KNOWING

Chapter 24 Media Introduces Snowflake: Episode 1 - The Military Option

Sensitive men are often dismissed as “snowflakes,” as if sensitivity were an unusual or unacceptable departure from traditional notions of masculinity. Yet the rigid machismo ideal appears increasingly out of step with the emotional and societal growth demanded by our times.
This month, Knowing releases the first episode of Snowflake, a new Chapter 24 Media podcast hosted by Knowing cohost Rob Stroup. Snowflake delves into a range of cultural themes, offering a fresh perspective through the lens of a sensitive man.
In Episode One, Rob examines a key motivation behind military enlistment through conversations with two guests from different backgrounds. Sylvia Norris and Buddy Jones share how economic opportunity played a pivotal role in their decision to join the military.
Buddy Jones, a charismatic and artistic young man in his mid-twenties, hails from a small town in rural southern New Mexico. Rob catches up with him fresh out of boot camp as he prepares to ship off to his first station in Hawaii. Sylvia Norris, originally from North Carolina, spent a decade working in intelligence for the Department of Defense. Now a veteran, she reflects on the challenges she faced as a black woman navigating a male-dominated military culture.

Whoops I Voted Against Myself

Imagine a world where civic engagement is as enjoyable and enriching as Schoolhouse Rock! made it seem—a world where participating in democracy brings genuine fulfillment. This episode features the voice of Charles Tampio, whose long political career has been marked by a commitment to “doing good for goodness’ sake” and the joy that purpose has brought him.
 
We’ll explore the institutions and laws crafted to foster an informed electorate, the key to avoiding the sentiment, “Whoops, I voted against myself.” Charles shares his firsthand experiences in creating and leading some of these essential systems. Far from the stereotype of the jaded politician, his journey reveals the deep satisfaction that comes from answering the call to serve. His stories invite us to consider: can politics be a fulfilling path? His answer is a resounding yes. Participation in democracy is a gift—one we can all offer and one that, in turn, enriches us.
 
GUESTS 
 
Charles Tampio has dedicated his life to education and fostering an informed electorate, beginning with his role in setting up the Department of Education. For over 25 years, he worked with Close Up, a nonprofit, nonpartisan civic education organization based on the belief that young people from all backgrounds deserve a deep understanding of the democratic process and their roles as citizens. Charles was also a pioneering anchor on C-SPAN, a network dedicated to unfiltered, gavel-to-gavel coverage of legislative proceedings. Additionally, he served as the head of Earth Force, an organization that empowers young people to take civic action on environmental issues. Across these roles, Charles has championed civic engagement, inspiring young people to become active, informed participants in democracy.
 
Our voice actor on the show is John Masterson  chief brewer and founder of The Truth or Consequences Brewery in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. He is part of a team of volunteers who began the TorC Ultra Marathon, a foot race in the Chihuahuan Desert. John’s exemplary in his civic engagement in the small town to which he has called home for over ten years. 

Third Space

First space is home, second space is work, and the third space is where we engage with the social fabric that shapes our lives. It’s where we meet others, share news, build trust, and form social bonds. Third spaces include parks, libraries, cafes, barbershops, airports, bookstores, online forums, elevators, farmers’ markets, and similar places. Historically, these spaces have served as neutral grounds, existing outside cultural, socioeconomic, and racial divides, fostering effortless mingling, chance encounters, and a sense of belonging.
Today, third spaces are in flux. As the world is increasingly mapped and divided for economic growth, these spaces are shrinking. Technology is also transforming them, with augmented realities and intelligent materials creating artificial layers between us, our sense of place, and each other.
This episode explores the relevance of third spaces, the possibilities they offer, and the changes they are undergoing. We’ll hear stories from a New York City cab driver about the intimacy and autonomy of the third space inside a cab’s back seat. Stepping out of the cab and into the public square, we talk with an organizer and a participant in street theater groups who suggest how much we can gain by more fully inhabiting and expanding the boundaries of third spaces. Finally, a designer of future third spaces shares insights on how intelligent materials and augmented reality are reshaping these shared social environments unveiling the possibilities, the process, and the uncertainties that are ahead. 
Guests
Jen Stein is a designer and researcher in speculative design and future-facing world building. Her projects relate to the future of mobility, the future of sustainable cities, the future of work, and augmented, virtual, and extended Realities.
Jaclyn Atkinson is a multidisciplinary creative artist and producer with a background in communication design and printmaking. Jac's work is focused on bringing the whimsy to a greater meaning, and impactful designed experiences. Jaclyn Atkinson, Jonah Levy, and Kate Sclavi cofounded Shadow Traffic, a non-profit arts organization that produces and curates participatory experiences within the interstitial areas of the urban landscape. Our productions look like intimate gatherings, explosive celebrations, and decentralized renegade events in underutilized corners of mapped constructs: spaces we can activate as a temporary autonomous zone available to the public for engagement. 
Shadow Traffic 
Mark Harder (aka Splinter) is a producer and engineer at Hit Factory in New York City. He has participated in the creation and execution of numerous street theater, artivism, and renegade events. 
Rick Dumiak was a New York City cab driver during the 1970s and has a rich background of careers, mostly having to do with human connection.

