Episode 126: Self Evidence

Play Now!

To wrap this whole use of propaganda against the citizens that started in the Great War, I thought I'd share my personal journey both within and outside of the myths pounded into us through the television we watch in this Episode 126: Self Evidence.

In this episode, I read from: Tim Wu's fabulous book, The Attention Merchants: The Epic Struggle to Get Inside Our Heads; and from my computer's quickie dictionary. I further paraphrased the investigative work of Robert Parry.

I play: President Lyndon Johnson talking to Everett Dirksen concerning Tricky Dick's latest trick; and Ronald Reagan giving his inaugural speech. Musically, I play: an elevator version of "The Girl From Ipanema", made more or less famous in the movie The Blues Brothers; The Nora Bayes version of "Over There", which happens to have been the first version released; Lee Rosevere's "The Secret to Growing Up"; and Podington Bear's "Sensitive". KMFDM backed Chuck Mertz's ironic question in the opening, and you're now listening to Mistle Thrush's "It's All Like Today".

I'm releasing this and all my episodes under a Creative Commons 4.0 attribution, share-alike, and non-commercial license.

Episode 125: I Want You, Two

Play Now!

We're still at that turning point in history in this episode, this time when one country used the proven techniques of its ally to reverse a campaign promise and involve itself in a Great War. Hence, Episode 125: I Want You, Two.


Image here. Sadly, we lost the mustache war to the Brits.

In this episode, I read from: Tim Wu's The Attention Merchants: The Epic Struggle to Get Inside Our Heads; from two articles of Columbia Magazine, published by the Washington State Historical Society; and from the Wikipedia entry on the 1917 Espionage Act. I play a bit of Pee Wee Herman from the 1985 movie Pee Wee's Big Adventure, and through the episode work the 1917 Billy Murray version of George M. Cohen's "Over There". KMFDM backs Chuck Mertz in the intro.

I'm releasing this and all my episodes under a Creative Commons 4.0 attribution, share-alike, and non-commercial license.

Episode 124: I Want You

Play Now!

Today, I explore a turning point, the historic but still fairly recent time when an English-speaking country chose not to order its citizens into battle, but to convince them to do so. The main message is this episode's title: I Want You.


Poster found here. Mustache seen everywhere.

In this episode, I share: a bit about phonics and the alphabet, detail I got from Kevin Stroud's great History of English Podcast; some detail about English nobility pronunciation-versus-spelling from Upton Sinclair's Lanny Budd novels; the Wikipedia page for Lord Herbert Kitchener; and details about Great Britain's entry into the Great War from Tim Wu's book The Attention Merchants: The Epic Struggle to Get Inside Our Heads.

I play: Lee Rosevere's tune, "The Dead Past" (the title alone seemed appropriate enough); and Enrico Caruso's version of "Over There". I open with Chuck Mertz from This Is Hell backed by KMFDM. I hope to explain why I played the Mertz introduction… later.

I'm releasing this and all my episodes under a Creative Commons 4.0 attribution, share-alike, and non-commercial license.