What is your most controversial show?

[WyethDigital]

Hi All,

Okay, so this is just meant to be one of those little diversion threads. No big agenda or call for help. Just thought it might be interesting. I was wondering what show or topic on your podcast has generated the most controversy? By "controversy," I mean that the show could be well-received over-all, but you also get a lot of disagreement or negative feedback about it. Feel to free to post a link to it/them!

We have two topics/shows that seem to draw a lot of praise and a lot of hate:

1) We did a show featuring Madeline's family recipe for ceviche (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5OB6R1wgDw), which is a South American seafood dish (originating in Peru) that uses citric acid to "cook" (cure) raw fish. Even though there are many, many variations across different hispanic countries/cultures in North, Central, and South America, we got a stunning amount of not just rude, but downright abusive comments from people in Peru and Ecuador, because they did not feel Madeline's recipe was "pure" enough. Even though Madeline and I did a lot of research and found elements of her recipe (such as including tomatoes in her dish) in both the Peruvian and Ecuadorian recipes, it still would not appease the puritanical defenders of ceviche! It got so bad on YouTube, we had to shut off the comments -- something we don't usually do!

2) Another topic that gets a lot of love and hate are manicures (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYfsDUjy7Os). Our audience loves them, but not the nail industry! Now, keep in mind, when we do something like this that involves personal hygiene and a home kit available from major retailers, we always err on the side of caution and recommend that our viewers follow the manufacturer's instructions. Hell, we script our show following the manufacturer's instructions. But that doesn't stop the contingent of professional beauty school graduates, apparently afraid of losing business to people empowered to do their own nails, from complaining that we're giving people bad advice, or not using pro equipment. We're doing it at home following instructions, with supplies on-hand or provided in the kits -- of course it's not pro equipment! But it is safe! Nail Techs and "industry advocates" have even gone so far as to drop veiled threats about lawsuits via email! Over manicures!

So those are our two most controversial shows and/or topics. Anyone else?

Eric

[EndGamePR]

I had one guest on Startup BizCast vehemently disagree with a previous guest, but she refrained from slamming him on the show. That's about as controversial as my shows get.

[WyethDigital]

I had one guest on Startup BizCast vehemently disagree with a previous guest, but she refrained from slamming him on the show. That's about as controversial as my shows get.
At least she was professional about it!

Eric

[EndGamePR]

At least she was professional about it!

Eric
I didn't expect her to be. I nearly canceled the interview.

[Steve Pinder]

On my old show Karate Kast, we had a discussion on Predators in the Martial Arts industry. It sparked all kinds of questions. The rest, I cant even say here. It was insane.

[WyethDigital]

On my old show Karate Kast, we had a discussion on Predators in the Martial Arts industry. It sparked all kinds of questions. The rest, I cant even say here. It was insane.

I hear you. That one sounds ready-made for some serious discussion!

Eric

[DailySplice]

nothing controversial yet on DailySplice... although I was expecting some nasty emails about our latest interview and spotlight on Ask Blackie (http://blog.dailysplice.com/podcast/ask-blackie-interview/) (a racially charged podcast featuring a black puppet named Jamal). I guess we need listeners first :)

About 2 years ago we did a podcast at chinesepod about food, and the chinese host mentioned that meat was a part of a healthy diet. we got emails calling us barbarians and telling us that the animal rights organizations were going to shut us down. That was pretty entertaining...

[Yotto]

The worst it ever got for me was someone who insisted that one of my stand-alone episodes was not "Science Fiction" because it didn't take place in space or have any lasers.

[WyethDigital]

The worst it ever got for me was someone who insisted that one of my stand-alone episodes was not "Science Fiction" because it didn't take place in space or have any lasers.

No lasers?! Poser!

Just kidding! Must have been one of those guys who thought the late eighties and early nineties was the Golden Age of Sci-Fi, when what passed for sci-fi movies were "buddy pictures" with space ships or drug dealers with ray guns.

Eric

[WyethDigital]

nothing controversial yet on DailySplice... although I was expecting some nasty emails about our latest interview and spotlight on Ask Blackie (http://blog.dailysplice.com/podcast/ask-blackie-interview/) (a racially charged podcast featuring a black puppet named Jamal). I guess we need listeners first :)

About 2 years ago we did a podcast at chinesepod about food, and the chinese host mentioned that meat was a part of a healthy diet. we got emails calling us barbarians and telling us that the animal rights organizations were going to shut us down. That was pretty entertaining...

That Ask Blackie does sound like it could be pretty offensive. Or a very clever and/or heavy-handed commentary on race relations. I'd have to listen to it first.

