Epiosde 212: KSD Get Thee To The Moil!

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Everything seems chaotic today, what with supply chain disruptions, staffing shortfalls, and this wave of union activity, all panicking employers. What could be the reason? How about math? I explore that in this Epiosde 212: Get Thee To The Moil!

In this episode, I read from: Benjamin Hunnicutt's book Kellogg's Six-Hour Day; John M. Barry's book The Great Influenza; and Robert Louis Stevenson's essay "An Apology For Idlers".

I play: "Eight Hours", from the album "The Hand That Holds The Bread: Progress and Protest in the Gilded Age Songs from the Civil War to the Columbian Exposition," recorded in 1978 by Cincinnati's University Singers; and a snippet, slowed down to a groan, of "Look For The Union Label," taken from an ad campaign in the '70s by the Ladies International Garment Workers. I open with Henry Giroux noting the value of civic awareness, backed by KMFDM; I close with Mistle Thrush.

Episode 211: Back To Basics

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Parody goes beyond laughter: it can help all of us see silliness in what we never questioned; help us see our naked marching monarch. I explore ideas I've had, along with terms others have coined on this topic, in this Episode 211: Back To Basics.

In this episode, I read from: my computer's quickie dictionary; a Wikipedia article on détournement; and Tim Wu's book The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads.


Now that's sublime détournement!

I play: a hilarious excerpt from The Dana Carvey Show; and an excerpt with John Roderick and Ken Jennings, from their podcast Omnibus. Once again, it was a treat to have listener Vincent complain about my horrific attempts to speak his native language. Thanks again, Vincent. (Oh, and since a recent episode concerned animal husbandry and the care of waste, I had Vincent read the curses "cow" and "shit." Just for fun!)

Musically, KMFDM back the first intro I ever used with Dmitri Orlov spouting a timeless truth. I close today with Julie & Rolf & The Campfire Gang doing "Over The Rainbow".

Episode 210: FOB Prehistory, Lost & Found

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Question: Why is the largest river in South America called the Amazon? I recently re-read some important source material, and got some surprises on that and other important topics I hope you'll share in this Episode 210: FOB Prehistory, Lost & Found.


A researcher linked research!


Here, the same thing happened!

In this episode, I read from: Albert Bates' book The Biochar Solution: Carbon Farming and Climate Change; a Wikipedia entry on the Amazon's name; my computer's quickie dictionary; and one or two or three articles about biochar research. I also allude to Charles C. Mann's books on the impacts of the discovery and exploitation of the Americas, 1491 and 1493.


Biochar in close-up, from the third linked article!

Musically, I play: KMFDM, backing Mark Blyth in the opening; and I close with Julie & Rolf and the Campfire Gang doing "Over the Rainbow".

Episode 209: FOB Partners In A Symbiotic Dance

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At this rate, we humans face a hot climate blanketing the planet with the over two centuries of fuel exhaust we have already dug up and burned. There are solutions out there. I share a dirty, meaty one in this Episode 209: FOB Partners In A Symbiotic Dance.

In this episode, I read from: that completely ass-backwards website put out by the World Economic Forum; and from Joel Salatin's book, Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advise for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World, which I highly recommend.


See Joel!

I played: Joel Salatin himself (pictured and linked above), giving a videographer a tour of his techniques; and a bunch of animals. Musically, I played: KMFDM backing political economist Mark Blyth; I close today with Mistle Thrush.

Episode 208: FOB Peddling the Nitrogen Cycle

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What do you think: will we as a species starve to death, or merely roast? Trying to thread that policy needle is proving a challenge, one that (for me, at least) needs to be itself challenged. Hence, Episode 208: FOB Peddling the Nitrogen Cycle.

In this episode, I read from: not just one, but two web sites produced by the World Economic Forum in 2016; an Environmental Protection Agency primer on judging the potency of greenhouse gasses; not just one, but two articles about resistance to new law, the first from The Financial Post, and the second from the New York Times; and my computer's quickie dictionary.



