Happy Halloween! A riddle for you: what do you get when you cross Charles Fort with Henry David Thoreau? You get Danny B. Stewart, folklorist extrordinaire! Danny Stewart is an on-the-ground folklorist who has collected hundreds of original stories in the greater Utah area. These stories consist of encounters with the fantastic, the impossible, the ghoulish, the loving, the benign, and the banal. They range from angry flying monkeys bouncing from tree to tree at elementary schools, headless...

On this week’s episode of Horsin’ Around we are pleased to have one of our dear classmates at CGU, Shiloh Logan, join us. Our conversation revolves around the intricacies of the Mormon “Liberty Community,” groups of Latter-day Saints that are informally organized around Ezra Taft Benson’s “Proper Role of Government” and the writings of W. Cleon Skousen. We further explore the ways that Satan lurks in the background of these ideologies, as well as Shiloh’s own professional, philosophical, and...

After Christian and Brandon descended into unmitigated madness after their first two dates, their spouses looked over at them and said "Hey guys, pass some of that good stuff over!" --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theanalystandthefool/support

We now venture east from Greece to the roots of the Himalayas to show that philosophy is not just a thing for Westerners and especially that Buddhism is not merely a "religion." Indeed, "Buddhism" itself is not a thing until European imperial forces travel east and categorize the myriad ways of the Dharma as such. This makes understanding the Buddha, his teachings, and how they spread across the Asian and, reportedly, African and European continents a rather sticky endeavor. After this...

In this episode of Latter-day Saint Thinkers, we cover one of Christian’s favorite figures in Mormon thought: the inimitable Eugene “Gene” England. From his early years growing up in Downey, Idaho to his retirement from BYU, England lived his life in an organically liberal Mormon way. “Liberal” with a little “l” being the key, here. Gene fiercely believed in and was willing to accept opinions that were different than his own and lived his life devoted to the ways that Mormonism provided folks...

There is perhaps no document in recent years that has been more polarizing for Latter-day Saints than The Family Proclamation. Is it a prophetic document? Is it doctrine? Is it scripture? Or just good advice? It seems there is hardly any consensus amongst Latter-day Saints on this matter. Conservative members tend to use the document as a bludgeon against people who are LGBTQ+, seeing their sexual and gender identities as violating God's commandments given to present-day prophets, seers, and...

Blast this music... it's joyful and triumphant! This Christmas we engage in one of the most important ontological discussions since the debates over the nature of Christ at the Councils of Nicea and Chalcedon: What is the Grinch and Why is the Grinch? Using Jim Carrey's version of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" as our basis, we explore the wacky world of Who reproduction--exploring where babies come from--and primarily engage with The Grinch's struggle to regain a will to power stripped...

For this special episode of The Analyst & The Fool, we bring you our very first episodes ever recorded. In this episode, we dissect this thing called Christian Van Dyke. He is a PhD student at Claremont Graduate University and, in this episode, we discuss his approach to Mormon Studies, Comparative Religion, and philosophy. Christian tells his background and journey to CGU’s Philosophy and Religious Thought program which has compelled him to be involved in Mormon Studies but made him...

For this special episode of The Analyst & The Fool, we bring you one of our first episodes ever recorded. In this episode, we dissect this amorphous blob called Brandon Wilson; a PhD student at Claremont Graduate University. Brandon details a bit about his intellectual biography as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, getting introduced to the writings of Hugh Nibley, learning to think critically and ask penetrating questions about his faith, and how that led...

In recent years, Latter-day Saints have emphasized spiritual experiences as their epistemological vantage point that upholds their respective worldviews. This shift is exemplified by the Church drastically changing its approach to missionary work in 2004 with "Preach My Gospel" which emphasizes that missionaries urge potential converts to have and continuously cultivate their own experiences with God. Even further, Pres. Russell M. Nelson has also persistently urged members to do the same,...

In this episode, Christian and Brandon tackle one of the defining pinnacles of "Western" philosophy. This text is of the utmost importance because Aristotle's rationality, especially as it pertains to metaphysics, ethics, and politics, is very much still alive today. Have you ever heard the saying "The truth is somewhere in between two extremes"? Or that the highest virtue that leads to happiness is contemplation? Have you ever been moved by the art of Dante or Dickens? Aristotle. The...

In this episode, we jump into new territory--altered states, if you will. We are pleased to welcome Connor Storck onto the show to discuss his work with psychedelic law in the United States. Connor is currently a law student at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law where he hopes to complete his J.D. and sit for the bar in 2024. He is also the current Director of Operations for the Intercollegiate Psychedelics Network (website can be found here:...

