
1390: No Hugs For You!
William Shatner became the oldest person to travel to space this week aboard a Blue Origin flight, sparking a media frenzy that contrasted his profound post-flight reflections with a strict management policy against podcast appearances. While Gayle King and CBS News celebrated the 90-year-old actor as a cultural milestone for the Texas Hill Country, the event served as a backdrop for a shifting media landscape where NBC and ABC increasingly use news broadcasts to promote rival streaming services like Amazon Prime and Disney Plus. Labor unrest is surging as Southwest Airlines pilots and staff engage in massive sick-outs to protest federal vaccine mandates, leading to over 1,800 flight cancellations. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order banning such mandates, directly challenging the Biden administration and Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Internationally, Taiwan health authorities report that post-vaccination deaths have surpassed total virus fatalities, while Australia Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner announced heavy fines for unvaccinated workers. Meanwhile, the global supply chain faces a historic bottleneck at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, exacerbated by China’s power crisis and the failure of Germany’s Energiewende energy policy. Dr. Sanjay Gupta faced a tense confrontation on The Joe Rogan Experience regarding CNN’s coverage of ivermectin, leading to a rare admission of network missteps. The episode captures the absurdity of the current moment, from NPR’s guide on the etiquette of pandemic hugging to a Navy engineer’s attempt to sell nuclear secrets via a peanut butter sandwich. Co-hosts Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak celebrate fourteen years of deconstructing these narratives for the Gitmo Nation.



















