Dan 11:32

In this week’s episode, we consider an important chapter in C. Wright Mills’ book, The Power Elite, that speaks to the position of “the masses” in a society governed by the power elites.

In this week’s episode I’m giving a summary of C. Wright Mills’s important 1956 book, The Power Elite. We’ll look at the makeup of the American power elite, the spheres of power, and how that power and influence is wielded.

In this week's episode we'll discuss the link between the "transgender" movement and transhumanism, using Martine Rothblatt's 1995/2011 book From Transgender to Transhuman as our starting point.

Thirty years ago this week, the siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, was brought to a horrific end, resulting in the death of 86 people. In this week's episode, we consider this event from the perspective of an article recently published in the Independent, and what lessons must be learned from it.

In this week's episode, we'll begin an exploration of the issue of Christian Zionism, starting with a description of Christian Zionism, and providing an introductory evaluation of its premises and problems, as well as discussing why this issue is an important one.

What kinds of corporations are working to bring Digital IDs to the world? In this episode, we take a look at one of them - the Thales Group - and see what else they're up to.

This week's episode is a conversation with James Pew, of Woke Watch Canada. We talk about Woke Watch Canada's work, the "woke" movement, where it comes from and what it's trying to accomplish, and what Woke Watch Canada is doing to combat it.

Today's episode is an introduction to transhumanist Martine Rothblatt, founder of the Terasem Movement and author of Virtually Human: The Promise - and the Peril - of Digital Immortality.

In 1935, USMC Major General Smedley Butler wrote a booklet entitled "War is a Racket." In this episode, we take a look at the life and times of Smedley Butler, and see that what he said in the 1930s remains valid in the 2020s.

In today's episode I speak with Jim McMurtry, who was recently fired from his teaching position by the Abbotsford, B.C. School Board for contradicting "the narrative" about Canadian Native residential schools and standing for the truth. 

Today I follow up on last week's episode on "nudging," "choice architecture," and the Behavioural Insights Team. We look at an example of the Behavioural Insights Team's work, and also spend some time talking about Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler's responses to criticism that their work has received. 

In this week's episode, we dig a little deeper into the issue of "nudging," examining Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler's idea of "libertarian paternalism," and how governments are using these tactics to manipulate their citizens.

Recently a relatively well-known actor caught some flak on Twitter for agreeing with a tweet declaring that a certain large pharmaceutical company is a danger to the world. In today's episode, we look at how the actions of this company over the past fifteen years testify to the reality of the tweet, and discuss how it is no longer considered appropriate to make such comments. 

In 1974, The Kissinger Report (NSSM-200 - Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for U.S. Security) was completed. It did not become public until the 1990s, and it reveals much about U.S. international population policy. Its implications are very current, even after fifty years. In this episode, we look at the Kissinger Report, and see how the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is still putting Kissinger's ideas into practice around the world. 

A brief episode today, looking at the connection between Sesame Street and the U.S. Armed Forces. In this episode, we'll consider how "educational entertainment for children" may be influenced by funders, and how its messaging must be examined in the light of the worldviews of those who pay the bills. 

In today's episode, we'll discuss how we can tell fact from fiction in media reports. Using an example from a widely-shared website, we'll follow the steps in separation truth from falsehood and baseless speculation from genuine journalism. 

For decades we've been told that there are too many human beings on this planet for life to be sustained, and apocalyptic predictions about our imminent demise have been made since the 1960s. In this episode, we look at the international drive toward population reduction, its roots and fruits, and discuss what our response to this movement should be in the light of God's Word.

In today's episode we'll look at the way the media and political narrative surrounding Ukraine has shifted over the past year, especially concerning the activity of "extreme right-wing" groups in that country. 

Today we'll listen to Tony Blair speaking about Digital ID at the WEF in Davos, consider how it is being touted as a cure for all ills, and what this push for Digital ID means for us. 

