Invasion of the Pod Monsters

I no longer do podcasts of any kind.

When podcasts began, I subscribed to a series of university history podcasts. I soon discovered two things about them that made me check out of the podcast thing: first, they were distracting. If the volume is low enough, music can be my companion because I’m not really listening as I work in the shop or at the computer. So, something I must pay attention to distracts me from things I prefer to concentrate on. Second, a lot of the podcasters could have been more wonderful. They sought to be persuasive on poorly researched topics, or worse, they tried to tell you what to think.

I just tuned out of the podcast world, but that didn’t mean it disappeared. It morphed and developed—dare I say it mutated? It was like ignoring your garden in July. One day, you look out the window in August to find that a jungle of weeds has grown up where your tomatoes and cucumbers were. That’s what it was like in the podcast world.

I was busy at my job, with my hobbies, carving, and with my family. So, I had no clue that an entire wing of the podcast world had mutated into a world of “influencers” on platforms like TikTok. There were still people lecturing on the history of obscure historical events. But the influencers were peddling healthcare curealls, weird and often dangerous challenges. There were cures for everything from PMS to ED. Methods for earning great wealth and solutions to anything you might imagine are offered.

And people were dying, getting ill, and waking up one morning to realize that they had been taken. It’s the invasion of the Pod monsters.

Right about now, if you’ve read my blog before, you might suspect that I’ll pipe up with, “I don’t fall for that stuff! I’m from New York!” I’m not going to because I’ve seen smart people willingly dive into this particular rabbit hole, pursuing wealth with Bitcoin or other schemes. That scares me.

It might be trite, but people need to be critical of what is put before them on social media. The scammers are dressed like us, talk, and act like us. They are not some comic parody of the old-time huckster seen in old movies.

I do not remember who said it, but a quote says that it is essential to teach children how to think, not what to think. As far as that goes, it sounds good. However, it fails to add that critical thinking skills are not something we leave behind on graduation. They need to be cultivated, or you’ll wind up with buyer’s regret for actions you’ll shamefully acknowledge were dumb. Take the initiative; don’t get taken.