Is the American dream dead? Plus: James Van Der Beek, Robert Duvall, Jesse Jackson & Winter Olympics | Ep. 57

Conner Jones: [00:00:02] Hi, I'm Conner Jones.

Micah Tomasella: [00:00:04] I'm Micah Tomasella.

Conner Jones: [00:00:05] And this is Culture Brief, a Denison Forum podcast where we navigate the constant stream of top stories and news, politics, sports, pop culture, and technology, and we do it all from a Christian perspective. And Micah, it's been a crazy week in culture. We've gone from sports, Olympics, celebrity deaths, we're going to hit on all of that. But also, Barack Obama confirmed aliens are real, sort of, not really. He kind of backtracked a little bit from that.

Micah Tomasella: [00:00:27] Kind of. Yeah.

Conner Jones: [00:00:28] I don't know. It got the conversation going. But what else are we talking about this week, Micah?

Micah Tomasella: [00:00:32] If aliens exist, they're not going to tell us. That's, that's, that's my conspiracy theory for the day. And I also know that you're more prone to believe that than I am, but I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility. But anyway, I digress. So we're going to talk about the enduring American spirit and ingenuity. Yes, you heard me right. We're going to have a conversation about that. We're going to do a roundup. We lost some really wonderful people this past week, James Van Der Beek, Robert Duvall, and then Rev. Jesse Jackson as well. So we're going to talk about them and their lives and their legacies. We're going to give you updates on the US Olympic medal count and the winter games and how all of those things stands and give you some fun facts on that and so much more. So let's jump into the brief.

Conner Jones: [00:01:13] The brief.

Micah Tomasella: [00:01:17] All right. So I want to give a quick acknowledgement on this before I jump in. I want to acknowledge a couple of writers and publications specifically. I I pulled heavily from these. I only used two sources for this because they just really struck me that helped shape this perspective. So some of the data comes from research highlighted in the Wall Street Journal through surveys from Archbridge Institute and some of the historical perspectives come from a historian named Niall Ferguson who works for the Free Press. And so I'm grateful for journalism and their research, just helping us kind of zoom out of some of these crazy and intense headlines that we're seeing because I just came across both of these and they kind of correlated along with some other things that I saw and I just wanted to share it with our loyal culture brief audience and with you, Connor. So let's do it. Okay. All right. So let's talk about the difference between cultural noise and an actual cultural reality. So first of all, if you spend much time online or watching the news, which Connor and I do, many of you do, we kind of have to in order to kind of stay on top of things and report the news to you guys. It can feel like everything we come across is negative in some way. Even if it's feeding your bias and what you prefer to hear, it's most likely negative. It's most likely attacking somebody else, some position, some person, some platform. Every headline sounds urgent, every debate sounds like the sky is falling. Conversations drift at some point towards what's broken instead of what's working. That just seems to be what gets the clicks and what gets people, it gets the people going, right?

Conner Jones: [00:02:44] Yep.

Micah Tomasella: [00:02:45] So, to be fair, there are real challenges in our country right now. Mental health, division, violence, economic pressure. Ignoring that would be dishonest. So I'm not ignoring that. But criticism spreads fast and outrage travels farther than encouragement often times. So that doesn't always mean it reflects the whole country though, and that's kind of what I want to drill down on. So here's some encouraging data beneath the headlines. So when you zoom out and look at actual surveys, a different picture shows up. About 70% of Americans say they have achieved or are on their way to achieving the quote unquote American dream. So let's define that a little bit. And what people mean by that is interesting. It's not wealth. It's not wealth. The top answers are freedom in how to live and have a strong family life. Only a small percentage of those surveyed said that getting rich is essential and is essential to achieving the American dream. Large majorities also believe American scientific research, business innovation still help the world. Nearly nine in 10 adults say they feel grateful for previous generations and most say that thinking about past breakthroughs that gives them confidence we can overcome current challenges. And so while the loudest voices online often sound really pessimistic, most Americans still believe their effort matters. Any initial thoughts on that, Connor?

Conner Jones: [00:04:09] No, I just think it's, it's probably true. Everything always wants to drag us down and like you said, there's a lot of division, particularly in media, in headlines. I think with the American dream, it is all about freedom and the opportunity that comes with living in America. And that's why so many people want to build the life you want. And that can look different. Yeah. To build the life you want or at least give it a shot. You know, you've got the, you got the opportunity here and that's what a lot of people want. What I always think about is there's so much division online, but if you go out on into your street, you are going to run into all of your neighbors who do not think the way you do, who do not probably vote the way you do on everything, but you're going to have a great conversation. And there's a camaraderie that comes with just being in the same community as an American or even if it's immigrants on your street, like you're you're all in this pursuing this American dream together. It's just a bunch of division that a lot of time is not organic. It comes online where you're hiding behind a screen or headlines from news outlets that are trying to get clicks. Like you're saying, that's what generates their their consumption. So just it's a good perspective. The American dream lives on and a lot of people want to pursue it.