Darren Byler's 2021 book In the Camps: China's High-Tech Penal Colony reveals how Big Tech and the totalitarian State in China have combined forces to develop systems of oppression and control of the Uyghur population in China's Xinjiang province. In today's episode, we look at the links between these developments and American tech corporations, and the danger of imagining that "this could never happen here."

I recently stumbled across a Canadian public school curriculum website that vividly demonstrates the necessity for discernment, digging a little deeper, and being aware of the interests at work behind the scenes in shaping public opinion. In this week's episode of Dan 11:32, we take a look at kidsboostimmunity.com. 

Author Yasha Levine refers to Silicon Valley as "Surveillance Valley," and the book that bears this title reveals much about how true that moniker really is. In this episode of Dan 11:32, we'll look at the roots of the Internet in the American military-industrial complex, and the continuing role that Big Tech continues to play in seeking to build a world where  everyone is watched, predicted, and controlled.

How did we become a society that proclaims "tolerance" to be the greatest good, while still being so intolerant toward certain points of view? In this week's episode, we explore this question, looking at the influential 1965 essay by Herbert Marcuse, "Repressive Tolerance," and considering its lasting and destructive influence.

In this week's episode I discuss Dr. Mark McDonald's 2021 book The United States of Fear: How America Fell Victim To A Mass Delusional Psychosis. McDonald argues that America suffered two pandemics: a viral one, and a psychological one, with the "pandemic of fear" being far more dangerous and damaging. His thesis, that this "fear pandemic" is rooted in the natural anxieties of women on behalf of their children and families, worsened by the way in which feminized men failed their women, inflamed and amplified by sensationalistic media, and driven over the top by authoritarian measures, remains important to consider even outside of the "pandemic" context.

In today's episode, I go through the introduction of Mark Milke's 2021 book The Victim Cult: How the Grievance Culture Hurts Everyone and Wrecks Civilzations, and address what Milke has to say about this "grievance culture" in the context of the previous two episodes on "Truth and Reconciliation."

The truth matters, and it often falls victim when the dominant ideology is being promoted. In this episode, we use the examples of the Kamloops Residential School and the Nicholas Sandmann case to discuss the importance of discernment, and the lack of discernment that has often been shown, even in the evangelical world. In this episode, I go through the following article, published in January of this year: https://www.dorchesterreview.ca/blogs/news/in-kamloops-not-one-body-has-been-found

In today's episode, we consider last week's "Day of Truth and Reconciliation," what this day really means, the ideology upon which it is based, and what that means for the way in which we participate in it. In this episode, we'll consider Tom Flanagan's article, "Did Indian Residential Schools Cause Intergenerational Trauma," which can be found here: https://www.dorchesterreview.ca/blogs/news/did-indian-residential-schools-cause-intergenerational-trauma

On Friday, September 16th, I gave a presentation at the inaugural Canadian Theopolitans conference (www.canadiantheopolitans.ca). The presentation was based on a chapter in my forthcoming book entitled "Creating Superman," and explores the history and philosophy of transhumanism, and the importance of the transhumanist ideology on the world stage today. In this week's episode, I'm sharing that presentation here on the podcast. It covers some material that I've already covered in previous episodes, but puts all of that information in one (relatively) concise package. What is transhumanism, why should we care, and how should we as Christians respond to the danger of transhumanism?

People have four great hopes: a second innocence after long immersion in a broken world, a justice that is clean and without ambiguity, a security that cannot be undermined, and a world in which there are no more difficult labours. In this episode, we will consider the ways in which Identity Politics attempts to provide shortcuts to the realization of these hopes, with reference to Joshua Mitchell's book American Awakening: Identity Politics and Other Afflictions of our Time. 

In this episode we conclude our look at Mattias Desmet's book The Psychology of Totalitarianism, drawing some conclusions and offering an evaluation of Desmet's conclusions. 

This week I read a letter that was published on the Aquila Report, and talk about the way in which identity politics twists the Christian concepts of transgression, innocence, and the scapegoat for its own purposes. 

