From Post-Comic Con to Current Affairs
This podcast episode encapsulates an exhilarating recounting of the Coastal Comic Con experience in Wilmington, North Carolina, which proved to be an extraordinary occasion for the participants. I, Barrett Gruber, express my profound enthusiasm for the event, highlighting the myriad of engaging interactions and interviews conducted with notable personalities such as Ross Marquand and Margaret Carey, the original model for Tinkerbell. The episode not only reflects on the vibrant atmosphere of the convention but also delves into the upcoming content and interviews that will emanate from this remarkable experience. Furthermore, I address pressing political topics, including the controversial actions of former President Donald Trump regarding his business dealings and the ramifications they pose on the American political landscape. Thus, we navigate through an array of topics that intertwine entertainment, cultural commentary, and political discourse, culminating in a rich tapestry of insights for our listeners.
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Transcript
The All About Nothing podcast may have language and content that isn't appropriate for some.
Speaker A:Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Welcome, nothingers, to another episode of the All About Nothing podcast.
Speaker A:This is episode number 244.
Speaker A:I am Barrett Kruber, and it is Sunday night.
Speaker A:We are recording.
Speaker A:I am recording this.
Speaker A:We actually just got home from the Coastal Comic Con over there in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Speaker A:It was an absolute blast.
Speaker A:Absolute.
Speaker A:100% one of the most fun Comic Cons that I've been to with this whole organization.
Speaker A:It was absolutely outstanding, and I was so excited that we got to go.
Speaker A:We have a lot of content that's going to be coming out of it.
Speaker A:There was.
Speaker A:We had interviews with Ross Marquand.
Speaker A:We had interviews with Matthew Watterson.
Speaker A:We had interviews with Matthew Wood.
Speaker A:We got to talk to a lot of vendors.
Speaker A:We even came away with some of our own stuff.
Speaker A:I mean, like, I, you know, I could not.
Speaker A:I could not step away from getting some of these little Lego characters.
Speaker A:It was.
Speaker A:It was an absolute blast.
Speaker A:And ultimately, I can't.
Speaker A:I can't speak with.
Speaker A:With more appreciation for everything.
Speaker A:I want to thank Zach King for all of the work that he did in helping me with all of.
Speaker A:All of what we had to do.
Speaker A:Zach came up, and we had a really great time.
Speaker A:I will say this.
Speaker A:Lesson learned.
Speaker A:I am likely not to share a room with Zach again.
Speaker A:We will definitely talk about that on a upcoming podcast episode.
Speaker A:We are going to have a lot of content that we are going to put together and release for the Comic Con.
Speaker A:It was, like I said, it was an absolute blast.
Speaker A:One of the coolest things I got to do was sit down with a woman, lovely, lovely young woman named Margaret Carey, who is the original model for Tinkerbell.
Speaker A:Some 73 years ago.
Speaker A:She.
Speaker A:She did this, and it was an absolute blast to get and sit down and talk to her about everything that she did.
Speaker A:She is a legend, an absolute legend.
Speaker A:So we're going to have all of those interviews that.
Speaker A:That we got to do and share that with you.
Speaker A:We walked around the vendors.
Speaker A:We got to talk with so many people from all over the Southeast that show up for these Comic Cons.
Speaker A:And some of them, you know, this is.
Speaker A:This is their life.
Speaker A:You know, 52 weeks out of the year, some of them are going to Comic Cons to basically make an impact with what it is that they do.
Speaker A:So many people we didn't get to talk to, but it was an absolute blast, and we could not have done it if not for Steve Power and Steve Powell and Brock, Donald Brock Jr.
Speaker A:As well as his entire staff.
Speaker A:Just an absolute amazing.
Speaker A:Amy is absolutely astounding.
Speaker A:Also, thank you to Amy Bland, who is the host of welcome to Wonderland, for being there with us today.
Speaker A:Help us out with everything that we did.
Speaker A:When you see us on camera, she was holding the camera, which was absolutely fantastic.
