Episode 57: Cucumber Monkeys

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The title of Episode 57: Cucumber Monkeys refers here not to long, green vegetable carvings of tiny primates, but to a condition I hope you will understand once you hear the content. Remember, when you do, that we have instincts shared by all the primates, no matter how "developed."

In this episode, I play Dan Baum, author of "Gun Guys: A Road Trip," as people heard him in C-Realm 356: "Gun Guy." You also hear then-candidate Obama commenting on some voters, and Frans de Waal, a primate researcher. I read in this episode excerpts from Baum's "Gun Guys: A Road Trip," Richard Wilkenson & Kate Pickett's "The Spirit Level," and Steven Johnson's "Future Perfect."

Bernie Sanders opens the show with help from KMFDM. Mistle Thrush provides the close.

Episode 56: Existential Dread From Our Grand Uncle

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In Episode 56: Existential Dread From Our Grand Uncle, I try my best to convey the denial I realized in the last episode, 55: Weaving Threads From Carved Chunks, the stripping of that denial, and the cold realization that there is currently approaching at way faster than I had realized a crisis in the making, at least for me, professionally. Or politically. Something has got to give, or … bad things.

I don't like bad things.

In this episode, I read some more from John Maynard Keynes' 1930 essay "Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren;" and from L33t Minion's comment to Episode 53. I mention a fact about how dangerous to children those cars are. The other fact is illustrated nicely by this graph:


We don't drive
as much as we used to.

I also played an excerpt from Costas Samaras as heard on Episode 171 of 99% Invisible; I'll link to the web site I discussed concerning Professor Samaras at the show notes as well. And I played a bit of KMO introducing our conversation, one that took place on C-Realm 489: Muscle Power and Microchips. Musically, I worked Jazzhar's "Starting Point" into the narrative. Bruce Livesy introduces the show with an observation about corporate power, backed, of course, by KMFDM.

Episode 55: Weaving Threads From Carved Chunks

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People should talk to each other. That way, information flows from person to person, and eventually, perhaps someone says something that finally penetrates the thick skull of the listener, which leads the listener, perhaps someone like myself, to realize something very, very important.

In this Episode 55: Weaving Threads From Carved Chunks, listener L33tminion provided a bit of a progress report on a technology I covered in Episode 53: The Fails of Past Futures. This update penetrated my obstinate nature enough for me to realize something I had kept comfortably buried in a thick swaddle of denial for years, even after people have been telling me about it for about forever.

In this episode, I read once again from John Maynard Keynes' "Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren," as far as I know the original source of the term "economic unemployment;" from a couple of Wikipedia entries, one on Thomas Savery, the other on William Lee's stocking frame; from William Rosen's The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry, and Invention (Random House, 2010); and from William Gibson's The Peripheral (Berkely, 2014). I play Jazzhar's "Reflections," and open the show with Tim Bousquet and KMFDM.

NB: With all the content penned by people named William, I inadvertently added another, misspeaking Thomas Savery's first name as another William. I regret the error.

Episode 54: Formatting Fear, The Knox Formula

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This just in: Boo! Should you be afraid? Stay tuned.

Yes, news tries to suck the viewer in. It's the stuff of stand-up and parody everywhere. But is it such a good idea to try to frighten people when they just need to know the basic news of the day? What possible reason could they have for such silliness? I explore that question in this Episode 54: Formatting Fear, The Knox Formula, where I call as evidence probably the most remembered broadcast that led to a panic, the 1938 Mercury Theater's rendition of The War of the Worlds.

In this episode, you will indeed hear quite a bit of that recording, along with newspaper accounts of what happened the very next day. I also read from a Rolling Stone article by Matt Taibbi concerning news that tries to frighten.

Musically, you will hear bits of Ramon Roquello and his Orchestra, and Full Load of King doing "Gray Walk Oblivion Part 1." KMFDM opens the show with then Mayor of Burlington, Vermont, Bernie Sanders, and Mistle Thrush once again closes with the end to "It's All Like Today."

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.

Episode 51: Scarequotes Required

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Ever notice how some words get used again and again and again, as if those words could be used interchangeably in any situation? That's because they are not, as they sound, declarations of good and mighty, but rather negations of many, many different bad and puny situations. Unless one specifies the specific bad thing when one uses these words, the word lacks specific meaning. So, to be honest about one's intentions, one needs to follow the title of this Episode 51: Scarequotes Required, and give a sign that this is one such term.

In this episode, I play a bit of On The Media's Brooke Gladstone interviewing Curt Guyette, and a snippet from Counterspin with blogger/investigator Chris Savage. Musically, you hear How How doing "Pinkery the Kinght" (yes, that is how they spell their song), and the Army band playing John Phillips Souza's "Stars and Stripes Forever." Jan Wong introduces this episode with backing from KMFDM. Special thanks to George Hrab for supplying the word I intend should be scarequoted with most usages.

Episode 50: Cry Quits On The Deal!

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What fun are odometer moments if you don't make them fun? Here, I hope, is a fun episode for you. Episode 50: Cry Quits On The Deal! has a message, sure, but I have included attempts at humor to bring sarcasm and parody, hopefully to leaven that darned persistent message.

You also hear Counterspin's Steve Rendall, telling a story from October of 2014.

I mention quite a bit of the music played herein, including "Bomb Run", a piece from the Stanley Kubrick movie "Dr. Strangelove"; Mistle Thrush doing a bit of "It's All Like Today", and KMFDM doing a bit of "Attak/Reload" while Mark Blythe mentions bullshit.

And though I didn't mention it in the show itself, I also played a bit of music from Assif Tsahar and Tastsuya Nakatani, doing "West 4th"; Dumbo Gets Mad doing "Harmony"; and Raphae doing "Echo".

Ooo! And this time I get to thank Voices Other Than My Own! You'll first hear Kevin. Then you'll hear Mila. Thanks to both of you for much needed vocal variety! And once again, Kevin, thanks so much for the hard work that went into the ending sketch!

Bonus Episode: The Powell Memo

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This is a Bonus Episode. Rather than look as deeply as I can into a given topic, I've decided to give you, the Listener, the source material for what I consider to be one of the most important documents in recent US political history.

Given its length and the dryness of the content, I in no way hold a grudge against anyone who wishes instead to execute the skip button and leave this unheard. I plan to address this document in my usual excerpting style in the near future, complete with as many jokes as I can muster; so skipping this will be no loss.

For those that do listen, I hope you share with me the awe of hearing a document that may well have shaped more of our recent history than any other.

