No Illusions Podcast #60 – SHUTDOWN

My guests today are J. David Markham, my regular co-host on the much-loved Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast, and his friend of 35 years, a regular guest on this show, Doug LaFollette, Secretary of State of Wisconsin. They joined me this morning to discuss the recent US government shutdown and the forces at play behind it. If you, like me, have been trying to understand how something like this could happen in the world’s leading economic power, then I hope this conversation will shed some light on the issue. As David and Doug are both Democrats, I, being an Australian, try to throw in some counter-arguments into the conversation for balance.

BTW, if you’re having trouble getting the show to download in iTunes, please try deleting the feed from iTunes and re-adding it using this link.

shutdown art

No Illusions Podcast #59 – Benjamin Walker, Psychopathic Entrepreneurs

No Illusions Podcast #59 – Benjamin Walker, Psychopathic Entrepreneurs

PhD student Benjamin Walker and Business Psychology professor Chris Jackson conducted three experiments using more than 600 people from the general population. They found that people with psychopathic traits can make great entrepreneurs because they are not afraid to fail or make bold and risky decisions.

My concern, though, is that although psychopaths might make great entrepreneurs, once they get wealth and power as a result of their entrepreneurial activities, they can end up doing more damage to society than good. But what do we do about it? How do we protect society from psychopaths?

 

Below is Benjamin’s recent three-minute pitch about the subject of his PhD.

psychopath hopkins

No Illusions Podcast #58 – Brad H Talks Iran

No Illusions Podcast #58 – Brad H Talks Iran

Today I welcome back to the show Brad Heitmann (aka Brad The Mormon). This time we’re talking about Iran. FOR TWO HOURS. Fer realz.Ermahgerd.

Brad travelled to Iran in 2009 around the time of their Presidential elections and the riots. He spent a couple of hours at a dinner listening to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

We discuss the history of Iran, their current nuclear program and America’s history of invading countries to get at their natural resources.

The No Illusions Podcast #57 – Brad Heitmann, Mormon

The No Illusions Podcast #57 – Brad Heitmann, Mormon

My guest today is Brad Heitmann. Brad lives in Utah, has a background in investment banking and start-up strategy and loves history. Today, however, he joins me to talk about his religion – The Church Of Latter Day Saints aka Mormons. To all those people asking me for years “when are you going to a show about Mormons” – you can now shut the hell up.

Brad and I discuss the life of the founder of the Mormon religion, Joseph Smith – I especially wanted to focus on his trial for being a conman (he was found guilty), his polygamy and the reasons behind his eventual murder. We also discuss the methods by which we search for Truth.

I’d like to thank Brad for having the balls to come on the show. He was a good sport and I hope he takes me up on my offer to come back soon. You can follow him on Twitter @bradheitmann

If you’re interested in the Mormon religion, here’s a few links I recommend:

MormonThink.com
Wikipedia’s many entries on LDS
Reddit’s Ex-Mormon Group
The Annotated Book Of Mormon

The No Illusions Podcast #56 – Wendy Bacon on Media Bias

The No Illusions Podcast #56 – Wendy Bacon on Media Bias

Wendy Bacon is a contributing editor to NewMatilda and has reported for Crikey,  the Sydney Morning Herald and The Conversation in recent times.

She is an investigative journalist with a background in social activism who worked at the University of Technology for 21 years. Although no longer teaching at UTS, Wendy is still a Professor of Journalism at the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism.

In 2011 she published a report on the bias in Australian newspapers over their coverage of climate change. The results of this report BLEW MY MIND.

I chatted with Wendy yesterday about the report and the state of journalism in Australia.

You can find Wendy’s website here and her Twitter account here.

The No Illusions Podcast #55 – Destroy The Joint!

The No Illusions Podcast #55 – Destroy The Joint!

Today I’m chatting with Jenna Price, one of the key people behind the “DESTROY THE JOINT” movement to stop sexism and misogyny in Australia. Jenna talks about the success of their campaign to get advertisers to pull their funding from the Alan Jones Show on 2GB.

 

destroy the joint

Links:

Destroy The Joint on Facebook

Destroy The Joint on the Web

Music on the show is by:

GanglionSaltillo
“A Necessary End” (mp3)
from “Ganglion”
(Artoffact Records)

Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

Space MusicDyme Def
“Get Down” (mp3)
from “Space Music”
(Soul Gorilla Monopoly (SGM))

Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album

PlayPlay