Episode 89: Gamers Gonna Game

Play Now!

Podcasting is not an up-to-date pursuit. Some listeners arrive when the sound files are freshly minted; others years later. For that reason, it's best not to confuse later listeners with DailyExcitement!™ from the past now long forgotten. And since the closing topic for The Powell Movement is now quite a bit in the DailyExcitement!™ infotainment engorgement trough, I thought I would back up a bit, and discuss here in Episode 89: Gamers Gonna Game, a topic crucial to understanding the process by which the Powell Movementeers have gained such prominence.

I quoted nothing, really, only just kinda sorta noted facts presented in the entertaining Mary Pilon book, The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game (Bloomsbury, 2015).

I also cut the closing segment very short. The body of the episode was recorded about a week and a half before the release date of Tuesday, October 17, 2017, simply to give me more time to visit with the out-of-town guests I mention in the show. Half-way through that visit, though, I fell ill with an as-of-yet undiagnosed embuggerance that left me bedridden for days on end, unable even, in one memorable case, to make it to the specialist that maybe had a chance of knowing enough for a diagnosis. (Pro-tip: when you're stuck in a waiting room, vomit loudly. You'll get whisked to more private places in no time!) I am feeling "better", meaning I can leave my bed; but I stumble about rather than walk, and type slowly so as not to anger the Annoyed Festerance making the opposite of eating all too common.

I did play: KMFDM backing Noam Chomsky mentioning the memo (thanks again, Kevin!); D. L. Myers intoning the series title; and Mistle Thrush at the close.

Just like the rest, this episode is being released under a Creative Commons 4.0, attribution, share-alike, and non-commercial license.

Now, if you'll excuse me, time once again for bed.

Episode 88: One of the Most Dangerous Pleasures

Play Now!

It may be that I've been doing this Powell Movement research too long. No matter what I read, what I hear, I can't help but place it in a Powell Memo frame, isolating those parts of whatever I'm hearing or reading at the moment that fail to pass the basic memo awareness tests. That's my chief gripe in this Episode 88: One of the Most Dangerous Pleasures. I take issue with an author who seems——perhaps deliberately, perhaps not——to ignore the Powell Movementeers in his reading of recent history.

In this episode, I quote: Barry Lynn's article printed in the Washington Post concerning his own firing; another Washington Post article on the topic; Daniel Drezner's book The Ideas Industry; and Jane Mayer's book Dark Money. I play the D. L. Myers stinger for the Powell Movement series, and a quote from President Ronald Reagan.

Music-wise, I play a Jahzzar tune, "sketch sos". I open with KMFDM this time backing Noam Chomsky mentioning the Powell Memo by name. (By the way, finders credit goes to listener Kevin for pointing me toward that Chomsky audio. Thanks again, Kevin!) I once again close the show with Mistle Thrush.

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

Episode 87: ALL Commercial News is Fake!

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

We've heard all about this phenomenon, but really, what constitutes that so-called "fake news?" That's the question I raise in this Episode 87: ALL Commercial News Is Fake!, suggesting that the answer can be found simply enough: wherever you find the most likely sources of the money that funds the news, you find as well the most likely source of fakery.

In this Episode I quote: my computer's quickie dictionary; yet again Robert McChesney and John Nichols' book, Death and Life of American Journalism; and a Bloomberg article about Steve Bannon from October 8, 2015, titled "This Man Is the Most Dangerous Political Operative in America." I referenced a This American Life episode which you can find here.

I play absolutely nobody (other than myself) saying the words "fake news." You're welcome.

I did wind up playing: Pietnaska's "Keymonica", and Jahzzar's "Little Chance." I open with D. L. Myers reading from The Memo Itself and KMFDM backing Henry Giroux, and I'm close, once again, with Mistle Thrush.

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

Episode 86: Wedgies of Mass Distraction

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

There are complexities, techniques, and nuances learned when you split wood for, oh, 40 years. It's not as simple as smashing an ax on some wood and have it cleave cleanly into smaller pieces. All too often, you've got to not only bring out the wedges, but know how to use them effectively.And, it turns out, splitting wood has quite a few traits in common with splitting electorates, with issues used as wedges.

That's the topic of this Episode 86: Wedgies of Mass Distraction. (And yes, that's "wedgies," as in the resulting uncomfortable underwear bunching that comes from someone pulling the undies up another's butt. You expect lofty analogies from someone that coined the term The Powell Movement?)

In this episode, I read from: my computer's dictionary; Kevin Kruse's book One Nation Under God; Dan Baum's Gun Guys; and Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson's Winner Take All Politics.

I play Jill Lepore observations, taken from her interview in the August 3rd, 2017 episode of On The Media, an episode titled "Smashmortion"; First Lady Betty Ford from 1975 giving her opinion on abortion's legalization (the audio taken from the same OTM episode); D. L. Myers reading from the Memo Itself; and Henry Giroux at the opening, backed by KMFDM. The Necronomikon Quartett played "Future 03" in the middle, and I closed the show with Mistle Thrush's "It's All Like Today".

