Podcast 263

Nashville. Live from a hotel room in Music City. White Line Fever. Over eating on Thanksgiving and not enough sleep finally pushes The Bob Davis Podcasts to splurge for a hotel room in the heart of Tennessee, after a speed run through the Blue Ridge Mountains, across the Smokies. (Editor’s Note: We checked with the General Manager and the expenses have been approved.) The next leg of the trip will be north through Southern Illinois. In the meantime, throughout the holiday news stories have been brewing but our minds have been on other concerns; Family. Football. Eating. Sleeping. As we return to the new work week what stories will be making headlines? It was odd to hear protesters shouting, “No Peace, No Justice and no more Black Fridays” this weekend since the Bob Davis Podcasts advocated boycotting Black Friday weeks before the current spate of protests erupted. But not for the same reasons. Expect all sorts of hype from the National Retailers about what a great year it was in spite of the madness. Early estimates indicate lower numbers this year, but don’t expect to hear that. Black Friday has become nothing more than an excuse for publicly traded retailers to hype their stocks before the end of the fourth quarter. As the new congress prepares to be sworn in (one more election; a run off in Louisiana), get ready for the media to really push the ‘Republicans are Obstructionists’ story line, with full cooperation from the White House. Is that how it will be? Expect changes in Democratic Party leadership, and perhaps some changes on the Republican side too. Meanwhile the ‘shakeup’ at the White House turns out to be cosmetic as President Obama dumps Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, but his inner circle remains untouched as predicted by The Bob Davis Podcasts. With ISIS grabbing headlines (stoning homosexuals and threatening to behead women tend to do that), Russia continues destabilizing the Ukraine. New concerns about Russian pressure of Latvia, Estonia and Finland concern EU leaders. What about that NATO ‘Quick Reaction Force’ announced at the G8 meeting this year? Turns out NATO does not have the equipment or the budget. And you wonder how European countries are able to provide such lavish benefits to their people; They’re not spending it on defense. The United States still stands as the primary defense for Europe, and this could make the Russia Story very big in 2015. New numbers released this weekend say that Minnesota’s voter turn out in the 2014 election cycle hit lows not seen since 1986. And still, Republicans were unable to win state-wide offices. Is it the party? The Candidates? Or the Voters? Finally, another polar vortex dropping temperatures in the Upper Midwest, as The Bob Davis Podcasts makes its way north. Sponsored by Depotstar. [Powerpress]

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Podcast 240

Media Fatigue. A voice mail from a friend sets a podcast about media in motion. ‘The Media’ occupies a big space in our society these days. Especially television. Especially the cable news networks. With people of a certain political persuasion, especially Fox News. At a recent political meeting, people were asked to raise their hands to answer three questions; How many attended a recent Basic Political Unit meeting (about ten), how many are precinct captains (about three), how many watch Fox News (everyone). Yes people are tired, frustrated, burned out, angry and confused, but they keep watching, and watching, and watching! Media is taking time away from citizen action to actually change things. What IS ‘The Media’? What effect does it have on society and individuals? Modern media has taken the space occupied by the fireside, by ceremony, by the shaman and priest. We think we are modern, but human nature hasn’t changed much. For all the things media does (entertain and inform), its primary purpose is to persuade. Print, radio, television and digital have different origins and textures, and are used for different reasons. Americans think they’re being informed but they’re being bombarded with emotional appeals, especially during elections. Reason and intellect are not in the media’s lexicon. We are ill served by poor reporting, story lines to keep people viewing and listening, and of course bias. There is nowhere to escape this constant stream of emotional persuasion, as long as you keep watching, hoping it will change. Are there times when television reaches high points? Absolutely. Does it happen very often. No. People have to learn to develop a strategy for what they watch, how they watch, and what they use the media for. (Editor’s Note: I counted 16 different things we can do and I list them in this podcast). People are constantly saying, ‘The mainstream media is biased, it has to change’. Why wait for the leopard to change its spots? Learn to use tools to watch, listen and read what you want, when you want it, how you want it. As things stand right now, media is making us more ignorant everyday. Expecting to BE informed from the mainstream cable news, talk radio and broadcast television, is a lost cause. Sponsored by Baklund R&D.

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