While I agree this forum should not be about politics, I also believe the tech shows should avoid it as well. There is so much content on all the TWIT podcasts, but some are just so hard to listen to when the host or guest inserts politics.
Solution - anything brought up in a podcast is OK for the forum. The solution is to avoid politics on the tech shows. Radical thought? I hope not.
One begets the other. But comments on the podcasts are the catalyst. Thanks for having the forum.
LOL!!! Better than losing his mind!!!
Agree with the original comment or not, may I just point out that the discussion I had hoped for, has been extremely CIVIL - thank you all
I have to agree that this type of topic can go off the rails really quick and that’s the kind of thing Leo says he always feared. Sadly that’s all the internet seems to ever devolve into these days, it’s ridiculous.
Having said that, and to be completely honest I didn’t hear the episode, but I agree that the podcasts should try to stay fairly objective and not stray into referring to people as right wing bozos. What is actually pretty horrifying these days is that the left has forgotten the concept of free speech just as much as anyone else. And I’m left… in Canada. People on all sides abuse the internet. Anyway, a civil discussion on this is more than welcome.
I do not think we should get too much into politics. It turns off people that are on the other side of the speaker. And, there is no more tolerance any longer.
Used to be that you can agree to disagree. Now - It’s destroy anyone with a differing opinion. And, I didn’t join this forum to discuss politics…
Social media also seems to spur “outrage” among people - too many people get offended by anything and everything. They tend to say and act in ways online that they would never do in real life. If we start having those kinds of discussions here on the forum, it will degenerate very fast IMHO.
And yet we just had a very civil discussion on this topic!!! Well done all
I agree with you to a point. However, does a show that is supposed to be about Google need to spiral into politics?
It does seem to more often than most other shows. However I’ve seen this same critique pop up a bunch of times on here already. While I agree it is a valid critique for sure, I’m personally not all that bothered by it. However I will reiterate that Leo does seem to try to keep people on topic as much as possible, without devolving into arguments…
And to reiterate my point above this thread wasn’t “TWiG is too political, here are some critiques and suggestions to make things better” it’s “Jeff is not objective, what about the left”, two completely different topics with completely different objectives. Of course, in my opinion.
Late to the debate but Jeff is the reason I stopped listening to TWiG. Every example of fake news or a way he believes the internet is going is because of the far right, the left never does anything wrong. Then he interrupts over Stacey and never lets her finish.
Also this community as Leo keeps talking about it is a perfect place to debate and discuss this stuff.
It’s the same type of discussion around how terrible Greg was on TWIT
This show is so little about Google these days. I gave up listening.
This has been an ongoing annoyance of mine. I still watch TWiG, but it’s difficult to do so. I wonder what the stats show about the popularity of this show?
I think many of these regular hosts are suffering from tech-fatigue. Consider their efforts, doing 2 to 3 hr. shows every week, talking about pretty much the same issues such as privacy and data mining.
I enjoy it when it is a civil discussion, but when it gets heated I begin to feel uncomfortable, and on several occasions I have skipped forward to get away from the stress.
Having said that many of the discussions on the politics of tech are both interesting and useful. Maybe a separate politics meets tech podcast ???
When tech was just one of many sectors in the world economy, it was possible to discuss it in isolation. But now tech companies, and the individuals that head them, are the richest companies and individuals in the world, with enormous influence. I don’t think it will ever be possible to talk about tech without including ethics and politics to some degree, because of this change.
Overall, I think that TWiT programs allow strongly-held and differing views to be discussed without descending to the sort of name-calling that’s common in the world of politics.
Name one Conservative host that is on the network
I won’t hold my breath
I was thinking more of the sort of discussion on the latest Mac Break Weekly - there were certainly some strongly held and loudly expressed opinions there, but Leo kept it all under control.
I unsubscribed from TWIG because of Jeff’s left leaning rants and so little discussion about tech. They dwell too much on the political ramifications of tech and not enough on actual tech. Leo does try to keep things from going off the rails, but he too can participate in the narrow-minded left leaning points of view.
If we did not have a Left, we would not have a Right. Jeff is fun to watch, even when he turns pink or ghost white.
His camera white balance is always funny to see. 
I personally think that people who block listeners on Twitter should not talk politics. I want to hear about Google News, not listen to MSNBC talking points with no objectivity. I am neither Republican nor Democrat and it frustrates me when a journalism professor is beyond biased. My favorite episodes are when he is not there because I get tired of him tripping on his own biases.