“If a speech falls freely in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, is it still free speech?” – Swami Beyondananda

In 1974, the satirical troupe, Firesign Theatre, put out a comedy record, Everything You Know Is Wrong.

Now, 50 years later …looks like they were right.

When we think of censorship, we think of overt repression of views, like book banning, or even book-burning. But in these times, where so much of what we think we “know” comes from digital sources, the censorship is so silent and stealthy that we haven’t a clue how the information we receive has already been filtered and focused by someone unknown to us. And how we are convinced we are “thinking our own thoughts” but are in fact parroting planted narratives.

On this episode of Front and Center, Michael and I review and unpack an eye-opening interview with psychologist and journalist Dr. Robert Epstein, on what he calls the Search Engine Manipulation Effect (SEME). Epstein, a former editor of Psychology Today, has ...

“It’s not vicious lies they are looking to censor.
It’s those vicious truths they’re worried about.”
– Swami Beyondananda

Last week I wrote a post suggesting that free speech censorship was the gravest existential threat to democracy. I was heartened by the positive response, although I found something very curious about the few pushback emails I got. Not one of them objected to any of my points about free speech, or even addressed them. All of the negative feedback boiled down to: “Donald Trump is worse!”

That’s the problem with “lesser evil-ism.” We accentuate and amplify the evil on the other side (in this week’s podcast you can view the contrast between what mainstream media said that Trump said and what he actually said), while refusing to acknowledge the lies and contradictions on our own side.

That’s how evil prevails.

So I want to try a thought experiment.

Imagine there’s no Donald Trump.

(Imagine there’s no Donald …
It’s easy if you try …
No red-hat wearing MAGA’s
The red team runs another guy ...

“The best way to overgrow the ‘deep state’ is by cultivating a deeper state.”
-- Swami Beyondananda

Here is the oxymoronic political contradiction of our times. We seem more polarized than ever, and yet the vast majority of us long to work together for mutual benefit. Perhaps the resolution of this seemingly impossible “shituation” can be found in the “real” American dream of our founders: individual freedom AND collective wellbeing.

The accentuated polarization of our times has put these two universal aspirations in conflict with one another. But what if they need to co-evolve together? Is there a way to transform these dueling dualities into dynamic-duo dance partners?

Our guest this week on Front and Center, Foster Gamble (www.freetothrive.com), has spent his adult lifetime seeking what he calls a “universal morality” that is not imposed from the top down, but realized from the individual on up. Growing up in privilege – he’s a Gamble as in Proctor & Gamble – ...

An Interview With Pioneering Black Journalist Glen Ford

“It’s time to move past identity issues and focus on the IDENTICAL issues we all face – clean air, clean water, clean food, and clean government.”
-- Swami Beyondananda

Bamboozlement. Isn’t that a great word?

According to Wiki Politiki guest Glen Ford, pioneering black journalist, that was a term Malcolm X used to describe how the power structure has used race politics – most recently the #BlackLivesMatter movement -- to keep folks from poking around the real issues.

The son of famed disc jockey Rudy “The Deuce” Rutherford, who was the first Black man to host a non-gospel television show in the Deep South – Columbus, Georgia, 1958 – Glen was reading newswire copy on-the-air at age eleven. Glen’s first full-time broadcast news job was at James Brown’s Augusta, Georgia radio station WRDW, in 1970 – where ‘The Godfather of Soul” shortened Glen’s surname to “Ford.”

Sadly, Mr. Ford passed away ...

An Interview With Pioneering Black Journalist Glen Ford

“It’s time to move past identity issues and focus on the IDENTICAL issues we all face – clean air, clean water, clean food, and clean government.”
-- Swami Beyondananda

Bamboozlement. Isn’t that a great word?

According to Wiki Politiki guest Glen Ford, pioneering black journalist, that was a term Malcolm X used to describe how the power structure has used race politics – most recently the #BlackLivesMatter movement -- to keep folks from poking around the real issues.

The son of famed disc jockey Rudy “The Deuce” Rutherford, who was the first Black man to host a non-gospel television show in the Deep South – Columbus, Georgia, 1958 – Glen was reading newswire copy on-the-air at age eleven. Glen’s first full-time broadcast news job was at James Brown’s Augusta, Georgia radio station WRDW, in 1970 – where ‘The Godfather of Soul” shortened Glen’s surname to “Ford.”

Sadly, Mr. Ford passed away this ...

“Truth lives in our hearts. Beliefs lie in our heads.”
– Swami Beyondananda

Some years ago I wrote an article for a progressive publication about Fox News and their propensity for spreading outright lies. I called the article “Come On Baby, Fight My Liar,” and I ended it by saying that conservatives obviously like being lied to – whereas progressives prefer lying to themselves.

Needless to say, I got some pushback on the piece – and also some knowing nods of “yes, I know exactly what you mean.”

What did I mean?

Well, I had just been with a group of people where someone brought up the idea that the 911 Twin Tower attacks might have been an inside job. In response, one woman said – with a completely straight face – “Oh, no. If it had been an inside job I would have heard about it on NPR.”

I think back over the past couple of decades when I presented some inconvenient truth that was outside the comfort zone of some of the spiritually-inclined folks I knew. They would put up their hand and say, “I don’t want to ...

“When you find yourself on a vicious cycle, for goodness sake, stop pedaling and get off.”
-- Swami Beyondananda

From Steve Bhaerman:

One of the biggest challenges for me in the wake of the election results has been speaking into the field of grief, anger, profound disappointment, hopelessness and despair so many of my progressive co-hearts have been experiencing.

And …I’ve been watching this slow-motion train wreck for nearly four years, so I was not surprised.

I began this election day by taking my own advice and following my conscience. I abstained from voting for President. My choice was neither of the above. My prayer was for the American people to make the wisest choice possible – and I let it be with that.

I went about my business peacefully, spent time in nature, watched inspiring, entertaining and educational programs Tuesday night and went to bed without following the “hearse-race.”

In sharp contrast to my rage and horror when it happened in 2016, I...

“They’ve taken the Bill of Rights and boiled it down to just one.
You have the right to remain silent.”
– Swami Beyondananda

In December 2008, Bruce Lipton and I were writing the final chapter of Spontaneous Evolution.  Barack Obama had just been elected President, and I had just returned from a trip to Washington, D.C. – where people were literally dancing in the streets.

And why not?

We were done with Bush and Cheney, the Iraq War, and the neocon con.  It was time for hope and change.

So in this last chapter, A Whole New Story, Bruce and I proclaimed that Obama’s election was a sign that “evolution” was at hand.  Made sense to us.  We were, however, completely surprised – shocked actually – when one of Bruce’s colleagues told us that it was a mistake, that we were limiting our audience by taking a political side.  

We looked at each other incredulous.  That woman – she must be … a REPUBLICAN!

Although we softened the ...