Description: The Rhetorically Speaking podcast tackles the ironically unusual concept of “Normal”. A synonym for typical, usual or expected, we look at how the word can mean different things in a social, psychological and statistical sense. We unpack the ambivalent connotation of the word which has been used to both mark progress on social issues and used as an excuse to halt it. We discuss some of the modern political movements that have capitalized on this and why there is some pushback. Dain explores some personal insights about ADHD vs “normal” or neurotypical functioning. Finally, Real bores everyone with a long explanation of statistics to explain what normal distributions tell us to make this the most normal episode ever. Corrections: The Pope has not accepted homosexual marriage in the Catholic Church: Snopes: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pope-homosexuality-not-crime/ Rappler: https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/fact-check/pope-francis-supports-same-sex-marriage/ References: Normal Distribution Explained: Normal distribution - Wikipedia Rise in IQ over generations: Flynn effect (Wikipedia) Chesterton's Fence: ⁠Chesterton's Fence (thoughtbot.com) Surely Alarm by Daniel Dennett: https://youtu.be/EJsD-3jtXz0?t=846 Mental Health Resources: USA: Mental Health America | Homepage | Mental Health America (mhanational.org) UK: Mental health - NHS (www.nhs.uk) SA: South African Federation For Mental Health - Mental Wellness Experts (safmh.org)

Ever smugly interjected into a conversation by saying “Technically”? Or perhaps you were the one on the receiving end of this contextually impertinent interruption? We have fun discussing this surprising interesting yet mundane word.

Why does Douglas Murray think that Generation Z (Gen-Z) has a God-shaped hole? Well, it turns out that formal religion is in decline and Murray feels that young people are much too concerned about politics – so much so that they have replaced religion with political ideology. Jordan Peterson feels that his version of God is an antidote to the moral and meaning crises that young people are facing today. These two revive an old apologetic argument that non-believers have a God-shaped hole in their lives and set it the youth of today.     On Rhetorically Speaking, we explore what makes this argument persuasive and whether it is actually a good argument for being religious in today's society. To do this we also explore the “Dr Dre” of Sociology – Emile Durkheim and discuss how his idea of the Sacred forms the basis of the God-shaped hole argument.  References: Full video links of clips used: Douglas Murray | We're Moving From One Belief System To Another | Facing The God-Shaped Hole | RESET  Jordan B Peterson & Sam Harris Debate God  Jonathan Haidt: Religion, evolution, and the ecstasy of self-transcendence - YouTube  Other References: Social Theory Rewired | New Connections to Classical and Contemporary Perspectives (routledgesoc.com) Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - Learning Theories (learning-theories.com) Mental health (who.int) Data and statistics - National Secular Society (secularism.org.uk) Nigeria atheist Mubarak Bala jailed for blaspheming Islam - BBC News

The Rhetorically Speaking podcast covers all things Persuasion. Today’s concept is “Rhetoric” and we explain why we chose Rhetoric as the target for our podcast. Oh, and we introduce ourselves as the hosts of Rhetorically Speaking as this is episode 1.