Brian Gongol Show on WHO Radio - July 3, 2019

Brian Gongol


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Please note: These show notes may be in various stages of completion -- ranging from brainstormed notes through to well-polished monologues. Please excuse anything that may seem rough around the edges, as it may only be a first draft of a thought and not be fully representative of what was said on the air.

Breaking news to watch

Segment 1: (13 min) (4:07 to 4:20)

BUT FIRST: The opening essay

I'm Brian Gongol, and across the great state of Iowa, this is the Simon Conway Show

Segment 2: (5 min) (4:25 to 4:30)

Live read: Smart speakers (hour 1)

Smart speakers

Totally Unnecessary Debate of the Day

Ohio Couple, 100 and 102, Tie the Knot
At an age when many people can no longer walk, two Ohio lovebirds have run off and eloped.
John and Phyllis Cook, who are upstairs-downstairs neighbors at a senior living facility, were planning a ceremony when they went to the courthouse last week to apply for a marriage license. But when they found out they could get hitched on the spot, "I said, 'Good. Let's get it over with,'" the 100-year-old John says.
That's not to say it was an irresponsible decision. They'd been dating for more than a year, and knew they shared a special bond early on, Phyllis says. "To tell you the truth, we fell in love with each other," the 102-year-old recalls. "I know you think that may be a little bit farfetched for somebody our age, but we fell in love with each other." John adds, "We were just compatible in a whole lot of ways; found ourselves enjoying each other's company."

I'm Brian Gongol, and across the great state of Iowa, this is the Simon Conway Show

Segment 3: (14 min) (4:36 to 4:50)

The Jim Beam Fire Is Still Burning Four Days Later
Earlier this week, a warehouse filled with 45,000 barrels of Jim Beam bourbon caught fire. Four days later, it's still burning.
Fire officials in Woodford County, KY have been letting the fire burn itself out, afraid that spraying water on the flames will send the bourbon pouring into the local water supply. Some of the bourbon has already spilled into the Kentucky river.
But fortunately for whiskey drinkers, Jim Beam says the loss represents about one percent of its bourbon stock and won't affect consumers.
Do you plan on stocking up on bourbon to avoid any shortages? What's your whiskey of choice?

California earthquake

I'm Brian Gongol, and across the great state of Iowa, this is the Simon Conway Show

Segment 4: (3 min) (4:55 to 4:58:50)

Website reminder

WHORadio.com

I'm Brian Gongol, and across the great state of Iowa, this is the Simon Conway Show

Segment 5: (8 min) (5:12 to 5:20)

Guest: Eric Burmeister | Executive Director | Polk County Housing Trust Fund

I'm Brian Gongol, and across the great state of Iowa, this is the Simon Conway Show

Segment 6: (5 min) (5:25 to 5:30)

I'm Brian Gongol, and across the great state of Iowa, this is the Simon Conway Show

Segment 7: (14 min) (5:36 to 5:50)

Live read: Smart speakers (hour 2)

Smart speakers

The moral of the story:

I'm Brian Gongol, and across the great state of Iowa, this is the Simon Conway Show

Segment 8: (3 min) (5:55 to 5:57:50)

Live read: iHeartRadio Music Festival

The moral of the story:

I'm Brian Gongol, and across the great state of Iowa, this is the Simon Conway Show

Segment 9: (13 min) (6:07 to 6:20)

Segment 10: (5 min) (6:25 to 6:30)

Segment 11: (14 min) (6:36 to 6:50)

Flesh-Eating Bacteria Strikes Another Person in Florida
Another Floridian has contracted flesh-eating bacteria -- only this one never even went near the water.
While the bacteria, vibrio, is commonly found in warm, brackish water, Santa Rosa resident Tyler King says he hadn't been in or around water before his left bicep began to swell last week. When it tripled in size within three hours, he went to the emergency room. "When I was a little bit younger, I probably would have tried to tough it out," King says. "If I had gone to sleep, and had woke up with it at the rate it was spreading, I might not have an arm right now."
King is the third person in Florida to make news with a flesh-eating disease in the past week. On Monday, a 77-year-old woman died after contracting necrotizing fasciitis through a cut on her leg, and over the weekend, a 12-year-old visitor from Indiana was hospitalized after contracting it through a cut on her foot.

What May Be The Best Way To Fight Climate Change? Plant A Trillion Trees
There might be a way to save Earth from climate change, say scientists. But it's going to take lots of work. And digging.
According to a study published in the journal Science on Thursday, researchers reveal that if we were to plant a trillion trees around the planet, they'd be able to remove nearly 830 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
"This is by far -- by thousands of times -- the cheapest climate change solution," notes co-author Thomas Crowther from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
How much space would all of those trees take? About 3.5 million square miles, which is roughly the size of the United States. Fortunately, there's plenty of room.

Segment 12: (3 min) (6:55 to 6:58:50)

Separating workplace ethics from personal behavior

Unsorted and leftovers:

Live read: iHeartRadio app

iHeartRadio app

Calendar events to highlight

Calendar

Recap

♫ Listen to the full episode from July 5, 2019 here

① It's Independence Day, not just the 4th of July. The Declaration of Independence isn't just a piece of paper; it's a grand set of claims about how we look at the world. It wasn't a declaration of war -- it was a restatement of rights. A set of rights to which the Founders not only thought they had claims in the moral sense as human beings, but specifically as Englishmen. If we're true to ourselves and to the Founding, we take phrases like "all men are created equal" and "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights" seriously. It's a complex world, but human nature really doesn't change. Those fundamental rights are inherent to human existence. Government doesn't grant rights -- it only protects them. And when it fails to do so, it's a fundamentally American thing to believe that it is the right of the people to dispose of that government and replace it with one that will. Watch what's happening in Hong Kong for your clearest example of 1776 happening all over again.

② A couple of centenarians just got hitched in Ohio. What's the ideal age to get married?

③ I still want to see what would happen if the US said "We will welcome the accession of any city, province, or country on a 20-year path to statehood, provided you bring a balanced budget and a clear commitment to the rule of American law." I bet there would be takers.

④ Previewing next hour

♫ Listen to segments 1-4

⑤ ⑥ Central Iowa is facing a massive shortage of affordable housing in the next two decades. Guest Eric Burmeister, Executive Director of the Polk County Housing Trust Fund, says that shortage could be as many as 50,000 units.

⑦ Why good news for employment figures means (mildly) bad news for the stock market.

⑧ iHeartRadio Music Festival

♫ Listen to segments 5-8

⑨ Listener reaction to the housing shortage discussion and to the thought experiment about welcoming cities, provinces, and countries into the USA

⑩ Suburbs can be more than just white picket fences

⑪ Nebraska scientists may have cured HIV in mice. It's a long way from proof that it can be cured in human beings, but the early results are amazing news. A world apart from our 1980s fears that AIDS might kill everyone. Also: The IMF says the US has a 5% chance of a big economic crash. A 1-in-20 chance isn't something to sneeze at. So what's a sensible person to do?

⑫ Separating workplace ethics from personal behavior: Integrity isn't a part-time thing.

♫ Listen to segments 9-12