Eric VanMeter: On Friendship and Community

Eric and I became friends 30 years ago when we both were fresh off the farm and blissfully ignorant freshmen in college.  It's a friendship that has endured and someone I treasure more than gold.  He's a writer.  He's a thinker.  He's a pastor.  He's my friend.  We talk about being awkward kids from small towns and finally coming into a community of people where we could be ourselves with all our baggage and finally pulling through tragedy as only friends can do.  It's a community I wish everyone has the chance to experience.

Eric's Podcast Monday's Penny

Music:

In a Sweater Poorly Knit - MeWithoutYou 
Dumpster Divers - The Psalters

The Lost Art of Discernment - Father Reginald Udouj

I met Father Reginald Udouj a few years ago when I was hanging out at the Subiaco monastery searching for a quiet place and I really liked him.  So I caught back up with him to talk about the practice of discernment.  You see Father Reginald is also a Benedictine monk and I thought he might have some pretty good insights about what it's like to hold an idea in your head and knock it around for awhile.  He did not disappoint.

And for good measure I also recorded the original story of when I met him called "A Space in Between" that I wrote for Arkansas Life a couple of years ago.  Settle in folks, this is a good one.

Music:  Sofi - SomeGuyNamedRobb

Sometimes You Can’t Go Home Again - Larry Cox

A few years ago, I met Larry on my travels to the border and he showed me a deeper side to the immigration crisis and introduced me to people who never made the nightly news.  Recently, I traveled back down there and sat down with him to hear his thoughts on the border, immigration and the for-profit detention industry that only seems to make things worse.

Music

The Captain - Kasey Chambers

Long Lost Brother - Over the Rhine

The Curious Case of John Peter Zenger

John Peter Zenger is one of the most important people you've probably never heard of.  Back in colonial America, the young German immigrant paved the way for freedom of speech and a free press in what would eventually become the United States of America.

Music:

Gasoline Lollipops - Freedom Don't Come Easy
Over the Rhine - Changes Come 

Advice to My 23 Year Old Friend

A few seconds into recording this podcast I received a text from a former student asking, "What advice would you give to 23 year old Reeder?"

Probably this.

Music:

Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
Woody Guthrie - I Ain't Got No Home in this World Anymore
Gasoline Lollipops - Smoke and Steam 

A Cold Day on the Boat… Rogan, Neil Young and Neil Diamond.

Can a social media company violate a person's freedom of speech?  I toss my two cents in.

Music:  Fiddler's Green by Marley's Ghost

              America by Neil Diamond

Truth and the Chair

How do I know something is true?  That seems to be the question a lot of people ask these days.  So I decided to go back to a lecture that explores Plato's Allegory of the Cave and ask the question how do we know that a chair is a chair and not just a shadow on a wall.

Music:

Ringling Road by William Clark Green

Throw it All Away by Toad the Wet Sprocket

Social Media Chapter 9: Grow that Garden

Technically, the chapter is called "Executing Strategy" but I like my title better.  This week I talk about growing a garden, healthy soil, and go off on yet another tangent on why it matters to your social media campaigns.  There's good soil here.

Social Media Chapter 8: Planning Communication

Today's episode comes to you from the cockpit of the boat as we talk about the value of staying close to the tangible things in life when we're surrounded by so many things that are fake.  Then we dive into the weeds of the elements you need for an effective communication plan. 

Social Media Chapter7: Digital Imperatives

This week we talk about the passing of one of my mentors, Dr. Van Tyson and how change is unavoidable.  From there we move on to chapter 7 and how to build your digital ecosystem.