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

(Oh, and one final note: No, I did not take the cookie analogy used in this episode from Season 3, Episode 7, of "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt." I know, I know, both of us mentioned the comparison between raisins and chocolate chips, and both associated that mention with Seattle. When I saw that episode, this episode of Attack Ads! was already recorded and mostly edited, so much so that including that bit of Kimmy Schmidt would have been a real pain. It's just a happy coincidence, nothing more.)

Episode 85: The Unfairwaves

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

It's bad enough that most radio is so chock filled with commercial interruptions that folks, like myself, find it unlistenable. Thanks to a late-80s rule change, however, one has to watch out for more than just paid crap between the featured show sneaking its influence into one's brain case via the hearing holes. That's the theme of today's Episode 85: The Unfairwaves.

In this episode, I read from: Mitchell Stephens' book Beyond News: The Future of Journalism; a Wikipedia article on the Fairness Doctrine; Eric Altermann's book What Liberal Media?: The Truth About Bias and the News; Robert McChesney and John Nichols' book Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America; McKay Coppins' book The Wilderness: Deep Inside the Republican Party's Combative, Contentious, Chaotic Quest to Take Back the White House; Politico articles "Who is Dave Brat?", "How Big Money failed Cantor", "Right-wing radio's win", and "The tea party radio network"; the Atlantic Magazine's article "Six Theories for Eric Cantor's Loss"; and the DailyKos article "Who is John Ga-er-David Brat".

Musically, I play three from Jahzarr; "Cavern," "Dip," and (quite appropriately) "Gloom." I open with KMFDM's "Attak" backing Henry Giroux, and close once again with Mistle Thrush.

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

Episode 84: Critical Mass Holes

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

Sometimes the conventional wisdom consists of nothing more than reasonable assumptions overlaid atop evidence that, without those assumptions, appears incongruous. Worse, because of those overlaid assumptions, we avoid looking more closely at those incongruities, at otherwise implied but obscured-by-assumption machinations lurking in the evidence.

That's what I do in this Episode 84: Critical Mass Holes. The assumed culprit hobbling the newspaper industry over the last 40 years has long been capitalism and the short-term profit incentive. I suggest otherwise. After all, short-term profits have long been an incentive; why have they only attacked newspaper productivity only recently?

For evidence, today I quoted three books: Robert McChesney and John Nichols' The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again (First Nation Books, 2010) Robert McChesney's Digital Disconnect (The New Press, 2013);" and Mitchell Stephen's Beyond News: The Future of Journalism (Columbia University Press, 2014).

Audio-wise, I sampled the voices of: David Simon, giving testimony before the Senate; Orson Welles in his role of the Citizen Charles Foster Kane, newspaper mogul; and Tony Randall playing Felix Unger from the television show "The Odd Couple." Since this is a Powell Movement episode, I also play the Memo Reading voice of D. L. Myers.

I kept the musical interludes to a minimum for this show, mostly because of the heat wave turning the Attack Ads studio into a toaster oven; but I had to open the show with the usual KMFDM samples from "Attak," today backed by Henry Giroux; and I'm close the show once again with Mistle Thrush's "It's All Like Today."

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

Bonus Episode: The Wedge Strategy

Play Now!

There are, I believe, a few select documents that, if known, reveal possible reasons behind actions that might otherwise go unappreciated or even unnoticed. I shared the first in my first podcast Bonus Episode. It is time to share the second. In this Bonus Episode: The Wedge Strategy, I read from the The Wedge Strategy, produced by the Discovery Institute's Center for the Renewal of Science & Culture.

In this episode, I read both from the Wedge Strategy document (PDF) and from the Wikipedia entry concerning it.

I also offer an apology early on to a listener, as of yet unidentified. I probably deleted a message that listener tried to give me. This accident—again, for which I am truly sorry—got me to pondering whether or not an online forum for listeners to connect should be created.

Episode 83: To The Perpentious!

Play Now!

Perpentious: (adj.) Considerate of the details
necessary to the success of an event or completion of a task.

Our English language is a mish-mashed mush of a stew with ingredients from so many different sources that it becomes a discipline in itself to guess from where that word or this might hail. I thought it necessary to reconstruct one such word, temporarily misplaced, and further thought it would be a neat idea to offer it and my search to you. Hence, the sentiment of my toast to you, Dear Listeners, and the title of Episode 83: To The Perpentious!

In this episode, I read from my Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary, and from my computer dictionary. I also read from a few searched web sites, and played an incorrect definition from some quiz thing that popped up in that search. Oh, and if anyone out there would like to plunk down some credit digits just to take a gander at the old newspapers and either confirm or deny whether the optical character scanner did its job properly, as I suspect it did not, that would be great! Be sure to grab a screen shot of whatever you find! I did!


The Problem with Column Conflation

I play three tunes from Podington Bear, first "Ideas," then "Gathering," and finally "Many Hands." I open the show with KMFDM backing Dmitri Orlov, and close with Julie and Rolf and the campfire gang doing a ukelele version of "Over The Rainbow."

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

Episode 82: Rave Review: Lexicon

Play Now!

