Ownside.org podcast will cover politics, social commentary, current events, some philosophy, the paradigms of today & trying to figure out new ones for the future.
In this episode, "WTF II: Streaming Thoughts & Connecting Some Dots", Spencer shares a stream of his own "just asking questions"; attempts to reinforce the reality that shit doesn't happen in a vacuum; proposes that many answers are just sleight of hand tricks and provides a fun treat for the Bestest Word. Enjoy.
WTF World?!?! Is that not enough of an episode description? As Russia's invasion of Ukraine ramps up; Spencer shares a life motto, asks if we're playing football or futbol, is dumbfounded that the SOTU pledged to repeat past mistakes – and he's clearly been on Twitter too much – because he thinks that Pornhub could topple Putin. Seriously; WTF World?!?!
This show started as a follow up to the Russia-Ukraine II, “Black Sea Coasting” episode, but the Russians invaded Ukraine as Spencer was just beginning the recording; so some of the episode is oddly timed – for lack of a better phrase. There are multiple layers of metaphors & analogies in this episode & it kind of comes down to what hill are we individually, willing to die on.
This is part 2 of the Russia-Ukraine episodes. Spencer lays out a few of the long term challenges that are influencing Russia's decision making, cites the involvement of Russian separatists & mercenaries in Ukraine & makes his own prediction about what's going to happen. Let's see how close he gets.
This is part 1 of 2, in a Russia-Ukraine mini series. In keeping with the Keep It Simple Stupid (K.I.S.S.) spirit; Spencer tries to provide an easy introduction & explanation of what's going on with the Russia-Ukraine crisis. He then gets a little more in-depth about the history & the current situation.
In Part 3 of our None Of The Above/NOTA series; Spencer acknowledges some NOTA influences, more layers are added to our hypothetical, February has not historically been Black History Month, important scenarios get good introductions and multiple Pink-Oz easter eggs abound.
Spencer had a strange week that inspired this episode. From MLK Day to random Twitterness; the Turner Diaries, dumbspiracies' tangibility & a COVID death – it was a rather metaphorical spectrum. Then “Gathering” fit all Wizard of Oz/Pink Floyd-like as background for some fun citations & Spencer closes reassuring those mad at him that he still loves them.
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Spencer presents Dr. King's "Triplets Of Evil" speech. He also offers some thoughts along the way; almost more because he felt like just uploading the speech & praising it for 5 minutes was too much like plagairism. Spencer agrees with Dr. King that racism, materialism & militarism are America's main obstacles to The Promised Land.
One year after Trump's failed January 6th coup, much of America is still unwilling to admit what happened that day. The unwillingness of his supporters to acknowledge what they voted for – & their continued willingness to rationalize their ongoing support, despite all the evidence, does not bode well for 2022 or 2024. How do we get off this path if so few will accept their culpability & those who knew, continue to escape accountability?
In this obligatory 2021 news summary; Spencer covers four topics, waits till literally the last day to record – so that nothing would get missed – only for Betty White to pass in the last 7 hours of 2021. Maybe she knows something we don't about 2022? RIP oh Great One. Enjoy this episode, “2021: The Year that Sci-Fi Became a Documentary”.
For this Sunday News Review compilation, Spencer compiled some of the most common rhetorical lies that he has to repeatedly fact-check and put them into one referenceable episode. This way when politicians & celebrities repeat the same dumb things over & over again; Spencer can reference this episode instead of having to track down sources & such every time. In this, Spencer breaks down Sen. John Barrasso, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Lindsey Graham & Elon Musk. Listeners will be surprised how often such easily disprovable things are repeatedly said.
In this part two of the None Of The Above mini-series, Spencer counters the Demobilization Hypothesis with NOTA, introduces the ‘Doing Better Together Fiestas', reveals that he has a time machine and thanks The Rock for putting NOTA over. This episode will set up the format of this series & begin introducing likely scenarios that we'll encounter over the next couple years. Buckle up; its going to be bumpy ride.
In this Part two of the COVID episodes, Spencer addresses Gain-of-Function research, lab leaks and the most recent Omicron variant. He then expresses his thoughts & feelings about the dumbspiracists, how they have effected people close to Spencer and what he thinks will unfold through the rest of 2021. While a part 3 may be necessary; this is the initial bow on the COVID 2021 episodes.
As we hope that COVID-19 will be ending along with 2021, Spencer presents part 1 of 2 in hopes of dispelling persistent myths about the mRNA vaccines (by reading actual medical journals instead of Facebook), swallows enough red pills to discover the true, grandest conspiracy of all & becomes pretty sure the University of Mississippi Libraries is on the whole thing.
