PODCAST

The Mason Minute

Kevin Mason

Musings From the Mind Of Kevin Mason; a retired radio guy who just won"t give up the microphone.

society & culture personal journals

All Episodes

1:01

Cheeseheads (MM #5345)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/11/09

If you follow the NFL, you’re probably aware that fans of the Green Bay Packers are called cheeseheads. Many of them wear foam cheese wedges on their head to games and in public. It’s clever, it’s catchy, and it’s been a part of football culture for decades. Well, this week, another town known for cheese, or should I say cream cheese, is debuting its foam brick of cheese. Philadelphia brand cream cheese has created its version to celebrate the Eagles. And tomorrow night‘s Monday night football game

1:01

Projects (MM #5344)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/11/08

When many of us hear someone say the word algorithm, we shudder a little. Working in social media, I often try to understand how algorithms work. Now I'm not talking about the computer code that drives it, but more importantly, what triggers our algorithm. In theory, everything is custom-targeted to our browsing history. But I often find times that fails. Recently, I've been seeing more suggested social media posts about arts and crafts projects. And I don't know why. That's not one of my hobbies,

1:01

Muscle Memory (MM #5343)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/11/07

I sometimes discuss the Internet rabbit holes I follow, searching for knowledge. One of those recent items is about muscle memory. I can't play a musical instrument, and I often wonder how guitar players can remember hundreds of songs and know exactly the notes and chords to play every time. I've got to think that after you learn a song and you play it enough times, it becomes muscle memory. What got me thinking about this was the other day, when I changed the order of some apps on my smartphone

1:01

Shopping For Shoes (MM #5342)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/11/06

If you have kids, shopping for shoes can be frustrating. Finding something affordable, stylish, and durable is the quest. As I've discovered through the years, even if you don't have children, it's still a challenge. I've never enjoyed it, whether it was for me or my wife. I've spent my fair share of time in shoe stores, trying to help them sell products, not as a salesman, but as a radio personality. The other day, I saw an ad for the Shoe Carnival, a store that's been around throughout the

1:01

The Great State (MM #5341)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/11/05

I have always loved election coverage. It doesn't matter if it's on TV, the radio, in the newspaper, or online. To me, it's like watching sports. But there's one phrase that always comes up in election coverage, in political conventions, and even on the floors of our government that's always puzzled me. It's when someone says, "Please recognize so-and-so from the great state of," then fill in the blank. Have you noticed that every state is great? I've wondered who started this phrase, where it came

1:01

Libraries (MM #5340)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/11/04

Libraries are often something we take for granted since the launch of the Internet. Children don’t need to spend as much time there researching school papers. Back in my day, I spent more weekends at the public library, and I like to think about it. I was constantly researching something for school, and we never seemed to have the materials in our school library. But the Internet has changed all of that, and now we can find almost everything online. Now they’re used more for public meeting rooms,

1:01

Championship Celebrations (MM #5339)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/11/03

I have long been fascinated with sports fandom. While I’ve always considered myself a sports fan, I never understood the true meaning of being a fan until I moved to Northeast Ohio in the mid-90s. I never realized the extent to which some people take their fandom to the next level. And it never ceases to amaze me how fans react during championship celebrations. Why people feel the need to go out into the streets to celebrate is beyond me. And of course, we always hear the stories of the violence and

1:01

67 (MM #5338)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/11/02

Twenty years ago, when I first started working in social media, I marveled at the possibilities of connecting families, friends, and businesses in a new yet simple way. But boy, has it changed over the last two decades. There's no way I could have predicted all of the political hatred and silliness caused by memes. A recent meme has taken over social platforms like TikTok, and it has finally hit the mainstream. The number 67 is now a meme, amusing young people and frustrating elders for months. But

1:01

Mistakes (MM #5337)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/11/01

For many of us, it’s tough to look in the mirror and reflect upon our lives. When I dig deep, I often think about the mistakes I’ve made throughout my life. But there’s one day a year when I only think positive thoughts, and today is that day. It’s the day my wife and I celebrate our wedding anniversary. And for 28 years, I’ve done something right. I’m blessed to have found the person who makes me happy —and, more importantly, the person I always want to be around. Some might say it’s divine

1:01

Check Your Treats (MM #5336)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/10/31

Every year, TV news, newspapers, and even the Internet remind you to check your treats. That reminder goes all the way back to my days of trick-or-treating. But while you’re checking your children’s candy, take a look at the wrappers first. You may notice some changes there, too. Many chocolate makers have changed their formula, and you’ll no longer see the words milk chocolate on the package. That’s due to an ongoing cocoa shortage. So now, they’ve had to change formulas for many candy bars. There