Recordings can be persuasive, sometimes in ways that give us goosebumps. Persuasive, sure…. But what if what we hear or see can work on our brains far more effectively than we know?

In this Episode 82: Rave Review: Lexicon, I share a bit of speculation in that direction from Max Barry's excellent book, Lexicon. This sub-category of episode, the Rave Review, was something, as I explain in the episode, that I was going to revisit regularly when I couldn't think of anything else to do. Which, weirdly, almost never happened. From now on, I promise, I'm going to share reviews of more entertaining media which all hold advertising as a key element driving the plot.

I read a bit of detail from a Smithsonian article about recovering antique sound recording; and from Barry's book. From the Smithsonian piece, I play a bit of recovered audio.

Musically, I play Wurlitztraction's "Talk Riddles, Listen In Dreams," and Podington Bear's "Firefly." Bernie Sanders and KMFDM open the show, and I close with Mistle Thrush.

Episode 81: Pulpits, Bully and Otherwise

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

We constantly hear that the left—that is, the political left—is in trouble, beset by losses in stature and political support. No wonder, since most of the voices most often heard on the "left" come from operatives and functionaries co-opted by quite un-left forces. These voices prove unwilling to challenge the right with accurate definitions, lest they cede the prestige granted to them by the right itself. This creates in their utterances a hodgepodgey stammer of compromise to the forces of reaction in every attempt to champion progress, leaving befuddled listeners scratching their heads even as they nod in agreement.

I address that phenomenon a bit as a follow-up to my last episode in this Episode 81: Pulpits, Bully and Otherwise. Specifically, I call out New York Times columnist Paul Krugman for failing as a voice on the left in his lap-dogged determination to remain in the good graces of the very forces he should be targeting first and foremost, those operating and obfuscating our international money system. My friend calls me an example of the left's circular firing squad mentality; I counter that, in this case, compromising on the empirically verifiable reality of simple banking regulation does Krugman no favors, putting him in the same camp as climate change deniers and young earth creationists who take their positions in order to curry favor with the oligarchs funding the Foundations of Deceit and the Distortion Factories run thereby.

I read from various Paul Krugman New York Times columns, and from refuting information provided by Steve Keen's blog and book, Debunking Economics. I played audio quotes from: Michael Hudson, with definitional assistance from Walt McCree; Bernie Sanders, speaking at a gathering in Vermont; and Bernard Lietaer, recounting to a crowd of his own both the Fauxbel Prize awards system and an encounter he had with then-schoolmate Paul Krugman. A piece of angry wisdom from the cartoon version of Dilbert spiced things up a bit once again.

(Oh, and at the last minute, long after the end credits had already been recorded, I decided to throw in a bit of audio from a late-'70s cartoon mentioned by Michael Hudson. I apologize that this audio was not recognized in the list of credits.)

Musically, I played two from Jahzzar: first, "Intruder;" then "Undone." KMFDM backs Bernie Sanders in the opening, and I close with Mistle Thrush.

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

Episode 80: Textbook Examples

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

I have to keep reminding myself that, when I start a task of reading and dissecting, I should read and dissect ALL of it, not just the parts I think would be most interesting. Why? There's interesting stuff in those boring parts, if only I considered them enough. As it was with college speakers, so too is it the case with textbooks. Hence, Episode 80: Textbook Examples.

In this episode, I play excerpts from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan giving testimony to Congress from October 23, 2008, and from President Franklin Roosevelt's first inaugural address from March 4, 1933. I read from Steve Keen's excellent book Debunking Economics, and shared a couple of very similar quotes from Nathan Meyer Rothschild and Paul Samuelson. As usual, D. L. Myers opened the show reading from The Memo.

Through the show today I weave a Pietnastka tune appropriately called "School Boy". KMFDM backs Henry Giroux near the start, and I close with Mistle Thrush.

I'm releasing this and all my episodes under a Creative Commons 4.0 attribution, share-alike and non-commercial license. I don't say that every time. I should.

Episode 79: Provocateurs

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

Lewis Powell suggested that colleges and universities were too liberal for their own good, and that people, good people who believed in the enterprise system, should be brought to campus to speak. Today, the college speakers we hear about we hear about because of protests sometimes too violent to allow the speakers to speak safely.

In this Episode 79: Provocateurs, I suggest that inciting protests against the wing nut, wackaloon, cray cray, Holy Shit You've Got To Be Fucking Kidding Me, Nazi, Klan, Liberals Baaaaad brand of What the Fuck Was That?! speech might be the real reason speakers are chosen, rather than their simple support of the enterprise system.

I read from a few internet memes, summarize Upton Sinclair's 1923 book The Goose-Step, and quote a bit of David Brock's Blinded By The Right.

D. L. Myers intones Mr. Powell's memo excerpts at the opening, and Henry Giroux gives a few words with KMFDM's able "Attack" backing. I play a bit of the kerfuffle from a Middlebury College student protest over a speaking engagement by Charles Murray. Full Load of King plays "Envelope Infrared Part 3", and I close with Mistle Thrush.

