Frank Lefever, the perennial WBAI Board member who loved to tell us that he had played a major role in the selection and hiring of Berthold Reimers, lowered his own profile when it became clear that the complaints against this high-priced do-nothing GM were all too legitimate. For a while, Lefever defended his "discovery," but he eventually found it prudent to all but disappear himself.
He would, however, occasionally post somebody's press release and he submitted a plan for the rescue of WBAI a year or so back. It was based on his insane theory that WBAI could win its listenership back if only people knew of the station's existence. Attempts were made to inform him that distributing "come on down!" leaflets from the rooftops, could never work as long as the program schedule remained a mish-mash of medical quackery, street corner propaganda rants, deranged doomsaying, shallow chit-chat, inferior rap, twisted "news," and months of stale, often fraudulent infomercials. Lefever's naïve theory apparently hasn't changed, despite all its failures. He still appears to believe that the first order of business is to get people to tune in and pay the fee, then you improve the programming—it's an odd kind of reverse bait and switch that isn't suddenly going to work.
Yesterday, as he prepared to man his big annual Left Forum exhibit table, he was at it again, calling upon volunteers to drown the place in WBAI leaflets. He still doesn't get it. He does not seem to grasp the fundamental fact that people don't willingly purchase rejected merchandise, so he sells them a bill of goods and crosses his fingers. When the purchaser figures that out, WBAI has lost any chance of adding him or her to a new core audience.
The only thing this madness has going for it is its consistency, but therein also lies the rub.
Here is what Lefever posted in various places yesterday. After you have read it, I urge you to savor the response that follows and which I have shamelessly lifted to bring you. It is by a Pat Metheny follower who has an eye for anyone. He has the insight and wit needed to fully appreciate this long absurd act by the Pacifica Players.
Frank Lefever wrote:
He would, however, occasionally post somebody's press release and he submitted a plan for the rescue of WBAI a year or so back. It was based on his insane theory that WBAI could win its listenership back if only people knew of the station's existence. Attempts were made to inform him that distributing "come on down!" leaflets from the rooftops, could never work as long as the program schedule remained a mish-mash of medical quackery, street corner propaganda rants, deranged doomsaying, shallow chit-chat, inferior rap, twisted "news," and months of stale, often fraudulent infomercials. Lefever's naïve theory apparently hasn't changed, despite all its failures. He still appears to believe that the first order of business is to get people to tune in and pay the fee, then you improve the programming—it's an odd kind of reverse bait and switch that isn't suddenly going to work.
Yesterday, as he prepared to man his big annual Left Forum exhibit table, he was at it again, calling upon volunteers to drown the place in WBAI leaflets. He still doesn't get it. He does not seem to grasp the fundamental fact that people don't willingly purchase rejected merchandise, so he sells them a bill of goods and crosses his fingers. When the purchaser figures that out, WBAI has lost any chance of adding him or her to a new core audience.
The only thing this madness has going for it is its consistency, but therein also lies the rub.
Here is what Lefever posted in various places yesterday. After you have read it, I urge you to savor the response that follows and which I have shamelessly lifted to bring you. It is by a Pat Metheny follower who has an eye for anyone. He has the insight and wit needed to fully appreciate this long absurd act by the Pacifica Players.
Frank Lefever wrote:
Millions of people in the NYC area do not know that WBAI exists. WBAI's survival depends on telling potential listeners that there is a radio station called WBAI (FM 99.5.FM in NYC and streaming world-wide on the web).
We can NOT wait for Management or the LSB to do this. (I know, I am on the LSB, and I have also harangued Management about this for years).
There are MANY ways to advertise WBAI, some dirt cheap and some entirely free of charge.
However, right now we need to PLAN ahead for a big push on the weekend of May 29=31, when Left Forum has THOUSANDS of counter-culture activists and supporters of progressive causes coming from all over the NYC and from other cities for its BIG annual conference.
We know from past experience that "manning a table" in the exhibit space is not sufficient -- damn few people will pass it and few who do pass it will slow down to pick up a brochure.