Micah Tomasella: [00:05:20] I love that, Connor. I also love just the concept of getting out from behind the screen and going and talking to your neighbor. But like what struck me from that is that nearly nine in 10 adults say they feel grateful for previous generations, so generations before them, American generations. And most say that thinking, the concept of thinking about past breakthroughs and what we as Americans have overcome in our nearly 250 years as a nation, gives them confidence that we can even overcome the current challenges that are happening right now. And I think if you define the American dream as achieving mass wealth, okay, most people aren't going to get there. We're not all called and designed and created to be at that point and be at that place. So like, but if it's redefined for freedom, true freedom that this country offers to create the life that you want, then I do think that it looks different. And so anyway, I just thought that was interesting. But history backs us up too. A lot of republics in world history have failed early. They last a couple of decades and collapse, but the ones that make it past their early years often last centuries. So the American system, for example, was built on checks and balances and an understanding that leaders would be imperfect. Therefore, that's why the checks and balances are in place. That's why there's the three branches, right? It wasn't designed for perfect people. It was designed knowing human nature, our sinful fallen nature needs accountability, needs checks and balances. This country's story is not perfection, it's perseverance. It's learning, it's adjusting, and it's building again even after stuff breaks down and collapses. So for me, this ultimately lands in a spiritual place. Back in September, I talked about a somewhat similar concept to this. And I talked about this on the podcast and the focus was specifically a crisis of hope. All of these things coming out about the crisis of hope we were experiencing here in our country. We looked at declining optimism and how discouragement grows when people feel uncertain about their future. That was real and it mattered. And we talked about how our mindset dictates our future a lot of times. That if I'm going to believe the noise that everything is messed up, then I'm going to live as if everything is messed up, right? But underneath there is also resilience, gratitude, and a belief that efforts still count. So the data in this point is showing something different. The challenges still exist, the division still exists, but both things can be true. We can have challenges, but also be incredibly resilient and the American people are exactly that. We can admit that there's difficulty and issues in this country and still also have hope for its present and its future. So it's also fair to acknowledge something else too. There's a reason people talk about American exceptionalism. There's a reason why I talk about it, why you talk about it. This country has positively impacted the world in science, innovation, humanitarian aid, and opportunity. It's a nation many thought would never work. Remember that. Yet we're here nearly 250 years later, almost 250 years later. That doesn't mean perfection, it means there was real possibility that was built into the foundation of this country. I believe in this country and I believe in its people. But my hope isn't in a country because if my only belief was, well, I believe in the Constitution and I believe in our leaders and I believe in this country and I believe in its people, that's only going to take you so far. There's going to be some failure there over and over and over again. My belief is ultimately in God. I believe he has a plan and I believe he calls people and gifts people to use their gifts and he gives them opportunities and he places things in front of them to take advantage of it. And at the same time, it's worth protecting the ideals that have allowed freedom, creativity, and opportunity to grow here in this country for generations. That's something worth protecting and preserving even when times are difficult. Criticism does have a place and you can absolutely criticize your country and still love it. Often times, I think we kind of say, oh, if we're criticizing our country, if people are criticizing, you just assume they hate the country. There's a lot of that that kind of goes around, right? But I would say someone can absolutely have the right mindset, hold both truths equally and say, I love my country, therefore I care about my country and I want to improve my country. I want to be constructive in the way that I go about it. So the criticism matters, it has a place, but cynicism, it just can't have the final word. So ingenuity grows where people believe their efforts matter and encouragement multiplies when people choose to build only instead of critique. I think if you're only critiquing and you're not building, you're just complaining just to complain. I don't believe a huge difference is being made, right? I think you have to kind of back it up with action. But here's a challenge. Let's be people who contribute, Connor. Let's use our skills, let's use our our our creativity, our voices, and let's actually take time to improve and focus on the corner of the world that God has specifically placed you in. If you're listening here in America, you live in this country for a reason. You're in the house that you live in, the apartment that you live in for a reason. You have the neighbors that you have for a reason. There's a purpose for it. So let's focus on our own corner of the world. How can we improve that? How can we share Jesus in that area, in that place? Remember the sacrifices and breakthroughs that came before you, not only in your faith, but also here in our country and stay grounded in the truth that our security doesn't come from institutions alone. It comes from God. Our security, our ability to operate and operate out of our giftings and impact the world and impact our neighborhoods to cultivate flourishing communities, right? That's a big part that we talk about here at Denison Ministries. God is the one who equips and empowers us to be able to do that. And so I want to leave you with a verse. Galatians 6:9, Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. This is not blind optimism, it's faithful perseverance. We've got to keep building, keep encouraging, keep creating, even when progress feels slow. And ultimately, negativity is very loud, but endurance, enduring through that is normally quiet. It's just staying the course. The negativity is really loud. Keep loving Jesus, keep loving those around you, keep working hard, keep serving those around you, keep trying to improve the lives of those around you. Live your life not for yourself and live it for others. And if more Americans were doing that with Jesus as the focus, the opportunities are limitless here in our country.

