Thanks for letting us sit in on this conversation. Both of you are delightful.
In the mid to late 1960s there was an expression among the young, heard all the time and picked up by mainstream comedians: "If it feels good, do it". It was ingrained in our consciousness, and has probably led to many of today's problems.
I'm old, compared to you. In my childhood, my granny, born in 1891 and raised on a farm in Texas, was my sanctuary of kindness and wisdom. Her stories of her youth around the turn of the twentieth century are part of my memory, almost as if I had been there. I love the past, it fills my imagination.
Thank you, Jenny, for introducing us to Nina. I love her sense of humor, and the fact that her beautiful spirit has not been destroyed by those who set out to do just that.
Concerning your discussion with Nina..., I'd like to say that I, too, have always held a burning love for the wisdom of my elders. That is why, as a young person, I so enjoyed hanging out with my grandparents, aunts, and uncles, and also visiting the elderly in nursing homes. I always felt far more "at home" with people who were at least 40 years older than myself, and also more at peace when I was with them than I did with folks my own age. Alas, not too many from that generation are alive anymore and that makes me sad, but the collected wisdom of my elders continues to live strongly within my heart.
Ditto, the wisdom of my Christian and Jewish spiritual ancestors. For most of my adult life I have gained so much spiritual strength from reading and studying and contemplating the Christian and Hebrew texts. But, like you, I shy away from Religious Institutionalism. You referred to yourself as a "hobbit." Well, I see myself more as a small and quiet winged fairy who often often sits just outside the church walls because she loves to hear the prayers of Christians, and the songs of Christians, but who doesn't really want any direct physical interaction with folks who too often choose to see the world through a black-and-white lens of "the righteous" vs "the heathens" (kind of in the same way that today's Woke also want to see the world through a black-and-white lens, though their lens is the "oppressed" vs "the oppressors").
This is why I spend so much time outside with Nature. There are no divisions in the natural world. Everything's connected and (for my "inner ears") continually singing, in a nonverbal way, humming with what I believe to be the energy of God's divine glory.
Thank you, Jenny--you wonderful hobbit!--for helping me to remain connected, even if only by a thread, to the crazy, crazy World of Humans. I applaud your efforts to "save culture from itself." Keep up the good work! : )
Wonderful conversation. Yay for Festival of Ideas. Claire Fox's event was one of the first times I had heard "gc" people speak their minds in a panel with trans-identified people- I was amazed at their courage. One young woman stood up at question time and accused the speakers of participating in the self-harm of gender confused people and Claire just shut her down with such authority and gravitas, I suddenly felt so relieved that there was obviously an Adult in the room.
Just downloaded Nina's book "What Do Men Want" on Audible. Looking forward to hearing more from her and hope the two of you also get together for more discussions.
“71 minutes” nearly dissuaded me, but fortunately I persevered and listened to the whole conversation. Keep talking, keep writing. People who know and believe the truths you bring to light, but have neither skills nor courage to share, need your voices. Thanks to both of you, and the subscribers, listeners--and eavesdroppers--who will eventually tip the scales.
Thankful in the same way. I’m not a podcast type but this was pitch perfect, touching and wise in revealing truths we’ve known and felt but in a fresh way. I no longer have only C S Lewis rather archaic Abolition of Man for sanity. Sanity is making a comeback in new ways.
People have an innate longing for God. St. Augustine said, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee." It's great when people move toward God as revealed in Scripture rather than the latest woke orthodoxy that everybody is pressured to adhere to. The counterfeit is a poor substitute for the real.
Great interview, Jenny. ❤👌 Thank you for introducing me to another delightful "wrong thinker". I wish you guys the best of luck at the Battle of Ideas festival tomorrow. Break a leg and all that. I've just shared this on Farcebook so hopefully that'll help increase some traffic (b'ezrat Hashem). Bless you xx
I was raised with a lot of religion, rejected it, and was an atheist for many years. Maybe I still am. But lately I've been looking at Christianity again, thinking about it quite a bit. I can acknowledge its anthropological value, and appreciate the wisdom and morality. It's the characters, stories, and magic that I struggle with. Maybe I'm becoming a Deist.
Don't worry too much about every little character. By far the primary focus should be on Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John, consisting of 21 tiny chapters, is a good introduction. If by "stories and magic" you mean miracles like the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection, remember that while sometimes miracles are just stories in story books, when God gets involved, miracles can and do really happen. God is all-powerful in addition to being all-loving. God can take mythic themes and make them true, profoundly true.
The timestamp breakdown convinced me to commit to the whole recording. Amazing conversation throughout with a fine mix of personal and meta observations. At one point where you discuss the cultural impact of Christianity, I was excited to recall a very perspective changing book that explored not just the traditional culture we long for and are losing, but the very inception of it when Jesus teachings began to take hold in the now western world: Who is This Man? (Ortmund) really shed light on the origins of traditional thought, as it was birthed in a narcissistic pagan culture. I think we are there again, apart from a reawakening.
