Join N and R for a weekly (or biweekly) conversation touching on progressive politics, the social sciences and humanities, and earth-based spirituality. What's the way forward? How can we create community in the face of a state run amok? Ruth is an Alutiiq, mother, writer and activist. N is a Boricua East Coast transplant whose main goals are to live a life that is rooted in indigenous wisdom and to live as simply as possible.
This is a strange conversation: R & N ramble on about the equinox, earth-based spirituality. Then we head into a strange turn into how hoarding works on a societal level in the United States. Trust us, we're on to something here!
15 Feb 2021
Withdrawing Our Projections
R and N talk about the "Wasteland," the problem of categories, and how the overuse of categories can lead to dehumanization. Lastly, they discuss the importance of creativity, especially when we are trying to create new vision for society.
References
Book: Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis, by David Loy. Link at Bookshop (https://bookshop.org/books?keywords=Ecodharma+)
10 Jan 2021
Free Your Mind
R&N discuss the "insurrection" (or whatever you want to call it) in D.C., political polarization, and how chickens are coming home to roost. Fun times!
14 Dec 2020
"A Sense of the Sacred"
R and N discuss the art of writing, words the impact that language has on our consciousness, and briefly delve into the world of dreams. We close with a reading from the book, Recovering a Sense of the Sacred: Conversations with Thomas Berry. We also, changes to the podcast format, discuss Ruth's upcoming book launch party for Zinn, which takes place on this New Year's Eve. Happy Holidays everyone!
Show Notes
About Thomas Berry: http://thomasberry.org/
Carolyn Toben: Recovering a Sense of the Sacred: Conversations with Thomas Berry: https://bookshop.org/books/recovering-a-sense-of-the-sacred-conversations-with-thomas-berry/9780988392809
RJ Stewart: http://rjstewart.org/
Photo Credit: Scenic stars of the Double Cluster from NASA
These celestial sparklers are Caldwell 14, better known as the Double Cluster of the Perseus constellation. "To the naked eye, the two clusters look like one large hazy patch, but binoculars and telescopes neatly split the pair, providing beautiful views of this celestial treasure," said NASA (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/caldwell-14).
Ruth's Online Book Launch Party 12/31: https://www.facebook.com/events/842226376582150
7 Dec 2020
Astro-Politics
N loses track of episode numbers. R and N dive into the world of mundane astrology and discuss the upcoming solar eclipse on December 14 and the Great Conjunction coming up December 21. How do these strong planetary energies influence us on the individual, collective levels, and especially the world of politics (and Biden getting a hairline fracture in his foot)? Join us and find out - mundane astrology FTW!
What is Mundane Astrology? http://www.exploreastrology.co.uk/mundaneastrology.html
30 Nov 2020
Cycles of Life/The Art of Giving Thanks
This turned out to be a really long one! R and N touch on some politics, but spend most of the time discussing their perspectives on earth-based spirituality and how to be artful in one's everyday life. We are all artful co-creators in our existence.
Episode Notes:
The Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address: https://americanindian.si.edu/environment/pdf/01_02_Thanksgiving_Address.pdf
Druidry: www.druidry.org
22 Nov 2020
Manufacturing Crises
We have an ax to grind today! R and N discuss the "housing crisis," why it is not really a "housing crisis" and instead is a crisis of capitalism. N discusses housing issues and the local Occupy City Hall in Bellingham. N and R eventually describe internal colonies in the United States, discuss a Chris Hedges clip and end with an excerpt from Franz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth.
Chris Hedges - The Politics of Cultural Despair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxSN4ip_F6M
Franz Fanon - The Wretched of the Earth: https://bookshop.org/books/the-wretched-of-the-earth-9780802141323/9780802141323
Belingham's 210 Camp: https://www.makeshiftproject.com/kzax-blog/2020/11/21/ds43rx40e380pz22tfm1eddapr1fz8
Ending music by Sodium Bicarbonate from his track, Art Reel.
