A memoir in progress about politics, technology, and the future as seen by a 68-year-old former journalist, energy executive, poet, and podcaster. This is a new show created by the host of The Kindle Chronicles podcast.
I am at the Pete headquarters in Nashua waiting for the final results from the NH primary.
After we turned in our last packet of door-to-door information, Chasten, Pete’s husband, arrived for a quick motivational pep talk. He was accompanied by his parents and by Pete’s mother. This episode contains a recording of what he had to say.
After we picked up our packets this morning to head out and knock on doors for Pete, Mayor Stephen Adler of Austin Texas stopped by to thank us and share his own enthusiasm for Pete. He and his family have been going door to door here in Des Moines.
I am showing the colors for Pete here at North Station Boston as commuters arrive from the trains. This is part of the Rock the Rails event and I am volunteering with a fellow pete supporter named Dan. In this episode I’ll give you a feeling for how much fun it is to get out early in the morning and let people know about Pete.
Sonal Shah, National Policy Director for Pete’s campaign, spoke just now at a Pancakes for Pete fundraiser in Newton, Mass. We joined about 50 other supporters at the event. This episode contains Sonal’s remarks and an extended Q&A period.
Darlene and I are at Heathrow airport this morning and route to Malta. I hope to have a chance to visit with some members of Pete’s family in Malta. We will be there for one day tomorrow before we head to Germany for the wedding of our niece. Here at Heathrow we met an Irish reporter Peter Kelly who worked on Pete’s reelection campaign for mayor in South Bend. Fascinating. Small world.
Pete addressed a sold-out fundraiser tonight at the Veterans Memorial Theater in Providence, R.I. The audience comprised 1,900 people. I was one of about 50 volunteers who helped it happen. Our seats were way high in the balcony, so the audio quality of Pete’s talk and the Q&A is not the best. It was a stirring evening and gave me an appreciation of how well Pete’s campaign is run and how powerfully it is fueled by the enthusiasm of volunteers. Onward!
A report from the dinner in Des Moines featuring presentations by 13 candidates. Still going on, including Mayor Pete. We are back at our Airbnb loft tired and grateful for the chance to hear Pete‘s presentation in March with him to the Wells Fargo Arena.
This is my first report from Des Moines and the liberty and justice celebration which will be held here tonight. I am at a park where Mayor Pete will be making some remarks and then leading his supporters on a march to the Wells Fargo Arena. All that happens within the next hour.
Darlene and I attended a reception for Mayor Pete tonight in Brookline, Massachusetts. We had a chance to shake hands, have a picture taken with him, and ask him a question afterwards. This episode of EdgeCast begins with Darlene’s and my talking about the experience after we got home. After that you will hear the entire talk which Pete gave as well as questions.
This is audio of a @PeteButtigieg house party that was held today at a home in Ossipee New Hampshire about an hour and a half drive from Ocean Park. I arrived early so that I could volunteer. First I was going to be working with the press but there weren’t that many press here so I ended up being the guy who was helping people find the main entrance to the backyard where Pete gave brief remarks and answered questions. #WinTheEra
They are Pete is the first candidate to do a an event in Portland Maine this cycle. Darlene and I attended a Townhall at the State Theater in downtown Portland. There was no air conditioning. it was very hot but he kept his cool and gave an energizing presentation to the crowd and answered questions.
This is the third of three episodes that I recorded today at Mayor Pete's outdoor rally in Dover, NH. Afterward he held a brief gaggle with reporters. I wasn't close enough to get good audio of but have included a snippet, followed by my thoughts about the event before I drove back to Ocean Park, Maine. Here is a link to CSPAN's full video of Pete's Dover rally, including conversations on the rope/selfie line afterward.
If you're curious how Mayor Pete's New Hampshire operation sounds, the three speakers who took the stage today in Dover, NH, provide some clues. In this episode you will hear Jim Vershuren, chair of the Dover NH Democrats; Amelia Matier, deputy state director for Pete in NH, who was hired in June after work on two successful state legislature campaigns in California, and New Hampshire State Rep. Matt Wilhelm, who today endorsed Pete for President, citing the National Service plan that Pete announced last week. In a leafy town park in Dover, these speakers warmed up an already enthusiastic crowd number around 800 people. In the next episode you will hear Pete's talk and the Q&A.
Darlene and I attended Mayor Pete's appearance in Boston on June 20th. Here in Ocean Park, Maine, we reflected today on how it went. The episode ends with an excerpt in which Pete compares the culture of the Midwest with that of New England.