That is why I and others have used an exhibit table as a place where our volunteers can pick up small bundles of brochures, flyers, etc. to hand out to people ALL OVER THE FORUM.
Besides the Plenary Sessions with Big Names speaking, there will be dozens of smaller Panels meeting simultaneously between the Big Name evening sessions. There will be people resting their feet and informally networking in various places, or just wandering in the halls. OUR JOB IS TO REACH AS MANY OF THEM AS WE CAN.
In previous yearsw, we have had perhaps a dozen volunteers across the weekend, some just for 3 or 4 hours, others for more than one day -- but that is not enough.
I am collaborating with CAB people (CAB - Community Advisory Board) to recruit a much larger number.
YOU CAN HELP BY PUBLICIZING OUR CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS. Do it via Yahoo Groups, via Facebook, via Twitter, or via your own address book.
We need to start collecting names NOW so we can get people registered for admission to the conference before mid-May.
And here's the response that I wish I had written:
Hi Mr LeFever,
I don't think it is so much that folks don't know bai "exists." It is, after all, a (former) iconic spot on the radio, with a list of guests, alumni etc. that reads like a who's who of the "best minds of my generation."
Bai's alumni and those who were at the station are something for which it should feel quite proud.
Once you are an icon (like the MOMA,or the Met) you don't have to engage in big ad campaigns. You established your iconicity long ago, and, because you deliver a product today that is as good or better--the reputation carries the museum along.
When a child asks mom--"where should i go to see some art"--he/she/genderneutralartenthusiast is told by mom--"MOMA or Met, honey." (with or without the "honey" part).
When a child asks mom--"where should I tune the dial to hear radio that challenges my mind from the liberal perspective, mom?"--mother doesn't mention bai--either because she's been insulted as an evil white person one time too many, or has heard garbage programming every time she tunes in, and is still waiting for her premium from her donation in the year 1675.
No amount of advertising can restore a station to greatness that took its laurel wreath off its head and hosed it down with DDT, stomped on it, burned it, neglected it and turned people away. You can advertise all you want--those who know the station will say "been there, done that--where is my damn premium" or will listen once to some of the hate whitey, hate america, whitey is to blame for your grandmother's lumbago, whitey is no damn good, america is the source of every evil in the world, the repubs and dems caused mount saint helens to blow up, and they and america are no damn good, never will be no damn good, and all we do on this station is whine, whine, and more whine about how no damn good the listener and the country is--please call 1-800-u-r-anasshole to donate by the way--you damn freeloader, cheapskate you.
No amount of advertising can restore a station to greatness that took its laurel wreath off its head and hosed it down with DDT, stomped on it, burned it, neglected it and turned people away. You can advertise all you want--those who know the station will say "been there, done that--where is my damn premium" or will listen once to some of the hate whitey, hate america, whitey is to blame for your grandmother's lumbago, whitey is no damn good, america is the source of every evil in the world, the repubs and dems caused mount saint helens to blow up, and they and america are no damn good, never will be no damn good, and all we do on this station is whine, whine, and more whine about how no damn good the listener and the country is--please call 1-800-u-r-anasshole to donate by the way--you damn freeloader, cheapskate you.
Now, one way to help financially is to make sure that people have left everything in their will to pacifica and then send them poison water to make them die--that will be a lose-win for everybody.
A great response to Lefever, indeed. However, he won't understand it. The left knows WBAI and has rejected it. Trying to jump on band wagons like reperations, Mumia, cops only abuse black people, etc. has been a total failure. WBAI is too myopic in its views and getting worse. Anyone with a brain wants diversity in information, not bludgeoning with the same few topics. Add to it the fact that most people on WBAI simply do lousy radio. Why do you think the left listens to NPR and/or the right wing talk stations? Every leftist I know will sooner listen to right wing crap and get angry than listen to WBAI. They even chose right wing crap over Air America. Tell you something?
ReplyDeleteI said before that WBAI isn't a left wing station. This Ghetto Politic could be deemed nationalistic and right wing, in fact. It certainly shares no ideology with the left. Same goes for ISIS, which is Fascist to the extreme.
