Episodes

  • Truth Wanted 07.47 with ObjectivelyDan and Drew Bekius
    Nov 23 2024
    Show notes will be posted upon receipt.

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    1 hr and 19 mins
  • Truth Wanted 07.46 11-15-2024 with ObjectivelyDan and Kelley Laughlin
    Nov 16 2024
    Show notes will be posted upon reciept.

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    1 hr and 26 mins
  • Truth Wanted 07.45 with Kelley Laughlin and almosteducational 3729 2024-11-08
    Nov 9 2024
    In today’s episode of the Truth Wanted, Kelley Laughlin and Ejector Seat sort through some red headed giants in Kandahar before taking some calls of a serious nature regarding current events.

    Tylo in IL wants to talk about the fictionalized giants in Kandahar, Afghanistan that the U.S. Army supposedly encountered a 12 foot giant with red hair that killed one of the soldiers with a spear. If there was a 12 foot giant, why would somebody not have shot one? Were giants seen interacting with locals? If you know of any other incidents or reports of giants? What would you look for if there was a warehouse where the Army stored the body of this giant?


    Snot Vampire in TX sees some conspiracy theories and vaccine troubles coming soon. It does seem to be a problem if crazy people are put in charge of our health. Speaking of crazy people, the fluoride conspiracies have some fun origins! People can’t even keep a surprise birthday party secret, how do you expect scientists with huge egos to keep these conspiracies secret?


    Dee in IA is curious if someone can make it through his first term due to health issues and how the campaign aged him. She thinks that we are worrying about the wrong person and there is someone else who has connections to Project 2025 and strong backing. This person has some scary ideas and may run for the next two cycles. Why do you think this happened? Do you think there were warning signs and not enough was done to stop it?


    Kelley stresses that we should not let one thing define us and we still have the ability to do something. The curtain has not been pulled and we have not been left in the dark; we need to light a small candle to bring the light back. We can stand up and fight back because it does not have to be a mandate for bigotry. Don’t get too wrapped up in not being able to do something because we can change the future. We can only hope this is the catalyst that causes a desired outcome.

    The two are joined by the back-up host, Cynthia McDonald for outro discussion before Dave in CA calls about being people motivated by bigoted ads. He is experiencing messed up stuff and harassed outside of his house because he has a trans child. People will throw fireworks and he observes people being emboldened over the most recent days due to current events. What steps can you take to make you feel safe? What measures have you taken to protect yourself? Hopefully we will see a SCOTUS case that takes events like this seriously so events like this do not go on without consequences. We need to keep moving forward and not let it get us down.

    Cynthia reminds us that this is not the first time our democracy has been threatened and we got through it. We must stay tight together, keep a wall of solidarity with our LGBTQ friends, our people of color friends, our brown friends, our marginalized friends, and people who are unseen. We just want to let you know that we see you! Thank you for tuning in this week! Prompt of the week is: Your sarcastic answer to “What are you thankful to god for?”


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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Truth Wanted 07.44 with ObjectivelyDan and Darrel Ray 2024-11-01
    Nov 2 2024
    In today’s episode of Truth Wanted, Objectively Dan and Dr. Darrel Ray with https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/ (RFR), swim through calls with topics ranging from therapist trigger points to religious trauma.

    Mr. Crabs in MD asks about therapist trigger points and tells us of a therapist who was still recovering from a partial thumb amputation and was triggered when opening a jar of pretzels. Dr. Ray explains how this therapist was functioning at a higher level before this tragedy happened and how when these levels drop, it is normal and natural. He further explains that if you are stuck or constantly hitting the same problem, that may be a good time to talk with somebody. When a job is toxic, it has the potential to push you into depression. People have shared so many times that they were depressed when they were into religion and how that changes when they leave.


    Kass, a volunteer in CO for RFR, runs support groups each month. He talks about how it is rewarding to talk with people about their journeys, and connect with people in these ways. Kass was raised as a young earth creationist where several hours per day were spent at church and was super indoctrinated. When he got to middle school, he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and this caused him to question how an all loving god would allow this to happen. He started to ask questions and of course, the church does not like questions and tried to drive him even harder into the religion. Kass, thank you for making it easier for other people going through similar journeys!


    Dr. Ben in VA calls to tell us all about the Fall Excursion Camp that RFR holds and all the awesome activities, panels, resources, support groups, community building groups, karaoke and recommends that we all attend next year. This will be the third week of September in 2025. Now with two doctors on the show, we have the most educated show ever!


