The Eric Metaxas Show - Joseph Backholm and Allen Wolf

Episode Date: January 27, 2023

Joseph Backholm presents a hilarious new card game, "Wokelandia"; then, filmmaker Allen Wolf makes some noise about "The Sound of Violet."

Folks, welcome to the Eric Mattaxas show, sponsored by Legacy Precious Metals. There's never been a better time to invest in precious metals. Visit legacy p.m.investments.com. That's legacy p.m.investments.com. Welcome to the Eric Mataxis show. We'll get you from point A to point B. But if you're looking for point C, well, buddy, you're on your own. But if you'll wait right here in just about the two minutes, the bus to point C will be coming right by.

And now here's your point C. Ralph Cramden of the Airways, Eric Mattaxas! Hey folks, welcome to the show. This is the show. It's called The Eric Mataxis Show, because my name just happens to be Eric Mataxis, and they said, who can we get to fill that slot for the Eric Mataxis show? What about if we got a guy actually named Eric Mattaxas? So they tracked me down.

It wasn't easy, and now I'm the host. And I get to talk to all kinds of people. Today, I'm talking to two friends. in the second half of the program, the second half of the hour today, I'm talking to a really old friend who's a filmmaker. Right now I'm talking to a new friend. His name is Joseph back home,

and he's an attorney, but I don't want you to hold that against him because he's also a really nice guy. Joseph, welcome. Hey, thanks, Eric. Good to see you. Listen, you're not just an attorney. You're a lot of things. You're involved with the family research count.

And you sit in for our friend Tony Perkins on his program a lot of times. That is true. Yeah. I mean, I met you in Seattle. I want to confuse my audience up front. I was in Seattle at an event. And you, I guess, used to live in Seattle. That's correct.

Yes. So you were back visiting and I was the speaker at this event. And that's where we met. And a number of people at the table were talking about, this thing that you've created, this is what I want to talk about today, a game, a card game called Wokelandia. Wokelandia.

And so you have the serious side, but you parlayed the serious issues of our insane woke culture into a really hilarious card game. And people know me, right? I don't say something's funny unless it's actually funny. This is actually funny.

and I remember looking at this and thinking, this is just nuts. I can't, who is this guy? So finally you showed up and you're not funny in person. You were deadly serious to the point of people were in tears. You were so serious. No, just kidding.

Obviously. But so you've got all these different sides, but let's just talk about, I want people to get to know you a little bit before we talk about this, like, hilarious game, which it is. I'm not getting paid to say this, folks. Believe me.

But you, what is your story, Joseph back home. Yeah. Well, thanks, Eric. And I'm a Washington State native. That's really where I have come from, graduated from the University of Washington, went to law school there at Seattle University, which is a Jesuit school, but it's just as secular as the University of Washington ever was during my time there. And when you grow up in that environment in Washington State, which I think most people understand is a pretty secular, a left-leaning place, it's kind of a wilderness for those of us. who are, you know, biblical conservatives. And I ended up running a social conservative nonprofit advocacy group there in Washington State for 10 years.

And so I was part of a lot of the current debates around marriage and gender. And so I really, you know, U-dub, the University of Washington really kind of initiated me into how a world that I wasn't raised in thinks. But then I really got to spend a lot of time. And I worked in the legislature there, then around the legislature for a lot of. long time. And it really is kind of these culture war issues as we describe them. And I still get to talk to them, talk about them a lot as worldview issues. So I do think they are deadly serious in the sense that I think ideas matter a lot, which is why we talk about them and why worldview matters in the way we think. But, you know, the game that has been created is an attempt. It's a satirical game,

to be sure, but it has a very serious point to help people understand kind of the insanity of this world where truth doesn't matter. The most important thing about you is things that are superficial that can change, what can't change about you. We tried to illustrate kind of what the rules of wokeness are. But it really is this kind of evolution that I've been through of learning. How does this world think and how do we understand it, not just to make fun of it,

but so that we can respond to lies with truth? But one of the ways that we respond to lies with the truth is through humor. And I love that. I mean, I love the fact that you brilliantly mock this world. It's really hilarious. And again, Joseph, back home, we're just getting to know each other. But, I mean, I prize humor as a way of truth-telling. And so when I got this, you know, my first question was, well, what is this?

