This article is a reaction and a critique to a recent interview between Andrew Gold and Warren Smith. The interview was initially slated to be a discussion regard Smith’s experience with a J. K. Rowling controversy, but turned into a deeper philosophical debate about reality, faith, and morality.

The 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks has made the rift between the “Truthers” and the “Trads”—the traditionalists—more evident. As evidence continues to chip away at the foundational narrative, the Truthers express ever-increasing skepticism that the attacks of 9/11 occurred as official investigators and government agencies have presented them. The Trads steadfastly align with the official narrative.

This article, originally from a two-page pamphlet published in 2020, argued that a Democratic victory in the presidential election would accelerate the nation's decline and lead to widespread social and political unrest. Looking back, many readers may conclude that the subsequent four years brought an even more troubling development: a profound erosion of public trust in the institutions that once made America a beacon of freedom and stability.

The very proposition of knowing is a complex one, and it often evades proof. I cannot ultimately prove to you that I know something; yet I can quite easily demonstrate that I do not know. From the beginning, humanity has wrestled with this problem—the problem of knowing.

What we know—and what we believe—shapes who we are. Yet many people have never taken the time to step back and reflect on their own process of knowing. One of the purposes of this podcast is to make that process clearer: to take a complex concept and render it usable, both as a tool for self-reflection and as a framework for meaningful dialogue with those whose ideas and beliefs differ from our own.