Hello, welcome to episode 5 of Naval Gazing. I'm John Dickerson. A detour before we head into the meat of things. I did not realize before embarking on this project that naval gazing was a thing, is a thing.

I thought it was just a clever metaphor describing a common thing which is

excessive self-regard a malady that wraps itself around my head like a page of

newspaper on a windy day no naval gazing guided the contemplatives in the ancient world.

They accessed ready revelation by meditating on the naval, by staring into the naval.

It even has a Greek word to describe it. by staring into the naval.

It even has a Greek word to describe it,

and like yogurt, anything associated with the Greeks

is immediately elevated.

The Greek word is I'm full of skepticism,

to which I say, then you shouldn't have had so much

skepticism. You may write that off as a drastic dad joke and you'd be right. It may have

even caused you to interrupt your jogging like you'd gotten a bug in your ear.

But this remark is in the tradition of 1950s Borsch-belt comedians who tickled their audiences

at Catskill retreats by playing with Greek words. In other words, I'm giving you a historical

tradition. You've heard this joke perhaps. The Classics professor goes into the tailor and pants shop,

carrying some trousers.

You rip at ease?

Yeah, you mend it ease?

Over at the sales rack, a man lifts up a pair of trousers and said

alsabieties. That last little bit is not part of the classic joke but I've always

been interested in al-sabieties who was an Athenian general who fled to Sparta and essentially switched sides.

...