Episode 78: A Quickie After Courting

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

Sometimes, reality can bitch-slap us right upside our heads with its patented Clue-By-Four™. Reality did that to me, but this time, it only showed how generous I was to the Powell Movementeers when I described their activities in my last Episode 77: Courting Disaster. This is a follow-up to that episode, wherein I let other voices tell you how bad things have gotten. And since it follows 77, and since it is quick, as in short in length of time, this is Episode 78: A Quickie After Courting.

The music of Ga'an, a five-minute piece called "I Of Infinite Forms Part I," backs the voices I've culled from the intertoobs. We hear (not necessarily in order of appearance): Bob Garfield, from an On The Media podcast extra, "Better Know a Justice" (dated March 25, 2017); Jeffrey Toobin, interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air's episode "How One Man Brought Justices Roberts, Alito And Gorsuch To The Supreme Court" (dated April 12, 2017); David Greene from NPR's Morning Edition interviewing Leonard Leo* ("What Comes Next for Neil Gorsuch," released April 5, 2017); Bob Garfield (again, I know) as heard in On The Media's episode "Highly Irregular"** (podcast dated March 25, 2017); Dan Goldberg, from his Counterspin interview (podcast dated March 25, 2017); NBC News, "Neil Gorsuch Confirmed Supreme Court After Senate Uses Nuclear Option;" a Wall St. Journal video, "Gorsuch Gets Campaign-Like Ad Push" (dated February 21, 2017); a US News video, "Judicial Crisis Network Releases Ad Supporting Neil Gorsuch for Supreme Court" (dated February 3, 2017); and a CNN piece, "Making America Great Neil Gorsuch" (dated April 4, 2017).

(As to the asterisks, I would encourage everyone to listen to the source material so marked, both the David Greene interview with, let's remember, THE key player in this drama, Leonard Leo, the man who vetted and listed Gorsuch and two other Supreme Court justices for Republican presidents. For David Greene to *NOT* acknowledge Leo's prominent role in Gorsuch's selection, and treat him just as an "advisor" to President Trump, is to take away for a good long time any claim he—or NPR—has as a "liberal" position or even liberal leaning. That was hiding the bias to the highest degree possible. And Bob Garfield's interview with director Carrie Severino of the Judicial Crisis Network should be heard to be properly hated. The snark, the smug, the "screw you, poor people" coming from her mug was almost as condescending Leo's supercilious and disingenuous tone.

(Y'know, fuck them both. I planned to put that tone in the quickie mash-up, but felt I would have to back pedal constantly to correct the taint of lies spewing from both their pie holes too much to keep the episode quick. Go. Have a listen for yourself. These bastards are outright bragging about their Destruction of Democracy.)

Episode 77: Courting Disaster

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

The wealthy fund the foundations, which publish the gobbledygook and bunkum, which helps support the pressures the foundations then level against the politicians, which defeats some legislation and introduces different ones. But what to do about those laws and regulations still on the books which make it hard to continue that process? Who can remove those unprofitable rules once and for all?

Leave that to the judiciary.

In this Episode 77: Courting Disaster, I touch a bit on judicial activism, or how some have used the courts to better the lives of and improve the industrial profitability of businesses owned by the wealthy.

In this episode, I read from Jane Mayer's Dark Money once again; portions of the Buckley dissent from Justices White and Marshall; and a Wikipedia entry concerning the Federalist Society. You also heard D. L. Myers reading from Lewis Powell's memo.

Musically, KMFDM's Attack backed Justice Stevens reading a portion of his dissent to the Citizens United Not Timid decision; through the middle of the show I worked in a Metastaz tune called "Ghost & Assassin"; and I closed the show with Mistle Thrush doing "It's All Like Today."

Episode 76: The Pros And Their Cons

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

So far, I've shared the fortunes amassed into foundations, and the gobbledygook, bunkum and distortions that bought. At what point, though, could we say with some degree of certainty that these investments started to bear fruit? I address that question in this Episode 76: The Pros and Their Cons.

In this episode, I read from a book by Jacob S. Hacker & Paul Pierson, Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer—And Turned Its Back on the Middle Class. I also read briefly from Lewis Powell's Memo, and had further memo reading help from the pitch-perfect voice talent of D. L. Myers.

I returned musically to the soundtrack of one of my favorite video games of all time, Total Annihilation. In order of play, you hear "Desolation," "Stealth," "Brutal Battle," and "Licking Wounds." I close the show with another Total Annihilation tune, "Where Am I?", and I open with KMFDM once again backing Henry Giroux.

Episode 75: Lower Education

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

Lewis Powell, Jr. was adamant that his United States and its enterprise system, business culture, capitalism, call it what you will, was under assault. He was most explicit, though, about the primary source of that assault: academia. I explore a portion of what he recommended—and what was done in his name—in this Episode 75: Lower Education.

In this episode, I read a bit from The Memorandum and extensively from Jane Mayer's Dark Money. D. L. Myers also reads from The Memo. I play Ga'an's "Vultures of the Horn," and "Part III" from Jahzzar's album, Moonxine. A new Henry Giroux/KMFDM intro opens the show. Mistle Thrush closes it.

