Attack Ads! The Podcast
207 episodes - English - Latest episode: 22 days ago - ★★★★★ - 5 ratingsAttack Ads! questions the dominance of media supported mainly by the corrupting influence of commercial advertising sponsorship, and aims to raise both awareness and outrage at the limitations such a system produces.
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Episodes
Ten Freakin' Years!
April 01, 2024 04:59 - 2 minutes - 1.39 MBThis is merely a brief calendrical announcement and celebration. Enjoy. Find the Show Notes (for what they're worth) at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/03/ten-freakin-years.html
There Are No Accidents
March 26, 2024 23:39 - 43 minutes - 25.1 MBFor too long, the question of what is “safe”—and who should take the blame when it isn't—has been muddled in the name of profits. Maybe we should avoid the word “accident” itself. I'll explore that question in this Episode 240: There Are No Accidents. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/03/episode-240-there-are-no-accidents.html
What I Do With The Mad That I Feel
March 14, 2024 20:46 - 35 minutes - 20.2 MBMy show is reactive: things happen, and I react to them. This happened recently when the number and tone of commercials in my podcast feed spiked. I cover this and speculation on why it happened in this Episode 239: What I Do With The Mad That I Feel. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/03/episode-239-what-i-do-with-mad-that-i.html
The Third Estate Rising
February 20, 2024 21:56 - 39 minutes - 22.7 MBPolitics in America comes down to the DEMs vs. the GOPs, right? One represents wealth, and the other claims the hearts of regular people, right? Well, it’s more complicated. I'll explore this not so much in this Episode 238: The Third Estate Rising. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/02/episode-238-third-estate-rising.html
Spare Me The EULAgee!
January 22, 2024 21:53 - 38 minutes - 21.8 MBWe all suspect our devices are increasingly using their microphones and cameras to snoop on us. Over the years, I’ve explored that suspicion. I’ll go over some of that history, and finish with some news, in this Episode 237: Spare Me The EULAgee! Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/01/episode-237-spare-me-eulagee.html
Madison's Farcical Tragedy
January 10, 2024 23:57 - 33 minutes - 19 MBI introduce a new word in this episode more to point out that it does not represent a new concept, but rather a very old one. The problem of controlling this recent outbreak due to an old story is the topic of this Episode 236: Madison's Farcical Tragedy. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2024/01/episode-236-madisons-farcical-tragedy.html
A Winkling In The Making
December 25, 2023 22:11 - 32 minutes - 18.6 MBOur homes are the greatest asset most Americans have. This should therefore scare the living shit out of us: right now more renting a place to live than getting a chance to own at all. What can be done? On to Episode 235: A Winkling In The Making. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/12/episode-235-winkling-in-making.html
Enshittification
December 12, 2023 21:44 - 32 minutes - 18.8 MBThere's a new word out there, doing its part to describe an old type of theft. Rentiers are once again attempting to rake in money, today using technology to make that job easier. I describe this word and some of the acts associated with it in this Episode 234: Enshittification. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/12/episode-234-enshittification.html
Critical Massholes
November 28, 2023 22:20 - 33 minutes - 19.3 MBRight now, there are a few under-reported legal attempts being made to rein in the tech giants that today, well, monopolistically reign. Just like I did in my last, I'll cover yet another of these attempts in this Episode 233: Critical Massholes. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/11/episode-233-critical-massholes.html
The Advertising Scorpion
November 07, 2023 20:50 - 33 minutes - 19.1 MBLawsuits are happening! And so many concern advertising and the future of some really big companies! It's time to get not just excited, but really excited, starting with this Episode 232: The Advertising Scorpion. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/11/episode-232-advertising-scorpion.html
The Status Goldfish
October 24, 2023 22:10 - 28 minutes - 16.3 MBIn this final sharing of Will Storr's book, The Status Game, I give a glimpse into the tyranny of the cousins, people amongst us who seek to correct behavior in ways that should sound familiar. Watch what you say in this Episode 231: The Status Goldfish. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/10/episode-231-ssg-status-goldfish.html
Erasing Typographic Man
October 04, 2023 20:33 - 33 minutes - 19.2 MBHave you ever read a very old book and wondered how the author could keep the argument flowing through the miles of print? I know I have. Today I explore the degradation of our modern attention span with this Episode 230: Erasing Typographic Man. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/10/episode-230-erasing-typographic-man.html
SSG Sing a Song of Derision!
