First of all, Warbington Farms, for those that don't know, for those that haven't experienced the awesomeness that is the farm, what exactly is it you guys offer?

Well, we offer a lot and a growing amount of different activities on the farm.

Started out with strawberries, you pick strawberries.

My father-in-law planted those the first year and they didn't know if they would be able to move them all.

And they did.

They didn't have enough strawberries.

So we've been growing in that aspect.

But what's that balance like for the future that you're seeing? Is there more of a working farm versus tourism side that you guys are leaning towards one way or the other, or is it a combination of both?

we did pretty

it was jamming pretty good yeah we had a good time over there first of all we had about 160 anglers who showed up on 40 boats so we had a really strong show out for that tons of people at the after hours the weigh-in and whatnot uh the event was really good and you know the good lord spared us from the weather because we'll When we were coming in, we were getting surrounded by the north and the east, and it was coming from both ways.

Those storms stayed away.

When I saw Mr. Mahoney over there, we talked a little bit and thought, wow, man.

I didn't think there was a longest fish category, Mike, but it turns out there was.

Apparently, in IT, we always have an acronym for something, and it should have been RTFM.

I'll let you all look that one up a little bit later because it's not FCC approved.

which is

One is, given that you're a philosopher and you have an understanding of the great moral and ethical theories, why then are they not enough, morally speaking? And why then do we also need, or does society feel that it needs some religious component?

Okay, well, yes.

So why haven't there been wars started between Kantians and utilitarians, for example? Yes, it's a good question, but I suppose I would think that what's happening there with these philosophical theories is that the philosopher is standing back reflectively Somebody like Kant, he was obviously thinking of Christian or certainly Abrahamic ethics, ethics that grew out of a particular religious context, and then trying to reflect on an understanding of what it's really based on.

And of course, he thought that he could show that it was ultimately based on the idea of exercising our practical reason in the completely consistent way, that that was really the source of it all, and that therefore morality so founded would apply to all rational beings, not just humans, actually, but all rational beings.

So I think the philosophers are sort of reflectively at a remove from the communities that actually have and practice certain kinds of values and may come into conflict with other communities whose values are in certain ways significantly different.

Whereas, as you say, as you pointed out, the Jonathan Haidt observation about religion giving a sense of belonging, that constitutes the heart of a people or a nation or something of this kind.

And then given that peoples may come into conflict for all sorts of reasons, and perhaps they largely have to do with economic competition and territorial matters and things of this kind, Somehow their religious identities get drawn into or a vehicle through which conflicts start to be expressed, even though perhaps at the most fundamental level the conflicts aren't really religious, but they're about how much power one has and how much land one has.

Now, I think examples are pretty obvious, but rather than discussing the examples, I just wondered if you had any comment on that particular, that claim in a general sense.

John, what you got, buddy? Talk to me.

Yes, sir.

Hey, I appreciate you taking the call.

A couple quick story real quick, uh, on last, I think it was Tuesday.

Been a bit since I've been out of town and I went fishing and, uh, Saw something I'd never really seen on the West Coast.

It was like an East Coast mullet run out here, man.

It was nuts.

Absolutely.

as

you said, some very surprising trends in today's world, particularly around Gen Z men and their religiosity.

Whereas it had been the case for at least the last 50, 60 years that this country saw a steady decline in religiosity.

Gen Z men were the first time in several generations where we actually saw a trend move in the opposite direction, as reported by Pew, as reported by the American Enterprise Institute starting a few years ago, 2022, 2023.

We started seeing reports come out in that way.

Now, I think that as someone who works with men day in and day out on the ground and also someone who's studied this kind of from an academic perspective for many years now, I think what's going on in many young men at the heart is a sense of complete bewilderment, confusion.

as to what they are to do with their masculine drive, with their masculinity, period.

And so the question begs, what does a father do to lead his family? How does a father lead his family? My guest today is the founder of forge forge is a program available you can check out their courses online great articles on forming men to strengthen the family dr john bishop is my guest the founder and executive director also author of the book new adam god's plan for men we're linking to it in the show notes for today's show the website is myforge.org dr bishop how does a father who's in the thick of marriage and family life, start working on those skills of leadership for his family?

Yeah.

Uh, so for people who don't know, Ray's mum and dad are, are deaf, and so Ray's first language is sign language.

