Podcast 519

Off The Rails. As we head into the long fourth of July weekend, world events aren’t taking the weekend off. On the heels of the British Exit vote, comes the Istanbul attack. Apparently we now live in an upside down world where speech is considered so dangerous, Nigel Farage’s speech to the European Union Parliament – an unelected body – can be considered hate speech, while an actor accepting an award in the United States — where free speech is a constitutional right —  considers opinions opposite to his own on race to be so dangerous those who speak them should ‘sit down and shut up’. Then, inexplicably, in the wake of obvious ISIS style terror attacks in Istanbul, Secretary of State Kerry warns people not to rush to judgement on whether ISIS is involved or not. So let me get this straight. Speech is more dangerous than men with AK-47’s wearing suicide vests? Moreover, the Republican standard bearer – so far – is a trade protectionist who wants to double down on the Bush Steel Tariff debacle, republicans including a former president, are endorsing the ‘presumptive’ democratic nominee while Bernie Sanders of all people came off as the most reasonable person in Washington this week when he warned democrats to heed the results of the British Vote for what it might mean to ‘establishment’ politicians like Hillary Clinton. Off The Rails you say? Hell yes. There is a palpable feeling that all this is leading up to a major event; something that cannot be foreseen that changes everything: The stock market crash of 1929, Pearl Harbor, the JFK assassination, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and 9-11. World changing events after which you say, “Remember what things were like back in…? It’s so different now.” Have you ever been lost hiking? At some point you look up and say, “Where the Hell am I?”. Its feels like that kind of a moment in the world right now. How did we get here? What happens now? A late night podcast from the deck, examining these issues, but not too deeply. It is after all the 4th of July weekend, let’s party like it’s 2016. Sponsored by Brush Studio in the West End, and X Government Cars.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:15 — 92.1MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Podcast 497

Midnight Deck Radio. It’s that time of year again. Just before the bugs, when the trees are full and the nights are cool. But, the coffee’s on and the Tiki Torches are lit, time for some Midnight Deck Radio. As we wait for the planet Mercury to transit between the Earth and the Sun in the 6:00 hour Central Daylight Savings Time on Monday, May 9th, it’s time to update Bob Davis Podcast Listeners for the week ahead. You wouldn’t know it if you listened to talk radio or to the 24 hour cable television channels, but there isn’t much to talk about in politics until the next spate of primary elections. Even then, there won’t be any real fireworks until just before both mainline party conventions late this summer. That doesn’t stop the media machine though, rehashing and churning away with more opinion and commentary on the same issues again and again, and again. How many times can we talk about whether or not Hillary Clinton will be indicted (um, no she won’t) or how Donald Trump is the ‘presumptive’ nominee of the Republican party? One of the things I’ve learned doing the weekly ‘Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show’ is how prescient the Bob Davis Podcasts can be when it comes to forecasting political events and issues ahead of the curve. The podcasts have been talking for weeks about the potential for an establishment fight over the ‘presumptive’ Trump nomination. Just before the weekend all the stories broke about republican establishment types concerned about the down ticket, former presidents who say they won’t attend the convention, establishment donors and potential candidates refusing to endorse the ‘presumptive’ nominee. Which brings us to the media itself. A New York Times article last week about White House Media advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes has lots of people talking about how the White House ‘controls’ or thinks it controls the media. The main point of the story was Rhodes’ comments about how reporters sometimes copy and reprint whole press releases word for word, because no one actually does any real reporting work anymore when it comes to news. This is was an ongoing topic of conversation when The Bob Davis Podcasts was on the road in Mobile Podcast Command covering the primary election season in Iowa, South Carolina, Florida and Texas this spring. Yes there are a few actual reporters in Washington and New York who work sources and check out stories, but for the most part these days if you’re watching the 24 hour cable channels or listening to the radio you’re getting nothing more than a rehash of someone else’s writing and very often, it’s a press release written up as a new story without any fact checking or source confirmation. What missing is the kind of information people need to be able to discern what are facts and whether those facts are important or not. This is one of the reasons why American Politics isn’t a process for problems solving but a national representation of an increasingly tribal population. How do we build a future when all we’re really concerned about is what tribe each other belongs to and whether we can talk to each other? Digital media can help with that, or it can exacerbate the problem. How do podcasts make a difference? What’s the mission of this podcast these days? Sponsored by X Government Cars and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:00 — 103.0MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS