David Boles: Human Meme
739 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★ - 7 ratingsThis Human Meme podcast is the inflection point for what it means to live a life of knowing. We are in the critical moment of human induction. David Boles is a writer, publisher, teacher, lyricist and author living and working in New York City. He has dedicated his life to founding the irrevocable aesthetic. Be a Human Meme!
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Episodes
Interview with a Ghoul
November 08, 2016 15:00 - 8 minutes - 11.1 MBSome Ghouls are too good to be true! We break new ground interviewing an ill-smelling Ghoul on election day! Can this Ghoul win it all with the Kitten and Wraith vote?
Black Wall of Gold
November 07, 2016 15:00 - 11 minutes - 15.6 MBThe Lakota Sioux have spent generations fighting for hills and against pipelines. We make the case that the Black Hills of South Dakota were a first line of defense -- a wall! -- against intruders, until it was discovered those hills were made of gold, and the land was lost to blood and greed. Today, the fight is over Black Gold and pumping stations.
The Search for Meaning
November 04, 2016 14:00 - 13 minutes - 18.9 MBWhat do we mean in the landscape of antiquity? We share our combined searches for meaning in our lives -- with conflicting interests -- and opposing causes.
Best Childhood Commercials
November 03, 2016 14:00 - 18 minutes - 24.8 MBWhy does the salesmanship of childhood stick with us inside the adult? We dissect some of the most memorable commercials from the 1970s to wonder at the everlasting effects upon their intended, advertising, targets.
The Immigrant Doctor
November 02, 2016 14:00 - 12 minutes - 17.3 MBWe owe our future to the history of those who joined us. We celebrate the immigrant experience, and those who choose to give up their lives at home to join our lives here in America.
The Barely Among Us
November 01, 2016 14:00 - 14 minutes - 20.1 MBThe homeless and the mentally ill creep on the seams of society. We try to figure out how we can help those who are unable to think of their own welfare. Incarceration is not the solution. Ignoring these desperate people hasn't worked. What's next?
A Haunting on Happy Jack Hill
October 31, 2016 14:00 - 10 minutes - 14.5 MBWhat breaks us can never can never bind us. Here is an original ghost story we wrote about a Nebraska legend.
Everything Smells Like Pot and Service Animals
October 28, 2016 14:00 - 17 minutes - 24 MBWe are surrounded by smoke and poop! We take a sniff at how the mores of society are changing right beneath our noses! Medical Marijuana and Service Animals are beguiling more than just our sense of smell!
The Case of the Mysterious PhD Line Caper
October 27, 2016 14:00 - 14 minutes - 20.2 MBAcademia is just as cutthroat as Wall Street -- but will less morality and more humor. We share canonical insight into the PhD hiring process, and how it unravels into unfairness and backslapping in order to fill empty faculty lines.
Purity
October 26, 2016 14:00 - 10 minutes - 15.1 MBWe have the need to be cleansed. Yet, we can never be clean. We reveal the memes of purity and cleanliness as cultural controls. Can we ever become Virgins again after the loss of verifiable innocence?
Newark in Black and Blue: Podcast Edition!
October 25, 2016 14:00 - 12 minutes - 17.2 MBStudents who attend school in Newark, New Jersey discuss Race and Racism in performance. In this episode, our instructor gives the story over to his Fall 2004 "Page to Stage" class at Rutgers-Newark where his students dramatize the hard, biting, realities of their lives -- recording the truth of them, in situ, in studio, preserved in the amber of audio history. NSFW: Language.
Do You Not See Me Not Watching You?
October 24, 2016 14:00 - 16 minutes - 22.1 MBWe are always being watched by someone who is not us -- or OF us. We walk through the sky above and the eyes below that are looking down on us and around on us -- recording every move we make. Can we escape this Panopticon of our own doing and desire?
Cynicism and Snarkiness in the Media
October 21, 2016 14:00 - 13 minutes - 18.4 MBIn a crumbling world, the comedians make the news, and skewer the truth. The old world newsreaders are scuttled to the dustbin -- unless they compete on the lowest level of giggling and desk-slapping. In this episode, we track the downfall of the American news personality.
