Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Balloon Juice Podcast Episode 2 – Betty Cracker Comes to Town

Reader Interactions

59Comments

  1. 1.

    Another Scott

    Neato. Thanks for doing this. I’ll try to make time to listen to the whole thing tonight.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  4. 4.

    Baud

    @Kay: I don’t like podcasts as a rule but I’m looking forward to this one. I hope you’re next, Kay.

  5. 5.

    MoxieM

    Exciting. But speak more slowly. (From a lifelong New Englander to a Floridian, that cracks me up.)

  6. 6.

    MomSense

    Ooh, I’ll give a listen. I’m about to pour a glass of wine and sit on the balcony. My dad is watching the local news channel and Florida news is weird.

  8. 8.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I like them because you can do other things while you listen. I worry though that the entire podcast sector is supported by Blue Apron ads, and I’m not sure that Blue Apron is a company with a future.

    This makes me so happy:

    Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a sweeping election reform package on Monday that will make his state one of the leaders in the country in expanding voting rights. The “Access to Democracy” bills passed by Washington’s Legislature include automatic voter registration, Election Day registration, pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, and a state version of the national Voting Rights Act.
    Washington becomes the second state after California to have all four of these policies in place. “We want to have the highest participation rate of anywhere in the country,” says Spencer Olson, communications director for the WA Voting Justice Coalition, a network of groups that lobbied for the bills.

    11 states now have automatic voter reg. People will love it and they’ll wonder why they didn’t always have it. It’s so convenient and it goes back to the olden days, pre-2001, where voting was considered a good thing and to be encouraged instead of this horrible mess where everyone is paranoid and nasty and hoarding access to the ballot.

  11. 11.

    different-church-lady

    Edit: that should read…

    …Florida politics: chickens, dogs and guns.

  12. 12.

    geg6

    Thanks, mm. I’m really enjoying these podcasts. You and Doug sound just like I thought you would. But Betty does not sound at all like I thought! Loving these discussions. And Cole wimped out on you guys. What a putz.

  14. 14.

    Yutsano

    @Kay: Dat’s mah guv. It wouldn’t hurt if he got some national play but Patty and Maria have their sinecures until they decide to quit.

    The other interesting point here is we were running about 75% participation with the all mail ballots. Man it’s so freaking easy to just sit, take your time, research, and decide. I would like to eliminate our jungle primary system but eh one battle at a time.

  16. 16.

    sharl

    An enjoyable listen; thanks! I expected Betty to sound very different (as apparently MoxieM did); I dunno, maybe something slower and slightly southern-sounding, though now that I think about it, I don’t recall a lot of heavy southern accents from long-ago vacations in those parts.

    I see you’re using Soundcloud. Regarding the lead-in music you select, Soundcloud (or someone with access) apparently uses some kind of software to scan for and identify music that is protected under DMCA or whatever, and takes down the entire podcast if it finds any such music, so watch for that. The legal podcast Mic-Dicta had that happen to them; ironic for a bunch of lawyers to get tripped up on that, I guess. Anyhoo, they had to take out the offending interstitial bit and repost the episode.

  20. 20.

    opiejeanne

    That was fun. Thanks Betty and mistermix; you kept me company while I assembled a blackberry pie.

  23. 23.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Kay:

    Can I add (yes I am repeating myself) that the Democratic Party needs to be leading the charge to an all-mail ballot. It increases participation without the need for legislative action (which is certainly welcome).

  24. 24.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Is that Clinton HHS secretary Donna Shallala who’s running for congress?

  25. 25.

    MisterForkbeard

    Rad – I’m going to have to listen to this on my way home tonight. Probably much more informative than my audiobook. :P

  26. 26.

    Ruckus

    Joe Biden and BS are too old. Way to fucking old.
    And I’m an old myself, I can see exactly why they are too old. Too old candidates are a real part of the problem as to where we are as a country.

  28. 28.

    Aleta

    Listening now. Sitting on my couch with the dog, Betty Cracker! and mistermix! You guys.

  29. 29.

    cosima

    It’s interesting listening to them — putting voices to (blogging) names. People never sound like you think they will!

  31. 31.

