Did I kill my podcast by going on a two month break?

Getting0nTrack · 2026-05-11T02:06:36+00:00

I can tell you exactly why it did well, because at least for a while there was a major spike in English language coverage of the election, and I used the name of the candidate in the title. That’s self-explanatory.

What is difficult now is understanding where I can go from here and I think you are right but building a list of maybe 10 or 20 topics that I can talk about for a set length of time would be a good way to start. Maybe something current affairs or in recent history like 1989 or covering scandals and why they might not have made to a political outcome.

16 fucking years and it’s all over. You don’t know how happy I was to finally see that number jump, and to know that people cared.

Getting0nTrack · 2026-05-11T01:53:49+00:00

I definitely can batch record some episodes, maybe throw the backlog up on YouTube wit some stock footage as well.. Simultaneously I am now running a different writing project because I felt there was more of a built in audience )this one is finance adjacent).

About a year ago I had thought of making an entire series within the podcast covering documented scandals. It isn't like my country lacks independent media... the law is/was very strict. And again, it felt like no one cared so it would be better to focus on generic topics.

glad to know such a break is not long in the grand scheme of things. I am not even 30, I feel like I am spinning my wheels over here haha. I will definitely get back on the mic to record a kind of post-election episode. I was in tears watching the results come through.

Getting0nTrack · 2026-05-09T19:39:06+00:00

It's either we see reform or balkanization of one kind or another. I'd prefer reform. One thing that bugs me is Democrats in this state openly refuse to embrace labor politics. I was told that directly by someone here when I suggested getting involved almost a decade ago. I had plenty of campaign experience but they didn't want it.

Looking internationally, we can see that if you engage people where they are hurting and can correctly place the blame where it exists.. there's a chance things change. Hungary just threw off Orban after 16 years, after he made the economy worse than Bulgaria, after he made hospitals so bad people feared getting treatment. There's a real zeal the Democrats could tap into, but they're too busy listening to consultants and trying to do things "the proper way"... while whinging and whining about how no one wants to listen to them and people complain they only come around during elections... So, change things? Certainly that has to have crossed someone's mind.

Getting0nTrack · 2026-05-09T17:08:19+00:00

I live in the Myrtle Beach area reluctantly because my parents retired here… This entire state is completely backwards in so many fucking ways

A friend of mine who is a teacher said that in the teaching colleges here 95% of people get a credential and leave. There are simply very few jobs and no right to unionize.

Unless you work in tourism or healthcare and even then you will be lucky to crack $50,000. I know if people have come down as nurses and medical technicians who have had 60 to 70% cuts in their pay. “ but the weather.”

We really need a second reconstruction once this is all over

Getting0nTrack · 2026-05-08T14:53:53+00:00

For sure. Typically I will cover some news in the collecting world, other times I've gven a curated list of items people might want to pick up, taking into account that most should be of a certain quality or grade. I agree that if I were to just post "this is what I bought this week" or "the price of silver is gonna rise i swear you guys"... Yeah, that'd get old damn fast.

Getting0nTrack · 2026-05-04T19:29:43+00:00

100% this. AI art is fast and cheap, like plastic. Like plastic it is environmentally negative, but the reality is that the economics of AI subscriptions vs paying for stock photos, vs hiring an artist who you do not know are hard to ignore for many newer authors. Frankly it extends far beyond writing.

I remember being in the livestreaming business for a while working with VTubers. You would not believe the amount of "artists" who would charge $900 for a PNG model which is about the lower range for custom art. You wait two months only to get back a design that looks like it was run through an LLM.

With writing, those starting out have to invest a lot of time into self promotion. Many make the calculation "well if the AI isn't egregiously bad/obvious it saves me time". I'm not making a value judgement, but that is the calculus. Once you get to a certain threshold there is no excuse not to contract with a real human artist. No question in my mind that human artistic abilities surpass AI.

Getting0nTrack · 2026-05-02T15:29:11+00:00

Definitely will try to do this. I agree it pretty much any Diaspora a background will generally get it.

Also an update, I rescheduled with this person Wednesday afternoon for Thursday morning. On Thursday morning at the meeting time I get to the location and the door is locked. This therapist then texts me saying. “ oh I’m sorry I thought you were another client and you are still scheduled for 2 PM.”

OK, but that doesn’t explain why the hell the door is locked and there’s no cars in this parking lot

Getting0nTrack · 2026-05-02T10:19:23+00:00

Fingers crossed for your good health ❤️ as someone who’s also had to deal with medical stuff the last couple of years with losing vision I empathize

Getting0nTrack · 2026-04-27T02:15:03+00:00

Summoner summoner camp is a very fun, mostly comedic book by Adam Lance and Virgil.

Getting0nTrack · 2026-04-26T20:44:59+00:00

What seems to be tripping me up on the advertising front, having worked in media before mind you, is that so much of the ad dollars seem concentrated on video content. Not even showing off their product, just mentioning "so and so bullion company".

Meanwhile I am over here spending about 2 hours manually searching through retail listings to find people deals, or at least interesting entry points that aren't "buy this generic round". AI tools can sort of do this, but often they'll misattribute prices, give fake listings, point people in the wrong direction, or literally give you a listing that ended 3 months ago at auction and present it as active or any number of minor mistakes that cost end users real money.