In this episode I go through chapters seven and eight of Mattias Desmet's 2022 book The Psychology of Totalitarianism. In this week's episode we'll look at "The Leader and the Masses," and "Conspiracy and Ideology."

This week we'll continue our journey through Mattias Desmet's The Psychology of Totalitarianism, and work our way through the fifth and sixth chapters - "The Desire for a Master," and "The Rise of the Masses."

This week we'll look at the third and fourth chapters of Mattias Desmet's 2022 book The Psychology of Totalitarianism. In these chapters, Desmet discusses the goals of the mechanistic ideology, and the method that adherents of this ideology uses to gather knowledge. This episode follows up on last week's episode, which discusses the introduction and first two chapters of the book, so if you haven't already listened to that episode, I recommend that you start there!

This week I begin a detailed look at Mattias Desmet's 2022 book The Psychology of Totalitarianism, in which he explains the nature of "mass formation" and its results. In this episode we'll go through the introduction and the first two chapters of the book, in which Desmet begins to discuss the issue of Science and its Psychological Effects. 

This week's episode is a preview of my forthcoming book, How In The World Did We Get Here? Today I read Chapter 4, "Sexual Revolutions," which explores the Twentieth Century sexual revolutions which have shaped our prevailing culture's views on sexuality, marriage, family, and the relationship between the sexes. 

In this week's episode, I address the question of how we should live in the light of the concerning current events and trends that we are witnessing and experiencing. Does expressing concern about the state of the world mean that we are living in fear? And does speaking out about these issues make us fear-mongers? 

Following up on the previous two episodes focusing on family life and the important role that parents have in their children's lives, this week we consider the role of fathers, especially as it relates to their responsibility toward their sons. Is there a "crisis of masculinity" in our society? And if so, what is behind it?

This week's episode follows up on last week's discussion of the "separationist" trend, focusing specifically on the issue of government-subsidized universal daycare and the way the separation of children from their mothers continues to be encouraged. Beginning with Brian C. Robertson's book, Day Care Deception: What The Childcare Establishment Isn't Telling Us, we'll examine the question of who benefits from the move from in-home parental care to institutional care of children outside the home. Hint: it's neither children nor their parents!

Experts tell us that absence of parents in children's lives is not as damaging as we may imagine it to be. In this episode, we examine that claim, using Mary Eberstadt's 2004 book Home-Alone America as our starting point. 

In this week's episode, we take a look at a recently-published article about "cultivated meat," and the way in which the narrative is being shaped to promote the consumption of meat substitutes grown in bioreactors. 

This week's episode is a conversation with Dwayne Faber, an American dairy farmer, writer, and public speaker, about a number of issues surrounding the production of food and the agricultural industry. In a wide-ranging conversation, we touch on issues including environmentalism, food security, GMOs, and how to think of these issues in a way that is shaped by our Christian worldview. 

Dwayne's website is https://dwaynefaber.com/, and he can be found on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/dfaber84. 

In this week's episode we take a look at the Rockefeller Foundation's 2020 policy paper, "Reset the Table," and examine the way in which this organization is seeking to shape the narrative about the "food system" in the United States (and the world). 

In this week's episode we follow up on last week's discussion of Klaus Schwab's "great narrative" by taking a more in-depth look at the ideology and practical outworking of the technocratic system of government, using Parag Khanna's 2017 book Technocracy in America as our starting point. 

Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum want to make their ideas "palatable so that a large majority of citizens embrace them." In order to accomplish this goal, they have come up with their own "Great Narrative" - their own understanding of the challenges that the world is facing, and how those challenges can be dealt with. In this episode, we'll look at Klaus Schwab's latest book, The Great Narrative For a Better Future, and evaluate the worldview that Schwab is promoting, as well as his proposed solutions.