People like Lefever just don't get it.
SDL
Thank you, SDL.
DeleteAs a partisan of the Old Left, I opposed America’s imperial wars.
I spent several months in prison during the Vietnam War and am proud of this.
I am a supporter of democratic unions. Mike Quill is one of my heroes. I am in favor of public schools and oppose charters and vouchers. I taught in public schools, charter schools, and religious schools and have seen the difference.
I support Medicare for everyone and think that Obama Care is a sham designed by insurance companies.
I support the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, and the Cuban Revolution—with reservations and skepticism. As Nietzsche observed,
...the cause of the origin of a thing and its eventual utility, its actual employment and place in a system of purposes, lie worlds apart; ...whatever exists, having somehow come into being, is again and again reinterpreted to new ends, taken over, transformed, and redirected by some power superior to it; all events in the organic world are a subduing, a becoming master, and all subduing and becoming master involves a fresh interpretation, and adaptation through which any previous “meaning” and “purpose” are necessarily obscured or even obliterated.
(Nietzsche, On The Genealogy of Morals)
Fidel Castro and Che Guevara are better people than any President in the United States.
Marxism is not a dirty word for me. It’s a valid way of understanding history.
Religion, obscurantism, and fascism are dirty words for me.
The parasites at WBAI are not Marxists, The Left, or Progressive—whatever the hell “Progressive” means. They are racial chauvinists, advocates of identity politics, charlatans, and mountebanks. They are stupid, uneducated, and inept. I doubt whether they’ve read Marx, Fanon, or Michael Parenti. They would not understand their writings even if they did read them.
WBAI in its present incarnation sucks. But this has nothing to do with Marxists or “The Left”.
TPM
That is one epic response. I will make a confession here. I am a conservative. However, I do not mind listening to a station where the programming is to the left of my own thinking. I have learned a few things from my liberal friends, and I hope they've learned a few things from me. I don't mind listening to a station that is geared towards African Americans. I have learned a lot from the old PBS documentary Eyes on the Prize and other historical shows like that. It really is our shared history, warts and all. More white people should probably watch more programs like that. What I do mind listening to a station that is blatantly racist and completely out of touch with this modern world of ours. And then they want me to give then money!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could have listened to BAI back in the day. I didn't find it until 2010, I wanted to enjoy it. I wanted to have my beliefs challenged. I stuck with it to see where it was going. It went nowhere. I found this blog, and it was nice to see it wasn't just me feeling this way. ( I really do enjoy this blog. Thanks Chris!)
Maybe it would be worse if I knew how much better it was back then compared to now. I might have a more venomous response to the clowns in charge now.
Anyway, have a good weekend everyone! Chris in NJ
Thank you, Chris. What matters to me is not that you are a conservative—where would we be without them? The important thing is that you have an open mind and that you are using it wisely by taking in diverse viewpoint and processing them to hone your own.
DeleteAs I have said before, the original concept Lew Hill had when he founded Pacifica and fired up KPFA in Berkley, was to introduce an outlet characterized not by ethnicity or political bent, but by a level of intelligence and integrity. The ultimate choice was always meant to be left with the listener, and the reality of offering a choice was something that only a non-profit, non-commercial radio station could serve.
I grew up in Iceland and Denmark, where taxpayers were charged a reasonable fee to support the government radio station. There were no commercials, not even public service announcements, but the programs were of high quality and they covered a broad range of subjects. There was no competition, as such, but there was the rest of Europe. each country having its own state operated broadcasting center. I frequently tuned in Sweden, France, Germany, Luxembourg, etc. as well as the U.S. Armed Forces Radio in Frankfurt.
What I heard and became a part of when I immigrated to the U.S. in 1957 also had much to offer, but the news always seemed restrained and there were those annoying commercials! I was working as a DJ at one of these stations, in Philly, when one of my listeners told me about WBAI and how it operated on listener contributions. That was in 1960. The job that brought me to NYC in October of that year was that of a record producer, but t did not take me long to become a volunteer at WBAI. It was an extraordinary little station that attracted creative, sincere people. They were not professional broadcasters, nor was there any money to work with, but these were creative people whose only agenda was to put on the air programs of high quality and content. It still amazes me when I think of what was accomplished through sheer determination and the right spirit. I should add that we also subscribed to the BBC Transcription Service, which—at $1 an hour—allowed us to enhance the weekly schedule with priceless music and drama programs.
