Top 5 Podcasts

Since getting my first iPod as a gift some four years ago, I’ve downloaded countless gigs of all forms of media. One of my favorite things to download is podcasts. Over the last few years, I’ve tried out hundreds of different podcasts, but have now narrowed it down to 15 or 20 that I listen to on a regular basis. I thought I would share with you my top 5 podcasts:

1.) Slate Culture Gabfest – This is a must listen if you want to stay current on all things related to culture. The shows regular panel consists of Dana Stevens, Julia Turner and Stephen Metcalf, though they are frequently joined by other members of the Slate.Com staff. The content leans towards the “high brow” and much of it involves material published in Northeast publications (i.e. New York Times, The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, etc.), but it provides an inside look at what intellectual elitists all over the nation are talking about.  The most recent episode included a review of the controversial new Lee Daniels’ movie Precious, a review of the Ian McEwan novel Black Dogs to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and Jim Windolf’s recent Vanity Fair article on “cuteness.”

2.)  Slate Political Gabfest – Functions in pretty much the same fashion as the Culture Gabfest–three person panel discusses three issues–only involving politics instead of cultural issues. The normal panel consists of John Dickerson, Emily Bazelon and Slate managing editor, David Plotz. Be warned, the panel leans Left–far Left, but it’s entertaining and informative all the same.

3.) Anything You Ever Wanted to Know – This show is produced by KERA, Dallas’ local public radio station. The show airs each Friday afternoon, but I always listen to it via podcast. The show provides an open forum for listeners to submit questions, either on the phone or through e-mail, to be answered by other members of the listening audience and is moderated by Jeff Whittington. Over the past three years, I’ve learned some fascinating things from the show.

4.) The Writer’s Almanac Podcast – Hosted by Garrison Keillor, the show serves as a “this day in literary history” for lovers of words.  Normally, Keillor lists off several key events for each day and then will focus heavily on one birthday or event before reading a selected “poem of the day.” More than anything else, the show has introduced me to some great new poetry.

5.) NPR Playback – While the other podcasts I listed are released on a weekly or daily basies, the NPR Playback podcast is released on a monthly basis and features audio clips from the archives from 20 years prior. For example, the November podcast features audio from NPR segments from November 1984. I love being transported back to the 80′s and this podcast does just that.

Unhappy Earth Day

I think this post from Earth Day 2008 is worth remebering this year, as a new administration tries to force the environmental agenda further down our throats.

 

 

One thing that has remained constant with me throughout my life is my bewilderment with “yuppies.” Why? Well, the “yuppie” tends to be easily swayed by fads, especially ones where they’re made to feel that they are making a positive contribution to society.

 

Perhaps no other movement has duped “yuppies” more than “global warming” and matters of “personal health.” It’s Earth Day, what better time to examine the role of a dubious science in courting the “yuppie” vote, not only on the national level, but on the local level as well. It is a tale full of sound and fury and all sorts of sordid characters.

 

Let’s begin with these characters, for it is their unholy alliance, not any real or perceived catastrophe, which has catapulted these issues to the front pages of our newspapers and as a major talking point on the cable news networks. In short, you have a group of opportunist politicians (i.e. Al Gore) who provide the power and political clout, the enviro-fasicists that constitute the “Big Weather” advocacy group and the yuppies who provide funding either directly, by donating to radical groups or politicians, or indirectly, by buying Big Weather’s merchandise (i.e. “environmentally friendly products”, mercury laden “energy efficient” light bulbs, etc.).

 

Now I don’t blame the Yuppie. The Yuppie life may be one I don’t completely understand, but I do think that most Yuppie’s have good intentions; many are just naïve and a tad bit gullible. They are truly a product of their environment. When you grow up in behind the thick, brick walls of sheltered suburban communities, you miss out on a lot of life, including a good dose of street smarts. If someone tries to sell them something and they present it with flowery language, citing scholarly and scientific studies, the Yuppie is inclined to accept and believe without question. Indeed, the Yuppie is the victim in this con.

 

Besides naivety, trying to keep up with the Joneses is probably the Yuppie’s biggest weakness. If they see that their neighbor is driving a hybrid, they’re going to want a hybrid. If Oprah tells them that they should be organic, well damnit, she is Oprah and she must know what she’s talking about. If everyone else in the gated community becomes obsessed with their carbon footprint, then of course you’re going to feel pressured to obsess over your own carbon footprint or else you might be asked to quit the Junior League.