Speaker A:And we really appreciated her for being there as well.
Speaker A:It was a blast.
Speaker A:And I can't wait until we get another opportunity to do it again because August is going to be Soda City Comic Con, I think the weekend 23rd, 23rd, 24th, something like that.
Speaker A:And we'll talk more about that.
Speaker A:We'll probably have Brock on.
Speaker A:We'll probably do some live events with the podcast so that we can, we can do that.
Speaker A:So I didn't want to release an episode without, without having some content.
Speaker A:So first let me just say please subscribe and share the show.
Speaker A:That's how we get new listeners.
Speaker A:Also, if you could, please consider supporting us financially, which would, you know, pay for us to go to these Comic Cons.
Speaker A:But consider supporting us financially by visiting theallaboutnothing.com and becoming an official member and proudly calling yourself a true nothing or we have more details on that coming up at the end of the show.
Speaker A:If you can't do that, please give us a five star review, a like or follow us across all of social.
Speaker A:You can follow links at The All About Nothing.com want to remind everybody also that the T shirts for March through ZJZ Designs are available.
Speaker A:New designs related, released regularly.
Speaker A:You can check out Liam the Leprechaun on the new prints that are available.
Speaker A:Again, ZJZ Designs.com is where you can find that.
Speaker A:Go check that out zjzdesigns.com before I do.
Speaker A:The reason that I'm actually putting together this very short episode.
Speaker A:So it's a short one.
Speaker A:I apologize.
Speaker A:We're exhausted.
Speaker A:Like I said, Comic Con in Wilmington's Coastal Comic Con in Wellington this weekend was an absolute blast.
Speaker A:But it wears you out.
Speaker A:It absolutely 100% wears you out to your core.
Speaker A:But I did, I did have a few things that we didn't get to talk about on the episode that we released.
Speaker A:So there are reports coming out of the White House.
Speaker A:Excuse me, my voice is probably going in and out because of the amount of talking we did.
Speaker A:But there are reports coming out of the White House indicating that Donald Trump is holding meetings in the Oval Office that are the subject of his private real estate holdings, including his golf courses in New York, Florida and New Jersey, as well as hotel Business from the Oval Office performing pertaining to properties in New York and all the way from New York to Nevada, Florida, New York, Nevada, all that Trump did not divest in his private companies this time.
Speaker A:Again, he is conducting business for his, you know, his personal business.
Speaker A:And I think that for a lot of us that should be shocking.
Speaker A:I know he didn't divest during his first term and there was a lot said about it.
Speaker A:But I don't think enough is being said about it now.
Speaker A:And I realize I'm probably gonna run through these stories pretty quickly.
Speaker A:It might be that when we record the next episode, we'll talk about it some more.
Speaker A:But I'm trying to get to a very specific thing that I'm very excited to share with everyone because it's going to be an ongoing thing.
Speaker A:And again, I'll talk about it here in a second.
Speaker A:But as of this recording, Donald Trump is also.
Speaker A:Okay, so not as of this recording because the very likely, so I wrote these on Wednesday.
Speaker A:It's very, very likely that Donald Trump has actually done this since then.
Speaker A:I, since I wrote these notes.
Speaker A:But as of this recording, Donald Trump has taken at least I'll say that 10 golf trips in less than 50 days.
Speaker A:20% or more of his time in office has been spent playing golf at the American, American taxpayers dollars at his own private clubs.
Speaker A:Again, this is something I think that ultimately we should all be a little bit disturbed about.
Speaker A:It's concerning the fact that we have a president who is not divested from his own personal interests that is using the Oval Office, the highest office in the land and in some cases in the world, the amount of respect that the Oval Office here in the United States gets and it's being used for private business, at least in some cases.
Speaker A:And I know that, you know, right now a lot of the talk is the what happened with the president of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky.
Speaker A:And that is a big topic how basically between Donald Trump and J.D.
Speaker A:vance basically just cornered him and berated him.