Thanks so much for this comment. It's also very helpful for me to know -- from a production perspective -- that the timestamp breakdown was a deciding factor in your listening. Will make sure to continue doing that going forward. All my video posts feel so imperfect (from a production and a conversation POV -- mine, not my guests) that it's encouraging to hear that it works despite that. 💜
About that production view, I’d say please don’t let that get in the way of having a natural conversation. I think that aspect of this podcast is what kept me listening. Also, at some point I just listened and followed the timestamps. I’m not a talking heads person, I guess. I’m more of an audio book girl wanting to know what chapter I’m in :)
Question: I mentioned you both and shared a link of this podcast in my most recent article, but x’d out the accompanying image of your faces which would have hijacked my own images in feeds. I’m wondering if Substack alerts us to when simple links are shared? If not, heads up, all two dozen of my readers are onto you!
I have finally, at this late date, gotten to listen to this lovely interview. I'm a fan of and subscriber to Nina's Substack already, and thank you for this Jenny. Since this interview was recorded, we've had an election in the US, and I'm afraid things have escalated in terms of thought policing in the UK. In Notes we've experienced a kind of exodus of people from X who are bent on rather turning it into the place of acrimony for those upset about the election (and perhaps on their way to another platform), and from the UK I'm starting to hear of more censorship and prosecution and investigation. So here is my concern. As Nina said, she is protective of Substack for its valuable dialogue and interactions and being a place of thought. At this point I am concerned for protecting people like Nina and yourself, Jenny. So I would just like to ask if there are proper ways to do that. I mean, is there any sense of how the law is being interpreted and used that we need to beware of? Perhaps I'm inviting problems by asking...
I’m not sure if you can download from Substack, but you reminded me to put it up as a pod on Spotify- thanks!! (Might be a few days before I get to it)
It’s one of those things that I need to devote real time to setting up & figuring out, and every damn week I seem to not be able to find the time. I need an intern! 😭😅
Thanks for letting us sit in on this conversation. Both of you are delightful.
In the mid to late 1960s there was an expression among the young, heard all the time and picked up by mainstream comedians: "If it feels good, do it". It was ingrained in our consciousness, and has probably led to many of today's problems.
I'm old, compared to you. In my childhood, my granny, born in 1891 and raised on a farm in Texas, was my sanctuary of kindness and wisdom. Her stories of her youth around the turn of the twentieth century are part of my memory, almost as if I had been there. I love the past, it fills my imagination.
Thank you, Jenny, for introducing us to Nina. I love her sense of humor, and the fact that her beautiful spirit has not been destroyed by those who set out to do just that.
Concerning your discussion with Nina..., I'd like to say that I, too, have always held a burning love for the wisdom of my elders. That is why, as a young person, I so enjoyed hanging out with my grandparents, aunts, and uncles, and also visiting the elderly in nursing homes. I always felt far more "at home" with people who were at least 40 years older than myself, and also more at peace when I was with them than I did with folks my own age. Alas, not too many from that generation are alive anymore and that makes me sad, but the collected wisdom of my elders continues to live strongly within my heart.
Ditto, the wisdom of my Christian and Jewish spiritual ancestors. For most of my adult life I have gained so much spiritual strength from reading and studying and contemplating the Christian and Hebrew texts. But, like you, I shy away from Religious Institutionalism. You referred to yourself as a "hobbit." Well, I see myself more as a small and quiet winged fairy who often often sits just outside the church walls because she loves to hear the prayers of Christians, and the songs of Christians, but who doesn't really want any direct physical interaction with folks who too often choose to see the world through a black-and-white lens of "the righteous" vs "the heathens" (kind of in the same way that today's Woke also want to see the world through a black-and-white lens, though their lens is the "oppressed" vs "the oppressors").
This is why I spend so much time outside with Nature. There are no divisions in the natural world. Everything's connected and (for my "inner ears") continually singing, in a nonverbal way, humming with what I believe to be the energy of God's divine glory.
Thank you, Jenny--you wonderful hobbit!--for helping me to remain connected, even if only by a thread, to the crazy, crazy World of Humans. I applaud your efforts to "save culture from itself." Keep up the good work! : )
Wonderful conversation. Yay for Festival of Ideas. Claire Fox's event was one of the first times I had heard "gc" people speak their minds in a panel with trans-identified people- I was amazed at their courage. One young woman stood up at question time and accused the speakers of participating in the self-harm of gender confused people and Claire just shut her down with such authority and gravitas, I suddenly felt so relieved that there was obviously an Adult in the room.
Just downloaded Nina's book "What Do Men Want" on Audible. Looking forward to hearing more from her and hope the two of you also get together for more discussions.
