Attack Ads! The Podcast

While lots of opinion page ink has been spilled over ASOLs making our lives unpredictable, no one, it seems, has taken the time to think of a good reason why. I explore one both possible and likely reason in this Episode 253: SaaSsy Pirates Say ARR.

Find the Show Notes page at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/10/episode-253-saassy-pirates-say-arr.html

Direct download: SaaSsy_Pirates_Say_ARR.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:18pm EDT

When something is new, its very introduction can cause friction, even havoc.  People always wonder how good or bad things could get.  In this Episode 252, I offer a bit disjointed ranting on the business end of Large Language Models, or Stupid ASOLs.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/10/episode-252-stupid-asols.html

Direct download: Stupid_ASOLs.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:51pm EDT

In looking into sources of private propaganda, I am constantly struck on how far back it goes.  Today I go back a hundred years to a time when the private electrical power industry was insisting on the title to this Episode 251: Let There Be Some Light.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/10/episode-251-let-there-be-some-light.html

Direct download: Let_There_Be_Some_Light.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:08am EDT

In business, simply maintaining the same level of profitability every year is regarded as failing; one must grow to thrive. But what if the product design is clearly dangerous to use? I explore this reality in Episode 250: Addiction Through Engagement. 

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/09/episode-250-addiction-through-engagement.html

Direct download: Addiction_Through_Engagement.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:39pm EDT

We see slim and slender people all the time, every day… even when none walk among us. This screws with our brains in ways most of us never consider for a second. The bottom line for this phenomenon is the title of Episode 249: Advertising Makes You Fat. 

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/09/episode-249-advertising-makes-you-fat.html

 

Direct download: Advertising_Makes_You_Fat.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:48pm EDT

All too often today the forces driving the changes that increase suffering are hidden, unavailable for us to adequately understand, let alone change.  Matt Stoller delivers yet another industry machination in this Episode 248: More Reasons For Real Worry.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/08/episode-248-more-reasons-for-real-worry.html

Direct download: More_Reasons_For_Real_Worry.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:51pm EDT

How communities deal with bad behavior should be an ongoing debate.  Private companies, though, today use “community standards” to steal both platforms and the cash they deliver.  Hence, Episode 247: Swinging the Hammer of Demonetization. 

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/07/episode-247-swinging-hammer-of.html

Direct download: Swinging_the_Hammer_of_Demonetization.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:18pm EDT

Most people today feel they have can choose from whichever experts best confirm their own deeply-seated beliefs.  Sadly, this is wrong, and to understand how wrong, I try to answer the question of Episode 246: Why The Rent Is Too Damned High.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/07/episode-246-why-rent-is-too-damned-high.html

Direct download: Why_The_Rent_Is_Too_Damned_High.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:36pm EDT

Too many grapple today with common but un- or poorly-defined terms, especially "mainstream."  What is mainstream?  When it comes to mainstream news, I've got a simple suggestion, which I give you in this Episode 245: Don't Trust Mainstream Media.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/06/episode-245-dont-trust-mainstream-media.html

Direct download: Dont_Trust_Mainstream_Media.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:58pm EDT

All political philosophy is propaganda, an attempt to describe both the way things are and proscribe the way things should be. Let me give you an example written over a quarter of a millennia ago in this Episode 244: Adam Smith's Invisible Handjob. 

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/06/pisode-244-adam-smiths-invisible-handjob.html

Direct download: Adam_Smiths_Invisible_Handjob.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:56pm EDT

It's inevitable.  One day, you’ll find a writer who doesn't agree with a topic you wholeheartedly embrace enough to snidely attack it and distort the facts.  There goes your remaining trust.  I cover this in an open letter called Episode 243: Dear George.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/05/episode-243-dear-george.html

Direct download: Dear_George.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:27pm EDT

Advertisers have been stealing good ideas for years and using them to crassly push their products.  It's only fair, then, that we mock those ads, perhaps enough to destroy their sales effectiveness.  Hence, Episode 242: The Art and Craft of Resublimation.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/04/episode-242-art-and-craft-of.html

Direct download: The_Art_and_Craft_of_Resublimation.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:31pm EDT

In my last episode, I questioned use of the word "accidents," which take focus away from the hazards that cause them. Why? Because hazards can be fixed. I'll give you some real-world examples of good places to start in this Episode 241: TANA, ATU Edition. 

