Ric Chetter - From Radioland

Episode 276: Don't Look Over There

There are a few things you might hear regarding the news media. Aside from the fact a good number of them are some form of jackal. You might hear people say there is one thing happening to "distract" you from something else happening. It begs the question of how stupid do some people think the general public really is? The idea you can only hold one thought at a time when it comes to something of "national importance" is ludicrous. In this episode, Ric is going to prove to you your own ability to maintain tons of thoughts at the same time. Plus, how do you really research something in the news? Ric will show you how he does just that. Also, it is the Memorial Day weekend and Ric has a little history about what it all means.

NEXT WEEK: Riding those coat tails to oblivion. 

Episode 275: The Third Act Blues

It's a problem plaguing Hollywood. We've all seen it a million times and it is very frustrating when it unfolds in front of you. Much like what is happening now as a major TV show wraps up its final episode. In this episode, Ric talks about how writers can have a great run of a show or movie(s) only to completely ruin the thing by trying to end it gracefully. Those of you who are Game of Thrones fans are becoming unwitting victims of this phenomenon right now. So much so that groups of fans have started petitions demanding the final season be re-done. It won't happen, but then again, it's hard to stop a shipwreck. 

Episode 274: Wine Mommy Loves You

There is a funny yet sad part of our society surrounding the culture of the wine mommy. You know her, she sits around all day with a glass of wine in her hand bitching to anyone who will listen about how hard her life is or how useless her husband is. Her name is probably Becky and her only friends are other wine moms. The only other thing worse than this person is the wine mommy who is full of pills because she just can't cope with anything. For the most part they are an ignorable part of our society, that is until they refuse to vaccinate their children. Welcome to 2019 and the return of the plague.

NEXT WEEK: Bacon & Coffee

 

 

Episode 273: Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude is a great word. A German word which has found its way into our vernacular. Although you don't hear it too much, it does describe a fairly everyday emotion. Finding the joy in watching someone fail. It's a cruel world out there and as much as you want to believe it is sweet and nice, it is not. In this episode, Ric explores the idea behind schadenfreude and how it is nearly impossible to shut it off. There is a reason for that. Also, Ric takes a look at what happened at the 145th running of The Kentucky Derby. Something stinks and it ain't all that horse manure.

NEXT WEEK: Your Mom wants to kill you, apparently.

Episode 272: The Heavyweight Chumps

In a first for this show, Ric sat down with The Heavyweight Chumps. These guys host a podcast about pop culture, wrestling and all sorts of fun things. Several weeks ago, Ric was a guest on their show and to return the favor, The Chumps stepped in to Studio C for a few moments with cocktails to discuss all sorts of things from their perspective on the future of the podcast genre to the future of terrestrial radio and what the hell happened to television. Also, some stories from the world of wrestling, their thoughts on the WWE, the XFL and other sports entertainment. Plus, they played favorites. Also in this episode, Ric talks about the phenomenon of social media influencers. 

NEXT WEEK: The Joy of Witnessing Failure

 

Episode 271: The Emergency Room Emergency

What happens when an artist, performer, entertainer... a show biz type gets sick? Most of those people don't have insurance. Even if they did, it's not all that great. There are a couple things that go through the mind of these folks. "Oh my God, I have to go to the doctor to get that looked at..." followed immediately by, "This is going to cost me more than anything I have..." It's the fear some people out there can't wrap their heads around. Recently, Memphis lost two musicians, one who was an elderly man with cancer and the other, a man in his late 30's who got sick from something that might have been curable. How many more benefits and crowd funding efforts are going to have to happen before we don't have to worry about this stuff any more? Plus, the ridiculous plot to move Graceland out of Memphis.

NEXT WEEK: The Heavyweight Chumps

 

Episode 270: Jerre Dye & Marie-Stéphane Bernard

Opera singer Marie-Stéphane Bernard returns to Radioland bringing her friend Jerre Dye. Jerre is originally from the Midsouth and now lives in Chicago. He's an actor, director, producer and writer. Jerre has taken on the one woman show Sounds of A Dream starring Marie-Stéphane. It is a biographical look at her life and career from Paris, France to Memphis, Tennessee and all the points in between. In this episode you will hear a demo of one of the songs in the production as well as how one writes such a story. Plus, they play favorites. 

For more, head over to Marie-Stéphane's Facebook page.

NEXT WEEK: Graceland

 

Episode 269: Stream This

A good number of us cut the cord some time ago. We thought we had it all figured out. We'll stick it to the cable companies and get what we want. For a while, that worked pretty well. That is until the broadcasters figured out what was going on. They'll have you pay them directly for the content you want. Soon, you are right back in the same boat we were in with the cable companies. It's the next big front in the war over your television. That is, until they find out the number of people who actually own televisions is falling, rapidly. Also, are people having enough of the raw, unfiltered live streaming videos?

NEXT WEEK: Life hacks and Jerre Dye.

Episode 268 - The Unravelling of An Idiot

One of the beautiful things about The United States of America is the ability for all of us to be critical of those who bring us the news. Of course, "news" can be defined in all sorts of manner. In this episode, Ric takes a look at what has been happening with Alex Jones of Infowars fame. He's currently being sued by some family members of those who were killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting. Jones, in the past has claimed the shooting was "staged" and was nothing more than a "false flag" for reasons you'll soon hear. The end result was Jones' followers who had been hounding the parents of those children who died. But the real story here seems to be the incessant pointing of the finger at what Jones calls the "main stream media", whoever that is. There is a bit of a warning here, some of the audio you are going to hear is a bit difficult to listen to.

Additional audio courtesy Katie Mettler of The Washington Post and Kaster, Lynch, Farrar & Ball, LLP.

NEXT WEEK: Was SNL ever relevant?

Episode 267 - Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response

It's all the rage right now on the internet. ASMR. Apparently, certain sounds can trigger certain responses in the brain akin to "a brain orgasm". In this episode, Ric is going to attempt to recreate those triggers with a few self made ASMR sounds. Is there anything to this? Why are there all these channels on YouTube devoted to this subject? Why are these people making so much money on these videos? It all points to very thing that drives the internet. Content is king. No matter how ridiculous that content may be. 

NEXT WEEK: Adaptation in a strange new world