Speaker A:We literally had a reporter from some right wing news company group, whatever.
Speaker A:We literally had a reporter ask the president of another sovereign nation why he never wears a suit and why he can show such disrespect to the Oval Office by not wearing a suit.
Speaker A:And I get that there may be some people talking about that, but is it really the most important thing?
Speaker A:Because we see Donald Trump playing golf not in a suit.
Speaker A:And I get that that's not at the Oval Office, but I think for a lot of people, they consider mar a lago and Bedminster to be the Oval Office of golf clubs.
Speaker A:Maybe Donald Trump doesn't wear a suit there.
Speaker A:Almost nobody that he plays golf with wears a suit except for the Secret Service that are guarding him.
Speaker A:I mean, this is an absurd thing to be upset about.
Speaker A:And the fact that this reporter took an opportunity to cut down the president of another country is just absolutely absurd to me.
Speaker A:Absolutely assert, absurd.
Speaker A:And I, and I can't believe we live in this timeline.
Speaker A:I know that's something I say a lot.
Speaker A:I cannot believe we live in this timeline.
Speaker A:Elon Musk doesn't show up in the Oval Office or Cabinet meetings in a suit.
Speaker A:And how come we don't have that same reporter voicing his opinion about how disrespectful it is to have Elon Musk show up and hold a press conference in the Oval Office with the President sitting in his chair, not wearing a suit?
Speaker A:Just want to point that out.
Speaker A:Donald Trump also, shockingly announced this week that, that he was basically going to be selling green cards for $5 million a piece.
Speaker A:It's not a green card.
Speaker A:It's called.
Speaker A:It's a green card.
Speaker A:Plus, he said that he's gonna start selling these gold cards for $5 million.
Speaker A:And one of the things that was asked, a reporter asked, will these be available to, let's say, Russian oligarchs?
Speaker A:Trump said, I know some very fine, nice Russian oligarchs.
Speaker A:I'm paraphrasing, but that's, that's essentially what he said.
Speaker A:He said that he didn't see why there wouldn't be a reason Trump to not offer it to oligarchs.
Speaker A:I have a reason.
Speaker A:If Ukraine is forcibly taken over by Russia, some of these oligarchs that are invested in the military for Russia will be held partially responsible for those actions.
Speaker A:They could quite literally be war criminals.
Speaker A:That Donald Trump is now offering citizenship.
Speaker A:Well, green card status, gold card status.
Speaker A:But this is what Donald Trump is offering.
Speaker A:This is, this is, this is.
Speaker A:The President of the United States is now selling.
Speaker A:I'm not saying it hasn't been done before, but the President of the United States is now selling access to the United States through a green card.
Speaker A:That, that, that.
Speaker A:Now, who gets the money for that?
Speaker A:Who is it that's going to get the money from these green cards being sold for $5 million apiece, a guaranteed green card.
Speaker A:In.
Speaker A:If a Democratic president had said this, had offered up $5 million green cards, Republicans would be shitting themselves.
Speaker A:These MAGA Republicans would absolutely be shitting themselves that Biden had ever offered especially, especially oligarchs from a country that is not well, was not our ally.
Speaker A:I guess it kind of is now because Donald Trump has made it clear that Europe needs to take care of Ukraine and that the United States will not do it.
Speaker A:We're seeing Europe literally rehabbing to shuffle itself Western Western society.
Speaker A:Western countries are now having to reorganize themselves on the belief that the United States doesn't stand with them.
Speaker A:These are absurdities that are occurring.
Speaker A:It's, it's, it should be damned down right scary like this should be.
Speaker A:This should be frightening.
Speaker A:And yet MAGA Republicans are cheering this on.
Speaker A:Except for Marco Rubio.
Speaker A:He looks like he is the most uncomfortable person you've ever seen in these clips.
Speaker A:Whether it's at the, the cabinet meeting.
Speaker A:Marco Rubio does not look comfortable.
