Guest Podcast Interview - The Power Element Podcast with Raul Guardado
On episode 14 of The Power Element Podcast, Raul sits down with Journeyman Lineman and Podcast Host, Ryan Lucas. Ryan dishes out stories of growing up as a 2nd generation Lineman and the influence of positive relationships, creating lasting impressions.
Guest Podcast Interview - The Show Up Dad with David Mendonca
Join Us as we Host Ryan Lucas, a journeyman Lineman and Host of the Powerline Podcast. Ryan Discusses how his father showed him how to relate to people. How to try and make every moment count with our children. Teach them how to be starters, and to have the fortitude to finish. How he recognized a learning disorder in his son.
INTERVIEW WITH RYAN LUCAS OF THE POWERLINE PODCAST by Mike Sherman
Born and raised in a small town in British Columbia, Ryan never dreamed of becoming a lineman even though his father owned a small power line company. It wasn’t until a foreman who worked for his father pulled him aside one day after he graduated high school and sold him on the benefits of line work.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO BECOME A LINEMAN? WHAT WAS THE SPARK?
Honestly, I never had a spark to become a lineman until I tried it. My father owned a small power line company in central British Columbia and was a lineman. He and my mother would often put up the linemen in our house because good places to stay could be hard to come by back in those days.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE CONSIDERING ENTERING THE FIELD?
First off, do a real gut check and make sure this lifestyle is a lifestyle you want to lead. If you come into this trade thinking that you’re going to change it, you’re mistaken. You need to change for the trade. What I mean by that is you work unpredictable hours.
IS THERE A DIFFERENCE WITH SOME OF THE NEWER PEOPLE ENTERING THE FIELD THESE DAYS?
I think there is a difference. The advancements in social media and the ability for people to see that this career exists are great. It’s opening people’s lives to this career, but it’s also not showing the reality of what it is.
TALKING ABOUT THE REALITIES OF BEING A LINEMAN, WHY DID YOU CHANGE CAREERS AFTER 15 YEARS?
When one of my kids was in first grade, we recognized he had severe dyslexia. There wasn’t much opportunity to get him the help he needed because we lived in a small town in British Columbia. So we moved to Vancouver, which is a bigger city with a school that could help him. I also decided that I wanted to be a little bit more at home for him.
Podcast: The 3WHH on Getting Right with the 14th Amendment, with Randy Barnett
For this week’s Three Whisky Happy Hour, the intrepid Lucretia added to her legend by venturing into the asylum at Berkeley to record this episode in person with Georgetown Law Professor Randy Barnett about his new book (co-authored with Evan Bernick), The Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment: Its Letter and Spirit.
Podcast: A Conversation with Charles Murray and Steve Sailer, Pt. 2
After we recorded and posted part 1 of this conversation last week, the news came out that the Supreme Court will hear the Harvard/University of North Carolina affirmative action admissions cases. This makes a perfect launching point for the second half of the conversation, where we jump in exactly where we left off in part 1.
Podcast: The 3WHH on DMLA Syndrome, and Other Defects of Modernity
This week Lucretia really takes it to me for my advanced case of DMLAS (Deficient Meat Loaf Appreciation Syndrome—and we’re not talking the baked dish here), which surely must make the next edition of the DSM.
Podcast: Roy Spencer on Climate Change Censorship, and Cool Satellites
This Power Line Classic format podcast features Dr. Roy Spencer of NASA and the University of Alabama at Huntsville. Spencer is one of the nation’s most accomplished climate scientists, having won awards for his work developing the satellite monitoring system that provides some of the best weather and climate trend data available.
Podcast: The 3WHH, on Why the Jan. 6 Narrative Is Like Climate Change
We open this first episode of the 3WHH of 2022 with the existential question: why is Lucretia so mean to me? Actually she has a really good reason, but you have to get all the way to the end for the reward—or is it a redemption? (I do attempt to mellow Lucretia with a Snickers Bar of an op-ed in the middle, with some success.) In any case, we try »
Podcast: The 3WHH on The State of American Democracy at Year End, with Richard Samuelson
For what turns out to be the 300th Power Line podcast as well as the last episode of 2021, we decided to revert to full three-whisky mode with a live audience on Zoom, and an extended conversation with historian Richard Samuelson about the left’s distorted and impoverished understanding of democracy.
