Does Nature Tell Us Anything About God? With John Elson
In today’s episode I spend a very pleasant afternoon having a walk and a chat with a friend of the podcast and former guest John Elson at Castor & Ailsworth, a village just outside of Peterborough. John is a successful artist and he talked about his journey out of the Jehovah’s Witnesses back in September of 2021. Our main topic of conversation today is the natural world and we had an interesting chat about all things evolution, creation, our place in the Universe and other minor considerations. John also showed me the rewilding project he is working on as part of a local community project. If you want to see the area we walked, Sarah and I recorded a little video of the area as we took a stroll with our little dog Pepper. You can watch the video here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU5lQtSWJGQ Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review. You can also become a patron here. https://www.patreon.com/whatshouldithinkabout Further exploration Euginie C. Scott, PhD, Evolution and Creationism as Science and Myth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt5TgJkBXxI&t=2773s African Myths http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/african-creation-stories/
4 Juni 20221h 13min
Theocracy to Democracy
When you are a fundamentalist Christian, Theocracy sounds like a great idea but when you leave, the reality becomes clear. Celine and Stephen discuss what it's like to live in a Theocracy and then explore more democratic forms. They get 'into the weeds' about how these systems work, and why sometimes they seem not to. What is a filibuster? And why gerrymander? are two of the topics of discussion, as well as why the Queen has no power and just who is the most powerful Joe in the USA? Why not become a patron? https://www.patreon.com/whatshouldithinkabout
29 Maj 20221h 15min
The Psychological Impact of Shunning with Dr Heather Ransom
The 'What should I think about..?' podcast goes 'sight & sound' this week on this special edition of the show, with an episode being shown on YouTube for the first time as well as a pure podcast. Stephen speaks to Dr Heather Ransom, who researches the experience of living in, and leaving a high control group often called a cult. Dr Ransom is a former 'born-in' Jehovah's Witness who left as an adult and now works in academia. She has written two published papers about the effect of disfellowshipping and shunning on the psychology of leavers. Heather first talks about her own life and the process of leaving and then about her work. Dr Ransom's papers: Grieving the Living: The Social Death of Former Jehovah’s Witnesses https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-020-01156-8 Life after Social Death: Leaving the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Identity Transition and Recovery https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11089-020-00935-0 Become a patron for early access and exclusive content for just £1 ($1:50). https://www.patreon.com/whatshouldithinkabout
21 Maj 20221h 29min
Having Fun and Healing With Games: Guest Starring Germ
High control religious groups often discourage games, warning about the 'dangers' of being influenced by Satan or the world. But what about the benefits of playing games and their role in finding community, experiencing a sense of competence and potential benefits around memory and thinking? Germ joins Celine and Stephen this week to talk all things gaming and games. There's also a bit of reminiscing about some of the team's favourite games, with a dash of psychology thrown in and the link between video games and a sense of well-being. Become a patron for just £1 per month ($1:50) https://www.patreon.com/whatshouldithinkabout Paper Johannes, N., Vuorre, M., & Przybylski, A. K. (2021). Video game play is positively correlated with well-being. Royal Society Open Science, 8(2), 202049. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.202049
14 Maj 202258min
Living and dying (rebroadcast from the archive)
I (Stephen) had an online conversation recently with a friend who had recently experienced a family loss. We chatted and she suggested that the way we think about death changes after we leave a belief system such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, who preach the possibility of living forever. It got me thinking about an episode Celine and I recorded about a year ago when we had very few listeners about the subject of life and death. I listened to it again and realised how much I had enjoyed the conversation and how much Celine's words had taught me. So we've released it again. It's anything but morbid and I really hope you enjoy it too.
10 Maj 20221h 9min
Ex Jehovah’s Witness Poet and Podcaster Leon Helsby
Ex Jehovah's Witness Poet and Podcaster Leon Helsby tells his story of leaving the organization, why he finds poetry so important to him and describes the challenges of being creative within a high control setting. Stay till the end as Leon performs his poem 'An Amnesty'. Leon has a podcast called 'A Hug From The Moon'. Link below. https://open.spotify.com/show/2FIBwQGqOUNEQqdK5FxECh?si=e51f0a692fc54894 Why not become a patron for exclusive and early content. It's only $1:50 https://www.patreon.com/whatshouldithinkabout
7 Maj 20221h 9min
Learning Styles and Other Myths
Celine and Stephen get into some pop psychology to see what we know, what we think we know but don't, what we don't know and.... you get the picture. The importance of learning styles, the power pose, the madness of crowds, attention blindness and diffusion of responsibility and more all feature on today's show. Become a patron and support the show for just $1:50 per month. https://www.patreon.com/whatshouldithinkabout/posts References Grossman, R., & Salas, E. (2011). The transfer of training: what really matters. International journal of training and development, 15(2), 103-120. Reicher, S. (2001). The psychology of crowd dynamics (Vol. 1, pp. 182-208). Riener, C., & Willingham, D. (2010). The myth of learning styles. Change: The magazine of higher learning, 42(5), 32-35.
30 Apr 202259min
Falling in love with an ex cult member
Today we interview Marcia and Riley (AKA Jexit) about falling in love with someone who was a member of a cult and still in the process of deconstructing, or as ex JWs call it POMI (Physically Out Mentally In). Riley is an ex Jehovah's Witness You-tuber who talks about his experiences leaving the Group. We've discussed the difficulties of relationships, love and sex for ex members of cults in previous episodes, but today we wanted to look at it from the other perspective. What's it like to meet and date someone who was in a cult? What are the potential difficulties and peculiarities? Stephen spoke to the newly weds on holiday in Paris. Become a patron for just $1:50 on our single tier to receive exclusive and early access. https://www.patreon.com/whatshouldithinkabout/posts
23 Apr 20221h 12min