You may remember Smokey Bear, or McGruff the Crime Dog. You may see or hear "public service announcements" brought to you by the same folks who brought you those famed commercial characters of old, The Advertising Council. But what is the Ad Council? Who runs it, and who funds it? In this episode, we'll look at the Ad Council and the role it plays in propagandizing the masses. 

As the sphere of personal privacy continues to shrink and attacks on privacy rights worsen, the issue of privacy is very much a living concern. In this episode we discuss the relationship between privacy and power, the history and meaning of privacy, and why it is so important to us to maintain and fight for the right to privacy.

Stanley Milgram's 1962 experiment investigated the human tendency to obey authority figures, even when that obedience meant acting against one's own moral principles. In this episode, we take a look at Milgram's experiment and some of the conclusions that he drew, and apply these conclusions in today's world. 

In this week's episode I sat down with Tim Jonker and William Ravensbergen to speak about their participation in the Freedom Convoy and the Ottawa protest in recent weeks. We talk about their experiences from the beginning of the convoy to its ignominious end last week, and speak about how their Christian faith led them to take part in this protest, what it accomplished, and where we go from here.

In this week's episode I speak with Pr. Nathan Zekveld about what our Reformed confessions have to say about the current situation in Canada and elsewhere. The confessions, especially the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism, have a lot to say about how the Church, and we as individual Christians, should deal with issues such as lockdowns, decrees forbidding or limiting corporate worship, and participation in peaceful protest. We address these issues from the perspective of our confessions, and the Word of God, upon which they are based.

In this episode I'm joined by Pr. Tim Schouten for a conversation about Romans 13. Over the past two years, this passage of Scripture has been debated and discussed by many Christians. We discuss what this passage means, what the broader context of Scripture has to teach us about submission to authorities, and how we should apply it today. 

Late last week I sat down for a conversation with Tyler and Lucas from the Real Talk podcast. We talked about a number of the issues that I've been addressing on Dan 11:32, including propaganda, the corporate media, big tech, and even the truckers' protest. I really enjoyed our conversation, and encourage you to check out the Real Talk podcast!

As a massive convoy of truckers and their supporters makes it way to Canada's capital, attracting enthusiastic support and a lot of attention around the world, we consider Saul Alinsky's thirteen "rules for radicals," and how these rules relate specifically to the reaction to this movement. 

The influence of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals has had a pernicious effect on the political sphere since its publication in 1971. In this episode, we'll begin an examination of Alinsky's tactics, and the ideology that forms their foundation: pragmatic action to win power. In order to fight wisely, we need to know our enemy and the methods he uses, so that we recognize them for what they are and learn how to counter them. 

For the past two years, much of the world has been in a near-permanent "state of exception" because of what is described as a "public health crisis." In this episode, we consider the importance of the current situation as a battle of worldviews, using Giorgio Agamben's article "Religion as Medicine" as our starting point. 

People who oppose mask mandates are often characterized as selfish individualists who care more about their personal comfort than for the safety, well-being, and comfort of others. In this episode, we challenge that mischaracterization of "anti-maskers" by going back in time to 1957, and an article about the use of masks in tuberculosis wards. We'll see how the use of masks as a religious talisman is a serious issue that should lead us to challenge the idea that obeying mask mandates is beneficial or even morally acceptable. 

In this year-end show, we take a look at the year that has almost come to a close, and look forward to the year ahead. As the title of Steve Deace's recent book says, "Do what you believe, or you won't be free to believe it much longer." Using portions of Deace's book, we'll consider why it appears that freedom is endangered by encroaching tyranny, and how best to do what we believe. 

Last week we considered how the news media distorts reality and warps the minds of uncritical consumers. In this week's episode, we'll consider 10 things that we can do to, in the words of John Zada, "mitigate the impact the news has on our individual lives, and on our society."

In this week's episode, we examine how the news media distorts reality and, in the words of author John Zada, "warps our minds" when we fail to be critical and skeptical consumers of its product. 

