Alabama puts the brakes on TikTok’s endless scroll

0:00I don't know, it just seems like common sense to me that you should love the country you live in, doesn't it? And if you're an educator, shouldn't you be educating your young people, your students, to be patriots? I mean, this is what our founding fathers believed. The Samuel Adams absolutely believed that one of the chief elements of our education system should be to raise patriots. It just seems like common sense that you would raise people to love the country.

1:03You're not going to have a country for very long. If you are educating your young people that hate the country, they're going to turn on it or they're going to turn it upside down. And I think we are witnessing that. We're in the midst of that. Truly we are. We're in a midst in the midst of education in several places that does not demonstrate a love for our country. It doesn't demonstrate true patriotism. It demonstrates antithetical values to American values, American founding values. And there is this antithetical attitude that is prevalent in our educational sphere in this country. As exhibit A here, an example to this very thing is a report coming out of Fairfax County, Virginia.

2:11America first legal announced a couple of days ago in a statement that it was investigating the Fairfax County public schools. And the point of their investigation is in regard to a document that Fairfax issued to their teachers as a guide in terms of how they should handle September 11th. According to the AFL here, America first legal, Fairfax issued a teachers guide seeking to falsify the ideological underpinnings of the 9-11 attacks. According to the AFL, the guide omits historical details while in the process of instructing teachers to perhaps omit particular 9-11 facts.

3:14The guide asks teachers to not associate the attacks with Islam or Muslims. And it doesn't strike teachers to commemorate 9-11 with a focus on lives lost and the people who sacrificed and suffered rather than the attackers. Rather than that's the key word, rather than the two key words. I mean, I'm okay with a commemoration. That focuses on lives lost and that focuses on the people who sacrificed to help others. Because that should absolutely be part of a 9-11 commemoration but not at the expense of ignoring the attackers. The district of the school district and Fairfax, their guide was first published by Fox News in late August with the AFL's investigation initiated after the news coverage, according to the AFL.

4:25The guide states that do not focus on commemorative learning experience about 9-11 with an examination of Islam. Teachers who decide to take a deep dive into wrote religions as part of their 9-11 lesson unintentionally send the harmful message that Islam or all Muslims are responsible for these terrorist attacks. I mean, you can't separate though that the attackers were part of a radical Islamic sect, can you? You can't separate that the attackers were all Muslims. The guide asks teachers to intentionally include Muslim Americans among the victims, among the helpers, among the heroes, when teaching about the event.

5:26In addition, teachers are recommended to intentionally disrupt any implicit associations between Muslim outsider and terrorist. In the national discourse, this sounds like it's the talking points from the CBC. We're not going to mention the word terrorist or terrorism when talking about 9-11. I mean, how can you not? You can't ignore those words when talking about 9-11. When discussing the incident, according to this report, teachers must make it clear that the September 11 attacks were carried out by the al-Qaeda terrorist group whose actions should not be attributed to Islam, according to the guide. The guide raised concerns that teaching about 9-11 without careful consideration can lead to stigmatizing Islam and encouraging acts of racism against Muslim and Middle Eastern students and those perceived to belong to these groups.

6:37In the middle of September, just a few weeks ago, the AFL sent a letter to Fairfax County Public Schools seeking records under the freedom of information. Some of the records requested in the letter include the complete and current version of the guide document, information about authors and reviewers, editors, and approving officials and all communications concerning the guide. The statement read that Fairfax County Public Schools is attempting to sanitize history and erase the radical Islamic terrorism that struck our nation at September 11, 2001. Will Scolinas is council at America First Legal. And Scolinas said that those unforgettable attacks are a national tragedy, with effects far exceeding Islamophobia. Parents in the public must have full transparency regarding who is responsible for stripping truth from our children's classrooms.

7:44The AFL will continue to investigate and hold public school officials accountable. That is again, Will Scolinas, who is council at First America Legal. In a statement given to Fox News, Fairfax County Public Schools said the institution has a deeply personal connection to 9-11 because of its proximity to the Pentagon. And the many military-connected families that from Fairfax County, which, you know, families who serve. They further said that on the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, we remember the nearly 3,000 people who were killed, including 184th Pentagon. We remember the victims, their families, the survivors, and everyone whose lives were forever changed. We honor the first responders whose courage and sacrifice continue to inspire us.

