until we declare one the winner!

If you like what you hear, check out The Popped Cast wherever you get your podcasts, or head to https://pod.link/1382870305.

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In today's episode of Vernacular, we talk about some ways that you can "make room" for Christmas despite all of the distracting noise of the season. We talk about hospitality, generosity, sharing of your things, hosting guests, maintaining family rhythms, avoiding Black Friday, penitence, the 12 days of Christmas, caroling after Christmas (gasp!), and devotional practices.

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In this episode we review some bioethics news (links below) and talk about a new book about fighting cancer (and when enough is enough) and advancements in gene editing that some are talking about as "a significant step towards [being] able to make just about any kind of DNA change that anyone wants at just about any site in the human genome."

Prime Editing (NPR)

(If you're interest in reading Dr. Raza's book, we encourage you to check it out at your library. Or you can buy it from Amazon here.

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We take advantage of Elena's visit to record an episode about the Food News you never knew you needed for the month of October. Liquor-filled tide pods? Check. Dave Chang's take on international food aisles as bastions of racism? Check. Cat Advent calendars? Check. We also have our first-ever on-air taste test, trying out Clif Bar's new Spiced Pumpkin Pie flavor.

We'd love to hear what you think of this episode!

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Lara & Chandler Ryd and Josh Goldman join Vernacular this week to talk about James Gray's Ad Astra, starring Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, and Liv Tyler (sort of). We share our observations and criticisms of the work, commiserate about the perils of voice-over, pick our favorite cinematography excerpts, and talk about space baboons. It's a fun conversation about a movie that doesn't quite cut it for most of us.

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The September Equinox happened this week, which mean's it's time for October baseball, stiff breezes, early sunsets, and honeycrisp apples! In this episode we share some of the things that we've been reading, watching, and listening to (or plan to) as the leaves start to turn crimson--we have some ideas for media to accompany your pumpkin spice lattes and Oktoberfest ales this season.

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In a departure from our regularly scheduled programming, we take a lighthearted look (inspired by the sadly defunct "Food News" from Grantland) at food news from around the country. Take a listen to hear about "Grocery Happy Hour" in Finland, the Popeyes Chicken Sandwhich craze (and why Zac used to think Popeyes was a Catholic establishment), Starbucks' newest idea, and the pumpkin lineup at our beloved Trader Joe's.

Let us know if you like this episode--we had fun and would love to do it more often!

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In this episode previous Vernacular guest Alexi Sargeant (freelance writer and Managing Director of the Aquinas Institute at Princeton University) joins us to talk about NBC's "The Good Place" and what it tells us about our final destination, ethical quandaries, and the art of being human. For more info on Alexi's work, follow him on Twitter. You can also read his article about "The Good Place" here.

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In this episode of Vernacular (Zac is thrilled about the title), Nate Seibt returns to the podcast to talk about the joys and failures of fatherhood. Zac and Nate swap stories of bedtime struggles, obedience trials, transitioning from the workplace to the home on the end of day commute, and what they would tell their pre-dad selves about what fatherhood is all about.

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In this episode, Sally sits down with fellow moms Maureen Goldman (of The Popped Cast) and Caitlin Brian to talk about their current joys and challenges as moms. Tune in to hear about picky eating, discipline, and raising rambunctious youngsters.

Maureen mentioned her latest project, Working Mom Savvy!

We'd love to hear what you think of this episode!

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Outro music: Heroine Queen by Hallows