Thank you SW! I read it myself :) you have to hold a cushion over your tummy so that it doesn't get picked up by the ultra-sensitive microphone!
Ha! I was hoping you were the reader, I haven't looked at it closely yet-just immediately went to buy it. Excellent.
“71 minutes” nearly dissuaded me, but fortunately I persevered and listened to the whole conversation. Keep talking, keep writing. People who know and believe the truths you bring to light, but have neither skills nor courage to share, need your voices. Thanks to both of you, and the subscribers, listeners--and eavesdroppers--who will eventually tip the scales.
Thankful in the same way. I’m not a podcast type but this was pitch perfect, touching and wise in revealing truths we’ve known and felt but in a fresh way. I no longer have only C S Lewis rather archaic Abolition of Man for sanity. Sanity is making a comeback in new ways.
Thank you Valoree 💜
People have an innate longing for God. St. Augustine said, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee." It's great when people move toward God as revealed in Scripture rather than the latest woke orthodoxy that everybody is pressured to adhere to. The counterfeit is a poor substitute for the real.
Great interview, Jenny. ❤👌 Thank you for introducing me to another delightful "wrong thinker". I wish you guys the best of luck at the Battle of Ideas festival tomorrow. Break a leg and all that. I've just shared this on Farcebook so hopefully that'll help increase some traffic (b'ezrat Hashem). Bless you xx
So enjoyed this conversation
I was raised with a lot of religion, rejected it, and was an atheist for many years. Maybe I still am. But lately I've been looking at Christianity again, thinking about it quite a bit. I can acknowledge its anthropological value, and appreciate the wisdom and morality. It's the characters, stories, and magic that I struggle with. Maybe I'm becoming a Deist.
Don't worry too much about every little character. By far the primary focus should be on Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John, consisting of 21 tiny chapters, is a good introduction. If by "stories and magic" you mean miracles like the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection, remember that while sometimes miracles are just stories in story books, when God gets involved, miracles can and do really happen. God is all-powerful in addition to being all-loving. God can take mythic themes and make them true, profoundly true.
The timestamp breakdown convinced me to commit to the whole recording. Amazing conversation throughout with a fine mix of personal and meta observations. At one point where you discuss the cultural impact of Christianity, I was excited to recall a very perspective changing book that explored not just the traditional culture we long for and are losing, but the very inception of it when Jesus teachings began to take hold in the now western world: Who is This Man? (Ortmund) really shed light on the origins of traditional thought, as it was birthed in a narcissistic pagan culture. I think we are there again, apart from a reawakening.
Thanks so much for this comment. It's also very helpful for me to know -- from a production perspective -- that the timestamp breakdown was a deciding factor in your listening. Will make sure to continue doing that going forward. All my video posts feel so imperfect (from a production and a conversation POV -- mine, not my guests) that it's encouraging to hear that it works despite that. 💜
About that production view, I’d say please don’t let that get in the way of having a natural conversation. I think that aspect of this podcast is what kept me listening. Also, at some point I just listened and followed the timestamps. I’m not a talking heads person, I guess. I’m more of an audio book girl wanting to know what chapter I’m in :)
Question: I mentioned you both and shared a link of this podcast in my most recent article, but x’d out the accompanying image of your faces which would have hijacked my own images in feeds. I’m wondering if Substack alerts us to when simple links are shared? If not, heads up, all two dozen of my readers are onto you!
I have finally, at this late date, gotten to listen to this lovely interview. I'm a fan of and subscriber to Nina's Substack already, and thank you for this Jenny. Since this interview was recorded, we've had an election in the US, and I'm afraid things have escalated in terms of thought policing in the UK. In Notes we've experienced a kind of exodus of people from X who are bent on rather turning it into the place of acrimony for those upset about the election (and perhaps on their way to another platform), and from the UK I'm starting to hear of more censorship and prosecution and investigation. So here is my concern. As Nina said, she is protective of Substack for its valuable dialogue and interactions and being a place of thought. At this point I am concerned for protecting people like Nina and yourself, Jenny. So I would just like to ask if there are proper ways to do that. I mean, is there any sense of how the law is being interpreted and used that we need to beware of? Perhaps I'm inviting problems by asking...
Two lovely theotikoi 🥰
Thought you might enjoy this as it sounds like it could be true
https://substack.com/@kevinbass/note/c-73181397?r=505il&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Is this downloadable as a podcast?
I’m not sure if you can download from Substack, but you reminded me to put it up as a pod on Spotify- thanks!! (Might be a few days before I get to it)
.)
Some Sustacks will provide a URL to Spotify or iTunes. Good way of spreading the message.
It’s one of those things that I need to devote real time to setting up & figuring out, and every damn week I seem to not be able to find the time. I need an intern! 😭😅