On Day 3 of Amazon’s re:MARS conference At the Atria Resort I am wondering how to organize tomorrow’s Kindle Chronicles coverage. Join me at an outdoor table at The Herringbone restaurant and I’ll share a working draft of what lies ahead for Amazon and Earth.
The photo for this episode is of Alex Alpert a student at the University of Maryland who next to me at the fast-paced Alexa workshop this morning. We were setting up a Raspberry Pi computer which each of us was given as part of attending reMARS. There was a lot of very detailed information that we entered on PC’s in preparation for hooking up some wires and to the Ras Pi so it became Alexa enabled. Fascinating stuff. In this episode I share what I learned from it.
I am waiting to enter my first session at Re:MARS the Amazon event hosted by Jeff Bezos and other top executives about machine learning, automation, robots, and space. It is a three-day event here in Las Vegas. The session that I’m waiting to attend will be about voice control for all kinds of devices. I may have a chance to get my hands on some hardware and try out the technology that I talk a lot about on Kindle Chronicles podcast.
Darlene and I watch Rachel Maddow interview John Hickenlooper tonight and share our thoughts during the commercials. Would Mayor Pete have done better?
Darlene's and my niece Liz Determan, 27, is visiting us in Denver from Glendive, Montana. We played last night's Fox Town Hall with Pete Buttigieg for her today, our second time watching it. This led to a lively discussion that I hope you will enjoy.
On a busy day, Darlene agreed to talk with me in the car as we are driving to Starbucks to buy some oatmeal. This gives me a chance to catch up after an 18-day gap in the podcast to talk about Pete Buttigieg and John Hickenlooper. Link to Jon Favreau's interview with John Hickenlooper on Pod Save America - May 3, 2019
On this day after we returned home to Denver from South Bend, Darlene and I compared notes of our impressions of South Bend. We had a full day in South Bend Monday after Pete Buttigieg‘s announcement Sunday, to eat at some restaurants, and I had to go to a clinic because it turned out I had a case of strep. Darlene had a good conversations over several days with Stephanie, the proprietor of our bed-and-breakfast, the Innisfree. The photo shows our memento from the trip which is the South Bend newspaper’s account of their mayor’s announcement that he is running for president. Link to Washington Post video mentioned: https://youtu.be/cgMuPErHxZY Link to Mayor Pete's letter to Muslim community after the attack on a mosque in New Zealand: https://twitter.com/PeteButtigieg/status/1106694962501042177
Back at the bed-and-breakfast Darlene and I recall our experience today at Pete Buttigieg‘s announcement on a cold rainy windy day here in South Bend. We finished our volunteering work and that enabled us to get very close to the stage for his announcement and the endless number of speeches that were made before it. I had a difficult time standing up that long and ended up sitting on the wet concrete floor for a while. It was all worth it to hear this remarkable young man make it official: “My name is Pete Buttigieg. They call me Mayor Pete. I’m a proud son of South Bend, Indiana, and I am running for President of the United States.” It was a moment that may well turn into a movement.
Darlene and I review our work so far as volunteers at the Pete Buttigieg announcement event. We have been gathering contact information from people as they arrive. It is rainy, cold and windy outside, so the conditions are not great. I am glad I brought warm boots! #peteforamerica
This is a report of our first impressions of South Bend and our connection with the campaign that will result in a chance to volunteer tomorrow morning at the announcement event. The photo was taken by a campaign staffer at the Buttigieg headquarters in a hallway where there is a huge sign helping people to pronounce the candidate’s name. #PeteForAmerica
Darlene and I have begun our trip to South Bend. Recorded at Denver International Airport. #peteforamerica
With the first official episode of this podcast I’m changing the name to edge cast and in this episode I will share the possibility that my wife and I will attend the official announcement of Pete Buttigieg his candidacy in South Bend on April 14. Not sure if all the pieces will fall into place but it’s an exciting prospect to consider. Also my idea for how candidates like Pete and John Hickenlooper could use anchor to do a daily podcast on the campaign trail.
EOF 0 This is a pilot episode of a new podcast that I am going to launch. It will be mainly about politics and will give me a chance to talk about the political scene separate from my long-running Kindle Chronicles podcast. There may be other aspects of the future that I will be talking about, but for now my main interest is going to be the Democratic side of the Presidential nominating process. So far, I am closely following John Hickenlooper and Pete Buttigieg.