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/04/episode-241-tana-atu-edition.html

Direct download: TANA_ATU_Edition.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:57pm EDT

This is merely a brief calendrical announcement and celebration.  Enjoy.

Find the Show Notes (for what they're worth) at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/03/ten-freakin-years.html

Direct download: Ten_Freakin_Years.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:59am EDT

For too long, the question of what is “safe”—and who should take the blame when it isn't—has been muddled in the name of profits.  Maybe we should avoid the word “accident” itself.  I'll explore that question in this Episode 240: There Are No Accidents.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/03/episode-240-there-are-no-accidents.html

Direct download: There_Are_No_Accidents.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:39pm EDT

My show is reactive: things happen, and I react to them.  This happened recently when the number and tone of commercials in my podcast feed spiked.  I cover this and speculation on why it happened in this Episode 239: What I Do With The Mad That I Feel.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/03/episode-239-what-i-do-with-mad-that-i.html

Direct download: What_I_Do_With_the_Mad_That_I_Feel.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:46pm EDT

Politics in America comes down to the DEMs vs. the GOPs, right?  One represents wealth, and the other claims the hearts of regular people, right? Well, it’s more complicated.  I'll explore this not so much in this Episode 238: The Third Estate Rising.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/02/episode-238-third-estate-rising.html

Direct download: The_Third_Estate_Rising.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:56pm EDT

We all suspect our devices are increasingly using their microphones and cameras to snoop on us.  Over the years, I’ve explored that suspicion.  I’ll go over some of that history, and finish with some news, in this Episode 237: Spare Me The EULAgee!

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/01/episode-237-spare-me-eulagee.html

Direct download: Spare_Me_the_EULAgee.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:53pm EDT

I introduce a new word in this episode more to point out that it does not represent a new concept, but rather a very old one.  The problem of controlling this recent outbreak due to an old story is the topic of this Episode 236: Madison's Farcical Tragedy.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/01/episode-236-madisons-farcical-tragedy.html

Direct download: Madisons_Farcical_Tragedy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:57pm EDT

Our homes are the greatest asset most Americans have.  This should therefore scare the living shit out of us: right now more renting a place to live than getting a chance to own at all.  What can be done?  On to Episode 235: A Winkling In The Making.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/12/episode-235-winkling-in-making.html

Direct download: A_Winkling_In_The_Making.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:11pm EDT

There's a new word out there, doing its part to describe an old type of theft.  Rentiers are once again attempting to rake in money, today using technology to make that job easier.  I describe this word and some of the acts associated with it in this Episode 234: Enshittification.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/12/episode-234-enshittification.html

Direct download: Enshittification.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:44pm EDT

Right now, there are a few under-reported legal attempts being made to rein in the tech giants that today, well, monopolistically reign.  Just like I did in my last, I'll cover yet another of these attempts in this Episode 233: Critical Massholes.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/11/episode-233-critical-massholes.html

Direct download: Critical_Massholes.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:20pm EDT

Lawsuits are happening!  And so many concern advertising and the future of some really big companies!  It's time to get not just excited, but really excited, starting with this Episode 232: The Advertising Scorpion.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/11/episode-232-advertising-scorpion.html

Direct download: The_Advertising_Scorpion.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:50pm EDT

In this final sharing of Will Storr's book, The Status Game, I give a glimpse into the tyranny of the cousins, people amongst us who seek to correct behavior in ways that should sound familiar.  Watch what you say in this Episode 231: The Status Goldfish.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/10/episode-231-ssg-status-goldfish.html

Direct download: The_Status_Goldfish.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:10pm EDT

Have you ever read a very old book and wondered how the author could keep the argument flowing through the miles of print?  I know I have.  Today I explore the degradation of our modern attention span with this Episode 230: Erasing Typographic Man.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/10/episode-230-erasing-typographic-man.html

Direct download: Erasing_Typographic_Man.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:33pm EDT

Status is important to all of us.  To maintain relative status for everyone, we need to keep those around us in check.  Sometimes we must bring out the biggest means of checking behavior and, like the title of this Episode 229, Sing a Song of Derision!

