Brian Gongol Show on WHO Radio - March 16, 2019
Please note: These show notes may be in various stages of completion -- ranging from brainstormed notes through to well-polished monologues. Please excuse anything that may seem rough around the edges, as it may only be a first draft of a thought and not be fully representative of what was said on the air.
Breaking news to watch
Segment 1: (11 min)
BUT FIRST: The opening essay
- Cousin lives about 10 miles from the shootings
- Heard the news, went straight to Facebook to check in
- Happens to be quick and reliable for that kind of question
- She's fine, but shaken and heartbroken
- "Choice is the essence of ethics: if there were no choice, there would be no ethics, no good, no evil; good and evil have meaning only insofar as man is free to choose." - Margaret Thatcher
- She's an immigrant there; so is her husband
- Most of us don't make choices that big
- It's a choice to see others as individuals worthy of dignity
- It's a choice whether to watch or share the video of the attack
- It's a choice whether to condemn or otherwise react
- Reducing other people to the groups to which they belong is a big and dangerous step away from individual dignity
- People often have problems in common, so there's nothing wrong with addressing those problems -- especially if it empowers individuals to make more choices for themselves
- But seeing each individual as a dignified person is the root of all our security -- we're each reducible to a minority of one
49 people murdered in New Zealand terrorist attack
It's terrorism, period.
"Do not share the video or you are part of this"
A former FBI agent strongly discourages anyone engaging with or amplifying the videos that appear to have been taken by the terrorists in Christchurch. It would be more reassuring if the social media services (like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube) would behave more transparently in reporting basic facts, like when they took down pages related to the suspects. And there appears to be a manifesto that may be deliberately misleading or vague. Cyberspace is a very real battleground.
The moral of the story:
Segment 2: (8 min)
Totally Unnecessary Debate of the Day
Totally Unnecessary Debate of the Day™:
— Brian Gongol Show (@briangongolshow) March 16, 2019
The moral of the story:
Segment 3: (14 min)
Iowa news
Joyce Flynn, Director of Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
At the State Emergency Operations Command
Lucinda Parker (PIO) will call
Segment 4: (5 min)
The moral of the story:
Segment 5: (11 min)
Technology Three
Why the Boeing 737 Max's problems may have been 50 years in the making
Legacy design idiosyncracies may have led to the two recent crashes
Connections alone aren't by definition good
There's an embedded logical flaw when Mark Zuckerberg concludes with a phrase like "bring the world closer together." The problem is that the connection *itself* isn't necessarily a good thing, as made plain in the last couple of years. The kinds of people who do the connecting also matter a great deal -- witness the apparent contribution of Internet message boards to the radicalization of the terrorists who just shot up parts of Christchurch, New Zealand. It's not just a Facebook problem, either -- the entire culture of Reddit, for example, serves to undergird the conditions that connect people to others, often in really unsavory ways.
The Internet is now old enough for one-time teen hackers to be Presidential candidates
Beto O'Rourke earns an unusual spot in electoral history
The moral of the story: Technological literacy has never been more important, and we need it among regulators and legislators alike. The 737 case shows the risks of letting layers of technology build up without taking a fresh look once in a while. The Zuckerberg story illustrates just how wide-reaching tech consequences can be. And the O'Rourke story highlights just how rare it is for anyone in national politics to even claim to be technologically literate.
Segment 6: (8 min)
The moral of the story:
Segment 7: (14 min)
The moral of the story:
Segment 8: (5 min)
The moral of the story:
Unsorted and leftovers:
This week
By the numbers
Make money
Have fun
Clean up after yourself
Mind your business
Quote of the Week
Your role in cyberwar
Contrary to popular opinion
Hyperbole is going to kill us all
21st Century conservatism
Curiosity, competence, and humility
Have a little empathy
Inbox zero
Stop the deliberate ignorance
Tin Foil Hat Award
Yay Capitalism Prize
Capitalist solution of the week
Kickers
Drive-through charcuterie.
— Brian Gongol (@briangongol) March 12, 2019
Why isn't that a thing?
One year ago
Five years ago
Ten years ago
Programming notes
Justin Brady: (4p-6p) Why Medicaid shouldn't pay for gender reassignment surgery
Live read: iHeartRadio app
iHeartRadio app
Live read: Contests
Live read: Smart speakers (hour 1)
Smart speakers
Live read: Smart speakers (hour 2)
Smart speakers
Calendar events to highlight
Recap
♫ Listen to the full episode from March 16, 2019 here
✩ Segment 1: Burdens are meant to be carried together. That's the lesson we should take away from the Christchurch terrorist attacks: If you're going to lump people together into identity labels and groups, you'd better be doing it in order to share a difficult burden, not to scapegoat.
✩ Segment 2: Pick your holiday -- St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, Labor Day, or Arbor Day?
✩ Segment 3: Parents who cheat their kids' way into college create a special class of failures.
✩ Segments 4 and 5: You can't pick your parents, but you can pick your heroes -- your intellectual and ethical ancestors. And you should. (And if one of them is Stan Lee, then more power to you.)
✩ Segment 6: The Technology Three: Dangers aboard the 737 may be left over from 50 years ago, Mark Zuckerberg *still* doesn't get it, and the Internet is now old enough for teenaged hackers to have grown up to run for President.
✩ Segment 7: Land values in Iowa are slipping, and trade wars are to blame.
✩ Segment 8: A live update on flooding from Joyce Flinn, director of Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management.