I play: the sound of protests in the Netherlands. KMFDM backs Mark Blyth's shitty remarks in the opening; and I close with Mistle Thrush.

Episode 207: Take Two, Phase One

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Is your phone listening to what you say when you aren't using it to actually make calls? That's what it seems everyone is wondering; but how to find out if it is? I ponder one possible answer to that question in this Episode 207: Take Two, Phase One.

In this episode, I read from: my computer's quickie dictionary; Antonio Garciá Martínez's book, Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley; and Shoshana Zuboff's book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight For a Human Future At The New Frontier of Power.

I play a bit of a song appropriately called "Why Try?" by Dumbo Gets Mad toward the end. KMFDM backs Shoshana Zuboff in the intro, and I close with Julie and Rolf and the Campfire Gang doing "Over the Rainbow".

Episode 206: Good News For News?

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Extra! Extra! Read all about (maybe) good news for newspapers! Hey, a guy can dream, right? Best of all, this might be the very thing that ends our scourge of disinformation! I look into this possible solution in this Episode 206: Good News For News?

In this episode, I read from: a Wikipedia article about the Old English poem Beowulf; two articles by Matt Stoller, both from his newsletter Big (which I highly recommend); Robert McChesney and John Nichols' book The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again; and my computer's quickie dictionary.

I play: listener Vincent, cursing once again at my inability to clearly speak his native French language^*; and KMO from The C-Realm (who also draws and writes comics and hosts other podcasts!) gave us a "great." Matt Stoller opens the show backed by KMFDM, and I close today with Julie and Rolf and the Campfire Gang doing "Over the Rainbow."

^*Thanks again, Vincent, for recording those curses. Every time I play them, they make me giggle.

Episode 205: All That You Can Be

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What each of us shall find in our future, sadly, too often depends not upon good planning, smarts, and gumption, but rather on who happen to be your mom and dad. Thus it's hardly a meritocracy that dictates Episode 205: All That You Can Be.

In this episode, I read from: Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers: The Story of Success; and listener Kevin and his friend John riffing on Kevin's Fuckbook page. Thanks again to both of them for giving me permission to read their contributions. I also share the results of a focus group related to me by an anonymous friend. Thanks again, anonymous friend!

I played: a marines recruitment advertisement, gotten from a site that cinematically broke down the ad; Marine General Smedley Butler addressing the Bonus Marchers in 1932; and the theme from The A-Team. Chuck Mertz noted in the opening that people aren't dumb, backed by KMFDM (which might explain the dystopias predicted by young people today); and I close with Mistle Thrush.

Episode 204 Our Howie Holidays… of Work

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Let's remember Howie's 1958 holiday, the one that turned out to be “I Must Work More!” In this Episode 204, Our Howie Holidays… of Work, I explore just some of the forces that try to convince us to stop worrying, but to never, ever stop working.

In this episode, I read: Jacob Goldstein's comments made on the podcast You Are Not So Smart; and from Benjamin Hunnicutt's book Kellogg's Six-Hour Day. I played: a video from the Bank of England concerning broad money creation; and from a recording of Michael Hudson relaying key moments in his life (I wish I could remember where I got it!).

At the end, I also play an old audio montage about money creation, something I originally assembled in 2011, built of clips from early C-Realm Podcast episodes, and last heard on this show back on Episode 8: The Buck Starts Here. In order of vocal appearance, we find in the montage: C-Realm host KMO; John Michael Greer (from #262: Assume the Can is Open), Ellen H. Brown (from #102: A Vocabulary of Control); Thomas H. Greco (from #265: Legal Tender and the Credit Clearing Function); Dmitri Orlov and Richard Heinberg (from #266: A Black Hole of Debt); Charles Eisenstein (from #272: Emperor of What); and Doug Lain (who has not articulated the tidbit himself as far as I am aware, but I included his voice as well) (from #269: A Better Laugh Track). Ably backing those voices was Ga'an's "Servant Eye".

I open the show with Henry Giroux explaining how lies are perpetrated by the moneyed right, backed by KMFDM. I close with Julie & Rolf and the Campfire Gang.