Speaker A:Or the Oval Office visit by President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelinsky, who Marco Rubio looks like he could not crawl any further into, into that couch.
Speaker A:He was absolute, it was the most, it was the most uncomfortable thing I think I've ever seen as a look on Marco Rubio's face.
Speaker A:And he's not, he's not innocent in all of this but I think that he has, I think he has some issues with it.
Speaker A:It's as someone who is, who, who recognize people behavior.
Speaker A:I recognize people's behavior and can, I can't tell what they're thinking exactly but I can kind of tell what they're thinking.
Speaker A:It's a talent.
Speaker A:So yeah, we don't know who's going to handle the processing of these $5 million gold cards.
Speaker A:Don't know.
Speaker A:We don't know where the money's gonna go for these five million dollar green card plus gold card, whatever's.
Speaker A:We don't even know if it's legal.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:We live in the absolute dumbest timeline.
Speaker A:The absolute dumbest timeline.
Speaker A:I don't know how we're here.
Speaker A:I don't understand why this is why, why we ended up here.
Speaker A:I also want to talk about the fact that Joe Wilson last week, so you know Joe Wilson, second Congressional District for South Carolina sent an email or issued a statement basically saying that legislation was being written to create a $250bill of the United States currency with President Donald Trump's portrait on it, citing he is the most valuable president we've ever had.
Speaker A:So just Joe.
Speaker A:So everyone's clear.
Speaker A:$1 is George Washington.
Speaker A:$2 is Thomas Jefferson.
Speaker A:$5 has Abe Lincoln's portrait on it.
Speaker A:$20 has Andrew Jackson's portrait on it which also by the way, just so everybody knows, during Obama's term, we were, they had cleared, I guess they, they had passed all the hurdles necessary to make Harriet Tubman's portrait Beyond the new $20 bills.
Speaker A:Donald Trump canceled that because I guess I don't even have to say it obvious reasons.
Speaker A:$50 is Ulysses S.
Speaker A:Grant, $10 is Alexander Hamilton, and the $100 bill is Ben Franklin.
Speaker A: t have not been printed since: Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:I'm sorry, any of the bond reading.
Speaker A:I'm reading my own notes.
Speaker A:Any of the bonds, securities notes, fractional or postal currency of the United States while the original such portrait is living now.
Speaker A:Joe Wilson is a sycophant.
Speaker A:Joe Wilson is someone who represents my district.
Speaker A:I'd like to, I'd really like to say more about an individual that has, has little value.
Speaker A:He gets to run for his office and he gets to win because the district has been so heavily gerrymandered that there's no chance that anyone else could possibly beat him unless they were primary him.
Speaker A:This might do it.
Speaker A:He could potentially get primary for doing for basic putting for such stupid legislation.
Speaker A:How is that going to, how's that going to help the price of eggs?
Speaker A:How's that going to help the price of groceries?
Speaker A:How is that going to bring down interest rates?
Speaker A:Inflation is rising.
Speaker A:We, we just saw Elon Musk attempt if hasn't successfully yet might be successful.
Speaker A:The Consumer Protections Board.
Speaker A:He wants to eliminate that.
Speaker A:Who is that going to help?
Speaker A:It's not going to help us.
Speaker A:It's not going to help citizens.
Speaker A:It's not going to help the people that voted for Donald Trump.
Speaker A:It will help the banks.
Speaker A:Banks will have the ability to raise interest rates on people who are maybe just paying the bare minimum to try and stay above water or potentially they can't afford to pay their credit cards.
Speaker A:We live in the wealthiest country on the planet and we have citizens that week to week, day to day don't have the money to be able to survive.
Speaker A:And in some cases they have credit cards and those credit cards are basically what help them survive.
Speaker A:And if their interest rates go up, there's a potential that they may be in debt for the rest of their lives.
Speaker A:All because Elon Musk decided the Consumer Protection Board unnecessary.
Speaker A:Also, just to remind you, it was a month ago that Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna announced an introduction to legislation that she was writing to put Trump on them, to put Trump on Mount Rushmore.