***Disclaimer: This episode contains a brief and explicit discussion on sexuality; listener discretion is advised.*** Up until this point, we have been discussing leaders in the formation of Latter-day Saint thought, documenting how they articulate their respective takes on the theologies and practices of “Mormonism.” With Armand Mauss, we take a step back from that and analyze the Church as an object of sociological study. Armand Mauss (1928-2020) was a professor of sociology at Washington...

In our final episode on Plato (at least, for now), we cap off our discussion with the crown jewel of Platonic dialogues. This particular dialogue plays out differently than the previous ones we have covered; instead of Socrates debating philosophy with people around Athens, a Pythagorean named Timaeus teaches Socrates about the origin and creation of the world. The dialogue takes place a day after The Republic where two people, Timaeus and Critias, come to Socrates to applaud him for his...

After losing their sanity on their previous date, Christian and Brandon will now bare their souls to each other for your listening pleasure. Buckle up y'all, we ain't in Kansas no more! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theanalystandthefool/support

Over the past 70 years, there have been few Latter-day Saint scholars who have been as profoundly inspirational, deeply puzzling, and self-deprecating as Hugh Nibley (1910-2005). Indeed, Brandon's own reading of Nibley inspired his career choice and launched his consciousness into the cosmic stratosphere. Nibley’s own contribution to Latter-day Saint thought ranges from apologetics, social critique, and temple theology. However, the primary core of Nibley's work, especially post-retirement...

To begin perhaps one of Plato's most influential dialogues, it commences with Socrates and friends gathering at a buddy's house in celebration of a festival. The BIG question comes up almost immediately: What is Justice? The first response: "Giving to each what one is due." Socrates says "What about if you borrowed a dude's sword and he, in a crazed and murderous rampage, asks for his sword back?" The second response: "Well then justice is giving to someone what is appropriate." Socrates:...

In this week of Horsin' Around, we welcome His Holiness, Father Marxus Stelios onto the show...  Wait... we're being told that their name is actually Lewis Chapman and they are a fellow student at Claremont Graduate University.  Our bad! This week we bring Lewis Chapman onto the show to discuss their work as well as to mediate on the political and economic world of the United States. We discuss things such as how to deal with homelessness, what makes a functional economy, and whether there is...

***This episode contains brief and sensitive discussions of racist views--The Analyst & The Fool does not condone these views--Listener discretion is advised*** Bruce R. McConkie (1915-1985) stands as one of the most authoritative voices in present-day Mormonism; his views are pervasive and oftentimes considered to represent Mormonism itself. In lesson manuals that were in use from the mid-to-late-1970s until the Church implemented the "Come Follow Me" program in 2019, Bruce R, McConkie...

The setting for this dialogue is different than the previous dialogues we covered; the dialogue is set in the town of Philus where a dude named Phaedo, who was with Socrates when he drank the hemlock, meets with another dude named Echecrates who asks him about Socrates' last days.   Phaedo begins by explaining why Socrates' execution was delayed and that he visited Socrates with Xanthippe, Socrates' wife, on the morning of his execution. Xanthippe becomes distressed and a bit hysterical and...

We continue Brandon's nepotism and welcome his sister Allison onto the show! She is a Masters student at Oregon State University studying Nuclear Engineering. In this episode, we get a low down on the basics of nuclear power, how it works, what nuclear reactors are, how they work, how meltdowns can and have occurred, and the precautions that are taken to prevent them today. We answer the question: what is the future of nuclear power? Will there be/should there be nuclear-powered cars? We also...

James Edward Talmage (1862-1933), oh... excuse us... DOCTOR James Edward Talmage was the first General Authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to hold a Ph.D. As such, Talmage advocated for intellectual discipline when teaching the Saints how to approach theological, historical, and scientific subjects. He was even more disciplined and prudent when Church leaders placed him in positions where he had to bridge those varying approaches. This ranged from him having to...

Virtue--Righteousness--Justice: are these things taught? Inherent within people? Or something else? This is the driving question of Meno, a young, handsome, Athenian military leader who comes to Socrates in hopes he may clarify Gorgias' teachings on the relativity of virtue (Gorgias is a prominent sophist in Athens at this time and Meno was reportedly one of his students). "Alright Socrates, is virtue something that can be taught?" Socrates responds, "Uhhh... I don't know because I don't...

***Apologies in advance for the poor audio quality*** This week, instead of jester's caps and robes we don greasy, blue jumpsuits and get our hands dirty! With gasoline prices reaching record highs and likely never to plummet again, we bring in professional mechanic and fellow fool Jesse Wilson to horse around for a bit and lay down some info about the automotive world. We discuss alternate fuel sources as well as the tech that powers our cars. Are electrical cars a viable replacement for...