"I think Jesus wants us to have a paradigm where we notice His truth and His beauty everywhere."—Andy Jennings
We welcome back to the programme Andy Jennings—the brilliant singer-songwriter of the Christian indie band Dissident Prophet—for a wide-ranging conversation as part of the ongoing series here at TMR called: "Following Christ in the New Old Normal."
In the first conversation, with Rev Phill Sacre, we discussed "awakeness" in the church and beyond. In the second, Pastor Stephen Buckley shared his perspective on the covid era, interpreting the response of so many churches in terms of God's constructive judgement upon the churches themselves. In the third, Jeremiah Allen explained his conviction that only with the Fruit of the Spirit will Christians successfully navigate the troubled waters of the days ahead. And in this fourth, wide-ranging conversation, Andy Jennings shares with us how a change of theological focus, plus a brush with death, helped prepare him for specific challenges during the covid era, and how choosing to see God in all things can transform our lives and position us positively in Christ to face the days to come.
This is a shorter-than-usual podcast in which I ask listeners a few important questions about the future "direction" of TMR.
After that—as an excuse for a bit of fun, really—I take the opportunity to share one of my fake phone-ins. (Yes, you read that right!) Each week, at the invitation of Mark Campbell who hosts a hospital radio show here in the UK, I phone in as a fictitious person called John Ashe ("with an E") from Basingstoke, who chats with Mark and shares his "message of the week" for about ten minutes. It's basically a very gentle comedy improvisation—on the edge of believability, although I don't think anyone actually believes it—and we simply see where the conversation leads as we try not to crack up on-air. So far we've kept a straight face (if you can say that about radio). In this recent episode, John talks about his dentist, Laura, who has a fascination with UFOs.
"John Ashe ("spelt with an E") is either 60 or 62 years old and lives in Basingstoke, UK. In the 1970s he had two girlfriends (at different times), one called Maud, the other Molly. His hobbies include riding a pogo stick and walking with stilts (neither of which, contrary to the ignorant opinion of his newly trained GP, has any connection to his persistent back problems). Though not short of money, as a fairly successful, now-retired, quantity surveyor, John occasionally endeavours to supplement his pensions by buying and selling Cornish pasties and transporting them up and down the M6 to outlets from which he can gain the greatest profit before they go bad. He once (famously in Baskingtoke circles) won a second-hand lawnmower in a postal competition."
[Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental.]
Is a bee that identifies as a bee no longer a fish? How many covid boosters do you need to avoid a traffic accident? What's the difference between a lettuce and a UK Prime Minister? And will Frank Bot raise enough cash through this evening's kickstarter to fund their/prosecute/Fauci engineering research project to equip size-Z prosthetic breasts with helium-filled parachutes in the interests of air safety?
These (and other vitally important questions) are answered as we kick off 2023 here at TMR with our annual New Year's Eve show—a crazy roundtable chat with high-ranking members of The Fireside Nephilim Chaps secret society.ViroDonate
Join us—Jenifer Thyssen (classical singer), Crusy (Like Flint Radio), Frank Johnson (prosthetic parachute engineer), Frank Bot (A.I. prosthetic parachute engineer ), Mark Campbell (snowman spy), Oscar (the eighteen-year-old three-year-old), The Right Honourable Rishi Sunak, MP (the UK's selected "Prime Minister") and Yours Truly—as we put aside the cares of this world for just over an hour and debate every issue imaginable to the human mind in aid of Frank's latest skientific research.
For this special TMR Movie Roundtable, we welcome back the veteran British journalist John Booth—who joins Mark Campbell, Antony Rotunno and Yours Truly—for an extended four-way conversation on the highly perceptive and well-made British TV series from 1988 entitled A Very British Coup.
Based upon the 1982 novel of the same name by journalist and Labour politician Chris Mullin, A Very British Coup follows the career-in-office of fictional UK Labour Prime Minister Harry Perkins (brilliantly played by Ray McAnally) whose radical policies ruffle the feathers of the Establishment. Opposed from its inception by deep-state actors in the media, intelligence services and civil service—and indeed by political and corporate interests on the other side of the Pond—Perkins' democratically elected left-wing government and Perkins himself quickly become the targets of smear campaigns and "dirty tricks" aimed at undermining him and reshaping his government along establishment lines. But Perkins is no fool; this working-class "man of the people" is also a shrewd observer of elite power, and the forces that oppose him find themselves locked in a contest for dominance that will not easily be won.
Join us as we discuss the series and consider similarities to, and differences from, the real-life Labour leaders Jeremy Corbyn (who referenced Harry Perkins in a recent interview) and Harold Wilson (against whom the "secret state" plotted in the 1970s).
