Tag: dailyprompt-2116

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Which?

Daily writing prompt
What podcasts are you listening to?
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Of course, everyone listens to podcasts, right? Wrong. I do not. I just do not know where I’d fit it in. I write, work in the shop, work outside, and do as my doctor says get plenty of walking in to keep fit. I also play the guitar. Oh, and now that winter is coming, there will be physical therapy. On top of this, I still work.

For a podcast, I’d have to fit it into the schedule with something else. Let’s see. It was suggested that I begin my Iaido practice again for general body flexibility. Iaido is a Japanese sword art, and I happen to be a third-degree black belt in it ( San Dan). I can also answer yes to the fact that at my level, I practice with a real and very sharp Japanese sword.

Hmmmmm. If the podcaster made me mad enough, I’d fear for the safety of the iPad it was playing on. It’s not nice to antagonize someone with a long and very sharp sword.

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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.

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A Podcast?

Back when podcasts became the thing, I was into many of the history lectures presented by several universities. It was enlightening, enjoyable, and educational. But I gradually gave them up because, on my average day, I had very little time to sit around and listen. Then, too, I found many of the podcasters to be more than a bit pompous. I put up with my idiocy while working in the shop. I don’t have time for someone else.  Brandishing a sharp knife while reacting to some idiot on your iPhone is not a good thing.

In the morning, the thud, thud, thud of little kitty footsteps and applications of accu-claw wake me. I have the cats and dog to feed. The wood stove to tend to, wood to load into the house for the fire, my coffee and breakfast, a review of email, the news to read, and a daily schedule to monitor. Then, I must compose a blog post, edit video files, and get myself off to the TV station. Later, I have to check emails for work, try to get some carving done, and read more news. After dinner, I read fiction and non-fiction, check my blog, play with the cats and dogs, and do anything else I haven’t done. I’ve made this seem much more organized than it is, but in general, I am not idle, and I’d have to be idle to listen to a podcast.

Somewhere in my mind is the nascent idea that I should start a podcast. Nah, who has the time?