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

This week the ladies of the Mosaic Ark were joined by Robert Kroese, science fiction author extraordinaire! He has 35 published titles to his name and is the founder of Based Con, an annual gathering for authors and fans of science fiction and fantasy. We discussed everything from his humble beginnings as a precocious, aspiring writer in the second grade, through his stint as a software engineer, the inevitability of AI, and the Christian and philosophical world view that informs his writing. —Streamed January 17, 2025

Follow Rob on X @robkroese

Website: badnovelist.com

2024 has ended and the New Year is but minutes away for some in these United States of America. It’s time for reflection on the past and speculation of the future. Join the ladies of the Mosaic Ark as we discuss the runup to 2025, and especially the most recent X-wars over all things pirate from the East India Trading Company to the modern would-be robber barons of today—Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. We also speculate on the Professor’s potential development of Madam Web-like superpowers due to some unfortunate spider bites. —Streamed December 31, 2024

“O Dayspring, Brightness of the everlasting light, Sun of justice, come to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death!”

Thus sings the Church on December 21, the darkest day of the year. On this week’s Mosaic Ark, the ladies discussed the Catholic tradition of preparing for Advent by singing the “O Antiphons,” which are short sung sentences describing a specific aspect of prayerful meditation on the eternal Truth — God’s incarnation in the womb of a virgin named Mary. They are sung at sunset (Vespers) both before and after recitation of Mary’s “Magnificat,” wherein she describes her joy at being chosen by God to be the mother of the long-awaited Messiah, who came to banish darkness and death, bringing everlasting light. Each Advent season in America, congregations of Catholics and Protestants participate in this tradition perhaps without knowing that is what they are doing; they sing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” which is Catholic and has origins that are more than a thousand years old. Join us as we discuss these ancient chants, how they were weaved so thoroughly into our Christian consciousness, and how the Internet is making everything old new again. — Streamed December 19, 2024

Melinda Kathleen Reese singing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” in the church of Montefrio, Spain: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/H6zswBOzxig

Amelia McKee, “The O Antiphons and the Stammheim Missal”: https://liturgicalyearinart.substack.com/p/the-o-antiphons-and-the-stammheim

The Stammheim Missal: https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/107TJA

On the Advent Lyrics: https://unauthorizedmedievalhistory.blogspot.com/2019/12/episode-12-getting-medieval-on-earendel.html