The Narratologist

Luck doesn't exist. Not the way we think it does. Most luck is an illusion. So, what is really happening?

If there's one thing that keeps catching me off guard in life, it's how little I know. There is ALWAYS more to learn. Even about things I've been doing for years. Like teaching, which I've been doing for 18. And composing, which I've been doing for over 30. So much more...

There are mugs you can get in the UK that all say some variation of "Keep Calm and Carry On". But what if - maybe - we shouldn't keep on? What if we should freak out? If there are times worth freaking out over, how do we decide as a society that the time is now? And is the time, you know... now?

What makes groups of people do bad things? It's not as complicated as you might think. And it's not about being bad, or immoral. It's actually about having a strong sense of justice. And it's how doing bad things affects our brains and our bodies. Listen to find out more.

This is the end of Season 1. This is the TLDR episode. If you've missed everything, this is what I think is the main idea from Season 1. Does it cover everything? Of course not. But it does encapsualte the main idea, which is basically the idea behind the whole podcast. If you like this, there are 39 other episodes to listen to before it. And possibly by the time you listen, more episodes from the future. Which hasn't happened yet. As I write this. Biut has maybe happened as you read this. Weird.

Are our emotions what we think they are? Or are they simpler? Are they just, as some suggest, a social construct? And if they are, what function do they serve?   Most importantly, does reframing our emotions help us to navigate this thing called life?

This is a story of my dad. Not THE story of my dad, as that would take decades to tell. When I wrote the companion episode about my mom, I realised that this is a story that you can't get right. Which makes it easier, and infinitely more difficult, all at once. If you knew my dad, I hope this rings true, and teaches you some new things. If not, meet him now.

Is America exceptional? The answer to that question is one of the most important questions in recent world history. And perhaps one of the most difficult aspects is how that question is seen inside and outside of America.

It's counterintuitive, but ignorance is our superpower. Without ignorance, there is no way we would have all this knowledge. Why? Listen and find out!

Straight Lines are not natural. Nature evolves and meanders and follows the path of least resistance. Straight lines are an unnatural imposition. Straight lines have consequences.

We often compare life to sports. Why? What are the useful analogies and metaphors? And which sport is the best analogue for life? The answer might surprise you.

Stories about Christianity are important for everyone for the simple reason that Christian thought, narratives and morality dominate the globe. So, what happens when Biblical narratives and the modern state of masculinity collide?

I'm not going to lie. This was difficult. AI is such an important, complicated topic. This episode is around twice as long as my average episode because I wanted to cover all the big points. If you're knee-deep in AI yourself, you will find things I have missed. If you're new to AI, this will hopefully act as some kind of intro to the topic as it stands today.

Are there 2 genders? Are there 77? Do we know? How can we talk about this highly emotive subject in a better way? As ever, we just need to do 2 things: Accept that the other side isn't crazy Be prepared to say. "We don't know"

Is left-wing violence a problem? Is political violence a problem? What does history tell us? What do our narratives tell us about the present? The answers might surprise you.

We're noty good at arguing, are we? The people we hold up as great debaters are -- I think -- often pretty bad at it. This is the first in a series addressing that. The episodes aren't strictly about supporting one point of view. They're about showing what a good debate might look like.

Are we living in times that are similar to the 1930s? Is catastrophe around the corner? Is history inevitable? Let's have a think about that. Because the answers aren't just useful. They actually help us understand ourselves and each other better. And that is really the whole point.

There are 2 things to know about money: It is the most confusing part of every day life. It is based on a fiction, a fiction we all believe.

Did Liz Truss REALLY break the economy? When we were told, "the markets are nervous", what did that REALLY mean? The mini-budget crisis of 2022 has a lot to teach us about how economies really work, if we would only look.

Have you noticed all the St George crosses littering our towns? They don't, as many would have you believe, come from China. They come from Anicent Rome. Via Genoa. With some other stops along the way. Enjoy!

When we tell stories, they often become shorthand for ideas that are central to us and our cultures. We use little phrases that quickly communicate and affirm our tribal identity. Like many human creations, this is a tool that has been used for good as well as evil.

Who we are is partly a product of where we come from. The narratives that form us are often the same narratives that formed our parents. This is a quick glimpse into how my own mom constructed and told her narratives, and how they in turn became the richest inheritance I could have wanted.

Education only has ONE problem?! Really? No, but it does have one problem that is WAY bigger than all the other problems. So, what is it? Listen and find out.