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/09/episode-229-sing-song-of-derision.html

Direct download: Sing_a_Song_of_Derision.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:07pm EDT

My hatred of advertising brought about my study of it. What I could never anticipate was the shared hatred that every now and again in history flares up and prompts so very many to complain, if not to act against it. Here is one such collection of complaint and solution from over a century ago in this Bonus Episode: The Advertising Nuisance. 

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/08/bonus-episode-advertising-nuisance.html

Direct download: Bonus_Episode_The_Advertising_Nuisance.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:41pm EDT

We brag about living in a "free" country.   Private industry, however, has too often more freedom to suppress speech than we do to exercise it, at least on "their" platforms.  I vaguely allude to this in today's Episode 228: My Eight-Legged Monkey Dance.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/08/episode-228-my-eight-legged-monkey-dance.html

Direct download: My_Eight-Legged_Monkey_Dance.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:32pm EDT

Yes, we humans are obsessed with playing games.  They’re harmless fun, giving winners some bragging rights; in that way they resemble the most important game we play, the Status Game.  I discuss this Greatest Game in Episode 227: The Games of Our Lives.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/07/episode-227-games-of-our-lives.html

Direct download: The_Games_of_Our_Lives.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:59pm EDT

For almost a decade now, I've shared intrusive surveillance crap with you done in the name of advertising and marketing. Worse, today I need to revisit that crap to show that it's now a probable reality. Thus, Episode 226: Categorization & Confirmation. 

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/07/episode-226-categorization-confirmation.html

Direct download: Categorization__Confirmation.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:30pm EDT

It really is possible to improve our lives by adopting less onerous practices.  Keeping us from this better life are obscene fortunes earned by those who provide more onerous practices.  I discuss some of this Episode 225: Why We Can't Have Nice Things.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/06/episode-225-why-we-cant-have-nice-things.html

Direct download: Why_We_Cant_Have_Nice_Things.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:02pm EDT

I could do every episode sharing crud that attempts to score points against collective action… crud that spouts from mouths paid by people most likely to suffer should collective action occur.  I present two in this Episode 224: Categorically Errory.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/06/episode-224-categorically-errory.html

Direct download: Categorically_Errory.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:37pm EDT

I've described before how ideas originated in academia have caught society’s collective popular vision.  How much of that content, though, was intended to benefit only the wealthy?  I explore this in Episode 223: The Counterintelligentsia Strikes Back!

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/05/episode-223-counterintelligentsia.html

Direct download: The_Counterintelligentsia_Strikes_Back.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:47pm EDT

Too few realize that answering the cocktail party question “what’s the best [something] ever?” requires taking into account how many on earth are affected by it.  I attempt to answer this question in this Episode 222: The Most Important Invention Ever.

Direct download: The_Most_Important_Invention_Ever.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:40pm EDT

Most of us can relate: if we do something too often, specific memories of doing that thing are often lost until something triggers us to remember. Well, I read a lot. Here are some titles I forgot to mention in this Episode 221: Books I've Quietly Read. 

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/04/episode-221-books-ive-quietly-read.html

Direct download: Books_Ive_Quietly_Read.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:31pm EDT

Once we learn about all the intrusive technologies foisted upon us just to stuff ads in our earholes and eyeballs, paranoia comes naturally.  How much is enough?  When does our paranoia match reality?  I muse that in this Episode 220: Snitches Get Riches.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/04/episode-220-snitches-get-riches.html

Direct download: Snitches_Get_Riches.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:18pm EDT

We are taught from childhood to save, because a penny saved can lead to a penny earned.  What happens, though, when others have investments that take every penny we have?  I explore this in Episode 219: "Not Totally Without Historical Significance."

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/03/episode-219-not-totally-without.html

Direct download: 22Not_Totallly_Without_Historical_Significance22.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:03pm EDT

Who can we trust in the “sciences”?  In this episode, I offer academic research—later discounted by evidence—for years considered sacrosanct simply because it protects a hidden agenda of political economy.  Hence, today's Episode 218: Why (r > g) Matters.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/03/episode-218-why-r-g-matters.html

Direct download: Why_r__g_Matters.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:35pm EDT

I have to say, it's exciting to witness a change in political winds almost the moment it happens…especially when it concerns legality in the world of online advertising! I share this change in the weather in this Episode 217: Chopping At The Golem.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/02/episode-217-chopping-at-golem.html

Direct download: Chopping_At_The_Golem.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:30pm EDT

We all like to eat. There are, sadly, very profitable reasons to keep the various processes dictating how the food we buy is created well hidden. Today I point out just some of the lowlights you find alongside Episode 216: The Dirt Road To Serfdom. 

