Podcast 488

Sick Of Politics. Yeah. Sorry. Sick Of Politics. I’m not the only one. When it’s above 70 degrees and sunny for an entire weekend in the upper midwest, no one wants to talk about whether or not the delegate selection process in Georgia and Colorado is messed up. In Minnesota and Wisconsin, people headed up to the lake to put the dock in, raked their lawns, washed their cars, sat on the deck blinking in the sun, and were amazed, tantalized and thrilled with late May weather in Mid April. I certainly remember mid April tax return mailings when it was snowing, or 30 degrees and raining. Aside from the ‘bring on more of this global warming’ jokes, it is pretty amazing to be able to get a sunburn around here at this time of year. Meanwhile, the cable news jockeys continue to drone away about what this one said about that one, whether the primary process should be scrapped for something else – don’t ask – and how the byzantine ‘state delegate selection process’ is flawed, as though anyone ever gave a damn before this ridiculous election cycle. God! Bring back the smoke filled rooms, cigar chomping, pinkie ring wearing, bourbon drinking ‘operators’. What would happen if we woke up tomorrow and suddenly there wasn’t anymore 24 hour cable news, talk radio, Facebook or Twitter? What would we think about? Is it possible we might discover what we have been thinking about below the crust of all this 24 hour news cycle generated angst and frustration? How would that sit with you? What do you think about when you’re not receiving or transmitting? A late night live podcast from the deck of the broadcast bunker, complete with planes, sirens and a very large mosquito. Mosquito’s already? And so it begins. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and Hydrus Performance.

Podcast 476

No Trump. No Trump in this podcast because it is a Trump Free Zone. Time to tackle something fun! The End Of The World. Lately, everyone seems to wonder ‘what’s going on’? The answer is usually some form of ‘the end of the world’. Aliens, Planet X, Comets, Global Warming, Famine, Disease, and General Weirdness. You name it, someone thinks that’s causing the end of the world. There’s a definitive answer for the question, is the world ending? Yes. The world is ending. The world you grew up in, regardless of your age, is slowly ending. For some, the specter of a new time, with new demographics, new ideas, and new tools is too frightening. So, the bogeyman in the closet takes many forms. Now, these days we do face a number of challenges; Economic, social, political and personal. At the same time, some of the institutions created in this country decades ago to deal with problems current at the time, are crumbling. This is inevitable. The question is how we deal with this change. Do we run from it? Stick our fingers in our ears and demand that no one discuss it? Retreat into endless discussions of conspiracy theory, the arrival of some rogue planet, and alien bases on the dark side of the moon? Or do we get all hands on deck, trim the sales, and get ready for the storm. Yes the world has changed. Some things that were great are gone. Some things that are great have arrived. A great age is upon this country and this world. Some of the changes will be very positive. Some changes will be very negative. Either way, it is coming and it cannot be avoided. It’s time to turn off the cable news shows, let the election proceed, and start examining what we think about, how we think, and how we greet each new day, sometimes referred to as ‘the future’. You can be afraid and run from reality, or you can take it head on. Which one do you prefer? Sponsored by Brush Studio and Hydrus.

Podcast 385

The Pope and The Media Circus. After a long trip home from the East Coast in the Mobile Podcast Command Unit, it’s time for a full stereo podcast from just outside the Broadcast Bunker, on the flat, by a real fire, back in Minnesota. Sometimes getting you ready for the coming week is a tall order, especially when it comes to the ‘borg’; the modern media machine. Will the new technology revolution – and it is coming – disrupt institutions that have existed for generations? Government, and religion, all seem to have become cloying media whores, looking to make one more lurid statement so they can get another story written for the Daily Beast, or get on CNN, or get some kind coverage for something…anything to stay relevant. Here comes the Pope all tarted up, to condemn capitalism and the ‘filth’ in the world. Of course the reaction is already classified as right wing or left wing, in tweets, on FaceBook and any number of shout-fests, roundtable gabs, and table pounding orations. If there is one takeaway from the recent trip through the American Southeastern Coast, including Washington DC, and from a trip earlier this spring to the West Coast, its seems like the people in this country are living their lives in spite of the constant chatter. Is it possible that our government and other institutions are becoming irrelevant, thus their leaders struggle more and more to be heard, by making one lurid statement after another? The media, and the politician, even when he is a ‘man of the cloth’ have become all one thing, feeding on each other, feathering their own nests and advancing no one else’s fortune but their own. All of them busting into our living rooms, cars and onto our phones with their incessant nonsense. Most of the time we spend our time just trying to get out of the way, hoping whatever international initiative, legislation or some nonsense laden bill sponsored by a publicity hungry politician doesn’t ruin our business, our town, our life or the lives of someone we love. Sometimes you find yourself wishing they would just shut up. You know, maybe we need a new holiday in America. How about Dead Air Day. All the stations go dark, all the politicians shut up, and all the media whores take a day off, including and especially the Pope. Oh wait! That would mean passing another law. Never mind! On the longest day of the year, and the shortest night. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing of Saint Paul