PODCAST

What People Do

brendanhoward

A moment to savor intelligent conversation about ONE THING someone else is deeply invested in.

society & culture documentary

All Episodes

01:01:14

58: John France illuminates the Crusades

What People Do ·

2023/04/25

I spoke to a veterinarian-and-amateur-historian recently, and he turned me onto the Crusades. I’ll admit, I hadn’t thought much about them beyond the basic line: zealous Christians from Europe led failed (and very bloody) military attempts to hold Jerusalem and other parts of Jesus' old stomping grounds. The leaders, I remembered, were surely motivated by greed and holy-war violence. Not so fast, says professor emeritus John France. The truth of things is more nuanced and multifaceted, but, yes,

46:46

57: Christine Horne studied COVID social norms

What People Do ·

2023/04/18

The very kind academic Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson answered questions about teenagers in society last year on this podcast. At the time, she told me she was a helping hand in research done right at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, say, March 2020. The research had to do with social norms, Dr. Kirkpatrick Johnson told me, and her colleague—Washington State University sociology professor Dr. Christine Horne—could tell me more. Well, she did. Dr. Horne and I discuss sociology, American culture, a

27:27

56: Jeremy Black writes about WWII maps

What People Do ·

2023/04/11

Retired historian Dr. Jeremy Black has now allowed me to interview him three times. THREE TIMES. He gets an award for entertaining my curiosity. In each interview, he dances through a historian’s perspective and answers both detailed questions about fiddly bits of the world’s past as well as giving detailed and thoughtful big-picture answers about war, religion and life in general. In this episode, Jeremy discusses A History of the Second World War in 100 Maps (2020, The University of Chicago

38:39

55: Aaron Gruben on Christian veterinarians

What People Do ·

2023/04/04

I regularly search on Amazon for “veterinary business” and “veterinary management” and “business” books. Sometimes to buy, but usually, at first, to find new guests for a veterinary podcast. That’s how I stumbled into Aaron Gruben’s new book A Theology of Beasts: Christians and Veterinary Medicine. The book brought together two things that fascinate me: DVMs and divinity. I bought it. I read it. I liked it. The first half of the book is Dr. Gruben’s deep dive into Christians he found in ancient

45:50

54: Ray Sydner does hypnotherapy

What People Do ·

2023/03/28

There is the hypnosis done for entertainment—on the stage or in a room of conference-goers. Like, say, this. A hypnotist gathers a group, asks the members to relax, and watches them, with their eyes closed, to see if they’re receptive to the hypnosis. The hypnotist kicks out the ones who are “faking it” or aren’t relaxing. Then the others cluck like chickens or get hot or cold or act silly. There is another hypnosis, built on the same principles, used as a therapy technique. Ray has used

40:11

53: Allan Horwitz studies sadness, depression

What People Do ·

2023/03/21

Everybody’s talking about mental health these days. That's, by and large, a good thing. But did you ever wonder why the incidence of diagnosed depression has been skyrocketing even as we talk more openly about our mental and emotional issues? What's going on? That’s what I talk to retired professor emeritus Dr. Allan Horwitz about. Dr. Horwitz has tilted at the DSM (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) windmill with books like All We Have to Fear: Psychiatry’s Transformation

36:30

52: Gene Maxwell chills out with his music

What People Do ·

2023/03/14

Veterinarian Dr. Gene Maxwell remembers someone coming up to him after a show in his town where he’d played some easy-going tunes on his guitar, influenced by folk, country, bluegrass, jazz, whatever. And she said his music was relaxing. He was elated inside. Because that’s what sitting and playing guitar does for him today: The tones of the guitar relax him like a feedback loop of calm. He says everyone’s life at the veterinary hospital is better if he gets 20 minutes of guitar time in before

48:10

51: Gregory McBrayer studies Xenophon

What People Do ·

2023/03/07

I mean, he doesn’t just study Xenophon. Dr. Gregory McBrayer teacher political philosophy and international relations as Director, Core Curriculum, and Assistant Professor of Political Science at Ashland University. I’ve been on a kick lately reading excerpts from late-19th-early-20th century series. (Find my writing here.) And each time I wrap up a thinker, I thought, “Hey, wouldn’t it be neat if I talked to somebody who knows that thinker better to see if my impressions were right, what I

36:24

50: Greg Kindred does commercial photography

What People Do ·

2023/02/28

This is my big Episode 50. That’s, like, a milestone, right? And it’s with a nice guy I know, so I like it even more. I worked with Greg for years at a veterinary publishing and event company. Now, he’s working on revving up his business in commercial photography, which I think is interesting. What is commercial photography? In Greg's case, he specializes in tabletop product pics, headshots, and pet portraits. You know, not artsy-fartsy photographs (although he takes those, too, and they’re real

53:55

49: Nick Grabbe knows David Grayson’s secret

What People Do ·

2023/02/21

I stumbled onto the writing of David Grayson as I reflected on my (sometimes) daily reading of The University Library. Grayson's way of seeing the good in people and letting curiosity turn his feelings of urban oppression into natural wonder were inspiring. Open, curious conversations with people are kind of what this podcast is about. So, I went on the hunt for someone to talk to about the guy whose method of talking to people was so inspiring. And I found Nick Grabbe (grab-AY). Nick worked for

01:04:16

48: Noah Aronson makes musical moments

What People Do ·

2023/02/14

I met Noah when he came to a big synagogue in the Kansas City Metro and spent a weekend with us there. I was teaching kids songs every Sunday, so he trooped around with me and my brilliant guitar-playing assistant and interacted with every age group with us during the day. He says in this podcast that he loves getting down with the kids on the ground and interacting with them in the moment, and that is exactly what I remember most about his presence: He was right there with you. I still play a few

35:26

Episode 47: Jeremy Black on Sherlock Holmes, Agatha...