Addendum: In this episode, there is a brief stretch where I pull out the dictionary, it would seem, and run through a bunch of big words like "obfuscatory" and "chicanery." I'd like here to defend myself. I was talking about how the Distortion Factories, well, distort. And one of the best ways to distort is to sound like you are an expert in the topic, and to prove it you use big words like "obfuscatory." I was quite deliberately trying to sound like they sound, these producers of university-bound curricula designed to warp young minds positively in the direction of Big Business.

This is something you can do as well!

One of the words I think everyone should know, and one that I used, was:

Sesquipedalian: long words.

That is a brilliant word from the 17th century, reportedly made up by some college wit long forgotten. Break down the Latin, and it literally means "words a foot-and-a-half long:" Sesqui = "one and a half," like sesquicentential, or the one hundred fiftieth anniversary; pedal, meaning foot. In context, I referred to "sesquipedalian chicanery;" chicanes are curves and obstacles in road race courses. Therefore, the term refers to phrases using big words to obstruct understanding of what is actually being said! It is literal irony, in that the accuser blasts the accused of using big words ... by using big words!

Episode 74: Bunkum

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

One bit of claptrap, as I pointed out in my last episode, can be called gobbledygook. The same can be said for one bit of bunk, true; but I'd like to expand the meaning of the word just a bit to refer to the coordinated fraud in its entirety that takes place in perpetrating falsehood for profit in this Episode 74: Bunkum.

In this episode, you'll hear me reading from a Wikipedia article on bunkum; from Upton Sinclair's books The Goose Step and The World's End Vol. 1; and from Joshua Green's October 8, 2015 Bloomberg article called "This Man Is the Most Dangerous Political Operative in America". I excerpted Mr. Green talking about his article from his On The Media interview with BG Brooke; and a bit from a December, 1953 radio episode of Dragnet called "The Big Pick." I once again got voice help from D. L. Myers reading Mr. Powell's Memo.

Musically, I played Jahzzar doing "Trap" and Podington Bear doing "Dark Water." I opened with KMFDM and Henry Giroux, and closed with Mistle Thrush's "It's All Like Today."

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

Episode 73: Gobbledygook

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

Soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell, Jr. was very explicit: "One finds almost no attractive, well-written paperbacks or pamphlets on 'our side.' It will be difficult to compete … for reader attention, but unless the effort is made — on a large enough scale and with appropriate imagination to assure some success — this opportunity for educating the public will be irretrievably lost…." Which explains the abundance of books that support the right of the political spectrum, doesn't it?

In this Episode 73: Gobbledygook, I rehash a book review I wrote years ago for my neighbor's magazine and take a deepish dive into one such book and explore the history behind the word I chose to use to define it and others of that category.

In this episode, you hear D. L. Myers reading from The Memo Itself. I read from the Maverick Family's objection to John McCain's appropriation of their family name as a campaign slogan, and from Governor Mike Huckabee's 2014 book God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy. Yup. Mike. Huckabee.

I play four tunes from Podington Bear: "Bumble," "Dog and Pony Show," "Transmogrify," and "Conveyor Belt." I open the show with KMFDM backing Henry Giroux once again, and close with Mistle Thrush's "It's All Like Today."

Episode 72: The Distortion Factories Part II

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

Once a bunch of extremely rich people heard the organizing call from Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr.; once their fortunes established philanthropic foundations professionally staffed with the best money could hire; what happened then? This is the topic I explore in Episode 72: The Distortion Factories Part II.

Here I finish my deep dive into what I think is a good example of such a Distortion Factory, one that suckered me in back in '90 or so: The Breakthrough Institute.

(Cards on the table yet again: I am neither pro- nor anti-nuke: I feel there are a lot of promising technologies one can find that happen to function through nuclear fission; I also recognize that there are a lot of bad designs that should be retired and scrapped as soon as possible. The Breakthrough Institute initially got me interested in its brash rejection of traditional "environmentalism" and, yes, its embrace of nuclear tech. They lost me with their convoluted logic and embrace of *all* things nuke. Once I learned about distributed generation—the very antithesis of centralized nuke plants feeding a hub-shaped power grid—I started to realize how business-centric the Breakthrough Institute really was.)

In this part, you heard me read from the website for Third Way, and from Jane Mayer's Dark Money. I played a bit from Michael Shellenberger's TED talk. Musically, you heard Jahzzar's "Liar" (I cut it into segments, playing the first half twice, and you're hearing the end of it now), and another song called "FO." (Please, oh please, let that stand for Fuck Off!) Once again, D.L. Myers helped out with his voice reading the spooky, spooky Memo Itself. I opened the show with KMFDM backing Henry Giroux.

Episode 71: The Distortion Factories Part I

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

Once a bunch of extremely rich people heard the organizing call from Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr.; once their fortunes established philanthropic foundations professionally staffed with the best money could hire; what happened then? This is the topic I explore in Episode 71: The Distortion Factories Part I.

I decided to dive deeply into what I think is a good example of such a Distortion Factory, one that suckered me in back in '90 or so: The Breakthrough Institute.

