TMI with Aldous Tyler

On this week's episode of TMI with Aldous Tyler, we look at how two books, taken together, help explain much of the ethos behind modern American conservatism. Not only do we speak to how Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" had been an obvious cornerstone of the "I've got mine, screw you" crowd, but how insidiously "The Secret" managed to creep in and influence our current state of politics.

Next, we look at how tensions flared in Congress as incoming Representative Sarah McBride (D-DE), poised to become the first openly transgender member of Congress, found herself personally targeted by Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC). Mace, in a highly controversial move, criticized McBride’s right to use women’s restrooms, arguing that McBride should be forbidden from accessing them due to her transgender identity, going so far as to introduce legislation to keep all transgender people from being able to use the restrooms that correspond to their presentation. We go over how McBride's response differs from that of Montana State Representative Zooey Zephyr when she was faced with targeted discrimination in the Montana Legislature, and what the implications are for all transgender people who visit Federally-owned facilities. All this and more on TMI for Friday, November 22, 2024 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

This week, Congress voted on whether or not to fast track a bill that would hand the Treasury Department the ability to strip any nonprofit of its 501 (c)(3) status by declaring it a "terrorist" supporting organization. This was set to fly trough easily UNTIL Trump got elected and enough Democrats and even one Republican said it was unwise to hand him that power. Don't breathe too easily, though - this bill can return next year, and wonderful nonprofits like Common Defense and Task Force Butler, who just joined forces to stop fascism's rise in America, could find themselves decimated by it.

Next, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decided she needed to get to the bottom of why there were so many split-ticket voters - in her case, voters who chose Trump for President and her for Congress. The results of AOC's Instagram survey are both dismaying and insightful, and inspired ME to ask around to see what insights I could find as well - we report on that.

Finally, we briefly tell you about how scientists are closer to finding the key to how life began, by replicating simplified mitochondria in lab conditions. All this and more on TMI for Friday, November 15, 2024 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

On this episode, Aldous goes over the results of the 2024 Election and where we go from here. Then he takes a special look at the proposals of RFK Jr for how he intends to "improve" our public health systems, and finally we celebrate retaining Tammy Baldwin as the Senior Senator for the State of Wisconsin. All this and more on TMI for Friday, November 08, 2024 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

OpenAI can't just rely on ChatGPT subscriptions to pay for everything, so they have other professional offerings, like their "Whisper" AI-powered transcription app. The problem is, like other AI Large Language Modeled apps, Whisper has an alarming amount of "hallucinations" - phrases or sentences it just randomly adds without regard to what it was actually supposed to be transcribing. When applied to medical transcription, or interlanguage interpretation, these too-frequent errors become hazardous.

Then, we look at Paraquat (frequently marketed in the USA as Gramoxone) and the fact that despite being banned in many nations around the world - including the nation that MAKES the most of it - it is still used widely in the USA and Australia. Legal challenges are coming down the pike due to mounting evidence of Paraquat causing Parkinson's, despite the assurances of the manufacturers that there's no proof.

Finally, we look at the Washington Post and LA Times' sudden reversal of planned endorsements of the Harris/Walz ticket. They wouldn't go so far as to endorse Trump, but clearly they are terrified of what he might do to them if he wins. All this and more on TMI for Friday, November 01, 2024 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

In a different turn for TMI, we invite creator JV Altharas, the force behind new multi-modal fantasy world Realm of Aeodar. He tells us how, inspired by the completionism Tolkien aimed to have, his plan enacts an immersive literary world via not just stories, but also music, cooking, and so much more. JV has a full, inclusive vision to share and we introduce you to it here.

Next, we show how being laser-focused on political polls is counterproductive, especially when you count for the margin of error almost always being a sever underestimation - we talk about how it got to this point. Finally, we go to the State of New York, which is taking steps to hold Big Oil accountable for the deceit and harm caused by their actions. All this and more on TMI for Friday, October 25, 2024 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

On TMI for October 18, 2024, we start off by going over a recent summary Bernie Sanders made of the political progress that we've seen here in the United States by examining the differences in the Democratic Party platforms from 2012 and 2024. A span of just twelve years provides truly encouraging contrasts that get lost sometimes when you are just fighting day after day to make things better.