Episode 49: Product or Packaging?

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Remember that last episode, the one where I accused NPR podcasters of parading themselves inappropriately in front of would-be funders like cheap prostitutes? I'm still not over that, it seems. In this Episode 49: Product or Packaging?, I ruminate about why none of the NPR podcasts ever responded to my years of begging them for an ad-free podcast stream, even after I promised money for the favor. I have an idea, and I'm sticking to it.

Not much this time in way of source material, except the music, this time "Prologue" by The Mystery Artists. And, of course, Dmitri Orlov once again talks over KMFDM's tune "Attack."

Episode 48: The Affront of an Upfront

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Something happened late last April which has been bugging me ever since. I cover the insult not just in the event itself, but in the name given such events, in this Episode 48: The Affront of an Upfront.

To support my notion that this was indeed an insult, I read from an NPR press release concerning the offending event; from Ira Glass's May 13 rebuttal of critics of that event; and from Fairness and Accuracy in Media's magazine "Extra!" and their criticism of both the event and of Glass's dissemination in "Current." I also read a Wikipedia entry giving a specific definition of an "upfront"; and close reading from Upton Sinclair's 1920 book, The Brass Check. (Specifically, the Sinclair passages read come from pages: 104; 130; 196-197; 178; 256; 365-366; 382; and 8-9.)

I provided background noises from various sources, including an online video hyping the public radio podcasting event, and music from Jahzzar (doing "Bankrupt") and Podington Bear (doing "Fragile, Do Not Drop"). Once again, the Bruce Livesey/KMFDM introduction starts the show.

Episode 47: Ludus Interruptus

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Ah, games. What's not to love? How about games being interrupted by constant appeals for money, either from ads or, perhaps worse, the game itself? Episode 47: Ludus Interruptus explores just such aggravations faced by today's gamers, some of them insidious, others merely irritating, some downright deplorable.

In today's episode, I play portions from an On The Media episode that aired November 18, 2011. I read from a publication called Game Career Guide, and another article from the British publication Express. You hear familiar games playing the background on occasion, and two tunes from Teleidofusion: "みなこ" and "Five Minutes of an Autumn."

Though I didn't mention it, this episode has yet another brand new intro, one featuring documentary filmmaker Bruce Livesey commenting on the power of corporate money compared to the power of government. He made these comments in Episode 77 of Canadaland. He was backed, as are all introductory voices to this show, by KMFDM's "Attack."

Episode 46: The Calendrical Imperative

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Along with the calendar change every year, too many people take the opportunity to look back on the year, and to perhaps look forward with promises and platitudes. I thought, Why not join them?

So here we have Episode 46: The Calendrical Imperative. I made a big boo-boo in Episode 45 that I here correct. The correction quotes both Terry Gross and author Kevin Kruse from an episode of Fresh Air. I also give some inside scoop to my forced house-guest hiatus last Spring. It's interesting, at least, and will be the topic of at least one episode in the coming year, quite likely.

There is also the backlog of episode topics. Believe it or not, I have no shortage of episodes. It's hard for me to believe that, when I first started Attack Ads!, I was worried about not having something about advertising to say.

I today play the theme for the 1966 television sci-fi series The Time Tunnel, and open the show with Dmitri Orlov and KMFDM.

Episode 45: A Season Stuffed With Reasons

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Have two Holiday Seasons passed since I launched the Attack Ads! Podcast? Time flies when you're ranting against forces over which you have little control, I guess. Remember: Time flies like an arrow; but fruit flies like a banana.

This, the podcast's second late December episode, is Number 45: A Season Stuffed With Reasons, where I give you Dear Listeners a book report on Kevin M. Kruse's One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America (Basic Books, 2015). I do hope to introduce you to Mr. Kruse's material, all about the money and effort that went into redefining the American religious tradition into one more business-friendly, with the appropriate amount of head 'splodey-ness.

In that light, I play selected portions of Tenacious D's "Master Exploder", a song from the movie Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny. I also open and close this holiday episode with two pieces from the Vince Guaraldi Trio, "Skating" and "Linus and Lucy", both from the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas. Very briefly you will also hear the National Anthem for the former Soviet Union. KMFDM and Bernie Sanders open the show.

Episode 44: Total Annihilation

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What happens when warring parties place full efforts on winning their personal battles, but not a lot of attention avoiding pissing off a third party? Or worse, takes advantage of the third party, treating them as the prize to be won? Expect the title of Episode 44: Total Annihilation. The warring titans will find their battlefield prize turning against all of them, with collateral damage rampant and a change to the entire conflict.

Largely because this phase of battle through technology is new and emergent, this episode focuses on articles rather than books. We hear me reading: Ben Thompson's article Why Web Pages Suck from his blog "Stratechery"; Nilay Patel's Welcome to hell: Apple vs. Google vs. Facebook and the slow death of the web from The Verge; John Gruber's Safari Content Blocker imore from Daring Fireball; and Marco Arment's The Ethics of Modern Web Ad-Blocking.

Today's music is exclusively from the Cave Dog game from which I gleaned the title to today's episode. Music written by Jeremy Soule. (I miss that game.) I introduce the show with Jan Wong backed by KMFDM.

My Plea For Graphics Help

Hey, Listeners,

Jim here, with a problem. As I outlined in the Post Script to Episode 44, I need a logo, specifically one that will conform to the iTunes submission requirements.

Here's the skinny on format: Cover art "must be in the JPEG or PNG file formats and in the RGB color space with a minimum size of 1400 x 1400 pixels and a maximum size of 3000 x 3000 pixels." I'd like to keep it simple (for now, at least, which for me seems to mean "I'll use it for a few years").   Though I had some very different, very catchy ideas in the past, my need to just get this done has overwhelmed my desire to make it perfect (which has been the impediment all this time). 

Here's the text I'm leaning toward:

The

                 Attack Ads! 

                                              Podcast 

                           Reasons to live Free 

                                 of Commercial Media

All of this is, of course, in a box the size specified in the link above. The "The" above and the "Podcast" after "Attack Ads!" should be in a smaller font, as should the tag below.  For colors, I've played around with a few, but have decided to keep this simple as well, with just an off-yellow background and black lettering.

Again, if you can help—and have additional ideas you can throw into the mix—I would be very appreciative.

Thanks!

-Jim

Addendum, a couple days later: D'oh! I guess providing a place to send those graphics would enable those who wish to help to, well, help. Please email anything you come up with to AdAttacker (at) Gmail (dot) Com. Sorry I missed that necessary step earlier.