Is this funny or whatever? And it really is funny. I don't say that. It's kind of like talking about the Babylon B. Like, you know, I'm thrilled that their stuff is brilliant. brilliantly funny in the same way that I'm thrilled that this is brilliantly funny. But so just to kind of to get people to understand like how this works, it says it's called Wolklandia.

It's a card game. And it says, may the biggest victim win. So you win by being the biggest victim, which of course is hilarious and true. That that's how the woke world works, right? So, I mean, I just open it up. I don't know if this is like random. but like you have action cards and you can have action card that's a microaggression. And this one says, I'm offended.

Okay. And the reason for the offense, it says on the card, you know, you pick the card. And it says your company published a book written by a conservative. And so if you work in some big company and you find out, like the publishing companies and me, whatever, media company, and they published a book by a conservative, this has happened. real life. And you deal with this, you know, the family research council. People at these companies who are woke freak out and they go to management and they basically say, we're going to quit or we're going to leave or we're going to, I mean, this has happened over and over and over again.

So this card is like your company published a book written by a conservative and it says, I'm offended. And so this is a microaggression card and you get like 10 points or negative 10 points or whatever in the game of I mean actually this happened to Woody Allen some people know this but he you know he has this career making movies

and whatever and of course recently he has been people have decided rightly and wrongly it's kind of complicated but I mean but they've just said like we can't publish his books anymore and so this is this happened to him like one of these icons

publishers the book and the company that was going to publish it the employees freaked out and said we're going to the point that the company said, okay, we're not, we're not going to publish a book. But I mean, so this stuff really happens. And so you're, but you're making fun of it. Well, we are. And, you know, we put a lot of time into this thing. But in some senses, it required no creativity at all because we just took notes on what

the news of the day was. All of the, there's a, you know, part of the game you gain and lose points based on your identity and you have to have the right identity. And we understand why that matters. But there's also, you can virtue. signal to get points. You offend people through microaggressions, and that's the way you lose points. But all those virtue signals and all of the microaggressions and the ways to be offended, that's just real life. You just take notes, and people will recognize a lot of what those are.

You know, the editors of the New York Times, again, protested, threatened to quit because the New York Times published an editor by Senator Cotton, a sitting U.S. senator who expressed an opinion that they didn't agree with. They ultimately got the mandate. editor of the New York Times fired from his job because they published a perspective from a sitting U.S. Senator that they didn't like. So yes, these things are happening all the time. So it's crazy. It's true. It's happening. And it's deadly serious and also hilarious. But you manage to, you know, to deal with both. Okay. So there's various kinds of cards. Again, we're talking about the game, Woklandia. And I assume people can go to

Amazon or whatever. People can get this wherever they want to get it. So you have cards, like you pick a virtue signal card, and it says, play this card when someone uses a gendered pronoun without asking first. Play anytime, no matter whose turn. So this is when you want a virtue signal. You could play this card. But then there are micro, I think my favorite of the microaggression cards. So there's a microaggression card.

These are actually funny, ladies and gentlemen. I'm laughing in real time. It's microaggression card. I think the picture of the guy of the person being offended is hilarious. Like you picked just the right picture. But the microaggression card says, you wore a kimono without being Japanese. And it says, I'm offended. So this is a microaggression.

Anyway, I want to go through more of these when we come back. I'm talking to Joseph back home. It's B-A-C-H-O-L-M. He's the creator of the game, the card game, called Woklandia. This is the Erkman Taxes show. We'll be right back. In case you haven't been paying attention, the Biden administration has caused a financial crisis,

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Welcome back. I am talking to a new friend Joseph back home, who is many things. He's involved with the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. I met him in Seattle. And we're talking, Joseph, about this game you created, called Walklandia, a card game, which is actually funny. And because, like, a lot of times could have good ideas, people have good ideas, but the execution, like, to actually make it funny, that's the tough part.

So you actually made it funny. So I'm really impressed by the fact that you can have a good attitude about this, because some of the stuff is so dark that it's really healthy when you can bring humor to it. Because I think most people recognize this stuff is nuts. We need to laugh. I agree. I totally agree with that. And part of that, of course, is theological and in my worldview teaches me that I have no reason to ever despair, right?

