Happy Pie Day! Tonight the Ladies of the Mosaic Ark hijacked International Pi day to discuss how one defines things such as pie, or people, or nations. Specifically we discussed the English nation and wondered where they went and what defined them as a people. They are one of the best examples to show how difficult it is to define a nation. Is it blood? Borders? Language? Songs? Stories? In the case of the English, it is all anchored Christ the King, who inspired their stories and songs; He was the very beginning of their founding myth. —Streamed March 14, 2025

“You can be a lover or a fighter, whatever you desire / Whatever you want, baby, choose your fighter!” —Ava Max. This past week saw a group of Congresswomen in a viral video called “Choose Your Fighter,” wherein they each appeared well dressed in smart suits, smiling and jumping with fists in the air as they pretended to strike a boxing pose. The visual rhetoric was clear; these women were “fighters” who would work for you. But did the video work? Did it transmit an image of strength or one of trivial in-group popularity? Did it reinforce the idea that women are a political force to be reckoned with, or the outdated idea that women don’t belong in Congress at all, and is that idea actually outdated? The ladies of the Mosaic Ark disagreed on that one, so come watch them duke it out, politely of course, and choose your fighter! —Streamed March 7, 2025

What is a factory worker, a man or a woman? What is a CEO? Same question. No one asks these questions anymore. Thanks to the feminist movement of the last 50 years, those kinds of questions don’t matter because a woman can be anything she wants! Yay, women! Also, men can be anything they want, including, apparently, women. But what is a woman? This week, the ladies of the Mosaic Ark continued their discussion of categories and taboos by trying to answer that question. Listen as we explore a tiny fraction of the possible categories that define “woman” according to Grok. —Streamed February 28, 2025

What is a nation? Over the past several weeks, we’ve struggled to come up with an answer that will satisfy everyone, and so this week we decided to tackle an easier question. What is a sandwich? Easy! It is some kind of protein between two pieces of bread, created by none other than that illustrious Englishman, the Earl of Sandwich. But wait a minute. Is a taco a sandwich? What about a hamburger? How about the humble hot dog? For that matter, what makes up a hot dog? (Scratch that; let’s not ask!) The ladies of the Mosaic Ark are discovering that creating a definitive category for anything, whether it be a nation or a sandwich, is not as easy as they thought. Listen as we present and then break many categories, and let us know in the comments that you know KC is right and pineapple does not belong on pizza! —Streamed February 21, 2025

If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? KC the realist would say “Yes. The forest and the tree and soundwaves exist irrespective of my presence.” A nominalist would say, “The forest only exists as a category of your mind. Only individual trees exist.” Professor Rachel Fulton Brown would say, “The medieval nominalists are the reason we are having a problem defining a nation today.” Listen as the ladies of the Mosaic Ark discuss why trying to get people to agree on categories and the language used to describe them is rather like trying to herd cats, and how the medieval philosophers tried to tackle the problem started by Aristotle. —Streamed February 14, 2025

Who’s up for a game of Polandball? Or to be less whimsical, who’s up for defining what makes a nation? Last week, the ladies of the Mosaic Ark discussed that question and its expression in the Reddit phenomenon called Polandball, which are ongoing community-created comics where little balls stand in for the nations and express ideas unique to their culture. This week, we narrowed the nation question down to what makes America a nation and what makes a person American, using David Hackett Fischer’s book Albion’s Seed for historical insight. Q. Is it blood, social customs, education, food, or language? A. All of the above, and you might be surprised just how significant the pronunciation of the word “fire” is! Share your ideas about what constitutes a nation in the comments. Do you know your Polandball?! —Streamed February 7, 2025

Polandball: https://www.reddit.com/r/polandball/

What is a nation? That’s a simple enough question, isn’t it? After much discussion, points and counterpoints made, history explored, and the opinions of various historical and contemporary figures considered, the ladies of the Mosaic Ark have decided….It's complicated! Is it a geographical area, a shared ethnicity, religion, language or culture? Is it blood? Or is it merely a legal designation? Join us as we explore these questions in Part I of our discussion. Let us know in the comments if you have any thoughts to add, and especially if you have any questions for Part II, as we continue our hunt for the American nation. —Streamed January 31, 2025

Euratlas from Year 1 to 2000: https://www.euratlas.net/history/europe/index.html

Polandball: https://www.reddit.com/r/polandball/

This week was a flurry of activity for the newly re-elected President Trump. There were concerts, and parades, and luncheons, speeches, and formal dinners and dances, and of course the swearing-in ceremony. It was all very magical from the red coat-wearing and bewigged United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps to the black-robed Supreme Court Justice eliciting a sworn oath from the then President Elect. But the ladies of the Mosaic Arc believe the real magic happened with the many strokes of a pen after that oath was taken, and the Executive Orders were signed. Watch as we discuss this sea change for our country happening right before our eyes. —Streamed January 24, 2025