Ric Chetter - From Radioland

Episode 439: Still Nothing On

There is a fair amount of upheaval happening in the world of streaming television. All the things we as cord cutters ran from has already re-formed in to package deals some with ads and some without. You know what this is like? Cable television. Just like old times. What is the same is that there is still nothing on. What is different? The content seems to have gotten worse. 

NEXT WEEK: Corporate America is Killing All of Us.

Episode 438: The National Piggy Bank

Inflation by it's natural definition is an inflated price of things. These days, there is a bit more to the concept. Sure, things have gone up in price for a number of reasons. Could be shipping, supply issues and the like. But, let's call our current situation what it really is. Corporate greed.

NEXT WEEK: The Never Ending Streaming Wars

 

Episode 437: What Used To Be Journalism

Journalistic integrity is a lost art. We are all so attuned to bad reporting that some of us wouldn't know good reporting if they actually saw it. What's more is that bad reporting and writing is destroying local newspapers and has made local television news unwatchable. In this episode, Ric delves into this sometimes controversial topic and does his best in explaining what we are all seeing.

NEXT WEEK: Call it what it is, Corporate Greed

 

Episode 436: Zuckerberg’s Big Bet

It would appear that all things are not well in the Metaverse. For the uninitiated, you are apparently not missing anything. Now with talk there are very few people who are using the platform and more people have shown extraordinary apathy to the thing, Zuckerberg seems to have chosen the hill on which to die upon. Add to the mix that Facebook (Meta) stocks are dropping and the company is losing a lot of cash, one has to wonder if this is truly the end for the once giant monster in the room.

NEXT WEEK: Journalistic Integrity... or the lack thereof.

Episode 435: Fear of The Hate

After a 9 week summer hiatus, Ric is back in Radioland with a new episode and regular production schedule. In this episode, Ric not only explains the break but takes this time to take on the phenomenon of the rise of various hate groups in America. It hit home recently when the Proud Boys showed up to protest their perceived menace that was a small group of drag queens. As absurd as that sounds, their perceptions of whatever social dangers they think they see are nothing more than a display of their own fear.

 

NEXT WEEK: Zuckerberg has issues. 

Episode 426: Uvalde, Texas

Ric spent some of his formative years in South Texas. He also spent a little time in Uvalde, Texas. The scene of a horrific school mass shooting. In this special episode, Ric tries to make sense of the situation. He also tries to understand what it was that happened. Join him for a bit of therapy if you need to find the things he's looking for, too. This is the episode that aired on Radio Memphis on 25 May, 2022.

NEXT WEEK: 6% of You Are Stupid

 

Episode 425: Gone To Hell

If you have ever spent any time with someone from a previous generation, they might tell you that "the whole world has gone to hell." For some younger people, that is rather off putting. Ric gets it. Here is a little secret. EVERY generation says the same thing to the younger generation. Surprise! Nothing has changed.

NEXT WEEK: Uvalde, Texas

 

Episode 424: War, Social Media Style

Perhaps an interesting test of the power of an unfiltered internet comes in the everyday coverage of a war. That is precisely what is happening now. Among the cat videos, self-affirmation memes, and random political falsehoods one can find fascinating threads of the war in Ukraine being posted by those actually participating in the thing. The important thing for anyone to remember is the fact that most large events portrayed among the feeds of any social media may either be too much information or merely a reflection of the facts at hand. Ric's advice to anyone cruising this form of coverage should beware, it's like trying to drink out of a fire hydrant.

NEXT WEEK: The World is Always Going to Hell.

Episode 423: Drop The Dead Weight

In a sort of continued thought from last week, Ric talks about the notion that forward progress can be a good thing. However, for that to work, people should lose the things we no longer need. Nostalgia is fun to think about, but sometimes things last only for so long. Drawing from the example Netflix is setting up, some decisions are easier to make than others. If there is one takeaway from all of this, don't let others tell you what you like.

NEXT WEEK: War, Social Media Style

Episode 422: We’re Never Going Back

Part of an advancement of society means some sort of progress, ideally. Never ending references to the way things used to be have become tiring to many people. Now, we must look to the way things are going to be. In that the world is approaching a post-pandemic situation, the old thing of "the new norm" is now. Most of the world has changed. Some changes are not so great while others are pretty good. Here, Ric takes a look at how the inherent resistance to change tends to slow things down. We aren't going back, and that is not a bad thing.

NEXT WEEK: Not all things are worth keeping.