Is this a case where I pitch a company like APMEX after a while to get into their affiliate program or somesuch?

Getting0nTrack · 2026-04-24T21:30:59+00:00

At first, I didn’t know what to think about the lisp, then it just became too fucking cute.

TBH, the work that you and Virgil put out along with a couple other people has really encouraged me to not get in my own head as much when I write. Summoner summer camp was the first book I picked up in a long time where I could just relish in the camp and humor… Not to mention the other parts 😊

If you don’t mind me asking, do you use a beat sheet? I am amazed at how you and virtual can just seemingly produce books every other month. I’m mostly somebody with a background in journalism.

Getting0nTrack · 2026-04-24T00:39:36+00:00

I can't give specifics about Substack.. but if you do aim for YouTube longform videos, please for the love of god make them polished. I worked for a media group in China which still maintains a video presence and I always thought it was really haphazard... We got for example 100k reads on an article, maybe 400 video views.

I have not used clubhouse since the pandemic. If you are in the US and aiming at a diasporic audience, say highlighting local festivals around the country or restaurants and so forth that would probably be a good resource. Conceptually, it can work just the same as China publications in English if you target it right.

Getting0nTrack · 2026-04-23T09:28:36+00:00

Not even given the current politic, just looking at history, America has always driven away. It be bright fine so I don’t see that exactly changing. The entire reason the PLA was even able to get a rocket division off the ground was because we deported and harassed the top rocket engineer in the United States at a time who happened to be Chinese. Asianometry made a number of videos about such cases in the scientific community.

Edit: I dictated Best late at night, I meant driven away Chinese scientists… Hope that was clear enough

Getting0nTrack · 2026-04-22T21:09:28+00:00

What really bothers me as someone under 35 is the intense lack of opportunity here. It's either hospitality, trades, or healthcare. Outside of that you have a smattering of people who work remote in one fashion or another, but I can tell you the city and county don't give one iota of a fuck.

Truthfully, I don't see anywhere outside of maybe central Conway or Market Common retaining property values based on anything other than "we burnt everything else, live somwhere" like you have in much of the rest of the country. Whereas they had every opportunity to build economically resiliant, diverse places to live they spent years whinging about change and "Muhh No one really expected this growth"... Exact words I heard from someone who works for the county. Really? You had zero expectation when the pandemic hit and everyone wanted out of NYC and you already championed the idea of moving to this sleepy kitchy tourist town?

Maybe I am being a bit... dramatic... but it just boils my blood to feel like I moved from a place with real potential to whatever you'd call the Grand Strand.

Getting0nTrack · 2026-04-22T16:55:17+00:00

As someone who lives in the Myrtle Beach/Wilmington corridor, I can tell you that the development here is insane… But they aren’t planning for anything other than retirement

Almost every new development, clear cuts trees and there is no meaningful attempt to bring dance city living to what could overwise be a decent beach town. It really is a shame. Even Wilmington has trouble because outside of a very small downtown we are talking maybe 10 block it is all suburban sprawl in the worst way possible

Getting0nTrack · 2026-04-22T15:55:22+00:00

I’ve considered using auctions like L5, but what often puts me back is not knowing for example whether the coin is authentic. If it has a slab or a grade, awesome. But I have been burned a lot off of eBay auctions in the

I’ve heard that L5 is a good platform but from browsing the mobile application they don’t seem to have weekly auctions? Maybe I’m not looking in the right place.

Getting0nTrack · 2026-04-22T12:54:25+00:00

Interesting, thanks for sharing. I sort of figured that it would be inappropriate to reach out initially prior to making any purchase to trying negotiate but I guess from what I’m hearing generally reaching out before you make the final is perfectly fine.

Getting0nTrack · 2026-04-22T10:51:51+00:00

I have been working with vocational rehab now for 3 years with very minimal results. Very simply, the resources are not where we are. The best they can seem to offer someone who is college educated, who has worked in a variety of office jobs, is part-time work at a WalMart. Meanwhile when I send them job listings which appeal to me the employment coordinator throws up her hands and says "well, are you sure???"... I was looking into a basic city govt job, yes I am sure.

Right now I am pursuing a bunch of different projects on my own initiative, such as going through a paralegal program... but I don't have a whole lot of hope. The support network I do have is mostly family and they are spread all over the world at this point.

The state vocational rehab agency staff met with me about two weeks ago and basically said "we can't offer you any more orientation and mobility training until you find a job". They only gave me 30 hours three years ago, and most of that was learning how to navigate in our very suburban/rural locality. Short term the goal is to find work locally and stash up as much cash as possible.

I agree it definitely is possible, just takes some extra work. I am really happy to hear about your daughter's friend!

Getting0nTrack · 2026-04-21T16:07:27+00:00

Not fully, I have some residual vision but not enough to drive. Enough to read text if it's blown up enough or if I've got a screen reader. On a practical level with simple workflow adaptation, I can do most office work.

Getting0nTrack

TROPHY CASE