    Kdub in VA informs us that many of his friends who were brought up in religion still have some kind of trauma. He feels like his growth was stunted and how it was a waste by trying to be straight for so many years. He confirms that religious upbringing does cause trauma, and many denominations are contributing to this. Dan talks about how in some areas, there are more Christians than people, and it is important to be one of the exceptions and break out of the stranglehold that religion has on you. If we are all hurt by something, doesn't that mean there is a problem? Dr. Ray explains how trauma can show itself when one leaves a church.


    The hosts are joined by the back up host, Kelley Laughlin, who was sporting a Truth Wanted tie and also used to volunteer for RFR. Thank you for tuning in this week! Always keep wanting the truth! Prompt of the week is: What trivial conspiracy theory do you think has merits?


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    1 hr and 31 mins
  • Truth Wanted 07.43 Halloween Special 2024
    Oct 26 2024
    Welcome to the 4th Anniversary Halloween episode of Truth Wanted! SpookjectivelyDon, Jamie the Blahaj Limey, and Sister Mary Infidel64 tell scary stories around the fire and take calls about alien signals in genetic code, the existence of good and evil, and getting dragged by demons to hell.

    Steve from Nebraska calls in to talk about the Wow! signal. He cites an article that claims that there is an alien signal in our genetic code that represents an Egyptian triangle. Why is this argument so convincing as a non-expert in the field? If we knew aliens existed, we could discuss whether this was caused by aliens. But we can’t even demonstrate that aliens exist, so why do we conclude the signal is from them? It’s interesting and something to explore further, but why jump to extraterrestrial beings? It could be something we just don’t know about biology yet. This seems like an “alien of the gaps” scenario.

    Halloween from the USA asks the hosts whether they’re certain that God doesn’t exist. It depends on the type of God. We can’t be certain that there aren’t any gods, but we are pretty certain that the traditional Yahweh does not exist. If we’re talking about a god that’s omniscient, omnipresent and all-loving, there’s evidence that leads us to believe that the claims of his existence and what he can and can’t do for us aren’t true. The caller asks why the hosts would believe that it’s impossible for Yahweh to exist if He has the knowledge of good and evil? First of all, we need to know that God exists before we can establish that He knows anything. How do we know that a god exists? We don’t and we can’t. Why should we believe in something that we can’t prove? Halloween asks the hosts if they believe that evil exists. Morality is relative, so we can’t claim that anything is inherently good or evil. There are nuances to everything and everyone has different ideas about what’s right and wrong.

    Marcus calls from Texas to ask if the hosts have ever had experiences with something they can’t explain. The hosts talk about their experiences with spiritual healers (that didn’t work), and dreams about loved ones in heaven. Marcus shares a story about when he bought a house for a surprisingly low price because there were rumors about it being possessed by demons.

    Thank you for joining us this week for this special spooky episode! The prompt of the week is: What is it that makes aliens want to leave the Earth immediately?

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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • Truth Wanted 07-42_with Kelley Laughlin and @ApostateAshley
    Oct 19 2024
    Discover the truth today in our latest episode of Truth Wanted! Kelley Laughlin and Apostate Ashley play with high tech grifters as they speak in tongues about graphic footage and how things existed before the claim of god’s creation. Eli Slack, the backup host, joins and offers some icing on some of the calls.

    Puck in OH wants to talk about high tech grifters that pitch weird quantum stuff who are asking for money and asks the hosts their opinions on what makes these people so appealing. Kelley explains that people may fall for this by feeling special and having knowledge that others do not. Ashley describes how people feel like something bad will happen if they do not jump on whatever is being sold and how any of us have the capability of being duped.


    Marcus in TX asks Ashley about her Pentecostal background and what she was feeling then compared to now. Looking back, Ashley believes the things that she experienced were probably dopamine highs or having the rush of hormones that are similar to what happens during flight or fight. Now as an atheist, she can speak in tongues anytime she wants and the Holy Spirit still has nothing to do with it. When going through a hard time, having people around you hugging and caring is quite therapeutic and these things were normal for her. People have reached out to Ashley sharing they no longer believe and do not want to be on the wrong side of history.


    Chase in the USA is curious about using graphic footage to motivate activism. After a while, it could lose its shock value because people are desensitized. Also, the reaction can be more negative than positive depending on how it is presented. This is where context can hugely matter. It is important to remember that some people will need a trigger warning. We need to be careful and understand how triggers work. Is it worth causing harm and triggering PTSD to get your point across? Why would you force people to watch something and cause suffering? A warning will at least help to know when an appropriate time is to watch something. If you do not put a warning, you are shoving it in people’s faces just like what the anti-abortion group does. Horrible graphic scenery will harm or hurt people if it is shoved in their face regardless of the reason.


