The Scribble with Jeremy Bradley

Relationships are always fun to discuss because you learn about how couples live and either relate to them or secretly think to yourself, "Wow, my situation is so much better." Jeremy Bradley talks about giving relationship advice when there isn't a definitive way that unions should work. He says people ask about his marriage and try to compare the setup to their own situation, though he reminds them everybody is different. Later, he addresses a common relationship question that he thinks is a setup for drama. 

Telemarketers, spammers, texters -- all out to scam you. But do you fall for it? Or have you caught onto their tricks? Calling you from overseas, mispronouncing your simple name, asking for details about your account: do you give in? Jeremy Bradley questions why people are so easily swayed when contacted out of the blue. JB notes how when customers call into a company for their product or service, customers have to provide excessive information to verify it's legitimately their account. Why don't people on the receiving end of unsolicited calls put those same protections in place for themselves? Later, JB talks about scammers who've tried to take advantage of his companies. 

People love to read but it's toxic stuff on social media that makes them feel insecure, hate filled, depressed, lonely -- and everything else that screws with their mental health. Jeremy Bradley reflects on a time when kids were encouraged to read books and were excited to dive into the pages of a fascinating story. As adults -- and even with kids today -- not so much. Later, JB talks about odd behavior with people on social media. He wonders how trolling online and randomly posting nasty comments to pages is entertaining for people. JB shares a story from his e-commerce store where the comments section is out of control for absolutely no reason.

Jeremy Bradley talks to "influencers" and encourages them to view their 15 minutes of fame as just that: fleeting and temporary. Many people with a social media platform see the likes, clicks and cash now but is it something sustainable for the rest of their life? JB talks about his retirement from a successful radio career and how he can look at the current generation of broadcasters (podcasters, YouTubers, TikTokers, etc.) and wonders if most of them have figured out the long-term business side of their content offerings. Sure, free stuff and some money now are great, but will it still be lucrative in 10 years? And can they (read as: willing to) get a "regular" job after? 

Content is king. That's an old saying but it's more relevant than ever thanks to today's social media world. Jeremy Bradley talks about his early days in internet radio that later turned into a syndicated radio company, producing audio programming for outlets around the world. JB encourages people who want to start creating (podcast, YouTube, etc.) to think about their content before launching a platform. It's one thing to say, "I want to do a podcast" or "I want to write a book" but there's a helluva lotta planning before anything should launch. 

It's the day you're going to see social media pages full of flowers, romantic dinners and paragraphs of people professing their love. And it makes Jeremy Bradley want to puke. JB talks about how Valentine's Day went from being a commercial "holiday" to now being a show for social media where people broadcast the day with their partner. (Remember, your partner gave you those flowers today because it's kind of expected. Ditto on the "romantic" dinner.) JB, who's been married for several years, says every day is like Valentine's Day in his relationship because they constantly go for dinners and are together all the time. "People ask why I never post about how much I love him," JB says. "Because I talk to him and don't need to communicate with him publicly on social media. I don't need that attention and validation from the public."

Is it getting worse? Is the quality of customer service at an all-time low? And the new glammed-up way of referring to it as "customer experience" isn't helping most companies. Jeremy Bradley talks about the frustration of big businesses moving away from actual human contact and interaction, and relying more and more on technology to assist customers. Gone are the days of calling an 800-number and having your problem resolved in minutes. Now, it's chat bots and spotty English, irrelevant template replies and plenty of "no"s and "I'll transfer you"s. JB reflects on his time working in customer service and how employees had to own each interaction... because it was their job.

Nobody wants to think about death but it's something that's, well, inevitable. Jeremy Bradley talks about his thoughts on funerals as various family members are battling illness. He shares stories about recent family funerals and how relatives felt about the departed and what it's made them think about life and death. Later, JB talks about a time when he couldn't stop saying the wrong thing at a funeral. He recognized his misstep in the moment, told himself to correct his wording, but every time -- wrong, wrong, wrong.

The old saying is "blood is thicker than water." It's often used to declare that family is -- or should be, at least -- the most important thing in a person's life. But what if it's not? Should someone feel bad about that? Or is it better not to have family in your life? Jeremy Bradley talks about how the closeness of families during the holiday season -- especially broadcast on social media -- seems to be meant to make you feel bad if you don't have the closeness that others do. JB explains why he doesn't buy into that and how not being close with family is OK. Later, he shares about how critical opinions from parents drove him away from family as he got older.

There's so much emphasis on education but it's such a broad term that we need to take a step back on what people, namely kids, are learning. Jeremy Bradley, who has a family full of teachers, looks back at his elementary school through high school years and comments about what he learned and where it's got him in life. For instance, JB talks about his friend graduating high school without knowing the spelling of basic words but had to spend three years studying Shakespeare and other stuff she's never used in the 25 years since graduating.