Future Joy

The journey to the heart of joy is a quest that spans all of time and reaches the depths of the soul. Ten to sixteen million years ago, laughter first emerged. By the late 17th century, the French bequeathed us the term "joie," infusing language with this elusive essence.
Joy is no ordinary experience. It is both a virtue and a revelation—an expression that radiates and transcends barriers. Psychotherapists link it with connection and empathy. Mystics describe joy as a return to our heart.
Joy is as paradoxical as it is profound, simple and mysterious, elusive yet ever-present, natural yet celebrated. It can appear in a heartbeat springing from action, thought, and emotion. Across time, people have considered, Can life be truly meaningful without it?
In 1912, a German scientist’s alchemical pursuit, revealed a molecule that some believes is “the molecule of our time,” MDMA. This discovery opened a portal into the neurochemistry of joy, a symphony of reductions and activations in areas of the brain that allow joy to come forward. 
In this episode, we explore joy through the stories of pied pipers who guide us to joy. We’ll hear wisdom from a teacher of laughter who illuminates the lightness of being, delve into the mechanics of joy as understood by modern psychotherapy, and investigate the neurochemical map of MDMA. Join us as we uncover how these elements converge, offering a deeper understanding and expression of the joy available to us. 
This episode contains an invitation to a wedding, we hope to see you there! Invitation and Wedding Invite & RSVP
 
Interviews
Urana Jackson is a healing justice practitioner, and psychotherapist. She has worked in community-based mental health for over 25 years, and oversaw the mental health programming for middle schools in Oakland, CA. She was an instructor of Restorative Justice at UC Berkeley School of Law. Urana is author of Girls Rising and the creator of  “Ancestor’s Keeper,” a curriculum for adolescent youth surrounding racial trauma and healing. In 2006 Urana was initiated an African spiritual tradition, dating back approx. eight thousand years.  Urana is the creator of a psycho-spiritual therapeutic modality called Safe House Seven which integrate western therapeutic modalities, spiritual technologies and plant medicine.
Urana Jackson
 
Future Joy
Future Joy is a Future-Funk hybrid duo hailing from wherever their mobile RV stage is parked. Emily Cooper & Zach Simms travel the country playing shows and connecting all the cities in between and beyond. Blending elements of funk, house, bass, pop, drum and bass, hip-hop, techno, jazz, dubstep and more. Both artists DJ, sing, and play keyboard while Zach shreds tenor, baritone, and bass saxophones in the key of fun.  
Future Joy
 
Laraaji 
Born Edward Larry Gordon, Laraaji is a musician, mystic, and laughter guide. He studied music composition at Howard University before pursuing Eastern mysticism which led him to the zither. In NYC, he performed on the streets and in parks. An encounter with Brian Eno there led to a collaboration on Ambient 3: Day of Radiance, the third installment of Eno's Ambient series. Laraaji went on to lead meditation groups and study with gurus such as Swami Satchidananda and Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati. He founded Laughter Meditation Workshops, which he continues to present worldwide. His album Segue to Infinity was released in 2023 and was named “The Best Re-release” by Pitchfork, cementing his status as one of the most prominent Ambient and New Age artists of all time.
Larraji

Connection: The Human Difference

Media and technology represent humanity's latest efforts in a long history of striving for connection—a journey that began with the physical expression of body language and evolved through spoken language, the written word, sign language, and now digital media. Each innovation reflects our fundamental need to connect. Authentic connection fulfills our cravings for dopamine, oxytocin, and the reassuring chemicals that validate our pursuit. Conversely, disrupted connection triggers our fight-or-flight response and fosters distrust. This episode of Knowing explores the history of our connection efforts, the biochemistry behind them, and how our current digital media landscape for global connection is influenced by economic structures and political decisions that both support and hinder our quest.
 