In this episode we start with the Choctaw nation, move on to the Irish, then the Palestinians, back to the Irish, then back to the Choctaw. What narrative weaves its way to make those connections? Listen and find out!

Is the racism faced by black people different from other forms of racism? Dianne Abbott was suspended from the Labour Party the other week. Again. For more or less saying that. This is about the nature of racism, and how words get in the way of our understanding.

Is there objective reality? Yes! Is it easy? No! And it's getting harder. What do we do when reality is denied? And how do we prevent reality from becoming unknowable?

Here it is. The meaning of life. I know. Not really anything more to say. Enjoy.

Christianity went off course. Not in the 1980s with the rise of televangelists. Not in the 1960s with the rise of the Jesus Freaks. Not even in the 1520s with the Reformation. It went off course almost 1700 years ago. And it hasn't found its way back. What happened? What's missing? Whether you're a Christian or an Atheist or a Muslim or a Jew or a Hindu or a Buddhist, this is your story. This story created the world we inherited, and is still creating the world we live in today.

Racism is as old as humanity. Right? Actually, no. If you had to pinpoint it, it's about 580 years old. Give or take a few years. Want to find out more?

When most of think of conspiracy theories, we think of people staring out between shuttered blinds, terrified of the world around them. Conspiracies actually make us feel safe. Want to find out more?

The LP was born almost a century ago, and there is reason to think it will soon be a relic of the past. In that light, I offer this elegy for the LP and one of my favoruite albums, Sam's Town by The Killers. If when you're done, if you do nothing else, listen to an album. From start to finish. It's a vibe.

We often look at what we do. We often try to measure what we do. But we seldom look at the effect that our measuring has on the thing itself. It's a bit like Heisenberg, where the act of observing something changes the something observed. But with more numbers.

What is the American Dream? Does it still exist? Is it a positive narrative? How has it changed?

Someonce once said, "We used to live in counties ruled by counts, in kingdoms ruled by kings and in duchies ruled by dukes. Now we live in countries." Where we live is a fiction, and our attachment to that fiction can lead us into some pretty strange places. If you want to know more, have a listen. CORRECTION: It's 6, not 7. If you listen, and you know, you know. If not, just smile and wave.

We are often confronted with the terrible statistics about how many women will be victims of sexual violence. But how many men will be perpetrators of sexual violence? And what does it mean for our narratives around sex?

Do we shape our political parties, or do our political parties shape us? When our parties change their beliefs, what do we do? Are we the dog wagging our tail, or is the tail wagging the dog?

We all belong to tribes. Some are obvious, some less so. Some tribes are intensely aware of who we are, some don't even know we're members. But they shape us, our beliefs, and our sense of "us" and "them". They are the key to that primal human sense: belonging.

The Netflix series Adolscence has inceased our awareness of the issues surrounding boys and men. It's an important topic, especially for those of us one or two steps removed. How do we relate to narratives that we aren't explicitly living out? How do we place ourselves in other people's shoes, to better understand what they are going through?

Humans have used narratives to explain our existences for the entirety of recorded history, and we can be sure that some of those narratives stretch far back into prehistory. What might be more surprising is that fact that some of our most primal narratives - narratives many of us would assume we'd abandoned centuries ago - are alive and well in the 21st century. Sure, we dress them up in different clothes, but the role they fulfil - the job they do - hasn't actually changed at all. In this episode, we compare 2 versions of 1 of our oldest narratives and find surprising connections.

We go through our lives talking about ourselves: me, myself, I. We seldom wonder whether the self we're talking about is the same as the self that is doing the describing, or if it's the same as the self that is living life. Surely "I" am a single, constant thing, right? Right? Strange as it may sound, that actually isn't the experience any of us has. So, if there are multiple "me"s living my life, then how are they different? What narratives can I use to navigate between them?

Neoliberalism is a narrative like no other. It is not just a story. It is THE framework from which a huge number of other narratives hang. But where did it come from? And what does it say? And - most importantly - what's next?

Do people all tell themselves the same sorts of stories? Or do rich and poor people, famous and unknown, actually tell themselves different stories? If our stories are meant to explain our realities to ourselves, it would make sense if different realities conjured up different narratives.

The stories we use to explain what makes one person successful and another not are some of the most powerful stories we have. They are a way of reminding ourselves what the rules are. They tell us that our world functions as it should, and that people get what they deserve.

Welcome to The Narratologist. Who are we? How do we process reality? I believe that the answer to both questions is the same: stories. This is our first step on that journey, laying out some of the fundamentals that we'll build on in future episodes.