Deirdre of the Sorrows: Podcast Performance!
October 20, 2016 14:00 - 12 minutes - 17.6 MBThe Irish sense of tragedy takes many forms and mournings. We dive into Irish culture and the work of Playwright and Poet John Millington Synge. There are some Irish pronunciation name games herein as well as the redacted version, IN LIVE PERFORMANCE, of "Deirdre of the Sorrows."
That Was The Week That Was in Bigotry
October 19, 2016 14:00 - 20 minutes - 27.9 MBThree cunning bigots? Three kind solutions! We share our experiences in a week filled with censorship and cruel bigots! There's the bigoted Race-baiter, and then there's the Civil Rights ruiner, and, finally, there's the culture-dissing inHuman Troll!
We are All Replaceable Until We're Not
October 18, 2016 14:00 - 12 minutes - 17.7 MBThere is no value in us. We are built on hubris and breadcrumbs, and we prick the notion that we only bleed when we're struck -- and not in perpetuity. We are not unique. We only resemble. How then, can we fight for a right niche in life and become, in essence, the meaning of, value?
Trinity Moments
October 17, 2016 14:00 - 10 minutes - 14.9 MB"I am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds." We discuss the idea of a "Trinity Moment" -- and how that notion is inspired by the scheme of Robert Oppenheimer's "Trinity Test" bombs during WWII. We cannot reoccur, or recover, from a Trinity Moment. Like Pandora's Box, once a Trinity Moment is let loose upon us, the Devil cannot be sent back to Hell.
Performing Arts as a Profession
October 14, 2016 14:00 - 13 minutes - 18.8 MBWe are not always our talents. We want to believe we can arc above the sky and land on our feet; but our parents often try to hold us down, for our own sake, against our wishes and our dreams. We answer a talented student of the Performing Arts from California who wants to take up an offer for a full-ride scholarship that her parents refuse to approve.
Enemies Are Your Friend
October 13, 2016 14:00 - 11 minutes - 15.7 MBEvery friend is your enemy! Yes, it's true! Every enemy is a friend and every friend is an enemy. The trick of life is to know which way that pendulum is ticking against you.
Dotbusters, Beaner-Hopping and Foreign Rage
October 12, 2016 14:00 - 15 minutes - 21.6 MBWe are our hatreds. When we, the majority, choose to pick on the minority among us, we cheapen our own dreams, and wishes, and we poison our future with violence. We examine a not-so-distant time in America when were were rougher, and more, cruel with -- "The Others" -- than we are today.
Cowardism and the Terrorist
October 11, 2016 14:00 - 9 minutes - 13.3 MBIs there a difference between a coward and a terrorist? We struggle to find the difference between terrorism and cowardice. In the Age of Modern Warfare Against Civilians -- do those labels even matter any longer, when killing is done, virtually, from afar?
Imitation is Not Flattery
October 10, 2016 14:00 - 11 minutes - 15.2 MBAchievement vs. Originality matters. Knowing the difference between authenticity and imitation is not as easy as it once was. We reveal the imitators among us -- the copiers, the pale comparisons, and the almost was.
Romanticizing Bad People
October 07, 2016 14:00 - 14 minutes - 19.7 MBWhy are we obsessed with venerating the Evildoers among us? We take a look at our like for the bad influences in our culture. Hitler, the KKK, Pigeons, Sports, Criminals and Bad Boys -- they're all here -- waiting for the burning!
Love in an Anodyne Age
October 06, 2016 14:00 - 15 minutes - 21.3 MBWhere has the sacred heart gone to find love today? We reckon with -- "The Death of the Old God" -- in an Age where everything is facile and online and untouchable. Sex! Dating! Heathens of the Loveless!
Logistics and Quantification of the Human Spirit
October 05, 2016 14:00 - 14 minutes - 20.4 MBWe are illogical beings who rely on logistics to get the work of life, done. We lay out the idea of the logicians who run our lives -- in business and in healthcare -- and the inescapable resolution of the dissolution of our Human Souls in the process.
