Dare To Think Podcast

Summary - A First Person Perspective of the First Battle of Loc Ninh, Vietnam mereliberty.com/038 My father died a two weeks ago today, March 21st. It was expected, as he suffered for many years from COPD. In 2011, he composed a brief memoir. This was meant as catharsis for therapy we was receiving for PTSD he had suffered from his service in Vietnam. Prior to this, and for my whole life to this point, all we knew about my dad was that he had “shell shock” from time Vietnam - and so we didn’t talk about it. In his memory, I’ve put that memoir to narration. Initially, this has been planned only for my family. But as I dug into his story a bit, I realized, that my father was part of a major battle that has historical significance. And so, with permission from my mother, I’m publishing it here for my listeners. I’ve snagged a description from Wikipedia about the battle and it’s context. It reads: “The First Battle of Loc Ninh was a battle during the Vietnam War that occurred between 29 October and 7 November 1967, fought by the Viet Cong, Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), Civilian Irregular Defense Group (a military program developed by the CIA of South Vietnamese to counter Viet Cong), and the United States Army. The battle was part of the Operation Shenandoah II campaign. This battle represented the first time that North Vietnamese Communists (headquartered in South Vietnam) had coordinated attacks from different divisions, and was intended as "rehearsal" to experiment with urban-fighting techniques to be used for the Tet Offensive. Their operational goals were in part, to draw US and ARVN forces away from the cities in an upsurge of activity, in preparation for the Tet Offensive the next year. The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese against the forces of the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), the United States Armed Forces and their allies. It was a campaign of surprise attacks against military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam. The name is the truncated version of the Lunar New Year festival name in Vietnamese, Tết Nguyên Đán, (tet win dawn) with the offense chosen during a holiday period as most ARVN personnel were on leave. The purpose of the wide-scale offensive by the Hanoi Politburo was to trigger political instability, in a belief that mass armed assault on urban centers would trigger defections and rebellions." The First Battle of Loc Ninh, instigated by the North Vietnamese against South Vietnamese and the US, resulted in what was considered an American and South Vietnamese victory. This is my father’s recollection of that story. Main Points of Discussion 00:00 Introduction 04:06 Part 1: David Baldwin enlists in the US Army 11:34 Part 2: David Baldwin deploys to Vietnam 16:58 Part 3: The battle and related skirmishes 29:53 Part 4: David Baldwin reassigned to An Loc 34:30 Part 5: David Baldwin returns rotates home 37:54 Part 6: Discharge and the beginning of a new life 43:06 Part 7: Postscript by Kerry Baldwin David B. Baldwin received the Bronze Star with Valor on February 27, 1968 Resources Mentioned https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Loc_Ninh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tet_Offensive

mereliberty.com/040 Summary Welcome to Dare to Think, where we challenge & and rethinking prevailing paradigms. In today's episode, we delve into the relaunch of the Liberty Seminar, a course designed by Kerry Baldwin to cultivate the invaluable skill of thinking well using the Socratic method. Our guests, Mike Leavitt, Jacob, and Kerry Baldwin, engage in thought-provoking discussions on the significance of critically thinking and challenging existing beliefs. We'll explore how the Socratic method can be applied in diverse areas of life, from theology and education to personal growth and professional development. Join us as we learn about the power of asking the right questions and embracing the freedom of thinking well. Main Points of Discussion 00:00 Introduction 01:06 What is the Liberty Seminar and what is it trying to accomplish? 05:05 What is the Socratic Method? 06:02 Is the Socratic method just about asking questions? 08:14 What is critical thinking and why is it on the decline in society today? 10:56 If tests don't demonstrate learning, then how do we know we're learning? 11:59 Why AI is not taking over reasoning 12:46 What do you get from the course, the Liberty Seminar 16:12 Real life applications: non-academic trade skills building 17:42 Real life applications: improve parenting skills and communication with your teen and adult children 19:05 Real life applications: professional soft skills development 19:26 Real life applications: study of doctrine and theology 21:43 How critical thinking is an effective response to manipulation 24:16 Why is courage implied when choosing to learn to think well 27:29 Objection: Christians who believe philosophy or reasoning is a distraction or will lead you away from the truth 32:56 How has Socratic Practice helped Kerry in her own life? 35:48 How does the Liberty Seminar helpful for intuitive thinkers or those who naturally pursue their passions and interests? Resource Links To get more information visit libertyseminar.com or https://mereliberty.com/membership/courses/ Original interviews: How Socratic Thinking Can Aid Christians in Faith and Politics, w/ Kerry Baldwin https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/how-socratic-thinking-can-aid-christians-in-faith-and-politics-w-kerry-baldwin/ Thinking Well and The Liberty Seminar with Kerry Baldwin https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-197-thinking-well-and-the-liberty-seminar/id1506671648?i=1000643384563

| SUMMARY - Nancy Pearcey Explains The Toxic War on Masculinity | TIP JAR: https://donate.stripe.com/aEUdUE5YodhZgkUeUV In this episode of Dare to Think, Kerry Baldwin interviews Professor Nancy Pearcey about her book, The Toxic War on Masculinity. This book is not intended to take sides in cultural-religious debate between Complementarianism and Egalitarianism. Instead, Pearcey examines a socio-historical perspective of the phenomenon known as "toxic masculinity" and whether Christianity or secularism is responsible for it. Pearcey finds a number of surprising examples throughout history, and also today from prominent sociological and psychological marriage researchers. Pearcey's book is more of an academic apologetic written for educated layman, instead of a popular piece. Join me, Kerry Baldwin, with Nancy Pearcey, as we Dare to Think about the Toxic War on Masculinity Read my review of Pearcey's book at https://mereliberty.com/041 | MAIN POINTS OF DISCUSSION | 00:00 Introduction 01:20 What is the main problem the book is trying to solve? 04:47 What has been the cause for controversy surrounding the book? 09:01 The "Good" man versus "Real" man scripts 12:13 The "Andrew Tate" phenomenon of masculinity & classical Christian schools 14:09 How Christian men are absorbing the secular ("real man") script 15:02 Research for Christian men splits into two different groups: devout versus nominal 17:22 Brad Wilcox on Christian marriages 19:57 Nominal Christian men marriage and divorce stats 21:47 Percentage of nominal to devout Christian men is 50/50 23:24 Fatherless boyhood: a problem of no-fault divorce or Industrialization? 25:23 How did we lose involved fathers? 27:50 Is there a way to flex the workplace so fathers are no longer absent from the family? 29:02 The impact of fatherlessness hits boys harder than girls 30:24 The impact of father substitutes 31:44 How the 1950s model of the household cant possibly be the Biblical ideal 33:28 Closing | RESOURCE LINKS | Follow Nancy Pearcey on Social Media https://twitter.com/NancyRPearcey https://www.facebook.com/NancyRPearceyAuthor Visit Nancy Pearcey's Website and purchase her book! (Preferred by author) https://www.nancypearcey.com/ Or on Amazon (Affiliate Support for Dare to Think Podcast) https://amzn.to/3wzDPcX | SUPPORT DARE TO THINK | https://mereliberty.com/membership https://mereliberty.com/membership/courses LibertySeminar.com