Episode 43: Profundity & Profanity

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Thanks to listener feedback, I have taken the opportunity in Episode 43: Profundity & Profanity to work my pneumonia-ravaged voice a bit. Why? We are constantly judged by the quality not of our character, but of everything that projects that character, be it the voice on a podcast or the words carried by that voice. Does the tumbling gravel that was my voice during recording time ruin the message I try to convey any more than "bad" words that I might on occasion use? The answer is Yes, but I reserve the right to revisit that question for a more in-depth probing in a later episode.

I dive into the societal shift on tolerance for swearing a bit, noting my experience with unpunished public profanity and how that shifted with the turn of the decade. Witness my speeches in high school and compare that to what poor Matt "suffered" at the hands of the very same school and later the Supreme Court. (I doubt being a law student at Standford at the time of the ruling did anything bad for him.)

Bernie Sanders was eloquent enough to provide the vocals backing two new opening segments. I play both of them. Mistle Thrush's "It's All Like Today" closer once again signals the end of the episode.

Episode 42: More Self Evidence, Less Mud

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In a continuation and conclusion to Episode 41, today's Episode 42: More Self Evidence, Less Mud, I get around to doing what I suspect the folks at Planet Money failed to do, to actually read the 1930 John Maynard Keynes essay, "Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren." I'm glad I did. Given the way economists today talk, his message was (if a bit confusing in ways I attempt to address) completely unexpected.

Other than Planet Money's episode #641, "Why We Work So Much," I play an ad that ran in a former episode of that show. Further, taking a lead from David Puttnam's TED Talk, "Does the media have a 'duty of care'?" I check and, sure enough, Planet Money has yet to correct the record by correcting the mistake it made way back in March of 2014 in their episode #524 "Me and Mr. Jones." I checked: their mistake stands to this day. Hey, check for yourself!

Musically, I felt the haunting music of Ga'an's "Living Tribunal" well expressed the horror of having a bank sponsor a show supposedly dedicated to teaching its audience about the workings of money. Tim Bousquet and KMFDM provided the show's opening.

Episode 41: Self Evident As Mud

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Today's Episode 41: Self Evident As Mud, deals with the historical divide between those of the upper and lower classes, specifically the prohibitions on social mixing and what tasks anyone in the upper classes could perform without denigrating themselves and being looked upon as less than genteel.

I draw from a bunch of books. Henry George's Progress & Poverty; Brian Czech's Supply Shock; Randall Keynes' Annie's Box"; and David Bodanis' Passionate Minds. I also shared details, if not exact quotes, from Peter Nichols' Evolution's Captain, the story of Captain Robert FitzRoy of the Beagle, the ship Charles Darwin sailed to the Galapagos and beyond.

I also quote Planet Money's Episode 641, "Why We Work So Much" and Stephen Colbert from a 2010 CSPAN testimony to Congress concerning immigrant labor in agriculture.

Musically, you hear Jahzzar doing "Family Tree" and the final bars of Mistle Thrush's "It's All Like Today." I opened with the Tim Bousquet/KMFDM intro.

Episode 40: Three Heaping Scoops of Irony

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Sometimes people say things that are, well, wrong. Other times, they believe things that are, as well, wrong. Here are three beliefs and the actions they precipitate that are, as the title to Episode 40: Three Heaping Scoops of Irony implies, just plain incorrect, and in the long run, perhaps very, very dangerous.

In this episode, I read from John Maynard Keynes' 1920 article The Economic Consequences of Peace, which proves a prescient look at the future Treaty of Versailles terms ending the Great War created. In my opinion, it is all to often ignored. I also read from an article from The Washington Post that describes an interview in Die Zeit, and Professor Mark Blyth's book, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea.



I sample from two videos from the very entertaining Professor Blyth describing his work into hyperinflation and austerity and how they are viewed by various parties.

Musically, we hear Jahzzar doing "Planet Zero." Mistle Thrush's "It's All Like Today" closer closes the show. I "opened" with a new KMFDM intro featuring Mark Blyth.

Episode 39: Challenging Assumptions of Permanence

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Oh, odometer moments! Those tickings of the calendar or clock or whatever metric timey thing happens to land appropriately on a nice round number. What would journalism or any of us do without them? Episode 39, Challenging Assumptions of Permanence, uses the ten year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall as just such a jumping-off point, noting how our assumptions that the way things have been in our lifetime in too many cases seems to be the way we assume the future should unfold. Sadly, our newspaper industry today struggles under the same delusion of future permanence, at least when it comes to a funding model based on advertising, that only emerged—indeed, that was only possible—in the latter stages of the Industrial Revolution. That funding model evolved to what we had, and now it is moving on, and in my opinion it ain't coming back.

In this episode, I read about historic newspaper production from Eric Burns' book "Infamous Scribblers"; and an excerpt from an article from a Professor Ross, originally printed in the Atlantic Monthly in the March, 1910, edition, and quoted in Upton Sinclair's 1920 book on the newspaper business, The Brass Check (the entirety of which can be read online at the link). I also quoted Soryu Forall, a meditation and mindfulness teacher and the founder of the Center for Mindful Learning. He shared his insights into, well, assumptions and preferences on KMO's C-Realm Podcast Episode #480, "Assumptions and Preferences."

Musically, I played two pieces by Jahzzar, "Brighter" and "Become Death". I opened the show with the Jan Wong KMFDM intro.

Episode 38: Postscript

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Remember Jesse Brown, that podcaster I addressed in Episode 26, Dear Jesse? It's time to close things down in this, Episode 38: Postscript. I appreciate his attention to my correspondence, but must limit my financial and attentional (is that a word?) support for those more inclined to my view of ad-funded media. In this episode, I give reasons for that decision.

In this episode, you'll hear first a brand new KMFDM "Attak!" intro with Tim Bousquet, founder of the Halifax Examiner, as interviewed on Canadaland's Episode 88. Brooke Gladstone congratulates 99% Invisible's Roman Mars on his ability to leverage ad revenues on the backs of his contribution popularity. There's a lot of that going around. Trust me, there is at least one future episode baked into this synergistic phenomenon.

Musically, I play Podington Bear's "Can I Talk To You?" and the ending to Mistle Thrush's "It's All Like Today."

Episode 37: The Sound of One Hand Applauding

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In this Episode 37: The Sound of One Hand Applauding, I take a peek at four entities that are doing something right. Something, but not enough something to make their efforts truly applaudable. In each instance, the entities fail to complete a truly commendable and clap-worthy accomplishment, slipping in most cases to something that is just head-scratch worthy. As a result, I can only employ one hand to the applause.