Luke Cage and the Harlem Renaissance
October 04, 2016 14:00 - 14 minutes - 20.5 MBThe Marvel Comics Universe comes alive in New York City! We take a look at the Luke Cage television series on Netflix. The evildoers and the good fighters tee off in Harlem to rule the soul of the people!
Flay the Wicked, Save the Monster
October 03, 2016 14:00 - 10 minutes - 13.9 MBHere's what you get when you combine a Hobson's Choice with a Sophie's Choice. You get a Wicked Monster trapped in a never-ending circle of ferocity! We explore the mind of us, and how we choose to make decisions while actively deciding not to be involved in anything that can later be used against us.
Ubiquity in Social Media
September 30, 2016 14:00 - 15 minutes - 21.2 MBIf you want to be widely understood, be universally clear, and contextual. We share secrets of the mistakes we've made in a long -- social media tail -- career. Context is everything, and it can always be shared if you explain well. "Katzenfutter" and "World of the Day" and "Word-Smithy" and "Three's Company" -- forever!
I Just Wrote Hillary Clinton’s Millennials Speech
September 29, 2016 14:00 - 7 minutes - 9.71 MBHere is the speech Hillary Clinton needs to give to Millennials. We share the speech we wrote for Hillary Clinton to win the Millennials vote!
The Undiagnosed and the Accused: Asperger’s and the Internet
September 28, 2016 14:00 - 16 minutes - 22.5 MBHow do we label things in the Internet of things? We insult you, and offends you, as we step through a generation, or two, of naming conventions -- from retarded to Autistic, from lazy to Fibromyalgia, from antisocial to Asperger's Syndrome. All outrage, all the time!
Redundant Systems: Redundant Systems
September 27, 2016 14:00 - 11 minutes - 15.1 MBDoes your love backup have a backup? The universe wants us to be one thing and not a multiplicity, but computer systems were built to copy us -- sometimes in uneven and unwanted ways. We wonder about the doppelgangers of us, and how many backups is too many -- and why redundant love is something all children require.
We Are Our Works
September 26, 2016 14:00 - 11 minutes - 15.9 MBAre we only our jobs? We ask the important questions of us -- are we our work, are we our dreams, as we something else -- or are we only what others expect us to be in the end?
How to Adapt Everything
September 23, 2016 14:00 - 13 minutes - 18.4 MBThe Art of Adaptation is not for the weak-willed. We share methods of adaptation, and of divining meaning into the essence of everything. In order to adapt, you must first humble yourself, and then submit -- and we provide examples from Columbia University in the City of New York and in the higher life of Jewish actor, Steven Hill.
Millennialization of a Nation
September 22, 2016 14:00 - 14 minutes - 20 MBWill the 2016 presidential election be decided by the non-involvement of Millennials? We think it so -- and we dig into the depths of the emptiness of us -- to unearth a generation that was born aimless, and amiss.
Why Do We Trust Each Other?
September 21, 2016 14:00 - 13 minutes - 18.3 MBNew Twitter friend Ashleigh Bonner asks for a podcast about trust. This, is that, podcast! We answer Ashleigh's inquiries, and wonderings, about the nature of us -- and the test of us -- when it comes to living together as a society.
Traumatic Memory and Survivor Grief
September 20, 2016 14:00 - 13 minutes - 18.7 MBWhat happens to those left behind -- the traumatized, and the grieving? In this podcast follow-up to -- "Does Disappeared Mean Murdered?" -- we reflect on what it means to find success in storytelling as we share a letter from a grieving stranger, and shines an example on traumatic memory, in the example of Lt. Joe Kenda, star of the Homicide Hunter television show on the Investigation Discovery channel.
On Getting Twitter Verified
September 19, 2016 14:00 - 19 minutes - 26.1 MBHow do you get Verified on Twitter and Facebook? Don't ask us -- because we have no idea -- even though we're finally Verified on both Facebook and Twitter. Listen along as we share some schemes and thoughts and doables for winning the social media Verification day!
In the Internet of Things, Keep Your String
September 16, 2016 14:00 - 13 minutes - 18.3 MB“As we are connected, so shall we remain in the dark.” That quote is investigated in this podcast about living virtually and in reality. Do we know how dependent we are on power and the internet? Can a piece of string save us? How long is a piece of string?
