Billy Dees Podcast

When is a stumble more than a stumble? When is a gaffe more than a bad choice of words? These are tough questions for an aging president. During the past few weeks, the issue of President Biden’s mental and physical well-being has begun to be questioned by more than just his political opposition. Can he run in 2024? Is his presidency sustainable through the current term?

This commentary doesn’t have the answers. However, the analysis does try to provide some perspective regarding the current situation and how we arrived at this point.

Jerry writes a humor column for Tribune News Service, which distributes it to papers nationwide and abroad. Jerry is also the author of six books, "Leave It to Boomer," "The Empty Nest Chronicles," "Grandfather Knows Best," "Nini and Poppie's Excellent Adventures," "Every Day Is Saturday" and "One for the Ageless."

Jerry has won many awards including seven for humorous writing from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Jerry maintains a social media presence, has made many TV and radio appearances, is a popular public speaker, and is currently writing a sitcom.

You can find Jerry on his blog http://jerryzezima.blogspot.com/

Is Journalism, as We Know It, Dead? A question that is often asked.

Many have suggested indoctrination as the cause of the demise of journalism. It is true many journalists not only come from the same system, but from the same handful of schools. It is also true that campuses that were once places of exploring many new ideas, are now ideological closed clubs.

There is more to consider, however. How do we, the public, take in information and process it? How has our viewing habits and the desire for ratings played a role in what news we are given?

These are especially relevant questions considering that it seems everyone is now not only entitled to their own opinions, but their own facts as well.

Some time ago, many years ago actually, I crossed paths with Donna Cavanagh on Twitter. We were both part of the Twittersphere for blogging, humor, and related subject matter. We say “content” now by the way.

This was circa 2011 and HumorOutcasts was in its early days. I started doing some writing for the site and most of my audio production at that time was in traditional media forms. Podcasting existed back then but was nowhere near the powerhouse it is today. I was one of the early adopters of podcasting as it was a natural fit for me.

Post 2012, podcasting was ramping up as high-ranking politicians were giving interviews and major crime investigations were finding an audience on the medium. Twitter is built for authors and podcasters. Donna, being the consummate book marketing specialist that she is, was one of the publishers who first recognized the connection.

This was a great opportunity for me. By the time 2016 rolled around, Donna and I were producing author interviews regularly. I have made some wonderful associations and friends working with the talented group of HO writers.

Donna has now written and published a children’s book, “Ramo to the Rescue.” The book tells the story of a lifeguard through the lens of a child and is written in poetry style rhymes. The book was inspired by a chance meeting with a lifeguard which Donna describes during her own podcast interview. She also credits many of the people who helped her produce the book including Hannah Farr, who created the illustrations.

You can find HumorOutcasts here: https://humoroutcasts.com/

In this episode, the host covers some of his basic principles when interviewing guests who have sensitive subject matter to talk about. This is a bonus episode that was recorded on the Wisdom app. The original commentary has been edited and processed for the podcast format.

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion that some survivors may find triggering. It also contains spoilers regarding the content of the book.

On this episode we have Deborah Fezelle, who is the author of, “What’s Past is Prologue.” Deborah is a frequent guest of the podcast and a familiar author to many readers. She has an incredible resume in the arts and is a graduate of Juilliard. Deborah has worked as an actress, a director and coach, and as a writer. This book is the latest installment of the Nick McDeare Series.

This book, because of its subject-matter, was written to be more of a stand-alone piece than the other McDeare installments. Deborah describes this book as a personal “triumph” because she had to work through her own history of trauma to carry the reader on a similar journey with the characters.

It is a very sincere and heartfelt discussion, however, as the trigger warning indicates; it contains mature subject matter.

This podcast was produced in conjunction with HumorOutcasts.com, HOPress-Shorehouse Books, and other HO brands and publishing divisions.

You can find "What's Past is Prologue" here on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Past-Prologue-Deborah-Fezelle/dp/1737274671

This episode has an interesting mix of topics. Kristy Mickelsen is an author who has been researching a character for her new book, and this character happens to work in the professional wrestling industry. Axel Savage is a professional wrestler who agreed to take part in Kristy’s research.

Kristy is a kidney cancer and lupus advocate. Axel is an advocate for mental health and addiction recovery.

Together, they discuss various aspects of wrestling as part of Kristy’s character research and have serious heartfelt discussions about mental health and suicide awareness.

In an unprecedented leak of Supreme Court confidentiality, Politico has obtained what it calls a draft of a majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito that would strike down Roe v. Wade. The reaction in the public and on social media has been, predictably, enormous.

On this episode Billy Dees and Jack Casey discuss and speculate about various aspects of the impact of the potential reversal of the landmark decision.

It appears the deal for Elon Musk to purchase Twitter will go through. This has sparked many conversations online and off about billionaires, social media, and free speech.

On this episode we explore various aspects of these topics and what some of the changes coming to Twitter may be in the near future.

It appears the deal for Elon Musk to purchase Twitter will go through. This has sparked many conversations online and off about billionaires, social media, and free speech.

On this episode we explore various aspects of these topics and what some of the changes coming to Twitter may be in the near future.