(Cards on the table: I am neither pro- nor anti-nuke: I feel there are a lot of promising technologies one can find that happen to function through nuclear fission; I also recognize that there are a lot of bad designs that should be retired and scrapped as soon as possible. The Breakthrough Institute initially got me interested in its brash rejection of traditional "environmentalism" and, yes, its embrace of nuclear tech. They lost me with their convoluted logic and embrace of *all* things nuke. Once I learned about distributed generation—the very antithesis of centralized nuke plants feeding a hub-shaped power grid—I started to realize how business-centric the Breakthrough Institute really was.)

In this episode, I read from: the Breakthrough Institute's premiere piece, "The Death of Environmentalism;" from the Breakthrough Institute's web site listing their sponsors; and from a couple of web sites run by those supporters and supporting organizations. One supporter, Ross Koningstein, who works for The Searchies, had an interesting paper that I both read from an, with help from a rebutting essay, rebut.

Musically, I played a couple of pieces from Jahzzar's album "Tumbling Dishes Like Old-Man's Wishes"; "The Flowers Are Still Standing," and "No End Ave." I opened the show with KMFDM backing Henry Giroux.

Episode 70: Foundations of Deceit

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

Why reinvent the wheel? If it's round, it rolls. And the legal entity chosen by many previously discussed Unusual Suspects, the legal format that has benefited many a billionaire and corporation over the years whether or not they had Powell-y machinations of society in mind, has been the philanthropic foundation. Many not only rolled with foundations… they rocked them.

In this Episode 70: Foundations of Deceit, I take a longish look at how billions of dollars are protected from taxation and other liberal meddling, while simultaneously allowing those billions to warp our society one foundation at a time.

In this episode, I read from Thomas Picketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century, and from Jane Mayer's Dark Money. I also threw out some historical numbers I found on a website run by The Tax Foundation.

And once again, D. L. Myers helped me out by reading from The Memo Itself. He is a poet and reader of weird poetry. Many of his readings, both of his own poetry and the work of others, can be found at his online video channel.

Musically, I threw in three from Podington Bear's album Yearning. In order, you heard "Infant," "Yellow Line," and "Squiggly Line." KMFDM and Henry Giroux opened the show, and Mistle Thrush once again backs the close.

Oh, and Dr. Evil got into the episode somehow. He seemed (Jim extends a pinkie to one corner of his lip as the camera zooms in) appropriate!

Episode 69: Improvements That Ain't

Play Now!

Sometimes, you've just gotta rant.

As well anyone who regularly reads these show notes in the pursuit of the show or in search of links hinted at on the show, I've had problems of late getting my links to work. That problem is solved, thanks once again to L33t Minion. But the problem came from an unexpected corner of reality, one on which I rant, once again unscripted, in this Episode 69: Improvements That Ain't. I like to think that behind a very silly rant, there lies a societal blind spot, one comfortably occupied by, of all things, the reason many don't question advertising.

In this episode, I don't play much. I open with KMFDM and Mark Blyth, and close with the Vince Guiraldi Trio doing the seasonal "Skating." Playing music from the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, and releasing this episode on December 25, are indications of a gift for you! I hope you accept it as such.

Episode 68: The Unusual Suspects

Play Now!

(This episode is part of the series The Powell Movement.)

We know that Lewis Powell, Jr. wrote his memo. But do we know who read it? It turns out several were influenced by that work enough to do work of their own, transforming their fortunes into an effort to push back at that warned-of creeping tide of liberalism supposedly washing against the bulwarks of the free enterprise system. In this Episode 68: The Unusual Suspects, I'll share a few names; some, sadly, will become all the more familiar in coming years.

In this episode, the first of the Powell Movement series, I read from David Brock's Blinded by the Right, and from Jane Mayer's Dark Money.

I also mentioned some claims of fascist tendencies in the episode: this website contains the images and needed explanation of them. The page should dispel any nostalgia for the more than recent past some may hold. (NB: It seems my memory of the exact details of both Henry Ford’s publications and the award he received in his office from Germany, while technically accurate, were nevertheless a bit muddled; I regret the errors.)

Voice-wise, I managed to coax some quite able voice talent into reading throughout this upcoming series from the Memo itself. D. L. Myers is a poet and reader of weird poetry, one who impressed me with his ability to intone the dire and woeful. Many of his readings, both of his own poetry and the work of others, can be found at his online video channel.

Musically, I dove into the unusual suspects with a tune from Jupiter Makes Me Scream entitled appropriately enough, "Dive Into." I opened with a new intro backed by KMFDM, this one voiced by Henry Giroux. The Henry Giroux interview with Bill Moyers is well worth the looksie/listen.

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

Julie and Rolf lead a campfire rendition of "Over the Rainbow" at the close.

Episode 67: Two Paths You Can Go By

Play Now!

Oh, where would I be without listener feedback? This Episode 67: Two Paths You Can Go By, is a lengthy explanation to longest-time listener L33t Minion about why I used the language I used in that episode. I had to give a little spoiler explanation, given the weirdness that beset the entire United States of America two weeks prior to this episode's release.