1:01

Chain Restaurants (MM #5335)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/10/30

We live in a world where there's a lot of sameness. There are very few local or regional businesses anymore. These days, you can find the same gas stations and stores like Walmart or Target in nearly every city. And most of the places to eat, whether they're fast food or you can sit down, are now chain restaurants. It's easy to find an Olive Garden, Red Lobster Chili's, or a Buffalo Wild Wings in nearly every city. But have you ever thought about the fact that they all started with just one

1:01

Whooping Cough (MM #5334)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/10/29

I've had a fear of needles since I was young. Yet that never stopped me from getting my vaccinations then nor now. As I mentioned recently, I just got my flu shot for the year. And I know that vaccines are a political hot button right now. I think of vaccines like insurance; they're a hassle, they may or may not protect you, but it's better to be safe than sorry. One of the vaccines many of us had as children was for whooping cough. But because of vaccine skepticism, whooping cough is making a

1:01

Earlier And Earlier (MM #5333)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/10/28

The onset of Christmas advertising is hitting earlier and earlier. Over the weekend, I saw Christmas commercials for both Walmart and Home Depot. And literally as I’m writing this description for The Mason Minute, a Macy’s holiday commercial is playing on the TV. Many would prefer these commercials start after Thanksgiving or, perhaps, next week after Halloween. But with the economic uncertainty this year, and retailers’ need to increase profits, I can’t imagine any companies can afford to wait that

1:01

Best Of Intentions (MM #5332)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/10/27

Sometimes you make plans and then don't follow through. Yesterday, I had the best of intentions. We've been out of town Friday and Saturday, and I knew I had some errands to run. But when I woke up Sunday morning, my body said, "Don't even bother." I knew I could put the errands off for a day or two, and I'm glad I did. We've been on the road a lot the last few months, watching a couple of our nephews play football. It keeps us busy on the weekends, and we're always trying to catch up on rest. As

1:01

Carnival (MM #5331)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/10/26

One of the joys of being a kid is when a carnival shows up in the parking lot of a nearby shopping center. The rides, the games, the noise, for youngsters. It’s a lot of fun, and you usually never know when it’s coming. But often, in the spring or the summer, a small carnival will appear in a shopping center nearby. But I saw something the other day that surprised me. Driving down the road a few miles from our house, I saw the lights of a Ferris wheel, and as we got closer, I could hear the music

1:01

Costumes (MM #5330)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/10/25

We're less than a week away from Halloween, and that's a big night for both children and adults. The kids go for the candy, and the adults go for the party with the wild costumes. I've never been a big fan of Halloween, and that goes back to my younger days when we all wore those costumes you bought at Kmart or even the grocery store. You know the ones with the mask that had the elastic string that went around the back of your head. I didn't like the masks because I wore glasses, and that didn't

1:01

Enough Money (MM #5329)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/10/24

Can we ever make enough money? This is a rhetorical question. I'm trying to follow this gambling scandal currently unfolding in the NBA. And what confuses me is why millionaires need to make more money by breaking the law. Rich athletes, musicians, tech titans, and politicians do stupid things all the time. Yet they have money to avoid getting in trouble. And I'm talking about avoiding the problem in the first place. We all want to live comfortably. But by the time you become a billionaire, how much

1:01

Relax (MM #5328)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/10/23

I don't know if you have the same problem, but whenever somebody tells you to relax, you automatically tense up. I'm not the most chill person. And just asking me to do it makes things even worse. I automatically tense up. Some people can do it better than others, but it's never been one of my strong suits. Back in my younger days, when they were getting ready to drill on my teeth, my dentist would tell me to relax. It wouldn't hurt. It did. The other day, my wife and I went to get our flu shots

1:01

Hotel Pricing (MM #5327)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/10/22

Are you familiar with the concept of dynamic pricing? It’s how airlines, hotels, and even gas stations operate. They determine the price based on market conditions. Availability, or lack thereof, plays a significant factor. And while I understand the concept, it doesn’t make the experience of booking a plane ticket or a hotel room any easier. Hotel pricing is exceptionally frustrating because it can change on the hour, or even within a single mouse click. Sure, there are lots of apps that say they

1:01

Major Outage (MM #5326)

The Mason Minute ·

2025/10/21

If you spent any time online yesterday, you likely found some of your favorite websites down. There was a major outage with AWS, that’s Amazon Web Services. And they host much of the content like video, images, and sound files for sites like Amazon, Snapchat, and Reddit. Plus, they host content for places like CNN Business and Venmo. AWS even hosts the mp3 files for the Mason Minute, even though I don’t deal with them directly. For me, it made work tough as I couldn’t access many of the websites I

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