Conner Jones: [00:11:51] Yeah, you're exactly right. There's so much opportunity. Man, the other big thing that just separates America from so much of the world is just our freedom of religion here too. The fact that we do get to just freely express our faith and then that allows us to do everything you just said, taking our gifts, our skills, our creativity and showing the world, our corner of the world, Jesus. What a blessing that is. There are so many places in the world where people do not have that ability. They are very gifted and they're not able to live out fully their gifts because they're they're just it would it would bring persecution and punishment. And so, you know, we're very blessed in that sense. And I everything you're saying, Micah, is really good. It's kind of a great tee up for what we're about to talk about here with three just cultural giants who we lost this week who were very gifted in different ways. And what is their legacy? But it it kind of ties into how do we live our lives with our gifts and legacy. So thank you for bringing up all of that. I'm very hopeful for America. I know you are too. Like I Yes. There's I we are still the greatest country on the earth. Do we have some problems? Yes, and we've talked about some of those. Like you're saying, there's criticisms to be had. But man, there are so many amazing things about this country and about the people in this country. That's it's the people who make up this wonderful land. Obviously, we have natural beauty in the land of America, but the people are amazing. And if you've ever taken a road trip across the country, man, and you meet people from other parts of the nation, that's the coolest thing in the world because everybody is just Hope is powerful. Hope is powerful and it's more powerful than negativity, but negativity is so loud right now. Yeah. Hope is enduring and it stays the course and it's not always in your face, but it's really important, but I hope is absolutely a more powerful force than negativity is. I think the second people start losing hope, that's when you start to worry. And so I just hope we can start feeling hopeful again. Yeah. across the board as Americans. There is a reason that in 2008, Barack Obama's campaign slogan was literally just hope. Remember that? Like the the signs with hope on it. Now, you can go down the line of was that hope achieved or what not. Anyways, the point is there's a power behind hope and that was kind of the power behind that big movement of Barack Obama. That one word took him to the presidency. Yes we can, right? Remember that? Yes we can. Yeah. It was like, yeah.

Conner Jones: [00:14:06] Anyways, Micah, we lost three, three guys this week. We lost James Van Der Beek, we lost Robert Duvall, and Reverend Jesse Jackson. So I'm going to kind of hit on each of these guys, their legacies is really what I want to talk about because legacy is a big deal and a lot of people really think about legacy. What's their legacy going to be when they die, especially as people get older, they start to really think about that. But sometimes death comes unexpectedly and it's your opportunity when you see something like this to say, okay, if I was to die today, what would my legacy be? So we're going to talk about that. But first, I just want to, you know, call out these different men who lost their lives this week. That includes James Van Der Beek, like we said, the TV star from Dawson's Creek that ran from 1998 to 2003, just a 90s heart throb, early 2000s heart throb. He was in some other TV shows, a lot of B movies. His, you know, acting career didn't completely take off after Dawson's Creek, but he was here and there in different shows and productions. But really, he kind of stepped away from Hollywood a little bit too and just focused on family and he married his wife in 2010. They had six kids together. So he's got this just beautiful family that he's left behind, which is really sad. But he also suffered like just financial issues after he was diagnosed with cancer. He has colorectal cancer, which is just a brutal one to have. I actually think that's what Catherine O'Hara died from a few weeks ago too, as well. And there's a senator as well who is very close with Christ, Ben Sasse, former senator, who's got the same disease and is talking a lot about it in his final year here on earth, most likely, unless, you know, God does a miracle there. But it's a bad one and it took his life. And as he was going through treatment plans, he had to sell off memorabilia from his TV shows that he still had and just auction them off to try to pay for his treatment plans. He wanted to take care of his family. He was able to secure a ranch property for them. This got a lot of controversy this week because there's a GoFundMe currently trying to support this family that he has left behind. And a lot of people who adore James Van Der Beek because of his time on TV and a lot of Hollywood celebrities that knew him as a person, they came around him, they started donating to this GoFundMe. It's raised $2.7 million from 50,000 donors this week. That is crazy. Yeah, to support this family because they, you know, the GoFundMe even just noted that the family is out of funds after fighting, you know, this fight against cancer. They took all of their funds away. But that got that got controversial this week because it came out that Van Der Beek also bought a $4.7 million ranch last month. So people are like, what is happening there? I looked into this a little bit more. This of course generates, it's kind of like you're saying, Micah, the negative headlines. It generates a lot of clicks because one quick headline can make everything seem so bad. But there's a lot more to the story about coming together with friends and putting together a trust that basically allowed him to get a down payment to secure this ranch for his family. It was one of the last things he wanted to do before he passed away was make sure his family had a home. And then this GoFundMe is intended to help pay off the medical debt that they've got and then also keep this ranch for the family to be able to live on for many, many years. He also renewed his vows with his wife two days before he passed away, which is a beautiful picture of just their love as well. So, something to consider as we think about legacy, we'll hit back on that here in a minute. Another person we lost, Robert Duvall. Micah, we have lost several Hollywood legends and a lot of them up in their 80s and 90s in the last year or so that we've talked about on this podcast, Robert Redford, Diane Keaton, several others as well. This is another big one, man. This guy, Robert Duvall was just at the center of Hollywood in the 70s and 80s. Legend. Yeah. Did you have any, did you have any favorite roles of his?

