The Commonwealth of Crowns

Book of Samuel (Hebrew: ספר שמואל, romanized: Sefer Shmuel) 2 Samuel chapters 1-12
AudioEbook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnffHJCDZPM
Text: https://www.biblestudytools.com/kjv/2-samuel/

In 1 Samuel, the Israelites clamored for a king, and so the prophet Samuel anointed Saul for the role as God's chosen; however, he was disobedient and lost favor with God. Samuel then anointed David who went on to have a fraught relationship with the first king. Despite his fondness for David, Saul vacillated through periods of insecurity because of David's triumphs in battle, and he repeatedly attempted to slay him. This forced David to flee into the desert and to live amongst his enemies, and yet David had the opportunity to slay Saul twice while being pursued but chose to spare his life. The second half of the Book of Samuel continues after the death of King Saul, who fell upon his sword during a losing battle against the Philistines, in which three of his sons were slain, including David's friend and benefactor Jonathan.

This segment runs until 46:41.

Book of Psalms (Hebrew: תְּהִלִּים, romanized: Tehillīm, lit. 'praises'; Ancient Greek: Ψαλμός, romanized: Psalmós) Psalms 1-41
AudioEbook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeKppPL-Emo
Text: https://www.biblestudytools.com/kjv/psalms/

I'm going to jump ahead to Psalms 1-41 before resuming with Kings. The Book of Psalms (a.k.a. the Psalter) is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called Ketuvim ('Writings'), and a poetic book of the Old Testament. It is an anthology of Hebrew religious hymns, including songs of praise, communal and individual laments, royal psalms, prayers for enemies of God to suffer harm, and individual thanksgivings. O. Palmer Robertson characterizes this first section, or book, with the theme of opposition - predominantly attributed to David, these Psalms are perceived as the earliest in origin, characterized by a focus on trust in God, with Yahweh as the dominant name (The prevalent name for God shifts to Elohim in the second section/book). I figured that because many of the psalms in this first section are attributed to David, it would be appropriate to include this subset after the Books of Samuel.

This segment runs until 1:08:01.

Thanks @Helladria for taking care. Feels nice to return.

USAID & The Rap Game (Part 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENVe5FiPxYg

I thought this was a very interesting explainer about the relationship between the (music) entertainment industry and statecraft.

‘Spike protein was designed to kill…’: Dr McCullough drops chilling COVID vax claim |Allison Inquiry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9afVwQzsF8

Dr. Peter McCullough testified at the Allison Inquiry, where he made a series of claims about COVID-19 vaccines, spike protein research and potential vaccine injuries. McCullough said people who received the vaccines were “lucky to be alive” and claimed the spike protein was linked to gain-of-function research.