The same as when listening to Robert Hubbell, I chose Online, not the App, to have more features: Rewind, forward, speed, and choosing where in the recording to listen. Audio quality is excellent, and i look forward to hearing the whole podcast and sharing widely!
I must admit that while I love what you are doing Simon, I'm not a fan of the term hopium. Opium has too many negative connotations for me. Putting a little h in front of it doesn't make it positive for me. Too much baggage. As a suggestion how about the entire word hope -- hopeium so the emphasis is on hope and not the word opium. I am a big proponent of Positive Psychology and dream that one day our government will measure its efficacy by a Well Being Index rather than GNP. Countries like Great Britain are already doing so. All legislation and policy must show it improves the well being of all the citizens.
I’m not much of a podcast person. I’m a reader, and I read my favorite Substack writers every morning: Robert Hubbell and Heather Cox Richardson, and others. I would love to have more written content from you rather than just notifications of podcasts or video meetups.
I agree with Cathy about Hopium and Margaret about preferring written content.
Here's another thought about hope - to me, hope implies the risk of disappointment and loss; it's borderline defeatist. What we really need is confidence, determination, and energy to make change happen. Obama's best slogan was Yes, we can! Not hope and change.
I listened. I like that, if I want to, I can take a podcast, on my phone, along on a walk. However, I also have to agree with several other comments. I like to read, cut and paste, to use when I'm talking to a group in order to get the words correct. I think that doing a little of both could be acceptable.
As far as the name "Hopium" is concerned, I agree that it lacks luster. However, I cannot give you anything that isn't too long, such as 'Democratic Hope In Action.' As PoliticalGirl said on her podcast "America or Extremism? A conversation with Billy Ray", she used an analogy about Pepsi and Coke. She said, "If you remember the old Coke catch phrase "Coke is it," that if the democrats had written that catch phrase it would be "Pepsi isn't it because there's another option and most people say it's better, so you should probably look into that one." That podcast, by the way. is excellent at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/america-or-extremism-a-conversation-with-billy-ray/id1595408601?i=1000607293971
You could reach out to Billy Ray, he's a screen writer (Hunger Games and others) who is gifting his time to the Democrats to help with speech writing. In any case I love what you are doing and will follow what ever name you use. Just keep feeding us positive information, charts and statistics.
A HUGE sign on a new restroom-construction site fence in a popular Michigan State Park read "This project funded by The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act." Connecting positive government action to improvements people can see in their own communities and lives seems like a powerful way to promote Democrats' economic success! I'd love to see more of that. I'm not a fan of billboards, but I read them. Having recently traveled through 10 states, I noticed a nauseating number of conservative messages and MAGA flags, but read precious few supporting democratic values. We must use many means to get the word out. Cathy, I like your idea of adding 'e' to hope; I also like video, but often will read a transcript if one is available. Thank you Simon, and everyone! The timely Hopium Chronicles came like a life-ring.
I just finished listening to the podcast interview on How to Win which I found inspiring and uplifting. I was writing register-to-vote postcards for The Civics Center while I listened, which seemed like an incredibly good use of time. Thank you for what you are doing. I believe Americans are at their best when they are positive, civically engaged, and doing battle with a truly evil opponent, which we have in spades in MAGA. You've definitely hit on something important and I'm looking forward to learning and doing more going forward. Thanks.
Simon, I was proud to be one of your very first paid subscribers and I love how much you care along with your obvious skills and wisdom. I liked Hopium when I first saw it because I thought of it as a transformation word. I found an article in Neurology peer review journal the "Results" section of which beings "8000 year-old hardened Sumerian clay-tablets are the earliest prescriptions of opium. Ancient Greeks, Indians, Chinese, Egyptians, Romans, Arabs, people in middle ages, Europeans from renaissance to now, knew opium as an ever-approved next-door medicine-a panacea for all maladies." Then it moves through history to times of great harm from opium addiction. So I don't have a final opinion; I just wanted to add this to the mix. https://n.neurology.org/content/92/15_Supplement/P4.9-055
Also, I will be out of touch for a while - I'm preparing for triple bypass surgery next Tuesday and have no idea how long it will take me to return. Just know that I continue to value and support your good work. Blessings,
love your work. honored to be a subscriber. I have long felt that the democrats lacked a message on economics and it's long driven me nuts that so many people think the r's do better on the economy. following you has truly been a bit like finding water in the desert (or finding a water stop while running a marathon, which is something I've done before). love your fact-based approach to your work also. facts can be stubborn things, and that's good when they are on your (our) side.
I guess I'm just old fashioned, but I strongly prefer to read (rather than listen to) a presentation of ideas. Are there transcripts of the Hopium Chronicles?
The same as when listening to Robert Hubbell, I chose Online, not the App, to have more features: Rewind, forward, speed, and choosing where in the recording to listen. Audio quality is excellent, and i look forward to hearing the whole podcast and sharing widely!