Micah Tomasella: [00:17:25] Well, I think he was really good in The Godfather. Yes. I know he's known for Lonesome Dove, right? Yep. And, you know, more of our generation was, you know, he was the, he was what, Will Ferrell's dad in Kicking and Screaming? Yeah. Mid 2000s comedy. Just kind of stayed relevant somehow, some way through his career just in small ways, you know, where millennials like us know him as well.

Conner Jones: [00:17:52] Yeah, man, some of some of that's just because the movies that he ended up being in were so classic. His first movie was To Kill a Mockingbird. So if that tells you anything about his his career. And then obviously, yeah, the Godfather, that's one of my favorite movies and his role in that is just incredible. And he's such a good actor. What a first movie, man. Absolute classic. Your first one. Okay, hold on. Get this. I was reading several obituaries about him yesterday and I I learned this about him. He was in the army in the 50s. He got out of the army, moves to New York City in the late 50s and he is roommating with two other unemployed actors who they're all just trying to get stage jobs or or jobs on TV shows or what not. You'll never guess who his two roommates were, slumming in New York City.

Micah Tomasella: [00:18:27] I don't know.

Conner Jones: [00:18:28] Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman. Oh my goodness. And then Robert Duvall, these three absolute legends, they all won Oscars for best uh Wow. Best actor. They are all legends in their own right. Gene Hackman was one of the other legends we lost last year. He was a little bit older. So surround yourself with good people and good things will happen, man.

