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6:00 am, January 16th, 2026 - 7 comments
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Open mike is your post.
For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.
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Step up to the mike …
Media models stagger over the cultural landscape like dinosaurs in death throes… https://unherd.com/newsroom/cbs-trump-interview-the-last-gasp-of-a-dying-model/
Marketing media in a balkanised market is a tough challenge for players, I suspect. Media consumers like variety, are bored by simplicity and try to evade banality. The shift to algorithms for organising media consumers into their pavlov's dog status has younger generations compulsively using smart tech to share impressions. Web hubs serving these collective motivations became top corporates accordingly, but the social ecosystem generated makes issues ephemeral, contingent upon passing circumstance.
Can you tell me if your ban on me commenting here is going to be lifted?
I'm sure that the time is up even though the search function doesn't seem to be working to allow me to look at exactly what you said.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Booted from Kiwiblog?
This is a very informative read. It says that the power dynamics in Iran today are totally different from that of 1979. Today there is not a strong widespread movement that has developed solidarity. There's various fragmented power groups.
In 1979 the merchants of the main bazaar was "an autonomous economic powerhouse" that had leverage against state power. 2 decades of US sanctions has changed that.
Iran's clergy are another power group that is very diverse, with different amounts of wealth and power, and sometimes compete against each other. there are competing power centres.
The opposition to the current rule will require patient building of a solid and widespread well-organised network.
The recent eg of the women's rebellion is an indicator of the way forward.
"Iran Toppled the Shah in 1979. Why This Time Isn’t Quite Like That" By Narges Bajoghli
This maybe also shows how women elsewhere can achieve gains.
Went and saw the Viagra Boys last night at The Power Station.
Firstly great sound quality, not too loud and you could latch on to any chance instrument. Although I didn't stray far from the phat bass.
These Swedish rockers are at the top of their powers with approximately half the songs off their latest album viagr aboys. A mix of pop/dance/punk, self satirizing lyrics delivered by one of the most charismatic front men going round.
Troglodyte was dedicated to the failing US with a reminder they may need our help. Worms is a reminder that at the end of the day, we are all the same. "A worm took a bite of me, then he washed it down with a bite of you".
A wee rant about the rise of fascism, Palestine, Ukraine and Iran all got a mention.
Personal favourites from the night were Ain’t no Thief and Store Policy.
This clip is from Glastonbury, it shows the band strutting their stuff but more importantly the crowd reaction which was common to last night. The whole floor has jumping around on occasion.
https://youtu.be/8A8s9gx9pGM?si=wIK9s4c6nLfQktSU
I loved their KEXP performance. "I am not a thief, I just happen to have the exact same bicycle you do."
Aotearoa has a gap situation: https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/01/15/if-you-want-to-understand-our-problems-mind-the-gaps/
People have long been good at bridging gaps. You can drive over the oldest bridge in the world still: it's in Greece, built during the Bronze Age. Trolls live under bridges (not just on social media) and there's a god of gaps ruling such domains. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps
So the Professor of Entrepreneurship and Academic Director of the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland is on solid theological and folkloric ground in his theorising about how gung ho capitalists can make a buck this year.