PODCAST

Musings of a Middle Aged Man

David Olson

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch"intrate (Abandon hope all ye who enter here)

society & culture

All Episodes

00:02:56

Becoming God

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/03/04

Since Limbo is no longer de rigueur in the Catholic canon and the simple fact I've been baptized twice so could never be eligible for the imaginary place of natural happiness for those who died without personal sin, I can only conclude I have been banished to a state of perpetual purgatory for my soul will never be purified. Unlike the slippery Catholic doctrine defining purgatory as a state of purification existing somewhere between heaven and hell, my purgatory is in the here and now. An aura

00:03:04

Talking in Code

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/02/28

One of the darkest periods in US history was the forcible removal of Indigenous children from their parents and confining them to "re-education" schools where they were shorn of sacred hair and beaten when speaking their natal languages. The historical fact that Navajo Code Talkers helped save allied lives during WWII is a massive up yours to the fools and evil doers insisting the children speak English only ultimately resulting in the loss of a lingual identity for many of the abused

00:02:50

Exposing Myself

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/02/25

I have heard numerous times that an artist encodes themselves in their work. Not purposely. It is a natural outcropping of the creative process, a process as intimate as loving another human being. Perhaps, the reason I feared making art for large swaths of my life is that I am either uncomfortable having others see the hidden me or I am terrified of seeing the essence of myself.

00:02:39

Insect and Intellect

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/02/21

If recent events spanning the past ten years, have taught me anything it is that the typical American cares little for any truth that would undermine the lies they hold so dear and near to their deceitful hearts. It is not just little lies like your new hairstyle is becoming or, yes, your butt does look deliciously phat in that outfit. It is grandiose lies peated and repeated ad nauseum in a bid to garner votes, pure and simple. The gullibility necessary to embrace the dishonest deceptions is the

00:02:35

Allegiance to Art

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/02/18

What does art demand? Easy. Everything. Heart, mind, body, and soul dedicated to art with no less zeal than a zealot willing to sacrifice themselves for their religion. And that is why I will never be a great artist. I am a reluctant enthusiast, a part-time creator saving a large chunk of my time to simply, "Be!" Or it may be a convenient excuse to cover my lack of imagination and inability to paint anything resembling a straight line or a smooth curve without dips and bounces and jags

00:03:07

The One True Path to God

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/02/14

By their nature, feathers are imbued with a magical mystical quality helping the mind soar to unforeseeable, unfathomable heights, elevating the soul into ethereal realms with a flock of kindred creatives. At least, they do for me and, I suspect, for the gaggle viewing Earth as the one true god, and nature as the one true path to God. This is not a fluffy God that will reach a finger down to rescue anyone from mortal danger no matter how much we prostrate and chant petitions begging for mercy. Nope

00:02:55

To Write and Read is Divine

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/02/11

The decisive factor contributing to human ascendency from tree-dwelling, shadow-hiding primates into the dominant species on the planet is our unique ability to encode thought into a set of symbols for future reference rather than being slaves to the instincts encoded in our DNA. Writing and reading are human superpowers. They bestow upon us the ability to learn from people we will never meet including the thoughts of humans who died in Sumeria five thousand years before I emerged onto the world

00:03:43

It's not Black and White

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/02/07

Part and parcel of being raised in a monoculture is the gradually built hubris wherein the world is divided into two distinct antithetical halves. They are 'our way' and the 'wrong way.' It sets the stage for the curse of binary thinking, an almost complete inability to see shades of grey, including the inability to appreciate the vivid spectrum between white and black that gives the world its luster. To ensure 'our way' is the only way, a set of rules is codified to

00:03:25

Where Went the Wise?

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/02/04

It is amazing that words uttered when years could still be written with two digits are a laser light exposing reality 2,000 years after the fact. It is a perfect example of Santayana's maxim that the past is repeated by those who can't remember (or read) it. None of us were in existence during the life of Seneca and most Americans are too incestuously nationalistic to put credence in the brilliance of anyone not born on US soil to European origin parents let alone read anything not

00:03:44

The Ultimate Insanity?

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/01/31

In some cases, familiarity brings a measure of acceptance. In others, familiarity brings about contempt. Ubiquity becomes first invisible before transforming into a constant grating on the nerves at its everpresent presence. All the while, that which we can't have, acts as a siren pulling us powerfully in its direction. If I eat the same food too often, I get sick of it. If I hear the same music repeatedly, I wipe its presence from my playlists and quickly turn the channel when it invades the

00:03:08

Lies, Lies, Lies!

