After all that talk in the first episode about buying and then procrastinating setting up the microphone, I dumped the whole setup this week and just talked into my phone. Find out why.

I also talked about the advantages of having conversations via voice messages on WhatsApp. Sometimes it’s better and more effective to be able to process what the other person is saying before responding.

After I did the podcast I found a couple of articles on the subject. Apparently voice notes are quite the rage. WhatsApp handled about 7 billion a day as of 2022!

See below:

Why I hate texting, and why I love voice memoshttps://dailyfreepress.com/2022/12/06/why-i-hate-texting-and-why-i-love-voice-memos/

To my horror, gen X is turning to voice notes – I don’t want to hear your mini-podcasthttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/29/gen-x-voice-notes-podcast-phone-message

I was deeply troubled by the invective and discrimination that the Trump campaign hurled at transgender people leading up the election. I understand that treatment, especially with regard to adolescents, is controversial even among medical professionals, but people’s mental health and welfare should not be the stuff of political point-scoring fodder.

Here, I try to imagine a future world where things could be different. I may be totally off-base and would appreciate feedback as to why. Please know that my intent is not to hurt anyone.

An example of an anti-transgender Trump campaign ad.https://youtube.com/shorts/VVU7pYq3WHw?si=-KpUTrfjWsgZXemn

A New York Times article that takes a deep dive into the issue.https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/health/puberty-blockers-transgender.html

In a couple of previous episodes I referred to myself as both a “white man” and a “Jewish American”. In some corners both of those descriptions can be seen as controversial. I discuss why I see myself in those terms and more broadly how I believe we form our identities.

I start off the episode discussing some good feedback I received on last week’s episode. I then go on to talk about the holiday of Thanksgiving, what it means to me and how I celebrate now that I no longer live in the U.S.

Movies of my family Thanksgivings from 1956 - 1961

Video of a Thanksgiving Day football game with friends - 1983

My “fall” tree - Chinese tallow (Safyon Hashaava in Hebrew)

The recent U.S. election really brought out the worst in a lot of us. Understandably, people feel there’s a lot at stake. All too often we either ascribe nefarious intent or lack of intelligence to those who didn’t vote like us. I delve into these issues with a few real world examples.

Some links refenced in the podcast:

TED Talk by Jonathan Haidt

Substack article I wrote after the election

My op-ed published in the Jerusalem Post

Time of Israel article about orthodox Jews voting for Trump

Subscribe to my Substack

You can email me at: michaelscott.outloud@gmail.com

It took me two and half years from the time I bought a Yeti Blue microphone until the day I opened the box and started talking into it. What's that all about?