Thomas Sowell refers to the intellectual elite as "The Anointed," and their ideology as "The Vision of the Anointed." In this episode we continue the discussion of Episode 30 about this vision, its presuppositions and goals, and how to see through the often articulate arguments of "the anointed." 

In his book Dispatches from the Vaccine Wars, Dr. Christopher A. Shaw devotes a chapter to "Vaccine Ideology and Religion." In this episode, we'll use Shaw's book as a springboard to discuss the debate over vaccines and vaccine mandates in the context of two contrasting worldviews, and the religious nature of the modern medical and scientific establishment.

In today's episode, we consider the place of the "intellectual class" in our world. We'll consider the dangers of deferring to what Thomas Sowell calls "the Anointed Class," the intelligentsia, and the class of experts whose influence only continues to grow. We also discuss why it's so important for us to know what the intellectual class is up to, since its ideas act as a contagion that threaten to infect the whole of society, and how we can confidently stand our ground in this battle. 

In this episode we examine the guiding principles behind the United Nations' Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as outlined by Julian Huxley, the organization's first Director, in his book UNESCO: Its Purpose and Philosophy. 

One of the most important factors leading to the "Sexual Revolution" of the 20th Century was the publication of The Kinsey Report (Sexual Behavior in the Human Male) in 1948. In this episode, we'll examine the work of Alfred Kinsey, his methodology, the contents of his report, and look at how his study led to societal changes that continue to the present day. 

Margaret Mead's book "Coming of Age in Samoa" took the world by storm when it was published in 1928, and, according to Sherwood Washburn, "influenced the way people were brought up in the United States" (and throughout the western world, really). It was not until the 1980s that Mead's study was revealed as being a serious misrepresentation of the culture and character of Samoa. But by that time, the damage had already been done. In this episode, we take a look at Margaret Mead's work - a case study in academic and intellectual dishonesty. 

In this episode we continue our study of the social justice movement in the evangelical church by introducing the topic of Liberation Theology. We see that there are various types of connections between the Liberation Theology movement and the current movement for "social justice" within the church, and that the history of Liberation Theology has a lot to teach us about how we should evaluate the Social Justice movement. 

As we continue our study of "social justice," we turn to several Scripture passages that are among many used by Christian advocates of the social justice movement - Exodus 22, Job 29, and Leviticus 25, and consider whether they can rightly be used to support the tenets of the social justice movement. d

We hear a lot about "social justice,"  but not a lot about what "justice" actually is, let alone "social"  justice. In this episode, we begin an in-depth look at the issues  surrounding social justice, starting with definitions of "justice" and  "social justice."

In May 2021, the British Department of Defence, in partnership with the German Bundeswehr Office for Defence Planning, published "Human Augmentation: The Dawn of a New Paradigm." In this episode, we continue to explore the important theme of Transhumanism, as we examine this publication to learn about the presuppositions behind the military Transhumanist agenda, and the dangers inherent to human augmentation.

Over the past year we have heard this refrain more and more: "Don't  question the science." In this episode, we'll take a look at the  chimerical research being done at the Salk Institute in California, and  what this type of research means for our understanding of the purpose,  place, and ethics of science. When it often appears that the question  guiding scientific experimentation is, "What can we do," and not, "What  should we do," there are many serious questions that need to be asked,  and serious decisions to be made about the place, role, and limitations  of science.

Many, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, claim that any  concern about the "Great Reset" is just a "conspiracy theory." In this  episode, we learn that it is anything but, as we look at the Canada  Beyond 150 document, "Capital and Debt."

Last week, what had previously been considered a "conspiracy theory" worthy of censure was suddenly transformed into an acceptable subject to be discussed on Facebook. In this episode, we consider what happens when "conspiracy theory" becomes  "conspiracy reality."

In this episode we learn how to create a mass society made up of  compliant and unthinking followers - in other words, the history of  compulsory schooling. Beginning with John Taylor Gatto's book The  Underground History of American Education, we see one of the ideological  movements that has led us to the situation in which we find ourselves  today.

