Along with the calendar change every year, too many people take the opportunity to look back on the year, and perhaps to look forward with promises and platitudes. I thought, Why not join them?

I here introduce you to Kevin M. Kruse's "One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America", a book about the money and effort that went into redefining American religious tradition into one that proved more business-friendly.

What happens when warring parties place full efforts on winning their personal battles, but not a lot of attention to a third party? What if that third party is the prize to be won? And what if that third party gets rightly pissed off?

Thanks to a listener comment, I here realize that we are judged by the quality not of our character, but of how we project that character. Does a ragged voice ruin my message any more than any "bad" words I might sometimes use? Yes, but…

Today's episode deals with the historic divide between the upper and lower classes, specifically the prohibitions on what tasks anyone in the upper classes could perform without denigrating themselves into beings that are less than genteel.

Today's episode deals with the historic divide between the upper and lower classes, specifically the prohibitions on what tasks anyone in the upper classes could perform without denigrating themselves into beings that are less than genteel.

Here are three beliefs—and the actions they precipitate—that are just plain incorrect, and in the long run, perhaps very, very dangerous.

Here I use the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall to note how our assumptions that the way things have been in our lifetime often prove to be ephemeral. Today’s newspaper industry struggles under the same delusion of future permanence.

While I appreciate podcaster Jesse Brown’s attention to my correspondence, I must limit my financial support and attention to those media producers more inclined to my views concerning ad-funded media. I give reasons for that decision.

I take a peek at four entities that are doing something right, but not right enough to truly applaud their efforts. In each instance, the entities’ accomplishment is less clap-worthy than head-scratch-worthy. So, why bother using both hands to clap?

Since I discussed the twin phenomena of the Repetition Effect and Source Amnesia, I consider a comment listener L33t left concerning research on how interruptions may increase the enjoyment of media, even if those interruptions are commercial in nature.

It was only a brief two episodes ago that I attempted to coin a new Named Bit o' Wisdom, one from Upton Sinclair. That was so much fun, I'm doing it again in this episode, "The McQuiston Test." I'll explain what I mean in the episode.

This episode concerns me asking the eternal question: Why do advertisers run the same damned ads again and again and again? Won't we get sick of them, and maybe just avoid those media outlets resorting to such echoing?

Here I dive into the bothersome wrongness of the NPR podcast Planet Money. The title (and new show theme) refers to an Upton Sinclair quote, details of which can be found in his 1934 book, "I, Candidate for Governor, And How I got Licked."

Here I finish the look into “smart” televisions and appliances I started in Smile! Though many would invoke Orwell’s Big Brother to describe them, I find a better comparison the more insidious threat posed by Little Brothers everywhere.

Smile! starts my look into a quiet but insidious threat to our privacy: the new "smart" televisions and other appliances. These TVs have built within them the tools of inappropriate surveillance, and seemingly, the only reason for them is to promote ads.

Here, I'm taking a yak at how business is not only done, but how many would prefer it continues to be done, no matter how many existing alternatives could be explored. And most of that maintenance is done through commercially sponsored media.

A sad delay announced here.

Which poses a greater threat: money collected; or money spent? Answering that simple question should guide action when it comes to addressing—and perhaps reversing—the harm caused by any harmful practice, in this case political advertising.

While I really don't like the ads any CPB outlet run, their other funding mechanisms are also worthy of attention, if not scorn. This episode uses three PBS telly shows to illustrate problems with three funding sources other than enhanced sponsorship.

This episode is mostly a dramatic reading of the science fiction short story that inspired the creation of Attack Ads! I bring it to you with the kind permission of both author Ferrett Steinmetz and the editor of the Escape Pod podcast, Norm Sherman.

As the title Dear Jesse implies, I've decided to turn twenty-plus minutes of the Attack Ads! Podcast into an open letter to Canadaland creator and host Jesse Brown. This is my plea for offering a zero-ads environment for listeners who wish one.

I dive here a bit into our human tendency to socially conform to the opinions of our peers. Further, I note why outrageous statements can be effective to discussion and debate. This reason is called the Overton Window, which is rarely discussed openly.

I review here what has become one of the only ways modern commercial news has been able to pay for their continued financial existence: sponsored or branded content. For a fee, an interested party "helps" add content to "news," often with no disclosure.