Podcast 248 – Jason Lewis

Jason Lewis. National Talk Radio Star Jason Lewis joins the Bob Davis Podcasts. My talk radio colleague and I talk about the recent 2014 midterm election results; What does the election mean for Republicans and Democrats, and what to expect. Jason has an unrivaled perspective on local Minnesota politics, so his insight on the election results in Minnesota is invaluable. How was the Minnesota Republican Party able to elect 11 state representatives, to win back the state-house, but fail to win a single state wide office? Is it the candidates, the voters, or something else less visible from the outside? What mistakes did the state party make in selecting candidates for statewide races, and running those campaigns. How are Minnesota politics different from neighboring rival Wisconsin, where Governor Scott Walker won by 6 points, and maintained Republican control of the state Assembly in Madison? How significant was money from liberal PACs in Minnesota and what about Illinois, Maryland and Massachusetts, where republicans won in democrat dominated states? Minnesota party leaders and national media believe voters are sending a message they want politicians in Saint Paul and Washington DC ‘to work together’, does Jason Lewis agree? What should the strategy of Republicans in the Minnesota House and the US Congress be after they’re sworn in? Did Americans vote for the party of Graham, King and McConnell, or Cruz, Paul and McCarthy? What’s the response to the President’s post election press conference today? Meanwhile, what mischief will the lame duck congress get up to, between now and January of 2015. Jason also has some great stories from his KSTP days, what he refers to as the ‘halcyon days’ of talk radio in the 90’s and early 2000’s; A time when creativity and local talk radio flourished across America. With talk migrating to weaker AM signals, and sports replacing more and more talk stations, what is the future of broadcast talk radio? With the advent of the ‘digital dashboard’ and the capability for individual broadcasters to stream and podcast, broadcast radio is two steps behind newspapers on the disruption highway. As radio fades, Jason’s main focus these days, aside from Golf, is Galt.IO, which is fully explained for those who do not know what it is. Galt.IO will provide an online capability for the politically disenfranchised to crowdsource fundraising for candidates and causes, allowing individuals to amplify their causes, without having to go to the wealthy to fundraise, and will empower conservative causes in their effort to compete with left wing fundraising institutions like Alliance for A Better Minnesota, and “RINO” republican organizations; something that has never before been possible on this level. Stay tuned in this podcast for a never-before-heard announcement regarding Galt.IO. Sponsored by Xgovernment Cars, and by Depotstar. 

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The Bob Davis Podcast

Podcast 231

Short Term Thinking. How reliance on formula reduces innovation. American Business is increasingly reliant on short term thinking and ‘templates’ or formulaic approaches. The least revolutionary kind of innovation – improvements in finance, procedure, cost controls and personnel – are increasingly the only kind of innovation in the corporate world. Meanwhile, innovations that create new products, new markets and revolutionize thinking are in short supply. What started as a conversation between two old radio friends about the broadcasting business sparks some ‘slash and burn’ thinking about business in general. Why do some businesses rely on formula so much? When are formula’s good. When is it best to trash the formula and let the inmates take over the asylum? (Editors Note: The best jobs I’ve ever had in radio, the best experiences as a creative person in broadcasting happened when the inmates were running the asylum. In fact, that used to be our business model!) These days it seems like formulaic thinking has invaded politics, movies, radio, music, television … really almost everything. And, we’re choking on it. Is it possible one of the reasons so many people remain out of the work force for extended periods of time is because they’re sick of implementing plans from the corporate office? Maybe what we all need is to throw the formula out and start doing whatever we want. To be sure, there will be mistakes, and failures, but there might also be some great successes. Some of the things business does, it does because of formulas developed 20, 30, 40 even 50 years ago. Back in the day, those formulas may have made sense but now they bear little resemblance to new market contours. If the United States wants to maintain its position in the world, we’re going to have to set our workers free; Free to think, free to make mistakes and free develop the kinds of new strategies that revolutionize markets. The response to almost every truly revolutionary idea has always been, ‘You can’t do that’, or ‘It sounds like crap’, or ‘Why would anyone want that?’. Or worse, ‘That’s not the way we’ve always done it’. Our strength has always been in the skunk works, the garage, the basement and backyards, and with the so called ‘crazies’. Rules are made to be broken. Why don’t we start breaking some? Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and by Depotstar. 

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The Bob Davis Podcast

Podcast 223

Afternoon Is The New Morning. Doing a podcast upon awakening. Drinking morning coffee at 3PM. Completely normal for a nocturnal creative worker, very unusual for people who work during the day. As advertising interest in the podcasts grow, and we add clients, it means more podcasts. More podcasts means experimenting with doing more podcasts in a shorter time frame. Podcast 223 ends the month of September. Answering email and commenting on the comments on Thebobdavispodcasts.com, while drying clothes! It’s daytime in the broadcast bunker. Great comments about starting and running your own business, changing thought patterns, and a message of hope for the future. Also on the ‘Road’ podcasts; Still getting a lot of positive reaction to the podcasts done during September’s big road trip from Minneapolis to Chicago, from Chicago to Phoenix, and back to Minnie. As we head into the final stretch of ‘Election 2014’, and The Bob Davis Podcasts, begins coverage of the political races in earnest, a comment stating a preference for political ‘red meat’, and a request for more. And finally a request to talk about weight-loss. (It seems self indulgent for me to talk about my own weight loss, but I’ll share my story). Plus, a new way to refer to podcasts, morning routines, morning radio, body clocks, how to become a night person, beef jerky and coffee in the morning. And, a clarification on the discussions about donations for the Bob Davis Podcast Van. Sponsored by Baklund R & D. 

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