The James Brown Commentary

By James A. BrownSociety & Culture Business News News Commentary

The James Brown Commentary episodes

January 02, 2024 Is working from home morally wrong?
Let me know what you think in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
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4 min
December 29, 2023 Rebel Rebel
Ending the year with David Bowie and one of my favorite hometown tales.
In August, former president Donald Trump and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani joined a long list of people immortalized in mugshots.
And they were glorious.
The expressions were fascinating and reminded me of one of my favorite mugshots: David Bowie's.
Bowie's arrest happened in my hometown of Rochester, New York.
On a Friday night in 1976, Bowie and Iggy Pop, who our newspaper identified as James Osterberg Jr., played our arena, then known as the War Memorial.
Pop and Bowie and several members of Bowie's entourage were arrested in a hotel after the concert in charge with marijuana possession.
Reports say they had about a half pound of pot.
Back then, that was a low-level felony.
Bowie bailed everybody out.
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He drove to Springfield for his next show that night.
Word spread of Bowie's arrest and his arraignment a few days later.
About 200 fans showed outside a Rochester, New York courtroom to greet him, minutes before he pled not guilty.
After a quick chat with a lawyer, Bowie made a six-ish hour trip to New York City in a limo.
The limo, which was parked outside his lawyer's office, was ticketed for parking in the space for too long.

iggy pop marijuana
But as the Democratic & Chronicle described, a plainclothes officer took the ticket and put it in his pocket.
A few months later, Bowie faced a jury.
He wasn't indicted.
And that's the last time that David Bowie set foot in my hometown.
What do you think?
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And have you ever had a mugshot taken of you?
Let me know what you think in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
Email: [email protected]
Leave me a voicemail or text: 585-484-0339
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3 min
December 28, 2023 Opposites don't actually attract
It seems like every day I hear or see or read something that contradicts some long-held belief banged in my head by society.
The latest one is that opposites attract.
Apparently, most straight ones don't.
A study in the journal Nature looked at the results of nearly 200 studies on heterosexual relationships.
This mega meta-analysis featured a sample of around 8 million people from around the world.
Overall, they found that a vast majority of participants shared at least 18 of 22 characteristics with their partner.
These traits ranged from political and religious views, education and IQ levels, opinions about drug and alcohol views.
They even shared similar levels of happiness in whether they were introverts or extroverts.
The researchers also did their own study with more than 100,000 volunteers in the UK.
The participants shared a whopping 89% of these traits with their partners.
And strangely enough, many couples in the study even drank the same amount of water each day.
I'm left to ask, what came first, the chicken or the egg?
Do we simply want someone like us?
Or as I tend to believe, are we the sum of our relationships?
The longer two people are in a vice grip together, the more they compromise.
As Abe Lincoln once said, a house divided cannot stand.
What do you think?
Is your partner like you?
Let me know what you think in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
Email: [email protected]
Leave me a voicemail or text: 585-484-0339
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2 min
December 27, 2023 Creativity comes from limits
It's Wednesday and it's time for some wit and wisdom.
This week's wise words come from Jon Stewart; the comedian best known for his work on The Daily Show.
Stewart and I don't have much in common, but we do share one belief on where good content comes from.

