Getting to Third Space with Lamar and Tom

What is the state of our democracy in the U.S. today? What does it mean to be a democracy? Lamar and Tom check in with historian Joel Kauffman on these and other questions. 
Joel Kauffman is a professor, coach, reader, and world citizen. His interest in the world in which we live has led him to learn more about it through the study of history and in conversations with people from all walks of life. Joel taught courses at Hesston College, including a couple with Lamar, engaged students and pushed them to think more carefully and critically about the world they were inheriting from their elders. In this Table Talk, Joel similarly pushes Lamar and Tom to thoughtfully consider the state of American democracy and what it will take to preserve it.  
Learn More
Walden by Henry David Thoreau - https://www.gutenberg.org/files/205/205-h/205-h.htm
The Constitution of the United States of America - from the Bill of Rights Institute https://bri-wp-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Constitution.pdf also from the National Constitution Center https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution
What is a Democracy? Department of Government, Georgetown University - https://government.georgetown.edu/news/democracy-governance/what-is-democracy/ 
A 3rd Space Survey: Acts of Kindness
Kindness seems out of vogue right now. But we don’t believe that to be true. We believe there are a lot of people in our world who are choosing kindness even in the face of cruelty.
Do you have an act of kindness that you’d be willing to share? You can participate through a Google Forms Survey at this link: https://forms.gle/5NQakn6bgeXpm2us5
There you will find two kindness questions we’d like you to consider and then respond to:
What is an act of kindness you’ve received that made a difference to you?

What is an act of kindness you have done which you hope changed another person’s life?

What do we do with the acts we learn about in this survey? We save them and feature them in our Thanksgiving show each year…anonymously unless you prefer we use your name.
Finally, please share this survey because an act of kindness shared begets others.
How We Check Ourselves
Fact Checking: Because there are a lot of things happening…some true, some false, some unbelievable…we use the following fact checking sites. Take a look for yourself:
Snopes - https://www.snopes.com/ 

FactCheck.org - https://www.factcheck.org/ 

Politifact - https://www.politifact.com/

RealClearPolitics - https://www.realclearpolitics.com/ 

Reuters FactCheck - https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/ 

Because media can have its own biases, we also rely upon these sites to help us get balanced coverage:
Media Bias/Fact Check - https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/

All Sides - https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news

Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart - https://app.adfontesmedia.com/chart/interactive 

Want to watch us do the podcast? Visit the Klaus Haus Productions YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@KlausHausProductions. 
Comments? Suggestions? Ideas for guests or topics? 
Send us a voice message on Spotify or email us at lamar3rdSpace@gmail.com and tom3rdSpace@gmail.com.
Credits:
Wild Opinions and Nonsensical Musings by Lamar Roth & Tom Klaus
Images by Getty Images, Pexels, Pixabay, Roth Images, and Cyberlink AI
Final review and approval by Jake and Ebie Dawgs Inc. 
Photos by Lamar Roth are copyrighted by Roth Images, All Rights Reserved. For permissions or additional information: lamar3rdSpace@gmail.com and https://www.rothimages.com/
Getting to 3rd Space with Lamar and Tom is produced and sponsored by Klaus Haus Productions LLC and Acorn Consulting, LLC. © 2026. All Rights Reserved. Permissions: hello@klaushausllc.com. 
No living creature was harmed in the production of this film but a lot of Colombian coffee was consumed.
Recorded using Riverside.fm - http://riverside.fm/ - from “home studio” locations in Maryland and Kansas, USA; Original Publishing Date, April 14, 2026

What’s the difference between being “kind” and “nice?” Are they mutually exclusive? Can you be both at the same time? Join us for a conversation with #BeHumankind practitioner Erica Marks to learn more. 
Erica Marks is a #BeHumankind practitioner. She has integrated principles of #BeHumankind into her work as a charity (nonprofit) leader in the United Kingdom. In this conversation we learn about her work as an advocate for children with severe disabilities and their parents, people who have experienced sexual abuse and assault, and individuals wishing to explore opportunities beyond the ultra-Orthodox communities in which they live to fulfill personal goals. In this podcast Lamar and Tom talk with Erica about how she has integrated kindness and the principles of #BeHumankind into her work. 
Learn More about Erica and her Work
Mavar
Kisharon Langdon
Connect with Erica Marks on LinkedIn
#Behumankind
A 3rd Space Survey: Acts of Kindness
Do you have an act of kindness that you’d be willing to share? You can participate through a Google Forms Survey at this link: https://forms.gle/5NQakn6bgeXpm2us5
There you will find two kindness questions we’d like you to consider and then respond to:
What is an act of kindness you’ve received that made a difference to you?

