Ep 324 About Time...Some About Me

It was that , I don't know , but I suspect that many , and perhaps even most , of you who hear episodes have done so for many , or perhaps even for all of those years . That shook me up a bit . I mean , if some of you , and maybe many of you , have heard 200 or even 300 episodes , well that is , as we used to say , a shitload .

I realized also that in all that time , I don't think I have ever thanked any of you , much less all of you , for tuning in and , in some cases , for staying . That is nasty of me . I think Something about doing these episodes has gotten me into the groove of starting each off and ending each without addressing anything other than the topic at hand .

On the one hand , I rarely even ask for donations or for help reaching out to grow the audience . That's a plus in some ways for you , I think , not having to hear such entreaties every week ways for you .

I think not having to hear such entreaties every week , but my start and finish without ever going off topic probably also goes a way to explaining why there aren't more listeners . And my also never leaving the topic also means that I don't offer you my thanks for listening , I hope , for making use of the ideas and in some cases even for donating as well .

In contemplating that , I decided it has been nasty , so I apologize . I should have done so and I now do so . Thank you Really . Thank you More . There may be a sense in which some of you have come to know me somewhat through all these episodes . Though I haven't tried for that , I think perhaps , maybe I should have .

I mean , with all longevity should come some familiarity , at least I think . So what can I do about that ? I guess maybe I could get a little personal . I'm not one for doing that in general . Well , sometimes I have . But well , even saying that is already a little personal , isn't it ? I can't just rattle off .

I feel this , I feel that I like this , I like that . On the other hand , I have a lot of practice answering questions , and when asked questions , I congenitally try to dodge nothing . I try to answer anything and everything that's asked , though sometimes in not quite wanted ways . So that gave me a strategy for introducing some about me .

I need only come up with a bunch of questions , I thought , as a rather intrusive interviewer , with me then answering as the interviewee . I know it's a bit odd , but let's see how it goes . First , however , what about the two-way part of communications ? What about my getting to know you more ?

So , in case it hasn't been obvious from lack of my repeatedly asserting it , I'd like to hear from you . How is that possible ? There are two paths for two-way exchange . The Revolution Z Patreon site has each episode and you can append comments , perhaps better .

Znet , which is at znetworkorg , hosts Revolution Z and it also hosts a Discord system including a channel for Revolution Z that you can access from Z-Net . Actually , I guess there's a third way too you can just write me an email . Okay , back to the title this time , which is About Time Some About Me as an interview . Here's the first question , you will note .

I hope that the interviewer , who is also the interviewee , isn't tossing softballs . One , you are an old man , no , denying it , don't even try . Why the hell are you still radical , even revolutionary , for that matter . Why did you become one ? Okay , let's start at the beginning . I have no fucking idea why I became one .

That is , why does anyone become one , I feel like answering . Why is the sky blue ? I don't know . Actually , I know more about why the sky is blue . My point is , I probably became radical way , way back , even before I knew what a radical was .

At any rate , when I was a radical because I knew what it was it was because I looked around and I felt the world could be a lot better .

The world is lacking in many respects in that people are hurting , people are suffering oppression , people are not fulfilling themselves as they might , and it isn't because people are lazy or people aren't trying or people are somehow flawed . It's because we live within systems that prevent optimal outcomes . So why is the sky blue ?

I became radical because it seemed like that was the right thing to do in response to the world I found myself in . So why am I still radical ? Indeed , revolutionary ? For exactly the same reason . I don't think it's changed . I look around and what I see says to me , me . Things are much , much worse than they need be .

They could be really much , much better , really good ? Isn't it part of what we are , who we are , to notice that and to act on that ? Okay , two , why is your podcast all politics ? Are you that obsessive ? Don't you have other interests ? All work and no play makes Mike a dull fellow , don't you think ?

Maybe so I'm not sure , but no , I do have other interests . I have a lot of other interests . No , I do have other interests . I have a lot of other interests and I'm as engaged with them at times as I am with politics . But I admit , politics is in command . That's the way we used to say it all the way back late 60s , early 70s .

Politics in command meant what we were , what we did , how we thought , was largely dominated by our political desires and agendas . We had them in mind .

Indeed , in some points , I think I have actually defined being revolutionary as having that as you are , when your makeup , your approach , your personality , your choices , your choices , your choices are dominated by thoughts about politics , about how to make the world a better place .