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/02/episode-216-dirt-road-to-serfdom.html

Direct download: The_Dirt_Road_To_Serfdom.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:14pm EDT

Everybody likes to suggest changes that will fix problems found in everyday life. What we don't often have, though, is a clear idea of whether those utopian changes will—or won’t—work. I present one example in this Epiosde 215: The Libertarian Delusion.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/01/epiosde-215-libertarian-delusion.html

Direct download: The_Libertarian_Delusion.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:34pm EDT

Advertisers scheme ways to spread filth; but low-margin retailers can't stop these intrusions without angering shareholders. This creates a creeping tendency toward abominations in stores. I give a chilling example in this Episode 214: Medium unCoolers.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/01/episode-214-medium-uncoolers.html

Direct download: Medium_unCoolers.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:31pm EDT

Advertisers want to know you because pitches to receptive audiences sell product. But before surveillance technology existed, how did they do that? To help, there’s an obscure but key theory to know in this Episode 213, one named The Audience Commodity.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/01/episode-213-audience-commodity.html

Direct download: The_Audience_Commodity.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:41pm EDT

Everything seems chaotic today, what with supply chain disruptions, staffing shortfalls, and this wave of union activity, all panicking employers. What could be the reason? How about math? I explore that in this Epiosde 212: Get Thee To The Moil!

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/12/epiosde-212-get-thee-to-moil.html

Direct download: Get_Thee_To_The_Moil.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:24am EDT

Parody goes beyond laughter: it can help all of us see silliness in what we never questioned; help us see our naked marching monarch. I explore ideas I've had, along with terms others have coined on this topic, in this Episode 211: Back To Basics.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/12/episode-211-back-to-basics.html

Direct download: Back_To_Basics.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:42pm EDT

Question: Why is the largest river in South America called the Amazon? I recently re-read some important source material, and got some surprises on that and other important topics I hope you'll share in this Episode 210: Prehistory, Lost & Found.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/11/episode-210-prehistory-lost-found.html

Direct download: Prehistory_Lost__Found.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:34pm EDT

At this rate, we humans face a hot climate blanketing the planet with the over two centuries of fuel exhaust we have already dug up and burned. There are solutions out there. I share a dirty, meaty one in this Episode 209: Partners In A Symbiotic Dance.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/11/episode-209-partners-in-symbiotic-dance.html

Direct download: Partners_In_A_Symbiotic_Dance.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:02pm EDT

What do you think: will we as a species starve to death, or merely roast? Trying to thread that policy needle is proving a challenge, one that (for me, at least) needs to be itself challenged. Hence, Episode 208: Peddling the Nitrogen Cycle.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/10/episode-208-peddling-nitrous-cycle.html

Direct download: Peddling_the_Nitrogen_Cycle.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:54pm EDT

Is your phone listening to what you say when you aren't using it to actually make calls? That's what it seems everyone is wondering; but how to find out if it is? I ponder one possible answer to that question in this Episode 207: Take Two, Phase One.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/10/episode-207-take-two-phase-one.html

Direct download: Take_Two_Phase_One.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:37pm EDT

Extra! Extra! Read all about (maybe) good news for newspapers! Hey, a guy can dream, right? Best of all, this might be the very thing that ends our scourge of disinformation! I look into this possible solution in this Episode 206: Good News For News?