8:49Fairfax County Public Schools remains committed to creating an inclusive environment, and our schools were all students feel welcome. And respected as we strive to provide a world-class education and workplace. In a superintendent's message published by the school district on September 11th, it said that Fairfax County Public Schools teach events that occurred on 9-11 based on the Virginia standards of learning for US history. In middle school, for example, US history, the school district teaches how the attacks affected domestic policy, global perspectives on the war against terror, and the heroic sacrifice of the passengers of flight 93. Meanwhile, in high school, Virginia students are required to analyze the attacks within the broader context of terrorism and democracy.

9:56I mean, which, you know, that's all well and good. Truly it is. But, you know, there was a report by professors in higher education who teach middle eastern courses. And it's their opinion of this group. 66% of them actually, two thirds, said that students coming into college, they don't know who attacked us on 9-11. They know there was an attack. They don't know by whom. And they don't know the purpose. And we spent some time talking about this that apparently there's been some neutering going on on recent history of 9-11. And again, I don't know that it's, it's just things that aren't being said. They have, they've discovered a way to rewrite history simply by excluding elements from history.

11:00Just we're not going to talk about it. We're not going to, there's certain things that we're not going to talk about. And we're not going to talk about them because we don't want to offend one particular religion. I mean, they've been doing this for a century now. And we've talked about it here, certain things that are now excluded from American history. You know, one of them being the Battle of Manan Gahala. And that has been excluded. And I'll talk about that because of its deeply religious Christian content. It's, it's, it's significant. This story is significant. And the purpose of its removal is also significant. And if you've listened here for any length of time, you know the story, you know it well. And we, we have an anniversary about it. Once a year, July 9th, we spend it almost an entire day talking about the importance of Manan Gahala.

12:04We've written about it on Substack. By the way, if you haven't subscribed to Substack, get over there and get yourself subscribed. Subscribe to the Dean's List on Substack. You can, you scroll through the archives, scroll through the stack of stuff in the archives. And you will find that article on the Battle of Manan Gahala. Matter of fact, it's, it's right there at the top of the, top of the page, top of our page, or whether on Substack, because it's the most red article that we've ever put out. And the reason it's, it's the most red is because people didn't know about it. Now this summer, there was a gorgeous movie out. I think it was a called Young Washington. I think that really detailed the Battle of Manan Gahala. But, you know, we don't know about it. And the reason we don't know about it is because in 1935, that's the last time you can, you can find it in our textbooks, 1934 actually.

13:04History textbooks in America, 1934, that's the last time. We see the Battle of Manan Gahala listed. And from, from thereafter, publications, new, new history texts do not include the events of Manan Gahala. And the reason they don't is, it's clear. It's, it's clear in my opinion. The reason that that battle is no longer the part of our textbook is, and part of our historical lexicon, our historical encyclopedia, is because of its deeply Christian roots, the, the, the result of that story. That Washington is shot at bullet holes and his jacket. He had two horses shut up from under him. Every, every other officer on horseback was either killed or wounded. But a bullet didn't, didn't strike Washington.

14:05And after the fact, Washington wrote two letters, one to his brother and one to his mom, when he got back to the fort, when he got back to Fort Comberland, two letters. And in both letters, he said, I don't know what was going on. I'm looking to my left and my right officers are fallen. Either dead or wounded, all around me. Two horses shut out from under me. The only thing I can attribute to my safety and my survival is the hand of providence. That's it. Providence spared my life. Two letters he wrote this. And they, the powers that be in our education system, just said, we can't be telling our young people the story of we're going to try to remove our foundation. The purpose here, the steps, the process is to remove us from our Christian heritage to dig up the footings and to chip away at the foundation.

15:09And it's going to be a lot easier if we stop telling this story. I mean, if we keep saying that Washington believed he was spared by the hand of providence, then we're never going to be able to chip away at this foundation. We're never going to be able to get prayer and the Bible out of public schools if we keep talking about this, which that would come 30 years later. Took up three decades, but they pulled it off. But, but that's not even in if if the story ended there, if the Battle of Manon Gahalla ended right there with Washington's two letters, that alone would be profound. But that's not the end of the story. 15 years later, Washington and Dr. Craig who took care of him, by the way, during that battle. Washington and Craig are exploring the woodlands back there where the battle took place. And an old Indian chief gets winded at Washington's and the territory. And he approaches finding finds the campfire one night, sits himself down at the campfire and through a translator.