 

Not only are they being conned and pressured, there is also an element of fear involved. I remember a “progressive” teacher I had in fifth grade. She taught us all about Earth Day, pollution, the green house effect and a little thing called “acid rain.” She made us listen to the song “Channel Z” (I’ve included the lyrics at the end of this post) by the B-52’s, to reinforce the harm that each and everyone of us were doing to this great planet Earth. I felt especially bad since I lived 30 miles away from the school, but hey, at least we car pooled.  This was in 1990, I can only imagine how bad things must be now for kids.

 

You know how the story goes. The kid comes home from school, shares the story his teacher taught him and tells his parents how upset the whole thing makes him. Yuppies are protective, overly protective of their progeny and if it upset their kids they must do something about it. The Yuppie parent feels compelled to alter their lifestyle, drastically, all because of propaganda being preached by a socialist teacher.

 

But the fear and anxiety is not limited to the kids. Over the course of the past week, I’ve learned a new term—“eco-anxiety”. It is exactly what it sounds like, anxiety brought on by the fear that one is bringing on the end of the world by their lifestyle. There are people out there who are so sucked into this con, that they literally worry themselves sick about their carbon footprint and whether or not their life is “green” enough. I can say with almost 99% certainty that a majority of the people who “suffer” from “eco-anxiety” are Yuppies. In other communities, there are too many legitimate worries to concern one’s self with than Marxist propaganda.

 

It’s easy to see why some Yuppies might have some fears, you have eco-fascists like Ted Turner, pushing the issue even further. A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Turner appeared on the Charlie Rose program on PBS. When pressed about “global warming”, Mr. Turner had this to say, ““We’ll be eight degrees hotter in 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals. Civilization will have broken down. The few people left will be living in a failed state — like Somalia or Sudan — and living conditions will be intolerable.”

 

Fear is exactly the angle that Big Weather and the liberal politicians are aiming for, because with fear, people are willing to trade away freedom and liberty in order to achieve safety. This means more power for the politician, a fact not lost on European and American socialists, whose ultimate goal is to strip citizens of all their freedoms and convert us all to followers of the church of government. Al Gore doesn’t give a damn about the Earth or the Earth’s environment. Al Gore wants power(and money) and so he grows a beard (every great scholar needs a beard) and makes a Power Point presentation on pollution and polar bears and every suburban community in America is fighting to become the “greenest” of them all. Gore has had such an effect on the Yuppies view of environment that now even the Bush administration has to change their positions on the issue.

 

You see, when Yuppies get upset, not only do they talk with actions, but also with their pocket books. They will donate to the campaigns of candidates who talk about these issues (i.e. Obama) and they will buy any piece of shit with the words “green” or “organic” emblazoned on it. This serves to benefit not only the politician, but also the radicals who make up Big Weather.

 

So, I’ve come to wish you an unhappy Earth Day, because it’s evil and it’s a lie. It’s time that we all recognize the “global warming” con for what it is—a power trip for opportunistic politicians and eco-fascists that make up Big Weather. I urge each and every one of you to embrace your carbon footprint on this Earth Day—love it and nurture it. At the end of the day, come back here and share with all the readers of this blog what your carbon footprint was for the day. There’s a chance prizes will be awarded for the highest carbon footprint.

Unhappy Earth Day!

 

One thing that has remained constant with me throughout my life is my bewilderment with “yuppies.” Why? Well, the “yuppie” tends to be easily swayed by fads, especially ones where they’re made to feel that they are making a positive contribution to society.

 

Perhaps no other movement has duped “yuppies” more than “global warming” and matters of “personal health.” It’s Earth Day 2008, what better time to examine the role of a dubious science in courting the “yuppie” vote, not only on the national level, but on the local level as well. It is a tale full of sound and fury and all sorts of sordid characters.

 

Let’s begin with these characters, for it is their unholy alliance, not any real or perceived catastrophe, which has catapulted these issues to the front pages of our newspapers and as a major talking point on the cable news networks. In short, you have a group of opportunist politicians (i.e. Al Gore) who provide the power and political clout, the enviro-fasicists that constitute the “Big Weather” advocacy group and the yuppies who provide funding either directly, by donating to radical groups or politicians, or indirectly, by buying Big Weather’s merchandise (i.e. “environmentally friendly products”, mercury laden “energy efficient” light bulbs, etc.).

