Farewell Boy Scouts America-Podcast 724

Farewell Boy Scouts America-Podcast 724

The Boy Scouts of America recently changed its name. The reason? Scouts USA will admit girls. These days a decision like that can kick off a firestorm of criticism. There’s even a new Christian alternative to the Boy Scouts. For my best friends and I, BSA was all about camping. We’ll talk about it in Farewell Boy Scouts America-Podcast 724.

Best Friends Like None Other

I had two best friends growing up. Both of them invited me into the Boy Scouts. The other day one of them texted me, concerned that the Boy Scouts would not admit girls. “Are you gonna do a podcast about that?”, he wondered. I said I didn’t think so. The idea of a podcast about changes in our social institutions though, stuck with me.

Summer Memories

Especially relevant is how summer brings back memories. It’s warm already in Minnesota and that makes me think about my best friends, camp outs, summer camp and fun. For us, that’s what the Boy Scouts were. So I’ll share some stories about our campouts in Farewell Boy Scouts America-Podcast 724.

Nonconformist Scoutmaster

What’s more, as I researched and thought about this podcast I realized how important our scoutmaster was to all of us. It’s not what you’d expect. Our scoutmaster and the men who watched over us were anything but conformists.

No Patience For Rules and Regulations in 1970’s America

As world war two vets, our scoutmasters weren’t about to take crap from anyone. Moreover, they didn’t have much patience for bureaucracy, rules and regulations. What they did was make sure we were safe, had a good time, and took care of each other. They also stood up for us, celebrated us and had our back. In Farewell Boy Scouts America-Podcast 724.

Changing Institutions

Most noteworthy to this podcast is the idea that institutions like the Boy Scouts are changing. Crumbling even. There’s no shortage of criticism for ‘Scouts USA’ from commentators who make sure to tell the reader they were Eagle Scouts and went on to Explorers. We didn’t. In fact we thought ‘Super Scouts’ were kind of weird.

Friends For Life

For us it was all about camping and the kind of friendship none of us will have again. I think it was that way with our scoutmasters and the fathers of the kids who came to the campouts too. For me, I don’t mind leaving it all behind and keeping those times as memories. As Stephen King once wrote, “I never had friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus. Does anyone?”

My sentiments exactly.

Was it the Boy Scouts? Or was it us?

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating Of Saint Paul

Farewell Boy Scouts America-Podcast 724

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New Nostalgia-Really Want A Throwback To Fifties-Pros and Cons-Podcast 710

New Nostalgia-Really Want A Throwback To Fifties-Pros and Cons-Podcast 710

Lots of talk these days about the fifties. The 1950’s that is. A time when we made stuff. When men were men and, you know. Was it so great? We’ll talk about it in New Nostalgia-Really Want A Throwback To Fifties-Pros and Cons-Podcast 710.

A Podcast Subscriber Suggestion

One of my subscribers recently suggested I take a moment or a time in history and talk about it. As it relates to the president, part of the populist political theme these days is getting back to a simpler time when America Was Great.

Back In The Day We Were Happy and America was Great

During the time of poodle skirts and Buddy Holly, Marilyn Monroe and amber fields of grain, lots of people worked in manufacturing. Americans ‘made stuff’. Prices were low compared to today. People were happy. Families were important. Sundays was for church. Cars were big and cool. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

Seeing Life Through The Gauze of Nostalgia

Nostalgia. A sentimental longing a past. Going back to a place or time with happy personal associations. Surprisingly people are sometimes nostalgic for the time just before they were born, or going back to when they were children. We see nostalgia for the 1980’s from millennials who weren’t even born until the 90’s or 2000’s. We’ll talk about it in New Nostalgia-Really Want A Throwback To Fifties-Pros and Cons-Podcast 710.

Politicians Want Your Vote So They Love The 1950s Too

Especially relevant are politicians who evoke these halcyon times. Movers and shakers who want to associate their name and image with a time that is thought to be idyllically peaceful and happy. While we all would love to experience such a time, by some measurements the 1950’s in the United States wasn’t necessarily the jazz age.