16:18He tells Washington that that he was at the battle that day. And he had his rifle trained at Washington and his warriors all had their rifles trained at Washington. And they would release Vali after Vali after Vali and none could bring him down. He said, finally, I told my men stop firing because the great spirit protects you. And then he started prophesying and he said, you're going to be the father of a great nation and you will never die in battle. And that story just gets wiped out. It's purged. It's expunged. It's eliminated from textbooks. Because they can't talk about it. Because if they talk about it, then we're always going to be a Christian nation who believes in our Christian heritage and our Christian founding. In fact, there were in the Revolutionary War. There were more than one instance where British soldiers had Washington dead to rights and couldn't bring him down.

17:26So we just got to stop talking about it. They're not going to lie about it, but they're going to exclude it. And we're seeing the same thing happen right here in regard to 9-11. We're going to talk about it. But there are certain aspects we're going to not talk about. We can't lie about it, but we can exclude certain things. And we're going to do that. We're going to exclude it. Well, America first legal is offering it an investigation here as to the wise. Why would you not? I mean, you got to tell history the way it is. I mean, we don't try to spare the Germans. You know, we're not afraid of using the name Germany when we talk about World War I and World War II. We're not afraid of using the name Japan or Italy when we talk about World War II. You know, this isn't so I don't know why you don't. I mean, we talk about al-Qaeda, but I think you have to talk about their foundations as well.

18:31I think it's important. It's it treat history accurately. If we present every single side of the equation. You know, but when you want to remove Christianity from our foundation and perhaps replace it with another religion, well, there's probably a reason to begin whitewashing these events. So go ahead. We're going to whitewash all day long because we can't be Christian. We got to get rid of Christianity. We can't be having Christianity. All right, we'll see where this American first legal investigation goes to. We'll see where we. Where we end up. All right, more to come. Don't go anywhere. We'll pick it up on the other side of this break. Are you tired of struggling with low energy? We get it. That's why we created organic energy juice. In just one minute, you'll have clean, natural energy all day and never struggle with low energy again.

19:34And it tastes amazing. And there's no toxic chemicals or stimulants that make you crash. You shouldn't have to struggle with low energy and with organic energy juice. You won't. If you're struggling with low energy, then buying organic energy juice is the right decision. With our double your money back guarantee, there is zero risk to try it. Go to chemicalfreebody.com, forward slash out loud for an exclusive discount. That's chemicalfreebody.com, forward slash out loud. Are you feeling run down, foggy or constantly drained? Your body might be lacking the support it needs at the cellular level. Recharge from the wellness company is a doctor-former-led supplement designed to restore your energy, focus and immune function. It features the first-ever combination of methylene blue and uralithin A. Clinically studied ingredients to support mitochondrial health boost cellular repair and enhance cognitive performance. With added NAD3, COQ10 and PQQ, recharge is the daily solution for deep lasting energy, not just a temporary boost.

20:37Visit TWC.health, forward slash out loud and use code out loud for 20% off your first order. Power up your body and mind with recharge. And I quote, you and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this the last best hope the man on earth or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. Those are the words of number 40. Ronald Reagan, shine bright as America approaches 250 years. America out loud dot news is that place to awaken your heart, soul and mind to the out loud truth. Our friends at the wellness company are interested in not only saving you money but keeping you healthy while doing it.

21:37Look, I know you've got a favorite wellness company product or two or three. When you go to the shop and you subscribe to your favorite wellness company product on monthly subscription, you'll get 20% off every month, every time that order comes in. But only at the shop and only with code a well exclusive here listeners of this program listeners of this network. You're not getting it anywhere else. So go to the shop right now and get a monthly subscription using code a well for 20% off. All right, let's shift gears here for a second because it would appear that tick tock is going to they're going to pay out some money. Have you seen this did you see this tick tock is set to pay Alabama the state of Alabama at least a hundred million dollars. At least this is this is before a a January or a September 20 jury date.