Addendum: Listener and old friend Bleak Nemesis did a little digging and found the Michael Hudson interview I have. I followed Bleak's Stitchup link and found what seems to be a now-defunct show called Left Out. According to the link: "This autobiographical interview was conducted at Peking University on May 7, 2018 by Lau Kin Chi of the Global University for Sustainability."

I still don't know how it got on my computer, but now we know more!

Episode 203: KSD Unquieting Hearts For Profit

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We last left the six-hour workers at the Kellogg's factory when the war ended in 1946. What new challenges to their shorter work shift will confront them next? That is the question for this Episode 203: Unquieting Hearts For Profit.

In this episode, I read from: Benjamin Hunnicutt's book Kellogg's Six-Hour Day. I also mentioned in passing a book I found pretty darned interesting: Daniel Pink's Drive.

I play: Pee Wee Herman's observation about people with large posterior impediments; KMFDM's "Attack," which backed Dmitri Orlov; and I close today's show with Mistle Thrush's "It's All Like Today".

Episode 202: Right In The Heartballs

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We humans are hyper-social critters. For that reason, it can be difficult for us to discover which of our ideas social pressures unknowingly impose upon us. Changing our minds can thus require a kick implied in this Episode 202: Right In The Heartballs.

In this episode, I read from: David McRaney's newer book How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion; the Wikipedia pages for both the Ashe Conformity Experiments and the Overton Window; the political blog Bending Left, written by thereisnospoon; and the website for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

The voice of Joseph G. Lehman, the current President of the Mackinac Center gives us an intro into the Overton Window; and D. L. Myers intones the portentous utterance of the Powell movement. KMFDM's "Attak" opens the show backing Noam Chomsky's mention of the Powell Memorandum itself. I close today with Julie and Rolf and the Campfire Gang doing "Over the Rainbow."

[Oh, and yes, this episode is posted a couple days late, due to the heat wave and its deleterious effects on electronics. I'm as sorry as I can be over the weather and my inability to control it.]

Episode 201: After Long Silence

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After over eight years of doing this show, I still maintain the best source for show topics comes directly from listener feedback. I have listeners and commenters Pim and Dode to thank for this Episode 201: After Long Silence.

In this episode, I summarized a bit of Jacques Ellul's 1965 translation of his 1962 book Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes. I read from: two comments left by listeners Pim and Dode. Thanks to both of you for those insightful observations!I also read from: Jaron Lanier's book Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now; and an article that addressed misspellings in ads.

Musically, KMFDM backs a brand new intro I cobbled together with the voice and message of Douglass Rushkoff, concerning the inadvisability of customized news. I close today with Mistle Thrush.

Episode 200: Shees Reminded Me of Science!

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Time to review my first experiment conducted to try to determine if my phone listens to me… when it should not. To see if I manscaped well or if I nicked the berries, check out Episode 200: Shees Reminded Me of Science!.

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; and bits of selected spam sent by random shees. I reference an article concerning a patent held by Zuckerfuck's company the Effin' Bees.

(Oh, you really should see that article, if only to marvel at the picture they provided. It shows old Marky Zuck sitting at (I assume) his desk. Some sharp eyes noticed that on Zuck's computer, pieces of tape blocked the built-in camera and microphone jack. I guess if you know exactly what dangers lurk around those supposedly innocent devices, exactly what nefarious and evil people can do with them without your knowledge, you can't call it paranoia.)

Musically, KMFDM opens the show with "Attak" backing Shoshana Zuboff's warning of the hidden dangers of surveillance capitalism. Julie and Rolf and the Campfire Gang close the show with "Over the Rainbow."

Again, if you leave me a message here, remember that I'll be laid up for a few weeks, so allow some time before I answer.

Episode 199: Ultima Ratio Plebium

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I will maintain as long as I am able to speak that we must learn from history, if only to avoid making mistakes already made… well, making them again… and again… and…. I look back to the Crash of the 1930s in this Episode 199: Ultima Ratio Plebium.


My title's inspiration.

