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Host, J.D. Richmond (aka Jen) supports Liberalism and universal values and believes that the United States is at its best when protecting individual rights and freedoms. She has worked in international relations for over 20 years focusing namely on Global Geopolitics, Intelligence and East Asian Policy.

Learning to communicate on difficult and polarizing issues, in good faith, develops citizens who build a strong and diverse community necessary for our democracy to thrive. 

Co-host David Bernstein is an unwavering advocate for the free exchange of ideas and intellectual honesty. He is an Affiliate at Counterweight, which opposes the imposition of critical social justice on people’s daily lives, and a founder of Viewpoint Worldwide, a consultancy dedicated to advancing viewpoint diversity in organizational settings. 

David has spent much of his career heading up major Jewish advocacy and pro-Israel organizations. He has written widely in such publications as the Washington Post, Areo, Education Week, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. 

Frequent co-host, W.F. Twyman, Jr (aka Wink) promotes black resiliency and individualism, and believes the United States is at its best when we focus on our common humanity. He is a former law professor and descendant of George Twyman I (1661–1703). 

Twyman is the author of essays and articles in many magazines including the National Black Law Journal, the Pennsylvania Lawyer, the Intellectual Conservative. His self-published works are On the Road to Oak Lawn: Truth, Reconciliation and the Twymans (December 1, 2018) and Gotterdammerung (July 3, 2019). 

Co-host Jeff Fullington is a peer counselor in WA state working at the intersections of mental health, autism and neurodiversity. He is also very active in the adult gifted/2e community. He is extremely passionate about community building, lively & intelligent discourse and freedom of speech.   

Jeff is one of the creators and hosts of New World Chaos, a podcast community centered around the values of autonomy, individuality and self-determination. He is fascinated with the potential of video chat as a form of social media, and is currently using it to develop a 24-hour virtual support community for bright and creative people. 

Co-host, Neil Barnes is based in London, and his career has spanned computer programming, corporate banking, international sustainable development, education, and psychotherapy. He is fascinated by the role of autonomy and individual sovereignty in creating healthy communities.   

Currently focusing on distributed cognition and cryptocurrency as models of network intelligence, and the intra and inter-personal skills that afford creative problem solving in complex environments. Salient questions for Neil are “What does the Infinite Game look like?”, and "How do I learn from those I don't agree with?"  

Hold my Drink is pleased to support the work of Counterweight through podcasts, content and other materials. Counterweight is a non-partisan, grassroots movement advocating for liberal concepts of social justice that include individualism, universalism, viewpoint diversity and the free exchange of ideas.