David Boles: Human Meme

“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?

Here 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.

What'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.

Have 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!

We 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! 

Today, 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!"

If 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!

There'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!

Fire 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!

Who 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?

Carlos 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!

A 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.

This 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!

William Kloefkorn and Charles Stubblefield were great poets! We share the longing legacy of Kloefkorn and Stubblefield via their work in the classroom, their publishing genius with the Platte Valley Press, and their lasting impression on the people they touched.

What is the historical importance of yearning in literature? We explore the notion of yearning in the works of Nebraska authors Loren Eiseley, Willa Cather, and John G. Neihardt.

Here are three 10txt stories performed for the first time! In this edition, you'll hear, "I am the Night Train Killer" and "Beanie Blue, Queen of the Undernight" plus, "Marston Swain, Jr. Waits for His Life to Begin."

Here's another original bit of fiction! "The Woman Who Married Her Brother and Became Her Mother' originally appeared on October 4, 2013 as part of the BolesBlogs.com network and you may read the story, in text form, on that website.

Here is the starry, sorry, legend of the Great Bootsock! In this original story -- and published November 8, 2013 at BolesBlogs.com -- we learn of a great high school football player who fell in the glittery days of college, and who had to settle for a life, not in the heavens, but stuck, hard, in the ethereal ground.

What kind of life do you want to have? We compare the Anarchist to the Passivist and how the memes of knowledge become moments of sharing beyond the classroom. What we know, defines us, and what we do not know, defeats us.

In this original fairytale, you meet an orange-faced Gargoyle. That short-fingered, cloven-hoofed, Vulgarian God is set upon the destruction of the world, and is served by three, misshapen, children as the rest of humanity are rendered mute with nukes. Then -- a child appears -- to tame the hatred, and stanch the drooling, with the gift of kindness; and the world is able to be re-birthed again, in the valley of the homeland.