    Fair Economist

    @sharl:

    though now that I think about it, I don’t recall a lot of heavy southern accents from long-ago vacations in those parts.

    Southern accents have also gotten substantially weaker since “How to Speak Southern” was published in the 70’s. Notably, the “r” has returned in most places for people under about 40. People older than that aren’t as affected, but even they are affected some.

  32. 32.

    Mike J

    @sharl:

    Anyhoo, they had to take out the offending interstitial bit and repost the episode.

    Always save all your source files and edit projects. Never, ever throw them away. Much easier to swap in a royalty free track later if you do.

  34. 34.

    Gravie

    Floridians don’t really have the Southern drawl y’all might be expecting. It’s more in the way vowels are turned and edges folded, if that makes any sense. I’m a central Floridian, born and raised, and it was nice to hear some home sounds.

  37. 37.

    opiejeanne

    @Gravie: We were just in Florida a week ago and no one sounded even slightly southern. Betty’s accent was a surprise to me but it was soft and hardly there half of the time.

  39. 39.

    Mike J

    ESSENCE @Essence 10m
    Stormy Daniels’ lawyer says some of the allegations the adult film star has made against Donald Trump occurred during his presidency.

  40. 40.

    Roger Moore

    @Mike J:

    Stormy Daniels’ lawyer says some of the allegations the adult film star has made against Donald Trump occurred during his presidency.

    Damn. These guys have the “drip, drip, drip” approach to media management down cold.

  41. 41.

    evap

    The podcast was great! Very informative and fun as well. As others have said, it’s great to put voices to names.

  43. 43.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Fair Economist:

    Southern accents have also gotten substantially weaker since “How to Speak Southern” was published in the 70’s. Notably, the “r” has returned in most places for people under about 40. People older than that aren’t as affected, but even they are affected some.

    Mine varies greatly, depending on the makeup of the jury

  44. 44.

    cain

    @PaulWartenberg:

    what’s it like to do a podcast? Should I do one for my blog?

    I’m planning to do one myself. But it is on open source and developers, not politics.

  46. 46.

    schrodingers_cat

    Its not a podcast yet, but I recorded a review of Madras Cafe, husband kitteh and I reviewed it. We saw it last week. I may put it up on my blog after cleaning it up a bit.

  47. 47.

    Jager

    You can use up to 16 seconds of a copyrighted song that’s legal. Anymore than that they can chase you down. Good material on the podcast, however slow down, stay on the mic or whatever you’re using, be natural but push it a bit more than in normal conversation, most people are boring as hell to listen to. Podcasting like broadcasting is voice acting, it’s okay to punch your lines sometimes. I saw some research last week that most people drop off a podcast well before it’s finished. I’m guessing they get bored or tired of people talking to themselves or worse yet, entertaining themselves. Mentally you have to visualize that you are communicating with one person and not an audience. One last thing, as my old news director used to say edit, god damn it! Edit!

  48. 48.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kay:

    People will love it and they’ll wonder why they didn’t always have it.

    And the people who don’t want those people to vote will know why not.

  52. 52.

    sharl

    I just noticed the map attached to the podcast. For future posts with significant Florida-related political content, my vote is for the state map in this January 2012 post by Betty, which I love mightily (even if mortality may require updating the bit in the SE corner).

  54. 54.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Baud: Add your own. Shout them out every so often. Do Betty and Mistermix have to do everything? Sheesh!!

  55. 55.

    seaboogie

    @Yutsano: West coast is the best coast! (Our podcast fp’ers notwithstanding) I do the same with my mail in ballot in CA.

  56. 56.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    Until the tide of corporate (national) ownership and homogenification (’80s-90s?), radio was always more local and “casual” than TV. A lot more “accents” on local radio stations then on local (regional) TV stations.

  57. 57.

    Aleta

    For me this was a great podcast. I don’t think I’m being biased. I don’t ever hear people talk state politics like this (They sure don’t on TV, state or national politics.) You two are good together. I felt optimistic listening, learned a lot, got a better attitude. I want to get smarter and know more.

  59. 59.

    manyakitty

    Good stuff! Betty, your writing already made me think of Mollie Ivins, and your voice seals it.

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