I must admit that while I love what you are doing Simon, I'm not a fan of the term hopium. Opium has too many negative connotations for me. Putting a little h in front of it doesn't make it positive for me. Too much baggage. As a suggestion how about the entire word hope -- hopeium so the emphasis is on hope and not the word opium. I am a big proponent of Positive Psychology and dream that one day our government will measure its efficacy by a Well Being Index rather than GNP. Countries like Great Britain are already doing so. All legislation and policy must show it improves the well being of all the citizens.
I’m not much of a podcast person. I’m a reader, and I read my favorite Substack writers every morning: Robert Hubbell and Heather Cox Richardson, and others. I would love to have more written content from you rather than just notifications of podcasts or video meetups.
I agree with Cathy about Hopium and Margaret about preferring written content.
Here's another thought about hope - to me, hope implies the risk of disappointment and loss; it's borderline defeatist. What we really need is confidence, determination, and energy to make change happen. Obama's best slogan was Yes, we can! Not hope and change.
I listened. I like that, if I want to, I can take a podcast, on my phone, along on a walk. However, I also have to agree with several other comments. I like to read, cut and paste, to use when I'm talking to a group in order to get the words correct. I think that doing a little of both could be acceptable.
As far as the name "Hopium" is concerned, I agree that it lacks luster. However, I cannot give you anything that isn't too long, such as 'Democratic Hope In Action.' As PoliticalGirl said on her podcast "America or Extremism? A conversation with Billy Ray", she used an analogy about Pepsi and Coke. She said, "If you remember the old Coke catch phrase "Coke is it," that if the democrats had written that catch phrase it would be "Pepsi isn't it because there's another option and most people say it's better, so you should probably look into that one." That podcast, by the way. is excellent at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/america-or-extremism-a-conversation-with-billy-ray/id1595408601?i=1000607293971
You could reach out to Billy Ray, he's a screen writer (Hunger Games and others) who is gifting his time to the Democrats to help with speech writing. In any case I love what you are doing and will follow what ever name you use. Just keep feeding us positive information, charts and statistics.
A HUGE sign on a new restroom-construction site fence in a popular Michigan State Park read "This project funded by The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act." Connecting positive government action to improvements people can see in their own communities and lives seems like a powerful way to promote Democrats' economic success! I'd love to see more of that. I'm not a fan of billboards, but I read them. Having recently traveled through 10 states, I noticed a nauseating number of conservative messages and MAGA flags, but read precious few supporting democratic values. We must use many means to get the word out. Cathy, I like your idea of adding 'e' to hope; I also like video, but often will read a transcript if one is available. Thank you Simon, and everyone! The timely Hopium Chronicles came like a life-ring.
I just finished listening to the podcast interview on How to Win which I found inspiring and uplifting. I was writing register-to-vote postcards for The Civics Center while I listened, which seemed like an incredibly good use of time. Thank you for what you are doing. I believe Americans are at their best when they are positive, civically engaged, and doing battle with a truly evil opponent, which we have in spades in MAGA. You've definitely hit on something important and I'm looking forward to learning and doing more going forward. Thanks.
Simon, I was proud to be one of your very first paid subscribers and I love how much you care along with your obvious skills and wisdom. I liked Hopium when I first saw it because I thought of it as a transformation word. I found an article in Neurology peer review journal the "Results" section of which beings "8000 year-old hardened Sumerian clay-tablets are the earliest prescriptions of opium. Ancient Greeks, Indians, Chinese, Egyptians, Romans, Arabs, people in middle ages, Europeans from renaissance to now, knew opium as an ever-approved next-door medicine-a panacea for all maladies." Then it moves through history to times of great harm from opium addiction. So I don't have a final opinion; I just wanted to add this to the mix. https://n.neurology.org/content/92/15_Supplement/P4.9-055
Also, I will be out of touch for a while - I'm preparing for triple bypass surgery next Tuesday and have no idea how long it will take me to return. Just know that I continue to value and support your good work. Blessings,
love your work. honored to be a subscriber. I have long felt that the democrats lacked a message on economics and it's long driven me nuts that so many people think the r's do better on the economy. following you has truly been a bit like finding water in the desert (or finding a water stop while running a marathon, which is something I've done before). love your fact-based approach to your work also. facts can be stubborn things, and that's good when they are on your (our) side.
Got this from Substack in my inbox this morning.
https://on.substack.com/p/podcasts-look-different-here?r=27igv1&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
You too, probably. Made me think that if you are bringing on an assistant, s/he could post your YouTube briefings to Substack as a podcast...
I guess I'm just old fashioned, but I strongly prefer to read (rather than listen to) a presentation of ideas. Are there transcripts of the Hopium Chronicles?