Today we hear from The BGs (Ah-ah-ah-ah), Brooke and Bob, in two separate On The Media reports. The earliest interview and revelation comes from Brooke in a May 10, 2013 episode I've already extensively quoted, "Who's Going to Pay For This Stuff?" The other two, both by Bob, are quite a bit more recent, coming from a July 9, 2015 episode entitled "Polls Are Stupid." I also read quite a bit from a website as a result of Brooke's interview.

Music today comes from et doing "Tarmac." The Real Bee Gees briefly appear several times, thanks to Brooke and Bob. And Dmitri Orlov and KMFDM open the show.

Episode 36: From GAB To FNA

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It's only been two episodes since I discussed the twin phenomena of the Repetition Effect and Source Amnesia, but months have passed since that release. Time, then, to visit a comment listener L33t left concerning research on how interruptions may increase the enjoyment of media, even if those interruptions are commercial in nature. Thus, Episode 36: From GAB to FNA explores the multiple qualities of interruptions that may mitigate, thus driving people from welcoming interruption to dreading it.

In this episode, I quote: L33t from his comments; the study L33t shared; details of the organization that published the research he shared; and information from Counterspin regarding the frequency of DVR commercial skipping (something I regrettably neglected to cite in the audio).

I also played: Geddy Lee briefly singing with the Mackensie Brothers in their 80s hit, "Take Off;" some wisdom from Colonel Jack D. Ripper about communism and water; and Pink Floyd's intro to their song, "Time." Dmitri Orlov and KMFDM open this episode.

Episode 35: The McQuiston Test

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Yes, yes, I know. It was only a brief two episodes ago that I attempted to coin a new Named Bit o' Wisdom, one from Upton Sinclair. That was so much fun, I'm doing it again in this episode, The McQuiston Test. I'll explain what I mean within.

Today's episode features a bit of music from Matmos and So Percussion, a tune called "Needles."



We also hear a bunch of famous voices and the standard Dmitri Orlov intro backed by KMFDM.

Another Unavoidable Hiatus

Just as happened last March, I must once again interrupt these episodes to accommodate a house guest in what is now the production studio. Two unfinished episodes rest, as they say, "in the can" ready for completion, and many others are "in the works," sitting inchoate on my hard drive waiting for studio time to bring them to life. Once that studio is free for my use, expect a flood of episodes.

I will say this: the situation that brought my house guest here is very, very unusual. Though I cannot detail what is happening without possibly bringing legal consequences, I can say the story is unusual and interesting enough to be entertaining to more than mere participants. I'm thinking about turning the story, once it reaches a resolution, into a couple of episodes, though they would have nothing to do with advertising. I might record a few such episodes and test the waters with you, Gentle Listeners, to see if more episodes would be welcomed.

That, though, is for the future. Again, I deeply regret the interruption, no matter how necessary.

Episode 34: Reiteratively Repeated Redundancy

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Episode 34: Reiteratively Redundant Repetition concerns me asking the eternal question: Why do advertisers run the same damned ads again and again and again? Won't we get sick of them, and maybe just avoid those media outlets who stoop to such echoing? I attempt to answer the question with an actual expert!

This episode includes an explanation of two very key psychological phenomena by Ray Hyman (interviewed by one of Skepticality's hosts Derek Colanduno). We also hear a short clip from Kelsey Grammer's Frasier Crane from the Cheers years, backed by Pietnastka's "Dice." That piece also closes this shorter than usual episode.

Why the brevity? Well, let's just say I started worrying that the entire sketch I included as an illustration of the Amnesia Effect might be: a) taken the wrong way, a way in which I did not at all intend; or b) taken exactly as I intended it. Either way, there might be some folks a bit grossed out by my cave men and their conundrum. I should get some listener feedback about what is and what is definitely not funny before showing my humor in all its glory and ghastliness.

Episode 33: The Sinclair Maxim

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Time to return to two of what must be my least and most favorite sources for podcast material. Episode 33: The Sinclair Maxim first dives into the bothersome wrongness of the NPR podcast and frequent Attack Ads! hobbyhorse and scapegoat Planet Money. Just when I think they couldn't get even worse, they prove me wrong and overly optimistic yet again. My seeming favorite source is in the title.

In this episode, we hear from two Planet Money co-productions made with This American Life, "The Giant Pool of Money" and "The Invention of Money." Inspiration for this episode was appropriately triggered by a glaring detail found opening Planet Money's episode #619, "The Free Throw Experiment." We also hear Planet Money top dog Adam Davidson's appearance on local Seattle NPR affiliate KUOW, on their show The Conversation, a conversation that aired May 26, 2010.

Musically, I chose Metastaz's "Skreeem" and "Miss Fortune", both of which fit frighteningly well into the theme of the show itself.

Finally, credit where due.


Spoiler!

I dedicate the title for today's episode to Upton Sinclair, specifically for his quote, details of which can be found in his 1934 book, "I, Candidate for Governor, And How I got Licked."

Episode 32: Little Brothers Are Watching You

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Episode 32: Little Brothers Are Watching You continues the saga of the Smart TV and why, as I claimed in the last episode, Smile!, the threat is even worse than I previously mentioned. I outline actual televisions that (at least at one time) peek into far more than one's face patterns and viewing information, and insert far more than the the content requested by the viewer/owner.

I open with Chris Martenson getting all down about the current business practices with his guest, the ever-insightful John Michael Greer. I read from a blog post by someone calling themselves Doctor Beet, and we hear from a Smart TV manufacturer's video promising exactly what I and (I hope) everyone listening to the Attack Ads! Podcast would rather not ever see come to fruition. The video itself was pulled, but someone reading Dr. B's blog mirrored it; you can find it at his blog. I also read from an article describing a pop ad appearing where it was most unwanted in Australia.

We also hear from On The Media's Brooke Gladstone interviewing Representative Walter Jones in 2013 on a wonderful bit of legislation he proposed, the We Are Watching You Act of 2013 that sadly died before being signed into law. And finally I played at bit of the Dude and Walter from The Big Lebowski ruminating on the difference between Nazis and nihilists.

As always, KMFDM's "Attak" opened the show, this time with Dmitri Orlov's observations, originally made on the Extraenvironmentalist Podcast.

Episode 31: Smile!

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Episode 31: Smile! starts this podcast's look into a quiet but insidious threat to our privacy: the new "smart" televisions and other appliances. Unlike those other gizmos with the "smart" designation, though, these TVs have built within them the tools of surveillance most would deem inappropriate.