September 14, 2023 20:07 - 32 minutes - 18.8 MBStatus is important to all of us. To maintain relative status for everyone, we need to keep those around us in check. Sometimes we must bring out the biggest means of checking behavior and, like the title of this Episode 229, Sing a Song of Derision! Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/09/episode-229-sing-song-of-derision.html
The Advertising Nuisance
August 23, 2023 23:41 - 52 minutes - 30.1 MBMy hatred of advertising brought about my study of it. What I could never anticipate was the shared hatred that every now and again in history flares up and prompts so very many to complain, if not to act against it. Here is one such collection of complaint and solution from over a century ago in this Bonus Episode: The Advertising Nuisance. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/08/bonus-episode-advertising-nuisance.html
My Eight-Legged Monkey Dance
August 10, 2023 02:32 - 39 minutes - 22.8 MBWe brag about living in a "free" country. Private industry, however, has too often more freedom to suppress speech than we do to exercise it, at least on "their" platforms. I vaguely allude to this in today's Episode 228: My Eight-Legged Monkey Dance. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/08/episode-228-my-eight-legged-monkey-dance.html
The Games of Our Lives
July 25, 2023 19:59 - 35 minutes - 20.4 MBYes, we humans are obsessed with playing games. They’re harmless fun, giving winners some bragging rights; in that way they resemble the most important game we play, the Status Game. I discuss this Greatest Game in Episode 227: The Games of Our Lives. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/07/episode-227-games-of-our-lives.html
Categorization & Confirmation
July 11, 2023 17:30 - 35 minutes - 20.4 MBFor almost a decade now, I've shared intrusive surveillance crap with you done in the name of advertising and marketing. Worse, today I need to revisit that crap to show that it's now a probable reality. Thus, Episode 226: Categorization & Confirmation. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/07/episode-226-categorization-confirmation.html
Why We Can't Have Nice Things
June 27, 2023 18:02 - 37 minutes - 21.3 MBIt really is possible to improve our lives by adopting less onerous practices. Keeping us from this better life are obscene fortunes earned by those who provide more onerous practices. I discuss some of this Episode 225: Why We Can't Have Nice Things. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/06/episode-225-why-we-cant-have-nice-things.html
Categorically Errory
June 14, 2023 23:37 - 37 minutes - 21.3 MBI could do every episode sharing crud that attempts to score points against collective action… crud that spouts from mouths paid by people most likely to suffer should collective action occur. I present two in this Episode 224: Categorically Errory. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/06/episode-224-categorically-errory.html
The Counterintelligentsia Strikes Back!
May 23, 2023 20:47 - 37 minutes - 21.3 MBI've described before how ideas originated in academia have caught society’s collective popular vision. How much of that content, though, was intended to benefit only the wealthy? I explore this in Episode 223: The Counterintelligentsia Strikes Back! Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/05/episode-223-counterintelligentsia.html
The Most Important Invention Ever
May 09, 2023 23:40 - 30 minutes - 17.3 MBToo few realize that answering the cocktail party question “what’s the best [something] ever?” requires taking into account how many on earth are affected by it. I attempt to answer this question in this Episode 222: The Most Important Invention Ever.
Books I've Quietly Read
April 25, 2023 17:31 - 35 minutes - 20.3 MBMost of us can relate: if we do something too often, specific memories of doing that thing are often lost until something triggers us to remember. Well, I read a lot. Here are some titles I forgot to mention in this Episode 221: Books I've Quietly Read. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/04/episode-221-books-ive-quietly-read.html
Snitches Get Riches
April 11, 2023 22:18 - 39 minutes - 22.4 MBOnce we learn about all the intrusive technologies foisted upon us just to stuff ads in our earholes and eyeballs, paranoia comes naturally. How much is enough? When does our paranoia match reality? I muse that in this Episode 220: Snitches Get Riches. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/04/episode-220-snitches-get-riches.html
"Not Totally Without Historical Significance"
March 28, 2023 21:03 - 36 minutes - 21.1 MBWe are taught from childhood to save, because a penny saved can lead to a penny earned. What happens, though, when others have investments that take every penny we have? I explore this in Episode 219: "Not Totally Without Historical Significance." Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/03/episode-219-not-totally-without.html
Why (r > g) Matters
March 14, 2023 20:35 - 39 minutes - 22.7 MBWho can we trust in the “sciences”? In this episode, I offer academic research—later discounted by evidence—for years considered sacrosanct simply because it protects a hidden agenda of political economy. Hence, today's Episode 218: Why (r > g) Matters. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/03/episode-218-why-r-g-matters.html
Chopping At The Golem
