Can Michael Lewis change the world?

We’re addicted to narrative. If you can tell a good story, there’s a market for you. There’s a dearth of good storytellers, despite the plethora of television shows and books, but if you nail it, we’re interested.

Michael Lewis is an incredible storyteller in print.

He’s not quite as good in the audio format.

But that doesn’t matter here, because the points he is making, the examples he’s using, kick you in the stomach, make your head spin and cry out HALLELUJAH, SOMEONE’S ON MY SIDE!

And which side is Michael Lewis on?

I don’t think the average person considers him a lefty. And after you hear his story of Cambridge Analytica, you certainly won’t think he’s on the Democratic team. But one thing’s for sure, Michael’s against the inequities of the financial system, and only a few people support that rip-off world.

So the first episode is about basketball. Like I said, Lewis is not the best podcaster. You’re not quite sure where he’s going and his voice is neither soothing nor addictive. It’s like some guy who you’re not sure if you like telling you a story you’re interested in, and boy are you interested. But you’ve got to listen a while to get hooked.

The episode details refereeing in the NBA. Talks all about this center in New Jersey where plays are reviewed, on the fly. And that’s interesting, but not as interesting as the final segment, the heart of the matter.

The people who complain most are the superstars. They feel they’re entitled to have things go their way. Then it’s expanded to people in expensive cars, they don’t obey the rules. And suddenly you realize the ultra-successful don’t see the world the same way you do, you react to it, they frame it. In other words, superstars of sport and commerce believe the game should yield to them, as opposed to vice versa. And we love and hate them for it at the same time. You can read their books, take their advice, but it never works, because they’re different at the core, they’re ENTITLED! This is when you realize the rich get richer and really, no one’s on your side, as my father used to say, “shnooks get screwed.”

The second episode is all about the financial system, how it’s built on screwing the rank and file. The narrative concerns a schoolteacher, who owes a ton in student loans, but the company which manages them for the government is built on obfuscation. It doesn’t tell her about loan relief, doesn’t inform her of the essence of forbearance. Each rep is only given seven minutes per call, and their paycheck is more important than your obligation so they throw you off. Meanwhile, the head of the company makes millions. Why?

But even better is the segment on Elizabeth Warren. It’s segments like these that could get her elected. It tells her history, how she was a bankruptcy law professor who felt there should be a government agency to protect the public. No one cares until she writes an obscure journal article, which suddenly gains traction. This is years ago, in the aughts. And the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau becomes a reality after the economic crash. Its mission is to stand up for the people. But then Trump gets elected and it’s neutered. Hell, they spend millions trying to rebrand it to try to diminish its impact. This is where corporate power comes in. The Bureau was not beholden to Congress. Which meant that the lobbyists, the people who own the elected officials, couldn’t meddle. And the financial institutions didn’t like this, so they had it stripped of power. There’s not a Trump acolyte alive, at least not one that’s not a zillionaire, who wouldn’t listen to this and ponder their allegiance. Who is sticking up for them? Never forget, it’s all about obfuscation in politics, it’s about personality and social mores rather than the real issues. Hell, that’s one of the reasons Warren is castigated, she’s a wonk. Who cares whether she has Native American blood or not, can she help the little guy? The truth is the powers-that-be don’t want the little guy helped.

The third episode is about the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook throws the researcher under the bus, and his career is ruined, he can’t get a job and he owes a ton of money in legal fees. The bottom line…it didn’t work. That’s right, Cambridge Analytica’s data was worthless. The professor said he could predict personal characteristics at best with 1% accuracy. But that’s not the story online, in most of the news media. In other words the crowd got it wrong, there was no wisdom in the mass. Kinda like that guy who blew the whistle on Theranos and attorneys attacked him and his parents had to mortgage their house for his legal fees and the end result was…HE WAS RIGHT!

Gets even worse. Margaret Sullivan was the Public Editor of the “New York Times.” But that job no longer exists, news outlets believe the crowd online will keep them in line.

And this is where Lewis posits we need a referee, to get the story straight, to get the facts straight.

That’s what we’re missing…everybody’s making up their own facts, to their own advantage. Good luck spreading truth, people don’t want to hear it. Corporations don’t want exposes and penalties and they want to keep people voting against their interests.

But think of that… What if we had an online referee?