Things Were Simpler In Part Because Populations Were Smaller

In New Nostalgia-Really Want A Throwback To Fifties-Pros and Cons-Podcast 710 we’ll take a close look at the 1950‘s including some memories and stories about the early days of the suburbs and the vast differences in the size and makeup of cities and towns.

How Do You Build A Better Future Dreaming Of The Past?

In conclusion if we are always thinking about a time in the distant past that really wasn’t how we remember or think about it, we’re not thinking about the future. Is it so bad people can be themselves these days? What about being able to communicate. Share vast amounts of data easily? Build highly productive factories that make things better, that last longer and do more? Are things better today than in the 1950’s?

You be the judge in New Nostalgia-Really Want A Throwback To Fifties-Pros and Cons-Podcast 710.

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and Reliafund

New Nostalgia-Really Want A Throwback To Fifties-Pros and Cons-Podcast 710

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Hollywood Brings Back 1970's-Nostalgia-End Of Summer-Podcast 660

Hollywood Brings Back 1970’s-Nostalgia-End Of Summer-Podcast 660

There is a sudden nostalgia for the 1970’s. New TV Shows. Fashion. Summer’s end is a time of nostalgia. Something about the drier air and State Fair time in Minnesota. We’ll talk about it in Hollywood Brings Back 1970’s-Nostalgia-End Of Summer-Podcast 660.

Where Were You in ’72?

Back in the day, the week before Labor Day we went to Sears. New Jeans as hard as concrete. Some collared shirts. Heavy t-shirts. New tennis shoes. New Hard shoes. By the end of the next summer those jeans would be tattered and worn. The shoes unrecognizable. T-Shirts worn out.

Summer’s Long Goodbye

End of Summer also meant new school supplies. Pencils. Notebooks. Things like protractors. Cartridge Pens. Fresh paper. The first day’s of school were hot and uncomfortable. They were also filled with hope and the promise of new romance. In Hollywood Brings Back 1970’s-Nostalgia-End Of Summer-Podcast 660.

Midwesterners All Share

As summer winds down you can hear it. Feel it. Humidity goes out of the air. Trees start to change. Temperatures cool off. Doesn’t matter which decade you grew up in. This longing for more summer mixing with expectations and excitement for fall is something everyone of every age in the Midwest shares.

Hip Huggers and The Road Runner

As far as nostalgia is concerned. Steve Jobs once remarked that the 1960’s actually happened in the 1970’s. There were two parts of the 1970’s. The early part was good. Kind of like a continuation of the best parts of the 60’s. Muscle Cars and Bell Bottoms. Hip Huggers. In Hollywood Brings Back 1970’s-Nostalgia-End Of Summer-Podcast 660.

1970’s Weren’t So Great, right?

The second half of the 1970’s wasn’t so good. Vietnam. Nixon. Violence and Protests. AM Radio and Black and White TV was fading. Things started to go bad. Inflation. Gas Lines. Watergate. Urban Decay. Racial Strife. Drugs. Why is the 1970’s suddenly imbued with all this power?

Nostalgia For A Strange Time

New shows about New York City in the 1970’s. Times Square a cess pool. Garbage in the streets. Bankruptcy. Perfect for the all seeing eye of dramatic television. The newest fashions these days are all throw backs to the 1970’s. How did the people who came of age in that time feel about it? In Hollywood Brings Back 1970’s-Nostalgia-End Of Summer-Podcast 660.

Spinning Out Of Control

There was a sense, in that time, that things were spinning out of control. The 1970’s were not a fun time economically, especially the second half. Yet there was a sense of innocence. If you were born just after the 1970’s perhaps the decade holds a little more sway in the imagination.

Winter IS Coming

Something to think about listening to the sounds of summer, mourning the passing of the heat and intensity, welcoming the coolness and color of fall but not thinking too hard of the inevitable winter to follow. Hollywood Brings Back 1970’s-Nostalgia-End Of Summer-Podcast 660.

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

Hollywood Brings Back 1970’s-Nostalgia-End Of Summer-Podcast 660

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