What People Do ·

2023/01/24

Recently retired history professor Jeremy Black was very gracious in allowing me to interview a while back about something I was curious about: war. Black has written many, many books, and a darn big pile of them specifically about military conflicts. His historic perspective—looking at how many common narratives about why wars start and how they’re won are often wrong—was amazingly refreshing, but … we’re not here to talk war. We’re here to talk morality. Religion. And detective fiction. Black

01:03:49

Episode 46: Deana Weibel, PhD, studies space and...

What People Do ·

2023/01/10

Two things everywhere around us: Religion. Space. But most people don’t bring them together. Scientists unhappy with religion shake their head at our species’ small-minded tribal violence that bubbles up in religious conflict or old-fashioned “sky daddy” thinking. Religionists unhappy with science shake their head at scientism’s obsessive materialism and lack of answers and responses to our very human needs to understand, to be comforted, to be awed. Now that the two strawmen/women are out of the

01:10:06

Episode 45: Georgios on the novel-like stories of...

What People Do ·

2022/12/13

Last month, we heard from academic Joel Schlosser on Herodotus, inspired by my own blog on some excerpts. Now, a nice Redditor, Georgios from Greece who's read all of Thucydides agreed to discuss the ancient historian with me. We wander close to Thucydides and far afield, but most of all his enthusiasm, enjoyment and sense of humor about the principal characters and events from these old battles and political intrigues made our chat sparkle. Interested in slowly reading ancient works with Georgios

01:00:03

Episode 44: Joel Schlosser on how Herodotus can help...

What People Do ·

2022/11/17

I have started reading a new set of old excerpted classics, this one gathering writers’ bits and baubles into generally geographic volumes: Greece, Rome, the British Isles, etc. I also write about them. (I write about another set here.) The first selection in the first volume comes from the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. (You can read my thoughts here.) Much sharper than my own thoughts, however, are the thoughts of political theorist and Bryn Mawr professor Joel Schlosser, writer of Herodotus

44:21

Episode 43: Kit Smith is an early childhood educator

What People Do ·

2022/08/30

Kit Smith is one of the most confident, stable and exuberant kindergarten teachers I've had the pleasure to work with. (We cross paths in a local synagogue's Sunday School). She's now eyeing a well-deserved retirement from decades of educational work at a private school and her regular Sunday School gig with me. I absolutely needed to talk to her about how she became a teacher, what teaching means to her, what her teaching philosophy is, what is most exhilarating about working with small children,

01:01:54

Episode 42: Tracy Sheffield will be on the TV show...

What People Do ·

2022/08/16

She’s an awesome veterinary practice manager and management consultant in her day job, but Tracy Sheffield moonlights doing local theater and getting called in for small parts that are just perfect for a horse-smart extra. Find out about her latest gig in an upcoming episode of Walker (find out where to watch it here), how she got started, years ago, watching Animal House get made at her mom’s workplace, and, last but not least, how she helps race horses who can’t race anymore (more about the Roses

37:10

Episode 41: Heike Langdon is on her way to a Master...

What People Do ·

2022/08/02

University of Omaha at Omaha’s Heike Langdon explains what goes into an Urban Studies concentration, what she likes best about nonprofit work, and why she was attracted to a field that touches on serious societal problems today and historically. She’s focused, especially, on redlining in a few large American cities as her degree’s final project. What’s red-lining? Glad you asked. And she’s studying this while she’s working at this cool place on campus that brings together multiple nonprofits under

58:46

Episode 40: Louis Breinin builds robots (with kids)

What People Do ·

2022/07/19

Louis teaches “Industrial Tech” at North Kansas City High School. That’s exciting enough. But one of his classes—and a ton of his extracurricular student assistance—is building robots with kids there. The team competes under the international umbrella of the FIRST Robotics Competition. Louis switched from his engineering degree to a new world of teaching skills like that to kids. Here’s Louis’ adventure in teaching and how his kids’ robots are the same, and different, from those cool BattleBots

55:06

Episode 39: Dan Plazak studies mining fraud

What People Do ·

2022/07/05

"If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.” Maybe that line wouldn’t work on you, but what about somebody who says they’ve found gold, uranium, oil somewhere in them thar hills? Retired geologist Dan Plazak (pronounced “PLAZ-ick,” not “PLAY-zack” as I figured) wrote a book on it: A Hole in the Ground With a Liar at the Top: Fraud and Deceit in the Golden Age of American Mining, an easy-to-pick up collection of swindle stories published in 2006 by University of Utah Press. I

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