22:43So they're they're they don't want to go to trial. They'd rather just pay the cash. So here's the situation tick tock and it's creator bite dance struck a deal with Alabama. They did this on September 25 actually. And they're going to pay Alabama at least a hundred million dollars. And they're now forced to change how perhaps teenagers use the app. And this was just days days before they were set to go to try yesterday. They were set to go to try yesterday in the 28. They've only got 45 days to cough cough up the cash. You got 45 days tick tock. This amount can climb to 300 million if tick tock fails to meet certain conditions. This is according to the Bama attorney general Steve Marshall.

23:46And his office Marshall said that this is a great day for Alabama parents. Tonight they can rest easier knowing real protections are in place to shield their children from the dangers of social media addiction. But really though are they can they rest easy. I mean just because tick tock has decided to pay a hundred million dollars parents can rest easy. He continued though and said why tick tock has agreed to give parents real control over what their kids see and how much time they spend on the app. I thought parents already had that control. Oh, but now they're going to get real control. Yeah, that before that control they had it was fake. That was that was pretend. But now now it's going to be real. Is it really is it going to be real? Parents listen just find your kid's phone and delete the app just delete tick tock off from the app or off from the phone.

24:50And then you know just tell your child if I'm going to check your phone. I'm going to check it every day. And if I see the app on your phone the phone is mine. Or just take the phone and just take the phone anyway. Take the phone to begin with. The complaint had accused tick tock of designing addictive features exposing young users to serious mental harms and misleading the public about safety. How tick tock wouldn't tick tock wouldn't lead us about mislead us about safety. Would they really would they. A tick tock didn't admit to the claims and the papers they released a couple days ago. So here's the details of the deal. It requires team accounts in Alabama to have a two hour daily cap. Which parents can further short two hours.

25:52Really that's that's the cap it's two hours. Should be 15 minutes. What do you mean two hours. After 15 60 and 90 minutes of continuous use the app must interrupt the session. A feature the office called productive pauses. And tended to break endless scrolling. Oh, so. After 15 minutes of continuous use the Apple shut down. Okay. So the child just reopened it. I'm what's that going to do. It's a productive pause. What's going to break endless scrolling. I mean, it'll break endless scrolling for about 30 seconds. As long as it takes for the team to close the app and reopen it. I mean, that's like five seconds. It'll break endless scrolling for five seconds. That's your answer.

26:53That productive pauses when you throw in the word productive and you think we're good with this. Of course, the A.G. over there is good with it in Bama because he just got $100 million. Teenage Council be unavailable from midnight to 6 a.m. Okay. So. Do you think that the team is going to then open up a new account and falsify their age? You know, so they can have it be available from midnight to 6 a.m. Messaging and push alerts face extra limits overnight and during school hours. In addition, cosmetic filters are banned for teen users. The default feed for those account is to remain non-personalized. And teen accounts are to be harder for adults to find. Parents get notice of suspicious contacts.

27:54Printed controls are supposed to be easier to use. I mean, look, the kids are smart. The teens are smart here. They know what they're doing. They're going to work around this. They are parents. Your kids are not dumb. Your kids are actually pretty brilliant. And they're going to find a workaround. Look, you want my advice? Take the phone. Take the phone. Just take the phone. But I get it. I know it's sometimes you don't want to. You're going to choose your your hills to die on. You're going to choose your battles to fight. I get it. Maybe this isn't the battle you want to fight. Well, it should be. It should be a battle you want to fight. A last month, a multi-state metadil was set to bring Alabama 117 million on similar youth harm allegations.

28:56Earlier, Roblox paid Alabama 12.2 million and agreed to tighter age checks and chat roles. And the only smokes were what's going on with Alabama here? These guys are laying in, raking in the dough. This Bama deal arrives as other fights progress. Earlier in the month, the Travis County Texas judge ruled that Tiktok violated the state's consumer protection law by misleading users about tools meant to keep miners from harmful videos. Judge Corey Liu found that, quote, restricted mode did not work as marketed. Oh, really? It's a restricted mode. Didn't work as marketed. So do we think that a progressive pause is going to work as marketed? I mean, do we really believe that if you believe protective protective