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/09/episode-206-good-news-for-news.html

Direct download: Good_News_For_News.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:58am EDT

What each of us shall find in our future, sadly, too often depends not upon good planning, smarts, and gumption, but rather on who happen to be your mom and dad. Thus it's hardly a meritocracy that dictates Episode 205: All That You Can Be.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/09/episode-205-all-that-you-can-be.html

Direct download: All_That_You_Can_Be.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:48pm EDT

Let's remember Howie's 1958 holiday, the one that turned out to be “I Must Work More!” In this Episode 204, Our Howie Holidays… of Work, I explore just some of the forces that try to convince us to stop worrying, but to never, ever stop working.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/08/episode-204-our-howie-holidays-of-work.html

Direct download: Our_Howie_Holidays_of_Work.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:35pm EDT

We last left the six-hour workers at the Kellogg's factory when the war ended in 1946. What new challenges to their shorter work shift will confront them next? That is the question for this Episode 203: KSD Unquieting Hearts For Profit.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/08/episode-203-ksd-unquieting-hearts-for.html

Direct download: Unquieting_Hearts_For_Profit.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:35pm EDT

We humans are hyper-social critters. For that reason, it can be difficult for us to discover which of our ideas social pressures unknowingly impose upon us. Changing our minds can thus require a kick implied in this Episode 202: Right In The Heartballs.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/08/episode-202-right-in-heartballs.html

Direct download: Right_In_The_Heartballs.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:07pm EDT

After over eight years of doing this show, I still maintain the best source for show topics comes directly from listener feedback. I have listeners and commenters Pim and Dode to thank for this Episode 201: After Long Silence.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/07/episode-201-after-long-silence.html

Direct download: After_Long_Silence.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:04pm EDT

Time to review my first experiment conducted to try to determine if my phone listens to me… when it should not. To see if I manscaped well or if I nicked the berries, check out Episode 200: Shees Reminded Me of Science.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/05/episode-200-shees-reminded-me-of-science.html

Direct download: Shees_Reminded_Me_of_Science.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:43pm EDT

I will maintain as long as I am able to speak that we must learn from history, if only to avoid making mistakes already made… well, making them again… and again… and…. I look back to the Crash of the 1930s in this Episode 199: Ultima Ratio Plebium.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/05/episode-199-ultima-ratio-plebium.html

Direct download: Ultima_Ratio_Plebium.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:27pm EDT

We humans bear complex mental mechanisms, which are often general enough for experiments to tease out some rules that govern our behavior. Knowing how these rules can manipulate us helps us realize the title of this Episode 198: We Are Not So Smart.

 

Find the Shot Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/05/episode-198-we-are-not-so-smart.html

Direct download: We_Are_Not_So_Smart.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:21pm EDT

Workplaces are social dynamos. Quite often—and often by design—how we are paid and scheduled interferes in what people really want from their work. This is the long-existing division I discuss in today's Episode 197: The Rabbits and the Work-Hogs.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/04/episode-197-rabbits-and-work-hogs.html

Direct download: The_Rabbits_and_the_Work-Hogs.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:14pm EDT

History has shown again and again that an incomplete or just mistaken understanding of how the world really works leads to most of the problems we suffer. To change our world, we must first change our minds; thus Episode 196: The REALLY Big Necessity.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/04/episode-196-really-big-necessity.html

Direct download: The_REALLY_Big_Necessity.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:21pm EDT

After seeing some of the best magazines I've ever read go quite extinct, some have wondered if the lack of advertising killed them. I would ask, rather, if magazines can afford to advertise at all. Still, in this Episode 195: I Miss Magazines.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/03/episode-195-i-miss-magazines.html

Direct download: I_Miss_Magazines.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:36pm EDT

Lately, it seems, how long we owners of tech can use our things has been shrinking, as ever-more monopolistic powers extend toward a product totalitarianism that favors newness over usefulness. This I explore Episode 194: Something Old, Something New.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/03/episode-194-something-old-something-new.html

Direct download: Something_Old_Something_New.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:43pm EDT

Have you ever thought how weird it is that experts in labor—issuing pronouncements about how long shifts should be—never work those job shifts themselves? It's another argument supporting the title group in this Episode 193: KSD Lazy, Do Nothing Idlers.

 

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/02/episode-193-ksd-lazy-do-nothing-idlers.html

Direct download: Lazy_Do_Nothing_Idlers.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:48pm EDT

Everyone seems aware of the appalling working conditions afflicting the poor in the 18th century; fewer seem aware, though, of what rationale drove employers to such torture. I dip into a book from that period in this Episode 192: The Right To Be Lazy.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/02/episode-192-right-to-be-lazy.html

Direct download: The_Right_To_Be_Lazy.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:21pm EDT

Today’s society values industry and work, specifically hard and grueling work. This has happened before. We should look to the 1877, where good advice was given in an essay, the title of which I've stolen for this Episode 191: An Apology For Idlers.

