6 chapters across the catalog
Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak thank the show's producers for their financial support under the "Value for Value" model. Notable donations include a contribution from Baronet Chris of North Austin and a report from the owners of Awesome Urns, who attended the recent local meetup.
The CIA is actively recruiting at events like Awesome Con, using games and pop culture references to attract scientists and cyber experts. Director Gina Haspel has emphasized a shift toward social media outreach, including the agency's new Instagram presence. The hosts suggest that the CIA is influencing storylines in entertainment, such as the show "Supergirl," to spread specific political messaging to younger audiences.
Producer Donations, Awesome Urns Business Story
Donors Grant Key and Stevie B receive "de-douching" and "Jobs Karma." A story is shared about Rob and Jamaica Mozart, whose home was destroyed in the Bastrop, Texas fire; they subsequently launched "awesomeurns.com," a business specializing in handcrafted cremation urns made from salvaged wood.
Personal Banter, Daylight Saving Time Changes
Adam Curry discussed his wife Tina's habit of using the word "awesome" and the difficulty of removing it from one's vocabulary. The hosts also noted the upcoming shift to Daylight Saving Time in the United States, which occurs at a different time than in the Netherlands, potentially causing scheduling confusion for the next broadcast.
T-Mobile Customer Service, Awesome and Mirific Language
A host recounts a frustrating experience with T-Mobile customer service where the representative was trained to start every sentence with the word "awesome." This leads to a broader critique of corporate language trends observed at the Adobe Max conference, where "amazing" and "super excited" were used excessively, prompting the hosts to suggest the archaic word "mirific" as a substitute.
A discussion regarding the overuse of specific adjectives in popular culture highlights the shift from meaningful descriptions to repetitive filler words. The term "weird" is identified as being overused when "odd" would be more accurate and concise. Other criticized terms include "amazing," "awesome," and "amazeballs."