The world is broken today. It's always been broken. And I am not at all hopeless about it because I'm very confident in who ultimately holds the future and holds my life. So I'm not going to despair. That being said, tactically, one of the best ways to defang a bully is to laugh at him. And we've seen lots of evidence, indicate, or examples of that. That's the better word, historically,

where if somebody wants to be a tyrant, if they want to bully you, if they want to intimidate you, the best way to weaken that power culturally is to make fun of them. And I think what we see right now is the culturally dominant forces. And we just saw a great example this week with prolo, the hockey player in Philadelphia, I'm going to mispronounce his name, who was just the only guy who objected to participating in.

in Pride Night, which I think is itself interesting that there was only one when you know there are a bunch of people who are uncomfortable with it, but weren't willing to do so. So when you see the power that can coerce people into just cooperating with something that they're not comfortable with, that kind of power that people legitimately fear for their businesses, their livelihoods, their social reputation, all of those things. If you want to defang that bully, you just need to stop being afraid of it. And one of the best ways to stop being afraid of it is to just laugh at it together. I mean, here's also just not true. Here's something I want to laugh at. The concept of pride night for hockey. Like, how is that not hilarious? That is so hilarious. And again,

you can just see these these corporate, I don't know, I think the biblical world would word would be whores who they're thinking, we need to get a more of an audience to these hockey games. Let's have a pride night. I mean, they'll just do anything. They don't care. And this one guy, Eastern Orthodox Christian, says, you know what? I'm not, no, I'm not doing it. He turns out to be a hero, and we need more of those. But you, anyway, the game, Wokelandi, it's a card game. And I want to be clear that it's actually funny, but it's actually a real game. And it says, it's a brave new world out there. You weren't woke enough for it. Until now, based on actual events, Wokelandia is a fun with friends battle between the oppressors and the oppressed.

To win be the first to create an identity with 100 oppression points on the way there, advance with virtue signals while avoiding microaggressions. Change your identity. Cancel your friends. It's all fair when love is woke. It's really funny. And congrats to you, Joseph, on creating this. But so, okay, you have microaggression cards.

you have identity cards. This one says race, white, and it says oppressor. If it weren't for you, there would be no white supremacy. Then here's one, another identity card. This is Latin X. It used to be Hispanic. That's crossed out. It's Latin X.

And this is category oppressed. It's pretty oppressive when no one can pronounce your race. That's funny. That's actually funny. So you have gender cards. This one, the gender card is male, and it says, Oppressor. Have you ever noticed what all the worst people in history have in common?

Hitler was a male. You're making a point there. So you've got all these different kinds of cards, sexual orientation cards, religion cards. It's so funny and so true and so sick. I think, I think, Joseph, you're kind of a sick person to actually have thought of this. And that's why I like you. It's why I wanted you on the program.

A lot of people would agree with that. And really what we've tried to do. And I think as people play the game, everyone will recognize. We haven't really tried to create new rules. We've just written down the rules that already exist. One of my favorite parts of the game is there, you know, there is several identity categories. And there is a political identity. You can be a liberal.

You can be a libertarian. you can be woke, you can be conservative. And even if you have all of the right identity, you can be a trans-Muslim woman, right? Which is all good in the game. But if you're conservative, it cancels out all the value you get from being a trans-Muslim woman, right? And these are things that people understand in the world, which is why they would say somebody like, Larry Elder is the black face of white supremacy, which is a real headline from the LA Times a couple years ago, because you can have all the correct identity categories working for you,

but if you're not ideologically in step, you lose all the value from that. And so as people learn the game, play the game, what I think you recognize is that this is the real, these are the rules of the world that you actually live in. You just probably hadn't seen them written down yet. Well, I was just going to say my producer, Albin just showed me that on the Amazon website, there's a review. This is real, folks.

