Attack Ads! The Podcast

Sometimes, ya just gotta rant. I'll let the rant speak for itself.

Direct download: Improvements_That_Aint.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:26pm EDT

We know that Lewis Powell, Jr. wrote his memo. But do we know who read it? It turns out several were influenced by that work, move to spend fortunes against the creeping tide of liberalism supposedly eroding the bulwarks of the free enterprise system.

Direct download: The_Unusual_Suspects.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:19pm EDT

Oh, where would I be without listener feedback? This is a lengthy explanation to longest-time listener L33tMinion about why I used the language I used in that episode. I had to give a little spoiler, given the weirdness that beset the entire United States of America two weeks prior to this episode's release.

Direct download: Two_Paths_You_Can_Go_By.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:44am EDT

Ah, those circumstances that try the soul into reconsideration! I here look into the before-and-after life of one of the most subtly influential people in American history, and give weight to the circumstance that drove him to his own formative moment.

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

It's back to basics for this episode. No script or sound effects: just my pissed off rant. (That's "pissed" in the American sense of angry, not the British sense of drunk. As Winston once said, Yanks and Brits are people divided by a common language.)

Direct download: The_Commodified_Assets_of_Others.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:03pm EDT

It's not enough to wish things were better, is it? To make things better, it helps to do some planning. I here share and glom onto solutions for newspaper revival and revitalization that allow public inputs without compromising private ownership.

Direct download: Spitballing_Utopia.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:21pm EDT

There are too many existing and former government investments, protections, and subsidies to allow anyone to claim news outlets exist in a “free” market. Once we get that delusion debunked, we can fix the problem of failing news.

Direct download: You_REALLY_Didnt_Build_That.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:25am EDT

While everyone knows that newspapers are going the way dodo, how many know how bad the decline curve really is? For that matter, is there any reason to care? I here give a taste of how bad things are, and why you should care.

Direct download: No_News_Is_Bad_News.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:42pm EDT

When we hear folks say that "objectivity is impossible," what do they mean? When 100 things can be mentioned, and the reporter chooses to mention only 99 of them, objectivity goes bye-bye. I explore this tendency for certain stuff to go unmentioned.

Direct download: The_Sons_of_Omission.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:02pm EDT

I here explore new definitions for an old tradition: bullshitting. Call it "analysis" or "wisdom;" but the general term "bull shit" works best; it has the benefit of accurately describing the act of interpretation no matter what the quality might be.

Direct download: Lies_Bee_Ess_and_Journalism.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:35am EDT

To err is human, amirite? I'm not seeking forgiveness. I know I make mistakes. Here, though, I feel the need to correct the record lest I be accused not-journalism. Even though, I know, I'm not a journalist.

Direct download: Mea_Culpa.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:07am EDT

Here I look into a topic I haven't covered lately: commercials and how to avoid them. In the end I manage to Godwin the whole episode, tying corporate decision-making to an element that inadvertently hamstrung the fight against Adolf Hitler himself.

Direct download: Warring_Assumptions.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:59pm EDT

The title here refers to a condition I hope you will understand once you hear the content. Remember, when you do, that we have instincts shared by all the primates, no matter how “developed.”

Direct download: Cucumber_Monkeys.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:53pm EDT

I do here what I suspect the folks at Planet Money failed to do; to actually read the 1930 John Maynard Keynes essay, "Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren." I'm glad I did. His message was completely unexpected… and refreshing.

Direct download: Existential_Dread_From_Our_Grand_Uncle.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:19pm EDT

People should talk to each other. That way, eventually, perhaps someone says something that finally penetrates the thick skull of the listener, who finally realizes something very, very important. Listener L33t Minion commented. I finally listened.

Direct download: Weaving_Threads_From_Carved_Chunks.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:44am EDT

This just in: Boo! Should you be afraid? Stay tuned. Yes, news tries to suck the viewer in with the Scary. It's the stuff of stand-up and parody everywhere. What possible reason could they have for such silliness?

Direct download: Formatting_Fear_The_Knox_Formula.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:42am EDT

Some dreams from the past never came to be, and some should just stay permanently unrealized. Strap on and hear why the average person should never own a jet pack. Buckle up and learn why self-driving cars simply aren’t worth suffering.

Direct download: The_Fails_of_Past_Futures.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:38pm EDT

You can tell things are not well on television news. It, well, sucks like it has never sucked before. The quality? Gone. I briefly run down the major changes over the last 40 years that might have causally led to Telly News' demise.

Direct download: Exactlly_When_Did_That_Happen.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:04pm EDT

Ever notice how some words get used interchangeably in any situation? That's because many are not as they sound, positive declarations, but are rather negations of several different bad situations. Unless one is specific, the word lacks meaning.

Direct download: Scarequotes_Required.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:54am EDT

What fun are odometer moments if you don't make them fun? I have included attempts at humor to bring sarcasm and parody, hopefully to leaven that darned persistent message. Thanks to collaborators Mila and (especially) Kevin!

Direct download: Cry_Quits_On_The_Deal.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:06am EDT

In this Bonus Episode, I read for you what I consider to be one of the most important documents in recent US political history. I plan to address this document in my usual style in the near future, complete with as many jokes as I can muster.

Direct download: The_Powell_Memo.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:42am EDT

Remember when I accused NPR podcasters of parading themselves inappropriately in front of would-be ad buyers like cheap prostitutes? I'm still not over that, it seems. I have that idea, and I'm sticking to it.

Direct download: Product_or_Packaging.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:49am EDT

Something happened late last April which has been bugging me ever since. Here I cover the insult not just in the event itself, but in the name given such events, which I feel is indeed an insult.

Direct download: The_Affront_Of_An_Upfront.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:43am EDT

Ah, games. What's not to love? How about games being interrupted by constant appeals for money, either from ads or, perhaps worse, the game itself? Here I explore just such, some of them insidious, others merely irritating, some downright deplorable.

Direct download: Ludus_Interruptus.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:41am EDT

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