As to making Mike Adele fellow , that's not for me to judge , but I suspect you're right about that . It probably is dull for many people to encounter someone who has politics in command , especially if it's all the time . For me , I have to say , it's not all the time . You know , I watch TV , I play Go , I watch chess . I do a lot of different things .

I get as engaged with popular science and even not so popular science as I do with politics . In fact , truth be known , I read a lot more science , popular science , serious science and mysteries and thrillers than I do political books , and have for quite some time . So I have a lot of interests .

But when it comes down to something like having a conversation with somebody , something like forming an agenda and trying to act on it , politics in command , all politics . Well , because that's what it's about . It's because it's a politics , politics , social change radical . I did a podcast about , I don't know , just AI .

It wouldn't be well , wait a minute , truth be told , it would probably , with the exception of the quantum mechanics one , still be politics in demand . That is , I would look at Dylan's lyrics and his impact in terms of politics . I would look at all of it in terms of politics . So , okay , I'm a dull fellow Three .

I have listened to a shitload of your episodes , starting about six years ago . Hell , being you , I couldn't escape . After six years , I bet you still agree with the first ones . In fact , if you took up the same topics now and you often do I bet you'd offer very nearly the same content . What's with that ? Doesn't your mind ever change ?

Don't you ever learn anything ? Are you the same guy now ? You were six years ago , for that matter , are you the same guy now you were 50 years ago ? Let me make my query totally clear Are you a delusional but stubborn fool ? Okay , let's try to answer this , maybe a step at a time , toward that last part .

Yes , you're right , I'm the same person I was six years ago and I'm the same person I was 70 years ago , at least in most respects . I once thought hard about this and asked what a person is , and I decided well , we're not cells . Those get replaced every few years . Even our brain gets replaced . All of it gets replaced . So we're information .

We're some kind of combination of accumulated information and connections among it and desires , I guess . Am I the same as I was 50 years ago ? No , my tastes have changed . You know , various things have changed . I hope I'm a little wiser . I hope I'm a little wiser . But if you're asking , has my politics fundamentally changed ? No , I don't think so .

I would say by the time I was out of college a few years , I had most of the same political inclinations I have now . Now they're better developed , there's a lot added to it , there's a lot of refinements and in some cases enlargements , but there hasn't been a reversal . I admit that there hasn't been . What's with that ?

Well , it either means I'm a stubborn , delusional fool or it means I had something right , and I suspect it's the latter , because I don't think this is rocket science . I think having generally good values in politics comes naturally , unless it gets beaten out of you or tricked out of you or manipulated out of you .

And luckily I guess I've avoided that kind of coercion . Does my mind ever change ? Sure , do I learn things , sure Does what I learn and the changes in my mind . Has that caused me , for example well , it's not 50 years , but a whole lot of years to change my views about participatory economics . Parts of those views , yes , but the overall commitment , no .

I don't think that's sectarianism , I don't think that's delusion or stubbornness , because I continually re-evaluate . Stubborn would be not re-evaluating , it would be not hearing anything that was critical , it would be not being willing to debate with anything that was critical . I don't think that's true of me , but I'm not the one to judge .

Four , okay , how do you choose guests to invite on your show ? Or , when you don't have one , how do you choose what topic to take up ? Do you ever finish an episode and wonder why you're bothered ?

Well , the way I choose guests is almost always not entirely , but almost always that something occurs , usually in the form of my reading something by someone or encountering someone by someone , something by someone , and deciding you know , this is good stuff , this deserves to be pursued further .

Let me have this person on so that they can make their case to you , the Revolution Z audience , and so we can talk about it . That's usually what's going on . The invitation is usually something that was spontaneous within say , a week or two of the person being on .

Every once in a while , somebody is on not because of a spontaneous , immediate reaction to something , but because of a long-term to something , but because of a long-term reaction . So I'll give you two examples . The next person on for next Sunday's episode is Rivera Sun .

I'm not gonna give her whole bio now , but she's a novelist and a political activist and I read an article by her and I really liked it and I wrote her an email and she said yes and is on . I don't know her any other way than that , but the one after that , the guest after that , is going to be Steve Shalom .

Well , he's been a friend for good Lord , 50 or 60 years , I guess , more like 50 . I don't know 55 years . And he's on , not because I suddenly read something by him which once again told me he was a smart cookie who had good things to say .

