What is the purpose of this article? To give my readers a glimpse of my linear media consumption on Friday, August 28, 2026. That being said, I am a fairly idiosyncratic user concerning today’s information space. For instance, I do not use social media per se and, in my opinion, most newspaper articles lack way too much context. The same goes for the sound bite legacy television news media. I likewise spend a decent amount of time debating AI, sometimes seriously and sometimes just to see if I can get the AI frustrated enough to stop responding to me. But enough about all that…
4:15 AM: I Roll my body out of bed, get a workout in, freshen up, kiss the family goodbye, and pull out of the driveway work by 5:30 AM. The commute to and from work is approximately 45 minutes, and typically (unless I want to indulge in music) that’s my to listen to lectures, audiobooks, or podcasts. As it turns out, Friday was a podcast day.
5:30 AM: As a podcast day, and at the behest of my best friend whom we shall call Larry (that’s not his real name, and he is an incredibly intelligent person) I decided to listen to the “Owen Report”. This podcast is hosted by a dude named Owen Shroyer who was extrajudicially imprisoned for six month after the events on Capitol Hill on January 6th. This podcast is a whopping three hours long. I got through 45 minutes on the drive to work and another 30 minutes while I was preparing reports and doing all of the pre-workday things required of a military leader.
6:45 AM: I’ll say, that first 20-30 minutes was very informative (possibly with the intention for building a foundation for misinformation and disinformation). I learned that the Karoline Leavitt is going to be a guest on “The View” after her falling out with the Trump Administration (not quite sure how this qualifies as news worthy). I also learned that the U.S. added 79,000 fewer jobs than previously reported in March of this year. After a few more news headlines, Owen Shroyer spent the next hour and half (probably the next three but I can only speak to an hour and a half) raising talking points, and subsequently explaining how that information points to the “fact” that the United States are the puppets of Israel, and that Israel is using the U.S. as an ultimate means of global dominate subjugation. Further, I’m not quite sure if this is misinformation, or disinformation, the intent is very blurry. I was also so busy for the rest of the day that I forgot to eat, and media consumption was nonexistent (except for music, and if I would have thought of it, I would have written down lyrics and analyzed). If you want to know what I am explaining, the link to the podcast is below.
5:30 PM: Leaving work! Time for my drive home podcast. I chose to go with yesterday’s installment of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe (SGU). This podcast is a good counter to the misinformation and disinformation that is peddled in the information space. The podcast gifts solid tools for critical thinking, promotes healthy skepticism, and teaches a ton about what is going on in modern science and health. For instance, I learned a lot about encephalopathy, including that a recent study found that 25% of NFL players that died from 2016-2021 suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). My only negative critique of the SGU is that, when they touch on politics, the critical thinking skills and curious mindset kind of goes away and they devolve into an idea echo chamber.
7:30 PM: Ahhhh; dinner was eaten, kitchen was clean, animals got fed, helped daughter with homework, uniform readied for tomorrow, and lunch was packed for the next day. I sat down to watch an episode of “Game of Thrones” with the wife. Upon reflection, I learned a few things. One, that a good story is very, very addictive and humans just can’t get enough. Two, the overarching thematic message in the show seems to be that most leaders will seek to achieve their goals of power, or revenge, or their own sense of justice by any means necessary. Also, we are watching on HBO Max, which means there are commercials, and it’s all the same GLP-1 commercial. So I am now very aware that GLP-1s are the most convenient ways of losing weight.
9:30 PM: Alright, the day was done and it was time to turn in. Usually I read before bed but I was too tired.