• Skip to main content

Area 224 Ltd.

Content + Communications Consulting

  • Blog
  • Meet Dave
  • Services
You are here: Home / Archives for The Saturday List

The Saturday List

Jun 01 2026

Three Recent Vandy Program Interviews

Back in December 2025, I decided to post content each day; between this blog, my Substack, LinkedIn, YouTube, and X, the plan was something every day. It was a fun experiment and…I figured June 2026 was a good enough time to do that again. So here goes; it’s June 1 and time to take a look at some recent videos.

One of the fun things about my podcast, The Vandy Program, is the variety of people I get to interview.

So let’s take this opportunity to look back at three completely different discussions — one sports, one business, and one a discussion of current events that I’m calling The News Of The Day — that you can find on YouTube.

Lauren Beasley, Sportswriter

One of my claims on my various channels is that I’m a “Recovering Sportscaster.” It’s true; but most of my sportscasting experience is from days of yesteryear, specifically in college athletics, where the players were unpaid and the coaches didn’t jump from one program to another THAT often.

USA Today writer Lauren Beasley is much more plugged in, covering the SEC — and specifically South Carolina — from her perch in the Palmetto State. She also grew up in Augusta, Georgia; so she knows a thing or 72 about golf, and she covers that sport, too.

This interview checked all the boxes: fun conversation, engaging subject matter expert, and a couple semi-controversial pieces (if you consider Lane Kiffin to be controversial; see above about coaches jumping from one program to another).

Jeannie Walters, Author of ‘Experience Is Everything’

This interview fell into the “Throwback” category, in that Jeannie Walters and I both realized we went back a long way. (How long? Chicago folks may remember Techweek; Jeannie and I were part of the team that created Techweek’s original iteration, in 2004, SEVEN YEARS before the officially branded Techweek.)

Jeannie has built quite a career as an expert in Customer Experience; and her work as CEO of Experience Investigators led her to share her findings in a book called Experience Is Everything.

This discussion is really pertinent in the modern world where you can have any and everything you want at the touch of a button; but sometimes that button-click moment ain’t everything it’s cracked up to be, and everything leading up to the moment is kinda meh, too.

Here’s the link.

Andrew Donaldson, Podcaster and Host of ‘Heard Tell’

Andrew and I go back several years and, in addition to his work behind the microphone, he is also part of the editorial team at Ordinary-Times, a rather cool website that yours truly has contributed to in the past.

This interview was part of an occasional feature I’m calling The News Of The Day, where we riff on…get this…the news of the day. But I capitalize every first letter, even the “O” in “Of” and both “T’s” in “The” because I am a rebel. (But not enough of a rebel to just say “Ts” because that looks weird.)

In any event, this dropped on Wednesday, May 27 and…most of what we talked about is still in the news. This may be a testament to the vagaries of modern warfare AND modern political campaigns.

Here’s the link to that one:

What’s Ahead in June?

Well, we’re aiming for content daily, so check back often. We’re also doubling-down on video interviews.

Thanks, as always, for your support.

Written by Dave · Categorized: The Saturday List, The Vandy Program · Tagged: Andrew Donaldson, Jeannie Walters, Lauren Beasley

Nov 15 2025

The Saturday List – November 15, 2025

What I’m Watching, Reading, Listening to, and Rediscovering

Watching: Two Shows With Buzz, The Chair Company and Pluribus

In this case, I haven’t started either yet. No spoilers, please. And part of the mystery behind both shows is…the mystery behind both shows. In other words, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT EITHER ONE IS ABOUT.

Here’s the trailer for Pluribus.

Here’s the trailer for The Chair Company.

Both have 100% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Subscriptions required (AppleTV for Pluribus, HBO for The Chair Company).

Reading: Ten Global Trends, by Ronald Bailey and Marian L. Tupy

Sometimes, it’s just a matter of perspective. Sure, things may appear bad “out there” on a few different levels, but Messrs Bailey and Tupy decided to take a contrarian view of things, and the result doesn’t just look good on your coffee table; this is a really positive book.

The authors scour research reports and study what is really happening with the world, its people, its economy, and its resources.

Take the environment as just one example: between 1982 and 2016, the global tree canopy increased by an amount that’s greater than the land area of Alaska and Montana combined (865,000 square miles). And, interestingly, thanks to higher temperatures in mountainous regions, trees can, in some cases, grow in higher altitudes.

Maybe things aren’t all that bad, eh? Grab the book at this Amazon Link.

Amazon.com: Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know ...

Thanks for reading Own The Narrative! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Share

Listening To: Geese, The Band That’s Having A Moment

“Geese” is the name of a band from Brooklyn. I’d try to define their sound but would run out of hyphens after the first “Post-Punk-Meets-Indie” suggestion and just send you a couple YouTube links.

Like this one, the song “Taxes” that the band performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live. (Certain to end up on Dave’s Top Songs of 2025 post, coming next month.)

Or this one, “I See Myself,” from a couple years back.

And this one, “Crusades.”

Here’s their Wikipedia entry and the band’s website, if you’re looking for more info.

Rediscovering: An Unconventional Ad From Burger King

One of the most interesting advertising experiments ever was called “Whopper Virgins.” The Burger King chain worked with ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky 16 years ago to find people that were…so “off the grid”…that they had never had a hamburger, let alone a Burger King Whopper.

Seven minutes or so of joy. Worth a watch.

Thanks for reading. Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t yet. Cheers, and see you next week.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Written by Dave · Categorized: The Saturday List · Tagged: geese, pluribus, saturday list, ten global trends, the chair company, whopper virgins

Copyright © 2026 · Area 224 Ltd.