29:57pause is going to work, then I got something I want to sell you. Texas Attorney General Kent Paxton said the case will go to trial next month in order to set the penalties, because restricted mode didn't work as marketed. Paxton then said that Tiktok sacrificed the safety and innocence of children for engagement and numbers. And now they're being held accountable. I mean, okay, I'm glad that Texas and Alabama are holding them accountable, but we'll see how far it goes. An early August Tiktok moved to settle three confidential team mental health suits. Lawyer Joseph Van Zant said written papers still had to be finished. The plaintiffs identified only as SJ who's 15 of Illinois, PMY, 15 of New Jersey and KDB, 18 of Mississippi, alleged addiction, depression,

31:05self-harm, and in two cases, eating disorders. Roughly 3,300 similar suits sit before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl. Meta, YouTube, and Snapchat still face an October trial calendar while these tech giants aren't trouble. A March jury in that same court awarded 4.2 million against Meta and 1.8 million against Google in a related individual case. Tiktok settled that one before opening statements. In August, the Justice Department separately announced Tiktok and by dance would pay 400 million to resolve children's online privacy protection act claims. Officials called it one of the largest recoveries under the Act on Record. And of course, yet again, the company did not admit any fault.

32:07We're not a fault here. We are not the blame. We are not the blame. I mean, in part, I sympathize with them because at some point, don't we have to take responsibility for ourselves and for our actions? I mean, really, at some point, I think parents have to take responsibility. And we have to start taking away the phone. Now, more than ever, now that we know the detriment of the screen, I mean, there's been enough reports and enough studies that we can't keep a blind eye to it. We can't. It's no longer the excuse we can no longer use the excuse that we're unaware or that we just we just didn't know why did no what was happening to little Johnny. I mean, we know now. I mean, if we've been paying attention, we know we know the screens are detrimental.

33:09We we've seen the longitudinal studies come out that study at a Singapore, you know, where they they charted kids for, you know, 10, 15 years. And they discovered what was happening to the prefrontal cortex on the kids that spent the amount of time in front of the screens. I mean, we know this. We we we know that that their their brain developed the prefrontal cortex specifically developed at a faster rate. Oh, that's good. They've got quicker brain development. No, it's not good. Because the rest of the brain is not developing. And the prefrontal cortex is not it's got to be allowed to develop at it at its appropriate speed. I mean, the entire brain it develops at a rate that's appropriate. And it's a it's a it's a rate that has been etched in stone for millennia.

34:11And now all the sudden we're going to speed up the prefrontal cortex and call it good. It's not good. It hasn't been good. The studies continue to show that it hasn't been good. Kids are depressed. They're anxious. Anxiety's off the charts. It's through the roof. Mental disorders and issues are off the chart through the roof. And also the flip side of this. We're spending more times on our phone, more time on our phone, which means we're spending less time in front of a book. It means we're spending less time reading. You know, reading used to be the entertainment past time of choice. Well, Dean, that's because it was the only entertainment past time of truth. Exactly. It was. That's my point. And it no longer is. It can't keep up. But as parents, this is where we've got to interject ourselves. We've got to say, look, Johnny, I'm going to take your phone.

35:14And I'm going to give you a book. Tell you what, why don't you read this book for about 30 minutes? How hold on to your phone for 30 minutes? We'll just we'll make a deal. I'll make a swap. Here, read that book. I don't want to read that book. And Johnny is going to go off and pow. But stick your guns. And then the next day, do it again. Johnny, here's this book. Read through. I don't want it. You might go through this for a little bit. But if you have the willpower, if you have the fortitude, if you have the stick to it, to persevere and hammer through it, and outlast little Johnny, eventually, he will pick up the book. I'm telling you, eventually, little Johnny is going to start reading that book. He's going to say to himself, gee, this book is pretty good. Give him treasure island. I don't know. Treasure island is probably a fine choice. Give him some swash buckling, you know, the three must get tears. Or, you know, give him what my parents gave me.