As for the meat being part of a healthy diet, I would agree that it is. Of course, that doesn't mean it can't be eaten in moderation and raised in a more sustainable and less cruel manner. But biologically speaking, we're made to eat some meat. Like it or not.

Eric

[evilproducer]

That Ask Blackie does sound like it could be pretty offensive. Or a very clever and/or heavy-handed commentary on race relations. I'd have to listen to it first.

As for the meat being part of a healthy diet, I would agree that it is. Of course, that doesn't mean it can't be eaten in moderation and raised in a more sustainable and less cruel manner. But biologically speaking, we're made to eat some meat. Like it or not.

Eric
Just how "balanced" was your meat to veggie ratio at Bratfest last weekend? :mrgreen:

[UncleDan]

Interesting....I hope mine are contraversial

I point out in my most recent episode that, maybe we should have a president who hates america....instead of insisting how much they love it, then at least they would fix it.

:p

[Achilles]

oh controversy... can there be only one?

headlines from my site:

Marilyn Munroe Is Fat
Miley Cyrus Makes You a Pedophile
There Were Worse Hurricanes than Katrina
When I have any Facial Hair, I Can't Get On a Plane
Just Because Im Colored, Doesn't Mean I am a Muslim
Why You Are a Douchebag

i remember comments being "Marilyn was considered pure and beautiful and classy, you stupid shallow pig!" to which i responded "well i still wouldn't f**k her without a condom"

basically the reason i sign my posts as Achilles is because i am playing a charecter, much in the same vein as Colbert. I comment on how ludicrously our society treats aspects of culture, like being chubby in hollywood, being colored means your a terrorist, the overtanned pop collars of the guys at my university, how younger and younger girls are getting sexualized in our culture

but some people just dont get the joke
hence the reason i have so many death threats. hahahah

[ScoopIrish]

Our show to be released Sunday slams Twitter big-time -- I know I'm going to hear flak from the Twitter-heads out there. There seems to be a LOT of them these days.

[grand850]

It's black but i think its the halloween edition. It also comes with orange laces.
Abercrombie & Fitch (http://www.ant-shopping.com/abercrombie-fitch-men-s_abercrombie-fitch-polo.html)


nike sb (http://www.ant-shopping.com/nike_sb.html)

[Barefoot Radio.com]

I got into a huge on air argument with Canada's 'Prince of Pot,' Marc Emry, the publisher of Cannabis Culture. He kept repeating how arrogant I am. I told him to F off, and hung up on him.

I didn't know who he was when I did it, but he was rude to me. I was also rude, but he was like a rude guest in my home and told me to 'get a real job.' He was under a false impression that I was not the boss of the show.

About 10 live listeners heard the mayhem.

The episode never aired. It was really a bad moment. It's over the top in a way I would never believe unless I lived it myself. Before that, it was already the absolute worst week of my life and I won't even say why.

[gamecenter]

I haven't actually gotten any negative feedback yet, however we try to be edgy. I am most surprised that my segment on MADD trying to ban Grand Theft Auto IV because of drunk-driving, which I said I thought was stupid (because compared to rape, murder, stealing cars, and intentionally running people over, it's probably less harmful) got no angry e-mails sent to me.

[WyethDigital]

I got into a huge on air argument with Canada's 'Prince of Pot,' Marc Emry, the publisher of Cannabis Culture. He kept repeating how arrogant I am. I told him to F off, and hung up on him.

I didn't know who he was when I did it, but he was rude to me. I was also rude, but he was like a rude guest in my home and told me to 'get a real job.' He was under a false impression that I was not the boss of the show.

About 10 live listeners heard the mayhem.

The episode never aired. It was really a bad moment. It's over the top in a way I would never believe unless I lived it myself. Before that, it was already the absolute worst week of my life and I won't even say why.

****, don't you hate when you have that stuff happens? Non-show related, I pissed of a blind date once by making a Dan Quayle joke, and it turned out she was Republican. Very, very Republican. It wasn't even that bad of a joke. So instead of spending a nice dinner getting to know each other, we argued politics until we were done with the entree and went our separate ways.

Sorry for the bad week! Hope things have been going well lately!

Eric

[KingsoftheInternet]

I think we pride ourselves on how offended we can make people.

[WyethDigital]

I think we pride ourselves on how offended we can make people.

Is there commentary in your shock, or is it just shock for shock's sake?

Eric

[KingsoftheInternet]

Is there commentary in your shock, or is it just shock for shock's sake?

Eric

Oh no, if you listen to it we definitely have commentary. We try to keep it more on the humorous side, but it doesn't matter what you say, someone, somewhere is going to get offended.

For example, this week we talked extensively about the Verne Troyer sex-tape, who would win in a fight between Anna Nicole Smith and the Creator of Peanuts, and who the Princess Di of Television was.