Speaker A:It's almost like these people have never even been to Mount Rushmore.
Speaker A:Like, where are you going to put Trump's head if you were to put a bust?
Speaker A:And frankly, I'll be completely honest with you, I don't care.
Speaker A:I don't, I don't remotely care if they put Trump's bust on Mount Rushmore.
Speaker A:I think it's obscene.
Speaker A:I think it is such unnecessary hero worship of someone who does not care about Joe Wilson, doesn't care about this.
Speaker A:Representative Anna Paulina Luna doesn't give a damn about either one of them.
Speaker A:Doesn't remotely care.
Speaker A:So I say again, we live in the dumbest timeline ever.
Speaker A:The dumbest timeline ever.
Speaker A:And I, I, my, my soul hurts from just how dumb of a timeline we live in.
Speaker A:So, again, I know I said this episode was gonna be a little shorter this week, so I want to very quickly introduce a segment that I am very excited to do because the individual that's doing this for us is my wife's former sex ed teacher, which, you know, is, it's a little funny, but.
Speaker A:So I want to introduce to Sarah Jane Byers.
Speaker A:Now, she was raised here in Columbia, South Carolina, and educated in public schools.
Speaker A:She has a bachelor's of science and master's in health education biology.
Speaker A:She has a lay ministry degree from the University of South Theology, the theological seminary.
Speaker A:Let me say that one more time because I leave everything in, so we're going to repeat it.
Speaker A:She has a lay ministry degree from the University of South Theological Seminary.
Speaker A:She has a doctorate in education leadership.
Speaker A:She has taught high school for 44 years.
Speaker A:She is retired now, but she is a mother, a grandmother, and a great grandmother and currently serves as a juvenile arbitrator for the 11th Judicial Judicial District of South Carolina.
Speaker A:And I very proud to be able to call Jay his or her husband Jay.
Speaker A:And she Sarah Jane, friends of mine.
Speaker A:And I want to introduce you to her.
Speaker A:And what we're going to do is I'm going to play a segment here in just a minute, but I want to introduce her because I think what I want to do is we want to have this kind of go on and on is just sort of a diatribe that we bring Sarah Jane on to do from time to time.
Speaker A:So essentially how these are going to work is I'm going to give her a topic that I think would be interesting from her perspective.
Speaker A:And in this case, the interesting conversation that we wanted to have was Christianity and the involvement of Maga in Christianity.
Speaker A:So for the first time ever and the last time, I'll be able to introduce Sarah Jane for the first time.
Speaker A:This is Sarah Jane Byers with her diatribe for the All About Nothing podcast.
Speaker B:Christian used to be a benign, almost vanilla label.
Speaker B:In my growing up years of the 50s and 60s, most people claimed a denomination whether or not they attended services regularly, even if it was just to have a connection for weddings and funerals.
Speaker B:No more.
Speaker B:The mention of the Word now elicits reactions that span a broad spectrum.
Speaker B:For some it provides an identity.
Speaker B:Others are repelled either by what it represents to them or grief of how it has become so tainted from its rightful definition.
Speaker B:There have been times throughout history that Christianity has been demonized and undeservedly lauded.
Speaker B:But my focus for purposes now is what has happened in recent years in the US regarding the term and its reactions to its ever fluid meaning.
Speaker B:Christians in the US tend to fall into two big camps for purposes of this discussion, Evangelicals are usually non liturgical Bible literate interpretation believers, pastor centered churches, usually Baptists and the black Baptists are not included in this Church of God, assembly of God, Pentecostal, Charismatic and a myriad of different non denominational Bible teaching churches that make up this group.
Speaker B:These churches are almost exclusively white except for some Hispanic ones.
Speaker B:Services tend to be free flowing and spirit led, determined by the pastor in charge with the emphasis on the teaching which can be lengthy, an hour or more.