There's a two-star review. This person, Matt, says, my kids won't talk to me. My family won't talk to me anymore, and I have nobody to play this game with. So I just post pictures of the cards on Facebook. We're not making that up. That's an actual Amazon review. You have religion identity cards, and this one says a Catholic, the bad kind, pro-life, oppressor. And it says, the dogma lives loudly with.

you. Not good. Not good at all. This is very clever. This is very clever stuff. You can also have an identity card that what class you're in. Class, this one says undocumented immigrant. And that, of course, is oppressed. It says, welcome to the land of oppression, racism, and genocide. Here's 20 points. You're going to need them. Joseph, I mentioned this is actually funny. I'm very proud that you've achieved this. Oh, here's another one. A class. identity card, renter, renter. Housing is a right. Rent is a capitalist, is capitalist oppression. Listen, you know, it's hard for a lot of people maybe who are listening to this program to believe that there are people out there who believe this stuff. They, maybe they live in Portland, Oregon,

or in or in Seattle. But I mean, you've, you've met people who really believe this stuff, genuinely. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. These are, I mean, all of this is, we, we, We have done our very job, and I believe this for a long time. One of my favorite law professors said that if you want to critique somebody's worldview, you have to be able to explain it better than they can, somebody's position. And we have done our very best to accurately represent what people really think. And now, of course, not everybody agrees with every sentiment. But we haven't made any of this up.

We've worked very hard to be faithful to the ideas actually expressed by people on the left on a range of these issues. Now, of course, you'll recognize the satire in it, and it is intended to be humorous and entertaining. But we don't think that we have overstated what anybody actually believes. Well, that's what's so crazy and serious and funny about this, is that this is real, that there are some people who've been persuaded that these things are true. I think my favorite in the game, Wokelandia, my favorite of the microaggression cards, this is another one.

it says you came to the family reunion wearing a MAGA hat I'm offended another one you politely declined to date a trans person sorry but there's nothing polite about transphobia you told your employees to be on time and work hard promptness and diligence are constructs of white culture people people believe believe these things So how's it going with the game?

I mean, are people buying it? Are they aware of it? Yes. I would imagine so because there's nothing else like this out there. No, we do think it's new. It is. It's been a great surprise. We launched it just before Christmas.

So it's still very new to the market. It is on Amazon, which is where people can get it. But it's been really fun to get feedback from folks because this isn't just a game that's entertaining. We also think it's a curriculum. And again, in my day job, I talk a lot about worldview and the competitive. and the competing ideas. And I think this is a great network.

I mean, if you have a homeschool community, a classical conversations network that you're part of, if you're running a Christian school, frankly, if you're doing a Sunday school, this is a great way to wrap your head around a set of ideas that once we understand them, then we can really compare this as a worldview to really what the Judeo-Christian worldview is.

And why is it different? Why is our identity, our skin color, not the most important thing about us? And why are there things that are more important? So it's really a, It's an attempt to help people understand the world that they live in, not so they can accept it, of course, but so that we can understand something better, which is where we're driving people. Well, these are, I could do the whole show just reading these cards. There are many of them genuinely, brilliantly funny.

This is important. You know, I want people to buy my book letter to the American Church, but it's not funny. It's not funny. It's important, but it's not funny. This is important and funny, Joseph back home. Congratulations on Wokalandia. Good to know you. Thanks so much, Eric. Tell me why Relief Factor is so successful at lowering or eliminating pain.

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Dear enemies I've had it with you I've had it with you I think this interview is over You're one of those friends. I can only think of one or two other people offhand who as soon as I am talking to you, I just get stupid and silly and I can't stop joking and laughing. And I want to apologize to my audience in advance because this is a very serious conversation. We're here to talk about your film.

The motion picture. The motion picture. The motion picture. The sound of violet. You've been on the program to talk about it before. but the headline now is that this film that you wrote and directed, I can't believe it, is out in like digital, Blu-ray DVD, like, right? Yeah, everywhere.

You can stream it. You can get on Blu-ray DVD, finally. So for people who don't know about the sound of Violet, because I don't, you know, even I who am doing this program, forget everything, like all the details, because you've been on here. But so tell my audience, what is this film? The Sound of, why is it called The Sound of Violet? Great question.

It is a romantic comedy about a man who thinks he found his perfect soulmate, but his autism and trusting nature keep him from realizing she's actually a prostitute. What? Yes. And she's just looking for her golden ticket out of her trapped life. I mean, honestly, I would just want to say this is such a brilliant concept. I don't know if I've said that to you in the past, but what a great concept. Because he's on what we call on the spectrum, he doesn't realize that this woman who ends up, of course, being lovely. It's kind of a whole beautiful story.

