Today, we get into our Wayback Machine to Neu Ulm Germany late 1980s and I relate the true story of The Scariest Conversation I Ever Had.

This is a cautionary tale that asks us to somehow break the historical chains of prejudice, otherism, hatred, racism, abuse of power and get our humanity optimized, not our barbarism!

Can we do it? Heck, my money is always on our better angels to prevail. Don't prove me wrong!

Thanks for listening, subscribing, liking, commenting, sharing this episode. Next episode will drop Friday 7/11/25.

Just as the US was on the brink of its Civil War, the poet Walt Whitman wrote his short poem "I Hear America Singing". Some say he wrote it on the 3rd of July 1860 as he listened to the streets and open windows of his neighborhood in my hometown of Brooklyn NY. He was 39 years old, unemployed and living in a basement apartment with his mother and two sisters when he wrote this poem.

He also spent some time that summer in Boston working on the first edition of "Leaves of Grass"- an iconic collection of his poetry.

Walt worked on "Leaves of Grass" right up to his "Deathbed Edition" which was the version of Leaves that he wanted to be his legacy. Yes, Mr. Whitman, by the end of his life in 1892, he was sure of his talents. May we all be so insightful, eh?

Anyhow, this is a powerful tribute to human work, done with high intent and purpose as the connective tissue of the great social-economic compact that we all participate in, however varied nation by nation it might be.

Thanks and next episode will drop on Monday 7/7/25........Maybe we'll go to Germany for that one.....

One of my promises to my listeners is to bring them thoughts from minds greater than my own. That said, today it is the mind of Tom Waits.

If you've never listened to his music- you are missing out on a talented unorthodox songwriter/singer/and more.

Today, I read/perform the lyrics to Mr. Waits song "Step Right Up".

Step Right Up" is a song written by Tom Waits and included on his 1976 album Small Change.

The song is from the point of view of a snake oil-like salesman asking potential customers to "step right up" and purchase an unnamed miracle product.

Waits guarantees that the product will "mow your lawn", play a "rhythm master", "deliver pizza", and locate lost slippers, among other miscellaneous things. Waits sings the song in the style of a carnival barker attempting to entice business. Waits wrote the song as a satire of products that claimed to do more than they advertised.

For live performances of the song, Waits would use a cash register for the percussion!

Thanks for listening, liking, subscribing, sharing, commenting, etc.!

Next episode of "Confessions of a Mid-Centurian" will drop Friday July 4th!