Episode 53: The Fails of Past Futures

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Some dreams from the past never came to be, and some should just stay permanently unrealized. I'll explore two such dreams in Episode 53: The Fails of Past Futures. Strap on, and hear my take on why the average person should never own a jet pack. Buckle up, and learn why the additional costs of self-driving cars simply don't offer the safety advantages, especially when one considers how some are thinking of paying for this added kit.







In this Episode, I play sound from three videos: the first episode of the 1949 Republic serial "King of the Rocket Men", and two videos celebrating the modern-day rocket man, Yves Rossi. I also play some maddening excerpts from episode 171 of 99% Invisible. I introduce the episode with Bruce Livesey, as always backed by KMFDM.

Episode 52: Exactly When Did That Happen?

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You can tell things are not well on television news. It, well, sucks like it has never sucked before. The quality? Gone. One viewing should inform, yet people continue to watch. In this, Episode 52: Exactly When Did That Happen?, I briefly run down the major changes over the last 40 years that might have causally led to Telly News' demise.

This episode features an observation Jeffry Dvorkin, former head of news for both the CBC and NPR, made in an interview he did on Canadaland's episode 39, first released on June 30, 2014. I play music from Graham Bole, first "Origami" then "Kirigami." George Hrab voices the "great" in the stinger, and Jan Wong introduces the episode with KMFDM.