Most of our media are owned by a handful of tech billionaires, but there's one place that still operates like the internet was never invented.

On the new season of the divided dial from On the Media, we're exploring shortwave radio, where prayer and propaganda coexist with news and conspiracy theories, and where an existential battle for the public airwaves is playing out right now.

Listen to On the Media, wherever you get your podcasts.

Good morning and welcome back to practical stoicism. If you're hearing this message, it's because you

don't subscribe to the premium version of this podcast, which blows past the ads and the preamble

and gets straight to the point. In fact, that's what it's called, practical stoicism straight to the

point. If you're interested in subscribing to that, I would

greatly appreciate the support. As the more subscribers I have to that offering, the more I'm able

to focus on this project and do more than just the podcast. Also, if you're a subscriber,

you get access to an AMA feature. That's an Ask Me Anything feature that allows us to communicate

directly and privately, for those of you looking for clarification or advice specific to your personal situation.

For those of you who are not interested in supporting the podcast, I do have some good news for you.

I've received a number of emails about the ads specifically, and I want you to know I share these thoughts that I both laughed and understood when I read your emails,

that they are annoying and often unrelated in any way to your specific interests.

So number one, the reason they have nothing to do with your interest is because I don't track your

personal data. So the ads do not know who you are, and so they are therefore not personalized. I kind of thought

that was important. I don't think anybody needs to have their data more tracked than it already is

in the broader world. And number two, I've heard your feedback, and I'm going to kill these ads.

I'm replacing them with what are called host red ads, so-called because I read them in my own voice and in my own style.

I'm handpicking these advertisers, and while they may not be specifically related to your interests,

when they aren't, I want you to know that I chose them because they were fun. As a, for instance,

this first one, when you hear it, which will be the next episode or the one after that,

...