February 28, 2023 22:30 - 27 minutes - 15.7 MBI have to say, it's exciting to witness a change in political winds almost the moment it happens…especially when it concerns legality in the world of online advertising! I share this change in the weather in this Episode 217: Chopping At The Golem. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/02/episode-217-chopping-at-golem.html
The Dirt Road To Serfdom
February 15, 2023 19:14 - 40 minutes - 23.1 MBWe all like to eat. There are, sadly, very profitable reasons to keep the various processes dictating how the food we buy is created well hidden. Today I point out just some of the lowlights you find alongside Episode 216: The Dirt Road To Serfdom. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/02/episode-216-dirt-road-to-serfdom.html
The Libertarian Delusion
January 31, 2023 23:34 - 29 minutes - 17.1 MBEverybody likes to suggest changes that will fix problems found in everyday life. What we don't often have, though, is a clear idea of whether those utopian changes will—or won’t—work. I present one example in this Epiosde 215: The Libertarian Delusion. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/01/epiosde-215-libertarian-delusion.html
Medium unCoolers
January 17, 2023 21:31 - 31 minutes - 17.9 MBAdvertisers scheme ways to spread filth; but low-margin retailers can't stop these intrusions without angering shareholders. This creates a creeping tendency toward abominations in stores. I give a chilling example in this Episode 214: Medium unCoolers. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/01/episode-214-medium-uncoolers.html
The Audience Commodity
January 05, 2023 01:41 - 34 minutes - 19.5 MBAdvertisers want to know you because pitches to receptive audiences sell product. But before surveillance technology existed, how did they do that? To help, there’s an obscure but key theory to know in this Episode 213, one named The Audience Commodity. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2023/01/episode-213-audience-commodity.html
Get Thee To The Moil!
December 20, 2022 14:24 - 32 minutes - 18.3 MBEverything seems chaotic today, what with supply chain disruptions, staffing shortfalls, and this wave of union activity, all panicking employers. What could be the reason? How about math? I explore that in this Epiosde 212: Get Thee To The Moil! Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/12/epiosde-212-get-thee-to-moil.html
Back To Basics
December 07, 2022 01:42 - 32 minutes - 18.5 MBParody goes beyond laughter: it can help all of us see silliness in what we never questioned; help us see our naked marching monarch. I explore ideas I've had, along with terms others have coined on this topic, in this Episode 211: Back To Basics. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/12/episode-211-back-to-basics.html
Prehistory, Lost & Found
November 24, 2022 01:34 - 35 minutes - 20.4 MBQuestion: Why is the largest river in South America called the Amazon? I recently re-read some important source material, and got some surprises on that and other important topics I hope you'll share in this Episode 210: Prehistory, Lost & Found. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/11/episode-210-prehistory-lost-found.html
Partners In A Symbiotic Dance
November 09, 2022 01:02 - 41 minutes - 23.8 MBAt this rate, we humans face a hot climate blanketing the planet with the over two centuries of fuel exhaust we have already dug up and burned. There are solutions out there. I share a dirty, meaty one in this Episode 209: Partners In A Symbiotic Dance. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/11/episode-209-partners-in-symbiotic-dance.html
Peddling the Nitrogen Cycle
October 25, 2022 20:54 - 33 minutes - 18.9 MBWhat do you think: will we as a species starve to death, or merely roast? Trying to thread that policy needle is proving a challenge, one that (for me, at least) needs to be itself challenged. Hence, Episode 208: Peddling the Nitrogen Cycle. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/10/episode-208-peddling-nitrous-cycle.html
Take Two, Phase One
October 12, 2022 17:37 - 30 minutes - 17.6 MBIs your phone listening to what you say when you aren't using it to actually make calls? That's what it seems everyone is wondering; but how to find out if it is? I ponder one possible answer to that question in this Episode 207: Take Two, Phase One. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/10/episode-207-take-two-phase-one.html
Good News For News?
September 28, 2022 05:58 - 34 minutes - 20 MBExtra! Extra! Read all about (maybe) good news for newspapers! Hey, a guy can dream, right? Best of all, this might be the very thing that ends our scourge of disinformation! I look into this possible solution in this Episode 206: Good News For News? Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/09/episode-206-good-news-for-news.html
All That You Can Be
September 13, 2022 17:48 - 31 minutes - 17.8 MBWhat each of us shall find in our future, sadly, too often depends not upon good planning, smarts, and gumption, but rather on who happen to be your mom and dad. Thus it's hardly a meritocracy that dictates Episode 205: All That You Can Be. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/09/episode-205-all-that-you-can-be.html
Our Howie Holidays… of Work
August 30, 2022 16:35 - 37 minutes - 21.7 MBLet's remember Howie's 1958 holiday, the one that turned out to be “I Must Work More!” In this Episode 204, Our Howie Holidays… of Work, I explore just some of the forces that try to convince us to stop worrying, but to never, ever stop working. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/08/episode-204-our-howie-holidays-of-work.html
Unquieting Hearts For Profit.
