Podcast 498

In Digital Media It’s All News. A tour through YouTube videos that predict the end of the world, a collision with a massive planet on a 3200 year elliptical orbit through our solar system, a massive conspiracy that includes mind controlling top entertainers like Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Coldplay and Kei$ha, FEMA camps and Walmart, and much much more. More of us get our news from videos on FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube on their smart phones everyday. As our devices get more and more powerful and sophisticated, digital media grows in reach and importance. Conspiracy theory videos some might think are ridiculous get millions of views. As we act more and more like tribes, we derive our information from sources our tribe approves of, sharing facts with only those in our ‘newsfeed’, or our list of friends, our tribes. In Digital Media It’s All News. With so many people watching it all, can our subconscious minds tell the difference between media designed to manipulate and media designed to give us facts? Do we have the discernment necessary to understand facts and context? What is the difference between the ‘real’ news and a conspiracy video on YouTube. Sometimes the videos on YouTube are done just as well. What is the difference between CNN and Fox and RT? Or InfoWars? Or a blogger you like. What prevents the kind of political action that solves problems. What happens when you go against your tribe? Are fear and ignorance driving the country, politically. You can’t stop it. No law passed will turn it off. We’re going to have to go through it, and somehow maybe learn the art of discernment. Meanwhile, gotta get back to the video about this planet coming it on the outer edge of our solar system. It’s gonna wreck everything. Sponsored by Hydrus Performance and Brush Studio in the West End, Saint Louis Park, Minnesota.

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Podcast 494

Surprises. In an early spring shocker, Senator Ted Cruz suspends his campaign after losing the Indiana Republican Presidential Preference Primary to New Yorker Donald Trump. On the democrat side, Bernie Sanders bested Hillary Clinton in the Hoosier State Democratic Primary. The story of the week, however, is the shocking suspension of the Ted Cruz campaign. Surprises. Cruz supporters were preparing for a contested republican convention. Though stories appeared late last week suggesting — off the record of course — Cruz campaign officials were ‘demoralized’ due to polls showing at least double digit leads in Indiana for Trump, the Senator’s introduction of Californian Carly Fiorina as his ‘running mate’ would suggest the campaign was still thinking about the Golden State and its hundred plus delegates as late as two weeks ago. Media story lines have now shifted to the ‘inevitability’ of a Trump nomination, or that Trump is the ‘presumptive’ nominee for the GOP. These kinds of over reactions to Trump’s Indiana win are to be expected in a self serving Media, but it’s still premature. Certainly one cannot predict the future. While it’s true that Trump’s path to the nomination is clearer in the remaining state primaries, with the absence of Cruz, the actual delegate count in Cleveland remains to be determined. It would be unwise for the Trump campaign or the media to count the republican establishment out. Down? Yes. But not out. Surprises. Then there is the question of what happened to Cruz? Are self identifying ‘conservatives’ finally settling on Trump, as opposed to Cruz? Was it a mistake for Cruz to encourage talk show hosts to campaign with him and were all the fasts, comparisons to George Washington and religious exhortations a turn off for some? And, what about the #nevertrump crowd? Looks like another talk-show-blogger-host effort that failed miserably. Finally, to get a real sense of the surprise inside the Cruz campaign after tonight’s bombshell, we talk to one of the campaign’s state coordinators, Mandy Benz. A tough night for someone who has worked very hard for her candidate and what she believed in, which deserves respect regardless of your political views. (Editor’s Note: Late breaking news, rumors that John Kasich is out, and the RNC is supporting Donald Trump as the presumptive nominee. This changes the picture regarding Trump’s delegate count in upcoming primaries.)Sponsored by Hydrus Performance and Brush Studio in the West End, Saint Louis Park, Minnesota.

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Podcast 492

Dramatic Distractions. Had a conversation with a friend awhile back and he said, “All these people and they’re shows. They’re asleep”. Didn’t think too much about it for almost a year, and today it popped into my head. To say that I love my shows is an understatement. So for this podcast I made a partial list of some of the series shows I have watched, or am watching on Netflix, iTunes, Hulu. It was a bit of a surprise. I didn’t even make a complete list and it’s way too long! Someone will hear this and think, “This guy does nothing but watch TV Shows”. Well. Uh. No. At least I didn’t think so until I actually made a list. Then I thought, am I that unusual? A lot of us watch these shows. Add to that screen time on FB, Instagram, Twitter and especially You Tube and you have the makings of a real distraction. And this AFTER I’ve scanned and read a huge portion of the news. I talk a lot about how people are watching the political news shows, and listening to talk radio and political podcasts as entertainment. Seldom do I talk about the escapism inherent in watching hour after hour of television drama, which. Is. So. Satisfying. The Walking Dead and the new Don’t Fear the Walking Dead. Ray Donovan. The Affair, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, The Wire, The Sopranos, Sons Of Anarchy, Justified, House of Cards. Mister White isn’t a meth dealer, he’s a TV drama producer in Hollywood! Do this shows influence our thinking about society? Or, are they just a guilty pleasure. By the way, who has time to read East of Eden, or In Cold Blood when these shows are being pumped out. It may be time for a news cleanse, as well as a drama cleanse. Then we get to a discussion of the delights available on You Tube. Endless Illuminati Conspiracy videos, horribly done but immensely entertaining horoscopes and tarot card readers. Finally, FaceBook has become nothing but posts and shares of dogs that can’t catch videos, cute kid videos, mom’s doing yoga videos, Bernie Sanders Memes, Ted Cruz Meme’s, and other nonsense. Who has time to work? Yeah, maybe it’s time we looked at this. Sponsored by Brush Studio In The West End, Saint Louis Park and by Hydrus Performance.

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