Left of Friday is a weekly, liberal podcast focusing on a range of topics. Included in the program will be straight politics, social and cultural issues affecting politics, a little bit of technology news, and other, miscellaneous things.
This site was last modified on: November 11th, 2006 @ 05:15:34 PST
I've been blogging since January of 2002 on a variety of different subjects, including politics, and have always enjoyed this venue for sharing my thoughts and feelings on issues which are important to me. When the opportunity presented itself (in the form of newly purchased audio equipment) I decided to launch this podcast as a way of expanding my personal horizons and expanding the pool of people with whom I can share ideas. I've never done anything like this before so it is going to be a learning experience for me that I can share with you.
Podcasting is a term coined when the use of RSS and other syndication technologies became popular for distributing audio content for mobile devices. Today podcasting is a more generic term that is evolving as people understand what it means.
A podcast is simply a web feed of audio files (although increasingly people are applying the term to video and other media) that is placed on the Internet for anyone to download. It's usually possible to download the files directly from the website, just as one would normally do; however, special programs called podcatchers exist that let users subscribe to podcasts in order to automatically download and store the media files for later playback.
The name of my podcast combines two elements. The first one—"left"—refers to the direction toward which my personal politics lie on the commonly accepted political spectrum. I am a liberal and very proud of that fact. The second element—"friday"—refers to the day of the week on which this podcast will appear. Taken together the name is semantically null, which as any web designer (like me) will tell you has the makings of a great name. It fits the bill of being a unique name which is highly unlikely to be copied or confused.
Episode Seven – March 24, 2006
Podcast seven of Left of Friday: topics include George Bush and Dick Cheney attacking Democrats as being bad for the economy and weak on the war on terror, the Supreme Court making it harder for investors to protect themselves against large companies committing fraud, an Iraqi war vet winning the Democratic nomination for a conservative congressional seat in Illinois, my thoughts on the subject of wages and taxes and how they relate to one another, and my fourth guest who represents the disaffection felt by many Americans in the face of what they see as the unrelenting corruption of our government and politicians. For more indepth information please visit the blog.
DOWNLOAD THIS EPISODE – 00:46:35 – 21.4MB
Episode Six – March 3, 2006
Podcast six of Left of Friday: topics include the White House stopping a NSA briefing of Congress about the illegal wire tapping program, the South Dakota legislature banning abortions in order to create a Supreme Court challenge to Roe v. Wade, stem-cell research dividing Republicans in the face of the 2006 and 2008 elections, my thoughts on two potential presidential candidates for the 2008 race, and my first email from a listener. For more indepth information please visit the blog.
DOWNLOAD THIS EPISODE – 00:30:58 – 14.3MB
Episode Five – February 17, 2006
Podcast five of Left of Friday: topics include conservative lawmakers questioning motives behind an offer of cheap Venezuelan oil, the USA PATRIOT Act moving closer to renewal thanks to spineless Democrats in the Senate, Attorney General Gonzales refusing to recuse himself from the Abramoff case, whether or not a change to the way cabinet officers are chosen is needed, the Winter Olympics in Torino, and a musical selection in lieu of a guest due to scheduling conflicts. For more indepth information please visit the blog.
DOWNLOAD THIS EPISODE – 00:28:35 – 13.2MB
Episode Four – February 10, 2006
Podcast four of Left of Friday: topics include Jack Abramoff and George W. Bush, Americans weighing in on the Bush administration suspending their rights, Scooter Libby pointing the finger at Dick Cheney, CNN and Fox editing news videos in order to lie to their viewers, show notes about the music I use and a guest who has a history of resisting abuses of executive power and whose main focus is on the environment. For more indepth information please visit the blog.
DOWNLOAD THIS EPISODE – 00:36:05 – 16.7MB
Episode Three – February 3, 2006
Podcast three of Left of Friday: topics include a temporary extension of the USA PATRIOT Act, a Republican congressman who thinks the Bush administration is perfectly right to be spying on Americans, why Bush thinks he has the right to spy on us and do just about anything else, what I think of people claiming to hate or not hate Bush and a guest who has a global view and a lot to say. For more indepth information please visit the blog.
DOWNLOAD THIS EPISODE – 00:32:35 – 15MB
Episode Two – January 27, 2006
Podcast two of Left of Friday: topics include Republicans pushing through a confirmation vote for Alito, Bush's refusal to accept congressional approval of his wiretapping, Bush refusing to cooperate with congress on a probe of Katrina, possible Democratic contenders for the 2008 election, human rights violations, and my first guest. For more indepth information please visit the blog.
DOWNLOAD THIS EPISODE – 00:29:52 – 13.8MB
Episode One – January 20, 2006
The inaugural podcast of Left of Friday: topics included the Samuel Alito nomination, Bush's failing ratings, Al Gore, big pharmaceuticals and my political history. For more indepth information please visit the blog.
DOWNLOAD THIS EPISODE – 00:28:50 – 13.3MB