Special Announcement: The Cherry on My Crap Mondae

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'Nuff said.

Addendum: Never mind. It was a fishing attempt. It's amazing what 2 hours of sleep and a really crappy day will do to one's brain, though. Ah, fatigue!

That said, I'm going to leave this snippet up just because it jives nicely with a topic I've been mulling about for some time now. Having this snippet will kick-start me into turning that snippet into a full-blown episode.

Thanks for your attention. Carry on.

—Jim

Episode 113: Drab Walls Dance… With Ads

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Once again, I focus my attention on an inflection point, a moment in history when a technological improvement allows manufacturers to apply that tech in a new and previously impossible way. Today's technology is the color poster that, when introduced, made Episode 113: Drab Walls Dance With Ads.


More Chéret! More!

In this episode, I read extensively once again from Tim Wu's 2016 book The Attention Merchants: The Epic Struggle to Get Inside Our Heads. Musically, I play: Graham Bole's "Sunset at Goat Fell"; Lee Rosevere's "What's Behind The Door"; and Podington Bear's "Submerging Blue-Black". KMFDM backs Clark Gable in the opening. I close the show once again with Mistle Thrush.

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

Special help came today from listener Vincent who gave me much needed assistance with the French language. In the course of editing a show together, I have seldom had as much opportunity to just… giggle. Thank you, Vincent! Your contribution was perfect!

Episode 112: Ragged Dick, Right Here

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Ever wonder why a book was published? Ever since I saddled up and started riding this hobby horse of mine, this podcastic obsession I have with advertising and its deleterious effects, that's a question I can never not ask. I ask it again in Episode 112: Ragged Dick, Right Here, the conclusion to my deep-ish dive into author and cultural dog whistle Horatio Alger.

In this episode, I read pretty extensively from the introduction to Horatio Alger's Ragged Dick, at least from a more modern printing of that book (Horatio Alger, Ragged Dick and Mark, The Match Boy: Two Novels by Horatio Alger, The MacMillan Company, 1962). I think Rychard Fink used Ragged Dick to do his bestest to help thwart the leftist tendencies rising in his time. I also read: from Ragged Dick itself; and from a Politico article concerning the real reason behind the Little House books, an article I highly recommend you read yourself.

Musically, I play: Turmoil's "The World Is A Toilet"; and Podington Bear's "Ideas." KMFDM backs Bernie in the intro, and I close the show with Mistle Thrush.

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