October 19, 2015 Podcast

Show open and studio banter

A produced opening runs ('from the Pathway Studios in Johnston Proper'), and the main host welcomes listeners with the night's lineup: a New York Times piece on the '27 ways to be a modern man,' an article on magnets and belief in God, advice for Mike, and Dear LFTP letters. The studio crew jokes about Herrick bringing in burgers, wings, and wraps before the show.

Rundown: the modern-man list, magnet study, and Pope-style advice

The host introduces the NYT's '27 characteristics of the modern man' and frames the show's running counter-ideal, the 'urban gentleman.' He also teases the magnet-and-belief article (spinning off into magnetic bracelets and a magnetic mattress), and previews 'Pope-style' advice for Mike, whose car broke down - with a running joke about the Popemobile up on a jack.

Burger King gift cards: sit down and let God send the guy

Ben (addressed by name in the audio) tells how $50 in Burger King gift cards sat in his pocket for six months because approaching strangers felt awkward. Sitting outside the downtown Des Moines library, he lent his phone to a homeless man who called someone asking for Burger King money, then gave him $10 in cards - and gave $10 more to a second man minutes later. His takeaway: stop plotting the delivery and obey; God handles the ends.

The NYT's 27 ways to be a modern man, items 1-11

• Do the hosts agree with the New York Times' '27 ways to be a modern man'?

The hosts vote through eleven of the list's items - buying shoes for a spouse, hiding sunk confidence, theater popcorn etiquette, steak fat, parking spots, charging the family's devices, cola snobbery, proper names for things, having a daughter, drying dishes, and pinned tweets - against the 'urban gentleman' ideal, mostly disagreeing. Tangents include Dan (addressed by name) defending indiscriminate popcorn-eating and his industrial popcorn machine, The Passion of the Christ, kebab fat in the Middle East, a dog that eats underpants, and paper-towel math for a big household. They shelve the remaining sixteen items for next week.

Sponsor: the Bob Eisenlauer real-estate team

The host thanks sponsor Bob Eisenlauer (rendered 'Bob Eisenhower' in the transcript) of the Eisenhower team, giving eisenhowerteam.com and (515) 979-2883 for home buying and selling in the area.

Plumb concert plug via Overflow Music

The hosts plug Sunday's Plumb show (transcript: 'Plum') at the Earlham high school, with tickets through Overflow Music, and argue that fans must support touring acts or the shows stop coming. They recall Overflow's earlier Building 429 show with Tim Timmons and the Rhett Walker Band.

Can magnets zap your belief in God?

• Can transcranial magnetic stimulation change belief in God and attitudes toward immigrants?

A host reads the NYT piece on Holbrook et al.'s study claiming transcranial magnetic stimulation reduced belief in God by nearly a third and softened immigration attitudes by 28.5 percent. The group attacks the study's Likert-scale questionnaires, expectation and placebo effects, and the premise that belief is a disease to cure; one argues the same pacifying effect could come from a lobotomy, and Andrew (named on-air) makes the case the knowledge is being used for the wrong ends. Jokes about MRIs, magnet soup, and Iron Man close it out.

Mike's car won't break down so he can fix it

• Why does Mike's car run fine for him but break down for borrowers, and why won't God reveal what's wrong with it?

Mike (addressed by name on-air) brings his dilemma: a 200,000-mile loaner car that stranded a borrower twice, got an expensive new part, stranded the borrower again, then drove 45 minutes home for Mike without a hiccup - leaving him wanting it to fail so he can diagnose it. The hosts reframe it as a control problem: 'faithful in the means, God handles the ends,' and you don't get to know. Ben adds his own week driving Mike's decrepit truck - bad taillight, flat tire, rigged seatbelt - and choosing to stop fearing the traffic stop. Includes the Aaron-prays-for-a-sword joke.

Radio sign-off and the student-run station

The host signs off the Truth Network 99.3 FM broadcast, sending radio listeners out with 'Thunder Chicken' by the Imperials while the podcast continues. He then tells of a student-run Drake station that followed a funk tune with Mexican greatest hits, and explains why he can't trust music without a bass player - recalling his own days playing electric bass, amp dragged onto the field, in marching band.

Dear LFTP: is four hours a week enough for dating Colton?

• Should the parents relax their rule of one four-hour group date per week for their daughter and Colton?

A host reads a letter from a high-school girl six months into dating Colton, a year and a half older and just starting college; her parents limit them to one group date a week under four hours, and she finds the rule too rigid. Most hosts side with the parents until they realize the four hours is per week, not per date. The 'secular answer' says prioritize grades and adjust case by case; the hosts then riff on college-debt culture, float a mini-golf business idea, and detour through grocery-shopping impulses and a dog that messed on a laptop.

Dear LFTP: cuddling with mom at nearly 30

• Does a woman approaching 30 need professional help because she still cuddles with her mom?

A host reads a letter from a woman near 30 whose fiance and his family think she needs professional help because she still cuddles with her mom - a European-born woman who lost her whole immediate family to cancer, with whom the writer did in-home hospice. One host (addressed as 'Bubba') dissents from the group's easy 'it's fine,' sharing that at 18, after his dad died, he told his own mom he couldn't be her late husband's physical replacement. The 'secular answer' sides with treasuring the closeness; the hosts conclude the fiance and his family are handling it wrong.

Sign-off

A quick close with the 'faithful in the means' callback and a see-you-next-week.