Micah Tomasella: [00:18:45] Well, what's funny is he would say that they weren't necessarily good people. I was reading his kind of like his recollection of the 60s in this New York City apartment, but they were great actors. And so, you know, they they all got to see each other grow up and become Surround yourself with great actors and you'll be a great actor. How about that? Yeah, and they were all legends. I just thought that was kind of a fun fact about him. He he passed away peacefully apparently and at his home in Virginia, age 95. He was an old, old man, but that doesn't mean it's not sad. His wife posted on his Facebook page for each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented. In doing so, he leaves something lasting and unforgettable to us all. And then his fellow Hollywood legend, Tommy Lee Jones, who I also love, he said, even though I have lost a friend, Bob's work will be with us indefinitely. Keep those quotes in mind as we talk about legacy again here in a minute because they're saying his legacy is these roles. So we'll come back around to that. And then on Tuesday this week, we lost Reverend Jesse Jackson, just a political giant, a civil rights giant. He marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King in the 60s. He was there when King was assassinated. He even claimed he held him in his arms as King passed away. That was disputed, but that was his claim. The New York Times obituary declared that his impassioned oratory and populist vision of a rainbow coalition of the poor and forgotten made him, get this, the nation's most influential black figure in the years between the civil rights crusades of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the election of Barack Obama. Yeah. So that's a that's a pretty big declaration to say that he was the most influential African-American between MLK and Obama. That's a big role. Obviously, just a giant in the civil rights world. He did this rainbow coalition that was intended to bring together a lower class of people and try to get them to vote and rise up. Ran for president twice, 1984 and 1988. He got a lot of fame out of that. He won several primaries in 1988, was even a brief front runner in that presidential run for the Democratic nomination. And he stayed relevant in politics really through the 90s and 2000s. I I've been seeing his face on TV my whole life. He was always around, always at different conventions, always in politics. He was a really big part of getting Obama elected, even though privately he apparently didn't really like Obama that much, but publicly, he supported the campaign, was a big part of getting him elected. And then he was even a rare Democrat that Trump appreciated. Trump posted on Truth Social this week. I knew him well long before becoming president. He was a good man with lots of personality, grit, and street smarts. He was very gregarious, someone who truly loved people. So that's a big deal. If Trump likes you as a Democrat, that means you've crossed some sort of borders. Trump even let him office the rainbow coalition in the Trump Tower in the 90s. They they had a relationship there. There's also been just in all of these obituaries I was reading about Jackson, a lot of criticism of his ego, his desire to bring cameras to himself, attention to himself and kind of away from the movements or even from Dr. King in the 60s a little bit. Several obituaries even noted that his legacy is wobbly. He allowed his own ego to get in the way of forging a path to real change and personal controversies kind of stopped him from ever achieving the success of MLK or Barack Obama. But you cannot deny that his voice was loud, his speeches were amazing, and his ideas were definitely heard and he's left some sort of imprint on American culture. So, you know, as we think about all of this, there's a lot here to to consider with legacy and what is legacy and what should our legacy be? And I think this is a great just kind of plays into everything you were saying a minute ago, Micah. These are three American men who left an imprint on American culture, right? But what is the true legacy and what does this mean for us as Christians as we think about our imprint on our culture, our communities, our circle of influence. I'm going to lean here on Dr. Jim Denison a little bit and Wednesday's daily article. He was talking about Robert Duvall and Jesse Jackson and he noted that even if Jesse Jackson had been elected president of the United States, his earthly work would not have been immortal. At some point it would have been forgotten. That's just the way it goes. James Van Der Beek and Robert Duvall, obviously both have films and TV shows that we can watch for many, many years and we can always see them on our screens. But at some point, those films will not live on forever like Tommy Lee Jones and like Robert Duvall's wife kind of insinuated that they would live on infinitely. That's just not the truth. At a thousand years from now, nobody's going to be talking about those movies. That's just the reality of it, right? And you will hear the name Robert Duvall and nobody's going to know who that is. It's kind of sad, but it's also just reality. So, as we think about our work here on earth, it is important. God calls us to work hard with our giftings. It's just got to be realized that that's not our end all be all. It's kind of like you're saying, Micah, the American dream is not just about wealth, it's not just about work, it's about just this prosperity of freedom and everything, right? And for us, it's also about our faith. Dr. Jim Denison said specifically in this quote from that daily article, materialism has convinced many that this world is all that there is, rather than using this life to prepare for the next, we ignore the latter and focus myopically on the former. God, though, allows our bodies to die in part to remind us of our finitude in the face of infinity and our mortality on the precipice of immortality. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's one of those things, guys, we're all going to pass away. We're all going to die. It's just the reality of the situation. So, how are you impacting eternity in your time here on earth? And then how do you think about eternity while you're here on earth? Because at some point, you will not have time to think about eternity again. God will call you home or you will pass away and you have to think about where's your eternity at? You know, our faith and the eternal impact that we make in our time here on earth is huge. We have to think about what are we doing to impact other people's eternity and how are we sharing the love of Christ to those around us in the world? And like you said, Micah, in our communities, in our neighborhoods, in our churches even. You know, our father will lead us into our most impactful lives if we leave the choice with him. Every moment spent in his perfect will is obedience that echoes in eternity. If we choose to measure success in this world by significance for the next and we ask Jesus to make our choice a reality, he will always answer our prayer. So let's pray that God would use us to impact eternity and let's think about, you know, raising up our families well, loving them. I think James Van Der Beek in his final days, securing a home for his family, showing his wife he's ready to renew his vows. That's how much he loved her as she took care of him in his final days. There's a beauty to that. There's a legacy to that. But there's an even further legacy that comes when you allow your family to know what your eternity is secured in. And if it's secured in Christ, that's amazing. But, and I want everybody to hear this, if you are unsure where your eternity lies, hear this. God loves you. He sent his son Jesus to die for you for your sins. And he offers you eternal life. That is a free gift that he has offered us. You can accept that today. Romans 10:9 says that if you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart that God is raised from the dead, you will be saved. That is true salvation and that, Micah, I also believe is true legacy when you have decided that God is your end all be all, not this world, not materialism, not your work, not your films, not your speeches, but God. That is true legacy and that is what gives your family peace when you do pass away that they know you are glorifying God for eternity up in heaven because the alternative is not great. It's not great. So if you're unsure, turn to Jesus today. That's where your legacy starts and that's where your legacy finishes.

Micah Tomasella: [00:26:07] I couldn't have said it any better myself, Connor. Legacy is something we need to be thinking about, not obsessively, but every day. Are you living your life for you or for others? Because we're not promised another day and another moment, another breath. Anything at any time could happen. Not being fearful or not telling anybody to be fearful. But at the same time, we have to recognize every day is precious and we're not promised another one. So hopefully that helps us live a little bit differently. But pointing this back to Jesus and a relationship with him is really important because I believe that's the foundation, that is the key to living with true humility. When you surrender your life to Jesus, the Holy Spirit indwells you and seals you, then at that point, you got access to fruits of the spirit, you got access to your creator in a way that you did not have before because you've accepted that relationship with your creator. He's reached that hand down to us. It's our job to reach our hand up to him that he's already extended to us. The key, the foundation for living in true humility is finding Jesus. You know why? This is a rhetorical question, Connor, because of course you know why. But for me, what you're saying reminds me of, well, if I truly want to live in humility, I've got to remember that the best thing about Micah Tomasella and Connor, the best thing about Connor Jones is not that we host a podcast or our husbands and fathers and are decent at our jobs and we're good friends and we have family that loves us and we have purpose in our lives. That is not the most important thing about us, the best thing about us. The best thing about me and you is that we are loved so deeply that the creator of the universe wanted to have a relationship with us and we've chosen to have a relationship with him. We have a relationship with Jesus. The best thing about you and me is that Jesus died for you and me and that changes now and the future. That's the best thing about us. And so in order to live in true humility, it's Jesus. That's the key.