No , it's because I had an idea about something that I wanted to do a session about , an episode about , and he immediately came to mind as a great person to have on to do it with . So both those avenues to having a guest exist when I don't have one . How do you choose what topic to take up ? Okay , now , that might be a little embarrassing .

I basically , usually , the night before , think about it and think about some topic . Oftentimes it is similar . That is , while it's not a guest , it's something that has been on my mind or that I have noticed or read or reacted to , that has caused me to think that something is worth talking about . It's really just that simple .

Do I ever finish an episode and wonder why I bothered . Well , I'm going to wonder why I bothered this one , I think . Are you going to wonder that , having asked me all these questions ? And yes , I do sometimes , I suppose , but not often , and that might not be a good sign .

Lydia , my partner for life , used to say that what amazed her about the 60s , when she was attracted to it and became involved , was the incredible confidence that some people had . She just couldn't fathom it . You know , how could a person , given all the things that she had experienced , people going through in families and the like , have such confidence ?

And it might be a bad sign , but I guess it's the case that I'm a person like that . I have a lot of confidence . It doesn't mean that I never question , but it does mean that most of the time when I finish an episode I go on to something else . I don't second guess it Five .

I get that you have spent a whole lot of time thinking about investigating and otherwise , at least perhaps becoming equipped to address some topics , especially , for example , economic vision , even social vision and , okay , some aspects of strategy too .

But don't you think it is fucking presumptuous to address things you haven't thought long and hard about To even just wing it at times . Ah , I think this is a better question than the first four . Of course , that could be just my opinion . Yes and no , we believe . I believe you and I believe , since you're me , in participation .

We believe in something called participatory economics and participatory society . We believe people have a say in their own lives and circumstances and that people should express themselves regarding such matters . You can't have a say if you don't indicate the say , indicate the desires .

Moreover , people should have people's insights , people's attitudes , people's views , people's assessments count . It isn't the case that only the assessments of somebody who has how did you put it ? Spent a whole lot of time thinking about , investigating and otherwise at least perhaps becoming equipped to address some topics , deserves to have a say .

It's important that people other than those people because those people might have a jaundiced say often it's important that people who are further from being immersed in something have a say about something . So , no , I don't think , capital T , that it's fucking presumptuous to address things that one hasn't thought long and hard about .

I haven't thought long and hard about most of the questions you're asking . It's not presumptuous to address them , it's just honest . I acknowledge , however , that sometimes it can be presumptuous and sometimes it probably is presumptuous , and sometimes it probably is presumptuous when I do it . Six , why don't you invite guests whose views you don't like ?

Are you afraid to debate ? That's another interesting question and this might be a bit idiosyncratic . I sort of view Revolution Z as having somebody over in my living room when it's a guest A guest , not an opponent , brought in to be beheaded .

A guest , somebody who I appreciate , and so I don't invite on people with the purpose of trying to demonstrate that they're wrong . That doesn't mean I'm afraid to debate . I actually probably am too quick to debate . May like debating too much , not too little , but I don't like inviting people on to debate .

Now , what makes this a bit weird is I don't mind being invited onto a podcast to debate . I wouldn't mind , you know , if it should only happen . What's his name ? What the hell is his name ? Mega podcaster , now supporting Trump ? If he had me on , I would be happy . And I would be happy if he had me on in order to destroy me . That'd be fine .

I would be happy to debate , so happy . If he had me on in order to destroy me . That'd be fine . I would be happy to debate . So no , it's not that I don't like to debate or I'm afraid to debate . Indeed , I've debated with a whole lot of people , including people who you know are quite prominent and have views that would just as soon see me disappear .

I just don't like inviting somebody on my show to my living room for me to bludgeon Seven . You have mentioned that your audience is small . Maybe you should take a hint and do something else with your time . What do you think ? Maybe you're right , I don't know . How do I know ? How does anyone know ?

When you start to do something , maybe something quick , you know , go to a demonstration or maybe something that takes a whole lot of time , start writing a book , how do you know that it's going to be worth the effort ? You don't . You make your best estimate when I I noticed my audience is small . It's true .

If the audience was much larger I would be happy at that change , supposing everything else was unchanged . I remember when Lydia used to do theater .

Sometimes she would do a play , you know , on a Friday night that she directed and was in , starred in and wrote , and sometimes it would be eight or ten people , and she would be upset by that and I would say to her you know , if there were a thousand people and they watched it and went home and were a little bit entertained , okay , and if there were ten

people and one of them , just one of them , watched it and went home and was , you know , the next Rosa Parks or whatever , which is more important . So you have to pay attention when there are 10 and when there are a thousand . Do something else with my time . What ? What am I going to do with my time ?