16 Nov 2020
The Masks We Wear
R and N talk about wearing masks, both literally and metaphorically (mostly metaphorical), reflect on being present in the moment, and discuss their strategies to avoid media propaganda. N shares a story about getting defriended by a former friend because she quoted the Bible to him in the context of redistribution and collective action. We get pretty silly!
Email us your questions and comments at: weeatcake9@gmail.com
References:
Thomas Berry: Recovering a Sense of the Sacred: https://bookshop.org/books/recovering-a-sense-of-the-sacred-conversations-with-thomas-berry/9780988392809
Franz Fanon: The Wretched of the Earth: https://bookshop.org/books/the-wretched-of-the-earth-9780802141323/9780802141323
9 Nov 2020
Episode 11: Stealing Elections
R and N discuss the long election and how it lasted days...and is still being counted! We also discuss how both parties participate in stealing votes and elections. We discuss oligarchs, the US as a failed state, and the tired old trope of "back to normal," laugh at "brunch liberals," and touch upon the departure of Glenn Greenwald from the Intercept for actually DOING HIS JOB. R talks about Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon and it's important lesson at the end of the movie - a brilliant analogy, really. N reads a passage from Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States - from the 23rd chapter, "The Coming Revolt of the Guards," and the hope/warning that Zinn had for the future. N talks about the Biden win as "the calm before the storm" and how Democrats love to use rhetoric but to little to improve the conditions of suffering people.
Special thanks to Sodium Bicarbonate for the opening and closing music, "Art Reel."
Howard Zinn: A People's History of the United States: https://bookshop.org/books/a-people-s-history-of-the-united-states-9780060838652/9780062397348
Glenn Greenwald on his departure from The Intercept: https://greenwald.substack.com/p/my-resignation-from-the-intercept/comments#comment-667948
Dave Chappelle
Post-election SNL Monologue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un_VvR_WqNs&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1IprkMkfjAzrxiSPj7SNvL-lxO9VcyC_KpjpnYFIzDYI3xmONmHgc-5bY
8:46 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tR6mKcBbT4
1 Nov 2020
Don't Feed the Monsters
What a wild ride! R and N talk about many things that they didn't anticipate discussing: the vile "health care" system, media games and the chattering class, living a life with dignity within an abusive system, the deceptive phrase "job creators," strategizing ways to be social while staying safe, and even touch upon conspiracy theories. N closes with reading the poem "Do not Feed the Monsters," by 2019 Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo of the Muscogee Creek Nation.
New - Opening Music! Special thanks to Sodium Bicarbonate for the use of his track, Art Reel. Art Reel was composed in 2019, days after attending an orchestra performance at the community performing arts center in Shoreline, WA. Art Reel is about experiencing humanity with a holistic perspective, more specifically a reminder that when someone retires to their bed someone else on the other side of the globe is only waking up, and despite the position of the Sun in the sky, each person will separate time by eating meals. Because we are literally motivated by hunger. We need to eat. Even after eating, we are still not complete, we will need to eat again.
Jonathan produces music under the alias Sodium Bicarbonate for two reasons: one, obscurity; he intended the name to be difficult to follow. Two, it was the remedy for his own ‘heart burn’.
Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings, by Joy Harjo: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780393353631
25 Oct 2020
Robbing Us of Our Creativity
R and N discuss a variety of things: the U.S. election being fewer than two weeks away, how media and advertising industry, how the ad industry affects our states of mind, the politics of respectability, how being respectable benefits those in power, and how the current social and political climate can rob us of of our creativity and of a vision of a better future. We also discuss why BLM is essential and how BLM connects to the saying of "an injury to one is an injury to all." The Alice in Wonderland image is a nod to Ruth's background on Skype.
18 Oct 2020
Lessons from COVID-19
What is COVID teaching us at this time? R and N discuss what they have learned about the world during COVID. This discussion stems from a conversation that N participated in where a Native elder called COVID "the great teacher." They also discuss the American obsession with prolonging life, disrespecting the land, and the so-called American healthcare system. We discuss why we named the podcast Eating Cake that includes a tiny history lesson and end the podcast reflecting on Teddy Roosevelt and his worry about change being dangerous, but delaying change is fatal. Shout out to our overseas listeners: Norway, Brazil, Ireland, Australia! We love you!
