Episode 133: The End of the Myth

Play Now!

Sometimes, things I recently read about happen in real life, giving relevance to those books I keep diving into… and more evidence that my reading (and this show) is on the right track. I share one coincidence in this Episode 133: The End of the Myth.

In this episode, I read from: Shoshana Zuboff's book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for A Human Future at the New Frontier of Power (I'll be reading that a bunch more in the near future. Promise); I also read from my computer's quickie dictionary; and I quote about the only meme anyone seems to remember from the movie Up.

Musically, I play three tunes from Podington Bear. "Samara" was woven throughout the show, just to show the thematic change points. I picked the other two tunes for their titles as well as their tunage. These titles held relevance for what information I was sharing as they played: "Gathering" backed that aha! moment for what the Searchies could do; and "Relinguish" is what we end up doing with our private information today as a result. I also played Weird Al Yankovic's version of The Brady Bunch theme. KMFDM backed Bernie Sanders in the opening, and I'm closing today with Julie and Rolf and the Campfire Gang doing "Over the Rainbow."

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

Episode 132: No, Alanis, It Really Isn't

Play Now!

Dictionaries are bound to have errors. What I found surprising is how many not just dictionaries but also others defined a pretty common word so egregiously wrong. So, I try to get that definition right in this Episode 132: No, Alanis, It Really Isn't.

In this episode, I read from: a website correctly bemoaning the lack of definitional accuracy concerning the term irony; a bit of Anthony Burgess's introduction to the re-release of his novel A Clockwork Orange; a Wiki page on CPB director Ken Tomlinson; details about Bill Moyers and President Johnson, from John Nichols & Robert McChesney's Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America (Nation Books, 2013); and another Wiki page on Underwriting Spots. I also related some remembered quotes and plot details without using their original sources.

I play: from the movie Reality Bites, Ethan Hawke's "definition" of irony; and from SCTV, Joe Flaherty and John Candy getting the definition right. Musically, play: the Necronomikon Quartett's "Tube Music Part IV", woven into the episode; and Lee Rosevere's short "Theme From Penguins on Parade". KMFDM backed Mark Blyth in the opening, and I'm closing now with Mistle Thrush.

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