What is an act of kindness you have done which you hope changed another person’s life?

What do we do with the acts we learn about in this survey? We save them and feature them in our Thanksgiving show each year…anonymously unless you prefer we use your name.
Finally, please share this survey because an act of kindness shared begets others.
How We Check Ourselves
Fact Checking: Because there are a lot of things happening…some true, some false, some unbelievable…we use the following fact checking sites. Take a look for yourself:
Snopes

FactCheck.org

Politifact

RealClearPolitics

Reuters FactCheck

Because media can have its own biases, we also rely upon these sites to help us get balanced coverage:
Media Bias/Fact Check

All Sides

Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart

Meet Lamar and Tom
Lamar Roth and Tom Klaus are lifelong friends exploring how to get to a 3rd Space - a space where two or more people with opposing viewpoints, ideologies, and worldviews can come together to hear, listen, share, and connect with one another. Together Lamar and Tom hope to carve out a 3rd Space where everything can be on the table for open, straightforward, honest, and, yet kind and respectful inquiry. 
Want to watch us do the podcast? Visit the Klaus Haus Productions YouTube Channel.
Comments? Suggestions? Ideas for guests or topics? 
Send us a voice message on Spotify or email us at lamar3rdSpace@gmail.com and tom3rdSpace@gmail.com.
Credits:
Wild Opinions and Nonsensical Musings by Lamar Roth & Tom Klaus
Images by Getty Images, Pexels, Pixabay, Roth Images, and Cyberlink AI
Final review and approval by Jake and Ebie Dawgs Inc. 
Photos by Lamar Roth are copyrighted by Roth Images, All Rights Reserved. For permissions or additional information: lamar3rdSpace@gmail.com and https://www.rothimages.com/
Getting to 3rd Space with Lamar and Tom is produced and sponsored by Klaus Haus Productions LLC and Acorn Consulting, LLC. © 2026. All Rights Reserved. Permissions: hello@klaushausllc.com. 
No living creature was harmed in the production of this film but a lot of Colombian coffee was consumed.
Recorded using Riverside.fm from “home studio” locations in Maryland and Kansas, USA and the United Kingdom; Original Publishing Date, July 21, 2026.

What is the difference between “fine art photography” and “taking pictures”? Nope, not your usual topic for our podcast. Plus, we’ve got pictures to share with you! 
Lamar Roth, co-host of Getting to 3rd Space with Lamar & Tom, is a fine art photographer. He currently has a show going on in Newton, Kansas and often has opportunities to display his work both in Kansas and around the country, and continuously through his website at rothimages.com. 
In this podcast we are taking a break from the usual “stuff” going on around us to focus on the beauty of Lamar’s fine art photography and some of the stories behind the images. We think you’ll enjoy learning about Lamar’s journey from a Brownie camera to digital photography and seeing some of his incredible work. 
Don’t Skip This Paragraph - It’s Important! If you typically listen to our podcast, you’ll want to scoot over to YouTube to watch this podcast because we’ll be featuring some of Lamar’s photos. You can either get to it using this YouTube link or viewing it through our Substack page
As usual, we have a fun and engaging conversation as Lamar lets Tom interview him about his work. Join us and let us know what you think!
Learn More
Check out Roth Images where you can see a lot more of Lamar’s work and even purchase some that you really like. 
A 3rd Space Survey: Acts of Kindness
Do you have an act of kindness that you’d be willing to share? You can participate through this Google Forms Survey.
There you will find two kindness questions we’d like you to consider and then respond to:
What is an act of kindness you’ve received that made a difference to you?

What is an act of kindness you have done which you hope changed another person’s life?