In this episode, I play a brief section from Episode #104 of the '60s cartoon "The Jetsons"; I play a selections from a BBC interview with a smart TV owner named Peter Kent; and I read from smart set manufacturer Samsung's Global Privacy Policy.

Music today comes from my KMFDM intro with Dmitri Orlov, and from "The Jetsons."

Episode 30: Maintaining Business As Usual

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I'm back! Well, at least for a bit. While I'm back, for Episode 30: Maintaining Business As Usual, I'm taking a yak at how business is not only done, but how many would prefer it continues to be done, no matter how many existing alternatives could be explored. And most of that maintenance is done through commercially sponsored media, paid for by the commercials placed by those businesses that would like this maintained.

In this episode, we hear from a commercial produced in the late 1970s by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. They produced several of these; I chose the one with the best sound quality. Ah, the seventies! We also hear another version of the union song recorded in 1975.

We hear from Planet Money once again, this time from episode #142, "Tax Me Please," and Counterspin's Jeanine Jackson introducing an interview she aired with Laura Flanders. I read from Thomas Geoghegan, "Were You Born on the Wrong Continent? How the European Model Can Help You Get a Life" (The New Press, 2010).

And finally, the intro. I play the song on every episode, but seldom mention it. I should. It is KMFDM's "Attak/Reload" from their album "Attak." Dmitri Orlov backs the intro tuneage with comments he made on Episode 86 of the Extraenvironmentalist podcast, "Days of Destruction."

[NB: In the credits, I mention the episode of Planet Money was #104, when it is in fact #142. Long and slightly humorous story as to why that happened, but I do regret the error.]

Announcement

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A short but regrettable announcement: Due to the simple fact that I have a house guest occupying the Attack Ads! studio, I will be on a production break until, well, my house guest frees up the studio or until I can make other recording arrangements. I'm not quitting; far from it. I just won't be releasing new episodes until things can be sufficiently shuffled about. I do regret this, and will be back as soon as I am able.

Episode 29: Drinking Yourself Sober

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What's a greater threat to a society, the money collected to do something harmful, or the spending of that money? Answering that simple question should guide action when it comes to addressing and perhaps reversing the harm caused by the harmful practice.

Failing to recognize this simple dichotomy causes folks to sometimes try something helpful that might not be. This is the theme of Episode 29: Drinking Yourself Sober, where I share the exploits of one Lawrence Lessig, creator of the Creative Commons License and political activist.

We hear in this episode from two of Lessig's TED Talks; one entitled Lester Land, the other The Unstoppable Walk to Political Reform. We also hear from former Vice President Al Gore talking about what's really wrong with things today.

Music from Jahzzar doing "Listen Carefully," and Pat Boone—yes, that Pat Boone—covering Judas Priest's "You've Got Another Thing Coming." (There's a reason, trust me.)

Addendum, March 4: Listener l33t was the first in alerting me to a bad sound file. Looks like the audio editor barfed out a bad file, silent after a minute and a half, one I did not catch. I've deleted the bad file from the 'cast host and re-exported the mp3 after making sure content exists within, at least after a random file sample up to the ending. There may be gaps, but it's mostly there, under the same file name.

I apologize for the screw up.

Episode 28: Showing What The Shows Show

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No, I don't like the ads—er, the "enhanced sponsorship"—of PBS, NPR, PRI, or any of the other CPB TLA (Three Letter Acronyms, for those who haven't tripped on this trope before). But the other funding mechanisms employed also come with details worthy of attention, if not scorn. Episode #28: Showing What The Shows Show uses three PBS telly shows to illustrate problems with three funding sources other than enhanced sponsorship.





Pie Charts courtesy of L33t's link.

I read in this episode from Thomas Picketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century (President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2014, pp. 451-452.); a Wikipedia article on the history of public broadcasting in the United States; Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols' book The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again (First Nation Books, 2010, p. 194 for "Banks And The Poor" details; p. 195 for the detail about fund raising.); and the article "A Word From Our Sponsor?" from the May 27, 2013 New Yorker magazine.

Music pulled from the Downton Abby Suite, and "The Money Song" by Monty Python.

Episode 27: Dead Merchandise

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I have been waiting almost the entire time I've been producing this podcast to bring you, Dear Listeners, this episode. For this episode contains a dramatic reading of a science fiction short story which inspired the creation of Attack Ads!

It is my privilege to offer Episode 27: Dead Merchandise, brought to you by the kind reposting permissions of both the author of the story, Ferrett Steinmetz, and the editor of the Escape Pod podcast, Norm Sherman, the podcast and publication entity that originally produced and released the audio reading you hear in their episode #396. "Dead Merchandise" is a story whose relevance to the Attack Ads! podcast should be apparent to all. Enjoy!

I will have the fortune to be able to thank Mr. Steinmetz in person, since he will be in Seattle, my home town, late in March signing his new book, "Flex."

Music opening once again from KMFDM, and closing once again from Mistle Thrush.

Episode 26: Dear Jesse

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Sometimes you just have to move the schedule up a tick to take advantage of current events. In Episode 26: Dear Jesse, I've decided to turn twenty-plus minutes of Attack Ads! into an open letter to Canadaland creator and host Jesse Brown in an attempt to plead the Attack Ads! case for creating a zero-ads environment for those that feel the need to create one for themselves. It's perfect timing, given his crowd-funding drive and the decisions about the future of his podcast and all that.



A wonderful cartoon that accompanied
J. C. McQuiston's Radio News article in 1922.

The content with both Herbert Hoover's comments and J. C. McQuiston's article from 1922 came from Tim Wu's book The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires (Random House, 2010, p. 74 for the Hoover quotes); I found Mr. McQuiston's article online. The later 1934 and 1935 quotes in connection with the Federal Communications Commission hearings also came from Mr. Wu's book, but can be found (in a poorly scanned OCR format, sadly) in a publication called "Education in Radio" from 1935.

Music over the '30s quotes comes from Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra doing "That's A'Plenty". Ga'an soon thereafter does "Living Tribunal."

Episode 25: Shifting That Window

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I feel the need to explain myself. Well, to explain myself in greater detail. I've already revealed that I suffer an irrational hatred of commercials. That was revealed way back in the first episode. In this Episode 25: Shifting That Window, I dive a bit into what I believe is most responsible for making both commercials effective, and for what makes protest of them also effective: our human tendency to socially conform to the opinions of our peers. Further, I do feel a need to note why outrageous statements of opinion can be effective, even necessary, to discussion and debate.