Find the Show Notes At: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/01/episode-191-apology-for-idlers.html

Direct download: An_Apology_For_Idlers.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:37am EDT

With all the bad news in which we wallow, it's natural to feel the need to do something. Sadly, that is just what the people who got that news to you would like you to do. Better instead to follow the advice of today's Episode 190: How To Do Nothing.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/01/episode-190-how-to-do-nothing.html

Direct download: How_To_Do_Nothing.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:48pm EDT

Every now and again, I discover a quote I deem relevant enough to share. Less often, I’m moved enough to share most of the original source. In this Bonus Episode, I read from one of those rare finds: FDR's 1938 Message to Congress on Curbing Monopolies.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/12/bonus-episode-fdrs-1938-message-to.html

Direct download: Bonus_Episode_FDRs_Message_to_Congress_on_Curbing_Monopolies.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:02pm EDT

Context is everything. Sadly, context is often lost in the transition to digital communications. We need to remember that, especially when the context is not happy, cheery, with nary a care in the world. Hence, Episode 189: Memento Mori, Motherfacer.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/12/episode-189-memento-mori-motherfacer.html

Direct download: Memento_Mori_Motherfacer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:50pm EDT

Of course, not all we learn in commercial media can be trusted. It's always good to remember, though, how tenacious some efforts at mis- and disinformation become, swirling to form something described by the title of Episode 188: The Hyporeality Vortex.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/11/episode-188-hyporeality-vortex.html

 

Direct download: 188_The_Hyporeality_Vortex.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:06pm EDT

I'm sometimes embarrassed to admit that I might produce this show even without an audience; it's therapeutic. It's good to know people do listen, and often share their provocative thoughts, which prompt this Episode 187: Sharing A Little Mulled Whine.

Find the Show Notes, Pim, at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/11/episode-187-sharing-little-mulled-whine.html

Direct download: Sharing_A_Little_Mulled_Whine.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:41pm EDT

Jerry Mander's 1978 book still packs rhetorical punch, enough that reviewing the notes I took on it lead me to realize a cause, perhaps, of today’s extreme political sectarianism. I'll dive into that in Episode 186: An Internal Scarcity of Contentment.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/11/episode-186-internal-scarcity-of.html

Direct download: 186_An_Internal_Scarcity_of_Contentment.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:56pm EDT

I’m worried. To me, America may be suffering enough social anger—technically called "political sectarianism"—to lead to upcoming upheaval, perhaps in the near future. I'll discuss this in today's Episode 185: Destabilizing Our Collective Understanding.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/10/episode-185-destabilizing-our.html

Direct download: Destabilizing_our_Collective_Understanding.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:34pm EDT

Henry Ford wrote in 1926, “The machine is a symbol of man's mastery of his environment.” He also wrote other things of “public service” and the “wage motive” you should hear. I'll share these concepts in this Episode 184: His Tomorrow Is Our Today.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/09/episode-184-his-tomorrow-is-our-today.html

Direct download: His_Tomorrow_Is_Our_Today.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:23pm EDT

We all have preferences for products, habits that sometimes last most of our lives. We should, though, be aware of what product makers can do to get us hooked… before we’re even born. With apologies to Ricky Martin, Episode 183 ¡D'Liv'rin' In Vivo, Boca!

Show Notes can be found at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/09/episode-183-dlivrin-in-vivo-boca.html

Direct download: DLivrin_In_Vivo_Boca.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:15pm EDT

I've shown how the Kellogg's six-hour day became just one form of work sharing during the Great Depression. I haven't shown you yet why this schedule option was all but abandoned. Consider the title of this Episode 182: The Fight To Guide The Plodders.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/08/episode-182-ksd-fight-to-guide-plodders.html

Direct download: The_Fight_To_Guide_the_Plodders.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:04pm EDT

Under standard business practice, any company action needs to be cleared by its owner and manager. Therefore, when a company does a thing, look to those people. I look at Kellogg's ultimate authorities in this Episode 181: Kellogg, Brown, and Roots.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/08/episode-181-kellogg-brown-and-roots.html

Direct download: Kellogg_Brown_and_Roots.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:17pm EDT

Something fascinating happened 90 years ago; but today, almost no one knows about it. Knowing it was amazing requires, though, knowing what happened… before. I try to correct that historical loss in this Episode 180: The Calvinistic Worship of Toil.