But that she is only showing him interest because this is what she does for a living. And you managed to make a beautiful romantic comedy out of this that deals with the issue of autism, sex trafficking. This is, you're, people who know you well know you're not that sharp of a cookie. So this has to be God who gave you, who gave you this idea for this. No credit to me. No, but seriously, like what an amazing. How did you think of this? Like how did this, you know, in other words,

now it's a movie, it's the sound of violet, people can get it, but I mean, originally, how did this idea come to you, if I can ask? I mean, oh, sure. It's inspired by my own awkward dating life. So I was talking to a friend about later, after I was married, I was looking back and talking about my single life, being a single in L.A.,

what that was like, my naivete, and meeting people, not often seeing what I should see in front of me. And, you know, I had my own relational issues. And so as I developed that character in the story, I thought, how fascinating to bring these two people from completely different worlds together and who are very opposite from each other. And you asked me the title what it means. And he has synesthesia, which means he can hear sounds in colors. So when he looks at their color, he hears a sound. You experience the world through his lens during the movie.

So this is a real thing. I mean, I guess I knew this, but there are people who have this. And this is not directly related to autism or whatever. In other words, it just happens to coincide here. But about 20% of autistic people have synesthesia. Okay. So explain this again because this is just amazing. I know.

It is, when you look this up, it's completely fascinating. But basically what's happening is there's just some wiring in the brain. that's a little different. And people with synesthesia experience it in different ways. He looks at colors. He hears sounds. Other people associate colors with numbers. They see automatic numbers in their heads.

Other people can be the opposite. They will confuse colors with feelings. Okay, I've talked to friends about this, and I'm not joking. I've always associated the number eight with green. Why? I don't know why. Maybe it's because the first. gift I ever got was an $8 bill.

No, that can't be it. Seriously, I don't know why, but I have always, you know, there are these bizarre, I mean, we're talk about we're fearfully and wonderfully made. I mean, crazy stuff. But so the name of the young woman who begins in the story as a prostitute and ends up as a non-prostitute. Well, let's do any spoiler alerts there, but. Well, yeah, who knows what happens.

Who knows? Anything could happen. What do we know? What do we know? Only the father knows. Even Jesus doesn't know. Only the father. But the title of this movie is The Sound of Violet, and Violet is in fact the name of this young woman. Of her. Exactly. Yes. Violet like the color. And, you know, I think in some ways, I mean, that Sean, his character is unconditional love toward her. And in some ways, Violet represents all of us, where we're, all of us. are broken in different ways. We're all looking for love in different ways, and he pursues her with his love. It's transformative. But also her love is transformative to him because he's always had trouble connecting with others, picking up social cues. So for the first time, they each find someone that is actually interested in the other, and that relationship is what the film is all about. Okay, so this is not a quote-unquote Christian film, but you're a Christian. And,

And you've brought these themes into it, which is beautiful. We're going to go to a break talking to my friend Alan Wolfe, director, filmmaker. The film is the sound of violet. With the overturn of Roe v. Wade, lots of companies are coming out saying they'll pay for employee abortion travel and expenses. Most of you've heard about some of these companies. You've decided to stop shopping or doing business there, but did you know that you most likely own stock in those companies? through your 401k's IRAs and other investment accounts. Folks, this is a huge problem,

and we need to do something about this to send a message to Wall Street through our investments. You need to go to inspireadvisors.com slash Eric and get a free Inspire Impact Report. This biblical investment analysis will educate you on what's really in your investment accounts, like companies paying for abortion travel. You need to go to inspireadvisors.com

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I think earlier I just said, hey, Alan. Alan Wolf, he has a last name, okay? Okay. And you, Alan Wolf, my friend, are the director, the man behind this film, The Sound of Violet, which we have been discussing. I should tell people they can go to the sound of violet.com. There's a number of interesting facts about the film.

And I just wanted to throw these at you because, I mean, I was amazed. So, again, the film is The Sound of Violet, which is now available on DVD, Blu-ray. in digital. But the actor who portrayed the lead, Kaysen Thomas, is himself the son of a prostitute in real life. Like, that's what?