The first psychological phenomenon I will address is the Asch conformity experiment results. A later refinement of Asch using the basic methodology but including an fMRI scanner for a real-time look into how the subjects' brains were working was underdone in 2005.



Next, I take most of the episode describing as entertainingly as possible a phenomenon named for its founder, the Overton Window, where opinions can be shifted with a concentration of focus of a type rarely, for me, discussed openly enough. It is from this Overton Window practice that I attempt to justify my strategic use of hyperbole and the occasional outrageous statement.

Music in this episode: Omyiga, "Confirm Friend Request"; and a few snippets, one from The Color and the Sound's "Graves"; the other a very brief "Ha Ha Ha Ha" from the Bee Gees. Closer today again from Mistle Thrush.

Episode 24: Sponsored Discontent

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Pick up the news, or tune in. Whichever. Zoom in to the content; don't just read or hear it, but really, really delve into the message. Does any element seem out of place? In Episode 24, Sponsored Discontent, I review what has become one of the only ways modern commercial newspapers (especially the newspapers, since the crash of classifieds as a near-monopolistic funding source) have been able to pay for their continued publication: sponsored or branded content. Essentially, an interested party "helps" newspapers with the content of their, well, "news," those scare quotes becoming more and more relevant.

I read a bit from two books. The first, Robert W. McChesney's and John Nichols' The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again (First Nation Books, 2010, p 13); the second, Robert McChesney's Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is Turning The Internet Against Democracy (The New Press, 2013, p. 59).

I grabbed quite a bit of informative content from Episode 37 of Canadaland, where Jesse Brown interviews Matthew Ingram about the situation at one of Canada's most influential daily newspapers. What management is asking in contract negotiations might surprise!

We also hear from The Daily Show's Jason Jones in India with an equally surprising revelation about that country's newspaper system.

Music in this episode comes from Halloween doing "Making Evil" and Teleidofusion doing "Soft Illusion."

Episode 23: Apologies in Advance

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With the seasonal interruptions to our regularly scheduled lives, I bring you a quickie: Episode 23: Apologies In Advance. And what indiscretions deserve such a title? Listen on, and remember: you've been warned.

You see, I am not a fan of the vast array of commercialism that has attached itself to the calendar date of one of the more important religions' most holy of celebrations, metastasized and spread well beyond its calendrical bounds.

So, in this episode, I am going to vent quite harshly in Xmas' general direction.

In this episode you hear the Vince Guaraldi Trio doing "Skating," a selection from one of the only Xmas recordings I can still celebrate, let alone tolerate. You also hear a piece from Eric Idle of Monty Python fame ending the show. Idle wrote this piece on the road during his Greedy Bastard Tour, a concert road trip undertook in 2003. He describes its debut in Vancouver, BC, in his Greedy Bastard Diary; I quote:

At the end I said I'd like to try out a new piece John [Du Prez] and I had just written, and craved their patience for the world premiere of this new song. Well I could hardly get past the first line. John played a soft Christmassy 'Jingle Bells' intro. It was Bing Crosby time.

"Fuck Christmas," I began.

Well, I had to stop. The gales of laughter that greeted that line were overwhelming. We began again, more huge laughs. They screamed and cheered at every single line. At the end of verse one I had to stop them, they were applauding and yelling so hard. We managed to get through verse two to hysteria but the capper last two lines had them screaming. I have never witnessed anything like it. It was beyond gratifying. . . .

"Fuck Christmas" is going to be a legendary song, a perennial, played and sung wherever disgruntled shoppers gather in superheated malls.

(Eric Idle, The Greedy Bastard Diary, Harper Collins, 2005, pp. 246-247.)

Given the response Idle received, I doubt there is something unusual about voicing grievances about what the main holiday has become.

Oh, and remember the title of this episode when you hear me doing a bit of doggerel in three-part harmony. Sure, I could have had The Wife™ and a few members of her choir do the dirty deed; but I didn't. Let me know what you think of the piece (NOT what you think of the singing!); if the response is positive, I may just make that leap and have actual "singers"—ie. voices that do not deserve to be scare quoted—do a decent recording.

Episode 22: Attack of the Pharma Barbies!

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Behind the obvious advertising with which pharmaceutical companies flood our airwaves and clot our publications, there is a mostly-hidden cadre of sales representatives prowling our medical community and getting more directly in the faces of those entrusted with providing our health care. And they are, largely, quite . . . hot.

Episode 22: Attack of the Pharma Barbies! takes what few experiences I've had encountering this mostly buxom brigade of sales reps and distills them into some disturbing conclusions about how much money is devoted to product promotion. More importantly, where is the most likely source of that money?

In this episode, you hear Yours Truly mangling the genre of beat poetry in an obvious parody backed by Assif Tsahar and Tatsuya Nakatani's avant-garde jazz piece "Come Sunday." You also hear from Metastaz doing (appropriately enough) "Girl & Assassin" and Psychadelik Pedestrian doing "In Suspense." I close with an old favorite from Mistle Thrush.

Episode 21: From GIGO To MEGO

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With Episode 21: From GIGO To MEGO, I finally wrap up all this political economy non-sense and reveal what happens when assumptions—hiding ideological biases from even those who hold those assumptions—leak into the real world, causing otherwise intelligent people to make suggestions without realizing exactly how disastrous or horrendous those decisions might be. Why? Because they haven't been told the facts by those blinded by a history of denial and ideological assumption.

In the episode, we hear the suggestion so fraught with peril in the real world, one made seriously by journalists from Planet Money in their episode #543, "A World Without Banks." Both Ellen Brown from her podcast and the Bank of England from one of their videos give evidence to why in our reality-based world a world without banks would be calamitous without significant changes made first.

Non-music organ crap in the beginning from me, banging almost randomly on my keyboard with a simulated musical instrument. Music from et, "Don't Think Twice" and the "Don't Think Twice Reprise."

Episode 20: Non-Heterodox Scientificity

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Episode 20: Non-Heterodox Scientificity continues the primer on neoclassical economics, focusing on a few prime examples where the purity of the discipline was threatened, and on a few structural buffers that protect that orthodoxy from the heterodox threats that occasionally develop. I do hope this deep look at what happened in education in general and economic academic life in specific can be taken as I intend it, as a look at what lengths monied interests will go to protect their privileged positions in society, just as they do as advertisers to the media in which their ads appear.