    Peter in Canada has proof of god’s non-existence only if he is defined as a conscious entity that created all of material existence. Peter’s reasoning is that consciousness requires existence and the things that are claimed to be god’s existence must have existed before god’s existence. How does this argument work with theists? Why could god not exist and become conscious at the same time? We don’t have proof of god’s non-existence, but we do have logical evidence. This is fitting for one concept of god, but not all the other gods. If we can’t have existence without consciousness, how did the earth exist before anything lived on it? Eli Slack the back up host joins and adds some comments about how we are already outside of the realm of what makes sense when we are talking about divinity.


    Thank you for joining us this week. Prompt of the week is: What is something that doesn’t sound creepy but is?


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    1 hr and 22 mins
  • Truth Wanted 07.41 with Jon the Skeptick and J.L. Warren
    Oct 12 2024
    In today’s episode of Truth Wanted, Jon the Skeptic and JL Warren discuss how to choose your battles with family before diving into the world of territorial ghosts opening doors.

    They are joined by our back-up host, Kelley Laughlin for the conclusion and a ghost story.
    The Blind Limey in TX had an ex-wife who was terrified of graveyards and learned that with family, it is important to pick your battles. If you want to maintain a relationship, you must know where you can go and where you can’t with conversations. The conversation can be approached with curiosity. As people who like talking about this stuff, we are probably the most open to it and want paranormal things to happen. This helps us to ask how it can be explained.


    Sheri in MD went to a haunted lighthouse when she was a kid and was creeped out by the ghosts opening doors to the bathroom, yet amused some of them were territorial. Don’t worry, the ghosts won’t watch you pee! How would you feel now as an adult about going to a haunted house? Would you use an ouija board now? Would you like to have been born on Friday the 13th? After a revealing conversation, Jon the Skeptic playfully shows off some psychic skills and accurately predicts Sheri’s birthday.


    Jae in Australia called to discuss the events after his father’s death, but unfortunately the call dropped. Jae, please try us again, we wanted to talk with you!\


    Thank you for tuning in this week! Question of the week is: You know you are screwed when your horoscope says_____.


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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • Truth Wanted 07.40 with ObjectivelyDan, Christy Powell, and Forrest Valkai 2024-10-04
    Oct 5 2024
    In today’s episode of Truth Wanted, Objectively Dan is joined by Christy Powell and Forrest Valkai. The team works through calls involving mentally escaping a cult, chromosomal fusion, bugs on Mars, and the great vegan debate.

    Tony in IL is an ex-cult member whose ex-cult leader died in 2020 after catching Covid. What made you determine this group was a cult and what was the thought process like? How are you feeling about everything now and how is it sitting with your emotions? What did it feel like to go from where you were to where you are now?


    Gabe in TX asks if the fusing of two chromosomes can be used to disprove Adam and Eve. Forrest explains that Chromosome 2 is the fusion of two chromosomes. The one difference that you notice between humans and chimps is we have 23 chromosomes and they have 24. This is not compatible with the Adam and Eve story, but creationists will say it was a poetic story and continue to be dishonest about these things. These are different ideas that need their own independent evidence; evolution is not the thing to use as proof against creation.


    Daniel in Canada believes there are bugs on Mars because there is photographic evidence that proves it. We are all guilty of wanting to believe something. Wanting to believe something and believing something are two different things. It is agreed that other life forms probably exist, however to say that life is nearby is a stretch. Would you agree that the main motivation for NASA is knowledge and in order to do that they need funding, and therefore it would be advantageous to go public with their findings? Why would we not want to be mentally prepared and why would we not want our military prepared? How are we at more risk of aliens harming us by knowing about them? If there is a civilization on Mars, there must be resources there. And guess who would want to mine things on Mars if there are resources there!

    Chase in the USA has some thoughts on being vegan and explains how animals are killed when they are young for our consumption. Why and how does it matter what age the animal is? How do we define our relationship with these animals? It raises the question of the ethics of raising a creature for the ultimate destruction of the creature. Dan explains that these types of questions are what led him to be vegan. Why is it that we have this cultural bias of hierarchy of animals? How can we expand our circle of compassion? Our cultural preference for the sheer amount of meat that we consume is excessive. It is difficult to contrast the link of life to the quality of life when it comes to the age of the animal. If we were to produce and distribute the meat more humanely, we may not have the challenges we have today. What do you think about the issues associated with the amount of land it takes to produce some grains, and the areas of the world where there are food deserts? In developing nations, it is non-meat options that are accessible.


    Thank you for tuning in this week! Prompt of the week is: What's an untrue thing that people say all the time?


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    1 hr and 27 mins