Incredible. He didn't tell me this until after I cast him in the role, because he didn't want that to influence my decision. But after I cast him, he took me aside and said, listen, there's a reason why I'm really connecting with this project and why I'm really excited to tell this story. I wish my own mom had gotten that second chance. And yeah, his wife, I'm sorry, his mom was trafficked and he was the son of her being trafficked.

He was in the foster care system in Houston. He is considered an orphan, you know, because of that. And he, yeah, I mean, it's amazing what he has overcome in his life. He went to, he studied drama at the University of Washington. Amazing. what he has overcome to not only live life, but then to portray this role as well. Incredible.

Well, I just have to say it is, you know, what are the odds of that, right? Like the odds are like close to zero. But that's a big, that's miraculous. And also, I think you told this story, I think, the last time you were on the show when the film first came out, but about how you were filming this at a restaurant.

and one of the owners of the restaurant, like, when he realized that this was happening, he was like, no, no, no, and they tried to throw you out. I mean, that's, it's funny because I'll tell you, Alan, that, you know, most people who are not involved in filmmaking, we don't think about filmmaking, about what it is and how complicated and difficult it is. And here you have to get this location and you work it out and whatever. And then there's this insane complication of, I mean, just mentioned. that if you would because it's like it's well it's something you never expect but the co-owner she was looking

through her security camera and could see these random people milling around in her restaurant and her kitchen and had no idea what was going on except that this they're supposed to be closed that day so she came to the restaurant we had already started filming outside of the restaurant and she came in she said I'm sorry but you all have to leave this has to be shut down right now and we were on an 18 day shoot, which is a short period of time to shoot a movie. So nothing could go wrong. And so we sat down with her. The co-owner explained, listen, I gave them permission. I'm so sorry, I forgot to tell you. So we worked it all out. But there's definitely at least an hour of, oh my gosh, what's going to happen. This whole thing could go south really quickly. And that's kind of what happens when you

make a movie. I mean, they're always constantly challenges, obstacles, pitfalls. It's all about keeping the train on the track. And thankfully, we were. I was going to say, it sounds like an adventure, and let me just be on the record, I hate adventures. Maybe that's why I'm not a filmmaker, because it does seem like a lot of this when I hear stories of people making films, that you have to deal with these crises and you have to have the temperament and whatever, which you do, I have to say, because I've known you for a long time. You know, I didn't say this at the beginning, but, I mean, you and I met so many years ago at Redeemer Presbyterian, and it's such an amazing thing, Alan, to see, you know, your career and to celebrate with you that this film that you've worked on such a long time.

And, you know, it's one thing to direct a film, but you know, you have, you did everything, basically. You're theuteur. Can I call you that? Yes, please do. Love it. Autur, it's a French word. A-U-T-E-U-R. The Oter.

Artur, like Hitchcock. Just like Hitchcock. That's right. So do you have a cameo? Do you have a cameo in this? I do, yes, I do. And I can't tell you what the cameo is because it kind of ruins a major plot point. But I do appear in a very much a turning point of the movie, a major situation. Does it involve like 200 parachuting Elvis's?

It may or may not. All right, I want to be very clear. We're not taking a position on whether it does or doesn't involve 200 parachuting elvases. It might. I'm not saying it doesn't. It might. Yeah, you have to see the. film to find out. If you're a fan of Elvis, maybe that'll be a great thing. If you're not a fan,

either way, you're going to be happy. I was going to say, this movie really would appeal to both groups. Elvis fans and non-elvis fans. Basically, in general, the non-animal kingdom. Right. Very popular. Right. Very popular. Okay, the sound of Violet is the title of the film. And you also said that there were two people involved in the production of the film, who themselves deal with autism, which is kind of amazing. Yeah, that brought some real authenticity to the role. I think Kaysen just really appreciated the input, in particular from the person who was put in charge of all of our footage, the DIT.