What happens when Christian leaders jump on the bandwagon of the latest  “scientific” fad? The acceptance of eugenics by many Christians in the  early 20th Century provides one example of how the forces of wickedness work to co-opt the church, and how successful they can be. In this  episode, I go through some of the history, and speak about why this  history is very relevant today.

In 1922 Margaret Sanger's best-known  book, The Pivot of Civilization, was published. In this episode we'll  take an in-depth look at Sanger's message in this book, and the influence that her ideology continues to have on society nearly a  hundred years later.

"Eugenics" is “the study or practice  of attempting to improve the human gene pool by encouraging the  reproduction of people considered to have desirable traits and  discouraging or preventing the reproduction of people considered to have  undesirable traits.” In this episode, we examine the work and legacy of  Sir Francis Galton, and the continuing influence of eugenicist ideology  on the spirit of the age in the 21st Century.

In this episode we continue to explore transhumanist ideology, focusing  on Arthur Koestler's 1968 book The Ghost in the Machine. Why is this  important in 2021? Because Koestler's ideology is alive and well, and  more dangerous than ever, as we can see in the work of a bioethicist who  argues that a "morality pill" could be a solution to the Covid19  "pandemic."

Do you ever get the feeling that you're being sold a bill of goods? That  you're being played? That you're being manipulated? In this episode we  discuss "artificial scarcity," a marketing technique that has come to  the fore recently, as the issue of "vaccine envy" has suddenly become a  thing.

In this episode we look at the meaning of transhumanism and the roots of  transhumanist ideology, by examining the work of Julian Huxley, who  coined the term. This is another one of the "big ideas" that are shaping  21st Century culture, and understanding the poisonous root of this  ideology will help us to deal with its poisonous fruit!

What can a book published in 1516 teach us about the dangers confronting  us in the 21st Century? As it turns out, a whole lot! In this episode,  we consider Thomas More's "Utopia," utopian thinking, and why utopianism  is such a destructive and dangerous ideology.

Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook is one of the "big four" tech giants that has  taken over the world over the past two decades. In this episode we  explore the history of Facebook, the story of Mark Zuckerberg, and talk  about the dangers inherent to this social network and the way it's being  used to shape society.

In 1956, Dr. Joost Meerloo published  "The Rape of the Mind: The Psychology of Thought Control, Menticide, and  Brainwashing." In this episode we summarize some of Meerloo's work on  the techniques of mind control used in wartime, in totalitarian  societies, and their use in propaganda today - and how we can be  prepared to counter the effects of propaganda in our own lives.

H.G. Wells is best-known today as one of the "fathers of science  fiction," as the author of The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, and  The Time Machine. But his lasting legacy goes far beyond his  contributions to literature. In this episode of Dan 11:32, we'll look at  Wells's "Open Conspiracy," his visions for a future technocratic  society, and the continuing importance of his ideas.

How can we use critical thinking skills to avoid being deceived by the  distorted messages that the media is sending out? In this episode, I  examine two specific examples to show how the corporate media is shaping  the news, and why.

As the influence of Big Tech continues to make itself felt, its dangers  become all the more apparent. This episode introduces the issues  surrounding the tech giants and their place in our lives.

"Conspiracy theory" and "conspiracy theorist" are two phrases that have been thrown around more and more over the past year. In this episode I talk about my preferred expression: "Conspiracy Realism." 

Continuing our discussion of  propaganda, we turn to the "father of public relations," Edward Bernays,  and his 1928 book, Propaganda.

Part I of a discussion of propaganda, beginning with a look at Jacques Ellul's book Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes. We live in a propaganda society. What does this mean, and how can we avoid getting sucked in by it? 

Welcome to Dan 11:32, where we seek to equip Christians to "stand firm and take action." In our first episode, Jim Witteveen explains the purpose behind the Dan 11:32 podcast, and what he hopes to accomplish with it. Join us!