As for Facebook, it sacrificed the professor to save itself. It couldn’t be their problem, but it is! Because they’re wealthier with a whole cadre of publicists and lobbyists.

That’s what ties all the episodes together. The issue of refereeing. And the fact that no one is happy with what’s called, even if there is a referee. The NBA refs are light years more accurate than before, listen to the first episode for explanation, but the players aren’t happy, the fans aren’t happy…what chance do we have with corporations and politics??

Now the thing about podcasts is they’re a private experience. You can’t multitask, you miss the point.

And there are all kinds of podcasts, some no different from radio shows, but many go much deeper. In a so-called era of short attention spans, listeners can’t get enough.

And Lewis is working for Pushkin Industries, the new podcast company formed by Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Weisberg.

Now at this point, I’m skeptical of Gladwell, because he skews the facts to fit his narrative. But that’s not how Lewis works, he tells the facts and then analyzes them and makes a point. Gladwell’s a better storyteller, but not only his elocution and over-confidence start to bug you, but if you know anything about what he’s talking about, you sometimes find out he’s wrong. Is Los Angeles known for its luscious private golf courses? I’ve never heard anybody say that. Bowdoin doesn’t serve steak and lobster on a regular basis, but Gladwell neglected to contact the administration to find out the truth. And when confronted with his mistakes, Gladwell just doubled-down, isn’t that what’s wrong with America?

Then again, I give him credit for this elite podcast company. To extract the best prices for advertising.

But it’s still the wild west.

But the narrative hooks you. It’s the antidote to the in-your-face shenanigans of the influencers and entertainers. It’s more serious, the Lewis podcast makes you think, you remember thinking, don’t you?

Tune in, you’ll be stimulated. And you’ll be convinced the country can’t be fixed, but it can sure be a lot better. And fairer.

Against the Rules with Michael Lewis

Software rules.

And geeks have inherited the Earth.

I wasn’t going to watch the Apple presentation. Steve Jobs is dead and the excitement seems overblown.

But not on Monday.

You see I didn’t like the news reports, they just weren’t in depth enough. So I dove in, I watched the two hour and seventeen minute presentation. And I’m glad I did, because now I know what is truly going on, and I look forward to extracting the power from my devices when the software launches.

It’s a hardware world in the media, run by old farts looking for metrics to make the incomprehensible sensible. Like iPhone sales. These were the same wankers who thought the gravy train would go on forever. But users knew you had to upgrade to the iPhone 5 for LTE and the 6 for the big screen. After that?

Sales started to decline, and Wall Street looked at these numbers. But they’re no longer what counts.

Usability. Pushing of the envelope. Power. Those are the code words today.

It’s like we’re back in the seventies, at the Homebrew Computer Club. Only geeks are paying attention, and then you watch this presentation and you get excited about the possibilities.

The mainstream news is about the death of iTunes. This was on Mac sites weeks ago. AND IT’S NO BIG DEAL! All Apple is doing is exploding the app into three. Which is the way it already is on the iPhone, the device of choice. What, am I supposed to be reminiscing about Word 1.5? Or the days when a spell checker was an add on feature you purchased?

Once again, the mainstream gets the story wrong.

But the reporters were right about privacy. That’s clear from the beginning of the presentation. Even better is the ability to log in with Sign In With Apple. You don’t want to give all your info to Facebook, now you don’t have to give up your info at all. I could explain it, but you’re better off watching the presentation. Then again, you won’t. But you also cough up your privacy on a regular basis and then bitch about it afterward.

They started with the Watch. I returned mine, I just couldn’t see it, I’m too damn old. I don’t want to put on my reading glasses every time I raise my wrist. But the demonstration was convincing, especially with the info right on the Watch, it no longer needs to be tethered to your phone. But then I also thought about the short battery life, that’s the only thing holding this device back.

As for the iPhone, it’s all about iOS 13. iPhone users upgrade the software on their devices, Android users don’t. It’s eighty five percent to ten percent.

But they tell us Android rules the world.

And Android is a pretty good product, but if you pair it with a PC… Windows has come a long way, but it’s still got the look and feel of a techie-only device. The techies bitch about the lack of customization on the Mac, but that’s a small fraternity, they can live on their PCs.