The Sunday News Review makes a last free, public appearance for a while this week. Spencer had been making them public for his own personal accountability and this week he follows up on that. He tries to clarify his own misunderstandings and tries to provide some details to keep -- at least himself -- accurate about ongoing legislation. He'll admit his own mistakes, points out what was accurate & makes a prediction or two. He closes the show with a suggestion for Democrats on fixing some of their bad PR & introduces his own biggest oversight of the previous review episodes.
Since Spencer has been talking trash on the Democrats' budget negotiations -- in the interest of public self-accountability -- the Sunday News Review returns this week. Did the democrats sign their budget plan by Halloween? What about by the date of the Virginia governor's race? Spencer trademarks 2 new terms, hips listeners to the pundits trendy latest mad-lib vocabulary & all in at under 32 minutes.
In this Ownside.org podcast episode; Spencer does another Sunday News Review. From new COVID mutations & vaccine resistance, to the Democratic Party's ongoing budget failures & the early hints of a change in the US-Taiwan-China policy. Also, Facebook is going to pull a Blackwater. After the news section; there is also a little follow-up on the progress of the NOTA series.
In this Patreon episode, Spencer provides an example of what the Sunday News Summary shows will be like. If you'd like to get through multiple hours of Sunday news in a much shorter amount of time, this is for you. Spencer will let you know what the biggest stories are, things that were missed & things to look out for in the upcoming week. He also promises to get better at these with the intended goal of them being less than 30 mins.
Would you like to fire all our federally elected officials? Are you tired of only having to choose between lesser evils when going into the voting booth? Spencer proposes that we literally vote for “None Of The Above” & at least remove the current slew of grifters from power; so that they can't do anymore harm. This episode is essentially, another part 1 of 2: the optimistic companion to the “Devouring Democracy” episodes. It would be too bad (sarcasm there), if people decided that they would no longer support our destructive duopoly.
As is stated in the title, in this episode, Spencer meanders down the rabbit hole. This hole; conspiracies & conspiracy theories. He lays out his views on the traits & characteristics of the "Military-Industrial-Complex" vs. the "Deep State". Is it a 500+ year old secret cult that has mystical orgies & ritual chants or is it a modern blending of wealthy individuals & self-interested corporate CEOs who are members of the same country clubs & extoll essentially the same political & economic ideologies regardless of the label & title next to their name. Spencer's bet is on the later.
This is Part 2 of the 3rd American Allegories episode, "The Oxymoronic Paradox of Taxes" --- so if need be, that episode is in the archive for refreshing. In this episode, Aldous & Spencer get a little more philosophical & abstract in their approach to economics. They look for deeper underlying issues & ask if there are some better structures that would help more equitably distribute labor's fruits & profits. Where Part 1 may have been heavy on oxymoron, part 2 maybe more paradoxical. What do you think?
What happens when Spencer & Darrel disagree about something? Find out as they discuss how to deal with the rise of various flavors of racist right-wing groups & individuals. From punching & egging racists to ignoring & isolating them: What works, what does not & what is the threshold for free-speech vs. yelling "Fire-in-a-crowded-theater"? Not sure that we stumble on the answer but sadly this discussion seems to be more relevant all the time -- and also doesn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon.
Spencer provides an update on why there haven't been any episodes uploaded lately, lays out the plan for the next "season" of the podcast & gets a little personal about his own struggles with manic-depression. He chats about the Hebbian Theory that neurons-that-fire-together-wire-together & uses his own life to make the argument that mental health is part of health care.
Spencer & Darrel discuss the Mueller Probe, the Barr summary and how the Democrats have wasted the lasted two years. Spencer explains why he thinks the Russia-Trump story has been pushed so hard, what is really behind it & who are the actual beneficiaries of Trump Inc's corruption. They also tease the upcoming debate and their upcoming trip down the Rabbit Hole. Episode Sources List
Taxes, taxes, taxes… Edit, edit, edit… The first 'Aldous Orwell' visits for a chat about taxes, tax policy, tax brackets, tax rates and then some more tax stuff. In this part 1 of 2, Aldous & Spencer start with some basic linguistics, definitions and establish that -- at a minimum -- 'taxes' are more complicated than simply what fits on to a postcard. While it'd be hard to believe that anyone would see this episode's title and not be super psyched by the tax-chat; there is effort to acknowledge the layers of complexity while also making the topic accessible without a tax degree. We also try to dispel some myths & cut through some rhetoric. Hopefully, listeners will feel we accomplished those tasks. Sources List "The Oxymoronic Paradox of Taxes" Ownside.org Podcast
Darrel asks Spencer what he thinks about the 2020 presidential candidates; Thankfully Darrel has a list. Spencer posits a couple different possible scenarios for November 2020, they question the generic interpretation of 'socialism', the myth of 'self-made success', ponder some of the ethics of tax distribution and ask whether multi-billionaires should even exist.
