Dear Friends,
LISTEN TO THIS WEEK’S PROGRAM, WITH CO-HOST DR. CHARLES GOLDMAN:
(02:29) Which media personalities are best at lying?
(19:49) Rihanna’s Super Bowl show and Jesus Gets Us ads (Ed loves ’em, Charles not so much);
(28:00) When did the NFL first know about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy?
(37:13) Celebrating Presidents Day with Trump’s greatest hits; and
(53:04) Republican leader gives lip service to domestic food production, with Kathy Byrnes.
Dr. Charles Goldman
A few highlights from this week’s radio program and podcast:
BROOKINGS VS STEVE BANNON. The Brookings Institute recently published a study of 79 prominent political podcasters (darn, I didn’t make the cut). After analyzing 36,603 episodes, Brookings concluded that ten conservative podcasters were responsible for 60% of all “unsubstantiated and false claims.”
The study focuses mostly on election denial and COVID (incredibly, researchers ignored the blatantly false statements on climate change prevalent in conservative podcasts). Steve Bannon’s War Room finished a decisive first. From the Brookings study: “Bannon’s podcast alone accounted for nearly three-quarters of all conspiracy-related content on political podcasts and more than one-quarter of all COVID-related claims.”
Placing a distant but still respectable third was the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. They’re Rush Limbaugh’s successors, and they now dominate commercial radio for three hours each weekday. It was, in fact, during a Clay and Buck episode that I learned of the Brookings study. You know the mainstream media isn’t covering your story when I have to find out about it from a program the study critiques.
NFL HIGHLIGHTS: RIHANNA, JESUS ADS. I liked Rihanna’s half-time performance during the Super Bowl, and I loved the Jesus Gets Us ads. Charles disagrees with me on both counts. That means he’s wrong, of course. On a more serious note, we get Charles’ perspective as an M.D. on the NFL’s slow-motion response to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Is there a solution? Or is CTE just an inevitable component of football and some other sports?
GOLDMAN VS TRUMP. To celebrate Presidents Day, Charles thought we oughta review some of former President Trump’s greatest hits. That includes Trump’s shocking “dear leader” cabinet meeting at the start of his presidency and his response to Hurricane Maria’s devastation of Puerto Rico. (Sidebar: Charles insists the Caribbean Sea is not part of the Atlantic Ocean. I insist it is. You?)
KEVIN McCARTHY VS BIG AG? “If we are not growing food in America, then we become more dependent on China, Mexico, and other nations for our food. We should not and must not be dependent on China – or frankly any other country – to feed our Nation.”
Perhaps remarkably, that’s a quote from US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Excellent. So, can we now expect action in the US House to break up Smithfield, the Chinese-owned hog processing monopoly that slaughters one in every four US-raised hogs and owns 1,240,000 US sows?
Can we also expect congressional action to “beef up” domestic beef production given the fact that beef imports grew by 2.3% last year? I’m not holding my breath, but McCarthy’s statement provides an excellent starting point for a conversation about the importance of relocalizing food production.
Thanks for reading and listening. If you appreciate what we do, please consider a donation.
Ed Fallon
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LISTEN TO THIS WEEK’S PODCAST:
(02:29) Which media personalities are best at lying?
(19:49) Rihanna’s Super Bowl show and Jesus Gets Us ads (Ed loves ’em, Charles not so much);
(28:00) When did the NFL first know about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy?
(37:13) Celebrating Presidents Day with Trump’s greatest hits; and
(53:04) Republican leader gives lip service to domestic food production, with Kathy Byrnes.
You can also hear the Fallon Forum on these affiliates:
– KHOI 89.1 FM (Ames, Iowa)
– KICI.LP 105.3 FM (Iowa City, Iowa)
– WHIV 102.3 FM (New Orleans, Louisiana)
– KPIP-LP, 94.7 FM (Fayette, Missouri)
– KCEI 90.1 FM (Taos, New Mexico)
– KRFP 90.3 FM (Moscow, Idaho)
– WGRN 94.1 FM (Columbus, Ohio)
– KKFI 90.1 FM (Kansas City, Missouri)
Please support the local businesses and non-profits who make this program possible. Click on their logos on the Fallon Forum website and in our weekly email, and visit Dr. Drake Family Psychiatry, Story County Veterinary Clinic, Bold Iowa, and Birds & Bees Urban Farm. Thanks to Des Moines Irish Session for providing our bumper music. Thanks for supporting the civil alternative to the shock jocks!
Ed Fallon