36:15The Hardy Boys. The Hardy Boys mystery series. I love the Hardy Boys. Absolutely. And I say that's probably why I enjoy reading is because of the Hardy Boys. My love for reading brought to you by the Hardy Boys. Franklin W. Dixon. And I just recently I learned that Franklin W. Dixon wasn't even a real person. The Hardy Boys series was ghostwritten by several authors, all operating under the pen name of Franklin W. Dixon. I have to admit, I was a little heartbroken, just a little. I was a little heartbroken when I discovered, you know, when people start telling me, oh yeah, Franklin W. Dixon, he thought a real dude. I looked, what? You kind of, really? Franklin W. Dixon. Just one of those things. Well, yeah, I posted it on, what a post on Facebook, on Substack, acknowledging the Hardy Boys is my love for reading.

37:17And then some dude says, yeah, they weren't, they weren't, they weren't written by Franklin W. Dixon. And other people started chiming and, oh yeah, this, we've known this for a long time. But I'm over here in the corner weeping. That's the truth. It's utterly revealed. No, yeah, I wasn't weeping. But yeah, I was a little bummed out. I mean, I get it. Some things are ghostwritten. You're going to be a ghostwriter for some things. I mean, I, I've written stuff for other people. I was the ghostwriter. You know, and I put down their own name, but they didn't have time to write it. It turns out I did. So I was doing the writing. But yeah, I got paid for it. I mean, you know, I suppose it's just one of those things. I wish I would have known. I would have gotten in on that Hardy Boy ghost writing. I could have written a story or two. Look, the bottom line here is parents. I'm not saying that the social media giants aren't, I mean, they have some, some culpability in this.

38:20But look, we're responsible for our kids. We're responsible for what, what they know and what they do with their time. We're in charge of their free time. So let's, let's give them some free time. And let's, let's throw a book in there. Let's, let's make it worth their while. That's all I'm saying. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, are you ready? Because your nose is about to witness the biggest breathing breakthrough on planet Earth. Introducing Clear nasal spray built on saline fueled by xylitol. It rolled through your sinuses and crushes congestion into dust, bacteria, viruses. They don't even make it past the starting line. Clear. Shots them down. No drugs. No rebound. Just draw unstoppable daily breathing power. Go to clear.com. Right now, that's x-le-ar.com. Before your nose misses out on the greatest spray in the universe. Clear.

39:20Breathe better. Live better. Have you been looking for a healthy snack on the go, but all of the energy in protein bars are just too sweet and full of sugar? Well, not all energy bars are soft and sugary. Bear bars are a crunchy, savory bar made from just six simple natural ingredients. Bear bars are plant-based, organic, gluten-free, contains six grams of protein, and are low temperature dried for a unique crunch. Most energy bars are based on chocolate or fruit and are held together with syrups or sweeteners, but bear bars are a simple and delicious combination of veggies, nuts and seeds. It's a perfect snack for hikes, workouts, or busy mums and dads. To learn more, just visit beerbore.com, forward slash out loud and get a special offer just for listeners. That's B-E-A-R-B-A-R.com, forward slash out loud. I'm Doug Evans, author of this Sprout Book, and I'm also a father with a three-year-old daughter. And that's why we grow sprouts. Did you know that you could take seeds, add water, and get fresh organic vegetables in three to five days

40:22without soil, sunshine or fertilizer for under a dollar serving? That's the miracle of sprouting, and I want to share that with you. Go to thespoutingcompany.com slash out loud and use the code out loud for a special offer. A couple of weeks ago, there was this piece in the E-Bock Times, I don't know who the author was. The piece is entitled Three Creators, who is reading, shape their art, and the rest of us. And the three creators that the writer was speaking about here, one of them is Robert Frost. And the other two are, let's see, who are the other two, painter and see-wife and novelist Kenneth Roberts. But what reminded me of this piece is, you know, my comment that we're not, we don't read any.

41:27We have other things to entertain us. But back in the day, reading was our entertainment. And this piece is about what these three creators read. And it was triggered in my memory. And I went and pulled it up because I recall reading what Robert Frost read, the Robert Frost reading. And I want to read it to you. I think it's interesting to note that the things that Robert Frost was reading. 100 years ago, I think are the things that we should be reading today. I do. These would be considered the modern classics. And I think we should be reading. This is what we should be giving to our boys to read. And I'd mentioned the Hardy Boys, and that's fantastic. You know, give them the Hardy Boys.