Conner Jones: [00:28:11] Yeah, man, Jesus. What's that song? It just goes, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Like it's just he is the key. Sing it out, Connor Jones. You don't want to hear me really sing it out. Well, I've sang several times on this podcast. When are you going to sing? That is just simply not my gifting. So I don't think it's mine either. I'm not going to subject the people to this. But it's true. Jesus is the key and I'm so grateful that he went to the cross for our sins, man.

Micah Tomasella: [00:28:35] Love it. Okay, well, guys, let's jump into a little game. And not really, just more of a fun fact section for you guys. So I have been really enjoying the Olympic games, the winter games in Italy. Connor, have you been watching some of it?

Conner Jones: [00:28:53] Yeah, mostly on Saturday and Sunday when I don't have as much going on because it's on live during the day. So it's kind of hard while working, but you know, catching things here and there and then during lunchtime or catching stuff on social media, seeing some clips. I just saw Mikaela Shiffrin just ended her gold or her really her medal drought right before we hopped on this podcast. So that's great. She's a legend in her own right. 12 years between gold medals or something. It's crazy. Yeah, she's and that was in Slalom. I mean, she's the most decorated alpine skier in American history, I believe. So congratulations to her. So here's the medal count right now. I'm just going to give you the top three. Norway leads the way. That kind of makes sense. Of course, they're going to be good at winter sports. So good, man. You know, just wait until the summer Olympics and then America will be on top. Don't you worry about it. In 2028, LA is hosting in 2028, by the way. So you've got Norway at the top, you've got Italy, the host country, and then you've got America hot on Italy's heels. They rank it by gold medals, not just total medals. Now, Norway has 33, Italy has 25, US has 24 total medals, but where the real separation is is Norway as of now, we're recording Wednesday, February 18th, has 15 gold medals. Italy has nine and the US has seven. So I'm not sure if we're going to catch up on that. We'll see how it all shakes out, but the US is in the top three. And I think what's interesting too is like maybe half of our country kind of has access to certain sports and certain things that would allow you to prepare for the winter games. Obviously, you know, there's some people who are starting to get into those different things all over the country. But I mean, overall, really only half of our country kind of has access to these types of sports naturally. I have loved personally watching curling. I know that sounds kind of crazy, but the US men's curling team has been really fun to watch. Have you been watching any curling, Connor Jones?

Conner Jones: [00:30:40] I love curling. I've always been a fan of curling. I used to get chastised for it. I used to get so much heat for that. And then now everybody's like, curling's really cool. I'm like, thank you. I'm not going to watch it for another four years, but Yeah, but they mic them up and they're like, you hear all of their, there's just, you're thinking eight steps ahead every time. You know? Yeah, that's why the cheating scandal between Sweden and calling out like Canada's curling team and saying, hey, you're cheating. And then they had it on video, the guy pushing the stone a little bit more. I love it, man. It's it's fun to watch. It's all really fun. I also watched Ilya in his skating performance on Friday and it did not go according to plan. I mean, he's supposed to be the best skater, the quad guy and it just didn't go well. Unfortunately, he's he's come out since and talked about mental health and the pressure of the moment and everything. I I get that, man. I can't even imagine all this pressure, all these years, everybody's eyeballs on you and it just didn't go the way obviously he had hoped and the way many people thought it would. But he's there, man, and he he performed well. He still got the team gold medal, but just not the individual. Yeah, the US team figure skaters, the mixed or, you know, whatever it might be, like whatever they call it, they won gold. So it's not like he's going to walk away without any gold. But yeah, he ended up getting eighth place when he was widely picked as the as the winner leading up to that. Okay, well, quickly, I saw an article that kind of inspired this of like, man, what do these athletes get paid when they win medals, right? So there is kind of a list here, like the highest paying countries. So Singapore will pay you 780 grand for a gold a gold medal. That's the highest. Hong Kong will pay you 760,000 for a gold medal. And Italy pays 200,000 for gold, one of the highest in Europe specifically. US is in the middle of the pack. We're going to drop way down. They'll pay you 37,500 for a gold medal. But you get additional sponsorships and special lifetime funding programs. You know what I mean? Like there's more than meets the eye with all of this stuff. France will pay you 90,000 for gold. Germany and the Netherlands pay somewhere between 30 and 40. But here's something interesting. Sweden, Norway, and Great Britain pay nothing directly. They pay no direct dollars for a gold medal, a silver, or a bronze. Their support comes through training stipends and national funding instead of prize money. So they'll kind of fund you leading up to the games. But for example, Norway doesn't pay you anything and they're historically one of the best countries in the winter games every year. They're blowing everybody out of the water and they're not paid anything. So I thought that that was really interesting. Now here's Kind of a boss move from the Norwegian committee because they're still winning every they're still winning everything and they're not paying a cent. That's good for them. I thought that was so interesting. Yeah, I thought that was so interesting. Okay, here's a fun twist. The International Olympic Committee, the IOC, does not pay any prize money. All bonuses come from each country's government or Olympic committee, which is why the numbers vary so much. It's up to each country. And in some countries, medalists have received non-cash rewards. I was I was reading this article like free apartments, like furnished two bedroom apartments, Toyota Corollas, lifetime pensions. In past games, athletes in places like South Korea and Kazakhstan have famously been awarded new cars and a house for winning gold. So it's up to each country and each like body that oversees those country's Olympic programs to decide what the prizes are. But I just thought that was interesting.