In honor of the memory of El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz -- aka, Malcolm X -- Spencer sits down with Lazone Greys to discuss what Malcolm's teachings mean today. We touch on what can be done to solve the lack of trust across racial groups, what has improved since Malcolm & what are some things that still need to be done. This was a fun discussion to have & hopefully this part 1 of 2 will also be fun to listen to.
Darrel & Spencer talk about some real chill stuff like abortion, immigration, racism, AIPAC and Palestine -- no touchy topics there {wink wink}. Then Trump's National Emergency interupts Spencer's epilogue & the Orange Authoritarian's lie-laden "Idiot-Speak" makes a beautiful fact-checking tortilla to wrap the whole episode up.
In honor of Black History Month, Spencer sets forth his ‘thesis’ on the issue of racism by citing genetics, alleles, homo sapien migrations & melanin. He emphasizes the layers of the issue while also damning the racists to hell. He also shares a fun story about how he learned of the old minstrel shows, gives props to all those making beautiful multi-cultural children & proposes that a number line with decimals is a better illustration of racism than simplistic dichotomies.
Spencer's buddy Darrel joins for what will most likely be a regular series -- "The 'Have-Nots'". In this episode we discuss what Darrel calls Spencer's "Twitterness", when comic books invade Spencer's Twitter politics. Its comic books vs. reality in this 'pilot' "D&Me" episode.
Join Spencer for the inaugural Ownside.org Podcast. In this episode, Spencer will just lay out some basic information, some general positions & some thoughts on where he'd like to see this go. When Spencer is chatting alone, the 'series' will be titled "SoloCasts".
In this fourth SoloCast, Spencer admits that he'll be wrong at times and cites a couple examples as he asks others to acknowledge when they're wrong also. He does some basic updating and marks the 10th Ownside.org podcast episode by laying out some future episode plans. Also, while the Democrats are celebrating their moment of shutdown sunshine, Spencer warns there maybe some dark clouds on the horizon.
In this new interview series, "American Allegories", a specific topic will be discussed and we'll play some 'connect-the-dots' with how the topic relates to the broader challenges facing America (& the world at large). In this episode, Dr. Beryl New & Prof. Lynda Crowl (or Mom to Spencer), join the podcast to start a discussion about education in America. Here we start with racial disparities in public school punishments. We scratch the surface as to whether the disparity is a flaw in the design, an intentional outcome or both. Spencer asks them both to check their calendars for a return episode and he may have found his favorite new website while prepping the epilogue.
Darrel & Spencer celebrate an equipment upgrade, Darrel reads real 'Muricans takes on Trump gourmets and Spencer is actually twitternessless --- until Darrel mentions Gillete. Also, a couple of seeds are planted for episode tress that will blossom in the future & the first of the Apple Battles has been won.
In this third Solocast, we get the first in a future series -- "How It Should Be Booked". A broad view is taken on the Democrat's election of Nancy Pelosi to Speaker of the House and after some critical analysis: what does her election demonstrate to voters, is the rhetoric supported by actual votes & is this scenario the best of all possible scenarios?
Darrel & I start a theme of sorts. Broadly asked; Is Society being WWE-ified? Is the News Media & political world just Pro Wrestling? Are citizens simply spectators as heels & babyfaces cut their promos & battle it out based upon some script devised by a mythical man behind the curtains? Well, when you put it that way... We issue our United States Tag-Team Title Open Challenge to anyone who thinks they can sell us on Trump simply not being a terrible human being. Bring your fact-checks though if you want to answer the open challenge because we'll lay the smackdown on your jabroni, candy-assed bullshit rhetoric. Lots of sources on the Ownside.org website from this episode including several of the heart warming Christmas gift videos. Hope you enjoy it.
Darrel & I might have come up with a name for our Twitterness segment, we chat on some randomness & a possible future "Easter Egg" is laid.
Spencer talks about externalizing the Mattis resignation, prognosticates Trump's Blackwaterization of the military & challenges Democrats to remember their troop withdrawal outrage next time they ask why leftists won't support them.
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