Find the Show Notes at:  https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/08/episode-180-ksd-calvinistic-worship-of.html

Direct download: The_Calvinistic_Worship_of_Toil.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:30pm EDT

Not knowing how a system works, one seeks answers when that system fails. Sadly, if the sought answers are wrong, one may extrapolate between similar systems, perhaps disastrously. I share my market bubble theory in Episode 179: How to Blow a Bubble.

Find the show notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/07/episode-179-how-to-blow-bubble.html

Direct download: How_To_Blow_a_Bubble.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:15am EDT

Time to update you with some new, and some merely clarifying information on topics I have already covered. Why? There's magic in advertising, dark magic; but the more you know about it, the less it works on you. Hence, Episode 178: Knowing the Trick.

See the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/06/episode-178-knowing-trick.html

Direct download: Knowing_the_Trick.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:30pm EDT

People often seem stupid. Sometimes, though, they simply don't have better choices. Their reactions are guided by innate morality, even if others vehemently deny what the people are collectively reacting against. Hence, Episode 177: WTN …and Disgust.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/06/episode-177-wtn-and-disgust.html

Direct download: WTN_and_Disgust.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:56pm EDT

Having only two viable presidential candidates to choose often leaves voters confused, especially when it later becomes clear that lately the two parties are not very different at all… when judged by their actions. Hence, Episode 176: WTN …and Betrayal….

Show notes for this episode can be found at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/06/episode-177-and-betrayal.html

Direct download: and_Betrayal.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:46pm EDT

Unions are more than just meetings and yelling at each other. I think. It sure seems that way. No, union activity in the workplace is a show of strength for one purpose only: to note the importance of the subject of this Episode 175: Negotiation, and….

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/05/episode-175-negotiations-and.html

Direct download: Negotiation_and.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:46pm EDT

Those who make our cars today have figured out ways to make our behavior pay. Shoshana Zuboff gave us this lesson in her book; but I may have stumbled on a perfect example at work. I'll fill you in on my theory in this Episode 175: Car(Un)Jacked!

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/04/episode-175-carunjacked.html

Direct download: Car_Un-Jacked.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:34pm EDT

Time to dive once again into Jerry Mander's 1978 book, this time selecting just a couple of his reasons to eliminate television. These are reflected in the title of Episode 173: Our Influencing Machines and Their Masters.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/04/episode-173-our-influencing-machines.html

Direct download: MFA_Our_Influencing_Machines_and_Their_Masters.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:35pm EDT

Ads are not yet everywhere. That's good. That doesn't mean, though, that there aren't people plotting to capture attention in a new space, one that cannot be blotted out. Those idiots tempt fate, as I describe in my Episode 172: Flirting With Disaster.

 

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/04/episode-172-flirting-with-disaster.html

Direct download: Flirting_With_Disaster.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:16pm EDT

Too many of us lately seem to assume that the negative forces guiding brains are… a thing. (Well, that’s my assumption.) As a general rule, maybe we all just need to heed the advice found in the title of Episode 171: Testing Our Glob of Assumptions.

Find the show notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/03/episode-171-testing-our-glob-of.html

Direct download: Testing_Our_Glob_of_Assumptions.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:58pm EDT

Sometimes companies manage to get really big; but what is too big? When they regard their benefit to society as less important than their profit model, we should consider their future, even if they make the stuff of Episode 170: That Great Gray Slurry.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/03/episode-170-that-great-gray-slurry.html

Direct download: That_Great_Gray_Slurry.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:46pm EDT

What happened to that forgotten way of looking at the world? It seems by changing the language through repetition, nuance was transformed into a more easily challenged binary… and quashed. Hence, Episode 169: Eliminate (Well, De-emphasize) the Negative.