And, um, he, he took me to his dad's deaf club in, uh, in Glasgow thinking I'd know enough sign language to be able to get by.

Jesus Christ, because they, their, their generation, Ray's, Ray's dad's generation, they don't sign, they spell Everything's re- they spell really fast, and the problem is I can't spell in me head 'cause I'm d- I'm...

That's my form of dyslexia.

I can't spell.

[laughs] Yeah.

And, and when we were making it, they said, "Well, you need to explain why you've got this interest." 'Cause I was trying to do it to sh- I suppose learn about that community and maybe show him that there was a community out there.

New York feels like the home

of stand-up comedy.

Obviously, if you have a film based in New York, it's going to reach a wider audience.

But it felt appropriate.

And the Comedy Cell is a comedy club that I've done.

I go back.

I'm going back in February to do it.

say that as a canadian

But also when he was speaking, he'd speak loud because he couldn't hear his own

voice.

So it sounded like he was shouting at us all the time.

And we went through this awful, awful period.

And it was an awful period.

As a parent, I did what men do.

I thought, we'll fix this.

The transplant years.

Uh, John, to you first, how did this part of your life end up a Hollywood story?

It, it's, well, I've, I, as people know, I, I've stumbled into comedy, and I've been asked in interviews, you know, "How did you get into comedy?" It's one of the things people always ask comedians, and 'cause the story's a unique story, I've told it, um, and people have gone, "Ah, that's good," and then you kinda move on.

But I, I was at a, um, I was at an event with a, a mutual friend of ours, Chris Sickie, who, and, and who's a film producer.

And, and, and Chris said, "How did you get into comedy?" I told him the story.

He said, "That'd be, it'd make a great film." But it's trying to find somebody who could tell the story, 'cause I couldn't tell it.

It was too close.

It's not something I could write.

[laughs]

Yeah.

And I was on stage.

And I used to do this joke, which is where I used to say, try and let all the ladies in the room know that I was a single fella.

I used to say, look, I'm really sad at the moment because me and my wife aren't together.

The audience go, oh, it's not that bad.

We're not divorced or anything.

I've just killed her.

The most naturally gifted footballer you've seen.

mean? um it's filmed in new york obviously um and there's a bit about you said because it takes a lot to explain doesn't it that you know you were based you're a scout you're liverpudlian and then you lived in manchester because stand-up is very nomadic isn't it yeah and when i do interviews how did you get into stand-up your eyes sort a role a bit because it's never a fine line is it no it's never it's uh

But it's never an easy thing to sort of explain to people.

But I think as a narrative, as a story, to make this reach a wider audience, New York feels like the home of stand-up comedy.

Obviously, if you have a film-based...

In New York, it's going to reach a wider audience.

But it felt appropriate.

And the Comedy Cell is a comedy club that I've done.

No, because what happened? And I say that as a

Stick

with me.

Wait till I tell Ria about this.

so yeah so I've got to tell you this because this is funny about that split in Liverpool and I so what happened My dad, so we grew up as Liverpool supporters and my uncle Freddie and that's how the family would have it, the supporters.

And then Kenny was manager of Liverpool and I'd gone to a charity auction with Marina D'Aglitia's charity and one of the prizes was four seats in the director's box at Anfield for the derby.

Right, so I thought, right, I'm getting this, I'm getting this.

So I'm bidding and bidding and bidding.

Everyone's got a story about Istanbul.

[laughing]

I'd have been coming on now with 10 minutes to go, scoring the winner.

No, I was, uh, basically, a very positive, uh, version of it is that I was...

Got married to a, uh, to, uh, Melanie, uh, in Manchester, for me sins.

We had three kids, and then, uh, and then we just drifted apart and split up.

And then one night, I was walking past the Frog and Bucket in Manchester, and I literally was just depressed 'cause I didn't have the kids that night.

I thought I'd go to a comedy club.

[laughing]

(laughs)

And there's like a giddiness to it.

But then there comes a point in the night, don't there, where you go, "Right, the lights are off." Bang, you're lying on the carpet.

You're lying on the floor.

You don't sleep on the, on the seats.

You sleep on the concrete of the floor, and it gives you a taste of the experience that some people within our city are experiencing all too often.

And what...

Yeah.