I read from several books and online sources in this episode. In order of appearance, they are: Brian Czech, "Supply Shock", New Society Publishers, 2013, p. 54 and p. 79; A.C. Pigou, "Economics in Practice", Macmillan & Co., 1935, p. 2; Nassim Nicholas Taleb, "The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable", Random House, 2007, pp. 260-261, p. 270; Yves Smith, "EConned: How Unenlightened Self Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism", St. Martin's Press, 2010, p. 81; Steve Keen, "Debunking Economics: The Naked Emperor Dethroned?", Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, p. 163; the Last Will and Testament of Alfred Nobel (taken from the Official Nobel Prize Website); Ha-Joon Chang, "Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism", Bloomsbury Press, 2008, p. 154; and Thomas Piketty, "Capital in the Twenty-First Century", President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2014, p. 32.

You also heard from Richard Wolff being interviewed by Ellen H. Brown on the October 8, 2014 episode of her podcast "It's Our Money With Ellen Brown."

Music—in keeping with the gentle primer theme established in Episode 19—was exclusively Podington Bear. You hear "Black Eyed Susan," "Gentle Heart," "Really Real," and "Towl," all from the album Tender.

Episode 19: By George!

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If you thought the last episode, Interlocking Directorates of Control, was a departure from my usual rant on advertising, then strap in for more divergence from the norm! Today I present Part I of a primer concerning the history of economics as an academic discipline in Episode 19: By George! And just like the last episode, I feel the need to focus on how money and monied interests distort academic curricula in ways that suit the money more than the pursuit of Truth . . . whatever that might be.

In this episode, I read from Henry George's "Progress and Poverty", an 1879 book that had far more of an impact on policy here in the United States and abroad than most people realize. I also read from Mason Gaffney's extended investigation of George and those that rallied against him, "Neo-classical Economics as a Stratagem against Henry George". NB: The link takes the clicker to a PDF version of that work.

Music is more homogenous than usual: in keeping with the Primer Format, I chose four pieces from Podington Bear's album "Tender"—"Dreamliner," "Like Brigade," "Pink Blossoms," and "Wellness." His music so often evokes images of a children's music box and toys that I felt it keeping with the upbeat and direct Dick and Jane reading I (mostly) managed to maintain throughout the episode.

I opened with a scene from the too-short-lived cartoon version of "Dilbert," the scene where the pointy-haired boss causes a busload of nobel prize winners to die horribly in a bus/train collision. I hope to elucidate why I felt this was a good intro in Part II of this Primer.

Addendum: I do hope a reader can give me a hand. I realize I've been too assuming by putting a simple hot link to the episode only once on each episode page. I should put in something a bit more direct. Hence the "Play now!" at the top. I would like to have perhaps a flash player so those who wish could get it to play directly from their web browser, and perhaps a similar command to enable quick downloads; I am, though, technically proficient only to simply link the mp3.

If anyone out there can share a simple script along with instructions to install it on this Blogspot page, I would be ever so grateful.

Episode 18: Interlocking Directorates of Control

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Previously, in Episode 16: Fast Track Education, I confessed ignorance about how colleges and universities—at least the private institutions—were funded, let alone founded. Since then, yet another Upton "Uppie" Sinclair book has filled me in on at least some of the particulars. Episode 18: Interlocking Directorates of Control dives into a bit of the history of how private fortunes and money managers start and direct the daily dealings at prestigious universities…and how this monied involvement can exert a veto power over everything from casual conversation to curricula not friendly to monied involvement in daily life.

I read several passages from the informing book, Upton Sinclair's "The Goose-Step: A Study of American Education", self-published, 1923. (Though I included the excerpts in the show notes previously, I will here refrain. I have planned several future episodes with notes and excerpts copious enough to match a doctoral dissertation-length screen dump—without, of course, the thinking behind a doctoral dissertation. If you, Gentle Listener, would like these excerpts, please let me know, and I will craft a way to include them in the notes without taking up all of the available screen space. -Jim.)

Audio excerpts include a few standards from the 1974 Mel Brooks classic "Blazing Saddles." Music includes Jupiter Makes Me Scream performing "Here and Now," and the theme to the 1965 Mel Brooks/Buck Henry creation "Get Smart."

Episode 17: Liars, Honest and Otherwise

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Remember Mike Daisey? Remember in particular episode #454 of This American Life that caused such an explosion over subsequent accusations that Daisey was not "reporting" truthfully, accusations that manifested ultimately in an almost-unheard-of full episode of Official Denunciation of Mike Daisey by TAL? In Episode 17: Liars, Honest and Otherwise, I revisit the Daisey kerfuffle freshly informed of both reading I've done since that January, 2012 episode originally aired. What was completely ignored was the very recent creation of this supposed cornerstone of reportage: journalistic ethics. Why these ethics have only recently come to being might surprise!

I ran a bit of the Mercury Radio Theater's "War of the Worlds" at the beginning. In doing so, I have a much better idea, I think, about where the design for the slavering aliens in "The Simpsons" comes from.

Later, I play excerpts featuring Daisey. The first comes from Episode #432 of the C-Realm Podcast, "Origin Stories"; the second, Episode #1304 of Studio360, "Nikola Tesla: Strange Genius".

Also in this episode, I quote from Robert W. McChesney & John Nichols, Our Media, Not Theirs: The Democratic Struggle Against Corporate Media, Seven Stories Press, 2002, p. 63-64. Heck, why don't I share exactly what I quoted? I've got space to spare:

"Much of the problem with contemporary journalism is due to the codes of professional journalism that emerged a century ago, and that remain of paramount importance in understanding journalism today. Professional journalism was a revolutionary break with the idea that the journalism of a medium—usually a newspaper at that time—would and should invariably reflect the political viewpoints of the owner. Partisan journalism, the bread and butter of Jefferson, and Lincoln, could only be defended in an environment where there were competitive markets, and a wide range of opinion. In the highly concentrated newspaper markets that emerged by the twentieth century, partisan journalism appeared more like uncontested propaganda than anything else. In this environment, the large newspaper publishers pushed for professionalism. Their journalists would all be trained to be nonpartisan so the matter of who owned all the media and the lack of market competition were now irrelevant. As research has shown repeatedly, however, the professional code 'smuggled in' the political biases of the owners, but made them now appear as non-partisan even, objective truth."

I also quoted from Upton Sinclair's The Brass Check, self-published in 1920. Mr. Sinclair left the rights to The Brass Check open to the public; hence, the online version. Here's what I quoted from that book:

"Thirty years ago, advertising yielded less than half of the earnings of the daily newspapers. Today it yields at least two-thirds. In the larger dailies the receipts from advertisers are several times the receipts from the readers, in some cases constituting ninety percent of the total revenues. As the newspaper expands to eight, twelve, and sixteen pages, while the price sinks to three cents, two cents, one cent, the time comes when the advertisers support the newspaper."