That is more valuable than doing these podcasts , I don't know . Somebody recommends something and perhaps I'll do it . Well , actually , let me say I just did have such a recommendation .

Someone recommended that I do , instead of hour-long , roughly ballpark , most of the time podcasts that I do , you know , snippets , little short ones , all video , and I would have a much larger audience . This person felt Well , I had a couple of reactions to that . One was I don't think it's true . I don't think I would have a larger audience .

I think that I probably would be not . However good or bad I am at what I'm doing now , I think I would probably be not particularly good at all at trying to be thoroughly engaging in one minute , and I also think that who cares ? What does one minute accomplish ? It's just not enough time to convey anything other than what is already in people's minds .

You can convey pretty quickly . Same is true for a really short article . You can convey something that people are already aware of . But if you want to convey things that might change people's views or minds , well then that takes longer and that's what I prefer to do . Eight , do you ever feel like you were beating your head against the titanium wall ?

Why don't those feelings stop you ? Getting more specific , don't you feel right now like what the fuck is happening ? Your agenda is getting blasted . What gets you up each day ? Anyhow , hell , what keeps you off the nearest bridge ?

Well , yes , of late not earlier very much , maybe even not at all do I feel like I'm beating my head against a titanium wall , but I will admit that of late I have had feelings that are more morose on that score or concerned about defeat on that score than I've had in the past . Why don't those feelings stop you ?

Well , who knows , maybe they will , but I hope not . I do feel like what the fuck is happening . I mean , on the one hand , we know what is happening After all , it's broadcast in 17,000 channels and flavors every day .

Of course , there's so much noise that many of us don't see what might be the most important parts , but I think I pretty much see those most important parts and so I know what's going on . But at the same time , I don't know what's going on because it's completely unprecedented and berserk and it's very hard to pin it down .

I try that's what I've been doing various podcasts about my agenda is getting blasted . Well , yes , it is . It isn't just that policies are being pursued which hurt the constituencies which I care about helping , which I care about rising up in anger .

It's also that the whole structure of government , the whole structure of the political apparatus that we live with , is being not just blasted but reconstructed , which is worse , and reconstructed with an eye toward ends that are despicable , ruled by one and a bunch of buddies , or maybe it's ruled by a few . We don't really know how much is Trump in command ?

I don't know . Is it instead some of those billionaires not even Musk , the ones that we don't see ? Some of those billionaires not even Musk , the ones that we don't see that are sitting around and governing things ? Don't know , but we know what's going on and where it's headed . What gets me up each day anyhow ?

Well , I gotta tell you , if I'm gonna be honest with these questions , it's getting harder . I find myself sitting in bed well , lying in bed longer than I would ordinarily , and I think that is a sign of what you're asking about , that it's hard to face the day and it's hard to pursue what we believe in , to pursue what we believe in , but I do it .

What keeps me off the nearest bridge ? Okay , I'm going to be honest again . When I was maybe I don't know 22 or something , something like that , I broke up with somebody who I thought I was going to wind up with forever . It just happened and I went walking and I walked on the bridge that links Boston and Cambridge .

It's actually called the Harvard Bridge , if I remember correctly . Yeah , it is . It's called the Harvard Bridge because when it was built , mit was in Boston , not in Cambridge , so the bridge was from Boston to Cambridge , where Harvard was . They never changed the name to the MIT Bridge , although I think people have tried to .

It leads , you know , one side of it is directly is at MIT . It's on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge , anyway . So I'm walking across the bridge and I'm looking into the water and I'm wondering . That's the only time in my life that I ever sort of asked myself you know why not jump off ? Probably I would have survived . What's the answer to that question ?

I don't know . You have to ask somebody a lot more I don't know , aware and understanding of human motivations and psychology than me to get an answer . But I didn't and I've never thought about it since Nine . This was supposed to be revelatory , a bit personal , a bit .

You've done some of that , but some folks would think all the above isn't personal , it is just more politics . Isn't personal , it is just more politics . So okay , now answer quickly each question . Who is your favorite athlete ever ? Willie Mays , and now , hmm , and now I guess I would say Steph Curry . Who's your favorite singer-songwriter ?