Speaker B:They are known for their codes of conduct such as no drinking, smoking, dancing, modest clothes and appearance, men led paternalistic family structure and Bible quoting.
Speaker B:The second camp are non evangelicals which are usually liturgical such as Anglican, Episcopal, Orthodox, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Roman Catholic.
Speaker B:They operate with a hierarchical oversight and have long standing histories and traditions.
Speaker B:Their clergy must pass an extensive discernment process and graduate level seminary education before ordination.
Speaker B:Services are scripted using Bible references, making worship uniform throughout the denomination, regardless of location.
Speaker B:The sermon is nominally 20 minutes or so in an hour and 15 minute service, only part of the whole worship experience.
Speaker B:Seasons of the liturgical year follow Jesus, earthly life and saints are acknowledged as examples of faithful lives to emulate.
Speaker B:The Bible's directives include the context in which they were written and historical events surrounding the text.
Speaker B:Lifestyle decisions are left to the parishioner's discretion but are expected to reflect Christian teachings.
Speaker B:So where are we now?
Speaker B:As church attendance has become volatile and alternatives are offered Everywhere.
Speaker B:No longer do families need churches for weddings.
Speaker B:Venues abound and non traditional locations are common.
Speaker B:Funerals have funeral homes to gather family and friends as well as graveside goodbyes hold no stigma anymore.
Speaker B:Some families have no funeral at all, but opt for a celebration of life more like a party sharing memories sometime well after their passing.
Speaker B:People no longer need a tacit tether to a church to be a respectable family.
Speaker B:Politics plays a huge role in our current religious climate.
Speaker B:Evangelicals were hijacked by the Trump campaign in his first presidential run.
Speaker B:Those of us old enough to have followed Trump and the tabloids in less than mainstream media long before he became a candidate, were amused by his adoption of evangelicals to become their hero.
Speaker B:His lifestyle is and always has been the antithesis of Christian teaching, but he knew they were a large block of votes.
Speaker B:All he had to do was tap into a few of their hot button issues and he had their full support.
Speaker B:Pastors in that camp advocate political positions from the pulpit and their congregants rarely questioned their leaders.
Speaker B:Anti abortion, anti gay marriage, anti transgender, anti women equality and a few more ushered them into the potential for political power previously unknown to their ilk.
Speaker B:They relished in the high profile position it brought them.
Speaker B:One issue.
Speaker B:Voters from the non evangelical camp crossed over in voting for him due to their passionate belief about a single issue.
Speaker B:As Trump's rhetoric filled the land, the message was clearly racist, sexist, anti immigrant, anti any faith but Christian and filled with hate.
Speaker B:Those who longed for back then when white men ruled and all were better off in their white supremacist view, joined his movement.
Speaker B:A canyon began forming between his followers and those who saw through his antics, dividing families and friends of many decades.
Speaker B:Nowhere was the divide greater than the Christian ranks.
Speaker B:When confronted with the contradiction between his behavior, his words and their Christianity, the evangelicals would hold titer with all manner of excuses such as God uses flawed people.
Speaker B:After all, we're all sinners.
Speaker B:We like his policies, not his lifestyle.
Speaker B:He's working for us and hears us.
Speaker B:He speaks his minds and so on and so on.
Speaker B:No amount of disproving his lies or demonstrating his vile intentions would loosen their grip on their political savior.
Speaker B:During Trump's first term, the non evangelicals had little to say.
Speaker B:Their silence was deafening, thinking they shouldn't speak against their brothers and sisters in Christ.
Speaker B:However, the longer he stayed, the more vocal the Christians who didn't support him became and have grown louder in time.
Speaker B:Sadly, it was too late for many people who decided if the Trump message is what Christianity is, All about.
Speaker B:They wanted nothing to do with it.
Speaker B:These people who believe in God and even embrace the teachings of Jesus left organized religion to call themselves Jesus followers, simply spiritual or living a non religious moral life.
Speaker B:They saw no need for churches and in fact church became the bullhorn to discredit all moral teaching they learned as children.
