I'm plagued by Dan's in my life - my farmer neighbour is Dan, another friend from Gold Coast is Dan, you're Dan, my nephew is Dan, and one of my subjects, the premier of Victoria is Dan...

Ha! And I've never liked my name! I had a uni professor who went by Danny, and he once said something about never wanting to be a 'Dan'. But, Dan it is for me, like an old shoe. Fine. Here's a funny story that's somehow related. Decades ago I was on an all night fire watch in the woods. The forest service had done a controlled burn and three of us sat on top of a ridge all night to make sure the smoldering embers didn't ignite. We are all named Dan.

Anyway, the Gold Coast Dan pointed out that Joe Rogan has become a media giant - which is true. Whereas the normal media giants have spent their time censoring/vilifying anyone questioning the origin of Covid or the long term social/medical consequences of vaccines and lockdowns, Rogan invites guests on and asks them questions. It's a simple formula but in today's world it's deemed radical and dangerous.

This long form interview, or even the 30 minute to one hour podcasts, is really encouraging to see and it's taking off. People are hungry for it on some level. It's filling a void. I've started using Spotify just in the last few days in an effort to move away from YouTube, and I've found that there's a lot of quality podcasts available. Right now I'm listening to Lex Fridman #251, a podcast with Ray Dalio. I have mixed feelings about Dalio, but then I've never really listened to an extended interview with him nor have I read any of his books, so my perception is built entirely on soundbites and quotes. So far, it's an interesting interview and he has a keen perspective on history particularly with regards to money and power.

Another good podcast is Hardcore History with Dan Carlin.