jon stewart
During a 2010 interview with Fresh Air with Terry Gross, he said:
You'd be incredibly surprised at how regimented our day is and just how the infrastructure of the show is very much mechanized.It you know, we come in and it's not people always think the Daily Show you guys probably just sit around and make jokes and we've instituted to be able to sort of wean through all this material and synthesize it and try and come up with things to do.We have a very kind of strict day that we have to adhere to.And by doing that, that allows us to process everything and gives us the freedom to sort of improvise.I'm a real believer in that creativity comes from limits, not freedom.Freedom, I think you don't know what to do with yourself, but when you have a structure, then you can improvise off it and feel confident enough to kind of come back to that.
Or as I see it, the horizon is the motivator.
Knowing a summit is near helps you do what's necessary to get there.
What do you think?
Tell me in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com or email me at [email protected].
You can also leave me a message at 585-484-0339.
2 min
December 26, 2023 How to save on groceries
Google searches on cheaper food and knockoffs soared in 2023
On this Tuesday, I'm reminded of something I've thought of a lot over the last few years.
No matter what politicians tell us about inflation, we know the truth.
We can see it everywhere.
On the ground, in our grocery stores, in the malls, everything continues to feel so expensive and uncomfortably so.
There's no greater reservoir of this feeling than Google.
In 2023, Google Trends tracked the question, why is blank so expensive?
In the US, why are eggs so expensive was the number one version of this question all year long.
And how are we coping?
That was clear too.
As people search for gifts this month, we've seen searches for dupes and knockoffs soar in the US.
They're now at an all-time high with people looking for slippers and perfume at a fever pitch.
And depending on where you live, searches for how to save on taxes, how to save on your electric bill, and how to save on groceries dominated all year long.
Hopefully soon, we'll be more comfortable with the basics.
What do you think?
And have your habits changed with high inflation rates?
Let me know what you think in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
Email: [email protected]
Leave me a voicemail or text: 585-484-0339
Follow me on social media:
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2 min
December 25, 2023 Bring back intermissions
In which James asks for theaters to do something old and novel: bring back mid movie breaks.
Let me know what you think in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
Email: [email protected]
Leave me a voicemail or text: 585-484-0339
Follow me on social media:
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamesbrowntv
3 min
December 22, 2023 Rudolph
A flashback to a wonderful moment of spontaneity from DMX
Tell me in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
or email me at [email protected]
You can also leave me a message at 585-484-0339.
From my home to yours, I hope you have a holly jolly Christmas.
On that note, I’m James Brown and as always be well
2 min
December 21, 2023 Sex sells right? Not if you're under 24
Every generation wants something a little bit different from their media, and according to a recent survey by UCLA's Center for Scholars and Storytellers, the Homelanders, or Gen Z, are no different.
Many young people between age 10 and 24
want to see less romance and promiscuity in movies and TV shows.
Nearly 50% of them say that sex is not necessary for most stories.
And a little over 50% of them want more plots centered on platonic friendships.
According to the study's author, what the survey is really saying is that they want more in different kinds of relationships reflected in media.
adolescents aren't pumped about other reoccurring Hollywood storylines.
Among their bugaboos are stories about how relationships are necessary for happiness.
Plots where the male and female leads always end up together romantically.
They don't like happy endings.
And of course, love triangles.
My takeaway is that these young people want stories that feel more authentic and real and familiar.
Stories that give them a sense of belonging in an unstable world.
What do you think?
And do we use too much sex in media?
Tell me in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
or email me at [email protected]
You can also leave me a message at 585-484-0339.
On that note I’m James Brown and as always be well
2 min
December 20, 2023 What are you willing to struggle for?
Mark Manson on taking the first steps toward happiness
It's Wednesday and it's time for some Wit and Wisdom.
This week's wise words come from Mark Manson, the best-selling author known for books with profane titles like Everything is F***ed or The Subtle Act of Not Giving a F***.
In the latter book, he says in order to achieve happiness, you have to do something bold.
Choose something.
Everybody enjoys what feels good. Everyone wants to live a carefree, happy, and easy life. To fall in love, and have amazing sex, and relationships, to look perfect, and make money, and be popular, and well-respected, and admired, and a total baller to the point that people part like the Red Sea when they walk into a room. Everybody wants that. It's easy to want that. A more interesting question, a question that most people never consider is, what pain do you want in your life? What are you willing to struggle for? Because that seems to be a greater determinant of how our lives turn out.
All of the Above with James Brown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
He says happiness requires problems and struggle, and fulfillment comes from finding answers for our struggle.
Whether you suffer from anxiety or loneliness, or obsessive-compulsive disorder, or a d*** boss who ruins half of your waking hours every day. The solution lies in the acceptance and active engagement of that negative experience. Not the avoidance of it. Not the salvation from it.
Or as a wise reader of mine once told me, “put a stake in the ground.”
You never know what you can find where you are.
What do you think?
And what's your struggle?
Let me know what you think in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
Email: [email protected]
Leave me a voicemail or text: 585-484-0339
Follow me on social media:
YouTube Main Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCixNKcH6SP5OCLHMdQ_gVTw
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3 min
December 19, 2023 15 Cigerettes
This holiday season has me thinking about how fortunate I am to have people in my life that care about me.
It also makes me think about the feeling that I have at times.
that I'm all alone, even in crowded rooms.
This feeling is riskier than most of us realize.
The World Health Organization claims loneliness is equivalent to 15 cigarettes a day, and the risks are greater than those that come with obesity or physical inactivity.
All of the Above with James Brown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
That's why they've declared loneliness a global public health concern.
And no wonder, according to a worldwide 140-country Gallup meta-survey, 1 in 4 people, or more than a billion adults on the planet, are very or fairly lonely.
And a report from NPR suggests that that percentage is likely low because the poll wasn't allowed in China.
There must be more than a few lonely Chinese people
With this, we should consider why billion-ish people feel this way.
Many point to the ever-long tale of the COVID-19 pandemic, and no doubt that plays a role, but that can't be it.
The modern condition is filled with conveniences and wonders that are often hard to escape, as is the weight of it all.
In the strings attached,
I think we should slow down and ask, is all this worth it? And if its not what do we do about it?
Whether it is or not, at least I know I'm not alone.
What do you think and why are so many people lonely these days?
Let me know what you think in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
Email: [email protected]
Leave me a voicemail or text: 585-484-0339
Follow me on social media:
YouTube Main Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCixNKcH6SP5OCLHMdQ_gVTw
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesbrowntv/
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamesbrowntv
3 min

About The James Brown Commentary

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The Daily Note is a daily commentary podcast that finds deeper meaning in everyday moments. Host James A. Brown explores how our world really works through thoughtful observation and authentic storytelling.

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The James Brown Commentary

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