As part of that spoiler, I excerpted segments of David Daley, author of Ratfucked: The True Story Behind the Secret Plan to Steal America's Democracy from an interview about the book he gave for a show called This Is Hell. I also played several snippets of "Stairway to Heaven" covers. From start to finish, they include: Rodrigo y Gabriela, The Beatnix, Pat Boone, Dolly Parton, and Frank Zappa.

I opened the show with KMFDM backing Mark Blyth, and closed with Mistle Thrush.

Episode 66: Something Happened

Play Now!

(This episode is the introduction to the series The Powell Movement.)

Ah, formative moments! Those instances of circumstance that try the soul into reconsideration! In this Episode 66: Something Happened, I look into the before and after life of one of the most influential people in American history, and give due weight to the confluence of circumstance that drove him to his own formative moment.

On this episode you hear quite a bit of me reading from Robert W. McChesney and John Nichol's Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America (Nation Books, 2013), and a bit from Jane Mayer's Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right (Random House, 2016). You'll hear more from both of those books in future episodes, I can assure you. I play oral arguments and decision excerpts from the Supreme Court's Buckley v. Valeo case, and Justice John Paul Stevens' oral summation of dissent from 2010's Citizens United, Not Timid*, backed by KMFDM.

Musically, I play a bunch of tunes from Podington Bear’s album Yearning, first "Delphi," then "Clouds Pass Softly Deux," then "Small Bummer," and finally "Rarified." I close the show with Mistle Thrush. There were also more than a few cigarette commercial jingles I found addictive enough to play, but I felt it would be unfair to the makers of this shit to simply play it, er, straight.

*Seriously, if more people insisted on noting the original title for the Hillary Clinton attack group made famous by the decision that bears its name, fewer, I think, would give the group the credence they hardly deserve.

Episode 65: The Commodified Assets of Others

Play Now!

Just ahead we have in this here nation a presidential election, and a hum-dinger by all accounts. I'm not here to play favorites, since mine have already been tossed to the wayside. I am concerned, though, in this here Episode 65: The Commodified Assets of Others of topics that seem never to be considered by your usual gang of reportage professionals, namely, that we blithely discard key points of self-identfication that no one who has ever lived in actual police states would so casually offer simply for the "privilege" of mere "free" "social media."

No fancy quoting in this episode. You hear only myself a bit peeved at the insistence that I view commercials. I even go off-course without a prepared script to temper the rage.

Episode 64: Spitballing Utopia

Play Now!

It's not enough to wish things were better, is it? To make things better, it helps to do some planning. In this, Episode 64: Spitballing Utopia, I share and glom onto solutions for newspaper revival and revitalization that allow public inputs without compromising the private ownership of papers.

In this episode, I (of course!) read from Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols' The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again (First Nation Books, 2010).

Musically, you heard from Graham Bole doing "We Are One," and Jahzzar doing "Ads" (how great a title is that?!). You also hear KMFDM with Bruce Livesy, and Julie and Rolf getting the gang "Over The Rainbow" ukelele-style.

Episode 63: You REALLY Didn't Build That!

Play Now!

Should our news ecosystem be reserved to the wilds of the "market?" Not only should it not, it never really has been. There are quite a few government investments, subsidies, and protections for news dispersal agencies to allow anyone to claim these outlets exist in a "free" market. That is what I argue in this, Episode 63, You REALLY Didn't Build That! Once we get that delusion debunked, we can move on to solutions involving government tweaks and policies that fix the problem of failing news.

On this episode I read once again from Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols' excellent book, The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again (First Nation Books, 2010). One more intense dive into that book and I should be able to move on to other books, I promise. I played President Obama on the 2008 campaign trail, and the right-wing reaction to his words from various Faux Newsies and candidate Mitt Romney. A sound that proves more influential than Mr. Romney, I also played a toaster popping.

Musically, I play two from Jahzzar, first "Liar," and then "Origins." Tenacious D's "The Government Totally Sucks" (from "The Pick of Destiny" soundtrack) made a worthy stinger. As usual, I opened with KMFDM's "Attack", this time with Bruce Livesy, and closed with Mistle Thrush’s "It's All Like Today."

Episode 62: No News Is Bad News

Play Now!

You've heard me touting the news that news is dead, or at least dying. Here's a question: What has that got to advertising? Maybe, everything. In this Episode 62: No News Is Bad News, I trot out evidence that things are much, much more dire than, well, the news is ready to admit, and that not doing anything might be the most disastrous move ever.

On this episode, you'll hear me read from two books by Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols; a bit came from Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America (Nation Books, 2013); most from The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again (Nation Books, 2010, where I also found the quotes from Finlay Peter Dunne, James Madison, and Thomas Paine). I also threw in a couple quoted snippets from Robert McChesney's book Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is Turning The Internet Against Democracy (The New Press, 2013).

Podington Bear's album Pensive provided all the appropriately downbeat incidental music. From that album you heard, in order, "Down Day," "Little Black Cloud," and "Lonesome." Since I mentioned the On The Media BGs, I had to play a "Staying Alive" stinger a couple of times as well. Bruce Livesy and KMFDM opened the show, and Mistle Thrush closed with "It's All Like Today."