In this episode, I recalled: a bit of David McRaney's book You Are Not So Smart, the book I covered in my last show; and the detail about the "last argument of kings," which I originally encountered in Neil Stephenson's Snow Crash. I read from: Michael Perino's The Hellhound of Wall Street: How Ferdinand Pecora's Investigation of the Great Crash Forever Changed American Finance; and my quickie dictionary.

Musically, I threw in a bit of Podington Bear at the end, with "Feather". KMFDM backed Mr. Ceglowski in the opener, and I close today with Mistle Thrush.

Episode 198: We Are Not So Smart

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We humans bear complex mental mechanisms, which are often general enough for experiments to tease out some rules that govern our behavior. Knowing how these rules can manipulate us helps us realize the title of this Episode 198: We Are Not So Smart.

In this episode, I read from: my computer's quickie dictionary; David McRaney's You Are Not So Smart (Penguin Random House, 2012); and Rose George's Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate (Metropolitan Books, 2013). Strictly from memory, I shared details from the movie Flight From Death.

I play: Pee Wee Herman commenting on large exceptions; and a bit from Animal House of Neidermeyer swinging the bat to induct a young Kevin Bacon to the ways of fraternity life… and economic life in general. Musically, Tristan Harris opens the show with KMFDM. I close with Julie and Rolf and the Campfire Gang doing "Over the Rainbow".

Episode 197: KSD The Rabbits and the Work-Hogs

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Workplaces are social dynamos. Quite often—and often by design—how we are paid and scheduled interferes in what people really want from their work. This is the long-existing division I discuss in today's Episode 197: The Rabbits and the Work-Hogs.

In this episode, I read from Benjamin Hunnicutt's book Kellogg's Six-Hour Day. I also did not quote from, but sought some clarifying information from a helpful article found at the Department of Labor concerning the original legislation for maximum work hours, the Black-Connery Bill, which eventually became the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

Musically, Henry Giroux expounded the benefits of civic literacy, backed by KMFDM. Julie and Rolf and the Campfire Gang now close us out with "Over the Rainbow."

Episode 196: The REALLY Big Necessity

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History has shown again and again that an incomplete or just mistaken understanding of how the world really works leads to most of the problems we suffer. To change our world, we must first change our minds; thus Episode 196: The REALLY Big Necessity.

In this episode, I read from four books: First, I recall a bit of Rose George's The Big Necessity: the Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters; then, Steven Johnson's books, Interface Culture: How New Technology Transforms the Way We Create and Communicate and The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic——and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World; and finally, Jaron Lanier's Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now. I also quote Upton Sinclair's most quotable quote ever quoted, so quotable I call it The Sinclair Maxim (which was originally published, as far as I know, in I, Candidate for Governor and How I Got Licked).

Musically, Pietnastka did "Superator" near the end. I open with KMFDM backing Tristan Harris in the opening, and Julie and Rolf and the Campfire Gang take us out with "Over the Rainbow".

Episode 195: I Miss Magazines

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After seeing some of the best magazines I've ever read go quite extinct, some have wondered if the lack of advertising killed them. I would ask, rather, if magazines can afford to advertise at all. Still, in this Episode 195: I Miss Magazines.

In this episode, I read from: a 1990 Gloria Steinem article titled "Sex, Lies, and Advertising", reprinted in the collection Our Unfree Press: 100 Years of Radical Media Criticism; and an article from the Nation on the demise of Mad magazine that quotes Ms. Steinem. I play Pee Wee Herman noting the prevalence of large final exceptions. (Oh, and I forgot to mention the voice of D. L. Myers intoning the Powell Movement Stinger. Sorry, D. L.)

Musically, I play: KMFDM backing then-Mayor Bernie Sanders commenting on the concentration of media; and I close today with Mistle Thrush.

(For the curious, I recommend this page.)

Episode 194: Something Old, Something New

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Lately, it seems, how long we owners of tech can use our things has been shrinking, as ever-more monopolistic powers extend toward a product totalitarianism that favors newness over usefulness. This I explore Episode 194: Something Old, Something New.