42:28But there's some, there's some really good stuff in here. What Robert Frost was reading. His, his choices, according to this piece here in the Epoch Times, that the Massachusetts Library Association in 1934 asked Robert Frost to list his favorite books. And according to this piece, his choices marked him as an eclectic and thoughtful reader. Okay, this is what it, this is the reading list. This would make you an eclectic and thoughtful reader. First on the list of Robert Frost was the Odyssey. And which by the way, that's the book I'm currently reading, the Odyssey. What's that? You, oh, would I be reading it? Would that be my current reading if the movie hadn't come out? No, that's a fair question.

43:28I mean, I'm going to say yes, because it's on my list to read. I've, I've, I have read it before. But I wanted to read it again. I mean, the first time I read the Odyssey, it was an abridged version, you know, ultimately. I wanted to read an unabridged. I wanted to read a really good translation. Okay, I didn't want it to be a penguin classic. Not that there's anything wrong with the penguin classics. I just, I wanted it to be a really good translation. So yeah, to answer your question, yes, I think it still be on my list. But the timing is great, you know, because I did see the movie. And now I'm able to juxtapose it to an excellent, just a really good translation. But no, that's a good question. Thanks for it. So first on Frost's list is the Odyssey. He called it, quote, the first in time and rank of all romances. Did you, did you know the Odyssey was a romance?

44:28I did not. I would not have. I mean, I guess it would be a very romantic time period. I mean, the time of the heroes and the gods and the like. Is that romance? I don't know. But it's first in time and rank of all the romance is according to Frost. The, the, the second place book is Robinson Caruso, which he said, I never tire of being shown how the limited can become snug in the limitless. Oh, I, that's just really good, actually. I never tire of being shown how the limited can become snug in the limitless. Reading Robinson Caruso makes me want to go on read Robinson Caruso. Put it on the list of reading for yourself and your children.

45:28Other treasured works of fiction that Frost enjoyed included stories by Edgar Allan Poe. James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Moheakens. Have you read The Last of the Moheakens? Okay, I read it after I, it was several years after I saw the movie. You know, Daniel De Lewis. This would have been in the 90s. Mid-delay. Was it really 90s? I think when The Last of the Moheakens came out. Excellent movie, by the way. And a very good book. I implore you to go read it. Anthony hopes the prisoner of Zenda. Rooted your Kipling's The Jungle Book of which Frost noted, I saw read it again and as often as I can find a new child to listen to me. Now, see, this is, there's an implication here. And the implication is that Frost often perhaps didn't read these books for his own enjoyment.

46:36Perhaps he was reading them to somebody else. And there's something to note here that we, we should be reading books to young people. If you have children, start reading books to them. I don't care how old or young they are. I mean, if they're old and you haven't read a book to them. I mean, you're not going to call your 25 year old and say, Hey, I'm going to read a story to you. You know, but it's just start if they're young and still in your house. If they're, if they haven't hit teenhood yet, even if they have hit teenhood, throw it out there and say, Hey, you want me to read your story? They might jump at it. Actually, you know, the latest study that came out, I'm trying to think of the report I was reading. This was just a maybe last week, maybe two weeks ago. I can't cite the study, but the study said that 2% of Americans read to their kids.

47:37Only 2%. That is not good. I'm just going to put that out there right now. That's a, that's awful. More than 2% need to be, need to be reading to their kids. You know, I'm part of this group that is encouraging fathers to read to young people. Matter of fact, we're putting out, we're going to start putting out some public service announcements here real soon. And I will, this, you know, this has been in the works for a while. And we're just now starting to finalize some things. So I want to have more information about this coming down the pipe in the next, in the next few days, weeks and months, perhaps. So I'll definitely keep you posted. But 2% of parents reading to their kids, you know, part of this group, I mean, we believe that fathers should be reading to their sons and daughters.

48:38And it's an encouragement to, our point is we want to encourage parents to read to their kids more. And obviously, we need to, with only 2% of their doing it. So, you know, the jungle book for us said, I'm going to read it again. And as often as I can find a new child who will listen to me. You knew England writers made his list. Such a good list. Ralph Waldo Emerson's essays and poems. If you haven't read anything by Emerson yet, let me go do it. I mean, if, no, that's Rudyard Kipling. Self reliance was it self reliance? Is that the poem or the essay Emerson wrote? That's just rich and good. Henry David Thurrow's Walden. That's on the list. Of that classic American, of that classic American work, here's what Frost wrote. Russo was cast away. Thurrow was self cast away.

