Come Join us at the Peaceful Side Brewery, 106 Everett Ave, Maryville, TN 37804
If you enjoy looking at menus ahead of time, check out this link:
https://peacefulsidebrewery.com/taproom-menu/
This will be a monthly event on the First Wednesday.
Please disregard the notice below about forwarding this email. If you know of others who would enjoy this event, please share.
We will be tabling on the Blount County Court House lawn in honor of the National Day of Reason. There will be others in another area celebrating the Day of Prayer, so we do want to have a presence.
Come by to visit. Or if you want to help out with tabling, RSVP with your times at outreach@rationalists.org.
This is a rain or shine event.
by Susan Jacoby
Combining historical analysis with contemporary observation, Susan Jacoby dissects a new American cultural phenomenon--one that is at odds with our heritage of Enlightenment reason and with modern, secular knowledge and science. With mordant wit, she surveys an anti-rationalist landscape extending from pop culture to a pseudo-intellectual universe of "junk thought." Disdain for logic and evidence defines a pervasive malaise fostered by the mass media, triumphalist religious fundamentalism, mediocre public education, a dearth of fair-minded public intellectuals on the right and the left, and, above all, a lazy and credulous public. Jacoby offers an unsparing indictment of the American addiction to infotainment--from television to the Web--and cites this toxic dependency as the major element distinguishing our current age of unreason from earlier outbreaks of American anti-intellectualism and anti-rationalism. With reading on the decline and scientific and historical illiteracy on the rise, an increasingly ignorant public square is dominated by debased media-driven language and received opinion.
At this critical political juncture, nothing could be more important than recognizing the "overarching crisis of memory and knowledge" described in this impassioned, tough-minded book, which challenges Americans to face the painful truth about what the flights from reason has cost us as individuals and as a nation. 384 pages.
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Please disregard the message about forwarding below.
RET President and retired pharmacist, Norm Barrett, will present on "What's in your Medicine Cabinet?"
A look at the top ten OTC products and why they may not be so harmless. How about those herbals and supplements touted by influencers and movie stars? The number one seller is Prevagen. Does it really work or is it the placebo effect? Should we throw away our multivitamins and calcium supplements? A deep dive sure to inform or be an equal opportunity offender.
Coffee and other hot beverages will be provided. Bring a snack to share if you wish.
We meet in the Cafeteria Annex of the Goins Administration Building. The Annex is located at the back of the building and we ask that you enter from the direct entrance at the rear of the building so as not to disturb another group who uses the rest of the building.
For those joining in via Zoom, the link is provided in the newsletter and the announcement email below.
Summer Vacations
Now is the vacation season. How do you do with vacations? Do you have great memories of past vacations and look forward to them or is it a stressful hit or miss situation for you? A couple of short ones or one long one? Any special memories to share with the group? Join us for a discussion of past and present good and not so good times.
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Come join an informal gathering for food and conversation at the Corner 16 Restaurant, 9637 Kroger Park Dr, Knoxville, TN 37922 near Pellissippi and Northshore.
If you are interested in seeing the menu beforehand, you can check it out here.
Disregard the notice below about forwarding this email. Feel free to share with others who may be interested.
Leigh Cowden will speak on Wills and Estates.
Leigh Cowden, Principal Attorney and founder of Vermillion Law, is a USAF veteran and licensed attorney in Tennessee, Florida, and New York. She has practiced law since 2007 and brings over 30 years of business experience across multiple industries. She divides her time between Tennessee and Florida and enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with family.
Attorney Cowden will be speaking on June 7, 2026 about Wills, Trusts, and Probate. This session will discuss what the probate process looks like, the types of estate planning strategies available, and what the estate planning process looks like at Vermillion Law.
For those joining via Zoom, the link is provided in the newsletter and the announcement email below.
by Nir Eyal
June 14, 2026 1:00PM to 2:30PM
Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church
    2931 Kingston Pike
    Knoxville, TN 37919
Special in-person Reflections! Note time and place.
Where is Starship America Going?
A crazy election, up and down tariffs, protests, more inflation, and war and woes in the Middle East. Time for a mid-year evaluation and discussion. Did any of this work for you? Mad as Hell and not gonna take it anymore? Well, what are going or not going to do? Vote in the primaries? That's a start. Join us for an in-person discussion about what to do about the course of the Starship.
Bring a snack for yourself and maybe others as you please. It's been a while!
10:30 to 12:30 at Pellissippi State in the Goins Cafeteria Annex-(usual meeting place)
