Soul Forge Podcast
Episodes
Thursday Dec 27, 2018
Year In Review 2018 - 81
Thursday Dec 27, 2018
Thursday Dec 27, 2018
Looking back at the year that was 2018 - this is our Year in Review special.
Shawn is joined by two of his semi-regular co-hosts, Tracy and Jason. On this episode, the Soul Forge gang takes a peek at some of the most significant episodes produced by the podcast in 2018. Highlights include love, loss, and minimalism. Strippers, booze, and drugs are also mentioned, as is divorce and intimacy.
A major topic this year was the idea of sex. Sex appeared in a number of episodes. Shawn talked about his first sexual experience. Whit told his story of being a virgin at age 28, and then several episodes later, he spoke about having sex for the first time. Shawn, Karen and Jason joked about sex in elevators on episode 69. No actual sex was had during the podcast recordings.
Other topics included weed legalization and preparing for the arrival of a baby. Shawn talked about buying and selling houses. Tracy talked about survival. Jason talked about his new baby. Karen talked about confidence. Daniel talked about writing books. Many people not mentioned in the show made great contributions to the Soul Forge Podcast this year.
We joined the ESO Podcast Network this year.
We joined Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3JXWZDq6CXqrWTI5yYx04B
We joined Tune In: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Health--Wellness-Podcasts/Soul-Forge-Podcast-p1181627/
We're on Twitter: @soulforgepod
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCataaeTRQltObb7n1GHW_qw/videos
This week's podcast promo: Myopia Defend Your Childhood
Thursday Dec 20, 2018
The Power of FANDOM - 80
Thursday Dec 20, 2018
Thursday Dec 20, 2018
Saving the world while perched on the edge of normal!
We're taking a look at how fandom is changing the world for the better. What is fandom? It is a group of like-minded people who come together to form a community of sorts. Social media has been a major factor in the changing face of fan acceptance. Without it, many fans (geeks, nerds, dorks, outcasts, misfits) would have trouble finding their people.
Celebrities, often geeks or fans themselves, have used their star power to help unite the various fandoms. They use this power for social change, and to help mitigate the effects of loneliness, bullying anddepression.
Chase Masterson for example, is the spokesperson for Pop Culture Hero Coalition | Let's Stop Bullying Together
Misha Collins uses GISH to bring hope to the world and change it for the better.
What is the difference between sports geeks and fandom geeks? Both kinds of geeks often dress up to show their support for their chosen interest. However, the sports geek is more often given a free pass and not seen as abnormal or weird.
When nerds make money, it changes the world. Their interests become the interests of the world (eg. Elon Musk, Steve Jobs)
The gatekeepers of fandom.
This week's podcast promo: Caster Quest
Thursday Dec 13, 2018
The Lonely Shawn Problem - 79
Thursday Dec 13, 2018
Thursday Dec 13, 2018
The lonely Shawn, also known as, the sad Shawn episodes were a series of Rusted Robot Podcast shows. For a time, Rusted Robot was co-hosted by husband and wife team Shawn and Brigitte Vanderloo. For a variety of reasons, that relationship fell apart. Yet, the team decided to continue on hosting the show together. However, due to various circumstances, this was not always possible. Shawn felt the show must go on, even if there wasn't always a co-host around. Shawn was so dedicated to his audience, that he felt it important to always be providing new content.
Episode 79 of Rusted Robot is a prime example of a lonely Shawn episode. On this episode of Soul Forge, Shawn lays out the history and repurcussions of recording episode 79 by himself without a co-host. You'll hear about Karine (at the time she was the new lady in Shawn's life) and her reaction to hearing the episode before their weekend away together. You'll also discover what Shawn learned as a result of hosting a show on his own.
So get ready for the first pre-Soul Forge episode. Learn about pop culture from 2015. This is Soul Forge before that was ever even a thing.
This week's podcast promo: Pop Culture Cosmos
Thursday Dec 06, 2018
Thoughts On GOD - 78
Thursday Dec 06, 2018
Thursday Dec 06, 2018
Now is the perfect time of year to share some thoughts on God, religion and the Christmas season. This episode starts with ruminations on the Christmas decoration season and goes back into history with a tale of Christmas carol annoyance. We wrap up the holiday talk with a look at how the corporations use the season in their manipulative marketing ploys to get us to spend money on things we don't need by playing to our emotions.
We then take a look back at religious education. When they decided to take the Lord's Prayer and teachings about religion out of the school system, society seemed to lose something deeply fundamental. These teachings may not have included everyone, but they were instrumental in giving us some important background information about our society.
The idea of a belief in a god or a higher power is tackled. When your son doesn't know what Jesus Clouds are, you have some serious catching up to do. And we talk about the practice of saying your prayers.
Everything comes to a conclusion with a look at religion versus science and taking our own human existence as a matter of faith. Do we really exist? How can we really know anything? This brings us to the ideas of atheism and agnosticism. And finally, we talk about whether life is pre-ordained or if we have free will. Can we fool God by going left instead of going right? And the episode ends with the story of how Shawn was saved by a fellow student who took him to church.
This week's podcast promo: Cigar Nerds Podcast