(pp. 264-265.)

Bear in mind that Mr. Sinclair was quoting someone named Prof. Ross, reprinting what Prof. Ross published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1910.

Music for this episode comes first from the incidental music to the cartoon "Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har-Har". No reason. Next, Johnny Ripper's "Jean". I finish with Jahzzar's "Be Nice" backing the close.

Episode 16: Fast Track Education

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Episode 16: Fast Track Education is mostly a rant from an old man witnessing changes to the campus where he received his post-high school formal instruction. Against a backdrop of an old man ranting from his rocking chair against those kids on his lawn, we do have some interesting coincidences that tie the whole thing together with a focus on how sponsorship and egalitarianism might coincide in the field of higher education. Hint: It's just like the pressures that advertisers use on their sponsored media outlets; but it's more permanent.

Other than the Pomp and Circumstance March, we hear from Jahzzar's "The Wrong Way"–a perfect title to back the sentiments expressed— and et's "Kopeika".

Episode 15: When We Assume

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Most every aspect of our perception of the world around us hinges on assumptions. People tell us things, and we assume them to be true. Things happen. If they happen enough, a pattern may develop, at least in the mind of the perceiver. As long as the things that happen continue to follow the perceived pattern—or as long as the pattern perceiver fails to see instances where the pattern is lacking or downright broken—the assumptions about the pattern will hold.

Episode 15: When We Assume takes a brief look at what happens when reporters assume the experts they consult on our economy's patterns and functions are not questioned enough. Sometimes there are experts out there that can refute the experts with whom we are most familiar. And many times, nothing bad will happen as a result of holding these assumptions . . . that is, until something bad does happen.

Some assumptions can be found in the Planet Money episode "The Island Of Stone Money". I point out the assumptions, and provide assumptions of my own that refute those assumptions. It's an assumption-fest!

In this episode, I read excerpts from a few books. The first was from David Graeber's Debt: The First 5,000 Years, Melville House Printing, 2011. The passage can be found in the footnotes on pages 394-395.

The second, a passage from Silvio Gesell's The Natural Economic Order, can be found online.

The third is from Thomas H. Greco, Jr.'s The End of Money and the Future of Civilization, Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2009, on page 114.

Music today from Mudlark's "&" and The Freak Fandango Orchestra's "Requiem for a Fish."

Episode 14: Thwarting Disbelief

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Tired of bullshit? Well, then, you've come to the right podcast. I won't say I won't bullshit the listeners from time to time—in fact, I can't really claim that this podcast isn't complete bullshit all the time—but at least Attack Ads! recognizes that most advertising is bullshit.

And I'm not just saying that as a perjorative. I mean most ads are bullshit.

Episode 14: Thwarting Disbelief dives a bit into bullshit, that is to say, bullshit of two kinds. The first are beliefs that have no evidential basis in fact, but are held nonetheless. The second kind is the appeal we can make to the non-rational brain, using setting, tone and acting to trigger those social and emotional cues that drive a majority of our behavior. The problem arises, in my opinion, when the attempt to discredit and reveal the first kind of bullshit runs counter to the commercial attempt to use the second kind of bullshit to promote products and services. On commercial media, therefore, only the bullshit that pays gets to play.

The Skeptologists page is still up, though no show seems to be forthcoming . . . not surprising, given recent events.


The Biolator

My hearty thanks to Hanna, who provided much needed non-Jim voice talent on this episode.

Music includes (in order of appearance) Necromonikon Quartett, "Future"; Podington Bear, "Happiness Is;" and Mistle Thrush's "It's All Like Today" once again. I just like that last bit as a closer, I guess, so expect to hear it a few times more.

Episode 13: What's the Big Idea?

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Today's big idea, nicely described by Episode 13: What's the Big Idea?, is an idea of hope.

Instead of pulling the perpetual public media double deal—begging with one hand while the other works the commercial sector for ads to run, the same lack of adequate public-commercial separation I lamented in Episode 10: Defined by Absence—why not let the donors decide on how many ads they care to hear by allowing donations to offset ad revenue needs?

This hope is sadly dashed when one realizes how the plan could, well, succeed, which would pose an existential threat to those dependent upon selling ads. Still, it's a good starting plan, provided the public media currently locked into the ad contracts and/or obligations stop obfuscating the issue and address it head on . . . which, given On The Media's "Who's Gonna Pay For This Stuff?" episode ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

We hear in this episode some disco snippets, a bit of dialog from Ben Stein's most famous role, outtakes from the OTM episode listed above, and a bit of "Cyberstalker" from Psychadelik Pedestrian.

Oh, and lest I forget, a delicious selection from like-minded YouTube ranters, folks obviously completely in line with the main themes of this here podcast, graces and enhances your listening experience. There's (wait for it….) Thomas!, the dude calling himself doubleheader, a guy named douglas, The Angry Aussie, and . . . a notable other. Sadly, this other has been deleted (as far as I can tell) from the YT line-up. Perhaps the ranter deleted this himself. Given the content—the delicious, delicious content—I doubt it, but there seems to be no way to find out, sadly.

Episode 12: Care Through Correction

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Episode 12: Care Through Correction considers another way to regard the increasingly tabloid press we suffer today, a press that must concern itself more with grabbing eyeballs and earholes to appease its advertisers than it may concern itself with tenets of good journalism, touchstones like sobriety, verifiability, and—most of all—accuracy. Could it be that this increasingly unreliable press of ours is actually abrogating its responsibility not just to its audience, but to the society in which it operates? Can it be—with lurid and shallow reporting, with less and less concern about correcting past errors—failing in its implicit duty of care?

As Lord David Puttnam asks in his TED Talk, what happens when the media's priority is profit?

I made some corrections in this episode to Planet Money's Episode 524: Me and Mr. Jones. In the interest of holding myself to the standards I beg the media to re-embrace, check my checking yourself by heading over to Wikipedia and looking up both the Merchant Marine Act of 1924 (aka the Jones Act) and the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886. They are different. See for yourself!

Music by Psychadelik Pedestrian, "Pacific"; Springtide, "Little Pink Guitar (in that closet)"; and (of course!) Mistle Thrush.

Addendum, The Next Day: The quick and accurate ears of listener l33tminion note that 34 years separate the Passenger Vessel Services Act from the Jones Act, not 24 as I stated in the episode. I regret the error.