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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.

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Good morning for Kaptan. Just a reminder that this week's episodes are shorter than usual because we are on vacation. We are wrapping up book four and we will be back to the newly normal weekly calendar of content on February 6th. As a concession to free listeners, I have reduced ad spots in the episodes that we'll release this week to being just one at the beginning and one at the end.

And you can always skip those.

Or if you want to support this show, you can go to Stoicismpod.com forward slash members and you can pay $6 a month to get rid of ads, which helps us.

It helps you.

It's a win-win. Sounds great.

You should try that if you're not already a paying subscriber. Today we're going through meditation number 52, which is the last of book number four and which reads as follows. Always run to the

short way, and the short way is the natural way. Accordingly, say and do everything

in conformity with the soundest reason. For such a purpose, frees a man from trouble and warfare,

and all artifice and ostentatious display. I personally think this is a great way to wrap book number four

and a surprising insight from Marcus, actually. What do we know about electricity today? That it always

takes the path of least resistance, right? I don't know that that's always true in nature. After all,

salmon swim upstream, and the path of least resistance seems to me that

they might stay right where they are, although I suppose upstream might be the only choice they have,

and thus both the most and least resistant. In any event, is Marcus telling us to be lazy? I don't think

so. I think he's telling us not to be pompous asses. If the answer is yes, say yes. Don't say yes and then pontificate

so as to show off your vocabulary and let others know how smart you are in concerns to how you

reasoned to your conclusion. And the same is true if the answer is no. Just say no. Einstein said

something that I really love and that I think about whenever I'm

thinking a thought or building a system or planning a podcast episode. And maybe that's why my

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