Brian Gongol Show on WHO Radio - January 11, 2020
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
The moral of the story:
Segment 2: (8 min)
Totally Unnecessary Debate of the Day
The moral of the story:
Segment 3: (14 min)
The moral of the story:
Segment 4: (5 min)
Website reminder
The moral of the story:
Segment 5: (11 min)
The moral of the story:
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
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Kickers
I'm pretty sure "perpetually ranting misanthrope" is its own para-ideology, regardless of geography.
— Brian Gongol (@briangongol) January 6, 2020
My reason for remaining in talk radio is that I have too many opinions that I already give away for free, so I'm selling some of the surplus.
— Brian Gongol (@briangongol) January 6, 2020
To be fair, it does say "Economy" on the label. pic.twitter.com/H6kYN916So
— Brian Gongol (@briangongol) January 9, 2020
It says "Economy Size" on the label, but I still think my broker is ripping me off. #409k pic.twitter.com/cvKxkECoUJ
— Brian Gongol (@briangongol) January 9, 2020
Sharing this only because I've never seen anyone described as a "metal detectorist" before. https://t.co/OIFBdPKGoI
— Brian Gongol (@briangongol) January 8, 2020
This day in history
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Programming notes
Phone guests (no more than one mention per hour needed): Credit as appearing on the "LaMarca Law Group" Newsmaker Line"
Live read: iHeartRadio app
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Live read: Contests
Live read: Smart speakers (hour 1)
Smart speakers
Live read: Smart speakers (hour 2)
Smart speakers
Calendar events to highlight
Recap
Notes from the episode that aired on January 11, 2020
🎧 Listen to the full episode from January 11, 2020 here 🎧
Segments 1 and 2 | With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle trying to escape the Royal Family, a question for us Americans: While it's good we don't have a hereditary head of state (like the Queen), why shouldn't we have a Citizen of the Year or something similar to fulfill the ceremonial roles for the country that aren't really suitable to a highly contentious political office?
Segment 3 | Totally Unnecessary Debate of the Day: How often do you floss, really? It's one of those things in life that only you can do for yourself, and only you really benefit...so it reveals a lot about a person's self-discipline.
Segment 4 | What might go better if we had an elected -- but purely ceremonial -- head of state? And should we pair that with retiring the direct election of Senators and opening a third house of Congress, to which adults might find themselves drafted? Listeners react to the Citizen of the Year idea with some energy.
Segment 5 | Technology Three: Yahoo Groups sails off into the sunset, Facebook still won't do anything about terrible political ads, and Bellingcat is doing a tremendous public service for the world of open-source intelligence analysis.
Segment 6 | Upcoming events on and off the air
Segment 7 | It's not a situation of black helicopters, but the rash of late-night drone sightings in Nebraska really deserves an explanation. Drones (and other high tech) can do a great deal of good for people -- like helping predict last night's huge severe-weather outbreak with very high precision, well over 24 hours in advance. But technology also enables things like North Korea's missile program -- which is effective enough that South Korea is basically putting a Patriot missile system on their equivalent of the White House lawn.
Segment 8 | If there's one characteristic that I think describes Iowans, it's a commitment to fair play. Whether it's the traffic jam at a four-way stop where everyone insists on letting someone else go first, the work done for generations to literally level the playing field for small schools in high-school football and basketball, or the way everyone holds the door for everyone else, everything about Iowa behavior screams "fairness first". I hope we can take that attitude into the caucuses in a few weeks, as well as into local discussions like whether to permit a new shelter for women and children who have no place to live. We're a fair people: Let's live up to the earned reputation.