Show notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/02/episode-169-eliminate-well-de-emphasize.html

Direct download: Eliminate_Well_De-emphasize_the_Negative.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:16pm EDT

Every now and again, I find myself stumbling upon a forgotten way of looking at the world, one so useful—and in hindsight obvious—that I have to wonder what happened to it. That's the first half of the story in this Episode 168: Accentuate the Positive.

Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/02/episode-168-accentuate-positive.html

Direct download: Accentuate_the_Positive.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:32pm EDT

Something has increasingly come between us; mediated our learning; butted in and substituted actual conversation for what we access on our devices. Sadly… who pays the piper calls the tune. Hence, Episode 167: Talk Blocked, or This Does Not Agar Well.

Show notes can be found at:

https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2021/01/episode-167-talk-blocked-or-this-does.html

Direct download: Talk_Blocked_or_This_Does_Not_Agar_Well.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:42pm EDT

For the sixth year now, I present some holiday cheer (well, more accurately, "cheer" as defined by me, a sick snickering cynical bastard). Enjoy my completely off-color, in-no-way safe for children or work Episode 166: Dreaming of an Off-White Xmas.

Show notes can be found at: 

https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2020/12/episode-166-dreaming-of-off-white-xmas.html

Direct download: Im_Dreaming_of_an_Off-White_Xmas.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:57pm EDT

No matter what the crisis, it is critical that people are given options. When options conflict with well-vested opinions—or worse, business models—don't expect them to be explained well. I protest one such money silencing in this Episode 165: Dear Nova.

 

Visit the Show Notes at:  https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2020/12/episode-165-dear-nova.html

Direct download: Dear_Nova.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:49pm EDT

Knowing the cost of what advertisers spend to get your attention is not the full story. For that, you really need to appreciate the value that attention is worth to those that hire those ad men. And that is Episode 164: Something On Which You Can Depend.

See the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2020/11/episode-164-something-on-which-you-can.html

Direct download: Something_On_Which_You_Can_Depend.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:07pm EDT

 

 

Have you ever considered how much is spent befouling our attentions with ads? In other words, how much do people pay to get your attention? I'll examine an article that attempts to discover that in this <a href="https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2020/11/episode-163-sheer-amount-of-space-in.html">Episode 163: The Sheer Amount of Space in Our Day</a>.

 

For Links at the Show Notes Page, head to:

 

https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2020/11/episode-163-sheer-amount-of-space-in.html

 

(Hey, Pim!  Jim here.  I've put the link to the Show Notes page both embedded in the first description and separately below it, in case your pod feeder doesn't like embeds.  Let me know which one works best!  —Jim.)

 

 

 

Direct download: The_Sheer_Amount_of_Space_in_Our_Day.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:26pm EDT

When the news chooses to focus on everything politically except at an entire movement drastically changing the world, they fail everyone. Our news becomes nothing but the title of this Episode 162: The Ad-Fueled Dumpster Fire.

Direct download: WTN_The_Ad-Fueled_Dumpster_Fire.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:06pm EDT

We all use language to codify and structure the reality around us. We have to be careful, though, not to hide within unexamined aphorisms internal impossibilities that mask from us what is really going on. Hence, Episode 161: Aphoristic Dissonance.

Direct download: WTN_Aphoristic_Dissonance.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:39pm EDT

In the last episode, I bitched about not finding my show in a portal search; but what might happen next? Things could get so much worse for podcasters who refuse to bow to ad pressures, as I explore in this Episode 160: Three Necessary Tiers of Freedom.

Direct download: Three_Necessary_Tiers_of_Freedom.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:59pm EDT

It sometimes takes an event well beyond my ability to "fix" before an idea worth indulging motivates me to create an episode. Imperious corporate impediments to increasing my show’s listenership prompt this Episode 159: Now You Find Me….

Direct download: Now_You_Find_Me.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:48pm EDT

In this Episode 158: From a Crawl to a Walk, I share a discovery that is more than simply monumental and epic in its own right, it's oxymoronic: a Walkable Crawlspace.

Direct download: From_a_Crawl_To_A_Walk.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:40pm EDT

In Jerry Mander's first of his Four Arguments, I look at what he feels happens to us when the doors of perception are all but closed to nature; through our unnatural media, autocracy rushes in to fill us. Hence, Episode 157: Without the Slightest Belch.

Direct download: MFA_Without_The_Slightest_Belch.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:11pm EDT