Podcast
Shaping Opinion
Hosted by Tim O'Brien · EN
The Shaping Opinion podcast helps you see through the spin. It reveals things you may not know, and it exposes other things some may want to keep hidden. Its focus is on how your thoughts and attitudes are influenced to create change in the culture, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.
Host Tim O’Brien – author, senior media advisor and veteran damage control expert – empowers you with a fresh perspective. He comfortably takes you inside trending issues, stories and to the people who unravel it all through deep-dive conversations. After decades in handling high stakes and complex crisis management situations, Tim probes to uncover what’s real and what matters, and what will shape the future. Watch or listen every Monday wherever you get your podcasts.
www.shapingopinion.com
www.shapingopinion.com
11episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Bishop Joseph Strickland on Keeping the Faith
Sep 2201:14:53Tap to summarizeOur guest is Bishop Joseph Stirckland. He is a Roman Catholic Bishop, the Biship Emeritus of Tyler, Texas. He he’s the Chairman and the Founder of a nonprofit organization called Pillars of Faith.He’s developed a reputation for taking strong, traditional positions, and that has put him in situations I’m sure he never imagined when he entered the clergy. We’re going to talk about that and much more in this episode.Links:* Pillars of Faith (website)* Bishop Joseph Strickland (website) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com
Transcribe →
Timothy Sandefur on Free Speech and Your Employer
Sep 801:03:11Tap to summarizeOur guest is Timothy Sandefur. He is the vice president for legal affairs at the Goldwater Institute’s Center for Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation.What I wanted to talk with Tim about was something he wrote about free speech and employers’ rights. More the point, does your employer have a right to free speech, and if so, how far does it reach?Links:* Defending the Free Speech Rights of Employers Against the Administrative State, Goldwater Institute Blog* NLRB Limits Employer Speech, SHRM* NLRB Restrains Employer Speech, Finds Captive-Audience Meetings Unlawful – Publications, Morgan Lewis This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com
Transcribe →
Patrick Breyer on Proposed EU Surveillance of Private Messaging
Sep 101:00:00Tap to summarizeOur guest today is Patrick Breyer. He is a self-described freedom fighter and a former member of the European Parliament. He served on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.I wanted to talk with Patrick about a newly proposed EU internet regulation, commonly known as chat control. Under this proposed legislation, users of apps would have to agree to allow the government to scan all their private and public messages as a matter of course.Links:* Patrick Breyer Website* Chat Control: The EU’s CSAM Scanner Proposal (website)* Patrick Breyer, EU Website This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com
Transcribe →
Bunni Pounds on Free Speech from the Pulpit
Aug 2500:55:40Tap to summarizeOur guest is Bunni Pounds. She is the Founder and President of Christians Engaged as well as the Senior Vice President for Family Policy Alliance and Family Policy Alliance Foundation – both founded by Dr. James Dobson.She is the author of the book Jesus and Politics: One Woman’s Walk with God in a Mudslinging Profession. She was a political consultant for 16 years. And in 2018 she ran for Congress herself in 2018 but did not get elected.What I wanted to talk with Bunni about was a new development that will affect every church in America. In July, the IRS decided that religious clergy can endorse political candidates from the pulpit or through their official church communications. This is a big deal, and our guest today has some thoughts.Links:* How Conservative Christians Cracked a 70-Year-Old Law, New York Times.* Did the IRS Just Change Its Own Rule to Set Pastors Free?, The Stream This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com
Transcribe →
Ingrid Jacques on Late Night TV
Aug 2101:05:11Tap to summarizeOur guest is Ingrid Jacques. She is a columnist at USA Today.She wrote a column recently about those late-night comedy shows. She argues that the reason Stephen Colbert got fired had everything to do with ratings and business issues. All of this points to larger problems with the whole genre of late-night comedy and those who produce the shows.Links:* Leno's right: Colbert got canned because Americans are tired of left's lectures, USA Today Opinion* Late Night Ratings Revealed, TV Insider This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com
Transcribe →
Jennifer Huddleston on AI, Free Speech and the First Amendment
Aug 1800:55:03Tap to summarizeOur guest is Jennifer Huddleston. She is a senior fellow in technology policy at the Cato Institute.In her work, she focuses on the law in relation to emerging technology. What caught my attention was something she wrote about the relationship between AI and the First Amendment. What happens when AI repurposes your words and images, your opinions and thoughts? That’s one question we’re going to talk to Jennifer about today. AI and the First Amendment. Freedom of speech and artificial intelligence.Links:* Is AI a Horse or a Zebra When It Comes to the First Amendment?, CATO Blog, By Jennifer Huddleston* Is AI a Horse or a Zebra: Do AI Free Speech Concerns Require New Legal Tools?, Liberty University Paper* CATO (website) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com
Transcribe →
Dr. Carole Lieberman on Mass Psychology
Aug 1401:16:45Tap to summarizeOur guest is Carole Lieberman. She is an accomplished psychiatrist and a forensic expert witness. Board certified in both psychiatry and neurology. She’s been a leading voice on the psychology of terrorism and its impact on people.Today, we’ll be talking to Carole about psychological warfare, and how she thinks it may be used to divide Americans. Also, we’ll talk with Carole about what she describes as the emotional collapse of American leadership.Links:* Carole Lieberman (website)* Coping with Terrorism, By Carole Lieberman, Ph.D. (Amazon) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com
Transcribe →
Ari Paparo on Google's Digital Dominance
Aug 1100:57:28Tap to summarizeOur guest is Ari Paparo. He is the CEO of a company called Marketecture Media, which is a network of podcasts, newsletters and events covering the digital media sector. He is a writer, a podcaster and an expert on all forms of advertising. He worked in the ad business for 20 years. This included time spent at DoubleClick and Google. He is also the author of a new book called, “Yield. How Google Bought, Built, and Bullied Its Way to Advertising Dominance.”If you ever see an ad when you’re online, there’s a good chance one company – Google – is making some money off of that. And that doesn’t include the money they make from selling your data. That’s one thing we’re going to talk about today.Links:* Marketecture Media (website)* This Deal Helped Turn Google Into an Ad Powerhouse. Is That a Problem? - The New York Times* Google Ads* DoubleClick * Yield. How Google Bought, Built, and Bullied Its Way to Advertising Dominance., by Ari Paparo (Amazon) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com
Transcribe →
Aaron Bandler on Bias at Wikipedia
Aug 400:54:11Tap to summarizeOur guest is Aaron Bandler. He’s an investigative journalist who is based in the Bay Area. He’s written for several leading national news organizations.In today’s interview, we’ll talk with Aaron about something he’s investigated and reported on after noticing a disturbing pattern at the ubiquitous website, Wikipedia.Links:* Taking Sides: Wikipedia Advances Anti-Israel Narratives | RealClearInvestigations* Jewish News Syndicate (website) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com
Transcribe →
David Smokler on School Teachers and Free Speech
Jul 2801:06:24Tap to summarizeOur guest is David Smokler. He’s the executive director of the K-12 Fairness Center, which is a division of an organization called StandWithUs. StandWithUs is a 24 year-old international nonpartisan education organization that fights antisemitism.I wanted to talk to David about fee speech in the classroom. Just how much does the First Amendment protect what teachers say, or want to say in the classroom? And what happens if a teacher or student exercises their perceived right to free speech and it puts students or others at risk? These are just a couple of questions we’re going to cover.Links:* Teachers' unions are blurring personal activism and professionalism | The Jerusalem Post, By David Smokler* StandWithUs Supporting Israel And Fighting Antisemitism (website) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com
Transcribe →