The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Not This Again!, with Richard Samuelson
This week we’re joined once again by the historian, political theorist, and borscht-belt comedian Richard Samuelson to break the 3WHH deadlock on “the FDR Question.” But fear not weary listeners, we dispose of that question in short order, and move on to other things. (“Team Lucretia” will be pleased with his tie-breaking verdict.)
A Conversation with Charles Murray and Steve Sailer, Pt. 2
After we recorded and posted part 1 of this conversation last week, the news came out that the Supreme Court will hear the Harvard/University of North Carolina affirmative action admissions cases.
A Conversation with Charles Murray and Steve Sailer, Pt. 1
The idea for this episode was born on Twitter. Someone wondered if Charles Murray would be willing to do a podcast with journalist Steve Sailer, who, like Charles, is willing to confront openly the most delicate aspects of race and class in America—and gets the same treatment from liberals everywhere: complete demonization.
The Three Whisky Happy Hour, on DMLA Syndrome, and Other Defects of Modernity
This week Lucretia really takes it to Steve for his advanced case of DMLAS (Deficient Meat Loaf Awareness Syndrome—and we’re not talking the baked dish here), which surely must make the next edition of the DSM.
Roy Spencer on Climate Change Censorship, and Cool Satellites
Dr. Roy Spencer of NASA and the University of Alabama at Huntsville is one of the nation’s most accomplished climate scientists, having won awards for his work developing the satellite monitoring system that provides some of the best weather and climate trend data available.
The Three Whisky Happy Hour: Why the Jan. 6 Narrative is Like Climate Change
We open this first episode of the 3WHH of 2022 with the existential question: why is Lucretia so mean to Steve? Actually she has a really good reason, but you have to get all the way to the end for the reward—or is it a redemption? (Steve attempts to mellow Lucretia with a Snickers Bar of an op-ed in the middle, with some success.)
The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The State of American Democracy at Year End, with Richard Samuelson
For what turns out to be the 300th Power Line podcast as well as the last episode of 2021, we decided to revert to full three-whisky mode with a live audience on Zoom, and an extended conversation with historian Richard Samuelson about the left’s distorted and impoverished understanding of democracy.
A Public Statement About Our Current Internal Drama
Everyone knows Tolstoy’s famous opening of Anna Karenna: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” This certainly applies to the Power Line family right now.
Videos of the Week
Did you know that meat-eating is the direct result of a white-supremacist world view? This will come as confounding news to cannibals I expect, but apparently some people at the storied Oxford Political Union take it seriously.
The Week in Pictures: Keep On Truckin Edition
The Canadian truck protest is the most wonderful spectacle of resistance and ungovernability I’ve seen in a long time. In general this was the week when the Branch COVIDians set themselves on fire, baking PM True-Dough into a crisp. Has he thought of passing out free crack pipes? Headlines of the week: And finally. . . »
Today in Race Obsession
That race has become the central obsession of the left is hardly news, but reaching new levels of racial absurdity is always good copy. Today’s racial ridiculousness come to us courtesy of National Public Radio (figures). Start with this tweet, which is authentic and not a Babylon Bee parody: “Some academics argue.” Always a promising start.
Event Announcements
For readers interested in free speech controversies here and abroad, this Friday morning (Feb. 11) at 10 am Pacific time, I’ll be hosting and moderating an online panel (by Zoom) on the topic of “Legal and Constitutional Protections for Free Speech in Academia in the U.S, U.K., and Canada.” The panel includes Prof.
The Geek in Pictures: COVID-Longing Edition
On this continuing question of whether to do a regular Mid-Week in Pictures, I think I’ll alternate a mid-week picture/meme gallery with a more regular Geek in Pictures, which is actually harder to do as good charts and graphs are more episodic. • Let’s start this week with some political data.
On Chinese Racism and American Confusion
Someone has managed through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to dislodge a consultant’s 254-page report to Andy Marshall’s legendary Office of Net Assessment in the Department of Defense from way back in 2013.