I don't know if you have looked at the program Folios I scanned in the first year of this blog, but they will give you an idea of how things have changed... we even set aside a daily time slot for young people and filled it with offerings that were meant to stimulate as well as entertain.
To see a sampling of Folios, use this blog's search option (upper eft corner of home page) and look for folio.
You, too have a great weekend—it's great to have you here.
Thanks for the welcome! The original concept of Pacifica is a noble idea and it is a shame it has come to this. The exact opposite of what was supposed to happen. I will check out those folios. I am always looking for interesting and intelligent programs, reading, movies, etc.. My life can't be all "Family Guy." Although it does have its place. Thanks again- Chris in NJ
DeleteProgressive, these days, is a new agey political term that means capitalism for me and socialism for everyone else. It's white bourgeoisie trying to look trendy lefty, while shopping at Whole Foods, sipping Starbucks, buying a new iphone every year, etc.
ReplyDeleteI don't listen to On The Count with any regularity, but when I do I notice something - the callers rarely discuss the show topic, the prison system. I almost feel sorry for the hosts essentially being told that no one is really listening to anything they have to say and using the show just to call in with other topics, often whacky.
You know the elderly black woman who calls in every time shows take calls? I heard her call in to WOR the other night during a 9/11 themed show. Yup, she's a "truther" and a half. According to her there were laser beams, explosives, etc. all involved. Too much Geoff Brady does that to people, I guess. I better not tell her about Dark Matter Radio...
And for the record, I call myself a radical moderate as I am neither right nor left. I am a capitalist, but anti post-capitalism, monopolism, laissez-faire. Anti-trust is necessary to maintain choice and competition. Hell, I believe we should go back to the days when a company could only own one AM and one FM radio station in a market.
I always stun people when they hear me say I am extremely pro-choice, anti-gun control (but believe in the background check idea), social darwinist, non-theist and think religion is idiotic, sex positive, support gay marriage, nationalistic, should pull out of the political bodies of the U.N., etc.
SDL
I have the very same praise for On the Count. There are actually a handful of programs on WBAI that remain true to the subject they were created to explore. Most of the program schedule is for the featherbrained listenership WBAI has attracted in recent years, and the handful of callers among them take full advantage of the station's lack of a screening procedure and the easy accessibility that comes with general disinterest in the program aired.
DeleteThe recent crop of regular callers—the Mumia/Maddox worshippers—includes an indoctrinated woman whose persecution paranoia knows no bounds; she called Hapte Selassie this morning and went into her usual anti-white tirade, which now includes her notion that the U.S. government, in an effort to eliminate potential "black and brown" leaders, found a way to turn black men gay and has been doing so for many years! While she was on the phone, Selassie told her, in his relaxed manner, that black Africans were never the only straight men in the world, nor was the continent immune to homosexuality. I don't think she was convinced.
You are right, SDL, the present WBAI is fueling this nonsense—just listen to the Reparations circus that is going on right now. A companion book to "The New Jim Crow" ought to be "The New Uncle Tom"—what I am hearing is opportunists shamefully taking advantage of the suffering of ancestors and, in the most irresponsible ways, fanning the flames and using a new generation of their own people to perpetuate rather than stem evil.
That WBAI is a partner in this scam earns it extinction. I am sorry to have to say that, but the hatred now spewed with increasing regularity from the station that once operated in quest of peace and global unity has much in common with the mindsets that created Hitler's Germany, Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, and massacres in such places as Rwanda and Bosnia.
What took place in America's past should never be dismissed, but cashing in on it only intensifies the race-based resentment There are good and bad people on all sides, but encouraging segregation in the present as a protest against segregation in the past is counterproductive idiocy staged by people whose objective is the furtherance of their own career.