For the 11th of our TMR Movie Roundtables we welcome back our good friends Mark Campbell, Frank Johnson and Antony Rotunno for a four-way discussion on the 1973 eco-dystopian thriller movie Soylent Green, starring Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young and Edward G Robinson, directed by Richard Fleischer.
By 2022, the processes of industrialisation and consumerism have depleted the world's natural respources and led to extreme global warming, overpopulation and severe food shortages. To meet demand, the Soylent Corporation—a massive, government-connected enterprise supplying countless millions—has developed subsistence foodstuffs in the form of highly processed wafers known as Soylent Red and Soylent Yellow. But now, the inhabitants of New York City (numbering around 40,000,000) can look forward to a new product: Soylent Green, a highly nutritious wafer ostensibly made from plankton. But not all is as it seems, as detective Richard Thorn (Charlton Heston) and his researcher Sol Roth (Edward G Robinson) discover as they investigate the assassination of an influential board member of the Corporation. Soylent Green, it turns out, isn't quite as advertised. "Soylent Green is ******!" (Just in case you haven't seen it yet).
Joins us as we discuss the film's production and storyline and consider some of its messages in relation to the real world of 2022.
We welcome back our good friend Antony Rotunno—host of Life and Life Only podcast— for a conversation on the BBC's recent self-styled "documentary" entitled "Unvaccinated".
The programme was billed as an "eye-opening investigation" hosted by mathematician and British TV personality Professor Hannah Fry, the aim of which (according to the BBC) was to understand why a significant proportion of the UK population has decided to remain "unvaccinated against covid-19".
"To fully explore" (sic) the "complex and deeply divisive debate" (again, according to the BBC), Hannah Fry (or the BBC) invited seven covid-19-injection-free participants to share a house with her for several days (or part days?) in order to "unpack long-held opinions, beliefs and fears", "meet leading experts", "confront the latest science and statistics" and "dissect how misinformation spreads on social media"—all in anticipation of a final question: Would they change their minds and "take up the vaccine"?
Instead we were treated to a tendentious and patronising piece of establishment propaganda that—while it could have been a lot worse, and was admittedly entertaining and engaging—was essentially aimed at reinforcing the collapsing covid narrative.
Join us as we discuss the "documentary" and dissect its subtle—though, more often, not so subtle—use of propaganda techniques.
We are joined once again by Rev Phill Sacre—an ordained minister in the Church of England and host of the YouTube channel "Sacred Musings"—for an unstructured and thought-provoking conversation on the subject: "Following Christ in the New Old Normal".
Many are saying "it's all over." We can "just move on." Put it all behind us and get back to the "Old Normal." But is any of that wise, or true? Can we really be confident—after two years of mass manipulation, grotesque profiteering and technocractic power grab—that the darkness we witnessed, just months ago, is really "all over"? And would it be right simply to "move on" and forget the lessons of the Covid Era? Indeed, why would we want to relive the exact Old Normal anyway?
Join us as we discuss what it might mean to follow Christ in the "New Old Normal" and how we might live out and encourage "awakeness" rather than "sleep" in the church and beyond.
(Phill is a Christian minister. He is ordained in the Church of England and serves in a parish on the Essex coast. He also runs the online ministries, "Understand the Bible" and "Sacred Musings : Building on Christian Foundations" (on YouTube). His interviews with us can be found here and here.)
Would you be professionally offended by a fake arm? How many nuts, bolts and screws can you swallow after a gin and tonic? Might parachutes and armrests save the world from climate change? And will Frank Johnson raise enough cash through this evening's kickstarter to fund his skientific research project to discover the SARS-CoV-2 Omega Variant so as to end the "pandemic"?
These (and other vitally important questions) are answered as we kick off 2022 here at TMR with our annual New Year's Eve show—a crazy roundtable chat with high-ranking members of The Fireside Nephilim Chaps, the secret society affiliated to The Mind Renewed, Like Flint Radio and The Iron Show.
Join us—GK and Crusy (Like Flint Radio), Johnny Iron (The Iron Show), Jenifer Thyssen (classical singer), Frank Johnson (Omega Variant skientist), Jeff Bankens (short-wave strongman), The Right Honourable Boris Johnson, MP (the UK's so-called "Prime Minister") and Yours Truly—as we put aside the cares of this world for a little under an hour and chat our socks off in aid of Frank's latest skientific research.
Be there, or be square. (And don't forget: "There was no party.")
"I think Jesus wants us to have a paradigm where we notice His truth and His beauty everywhere."—Andy Jennings
For this special 