Does Disappeared Mean Murdered?
September 15, 2016 14:00 - 14 minutes - 19.6 MBHere are the stories of fellow Lincoln, Nebraskans Wendy Hile, Oscar Long and Gina Bos -- all either murdered, or presumed dead. We investigate what it means to go missing in the real world, and how we deal with the not knowing of what happened to the murdered, and the beloved, around us.
Now You’re the Whore of New York!
September 14, 2016 14:00 - 10 minutes - 14.9 MBWhat's the easiest way to control the most people? We share thoughts on the methods and the memes used to control thought, and behavior -- from medication, to religion, to education, to womb manipulation.
The Burning Patriot
September 13, 2016 14:00 - 12 minutes - 16.9 MBHave we finally burned the Patriotism out of 9/11? Will we ever get over the attack that paralyzed New York City? Must we replay the murder of almost 3,000 people in real time, every single year? We take on what it means to be an American -- and we add Colin Kaepernick, and Sandy Hook, and the Civil War, and San Bernardino, and George W. Bush, and the NFL, and morning TV news readers -- to the fire!
How to Poison a Culture
September 12, 2016 14:00 - 11 minutes - 16.4 MBWe corrupt our Aesthetic and Education and Values through carelessness. We take apart all the memetics we claim to culturally care about, and he disassembles it all into non-organic parts -- The Kardashians, Justin Bieber and Britney -- plus, The Others!
Letter From Anthea
September 09, 2016 14:00 - 16 minutes - 22 MBToday, we share a lovely letter from Anthea Syrokou! You may listen to Anthea's feedback concerning our -- "How Not to Paint" -- podcast and our response to her thoughts here as well! Oh, and don't tell Anthea her undercover iPhone Street Name is: "Anthrax!"
Do Not Push the Machine!
September 08, 2016 14:00 - 12 minutes - 17.8 MBIf we are presented with a button -- that does not mean we must press it! We contemplate what happens when we independently set machines in motion without knowing how the gears will flow. Deus Ex Machina is the critical, fateful, classical warning against starting the machine -- yet, we never listen, or learn!
How Not to Paint
September 07, 2016 14:00 - 10 minutes - 14.4 MBThere's a crime afoot to steal your money while you're drunk and painting! We put the tines to the "Copying is Painting" Art movement in America. Creation is not imitation, and Aristotle provides the parameters for judging all aesthetic intention!
Five Fires Changed the World
September 06, 2016 14:00 - 15 minutes - 20.8 MBFire changes us, warms us, and creates the history of us. We share five fires in history that changed the basis of us. Shelley, Yeats, San Francisco, Watts, OJ Simpson and "No Country for Old Men" ignite the conversation!
The Salinger Effect and Screenshot Publication
September 01, 2016 17:37 - 12 minutes - 17 MBWho owns your letters? We explore ownership of writing and literature and letters -- and SMS texts! What is Fair Use? How do we quote a part of an image? What is allowed in virtual scholarship?
Is Sexting Cheating?
August 31, 2016 18:35 - 13 minutes - 19 MBCarlos Danger! Underwear Shots! It's Anthony Weiner! We go on a sex stroll through history as husbands humiliate their wives -- in public -- all in the meme of gathering greater political power! JFK! Bill Clinton! John Edwards! Gary Hart! All, inhuman creeps!
uChicago.edu is Not a Safe Haven
August 30, 2016 18:43 - 13 minutes - 18.4 MBA university campus must never be a safe haven for thoughts! We examine the new University of Chicago policy against trigger warnings and other methods of thought control perpetrated by the precious few against the whole. With extended examples from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Columbia University in the City of New York in tow, we also share direct teaching experience on the censorship matter.
The First Bloopers Edition!
August 29, 2016 20:37 - 14 minutes - 20.1 MBThis is the first bloopers edition! This month-old podcast is still an imperfect thing, as you'll learn as all the flubs and blumbles are memorialized. As well, technical updates to the podcast are shared -- including conversation about the USBPre-2 microphone and sound mixer, the Neumann KMS 105 MT microphone, K&M boom arms, and the Tascam DR-100MKII for field recording!