The sun was shining in through the kitchen window. It looked beautiful outside, but I felt like crap. We were out of half and half, and my first cup of strong, black coffee was already working its way through my gut. But I had to get the girls fed and ready for school. I worked quickly to butter toast for one and cut up fruit for the other. My 13-year-old, Jadey, bounced in and grabbed the bowl of berries and cantaloupe just as I finished.

Did you know there is a law on the books in Nebraska that states that a man must buy his wife a new hat every year? Or that whale fishing is outlawed in the state? Or that American citizens who have never lived in Nebraska or even the US for that matter, can vote in the good life state?

It’s been a studied phenomenon for some time that when “times are good”, new and novel media reign. A boom of original content fed a growing pop culture engine from the early 80’s into the 90’s. Economic hopes and an end to the Cold War, perhaps. Studios were taking big risks and making original blockbusters galore. The works of Lucas and Spielberg in that era alone are an inspiring collection. Not to mention the nearly constant stream of big, ridiculous action flicks like Rambo, Red Dawn, Big Trouble in Little China, The Terminator, Die Hard, Con Air, and all the ensuing franchises.

In my talk radio days from the mid 90’s till around 2014, before I went on the air, I would sometimes ask myself, “What am I going to be outraged about today?”

I knew that if I found an extreme story about a person or group doing something outlandish, I could make it into a bigger issue than it was and get the phone lines buzzing. It would make for good talk radio and get me through the show.

I never made up an opinion or lied about how I felt about the story, but I often blew it out of proportion for the benefit of the show.