His name is Tom Bond, and he was constantly giving great feedback and advice to Kaysen on how he could be the most authentic. But my whole point was really not to present a character that. represents every autistic person because everyone's completely different and unique, but I did want to make sure that this particular person, the character that we created is authentic to an autistic person's experience, since that's really important to the film. And just remind me, again, the film is the sound of violet, but remind me, you had some, I mean, obviously you're bringing attention to sex trafficking and to that and to autism. And I know that there were some connections,

or I can't remember what they were. Connections, like we partnered with an organization that trains women who've been rescued from trafficking, how to have a second career, and they create jewelry and sell that as a means of living. So we had women who were rescued from trafficking actually created some of the jewelry that our main characters wore. And then I consulted with the organizations, too, to make sure that it's this very authentic. in real. But I also, I didn't want people to think, I'm watching this movie, it's going to feel like homework. I wanted to be entertaining our fun story. I mean, it's a romantic comedy. So I wanted

it to be something that people can watch with their friends on a date night, at a party. But in the midst of that, though, I like coming away from movies knowing something deeper, like being moved emotionally, connecting to something deeper. So I wanted that to happen in this film. And it does, and we're proud of you. It is the sound of Violet. It is now out everywhere. Check it out. My friend Alan Wolf, God bless you, and thank you for being my friend. Absolutely.

Anytime. Hey, folks. Welcome back. I hope you've enjoyed our interviews today. It's nuts. Now, in hour two, we're going to get serious, but serious can be fantastic. We have as my guest, in our two, David Bonson. He is, I can't say this with him in this student.

He is a very big deal. He's written a book called There's No Free Lunch. He writes about economics and the free market. He is brilliant, biblically minded, which I love. And he has a new video podcast, sorry, a video series called There's No Free Lunch. He interviews, all our friends, whatever. Very big deal. That's coming up in just a few minutes.

Albin, I don't want to forget several announcements. Okay. Today is Friday. So next week, registration opens for the three Socrates and the city events. If you're on the Socrates and the city email, which I hope you are by now, go to Socrates and the city.com, sign up for those. Once in a blue moon, we don't do it as often as my emails. But Socratesandcity.com, we just announced three confirmed spring events. These are everyone.

Here's a huge deal. I thank God that I get to interview these people. The 29-year-old defector from North Korea, Yommi Park, will be my guest in March, February 28th. The unbelievable, the brilliant Jeannie Constantino. She has written a book. Folks, I promise you, it's a book of unbelievable scholarship that is totally readable. That almost never happens. It is beautiful.

It's a perfect way to get it. kick off the Lenton season to think more deeply about Passion Week. I mean, it's so beautiful. That's February 28th. The early bird seating is very limited. So if you want to get in there at the rock bottom prices or whatever, please jump. We've also announced Seattle, April 28th, Michael Medved in Seattle. I'm amazing.

So Sox, Sox, Cic City, we've announced all that. All the stuff, the registration goes live noon this coming Tuesday. you want to jump on it if you're interested in the early bird pricing, which is significant. You will see this time it's quite significant. Also, Alvin, I should mention SalemNow.com. We mentioned this almost every day, I think, but if you go to SalemNow.com, there's loads of stuff there that we think you should check out. We want to pinpoint in particular or highlight in particular Walt's Disenchanted Kingdom.

we understand that we're living in crazy times. Those things we used to count on. The New York Times used to be the paper of record. It is now a propagandistic, you know, Marxist, rag, I think is the technical term. Yale and Harvard used to be a great place to get an education. Well, that's changed very dramatically. It was on its way south long before I got there. It is now a joke.

Walt Disney, it was one of those brands. You could count on Walt Disney. Disney. It is now not just a brand you can't count on, but a brand that you need to avoid at all costs on every level. These folks are just trafficking in darkness. We know it came out a few months ago. Our friend Sean Foyt talked about it. But if you go to SalemNow.com, you can watch Walt's disenchanted kingdom. And this is what happens to institutions over time. There's, what do they call it, mission drift. They have drifted over. the waterfall, it's over.

But if you want the details, and I think it's important. So salem now.com, go to Walt's Disenchanted Kingdom. Let me also remind you, every program we do here is on Rumble. We want you to watch it. We want you to know about it. You have to go to my website, Ericmetaxis.com, to sign up for my newsletter. We send you the videos. Sometimes the videos are really special, and you can't get it on the radio.

It's not the same. So at least you'll have access. And you can also share it with friends. So please go to Ericmetaxis.com. Please support our sponsors, mypillow.com, my store.com. Use the code. Eric, please do that. Thank you.

God bless you.