As long as it's not racist or downright mean to people, I think it's fair game.

[Yotto]

As long as it's not racist or downright mean to people, I think it's fair game.

Oh, crap. Those aren't okay?

[juliofromny]

In my newest episode (http://juliofromny.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=365170) I discuss the use of the n-word in urban culture. My stance is basically that if it's an offensive word for people outside of your ethnicity to say it then it should be offensive period. I also share my opinion on hip-hop music. Don't know how controversial this is, but I figure some people would find it that way since it isn't really a pc topic.

[feastoffools]

We did an interview with the infamous Shirley Phelps: (http://www.feastoffools.net/gay-fun-show/2008/01/24/fof-690-shirley-phelps-an-unlikely-champion-012508/)

Shirley Phelps is the spokesperson, matriarch and part-time lawyer for the controversial Westboro Baptist Church out of Topeka, Kansas.

Gay folks have known about them for years since they first protested at the funeral of slain gay college student Matthew Shepard. Since then, they have garnered international attention for their protests of military servicemen?s funerals saying it?s ?God?s vengeance upon America?s acceptance of homosexuals.? They are known as ?America?s Most Hated Family.?

[WyethDigital]

We did an interview with the infamous Shirley Phelps: (http://www.feastoffools.net/gay-fun-show/2008/01/24/fof-690-shirley-phelps-an-unlikely-champion-012508/)

Shirley Phelps is the spokesperson, matriarch and part-time lawyer for the controversial Westboro Baptist Church out of Topeka, Kansas.
...
They are known as ?America?s Most Hated Family.?
A fitting moniker for what is also America's most hateful family!

So what was it, aside from the personality, that generated so much controversy? Obviously, she says controversial things all the time, but I'm wondering what about having her on was controversial for you? Was it because a gay podcast unleashed her nastiness upon the gay community; or was it simply that you were simply feeding her need for validation by giving her a voice to an audience she didn't earn?

I'm not trying to bust your chops, although I do feel that giving people like the Phelps' a voice to an audience that they didn't find (as opposed to them doing the actual hard work of finding their own audience) gives them a sense of legitimacy they don't deserve.


Eric

[feastoffools]

Well for one, the subject is controversial because her fundamentalist views on religion, and her all-or-none viewpoint on gay rights. Shirley Phelps is a person who eloquently explains that the American public must 100% embrace gay rights, or 100% reject them, because of her Church's infamous religious views.

Her family's history is not what you would think. For one, they started out in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, working hard for African Americans to gain equal rights in this country. Now they are doing a ton of protest claiming that America's sins are their moderate embrace of gay and lesbian people.

Their hateful voice usually has the opposite effect, and pushes moderate people to fully embracing gay and lesbian (and trans) rights in this country because of the ridiculousness of their views.

And so the interview got us a lot of press and discussion, because we simply talked for an hour peacefully, calmly about how they came to be, and their viewpoints. It wasn't a screaming match.

Many publications and blogs applauded our efforts and journalistic expertise, saying ONLY in a podcast would you be able to get such an incredible interview. Some compared it to Barbara Walters's famous interviews of dictators. Its one of our best moments of the show and one of the interviews I'm most proud of.

[KChrisH]

The worst it ever got for me was someone who insisted that one of my stand-alone episodes was not "Science Fiction" because it didn't take place in space or have any lasers.

I used to think that lasers were the bee's knees for sci-fi weapons. Then I saw 'Aliens.'

Lasers? Pfft. If it don't make ya bleed, it ain't a weapon

[WyethDigital]

...
And so the interview got us a lot of press and discussion, because we simply talked for an hour peacefully, calmly about how they came to be, and their viewpoints. It wasn't a screaming match.

Many publications and blogs applauded our efforts and journalistic expertise, saying ONLY in a podcast would you be able to get such an incredible interview. Some compared it to Barbara Walters's famous interviews of dictators. Its one of our best moments of the show and one of the interviews I'm most proud of.

Glad it wasn't a screaming match. And glad it got you some good press. Well deserved, no doubt! No problem with that. Still, it's too bad that the Phelps family can't afford the dead -- or more importantly, their surviving loved ones -- the same respect. As nice and peaceful as your chat was, that's more than they allow outside the Memorial Services for the fallen or the stricken whom they choose to attack. Our city is a frequent stop on the Phelp's gravy train of intolerance, and frankly, many of us are fed up with them.

Eric

[Ristopher Burmese]

I would have to say that all of our shows are controversial. When you have the kind of cadre that we possess you are bound to have controversy aplenty. If you don't believe me have a listen for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

www.shatteredplanet.podomatic.com

Thanks

Ristopher Burmese