Lent is coming...

Lent begins on February 25th and I am preparing to give something up for the duration of the 40 days of Lent. I don't observe Lent every year, but most years I find some spiritually compelling reason to let go of something in my life. I have given up various things over the years like certain foods, beverages, blogging, etc. But what I feel spiritually compelled to give up this year is going to present a really big challenge for me.

For Lent this year I plan on giving up...the news.

As any of you who read this blog know, I love news, politics, pop-culture, and current events. If I have to choose between watching 60 Minutes or SportsCenter, 60 Minutes wins hands down.

Since the election and inauguration are over it's time to regain a sense of balance in my life. I have come to realize the the world doesn't hinge on me checking the DrudgeReport, The Huffington Post, or The Daily Beast five times a day!

I have become too distracted by these things, and my Spiritual growth has suffered because of it. I hate admitting that, but it's the truth. So, for Lent I am giving it up, and re purposing the energy of my thoughts to that of Christ instead of Politico.

I am clearing out my internet bookmarks, un-DVR'ing the Nightly News, and suspending the news podcasts I listen to on my commute to work. This is going to be tough, because the news is everywhere you look in NYC. Just standing in line at Starbucks you get the major headlines of the day from the newspapers laying around.

When a person observes Lent Sunday is typically a day of sabbath from your fasts. So I have limited my consumption of news on that day to reading the NY-Times weekend paper that I get (and hardly ever get through).

So here's how you can help. What books, movies, music, or articles have you been reading lately that have helped you to reflect about your spiritual walk. It doesn't have to be explicitly labeled as "Christian" material, but I welcome that as well. And just so you know I have already read The Shack.

Planet Money

NPR's Planet Money podcast is an absolute must add to your iPod or Zune (chuckle). Do yourself a favor and go and listen to the podcast so you can learn why Credit Default Swaps, 40 to 1 leveraging, and the TED Spread are factors in a changing America.

Seriously these are very entertaining and infomative 20 minute podcasts. You owe it yourself to check them out and you will be smarter at the end of the week than you are today on Monday.

This American Life

Several months ago This American Life did an episode on the sub-prime mortgage crisis called, The Giant Pool of Money. It was far and away the best 55 minute explanation on how mortgages got turned into securities and then sold on up the financial food chain. Which subsequently set the scene for the crisis we (meaning the world) finds ourselves in right now. It remains one of TAL most popular episodes ever because of the clear narrative they used to explain complicated financial instruments. It's worth the $.99 to purchase the episode.

Today the two producers who made that first show, Alex Blumberg and NPR's Adam Davidson, have done another one called: Another Frightening Show About the Economy which is a pretty ominous title if you ask me.

The link above will take you to the TAL iTunes page where you can download the episode for FREE until Sunday 10/12. I have not had a chance to listen to the program yet, but if it's half as good as the "The Global Pool of Money" then it is a must hear for anyone who finds this whole financial mess confusing (which is pretty much all of us). I'll post my thoughts once I finish listening to it.

Population and Podcast

Saw this breakdown of the states who have the closest populations to the boroughs in NYC. It's amazing that you could cram all the people from these states into NYC. WOW right! Of course this started me thinking about the electoral college. These five states have a total electoral vote of 21 (according to the FEC). New York state has a total of 31 electoral votes. That doesn't seem to be fair in a "representative" democracy. But someone who is better at math than I am will need to explain it (yes I am talking to you Brandon).

There is a new podcast I have been listening to called "The Moth." The Moth is an organization dedicated to the art and community of storytelling. People come to the Moth events and get up to share their stories. No notes, props, or PowerPoint presentations just storytelling. From their website you can get to the iTunes podcast link. The latest two episodes called "The Stakeout" and "Harlem Cowboy" will have you roaring with laughter. Warning, these are recordings of live presentations so there is no editing done to the stories so there is swearing in some of them. Particularly in "The Stakeout" but the guy telling the story is a NYC detective so it's to be understood.

Anyway, it's a good one to add to your podcast repertoire.

