We move from individuals to society in our quest to understand narcissism.  Sociologists, Dr. Kristen Koenig (B.A., Occidental College, M.Sc., University of Oxford, D.Phil., University of York) joins us to make sense of it all.  This is one of our favorite conversations yet.  We find out what the "i" in "iPhone" means.  You are going to dig Dr. Koenig! Has narcissism as a trait (not the disorder per se), including vanity and selfishness been on the rise over the last several decades?  Listen to find out.

Dr. John Lu, social psychologist, joins us for a discussion of the nature of the DSM (a tool for diagnosing psychological disorders), the nature of narcissism, and the concept of an operational definition.  This is the second of several episodes planned for spring on the topic of narcissism. 

The hosts play with some initial ideas related to art and why we like what we like.  Dan explains some of the background behind conversations about art and beauty we will have over the coming months.  Don't expect a full and comprehensive lecture.  Expect the opening volley in a larger discussion about beauty (since we've talked a bit more about goodness and truth in our first six months).  Dan gives some art history background.  Jeff talks about beauty in the Bible.  We share our top guilty aesthetic pleasures and guilty aesthetic displeasures.

The myth of Narcissus with classicist and Faithful Masks Fellow Dr. C. J. Armstrong.  We each take an online narcissism test and share the results.  Stories about Dan's kids.

Stories about snags over the winter vacation, things we learned from vocation fails in our own lives, and historical vocation fails.  Thanks for checking out the first podcast of 2014.

Topics include:

Epic of Gilgamesh

Householder Yogi

Drinking your own urine for health benefits

Upgrade to Garage Band

The Big Lebowski

One Week

Wundermann

Norton Motorcycles

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Sucker Punch

Jerry Garcia Senior

Bob Dylan Senior

Young Life

Paul Fairweather, Symbolic Regression Therapy

Dr. Bruce Gordon

HD DVD

Crystal Pepsi

Arch Delux

47 Ronin

Don't be that guy.

The best popular culture and heroic news artifacts and events of the year.  

We break down the top songs that bring Christmas cheer.  

We share the best Christmas hymns (sacred songs).  We provide clips only of each; but listen all the way through and we share a classic: a hymn performed by Dr. Rod Rosenbladt in its entirety. 

We discuss the ethics, aesthetics, and humanitarian possibilities for those who have the vocation of architecture.  After some banter between our co-hosts, Jeff interviews Ian Lodge, who oversees the Cal-Earth Institute operation, in Hesperia, California.   This is the result of the humanitarian vision of Nadir Khalili, a Persian architect who was influenced by the Sufi mystic Rumi and brought his spiritual values, scientific training, and concern for humanity together through teaching methods of creating sustainable, economical, and artful housing.