August 16, 2022 22:35 - 36 minutes - 20.8 MBWe last left the six-hour workers at the Kellogg's factory when the war ended in 1946. What new challenges to their shorter work shift will confront them next? That is the question for this Episode 203: KSD Unquieting Hearts For Profit. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/08/episode-203-ksd-unquieting-hearts-for.html
Right In The Heartballs
August 04, 2022 23:07 - 23 minutes - 13.5 MBWe humans are hyper-social critters. For that reason, it can be difficult for us to discover which of our ideas social pressures unknowingly impose upon us. Changing our minds can thus require a kick implied in this Episode 202: Right In The Heartballs. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/08/episode-202-right-in-heartballs.html
After Long Silence
July 19, 2022 21:04 - 28 minutes - 16.3 MBAfter over eight years of doing this show, I still maintain the best source for show topics comes directly from listener feedback. I have listeners and commenters Pim and Dode to thank for this Episode 201: After Long Silence. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/07/episode-201-after-long-silence.html
Shees Reminded Me of Science
May 31, 2022 18:43 - 37 minutes - 21.4 MBTime to review my first experiment conducted to try to determine if my phone listens to me… when it should not. To see if I manscaped well or if I nicked the berries, check out Episode 200: Shees Reminded Me of Science. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/05/episode-200-shees-reminded-me-of-science.html
Ultima Ratio Plebium
May 17, 2022 19:27 - 32 minutes - 18.6 MBI will maintain as long as I am able to speak that we must learn from history, if only to avoid making mistakes already made… well, making them again… and again… and…. I look back to the Crash of the 1930s in this Episode 199: Ultima Ratio Plebium. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/05/episode-199-ultima-ratio-plebium.html
We Are Not So Smart
May 03, 2022 20:21 - 45 minutes - 25.9 MBWe humans bear complex mental mechanisms, which are often general enough for experiments to tease out some rules that govern our behavior. Knowing how these rules can manipulate us helps us realize the title of this Episode 198: We Are Not So Smart. Find the Shot Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/05/episode-198-we-are-not-so-smart.html
The Rabbits and the Work-Hogs
April 19, 2022 19:14 - 29 minutes - 17.1 MBWorkplaces are social dynamos. Quite often—and often by design—how we are paid and scheduled interferes in what people really want from their work. This is the long-existing division I discuss in today's Episode 197: The Rabbits and the Work-Hogs. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/04/episode-197-rabbits-and-work-hogs.html
The REALLY Big Necessity
April 05, 2022 22:21 - 31 minutes - 18.2 MBHistory has shown again and again that an incomplete or just mistaken understanding of how the world really works leads to most of the problems we suffer. To change our world, we must first change our minds; thus Episode 196: The REALLY Big Necessity. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/04/episode-196-really-big-necessity.html
I Miss Magazines
March 22, 2022 20:36 - 27 minutes - 15.6 MBAfter seeing some of the best magazines I've ever read go quite extinct, some have wondered if the lack of advertising killed them. I would ask, rather, if magazines can afford to advertise at all. Still, in this Episode 195: I Miss Magazines. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/03/episode-195-i-miss-magazines.html
Something Old, Something New
March 08, 2022 22:43 - 31 minutes - 17.9 MBLately, it seems, how long we owners of tech can use our things has been shrinking, as ever-more monopolistic powers extend toward a product totalitarianism that favors newness over usefulness. This I explore Episode 194: Something Old, Something New. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/03/episode-194-something-old-something-new.html
KSD Lazy, Do Nothing Idlers
February 22, 2022 21:48 - 21 minutes - 12.4 MBHave you ever thought how weird it is that experts in labor—issuing pronouncements about how long shifts should be—never work those job shifts themselves? It's another argument supporting the title group in this Episode 193: KSD Lazy, Do Nothing Idlers. Find the Show Notes at: https://attackadspodcast.blogspot.com/2022/02/episode-193-ksd-lazy-do-nothing-idlers.html