Speaker B:The meanness and cruelty they witnessed against minorities of all types of people they respect sealed their exit.
Speaker B:Several young parents said they will raise their children to be kind to all and live a productive life contributing to society and needs of others.
Speaker B:They don't need a church to do that.
Speaker B:Long ago, churches were not just religious groups who worshiped together.
Speaker B:They embodied social life, interdependency and caring communities, offering people a village to assist in raising children with shared values, places of refuge and help in times of trouble and crisis.
Speaker B:All in all, it was the hub for the people and identity for which they were recognized.
Speaker B:Your denomination automatically let people know your beliefs and where you belonged.
Speaker B:With so many in the US without a church home, what fills those gaps which are basic needs of humanity is mapped out in Maslow's pyramid.
Speaker B:Only physiological needs such as food, water and air located on the lowest level of the pyramid.
Speaker B:Then safety and security, which occupies the next level, preclude the third level of needs for all mankind, which is love and sense of belonging.
Speaker B:Planned communities recently built always include gathering areas such as clubhouses, pools, tennis courts, pickleball courts, golf courses and so on.
Speaker B:Regular meetings happen such as book clubs, mah jong play, neighborhood parties and yard sales, or just homeowners association meetings.
Speaker B:Less affluent folks have parks and community centers provided by cities and counties.
Speaker B:Regardless of the names and activities, people come together and get to know each other on a personal level with the intent of connecting in ways that will fulfill their needs.
Speaker B:Somehow.
Speaker B:Even with all the various opportunities to join, people sense the spiritual element missing the universal.
Speaker B:Unitarians worship no deity, but use spiritual writings for inspiration from Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism and various other philosophers to encourage moral living and social interaction for justice and noble causes.
Speaker B:Meditation groups use yoga Tai chi for focus and calming from society's anxieties.
Speaker B:Many non religious people simply get together with like minded people on a regular basis to reinforce values and mutual support.
Speaker B:Alternative religions to Christianity sometimes have former Christians dabble in their ways in which a small number may convert.
Speaker B:People will always seek ways to meet their inherent needs.
Speaker B:The future for Christianity in the US seems to be in two extremes.
Speaker B:The formal high church liturgical denominations which are now showing growth, or the very informal wear your jeans music Mimics secular rock, witness in the streets and baptize in the lakes, which is the other growing group of Christians.
Speaker B:The traditional non liturgicals and low church liturgicals are losing their Masses with Maga as much to blame.
Speaker B:Teaching one thing and all out supporting doing something altogether contrary just won't last forever.
Speaker A:So there you have it.
Speaker A:Sarah Jane Byers.
Speaker A:I want to thank her for, for doing that with me.
Speaker A:Absolutely loved having Sarah Jane record that for us.
Speaker A:We're going to do that more often as often I can get her to do it.
Speaker A:They are very busy.
Speaker A:They also camp a lot.
Speaker A:They camp, they do a fair amount of camping, but they are outstanding.
Speaker A:Sarah Jane is outstanding.
Speaker A:Her husband Jay, you didn't get to see him bit.
Speaker A:But I have a, I have a good, I have a good mind to think that we're going to see Jay join us from time to time as well.
Speaker A:Again, this is going to be a short episode because we are exhausted.
Speaker A:This weekend was the Coastal Carolina.
Speaker A:I'm sorry, the Coastal Comic Con in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Speaker A:We had an absolute blast.
Speaker A:Again, I want to thank my partner Zach King for being there with me for that.
Speaker A:It was absolute blast.
Speaker A:Some of the content that we're going to get out of this is absolutely amazing.
Speaker A:Some of the interviews that we got to do, including Ross Marquan, who is Aaron from the Walking Dead.
Speaker A:He is Red Skull from the Avengers, Infinity War and in Game, he is also the voice of Professor Xavier from X Men 97.
Speaker A:So you, you all have that to look forward to.