Whether you agree with the host of On The Count and his views or not, you have to accept he has a show with a specific theme and tries to keep it there. Most of the callers are just disrespectful. I don't like screening calls because it kills the spontaneity of the show, and it is open to abuse and manipulation. I feel the host needs to keeps things on track. This host seems easy going and trying to let people talk, but today seemed to be getting annoyed. I don't blame him, but he needs to be quicker with callers that aren't speaking about the prison system.
DeleteI wonder if the woman you described is the one I mentioned. She in her 60s or 70s and is named something like Maya. That one is way out there on every conspiracy trip there is. She eats up the current WBAI like a glutton at a buffet.
Hopte... No one ever talks about him at all. He's been on since I started listening, though. He's an old timer, indeed. I always felt he was a pretty level headed guy overall. He's one who won't cut someone off for disagreeing with him but actually debate them. Always thought he was OK and no BS. I'd really be curious what he thinks about the current WBAI. I bet he'd have some interesting things to say.
The past few months of WBAI is really getting more and more hateful and monotone. The station is becoming a propaganda machine even worse than anything Samori Marxman ever allowed it to become. Marxman turned it into a far left voice, but a far left voice for many communities. Reimers/Murillo are turning it into a one topic voice of an obviously corrupt pack of charlatans. The other night when White and Keys were rambling over the reparations guy pitching, I notice he started by asking for $100 contributions. It all sounded like religion to me.
What these hatemongers are doing is indeed segregationist and exclusivist. There is no inclusiveness nor unity of different discriminated against peoples. That's one of the reasons I say WBAI is not left wing. Back to that woman and her gay comment. Notice how similar a comment it is to what the right wing uses about turning people gay? Sounds like the ghetto politic version of Christian born agains, aka refried jesus beans.
The reparations thing must be a gravy train now that WBAI thinks it can hop on. However, the people gaining from it are only using WBAI for what they can get. WBAI will get nothing AND lose listeners.
SDL
The late Eddie Ellis set the tone for On the Count, and stayed on course. He also surrounded himself with equally dedicated-hosts and it's good to hear that they are not veering off course.
DeleteHapte is very cool, I really like him and, as you point out, the tolerant way he handles phone calls. I bet he takes a dim view of the way WBAI is being mishandled.
I just spot checked the live final session of the reparations revue—it was an appalling display of ego and ignorance. The characters like to adapt names and titles (Mother Queen, etc.) and they are so full of totally unwarranted self-importance that one tuning in out of the blue might easily think they have come across a 3rd rate comedy skit. To add to the unintended comedic aspect of this "historic" event, WBAI's technical setup was a nightmare—speakers were cut off or their volume abruptly lowered to form an unintelligible background for someone's not-for-airing conversation or a frivolous interruption by Scott-Key.
This has been a disaster from the beginning, when the father of black opportunism, has-been Jesse Jackson gave a keynote speech that rang hollow and was a lesson in hypocrisy. I recall how Jackson ripped off the National Convention of Black Mayor, how he transferred blood from MLK to his own shirt, how he carried on affairs with successful singers ( I personally witnessed some of the latter), etc. and let us not forget how his son made it to Congress only to blow it all and land in jail for practicing illegal Jesse-like greed.
Apropos greed, I listened Friday when the rhetoric swiftly and with no finesse modulated into collection time. Soon after it became apparent that they were passing the pillbox hats and baskets, WBAI threw the proceedings into the background and interrupted with small talk from Bernard White and someone who also had nothing new to say.
This group of charlatans and misbegotten misfits announced that they will be back with more in 2016. By then, I hope the station either has replaced management with competent, dedicated people or has had the plug pulled.
Another thing about Hapte. When I started listening to WBAI, he had a midnight-3AM Saturday night/Sunday morning slot. Remember a while back I gave my philosophy on how the night time listener is a totally different breed than day or evening listeners and likes something more personal? Well, Hapte is the ideal overnight host. He just has the right overnight vibe. Sadly, the dummies in management don't see this. He should get a Midnight-3AM slot back. I think he would build a good following up in a short time. He's good at talking, taking calls, playing music and hanging out. Hey, isn't that free form radio?