In this episode, I read from John Michael Greer's book, The Long Descent (which no longer appears to be available from my library, darn it). Though I borrowed heavily from a couple wiki articles about certain computers and noise makers, I didn't directly quote any of them, so there.

Musically, KMFDM backs Representative David Cicilline decrying the monopolistic state of corporate power. Mistle Thrush plays in the closing.

Episode 193: KSD Lazy, Do Nothing Idlers

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Have you ever thought how weird it is that experts in labor—issuing pronouncements about how long shifts should be—never work those job shifts themselves? It's another argument supporting the title group in this Episode 193: KSD Lazy, Do Nothing Idlers.

In this episode, I read from: an anonymous 18th century pamphlet; Benjamin Hunnicutt's book, Kellogg's Six-Hour Day; and my computer's quickie dictionary.

I play: in honor of black history month, Martin Luther King expounding about the evils of "gentlemen of massive verbal persuasion," his quote backed by KMFDM's "Attak"; and I close today with Julie and Rolf and the Campfire Gang doing "Over the Rainbow".

Episode 192: The Right To Be Lazy

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Everyone seems aware of the appalling working conditions afflicting the poor in the 18th century; fewer seem aware, though, of what rationale drove employers to such torture. I dip into a book from that period in this Episode 192: The Right To Be Lazy.

In this episode, I read from: a snippet of William Blake; the 1883 English translation of Paul Lafargue's book The Right To Be Lazy; and my computer's quickie dictionary.

Musically, I open the show with KMFDM backing Henry Giroux's observation about civic literacy. Mistle Thrush closes the show once again.

Also, listener Vincent voiced his frustration at me butchering his native language with a bit of foul French cursing. This one "bordel a queue", translates roughly to "a line outside a brothel." It's an oath uttered in frustration. "Damn it," it seems to say, "I won't get laid for hours!" I still giggle every time I quote his curses on this show! Thank you again, Vincent!

While I'm here, let me ask: are their any other listeners who can curse a blue streak in their native languages, and who would be willing to record some doozies for the Attack Ads! Podcast? If so, let's talk! Drop me a comment!

Episode 191: An Apology For Idlers

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Today’s society values industry and work, specifically hard and grueling work. This has happened before. We should look to 1877, where good advice was given in an essay, the title of which I've stolen for this Episode 191: An Apology For Idlers.

In this episode, I read from: my computer's quickie dictionary; the original 1877 essay bearing the title "An Apology for Idlers" by Robert Lewis Stevenson; Daniel Markovits' book, The Meritocracy Trap: How America's Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, and Devours the Elite; Annie's Box^* by Randall Keynes; Passionate Minds^* by David Bodanis; The Big Test by Nicholas Lemann; and tiny, unquoted bits from Evolution's Captain: the Dark Fate of the Man Who Sailed Charles Darwin Around the World by Peter Nichols, and one of Jane Austen's books (probably Pride and Prejudice).

I play throughout a snippet from Episode 1, Season 1 of Jeeves and Wooster, starring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. Musically, I play: Podington Bear's "Gamma Ray". KMFDM backs Douglass Rushkoff in the beginning^*; and I close today with Julie and Rolf and the Campfire Gang doing "Over the Rainbow".

[NB: My local library did not have two of the references, and I carelessly misplaced the source for the new Rushkoff intro. I regret my oversight. I will edit this and include it as soon as possible. I doubt I will be able to do anything, though, about my library's oversight, since they are really good books that people in Seattle really should read.]

Episode 190: How To Do Nothing

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With all the bad news in which we wallow, it's natural to feel the need to do something. Sadly, that is just what the people who got that news to you would like you to do. Better instead to follow the advice of today's Episode 190: How To Do Nothing.

In this episode, I read from Jenny O'Dell's book, How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy. There's lots more in her book that I was unable to even touch on, some of which she touches on in an interview.

I play: Podington Bear doing "Flutterby". Tristan Harris opens the show backed by KMFDM; and I close with Mistle Thrush.