Speaker A:I have a lot of editing to do, but we'll get it out there.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So thanks to Zach.
Speaker A:Thanks to Matthew Watterson.
Speaker A:Thanks to Matthew Wood.
Speaker A:Thank you to Ross Marquand.
Speaker A:Thank you to the experience of getting to meet Margaret Carey, who is the original Tinkerbell.
Speaker A:Again, all of this content is coming.
Speaker A:We're gonna get it released as soon as we can.
Speaker A:We're gonna probably put together a couple episodes with it, but it was absolute blast.
Speaker A:Thank you to Donald Brock Jr.
Speaker A:And Steve Powell, who are the coordinators for the Soda City Comic Con.
Speaker A:I'm the coast both Coastal Comic Con.
Speaker A: mic Con, but in this case the: Speaker A:So thank you to Donald Brock Jr.
Speaker A:And Steve Powell.
Speaker A:Also thank you to Amy, who is basically the, the muscle behind these Comic Con.
Speaker A:She is fantastic.
Speaker A:She does so much work and the amount of pressure that she could feel as a result of all the work that has to get done for these things.
Speaker A:She just does an amazing job and she has an amazing staff Deneen, Deneen's daughter.
Speaker A:And I apologize, I can't remember your name right now, but if you see this, you know, if you see this, I apologize.
Speaker A:But R.H.
Speaker A:frank, just a huge Beth.
Speaker A:Just an unbelievable staff that they have working these conventions and they did such an absolute amazing job.
Speaker A:I can't say enough about it.
Speaker A:And I hope that the next Comic Cons that come around that they put on that everyone else can come out and check them out because they are absolutely fantastic.
Speaker A:So thank you also to Amy Bland, the hostess of welcome to Wonderland, for also being there with us.
Speaker A:Because like I said, she did a ton of work with us.
Speaker A:She helped us set up, she helped us take down, she helped us with camera work and mics and stuff like that.
Speaker A:She did an absolute terrific job and couldn't be more appreciative of all the help that that she provided.
Speaker A:So that is going to do it for this episode.
Speaker A:Episode number 244.
Speaker A:I am Barrett Gruber.
Speaker A:I think this is episode 244.
Speaker A:I really hope it is.
Speaker A:If it's not, pretend like it's the next one.
Speaker A:I think it is Links to all of our past episodes, podcast platforms, merchandise and social media are all available at our webpage.
Speaker A:The all about nothing.com and if you think the financial model of giving away free content entertainment is silly and you're in the giving mood, why not become an official Nothing or support the show?
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Speaker A:Sorry, they get access to other episodes as well as exclusive content.
Speaker A:Visit the all about nothing.com click on the support link near the top of the page.
Speaker A:You can subscribe monthly at a varying levels of membership tiers and click on the Tips link.
Speaker A:If you can't do any of the others and give us just a one time donation, it helps to pay for the show.
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Speaker A:Thank you very much for listening.
Speaker A:You all stay safe, be kind and keep your hands to yourself.
Speaker A:The All About Nothing Podcast is a product of Big Media and produced and engineered by me, Barrett Gruber.
Speaker A:Thanks to Cake for our intro music.
Speaker A:Sick of you.
Speaker A:You can follow everything Cake the band@cakemusic.com thanks to Muff the producer for for our Outro Music.
Speaker A:You can follow Muff on Instagram ufftheproducer I am Barrett Gruber.
Speaker A:You can follow me across social media by visiting linktree.
Speaker A:Barrettgruber.
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Speaker A:To find links to our social media, podcast platforms and merchandise to support the show as well as past episodes, visit theallaboutnothing.com if you'd like, you can be a part of the show.
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Speaker A: -: Speaker A:If the time between these episodes is more than you can handle, check out our sister shows, including what the Pod Was that?
Speaker A:With Carrie, Zach and Myself.
Speaker A:Welcome to Wonderland with Amie and Black, White and Blue in the south with Dr.
Speaker A:Jamil Brooks and Bill Kimler.
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