DeleteSDL
I agree, he is a victim of mismanagement. I sometimes wonder if Reimers has any kind of program overview—he has never grasped the broad picture. In fact, he has never shown any sign of perception when it comes to radio. As you say, Hapte has the intimate approach that suits the hours—he knows how to connect, which is something Reimers and his cronies can't do. Nobody had to tell me that the manager of a listener-sponsored station must communicate with the membership—that's so basic.
DeleteChris - again, all of this mess is the responsibility of Samori(Stanley) Marksman. He was TIGHT with Dred Scott Keyes, Mario, Bernard,, Utrice, Erroll Maitland(ugh!) and a whole collection of thieves and crooks, including the addled Robert Knight!! Ask Jose Santiago, the former news director. He banned Robert Knight from the newsroom and openly clashed with Marksman. A true man of integrity!! He also banned Joshua Wolinsky for sexualy harrassing his staff!
ReplyDeleteSamori Marksman was the one who brought in Utrice Leid. She was editor if the City Sun, a black radical newspaper and Samori thought she could bring to WBAI "what she brought to the City Sun". She did so- in spades!! Pun intended.
ReplyDeleteKGT
Always being one to jump in on a game of kick the corpse of Samori, I'll join in. Samori layed the foundations of what WBAI is today, without any doubt. However, the current set of morons are too stupid to keep the Marxist world revolution ideology, so we just get the bigotry. Samori For Dummies, you might say. I caught a little of Ron Daniels this morning for a taste of Samori For Dummies. It would be funny in a loony homeless person talking to themselves in the street sort of way if there weren't a few suckers who actually buy into this nonsense. Waiting for reparations? Keep waiting. What a scam.
ReplyDeleteSDL
"Waiting for reparations? Keep waiting"? Don't be so sure.
DeleteSharpton can sink or anoint any politician he wants. What was science fiction has often become science fact.
What was sociological fiction likewise is social reality.
KGT
These hypocrites are beyond reparations.
DeleteThink Geoff Brady got cancelled or will be back? From his http://newyorkskywatch.com/
ReplyDelete"This is the last In Other News show at this time Monday 10PM on WBAI. There are program changes going into place. I’ve enjoyed hosting this show for the past 5 years. It’s important to let the program director (marioradio AT wbai.org) and station manager (breimers62 AT earthlink.net) know some sort of feedback so they can keep it in mind when rescheduling this show. When you send an email, please include my email, that’s always helpful. Inothernewsradio AT yahoo.com."
He did the show from WBAI's studio usually, right? I wonder if his show will still air on Dark Matter Radio. It's listed in the program grid, but that is like WBAI's and rarely updated.
SDL
(JustAListener)
ReplyDeleteI noticed Brady's show vanished, I just didn't know if Brady vanished.
He could have been taken by a UFO, or perhaps he ran into one of Judy Wood's disintegrating beams.
So it's good to hear he's still on this planet in a functioning human form.
Let's face it, as much as we knock the show, we always tune in to hear what he'll be talking about next.
Far more entertaining than the CCCP!
Unless it can be proven that reptilians chew cops to pieces and have a taste for white meat, Brady may well be gone for good—at least as long as Murillio and the black brigade control the airwaves.
DeleteI see a possible problem of conflict, albeit short term, with the race-trapped paranoids, whose gullibility embraces the nonsense Brady spewed as well as that which drips past the forked tongues of reigning racists. Now they can't have both unless Brady corks up and kisses the feet of Cornell West.
As for the self-punishment of tuning in and actually listening to Brady, I believe that few among us haven't found ourselves absorbed by something that is bad beyond belief. Haskins and Pam Brown don't even need a black velvet background, for example.
Reparations would be fully justified if paid by WBAI's bozos to the listener-supporters they scared off.
