The Neutral Ground Podcast with Dr. Joe Meyer

How did the universe come into being? Was there much of a bang to the Big Bang? Is there a parallel universe out there where I like tiramisu? We answer at least two of the three questions listed above. I won't tell you which two, however. You're just going to have to watch. We're very fortunate this...

Does language impact our ability to think? George Orwell seemed to think so. I ask this question to our guest this week: Dr. Nick Enfield. Dr. Enfield has written a fantastic book: Language vs. Reality: Why Language is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists. We talk about the problems of framing th...

2022 marks the 100-year anniversary of James Joyce's novel Ulysses. Why is this text still so widely read? What makes it such a difficult novel to read? I was first introduced to Joyce as an undergraduate, and it was difficult to read through, but incredibly rewarding. You feel like you've accomplis...

It has been said that the next great world war will not be fought on land, sea, or air. It will be fought in the cyber world. If this is true, we will need all the help that we can get. That leads us to our guest for this week: Dr. Duane C. Wilson. Dr. Wilson has both professional and academic exper...

You've heard me discuss the importance of narrative reassurance in a neomodern sense. Our guest, Kevin M. Kraft, is a Neomodern author. He is writing character-driven stories that believe in constructs of right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, and characters who must face their greatest fears. I am not usu...

We all know that it is important to read to children from a young age; however, what we read is also important. It is understandable for parents today to be worried about making sure that children are aware of potentially negative outcomes within the world, but we must also arm children with resilie...

12 Angry Men is often near the top of many lists of top 100 films. However, it was not always certain that this would become the classic that it has become. This week, our guest is Dr. Phil Rosenzweig. We're going to discuss his book: Reginald Rose and the Journey of 12 Angry Men. We're going to dis...

How many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man? This question remains at the heart of societies and cultures everywhere. Rituals, rites of passages, and cultural norms all attempt to answer this difficult question. In this episode of The Neutral Ground Podcast, my guest (Dr. Marlo...

By now, just about everyone has heard of the infamous slap by Will Smith on Chris Rock. What the heck happened? How did we get here? I think I have one way to approach the conversation. It has to do with our growing conscious awareness of Neomodernism. I talk about how stand up comedy might need to ...

The conversation surrounding video games and violence has continued to be a polarizing topic, which makes Dr. Christopher Bartel's book a perfect addition to The Neutral Ground family. Bartel's book (Video Games, Violence, and the Ethics of Fantasy) takes a much-needed nuanced approach to the discus...

Is Putin being led by a pull toward narrative? What does that even mean? Putin is a student of history--specifically, he loves to talk about the exploits of various Russian figures in history: Catherine, the Great being a prime example. Does Putin see himself as the next "great"? Is this one of the ...

Who needs a hero? We all do. In times of great anxiety, depression, and cynicism, the hero reminds us of what is good in the world and what is worth fighting for. This week on The Neutral Ground Podcast, my guest is Led Bradshaw. Led is the illustrator and co-author of Jake Jetpulse comics. Jake Jet...

Captain Ahab is not crazy; he's mad. That's not the same thing. In this episode of the Neutral Ground Podcast, we're going to take a look at chapter 132 of Herman Melville's classic Moby-Dick. We'll bring in John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion; the writings of C.G. Jung, including Ans...

Is there salvation for the monstrous? This is just one of the important questions we explore in this episode of the Neutral Ground Podcast with my guest Dr. Jonathan Greenaway. We talk about some familiar characters in this episode: Milton's Satan, Frankenstein's creature, Aliens, Scrooge, Bram Stok...

All the world is a stage this week on The Neutral Ground Podcast. My guest is actress Valorie Hubbard. Valorie has a whole host of credits: Castle, Marvel's Agent’s of S.H.I.E.L.D; How I Met Your Mother; Glee; American Horror Story; Workaholics; True Blood; 90210; ER; Desperate Housewives; and she e...

In this week's episode of The Neutral Ground Podcast, we discuss Dr. Duane Armitage's book: Philosophy's Violent Sacred. In the book, Armitage explores French philosopher Rene Girard's reading of religion as catharsis for the appeasement of group violent tendencies. We discuss the thesis of his book...

In this extemporaneous reading of Satan's soliloquy from Book 4 of John Milton's Paradise Lost, we take a look at some of the more intriguing lines that show just how much Satan suffers under the weight of his own shame. I hope this solo episode helps to enrich some of the conversations that we are ...

My guest this week is Dr. Angus Fletcher. Dr. Fletcher is Professor at Ohio State University in the Project Narrative program. He has appeared on numerous podcasts, including Jordan B. Peterson and The Michael Shermer Show. Dr. Fletcher is the author of Wonderworks, a fantastic book that answers the...

The great actor/comedian Harvey Korman made a countless number of people laugh, cry, and cheer with the work that he did in movies like Blazing Saddles, History of the World: Part 1, and television shows like the Carol Burnett Show, Mama's Family, The Flintstones, and many more. He has been lauded f...

Are there ways to reconcile faith and science, and can doing so actually strengthen both? My guest on this episode of the podcast is Dr. Jeff Zweerink. Dr. Zweerink is an astrophysicist, specializing in gamma rays. We talk about the various multiverse theories--even the Marvel Cinematic Universe mul...

In this first episode of season 2, we take on a heavy topic: critical thinking. We talk about the Joe Rogan vs CNN rhetorical battle--and why we all lose with this kind of rhetoric; Jonathan discusses modern-day journalism a little bit; we model a bit of Aristotelian logic; I expose my own recent fa...

From the podcasting rhetorics of Joe Rogan to a Holocaust survivor's story, I was incredibly fortunate to have been able to share some time with some incredible guests in this first season of The Neutral Ground Podcast. We talked about the Enlightenment, Romanticism, Modernism, Postmodernism, and Ne...

Dr. Alex Hershaft, a Holocaust survivor, can still vividly recall seeing the wall being built in Warsaw, Poland when he was just a young man. To hear his story is to understand the power of the spoken word and the importance of story to our history as a species. In this episode, Dr. Hershaft and I d...

In this episode of the Neutral Ground Podcast, I'm joined by quite the impressive guest: David Fishof. David has led multiple lives. He was a sports agent for the Super Bowl winning quarterback of the New York Giants, Phil Simms, and he negotiated against the Yankees legendary owner George Steinbren...

In this episode of The Neutral Ground Podcast, we're joined by Michael Fienen, a truly unique individual with a lot of experience developing tools for the internet. In Michael's 25 years in web development, he's seen how companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have evolved over the years--an...