Conner Jones: [00:34:00] That is super interesting. And the house and the car thing kind of makes me think of like the Hunger Games, like when you win the Hunger Games. I know. You get like a huge mansion. Anyways, the Kazakhstan thing is funny too because the guy who ended up getting the gold medal against Ilya in the in the men's figure skating was from Kazakhstan. He won like their first ever gold medal, which is just crazy. Kazakhstan. I know. I watched his skate. He did great. Yeah. I watched his skate. Yeah, and everybody was like shocked. They were like, okay, we weren't expecting that from this guy. He just had he he met the moment. And then, yeah, man, this is really cool. These these athletes do such great things. They should be rewarded. I think it is interesting. I don't think the US government pays any money towards this. It's all like privately donated or funded stuff. Yeah, something to do with the committee. It's not tax dollars. I wish I would have dove more into how America does it specifically, but I just kind of pulled the the general numbers from across the board.

Conner Jones: [00:34:49] Cool. Well, thanks for that, Micah. Let's jump into the mailbag real fast because we've got a great question this week. Gary, he wrote in and of course, you can always write into us too. I'll mention that real fast at [email protected]. You can also shoot us a message at Culture Brief podcast on Instagram. Those are linked in the show notes and show description if you're interested in reaching out. But Gary wrote in, he mentioned that last week Dr. Jim Denison wrote in one of his daily articles that him and his wife, Janet, were struggling to find a TV show. They landed on a TV show that had LGBTQ relationships and that's just kind of normal in a bunch of TV shows and sexualization of a bunch of stuff is normal in today's TV world, unfortunately. And he talked then about how culture follows a strategy of normalizing unbiblical morality, then legalizing it, then stigmatizing those who disagree, and then criminalizing such disagreement. That's kind of the way things get normalized over a period of time. So Gary wrote in and he said, my wife and I are always struggling to find something decent to watch on TV as well. We're tired of watching HGTV and the Hallmark channel. I totally understand that. And he said, is there any place we can find recommendations of things to watch that would be something that I would not be ashamed of if my pastor was in the room? Then he clarified and said, okay, maybe not that clean, but something where there's not cuss words in every other sentence. Micah, I put together some thoughts. I would love yours here in a minute, but some places where I think you can find some really good stuff, but it it does just hit on a big cultural thing of it's hard to find shows, man. Everything adds in sex or LGBTQ storylines or lots of profanity. That's the way TV is gone, especially since it's moved to streaming because streaming does not have to abide by all the same rules. Man, everything is TV MA today. It's really unfortunate. But I did think about this and I thought of several places I could point Gary for you and anybody else who's interested. My wife loves the show Heartland, which is kind of like a it's in the mountains in Canada. It's like a I don't want to say Christian Yellowstone, but it's it's definitely more clean and pure and it's in the mountains, horse ranches, all of that. Family drama. That's on the Up Faith and Family streaming app. Then of course, you can always go to the masterpiece shows on PBS like Downton Abbey. I personally love Downton Abbey. I sound like an old man, but it's just a great show and it's it's pretty clean for the most part. And then shows like All Creatures Great and Small over there. Angel Studios, we've talked about the chosen here before. They've got some other shows as well. That's the Jesus story. Obviously, that one's going to be very clean and it is. House of David on Amazon Prime. It's all about King David and his life. I haven't watched that yet, but I'm planning to start that here soon. I want to watch it too. It's on the list. I've heard great things. Then you can always do the the other types of shows similar to HGTV, like the Food Network. Go watch a food competition show. The Great British Bake Off is an amazing show on Netflix. I got a suggestion. Oh, yeah, hit me with it. Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Exactly. With our main man, Guy Fieri. That is a Friday night guilty pleasure is flipping on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on Food Network. They play it all day. There's really no reason for them to show any other show on Food Network other than Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. They can throw in chopped every once in a while if they want to. That's a good competition cooking show. But I would say 95% of what they should be broadcasting is Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. It's probably only about 20% and I don't think that's enough. My gosh. It is a good show. I've been watching it since I mean, I was a kid. I love that show. It's awesome. Dude, there's nothing like walking into like a a hole in the wall restaurant somewhere in the country and it's they got they got the picture and it's Guy Fieri there. It's like, this is a Diners, Drive-ins and Dives restaurant. You're like, oh yeah. It's happened to me several times on accident. Like I was not planning on it. And that's the best feeling. Welcome to Flavortown, baby. Flavortown. Let's go. And of course, you can always watch old TV shows, the Andy Griffith show, Brady Bunch, all those types of shows. Yeah, there's stuff out there, Gary. I mean, it's a great question. Ultimately, we can't be surprised though when when non-believers act like non-believers. So like, what's the, you know, just like the issues that we're seeing in news media right now, without a real guiding foundation or truth, they're just going to do whatever it takes to get people to click and consume. Same thing with what we're seeing in modern television and movies. And it's sad and Christians should really think twice before feeding into those things. We should be careful what we're seeing and what we're listening to because it has an impact on us whether if we recognize it or not. And so, Gary, it's a great question and I wish we had even more suggestions for you than that. Over time, I hope better options come out in the future. And we have seen some of that. Like at the same time as streaming has has kicked up, places like Angel Studios have come out with a whole lot more content. There's so much biblical good content for kids out right now. So the the options are out there, you just got to look for them.