What do we do with the acts we learn about in this survey? We save them and feature them in our Thanksgiving show each year…anonymously unless you prefer we use your name.
Finally, please share this survey because an act of kindness shared begets others.
How We Check Ourselves
Fact Checking: Because there are a lot of things happening…some true, some false, some unbelievable…we use the following fact checking sites. Take a look for yourself:
Snopes

FactCheck.org

Politifact

RealClearPolitics

Reuters FactCheck

Because media can have its own biases, we also rely upon these sites to help us get balanced coverage:
Media Bias/Fact Check

All Sides

Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart

Meet Lamar and Tom
Lamar Roth and Tom Klaus are lifelong friends exploring how to get to a 3rd Space - a space where two or more people with opposing viewpoints, ideologies, and worldviews can come together to hear, listen, share, and connect with one another. Together Lamar and Tom hope to carve out a 3rd Space where everything can be on the table for open, straightforward, honest, and, yet kind and respectful inquiry. 
Want to watch us do the podcast? Visit the Klaus Haus Productions YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@KlausHausProductions. 
Comments? Suggestions? Ideas for guests or topics? 
Send us a voice message on Spotify or email us at lamar3rdSpace@gmail.com and tom3rdSpace@gmail.com.
Credits:
Wild Opinions and Nonsensical Musings by Lamar Roth & Tom Klaus
Images by Getty Images, Pexels, Pixabay, Roth Images, and Cyberlink AI
Final review and approval by Jake and Ebie Dawgs Inc. 
Photos by Lamar Roth are copyrighted by Roth Images, All Rights Reserved. For permissions or additional information: lamar3rdSpace@gmail.com and https://www.rothimages.com/
Getting to 3rd Space with Lamar and Tom is produced and sponsored by Klaus Haus Productions LLC and Acorn Consulting, LLC. © 2026. All Rights Reserved. Permissions: hello@klaushausllc.com. 
No living creature was harmed in the production of this film but a lot of Colombian coffee was consumed.
Recorded using Riverside.fm from “home studio” locations in Maryland and Kansas, USA; Original Publishing Date, July 7, 2026.

July 4, 2026 is the 250th Birthday of the United States of America. How are you planning to acknowledge this experiment in democracy that has lasted a quarter of a millennium? 
In this Table Talk podcast Lamar and Tom talk about the 250th Birthday of the United States of America. To be honest, neither of these guys are too excited about it but they don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade. Tune in to learn more and why they feel as they do. 
Learn More
The history of the United States of America is a complicated one. There is much to be proud of at our 250th birthday as a country. But, there are some things in our history that should prevent us from “getting on our high horse.”
Here are a couple of resources that give us a fair and loving look at ourselves. They could be a good way to acknowledge our 250th. 
The American Revolution, A Ken Burns documentary now playing on your local PBS station.
The Skeptics Guide to American History, is a course you can purchase from The Great Courses. It is well worth the money ($49.99 from the Great Courses Plus or $29.00 from thegreatcourses.com. In this course you get some of the “back stories” of some of the most important events in American history.
A 3rd Space Survey: Acts of Kindness
Do you have an act of kindness that you’d be willing to share? You can participate through a Google Forms Survey at this link: https://forms.gle/5NQakn6bgeXpm2us5
There you will find two kindness questions we’d like you to consider and then respond to:
What is an act of kindness you’ve received that made a difference to you?

What is an act of kindness you have done which you hope changed another person’s life?

What do we do with the acts we learn about in this survey? We save them and feature them in our Thanksgiving show each year…anonymously unless you prefer we use your name.
Finally, please share this survey because an act of kindness shared begets others.
How We Check Ourselves
Fact Checking: Because there are a lot of things happening…some true, some false, some unbelievable…we use the following fact checking sites. Take a look for yourself:
Snopes

FactCheck.org

Politifact
RealClearPolitics

Reuters FactCheck
Because media can have its own biases, we also rely upon these sites to help us get balanced coverage:
Media Bias/Fact Check