Bob Dylan , obviously Ever , yes , bob Dylan , and now , yes , bob Dylan . Sports team Ever the baseball giants , when they were in New York and San Francisco , and now I'm not sure I have one now , pretty recently the Warriors , the basketball team . But now I don't know your favorite novelistist , now and ever , or ever and now I don't know .

I don't know what I'd say to that . I don't know favorite novelist . There was a period when I liked who's the guy who wrote the Herman Hesse ? And then there was a period when I liked I don't know , I really don't know . Now you can see the devolution . It's . What's his name ? Gresham , I like his mysteries . No-transcript .

Your favorite actor ever and now , um yikes , how about I know who ? Was he Butch Cassidy or was he the Sundance Kid ? If you don't know who ? That is Paul Newman , ever and now I don't know that . I have one now really Favorite actress ever Katharine Hepburn . Now probably Meryl Streep .

And favorite scientist ever , or now , ever , I don't know , going by the amount of things I've read about the person . I guess Einstein , now Chomsky . Favorite comedian now or ever . What's his name ? You know because he's the favorite , he's the best comedian that there has ever been , any time , anywhere , any place . He's just a complete genius .

And I guess there are some others that are in the same ballpark , so you can choose for yourself . Now I don't really have any that I have enough interaction with . And now I want to go back and make one change . Also Famous actress ever Lydia Sargent . And now still , okay , I think we have a little more time .

How about you answer , as more of question nine , colbert's questionnaire Uh , what you know from late night television . The questions he thinks reveal who his celebrity guests really are . He asked them the Colbert questionnaire Are you crazy ? I'm not a celebrity . Tough , let's do it . Okay , but no follow-ups . You don't like my answers Too bad ?

On to the next Colbert question . Okay , but then you have to give some kind of answer to each . All right , what's the best sandwich For the sake of the audience who don't watch late night TV ? Colbert really does this . These questions are really from him .

He asks these questions to all kinds of celebrities you know , from Tom Hanks to , I mean , just all kinds of people . Alright , what's the best sandwich ? Once I would have said pastrami with coleslaw and mustard on rye , but times change . How about Trump ? Between two slices of musk burnt to a crisp not yet served . But you never know .

What's one thing you own that you should really throw out , you as my interviewer . What is the scariest animal Lightning ? All presidents , some more than others . Weren't you a president of the student body at MIT ? Hmm , yes , I was . Hmm , maybe that's when you became a part of me . All right , next Colbert question Apples or oranges ?

Kumquats , colbert , can't be serious . Kenny , have you ever asked someone for their autograph ? I don't think so . I don't remember , but I would have if I had access to Che , for example , or Bertrand Russell . I tend to ask for advice answers . Most often it's been from Chomsky . What do you think happens when we die ?

Pretty much what would have happened if we were still here , but without us ? And the worms crawl in and the worms crawl out . Favorite action movie ? Okay , I'll be honest . When I was a kid it was Shane . Later not so honest Help , or maybe Cool Hand Luke .

Favorite smell what Truth is , I can't experience a smell , an image , a film or a video , not even a touch in my mind when it isn't present . So the smell of fascism Least favorite smell ? Whoops , that was favorite smell , I made a mistake . Smell of freedom Least favorite smell ? Okay , same reason , the smell of fascism . Window or aisle bathroom .

Is Colbert embarrassed asking this stuff ? You get one song to listen to for the rest of your life . You don't have to listen to it every minute , but whenever you listen to music you have to listen to this song . What is it ? Probably Dylan's . When the ship comes in , at least until it does . Colbert asks next what number ?

Am I thinking of Infinity , or I guess maybe one or zero . I've got no shot at guessing . Otherwise , describe the rest of your life in five words , still trying . You knew that , ornery , aren't you ? So , this being my last question , do you think your idea for this episode was a mistake ? Do you think anyone will listen to this and somehow benefit ?

If not , did I waste my time asking you ten questions ? I am ornery , yes , I suppose so . Is it arrogant , callous ? Or maybe it's just who we are ? I don't know . I think we can leave judging this weird exercise to the listeners . You made me think on the fly and we did something that's different , remember ? You said I was getting boring .

Well , this is outside the box , even if it's still boring . But that brings us back to the presumptuous question , doesn't it ? Why ask questions like this and answer them at all ? Presumptuous , jeez , this thing could become a song In that respect , like all along the Watchtower , but illiterate At any rate .

All that said this is Michael Albert , interviewer and Michael Albert interviewee signing off until next time .