GUEST INTERVIEWS
 
Doug Rushkoff was declared the sixth most influential thinker in the world by MIT Technology Review. He’s an American media theorist, writer, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist, and documentarian. He was influential in the early cyberpunk culture and is an advocate for open-source solutions to social problems. He’s known for coining phrases such as viral media, digital native, and social currency.  He has written ten books on media, technology and culture, and has been a writer for cyberculture,  The New York Times Syndicate, The Guardian of London, Arthur, Discover, Daily Beast, and TheFeature. Rushkoff is currently Professor of Media Theory and Digital Economics at the City University of New York, Queens College, and has lectured at The New School University in Manhattan[5] and the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he created the Narrative Lab.
 
His popular book ⁠Program or Be Programmed ⁠is having a 15th anniversary edition release on October 4 from OR/books.
⁠Rushkoff Substack⁠
⁠Team Human - podcast⁠
⁠Website⁠
 
Brandon Krazen Maddox is a founder of Up Until Now Collective which develops and produces new interdisciplinary work that explores empathy, intimacy, and connection, and seeks to challenge the status quo by building new structures for artistic creation. Their projects include the pioneering SOUL(SIGNS), a series of American Sign Language music videos featuring songs by iconic Black female artists including Nina Simone, Tina Turner and Gladys Knight. SOUL(SIGNS) was profiled by The New York Times and ABC World News. 
⁠Up Until Now⁠
⁠Brandon Krazen Maddox⁠
 
Mina Lebitz is an educator and published author with two Advanced Placement test preparation books under her belt – biology and chemistry, both now in their 4th editions.

EARTHALUJAH

The story of Earth's life intertwines with humanity's journey and the beating human heart, central to our planet's well-being. Restoring harmony to nature is a complex task, potentially requiring a new aspect of ourselves, already inherent but dormant. We excel at gathering facts, translating reason into action, and tracing our path to this urgent moment. Whether for an individual organism or a web of life, well-being requires harmony. Harmonizing diverse perspectives differs from problem-solving or fact-finding; it asks that we synthesize our knowledge, imagination, and experience to uncover the innate sense within us that knows how to bring harmony forward. This sense may be waiting to be cultivated and fine-tuned into a skill to be brought alongside thinking, reasoning, and a capacity for action, for the possibility of a grand discovery.
This episode’s guests embody diverse approaches: loudspeaker advocacy, boots-on-the ground community collaboration, the power of journalism and the written word, the dissolving of boundaries through contemplative practice, and the authority of scientific evidence. Together, they create a mosaic that shines light on the human impact, draws us closer to nature, celebrates the power and joy of community, and values the inspirations that fuel our endeavors. Earthalujah! 
Guests
Alan Weisman has reported from more than 60 countries and all seven continents for The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Harper's, The New York Review of Books, Orion, Salon, Vanity Fair, and NPR, among many others.  His last book, Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth? won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His international bestseller The World Without Us, now in 35 languages, was named Best Nonfiction Book of 2007 by Time Magazine and Entertainment Weekly, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, winner of the National Library of China’s Wenjin Book Prize, and one of the 50 Best Nonfiction Books of the Past 25 Years by Slate in 2019.
His next, Hope Dies Last, portrays the audacious efforts of visionaries across the world, determined to find us a workable future despite daunting odds in this make-or-break century. Coming in early 2025 from Dutton/Penguin Random House and in several foreign editions, it chronicles their resolve to feed and energize our civilization without overwhelming the natural environment crucial to our own survival. 
The character of Reverend Billy was developed in the mid 1990s by actor and playwright, William Talen. In the early 1990s in New York City he branded his act as a “new kind of American preacher”. Reverend Billy’s sermons decre the evils of consumerism, the racism of sweatshop labor, and the injustices that affect the earth and contribute to the current climate crisis. Along with the Church of Stop Shopping which later became Earthaljuah, Billy and his choir have been referred to by academics as “performance activism,” “carnivalesque protest,” and “artivists.”
Brad Lancaster is a teacher, community developer and designer of regenerative systems that sustainably enhance local resources and our global potential. He is the author of the award-winning, best-selling book series Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond. Brad has taught throughout North America as well as in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa, and Australia. Brad lives on an oasis-like demonstration site he created with his brother's family in downtown Tucson, Arizona. On this eighth of an acre and surrounding public right-of-way, they harvest 100,000 gallons of rainwater a year where just 11 inches per year fall from the sky.
On this episode Knowing host Wendy Tremayne announced the release of her book, The Good Life Lab: Radical Experiments in Hands-On Living (Hachette 2014 print) as an audiobook. Find it where you listen to audiobooks. 
Listen to the full versions of songs from host Rob Stroup's new release under the name Kick Stand Up.