Zoe Keating

No matter how you are feeling right now elated, stunned, inspired, or depressed the music of Zoe Keating will help regain your equilibrium. Again thanks to the Radio Lab podcast Zoe's music was made known to me while I was riding my bike to work two days ago. She is a cellist who was classically trained but creates music that is cinematic and has more in common with rock than Bach.

She incorporates various loops and repeaters to create lush sounds and layers that grow increasingly beautiful as her pieces go on. Everything you hear is created by her and the range of sound coming from her cello is incredible. Below are some links where you can hear her music for free.

Radio Lab Podcast - Quantum Cello
Pop Tech - A live performance at the Pop-Tech conference 2007
YouTube - performance of Tetrishead

Catch-Up Post!

If you are a fan of the Daily Show, then you will love this podcast I recently discovered. It's called, The Bugle - Audio Newspaper for a Visual World. Here's the description from their iTunes page:

Based respectively in a penthouse turret in metropolitan New York and a small lair in South London, John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman, with their combined height of 3.59 meters, will together canoe through the murky swamp of big stories, small stories and assorted hogwash that inundates our daily world. Comprising news, sport, comment, analysis, other stuff, and our unique audio crossword, The Bugle is the newspaper of the future, before the future actually happens.

Here's the link to the most recent episode (episodes come out once a week).

*****

I hope Hillary looses both Indiana and North Carolina tonight, AND that Jason Castro gets booted off American Idol. Politics and pop culture all on a Tuesday night! I happen to be partial to MSNBC (Tim Russert is the best analyst on TV). Will you watch the primary results tonight or are you lame or I mean busy.

*****

Saw this incredible headline (sorry no t-shirt available):
Post-War Suicides May Exceed Combat Deaths, U.S. Says

The number of suicides among veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may exceed the combat death toll because of inadequate mental health care, the U.S. government's top psychiatric researcher said.

Community mental health centers, hobbled by financial limits, haven't provided enough scientifically sound care, especially in rural areas, said Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He briefed reporters today at the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting in Washington.

My jaw dropped when I read that. According to the WHO the suicides per 100,000 males are 17.1 (source). According the article 1.6 million U.S. troops have fought Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. If suicide rates were consistent with national rates for those 1.6 million soldiers then approximately 273 males would be likely to commit suicide.

There have been 4,560 soldiers killed in combat since 2001. If soldiers and veteran suicides do in fact outpace the death total from these two wars that would represent a 1,670% increase over the standard national suicide rate. Here's the damning part. A big part of the reason why there are so many suicides is because money isn't being spent to make sure the 53% of returning combat veterans who have PTSD get the help they need.

This from a country that spends over 700 billion every year on it's defense department (China is upping their spending to 53 billion). This injustice is sickening. We ask our young people to go to war for us, and then leave them hanging out to dry once they have done our dirty work for us. This will have ramifications for years and shows how insincere our Commander in Chief and congress is about supporting our troops.

Radio Lab

I have been totally floored by a show on NPR called Radio Lab. I first heard one of their stories on an episode of This American Life. Hosts Robert Krulwich and Jad Abumrad use a patchwork of people, sounds, stories and experiences that are all centered on one Big Idea. It's science bumping into culture and it is absolutely mind blowing.

The first thing you will notice about these shows is how intricate the production is. It's as close to TV as radio can get...and I mean that as a compliment. I can't even begin to tell you how challenging and awe inspiring these discussions are. Don't take my word from it, just listen to either one of these two episodes and you will be instantly hooked. Oh yea, it's free too.

Links below lead to iTunes:

"Memory and Forgetting" - According to the latest research, remembering is an unstable and profoundly unreliable process. It’s easy come, easy go as we learn how true memories can be obliterated and false ones added. And Oliver Sacks joins us to tell the story of an amnesiac whose love for his wife and music transcend his 7 second memory.

"Who Am I?" - The "mind" and "self" were formerly the domain of philosophers and priests. Today, it’s neurologists who, armed with giant magnets, are asking the big questions, like "How does the brain make me?" We stare into the mirror with Dr. Julian Keenan, reflect on the illusion of self-hood with British neurologist Paul Broks, contemplate the evolution of consciousness with Dr. V. S. Ramachandran. Also, the story of woman who one day woke up as a completely different person.