In what's become a four-part series, Jeremy Bradley continues sharing thoughts about the food industry. It's driven by responses from listeners who offer their opinions and insights into what they feel is happening at eateries. This time, JB talks about the push to support local businesses that are (supposedly) the heart of a community. Do you do it because it's the "right thing" to do? Or do you base your spending on costs? If the marketing tactic is "shop local" but local is 40 times the price, will you avoid the guilt trip and get what's cheaper/est? JB can't justify spending $8 on a local barbecue sauce when national brands are $2 or $3.

Grocery stores have notoriously put customers to work: scanning items, bagging them (and for many people, adding extra un-scanned items to those bags -- wink, wink). Now, Jeremy Bradley says restaurants are determined to give customers less human interaction. Giant kiosks are in the middle of the area where people would once line up to place orders at fast-food counters. "How soon before we're dishing up and serving ourselves at the counter?" he asks. Plus, JB wonders why -- aside from a data grab -- do restaurants insist on downloading their app just to get discounts. If the price can be lowered for app users, why not just lower prices for everyone and make dining out affordable again?

Restaurant rants on the last episode had listeners react! Jeremy Bradley talks about complaints over restaurant pricing. A $20 hamburger? And $9 for fries? How about $8 for gravy? (Hi, KFC!) Really? Are costs preventing people from eating at restaurants? JB's other issue: wine. "Why do they never fill up the giant wine glass? Give us a smaller glass then, it looks cheap almost empty. If you ordered iced tea, they'd never give you a half glass."

It was a disastrous restaurant visit from the beginning... but the food was great. Is the bad overall experience enough to make you stay away in the future? Jeremy Bradley tells a story about his colleague having a nightmare restaurant experience literally from the moment she walked in the door. Are there situations you can overlook if the food is good? Or, is a terrible employee attitude enough to keep you away forever? Later, JB shares a story about how he turned a laughable restaurant visit into a hilarious newspaper column.

It's the first time Jeremy Bradley has been sick in nearly eight years. It's a big deal... for him! People get sick all the time so it's likely not a major issue for you, but it's thrown JB for a loop. He talks about the humor in suddenly falling ill in what's usually an incredibly healthy household. "We didn't even have pain reliever or cold meds in our medicine cabinet because we don't get sick," JB says. "We asked each other what we should get because we forgot since it's been so long!" It's one thing to work in an office or spend time in classrooms and catch a bug that's going around, JB got sick from a wintry problem in Canada. 

Jeremy Bradley cuts to the chase this week: Interacting with people has become such a pain. It's not necessarily the people themselves, it's the channels and platforms that facilitate the contact. JB discusses the frustration of having a simple question or concern but the never-ending runaround as a customer to come to a conclusion. It leads to another rant about customer service -- or "customer experience" as it's commonly known. Why isn't the customer number 1 anymore? Do you find that companies tell you, the customer, "no" more and more often nowadays? Do you find the service employee puts an effort into finding answers if they don't know? 

It's one thing to have an opinion and share it on your digital platforms, but are you a one-trick pony? Jeremy Bradley talks about the podcasters and YouTubers who only talk about one subject... all the time... over and over again. At some point, the subject matter should be changed up. The Trump haters, the Meghan Markle critics -- just don't stop. Entire channels and pages are devoted to one subject. What happens once Trump is out of office? What happens if something tragic happens to Markle and she dies? Then what? Is your show done? A hard pivot would be necessary but will your audience stick around?

SPECIAL EPISODE:  Moments after our Jan. 30 show went live, all hell broke loose in the celebrity world. We heard Don Lemon was arrested, then Catherine O'Hara died, then more Epstein files were released... all while Jeremy Bradley was heading to a Los Angeles movie theatre to review the Melania Trump documentary. Plus, JB and the broadcast crew are preparing to cover Grammys weekend in radio syndication. He gives quick updates on all the stories in this special episode.

Whether it's the cost or the overall experience, is in-restaurant dining a thing of the past? Jeremy Bradley talks about his recent observations when sitting down to eat. JB has long talked about his lack of interest in cooking so ordering food is a near-daily habit. Whether it's waiting to be seated, overhearing loud staff conversations, or wondering why you get a giant wine glass that is never filled to the top like every other drink, JB discusses why customers might be losing interest in the dining-out experience.

Jeremy Bradley has been covering red carpets for over 15 years. It started with Canadian Idol in Toronto and then moved to A-list Hollywood events. He talks about how the red carpet experience has changed thanks to social media and selfies. "It's no longer about the celebrity and their moment," recalls JB. "It's now the "influencer's" look-at-me moment and fanning out." He talks about how you wouldn't dare ask for a selfie with a celeb back in the day. "Getting on a red carpet meant you had journalistic credibility. Now, it's about the size of your social platform." As for the TV ratings of awards shows, are they likely to rebound this year? Perhaps it depends on the platform that broadcasts them.