Monthly Message - Podcasts
The world has been on a wild ride since last month. We have a new Pope who happens to be from the USA, Pakistan and India negotiate a ceasefire in their conflict that no one knew existed (Perhaps thanks to Trump), Joe Biden has Cancer, President
Trump is set to bring in billions of investment dollars to the US via a deal with Saudi Arabia, Kanye West (Or whatever he's called now) made a song called N***a Hail Hitler that absolutely no one should care about, China's stronghold on the global supply chain took a hit thanks to US tariffs, Inflation is at its lowest rate (2.3%) since February 2021, Stocks-Bonds-BTC all are on the rise, and both wars in Isreal and Ukraine are still ongoing leading to the deaths of hundreds of
thousands.
But, hey you can get the news from a million different sources in today's world. What you can't get from a million different sources is a painstakingly nuanced opinion from a wretched sinner trying to be a saint on a topic no one really cares about. That, is only available from C3. So
here you go...
The Podcast World is a mixed bag of good and bad and we all should proceed with caution. The good is fairly obvious; destroying corrupt mainstream media, bringing nuanced opinions and unique educations to the masses, and allowing for long form unedited conversations/debates to be heard by the public are all ginormous luxuries that modern man gets to
enjoy. However, Podcasts present a plethora of problems that may just counteract the good they do if we are not careful.
Podcasts are not bad because of misinformation as mainstream media likes to claim though potential misinformation is something we should always be on guard for. The real reason podcasts can be detrimental to the individual is because they are
speaking a truth or idea that that listener cannot process in a healthy way. Now let's pause here so I can say the obvious - I am all for truth being said and for people hearing that truth. Yet, I have seen people I love and heard horror stories of others who lose themselves because of a podcast regardless of whether or not the podcast was speaking truth or lies.
I know my readers are only listening to fruitful spiritual content and well thought out cultural commentary with a Christian spin to it😉, but I regret to inform you that this is not the norm. Out of the top podcasts on Spotify you have to go all the way down to #88 before you get to what could be considered a Christian podcast in "The Ramsey Show" but that is a stretch since they are more aptly classified as financial self-help. Now, do not misinterpret me here, I
believe many of the podcasts in the top 100 serve a great purpose. I myself am a frequenter of the Joe Rogan experience, Huberman Labs, Tucker Carlson, and even the occasional Tim Dillon Show (Explicit Content Warning - He is a comedian) all of which are high up in the rankings. But more often than not much of the top podcasts are in the business of politics or celebrity gossip. These two topics tend to make the listener obsessive over things they have no control over and here lies the
problem.
So many care so deeply about the war in Ukraine, or the war in Gaza, or the Iranian nuclear deal. This is understandable because they all could perceivably result in the death of millions including our sons and daughters. Yet, there is almost nothing we can do about it. The people who decide to go to war are the powerful and do so because war is
profitable for the powerful and we know that power corrupts. As our US founding fathers knew, and God before them, there is no conceivable way that men can rule men without some being powerful and thus extremely vulnerable to corruption. We can all hope and pray for a George Washington or young King David character who rule in accord with God's will and are willing to give up power, but only God can raise up such a person. So yes, certain events going on in the world are existential threats, and
certain podcasts give great insight into the inner workings and history of those events, but we only have power to cast our votes, pray and let our lives speak for our values. All this obsession over who is the bad guy in the wars or how many evil things the US/Russia/Israel has done will only leads us to existential dread, aka despair, and that is exactly what our Lord tells us not to do. We know the world is a corrupt place, people in positions of power are likely to be corrupt, and we know
that the poor, and therefore the marginalized, will always be with us. So why stress?!? We are held in the palm of his hand despite all the trouble our free will gets us into.
Even worse I think is all the podcasts and YouTube channels dedicated to celebrity gossip. It is, as I have already said, understandable that all these political podcasts stress us out, but
the other half of celebrity gossip podcasts are just a waste of time. I mean why does anyone, who is not a member of Kanye's family, care that a mentally ill rapper made an outlandish song for attention. Can we not think of any better way to spend our time? And if we are laughing and being entertained by such things as the latest celebrity divorce, drug addiction, or embarrassment then shame on us! We are doing something our Christian faith does not approve of.
I confess I am a hypocrite. I actually have a dark sense of humor and often find myself laughing at things that are, to put it bluntly, evil. yet, I know that my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ calls me to a better way. So, if I could sum up this message in one sentence it would be this...If a podcast is making you obsessive, cynical, or causing you to lose your peace, then stop listening because
the information received is not worth the price.