Next we give you two "best of" segments, as Aldous' voice just wasn't having it for the time being. Of those, we first dive into how GOP Congressional Representatives listen to their Big Oil donors, calling the Climate Crisis a "false emergency" despite the hue and cry of their very constituents as they suffer from supercharged hurricanes. Finally, we go over two scientific breakthroughs: one on EV battery recycling, and one on discovering the chemical bindings of memory in the human brain. All this and more on TMI for Friday, October 18, 2024 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

On today's episode, we expose the GOP Congressional Representatives who ignore the needs of their constituents at the request of their Big Oil donors, calling the Climate Crisis a "false emergency" in legislation to try and prevent the President from acting to help curb the worst of it. Greg Steube and Byron Donalds represent the gulf coast of Florida from Tampa south through Cape Coral - some of the hardest hit communities by Hurricane Milton - this shows just how murderous political corruption can get.

Then, we replay the interview with Norman Stockwell of The Progressive Magazine from last week, talking about how⁠ Greg Palast’s “Vigilantes Inc.” is coming to Madison, Wisconsin’s own Barrymore Theater on Thursday, October 17th! We go over how this is a can’t-miss opportunity to see Palast’s investigations team bust the most brazen, racist attack on voting rights yet, with a Q&A session afterward WITH Greg Palast live and in-person, facilitated by your host, Aldous Tyler! This is the event you need to be at if you care about YOUR vote being counted.

Finally, we check in with actual SCIENTISTS on why hurricanes are simply not possible to control directly, even looking at the failed historic attempts to do exactly that. All this and more on TMI for Friday, October 11, 2024 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

On TMI for Friday, 10/04/2024, Norman Stockwell of The Progressive Magazine joins us to talk about how⁠ Greg Palast's "Vigilantes Inc." is coming to Madison, Wisconsin's own Barrymore Theater on Thursday, October 17th! We go over how this is a can't-miss opportunity to see Palast's investigations team bust the most brazen, racist attack on voting rights yet, with a Q&A session afterward WITH Greg Palast live and in-person, facilitated by your host, Aldous Tyler! This is the event you need to be at if you care about YOUR vote being counted.
Then, on this episode we go over how climatologist James Hansen and his colleagues are making the case that we may be severely underestimating and misunderstanding a key component of the Climate Crisis: "aerosols" or rather dust, soot and water vapor, and how they have complicating roles in predicting just how bad things can get - including predicting where "climate havens" are. After all, Asheville, NC was considered one until last week when Hurricane Helene destroyed that notion. All this and more on TMI for Friday, October 04, 2024 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

You're heard of the conservative playbook "Project 2025", a top-down authoritarian guide to how they intend to restructure every aspect of our nation to cement their backwards vision of society - what if there was a book that took the entirely opposite direction? Joining us today, Ben Manski is a contributor to that book, "How We Win: Energizing Strategies, Voters, and Agendas", a work that gives us as INDIVIDUALS the tools we need to create the progressive world we want to see, a world working for EVERYONE, not just the super-rich. Listen in!
Then, we look at how disasters like Hurricane Helene, driven by climate-crisis-charged rapid intensification, are ruining the ability of the insurance industry to have our backs as we try to recover from losing our homes, health and lives to these ever-increasing calamities. All this and more on TMI for Friday, September 27, 2024 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

On TMI for Friday, 9/20/2024, Greg Palast tells us how his investigations team has busted the most brazen, racist attack on voting rights yet. We're introduced to a terrible new threat to the right to vote: “Vigilante” challenges by self-appointed vote-fraud hunters - not government officials - who are targeting well over ONE MILLION young voters and voters of color to block the counting of their ballots. They tested the operation out last time in Georgia. The Trump-sponsored group "True the Vote" has gone from 88 vote-challenging vigilantes in 2020 to over 40,000 "volunteers" for 2024 in 43 states! Greg Palast has made this ESSENTIAL documentary free to stream at GregPalast.com - it's worth watching and sharing if you care about voting.

Then, when you think about Pixar and the wonderful library of entertainment they have created, you don't often stop to wonder how their workers - animators and such - have fared. In the case of Inside Out 2 - still at theaters and the top-grossing animated film of all time - these folks were not just worked to death in creating so much money for Disney, many of them were let go just before they would have gotten the profit sharing bonuses that would have compensated for the low wages their unionless studio signs them on for. If you ever wanted to know why unions are a good idea, here's a great example. All this and more on TMI for Friday, September 20, 2024 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!