When I got tired of CNBC today (and their agenda), I switch on Dark Matter Radio and heard a promo for Brady's show. There was no mention of whether there will be new episodes or repeats, however. DMR is the ideal place for him, indeed. I actually mean that in all seriousness, too. No doubt he'll have a lot more listeners.
DeleteThe funny thing about Brady is that when he'd take calls, the most rabid of the black radicals would call him, swallowing everything on his show like gluttons. Brady does indeed cross all color lines. I guess paranormal lunacy knows no bounds. One thing you have to say for Brady is that he never showed any bigotry of any sort... Well, towards humans... Reptilians, demons, spirits...
However, I suppose his lunacy isn't black radical enough for Murillo, though. I'm guessing Brady is gone from WBAI because Murillo's tactic, if he's keeping a show on, is to right away give it a new time slot, like Peter Bochan.
I do admit to listening to Brady in the same way one watches a truly stupid bad but funny B movie. You sit there wanting to just laugh at the next bit of ineptitude and inadvertant humor. Seriously, sexually deviant demons sitting in corners of rooms? Oddly, his final(?) new show was his one truly good show - the Scientology episode. Hmmm... Interesting, when you think about it, isn't it? If he doesn't reappear, maybe we can start a "Brady was fired because of his anti-Scientology program" rumor? Does WBAI cowtow to Scientology? Have to admit that it's interesting timing.
OK, now I want my reperations, too! I have been subject to abuse from WBAI's racist cretins and want money in return for it.
SDL
From one dark matter to another: The Amazing Journey of a True Deceiver.
DeleteGood pun. Brady a deceiver? No, I think he really believes the stuff. It's the same childlike safety blanket that more mainstream religion provides.
DeleteSDL
Deceiving himself?
DeleteYes, people like Brady deceive themselves. A defense mechanism that answers their questions, gives them solace, etc., I guess.
DeleteI enjoy realistic investigations into the paranormal, but they are a rarity. People either accept any and all BS or are out to disprove it. Whether there is truth to the paranormal or not, I believe it can teach us an immense amount about ourselves and our deepest inner mental workings as humans. That is the angle I usually take when listening or reading about it. Ever notice how many of Brady's shows feature a sexual angle?
SDL
Hadn't thought about it, but there is indeed a recurring sexual angle. Do reptilians lay eggs?
DeleteIt looks to me like Brady's show has departed 99.5. Murilllio will undoubtedly fill that time slot with something that fits better into his little mold, or Reimers will have another drainstorm and come up with "High Priestez," a weekly, frenetic voodoo ceremony with a Flatbush twist and simulated animal sacrifice. Listeners will be able to obtain admission for a couple of hundred dollars. That entitles them to five pins, which they can either stick into the doll du jour or an imperialist take-home Barbie figure ($50 extra).
In 1971, having just finished my Bessie Smith biography, I bought an open ticket to Caribbean islands, hopping from one to the other and making Port au Prince my last stop. Baby Doc's henchmen followed me from the airport to my hotel and I was somehow invited to a private session with an old, withered voodoo woman who lived on a mountainside. It was surreal, especially when she asked me if there was anyone in the U.S. who needed to be killed! She even quoted me a price that seemed very reasonable, but I declined the offer.
I think the present WBAI audience might like a show where the premium can affect a forthcoming census. :)
Retilians lay shape shifting eggs. First, they start as white shelled eggs, but they shape shift to large greenish pods. You are well advised not to fall asleep near them.
DeletePeter Bochan has replaced Brady AND whomever came after Brady, as he now has the Monday 10PM - Midnight slot. That's what I meant when I said if Murillo is keeping someone he gives them a new slot immediately. If someone is told they may be back, they won't be back. I guess Murillo doesn't have the balls to straight out fire someone, so he leaves them with a time slot carrot on a stick.
"Drainstorm" is a great term I never heard before.
A voodoo show would do great hawking spells during beg-a-thons. You know how many morons would pledge $200 for Madam DeVille to do a spell on someone? And if they did it live on the air? WBAI would be out of debt in no time.
You mentioned the Haiti trip before. I am still amazed you didn't cough up a few Dollars and Steve Post's name.
SDL