The Art & Alchemy of Transmutation

Whether we’re talking about trauma, goal setting, the attainment of happiness, or any part of the human experience, we’re not forever stuck with the residue of what’s happened to us, partly because our imagination is limitless. This episode dives into transmutation as a creative process and a metaphor for personal growth. Through alchemy, visual art, and the written and performed word, we're here to ask key questions: What are the perceived limits in finding your magnum opus? What process have you found for discovering your philosopher’s stone? And are you ready to double in size?
Featured Guests
Ranier Amiel Wood is a visual artist and movement teacher based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her highly intimate artwork series, Vulveré, which she has also lectured on, has been shown in NYC, Big Sur, Santa Fe, and Amsterdam. She has been painting women through a process she calls "witnessing" for over ten years worldwide. Her movement method, YesTiger, is an empowering culmination of 22 years of experience teaching movement. She leads art and movement-based retreats and workshops titled Blood+Honey.
Carl Johan Bridge is a Massachusetts-based artist and teacher who applies alchemy to the creative process of making puppets and masks for immersive theater.
Author M. Leona Godin is the founder of Aromatica Poetica, an arts and culture laboratory for the advancement of smell and taste. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Literary Hub, and Catapult. As a New York Public Library Diamonstein-Spielvogel Fellow, she’s working on a series of essays about photography, blindness, and image description.
Tony Furtado is a singer, wide-ranging songwriter, and virtuoso multi-instrumentalist adept on banjo, cello-banjo, slide guitar, and baritone ukulele. Tony has recorded many critically acclaimed albums, collaborating with master musicians such as Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, Tim O’Brien, Stuart Duncan, Kelly Joe Phelps, and Mike Marshall.
Mina Lebitz has an enthusiasm for science and a talent for simplifying complex subjects, making her a sought-after educator. After deep engagement in a PhD program, she began teaching high school and college biology and chemistry and became a premier tutor. Mina is a published author of two Advanced Placement biology and chemistry test preparation books.
Chocolate George, reading "The Poetry of Alchemy: Distillation, Transmutation and Shakespeare's Sonnet 33" by Leona Godin, is an accomplished singer, songwriter, and musician whose purpose and gifts are making music and entertaining people.

Desire

Desire is often misunderstood, sometimes seen in a negative light or, in certain traditions, portrayed as something to be avoided—characterized as sinful. However, the truth is that all our actions originate from desire. It propels us toward our goals, serves as inspiration, facilitates our pursuit of intimacy, and motivates altruism. What if we were to perceive human desire as an asset rather than a liability?
Is desire more profound than mere cravings for the latest gadgets or status-symbol possessions like houses, cars, or a significant other who might elevate our social standing? In this show we’ll examine how, by honestly examining our desires and responding to them with self-compassion, we could come to regard desire as a vital aspect of growth, and self-discovery.
Our interviewed guest, Gayan Macher offers perspectives that encourage us to cultivate, direct, and align with our desires, so that we may discover what we truly want from life. Scientist Mina Lebitz shares biological viewpoints that reveal that desire may be necessary for the evolution of life.
 
Gayan Macher is a companion and guide to those who are called to the courageous path of love. He has practiced and taught the universal Sufism of Hazrat Inayat Khan his entire adult life. He has also studied Buddhist practice, the Diamond Approach, and psychology. 
 
Gayan leads group retreats and has guided scores of individual students including myself. He collaborated with Pir Zia Inayat Khan in designing Suluk Academy, whre he also taught for for eight years. Along with Taj Inayat Gayan founded New Rain, a  laboratory for the process of awakening and spiritual maturation.
 
Among Gayan’s great loves is music. He plays guitar, and is a singer-song writer with several recordings of original music. 
 
Mina Lebitz prides herself on being a lifelong learner. Her enthusiasm for science and talent for simplifying complex subjects have made her a sought-after educator. After a deep engagement in a PhD program, delving into cellular metabolism and fatty acid binding proteins, she began teaching high school and college levels, and became a premier tutor. Mina is a published author with two Advanced Placement test preparation books under her belt – biology and chemistry, both now in their 4th editions. For Mina, the world functions as her laboratory, and textbooks provide a realm of leisurely exploration. She’s also a dedicated omnologist - a passionate explorer of inner and outer realms.
 