It’s all about features, which Apple added. I know, I know, that’s not sexy to the hoi polloi, but it is to those in the know. And the truth is upgrading your phone is now like upgrading your laptop or desktop computer, you only do it when the device is long in the tooth and it can’t handle the new OS, or is too slow to work effectively.

As for the iPad, it now has its own OS, but it will never be a desktop replacement, but if you’re a Pencil user…

I’m not, I only wish I was. But drawing is not my thing, and I don’t mark up documents.

Kinda like I don’t write software. But listening to the AR and Swift talk, it almost made me want to.

Like in the days when computing was a hobby, not de rigueur.

As for the new operating system Catalina, it too was about features.

That’s why I blew two hours plus, I wanted to learn about the features not included in the news reports, because I want to extract as much power from my devices as I’m able to. That’s right, there are the power people and the powerless. And if you’re the latter, you really don’t know what’s going on.

Then again, we live in a world where so much is going on, no one can grasp it all.

But the mindblower was Minecraft Earth. The demonstrator put herself in the game. You’d have to see it to get it. And it made me realize the kids know what they’re doing, if you want to get them out of the house you’ve got to build something exciting, or they won’t go. Baseball has no chance against videogames. You can see why eSports is such a big deal. But most prognosticators have never been exposed to these games, they’re brain dead in front of the flat screen. It’s almost like music in the sixties, burgeoning, big, but the mainstream didn’t get it until Woodstock. There will be a Woodstock moment in videogaming, just you wait. Could just be the money involved, but it’s gonna be something that shows the oldsters they’re on the wrong path.

So, the world is being pushed further by software. Sure, Apple released the halo Mac Pro, but if you’re spending five figures on a computer, you already know all this, and now only pros will truly pony up for this stuff. Hell, the monitor STAND is nearly a GRAND!

But you were wowed by the features.

Emojis and Memojis are the entry points. But your devices have much more power than that. But chances are you don’t know that, you probably have never even used AirDrop.

Yes, the leaders are pulling away from those who’ve been overloaded, who no longer care. But if you don’t understand software, you don’t understand the future. Like those in government trying to regulate Facebook. Believe me, limit the social media giant and something else will pop up, just like KaZaA blew up after Napster closed.

Oh, and one more thing… There were women presenters, even a handicapped presenter, to the point where you wondered if Apple was picking these people based on their identities. But, they did a good job of presenting, not only males are into computing. Or gaming for that matter.

Your devices will do more than just surf the web and send e-mail. You can now edit your photos easily, without having to be a pro. The big wheel keeps on turnin’, and you’d better get on the Proud Mary or you’re gonna be left behind.

Apple Special Event. June 3, 2019.

And if you pull up the status bar at the bottom of the screen, you can see dots. Hover your finger or mouse over those dots and you can go directly to the part of the presentation that interests you most.

To see Minecraft Earth, go to 2:01:15, even better, navigate to a few minutes before to 1:58:45 to see the technology that makes this game possible.

Politics is show business for ugly people.

But this year, the politicians are playing the game better than the entertainers.

You’ve got to be able to say no. That’s one thing a musician no longer is capable of. If you’re willing to pay, they’ll show up. They’ll even sing for dictators. There’s no endorsement they won’t sign on to. The whole enterprise is built on cash, and everybody wants some, in fact they want more.

But Elizabeth Warren won’t take corporate donations. Leaving her potentially with less cash, but a stronger bond to the rank and file.

The North Vietnamese won the war because of hearts and minds. South Vietnam and the U.S. didn’t have them. America felt its firepower could conquer anybody, but this proved to be untrue, it couldn’t overcome the guerilla tactics of its opponent.

You play to everybody, not just those with the cash or the supposed power. A cache of individuals can always exceed the power of the so-called “man,” especially today, when the tide is turning. Everybody’s dealing with the results of globalization, and there are far more losers than winners, which is how Trump got elected to begin with. Doesn’t matter if you agree with the Donald’s position, or Warren’s, the future is up for grabs, and those who hew to their own identity and have a backbone ultimately succeed. Warren refuses to go on Fox. She gives up eyeballs for beliefs. And this bonds her core to her even tighter. She’s not willing to do anything to make it, especially when it enriches an entity her adherents abhor.