Conner Jones: [00:39:16] Yep, they definitely are. Yeah, great question, Gary. Thanks for writing that in. Again, shoot us an email or a message on Instagram. We'll be happy to answer your questions and talk about things. Let's jump into check in real fast.

Conner Jones: [00:39:28] Micah, I'm not even sure most of the country realizes this, but there is a partial government shutdown currently happening. Yeah. Here we are again with shutdown talk. But currently, the Department of Homeland Security is completely shut down in terms of there are people still working, they're just not getting paid. That's basically 260,000 employees across the Coast Guard, across TSA, a whole bunch of other DHS, FEMA, all these agencies within DHS. So around 90% of those employees are considered essential. So 95% of TSA agents are included in that. Secret Service and the Coast Guard, they're not going to stop working, but they're not getting paid, which is not great. And this is where in a few weeks we'll start to see TSA agents calling sick and stop stop showing up because they're not getting paid and you can't blame them for that. They got to go make money somewhere else. So, we'll see what happens here, but Congress does not seem to be anywhere close to a deal to to fund DHS. Of course, a lot of this is coming from the shootings in Minnesota that we talked about last month very in depth. Democrats want to kind of put the hands behind the back of Christine Noem and DHS with some sort of legislation. On top of this, the US military is really looking close to striking Iran. Actually, it was just reported right before we hopped on this podcast that Trump is very close to making a decision to go ahead and do strikes. Talks are not going well. A second US aircraft carrier is about to enter the Mediterranean and get to the region. That's the USS Gerald Ford. The Abraham Lincoln is already over there off the coast of Iran. We've got over 100 fighter aircraft. There are dozens of tankers that have flown over there. They're prepping basically. There's there's lots of missile defense systems that have been set up around the US bases in the Middle East. The preparation has been going on for over a month. Initially, we were thinking there's going to be a strike in January when all the protests in Iran were going on. Trump held back and basically gave the order, let's prep better before we start doing something. Maybe this turns into a wider scale conflict unless talks do find a breakthrough with Iran and they they agree to basically dismantle their entire nuclear apparatus. But regime change is very likely here. And then the last thing I want to mention is we talked about in December when Netflix said that they were going to buy Warner Brothers, that was kind of the understanding, but Paramount, another company that we also discussed back in December, man, they're not going away. They have continued to up their offer and the talks are now on with Paramount. So maybe Netflix loses this deal to buy the entire Warner Brothers studio. We'll see. Yeah, something is shifted there. Dude, it keeps alive the possibility of like a Batman Top Gun collaboration in my mind. I'm here for that. Let's get these let's get these franchises together. I'd love that. Yeah. Okay, great, Connor. All right, well, let's jump into tune in.

Micah Tomasella: [00:41:58] Just a couple of things that we think you guys should be paying attention to. So we've got the Olympics closing ceremonies on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Central Time. So as quick as the Olympics started, they're ending. So we just have a few more days of it. So soak it up. Look on Peacock, NBC, USA, you know, all the CNBC, like I mean, all the NBC channels will be playing all those things throughout the weekend. USA Men's Hockey is just a few games away from the gold medal game. Go USA. Let's go. I think they play Sweden today specifically. This is the first time that the Americans have been the favorite to win gold and even have a possibility of it. We haven't won a gold medal in men's hockey since the 1980 Miracle on Ice. I watched a documentary about that actually recently on Netflix. Just incredible. We need another moment like that. And then That'd be awesome. And then secondly, Trump's giving a state of the Union address. He'll address the nation from the capital on Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. Central Standard Time. So those are the things to look forward to. Well, thank you guys for joining us for this week's episode of Culture Brief, a Denison Forum podcast. All articles and videos mentioned in the show notes will be linked below. If you enjoyed it, please like, please subscribe, and pass it along to a friend. And we'll see you next Thursday.

Conner Jones: [00:43:16] See ya.