Correction: When discussing Theodore Roosevelt, N mistakenly says the 18th century. It should have been the 1800s. Also, when discussing activism and being a "change agent," N means to address burning out on individualized activism, not collective action. More to come on that later.
11 Oct 2020
Episode 7: Naming as an Act of Love
R and N reflect on Indigenous Peoples' Day, reflect further on land acknowledgments, talk about their own ancestry, what it means to them to be indigenous, and reflect on the power of naming. "Name the word, name the world!"
Sources cited in the podcast:
Real Rent Duwamish: https://www.realrentduwamish.org/
Paolo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed (https://www.powells.com/book/pedagogy-of-the-oppressed-50th-anniversary-edition-9781501314131)
bell hooks' Love as the Practice of Freedom (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjeqpSbya3sAhXNsZ4KHUl_AJ0QFjAAegQIAhAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fuucsj.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F05%2Fbell-hooks-Love-as-the-Practice-of-Freedom.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1ebyWjg9o2Re1kENGe73sg)
Cornel West's Race Matters (https://www.powells.com/book/race-matters-25th-anniversary-with-a-new-introduction-9780807008836)
Cover Picture: Ferns are some of the oldest plants. We honor the land and recognize some of our oldest ancestors and relatives by seeing the fern.
4 Oct 2020
"Pray for the Earth to Win"
R and N start out with a long overdue land acknowledgement, discuss the importance of caring and being in community together, Maslow's hierachy of needs and its indigenous roots, vampires and zombies, and the decadence of the political realm. N ends with reading a passage from Clark Strand's latest book, Now is the Hour of Her Return. Jai Kali Ma!
Podcast References:
Psychology Today article - The Blackfoot Nation (Canada) and its direct influence on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/out-the-darkness/201903/original-influences
Correction in the Podcast Discussion: N mistakenly attributed the Hierarchy of Needs to the Iroquois Nation. See the above article
Clark Strand's Now is the Hour of Her Return: https://wayoftherose.org/now-is-the-hour-of-her-return-poems-in-praise-of-the-divine-mother-kali/
29 Sept 2020
Staying Sane While Living in Insane Times
R & N discuss various strategies they use to stay sane, answer listeners' questions, discuss "Trump Derangement Syndrome," and why they aren't listening to the debate tonight.
21 Sept 2020
Episode 4: The U.S. is a Sh*tshow
R and N discuss the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, discuss the U.S. as a failed state, and examine politics as a form of spellcasting. We had fun with this episode and made fun of the current absurdity of life in the United States.
14 Sept 2020
Episode 3: Initiation by Fire
What does protests, the quarantine, and the wildfires have in common? R and N discuss the West Coast fires and its impact on an ecological level, a psychological level, and a spiritual level. We discuss wildfires, protests, and the quarantine as part of a planetary initiation into a different state of consciousness - both on the individual and collective levels.
Articles and other sources referenced in the podcast:
The Intercept: Mass Extermination Method for Iowa Pigs Amid Pandemic: https://theintercept.com/2020/05/29/pigs-factory-farms-ventilation-shutdown-coronavirus/
NPR: How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled: https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled
Book: Recovering a Sense of the Sacred - Conversations with Thomas Berry: https://www.amazon.com/Recovering-Sense-Sacred-Conversations-Thomas/dp/0988392801
Extinction Rebellion: https://extinctionrebellion.us/
7 Sept 2020
Episode 2: From Assange to Ecocide
R and N start off with an update about the recent news about Julian Assange. The episode takes a quick turn into environmental politics, activism, Celtic mythology, being indigenous, and the politics of genocide. We even briefly touch upon the connection between electoral politics, the politics of being "respectable," and violence.
1 Sept 2020
Eating Cake: Episode 1 - Introduction
Ruth and N. introduce the podcast, why they decided to start a podcast, and what listeners can expect in the near future.
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