All Sides

Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart

Meet Lamar and Tom
Lamar Roth and Tom Klaus are lifelong friends exploring how to get to a 3rd Space - a space where two or more people with opposing viewpoints, ideologies, and worldviews can come together to hear, listen, share, and connect with one another. Together Lamar and Tom hope to carve out a 3rd Space where everything can be on the table for open, straightforward, honest, and, yet kind and respectful inquiry. 
Want to watch us do the podcast? Visit the Klaus Haus Productions YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@KlausHausProductions. 
Comments? Suggestions? Ideas for guests or topics? 
Send us a voice message on Spotify or email us at lamar3rdSpace@gmail.com and tom3rdSpace@gmail.com.
Credits:
Wild Opinions and Nonsensical Musings by Lamar Roth & Tom Klaus
Images by Getty Images, Pexels, Pixabay, Roth Images, and Cyberlink AI
Final review and approval by Jake and Ebie Dawgs Inc. 
Photos by Lamar Roth are copyrighted by Roth Images, All Rights Reserved. For permissions or additional information: lamar3rdSpace@gmail.com and https://www.rothimages.com/
Getting to 3rd Space with Lamar and Tom is produced and sponsored by Klaus Haus Productions LLC and Acorn Consulting, LLC. © 2026. All Rights Reserved. Permissions: hello@klaushausllc.com. 
No living creature was harmed in the production of this film but a lot of Colombian coffee was consumed.
Recorded using Riverside.fm - http://riverside.fm/ - from “home studio” locations in Maryland and Kansas, USA; Original Publishing Date, June 23, 2026.

The Iowa Investigator tells 3-minute stories about his home state of Iowa. He has at least 85 thousand followers on TikTok and 31 thousand followers on Facebook and Instagram. Including us. Today we meet The Iowa Investigator. 
The Iowa Investigator is J.T. Vonderhaar, an Iowa native who decided to give TikTok a spin only a few years ago while still working as a banker. He focused on interesting stories and facts from small town Iowa (towns less than 1,400 people at first). He challenged his viewer to share and spread the word about his stories if they wanted to hear more. They did. Today J.T. travels the state as The Iowa Investigator visiting towns (both small and large) and focuses on uncovering some of the most interesting stories Iowans, and others, have never heard. 
J.T. is a graduate of Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where he majored in business administration and minored in history. He is a former basketball player who has also been an assistant and head coach for high school teams in Eastern Iowa. For more than 10 years, J.T.’s career was in banking. When The Iowa Investigator became one of the fastest growing TikTok-ers in the state, he left his full-time position to follow his passion to learn more about the forgotten and lesser known stories about his home state. 
Learn More
To learn more about The Iowa Investigator and his stories, you need to visit his Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok pages. The following are links to his stories on Facebook. They are but a sampling of the more than 600 videos he has produced.
The Iowa Investigator discusses:
Jack Trice - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1H37wxjUMw/
The Sweet 16 Capital of the World - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/18GpNceQma/
Iowa and the Underground Railroad - https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BC6pGYYbs/
Iowa's Name - https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EJx3avi9h/
Lexington of the North - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1DqtyzkTWS/
Nikita Khruschev's Visit to Iowa - https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CJbVmqpSh/
The Underfunding of Iowa Schools - https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1CEQ4BFQQp/
A 3rd Space Survey: Acts of Kindness
Kindness seems out of vogue right now. But we don’t believe that to be true. We believe there are a lot of people in our world who are choosing kindness even in the face of cruelty.
Do you have an act of kindness that you’d be willing to share? You can participate through a Google Forms Survey at this link: https://forms.gle/5NQakn6bgeXpm2us5
There you will find two kindness questions we’d like you to consider and then respond to:
What is an act of kindness you’ve received that made a difference to you?

What is an act of kindness you have done which you hope changed another person’s life?

What do we do with the acts we learn about in this survey? We save them and feature them in our Thanksgiving show each year…anonymously unless you prefer we use your name.
Finally, please share this survey because an act of kindness shared begets others.
Want to watch us do the podcast? Visit the Klaus Haus Productions YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@KlausHausProductions. 
Credits:
Wild Opinions and Nonsensical Musings by Lamar Roth & Tom Klaus
Images by Getty Images, Pexels, Pixabay, Roth Images, and Cyberlink AI
Final review and approval by Jake and Ebie Dawgs Inc. 
Photos by Lamar Roth are copyrighted by Roth Images, All Rights Reserved. For permissions or additional information: lamar3rdSpace@gmail.com and https://www.rothimages.com/
Getting to 3rd Space with Lamar and Tom is produced and sponsored by Klaus Haus Productions LLC and Acorn Consulting, LLC. © 2026. All Rights Reserved. Permissions: hello@klaushausllc.com. 
No living creature was harmed in the production of this film but a lot of Colombian coffee was consumed.
Recorded using Riverside.fm - http://riverside.fm/ - from “home studio” locations in Maryland and Kansas, USA and Iowa; Original Publishing Date, June 9, 2026.