It Came to Me in a Dream

According to scientists, everyone dreams. On this show, we explore why we dream, what we gain from dreaming, and the possibilities of what we can accomplish through dreaming if we look at dreaming as a way of knowing. 
 
Dr. Jeffrey Thompson kicks off the subject by explaining brain states, revealing that dreaming isn't confined to sleep alone. Our primary interview features Ken Stringfellow, the songwriter for the band the Posies, who shares his personal experiences of fully formed songs arriving in his dreams. Neuroscientist Katya Valli provides insights into the current scientific understanding of this enigmatic state of consciousness, which remains largely mysterious despite ongoing research efforts.
Guests
Ken Stringfellow - A fixture on the music landscape, indie and otherwise, since the debut of his band The Posies in 1988, Ken Stringfellow has over a quarter century of experience as a performer, composer, producer, arranger, programmer and more. In addition to his 8 albums with the Posies and 4 solo albums (his 5th, “Circuit Breaker” is to be released in 2024), Ken spent a decade touring and recording with R.E.M.; he was also involved in the rebirth of Memphis cult band Big Star, playing with Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens from the band's first reunion shows in 1993 until Chilton's death in 2010. Ken has played onstage or in studio with such artists as Neil Young, the Afghan Whigs, Snow Patrol, Mercury Rev, Thom Yorke, John Paul Jones, Patti Smith, Wilco, Robyn Hitchcock, Ringo Starr, Damien Jurado, Nada Surf, Brendan Benson, Mudhoney, the Long Winters...a very long list indeed. In fact, Ken has appeared on over 350 albums (totaling 9 million physical sales and millions of streams), and performed in 95 countries.
Dr. Thompson is the Founder/Director of the Center for Neuroacoustic Research in Carlsbad, California, a research center which is actualizing its vision of “Healing the Body*Heart*Mind and Spirit through the Scientific Application of Sound.” Dr. Thompson is considered the world’s premier sound healing researcher, brainwave entrainment expert, and high-tech personal transformation innovator, motivator and futurist. He is a physician/ musician, composer, inventor, educator and author. His work addresses harmony between the body/mind/spirit and is clinically proven to foster deep personal wellness and expansion of consciousness. Certified in multiple healthcare modalities, Dr. Thompson draws people nationally and internationally to his clinical practice and to his cutting-edge auditory, kinesthetic and visual therapeutic products and services.
Katja Valli, PhD, is a Professor at the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Philosophy, University of Skövde, Sweden, and an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Finland. She has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on dreaming and consciousness and edited, together with Robert J. Hoss, the reference work Dreams: Understanding Biology, Psychology, and Culture (Vol. 1) (2019, Greenwood). She is a past President of the International Association for the Study of Dreams and an avid dreamer.
Special thanks to Andrea Allen for the reading of the Taoist story of metamorphosis.

Darkness Brings The Light

The 'tension of opposites' is a concept that suggests opposing forces coexist, generating tension that fosters change, growth, and transformation.
In our main interview on this episode, we explore how tension was navigated in the context of constitutional law and religious freedom. Attorney Stu De Haan shares a personal story of how he embodied the Luciferian character, serving as a scapegoat, and prompting us to confront our conflicting desires, beliefs, and motivations. This episode explores how the tension of opposites may propel the human narrative forward and facilitate a reconciliation of opposites.
Physicist Suhwardi Gebel further underscores the interdependence of darkness and light, emphasizing their function in the universe.
GUESTS
Stu de Haan is the legal advisor for The Satanic Temple as well as trial counsel for the Invocation Campaign and the Battle for Baphomet in Arkansas. He co-founded the Arizona chapter and was the co-Chapter Head for several years before serving on the Temple’s National Council. He retired from that position in order to handle legal battles against Satanic religious discrimination. He is an instructor for the Ordination Program focusing on the history of Witch Hunts. He hosted TST.TV’s “Devil’s Dispatch” talk show for one season. A firm believer that ritual practice is essential to the burgeoning modern Satanic movement, he incorporates these practices into short instructional films and his own personal practices. 
William Hassan Suhrawardi Gebel earned a BA in physics from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in astrophysics from the University of Wisconsin, followed by postdoctoral work at the University of Chicago's Yerkes Observatory. He was an assistant professor of astrophysics at SUNY Stony Brook.