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/01/28

Everything you are about to read is bullshit, complete and utter nonsense better attributed to a person locked in a padded cell and restrained by a four-point harness than an educated scientist steeped in the mythology thought can and should be rational. Every concept, every sentence, every phrase, each word, letter, even the spaces between the letters are lies. This piece contains not an ounce of truth yet reveals profound truths. How can this be you ask?

00:03:06

A Soul Divided

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/01/24

For decades, I have coveted a poet's soul to balance the strictness of my Engineer's mind to help me break free of constricting squares whose corners harbor demons allowing me to immerse in the freedom of circles without beginning or end. It is a struggle. Half of me wants to elucidate exquisite reality while the other half prefers to marinate in surreality where the physical laws of the universe hold no sway opening a hole in the space-time continuum, a circular hole, a spheroid...

00:03:36

Illogical Fallacies

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/01/21

Humans are attuned to patterns. It was a necessary evolutionary nuance for the hairless ape to survive the descent from the trees to the plains in Africa where differentiating between food source and foe was crucial to seeing the sunrise on future days. I imagine ancient man adopted clothing and ornamentation associating them with their clan creating easily discernable patterns helping them recognize the safety of familial alliance from quite a distance. The ability to discern patterns from

00:03:01

Balancing Words

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/01/17

I find it challenging to write with enough clarity that a piece accurately and adequately expresses my ideas so there are minimal holes in understanding my thoughts with my poet's soul desiring to say the most possible in the fewest words building upon captivating imagery. The former requires copious words in precision order that frequently loses the reader in utter boredom while the latter can easily obfuscate...

00:02:54

The Highest Honor

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/01/14

Imagine, if you will, a football (real football) match between the Premier and World Champion Manchester United (I know, a current fantasy) and a team of U9 players with the match played on a regulation pitch bounded by 45-minute halves. Besides being a joke to both the professional and amateur athletes participating in the fiasco, it would be an insult...

00:02:48

A Learning Conspiracy

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/01/10

I fondly remember from days of yore when differences of opinion would result in deep, logic-based, fact-centered debate, sometimes heated by passion's flame resulting either in agreement with one or both parties shifting their understanding, or termination in agreement to disagree respectfully with the debaters toddling off together for cold beverages or a hot meal without any animosity tainting the flavors. It was almost like the two in the discussion...

00:03:18

Sweet or Sour Kisses

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/01/07

In the halcyon days of my youth, a female acquaintance informed me that kissing is considered so intimate that ladies of the night refrain from lip-to-lip action with their clients while having no qualms about letting a man otherwise ravage their bodies. As far as I know, this woman never worked in the world's oldest profession so I have no idea how she knew this tidbit. She couldn't search online as this was long before the internet...

00:03:01

A Delusion

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/01/03

I grew up in the era of flower power, make love not war, the smiley face, and the peace sign which oddly became the symbol of a criminal president. It was heralded as a new Dawn of Aquarius, a time of change, hope, innovation, and a shift in consciousness from "me" to "we" ushering in a break from staid traditions allowing for new ideas to germinate, bloom, and perfume the world. I was young, naive, and still believed society was going to wake into an era of enlightenment...

00:03:17

Wisdom in Madness

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2025/01/01

I rarely disagree with the pearls of wisdom extolled by the prophet extraordinaire, Edward Abbey. Much of my thought lines were indeed born of his writing but, unlike religious zealots, I am as comfortable rejecting his pearls that don't glisten in my heart as I am in accepting others into my soul and informing my future. I am not saying he was delusional with the opening quote only that its application is not universal. And I am not implying madness does not dwell in the depths of silence...---

00:02:43

Lost in the City

Musings of a Middle Aged Man ·

2024/12/31

Since my early 20s, I have fantasized about escaping the large, midwestern city to which I was unfortunately born for someplace more rural with a landscape that would feed my imagination with surreal apparations that I could work into interesting reading. Countless situations have arranged themselves such that my vision has never been made manifest. I currently live in the heart of the city that I still long to expunge from my weary soul so that it may be cleansed. I am beginning to think my dream

1,208 results

Musings of a Middle Aged Man

All Episodes

Similar Podcasts

Voices of Life

APG Mannheim

Promo Estereo Podcast

Promo Estereo

Talking Timelines Podcast

Talkingtimelines

גיקונומי

ראם שרמן ודורון ניר

Drømmefanger

Drømmefanger