And you’ve got to be willing to do what is unpopular. Once again, you have to stick to what you believe. Ergo, John Hickenlooper at last week’s Democratic confab in California. He was booed. He said using the word “socialism” would hand the election to Trump. That he was against Medicare-for-all and the Green New Deal, at least for now.

Now we can argue all day about whether Hickenlooper is right, but the question is are you willing to say something unpopular?

The truth is, the audience was extremely left-leaning. Was it representative of the electorate at large?

But as a result of being booed, Hickenlooper got unforeseen traction. Suddenly he was all over the media, there was a lengthy article about him in the political paper of record, “The Washington Post,” because he made news. Furthermore, it wasn’t train-wreck news, but news that begged a lot of questions that were worth analyzing. So, Hickenlooper went from back of the pack to the front page without even contemplating it, he just said what was in his heart.

Once again, it doesn’t matter if you agree with him or not, that’s not the point, as with Warren above. The point is in this social media world where everything is manipulated, where the fat cats believe marketing is king, Hickenlooper succeeded in getting his message out and getting facetime/publicity by doing nothing other than hewing to his core beliefs.

Musicians are incapable of saying something unpopular, they’re afraid of alienating their audience, unless it’s to get in some online war with a competitor. Isn’t that how Meek Mill got notice?

Turns out triangulating, trying to second-guess the public, is no longer working in politics. That’s why Hillary lost, that’s why AOC defeated the incumbent. Everything’s up for grabs.

But not in music. We keep selling the same thing we’ve been selling for years. The big story this annum is Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.” Built on a controversy whether it’s country or not. When the truth is its success proves that that’s a non-issue, you can become mega without radio. And “Old Town Road” was built by TikTok and is ultimately meaningless. That’s what we’re selling in music, froth, publicity, cash…did you see that Lil Nas X bought Billy Ray Cyrus a Maserati? Any millennial, any Gen-Z’er knows you’re supposed to give back, fight poverty, give opportunities, clean the air. Hell, look at Nipsey Hussle. Most people in America had never heard of him, but when he was shot dead the story was about all the good he did in his community, that’s what made him a legend, not his music.

So the lessons are there. Stand your ground, be willing to do the unpopular, go with your identity, don’t follow the crowd. Because conventional wisdom is no longer smart. Now is the time for you to stand out.

But you must stand out with substance. Publicity stunts don’t work. Especially in an era where if you shoot someone in the morning it’s no longer news in the afternoon. Hell, if you shoot a bunch of people it’s off the front page in a matter of days. No, you’re building your identity to last. Who you are is what’s important. Entertainers can be leaders. Even though those on the other side keep telling them to stay in their own lane. And hell, that which is outside becomes mainstream overnight. The Beatles sounded like nothing else that came before them, they wiped out Perry Como and the rest of the vapid singers. Nirvana killed the hair bands.

Trump killed Hillary.

Times change. You need to be willing to change. Hew to the past at your peril.

But your core values, those are what you’re judged on, those determine whether your success is lengthy or short.

Stand your ground.

The news is up front, the death of iTunes and the superstar syndrome, as detailed here:

The Economics of Rihanna’s Superstardom

And it’s the best album Clapton plays on, which means “Delaney & Bonnie On Tour” counts, as well as John Mayall’s “Blues Breakers.”

My favorite is the very first solo LP, produced by Delaney Bramlett. I remember learning “Easy Now” on the guitar, the track was from the heart, a harbinger of things to come. My second favorite is the closing cut, “Let It Rain,” whose five minutes and two seconds is not a second too long. And, of course, the first solo LP contains “Blues Power” and “After Midnight,” and I know you’re gonna say “Layla” is your favorite, the version of “Little Wing” was definitive before Sting’s rendition, even though they’re completely different, and I love “Anyday,” it’s just that “Easy Now” touches my soul in a way nothing on “Layla” does.

Then again, my favorite cut on Cream’s “Goodbye” is “Badge,” with the George Harrison solo, which I believe is more memorable than Eric’s on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

And am I the only one who hates Eric’s version of “I Shot The Sheriff”? My favorite cuts on “461 Ocean Boulevard” are “Mainline Florida” and “Let It Grow,” in that order.

Tune in tomorrow to play.

“Lefsetz Live,” Tuesday June 4th, on Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863

Twitter: @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: HearLefsetzLive

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: LefsetzLive