 

Now I don’t blame the Yuppie. The Yuppie life may be one I don’t completely understand, but I do think that most Yuppie’s have good intentions; many are just naïve and a tad bit gullible. They are truly a product of their environment. When you grow up in behind the thick, brick walls of sheltered suburban communities, you miss out on a lot of life, including a good dose of street smarts. If someone tries to sell them something and they present it with flowery language, citing scholarly and scientific studies, the Yuppie is inclined to accept and believe without question. Indeed, the Yuppie is the victim in this con.

 

Besides naivety, trying to keep up with the Joneses is probably the Yuppie’s biggest weakness. If they see that their neighbor is driving a hybrid, they’re going to want a hybrid. If Oprah tells them that they should be organic, well damnit, she is Oprah and she must know what she’s talking about. If everyone else in the gated community becomes obsessed with their carbon footprint, then of course you’re going to feel pressured to obsess over your own carbon footprint or else you might be asked to quit the Junior League.

 

Not only are they being conned and pressured, there is also an element of fear involved. I remember a “progressive” teacher I had in fifth grade. She taught us all about Earth Day, pollution, the green house effect and a little thing called “acid rain.” She made us listen to the song “Channel Z” (I’ve included the lyrics at the end of this post) by the B-52’s, to reinforce the harm that each and everyone of us were doing to this great planet Earth. I felt especially bad since I lived 30 miles away from the school, but hey, at least we car pooled.  This was in 1990, I can only imagine how bad things must be now for kids.

 

You know how the story goes. The kid comes home from school, shares the story his teacher taught him and tells his parents how upset the whole thing makes him. Yuppies are protective, overly protective of their progeny and if it upset their kids they must do something about it. The Yuppie parent feels compelled to alter their lifestyle, drastically, all because of propaganda being preached by a socialist teacher.

 

But the fear and anxiety is not limited to the kids. Over the course of the past week, I’ve learned a new term—“eco-anxiety”. It is exactly what it sounds like, anxiety brought on by the fear that one is bringing on the end of the world by their lifestyle. There are people out there who are so sucked into this con, that they literally worry themselves sick about their carbon footprint and whether or not their life is “green” enough. I can say with almost 99% certainty that a majority of the people who “suffer” from “eco-anxiety” are Yuppies. In other communities, there are too many legitimate worries to concern one’s self with than Marxist propaganda.

 

It’s easy to see why some Yuppies might have some fears, you have eco-fascists like Ted Turner, pushing the issue even further. A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Turner appeared on the Charlie Rose program on PBS. When pressed about “global warming”, Mr. Turner had this to say, ““We’ll be eight degrees hotter in 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals. Civilization will have broken down. The few people left will be living in a failed state — like Somalia or Sudan — and living conditions will be intolerable.”

 

Fear is exactly the angle that Big Weather and the liberal politicians are aiming for, because with fear, people are willing to trade away freedom and liberty in order to achieve safety. This means more power for the politician, a fact not lost on European and American socialists, whose ultimate goal is to strip citizens of all their freedoms and convert us all to followers of the church of government. Al Gore doesn’t give a damn about the Earth or the Earth’s environment. Al Gore wants power(and money) and so he grows a beard (every great scholar needs a beard) and makes a Power Point presentation on pollution and polar bears and every suburban community in America is fighting to become the “greenest” of them all. Gore has had such an effect on the Yuppies view of environment that now even the Bush administration has to change their positions on the issue.

 

You see, when Yuppies get upset, not only do they talk with actions, but also with their pocket books. They will donate to the campaigns of candidates who talk about these issues (i.e. Obama) and they will buy any piece of shit with the words “green” or “organic” emblazoned on it. This serves to benefit not only the politician, but also the radicals who make up Big Weather.

 

So, I’ve come to wish you an unhappy Earth Day, because it’s evil and it’s a lie. It’s time that we all recognize the “global warming” con for what it is—a power trip for opportunistic politicians and eco-fascists that make up Big Weather. I urge each and every one of you to embrace your carbon footprint on this Earth Day—love it and nurture it. At the end of the day, come back here and share with all the readers of this blog what your carbon footprint was for the day. There’s a chance prizes will be awarded for the highest carbon footprint.