49:41Both found themselves sufficient. No prose writer has ever been more fortunate and subject than these two. And here, you know, Frost is, this dudes a writer. And he's a he's a good writer. You know, people say that his writings are right up there amongst the best. And so I think it's a it's a it's a not really report to find out who who who Frost read. In 1960, the US House of Representatives unanimously voted to award the Congressional Medal of Honour to Robert Frost Frost for his poetry, which they said has enriched the culture of the United States and the philosophy of the world. Nearly 30 years earlier, poet and critic William Rose Bene wrote of his collections that

50:47wrote of his collections a further range, saying if anybody should ask me why I still believe in my land, I have only to put this book in his hand and answer, well, here is a man of my country. Bum bum bum. And we started out. We started this this day out here, this entire program talking about the importance of educating our young people to love this country. To love America and they they should absolutely love America. They it makes sense that you would want to educate your your students, your children, your young people, the love the country in which they live. And here William Rose Bene said that if anybody should ask me why I still believe in my land, I have only to put this book in his hand and answer, well, here is a man of my country. So yes, I love this country and I believe in it because here Robert Frost is a man of my country.

51:52And we could say that about Lincoln and what he wrote, Jefferson and what he wrote, the Declaration of Independence. James Madison, what he wrote, the Constitution. I don't know that it's just novels or poetry. And we could say that about Henry David Thoreau or Ralph Waldo Emerson, you know, all of them. Emily Dickinson, a doll of them. We could we could say this that hey, this is this is a this is a man of my country. Where of course I love this country. You you know why else we love this country. I'm going to and we just go to history class real quick when we've got a few minutes. The day is not over yet. It was on this day September 29th, 1780. And I'm a militia loyal to King George III word camped on black mingle Creek coastal South Carolina when suddenly out of nowhere out of the dark night and not to be confused with Batman, not that dark night out of out of a dusky evening, a patriot forest materialized out of the steamy darkness, seemingly out of nowhere with guns a blazing.

53:19The surprised torres put up a sharp defense, but alas, they soon fled across the the river leaving behind their supplies and ammunition. And who was this mysterious figure that that rose out of the swamp? Well, it was indeed the swamp fox. It's what they called him. Francis Marion that struck again is one of the heroes of the American revolution. He's a short quiet man. He he wore sword seldom drew it. It was rusted to its scabbard actually. His men, however, he and his men knew the secret paths of the the low country swamps. And like phantoms, they could appear seemingly out of nowhere out of Cyprus maces as it were for quick surprise attacks. Attacks that were leveled against much larger forces than the ones that they held. And then, and then they would just melt away into the dark recesses of the forest, just melt away and disappear into the swamp.

54:29Just as if they were never even there. Most of these men that fought with Marion work were farmers fighting without pay, few head uniforms. They were always short on guns, short on ammo, short on food, but they fought with the zeal through patriots. Marion's guerrilla warfare kept the British in a constant state of confusion and alarm with grudging respect to the red coats began to refer to him simply as the swamp fox. It said that one day Marion invited a British officer to dinner in his camp under a flag of truce and served a meal of fire baked potatoes on a slab of bark with vinegar and water to wash it down. His guess was surprised at how little the Patriots had to eat, but surely general he inquired, this can't be your usual fare. Indeed, sir, it is Marion replied, and we are fortunate on this occasion, entertaining company to have more than our usual allowances.

55:38The story goes that the British officer was so overcome by the Americans determination and sacrifice that he resigned his commission and immediately set sail for England. You can't beat that. You cannot beat and defeat that determination. No matter fact, the Patriot Mel Gibson's movie is written after the swamp fox here, that's his character, Francis Marion. And the British, they realized they were in for it. They were in for it. You know, this is it, this right here. These are the stories we should be reading. Find yourself a book on the swamp fox and slide it into your child's lap and ask for the phone. In exchange for the phone here, here read this about the swamp fox. We should come up with a list, a list of good books to read. Let's go to work on that.

56:40All right, my friends in the meantime, that's it. It's all the time we have. Thanks for joining us and courage your friends and family to get on the Dean's list. Let's unite to renovate the age.