Episode 61: The Sons of Omission

Play Now!

When we hear folks say that "objectivity is impossible," what do they mean? In the most basic sense, it proves impossible to sort what is and what is not important without assigning a subjective judgment to everything being reported. When 100 things can be mentioned, and the reporter chooses to mention only 99 of them, objectivity goes bye-bye. I explore this tendency for certain stuff to get unmentioned (and, in some cases, why) in Episode 61: The Sons of Omission.

In this episode, I read from: Will Irwin's 1911 article, "The Advertising Influence" (something I found in a collection called "Our Unfree Press: 100 Years of Radical Media Criticism," edited by Robert McChesney and Ben Scott); two books by Upton Sinclair, including "The Brass Check" (1920, self-published) and "I, Candidate for Governor, and How I Got Licked" (1934); Greg Mitchell's "The Campaign of the Century: Upton Sinclair's Race for Governor of California and the Birth of Media Politics" (Random House, 1992); and Andrew Blechman's "Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias" (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2008).

Musically, I played: Jahzzar doing "Circles;" Lee Rosevere doing "Gimmicks Three;" and that campfire singing of "Under the Rainbow" led by my friends Julie and Rolf. Also, KMFDMM's "Attack" opens the show with Jan Wong's observation about limitations reporters face.

Episode 60: Lies, Bullshit, and Journalism

Play Now!

Humans are ingenuity machines. They like to define things ingeniously, but sometimes for less-than-noble purposes. Or they consider their definitional motives noble, when they aren't.

In Episode 60: Lies, Bullshit, and Journalism, I explore a few new definitions for an old tradition: bullshitting. You can call it "analysis;" you can call it "wisdom;" but sometimes the general term "bull shit" works best. In fact, whereas "wisdom" and "analysis" are terms only applicable based on the quality inherent in the brain droppings being so defined, "bullshit" has the benefit of accurately describing the act of interpretation no matter what the quality might be.

In this episode, I read from "Tweet All About It: From 'user-generated content' to political screeds, the future of news happens to look a lot like the past" by Clive Thompson, an article published in the May, 2016 "Smithsonian" magazine; from Mitchell Stephens' "Beyond News: The Future of Journalism" (Columbia University Press, 2014); and from Robert McChesney's "Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is Turning The Internet Against Democracy." (The New Press, 2013).

I played an excerpt or two from an On The Media Podcast extra titled "How the 'Fake News' Gets Made" where Brooke Gladstone interviews writers from a few of the fake news comedy shows, including one Daniel Radosh, whose observation about bullshit ends this episode. I also trot out the "Making America 'Great' Again!" stinger, with the "great" graciously voiced by C-Realm host KMO.

Musically, I included two tunes from Dumbo Gets Mad, first "Sleeping Over", then "Limbos Village"; one from Podington Bear, "Tuxes"; and my friends singing around the campfire. Julie has the voice. Her husband Rolf shreds on the ukelele. KMFDM backing Tim Bousquet's declaration about the need for journalists to be assholes provides the intro tuneage.

Episode 59: Mea Culpa

Play Now!

To err is human, amirite? In this, Episode 59: Mea Culpa, I'm not seeking forgiveness. I know I make mistakes. I've made them before, and I'm sure I will continue to make them. Here, though, I do—for a very specific reason which will become apparent instantly to long-time listeners—feel the need to correct the record lest I be accused not-journalism. Even though, I know, I'm not a journalist.



Trust me. There's a reason for this.

Today, I read from Tim Wu's "The Master Switch" once again; and from Rose George's "The Big Necessity," the best book about the complexities involved in the systems and traditions tied to relieving oneself I have ever read. Shit can be hard, it turns out.

Musically, KMFDM and Mistle Thrush ably open and close this episode.

Episode 58: Warring Assumptions

Play Now!

In this Episode 58: Warring Assumptions, I look briefly into a topic I haven't covered in a bit lately: commercials and how to avoid them. Specifically I look at developments in commercial-nuking technology; the lawsuits and corporate decisions that kept the best tech from emerging when it was first developed; and the later realizations that allowed it to (in a limited way) finally become available to the viewing and listening public. In the end I manage to Godwin the whole thing, tying corporate decision making to an element that inadvertently hamstrung the fight against Adolf Hitler himself.

My sources for this episode include: Tim Wu's book, "The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires" (Random House, 2010, pp. 184-186); Richard Strauss' "Also Thus Spake Zarathustra;" Orson Welles introducing the 1939 Mercury Theater production of "War of the Worlds;" and Visciera's "Coming Back." I open with Dmitri Orlov backed by KMFDM's "Attack," and close with Mistle Thrush's "It's All Like Today."

Episode 57: Cucumber Monkeys

Play Now!

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

Play Now!

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

Play Now!

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

Play Now!

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

Play Now!

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?

Play Now!

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

Play Now!

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!

Play Now!

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

Play Now!

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?

Play Now!

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

Play Now!

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

Play Now!

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

Play Now!

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

Play Now!

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

Play Now!

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

Play Now!

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.