the Semi-Retired podcast

Richard Bonomo and Dave Farrant
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  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Each Tuesday, hosts Richard and Dave offer insightful and humourous takes on topics including media, technology, music, culture, and photography. Join in for a tasty brew that’s guaranteed to hit the spot.

  1. 52 | We turned 50 into an 11

    06/04/2024

    52 | We turned 50 into an 11

    According to industry statistics, only 11% of podcasts make it to fifty episodes, and 90% never publish more than three episodes before drowning in a raging torrent of abject shame, humiliation, and self-abuse. (We may have made up the part about the torrent.) Founded in August of 2022, the same month the FBI raided Donald Trump's Palm Beach bolthole looking for classified documents he ripped off from the White House on his way out the door, we are now proud members of the elite 11%. In this week's episode, we celebrate our historic Big Five-O by re-living some of Semi-Retired's more or less memorable moments. As a bonus, Dave recounts his recent fall from social media grace at the non-corporeal hands of an Instagram AI "team member." Warning: Some content verges on self-abuse. Listener discretion is semi-advised. Music and image credits: Episode graphic by Richard Bonomo and ChatGPT (or is it the other way around?) Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud Music promoted by free-stock-music.com Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

    45 min
  2. 51 | AI is coming. Anybody got a spare swimsuit?

    05/02/2024

    51 | AI is coming. Anybody got a spare swimsuit?

    Not a day goes by without news about AI making the headlines. From last summer's actor's strike, to AI-assisted documentary film-making, to a recent AI beauty pageant, even AI podcast co-hosts (take note, Richard), there's no telling where this rapidly metastasizing technology will turn up next. In their latest guaranteed100% Grade B+ human-generated episode, the guys take a look at some of the latest AI escapades and wonder aloud:  where's it all going? Music and image credits: Tsunami image by Erik Nikolai Halsteinrud from Pixabay Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud Music promoted by free-stock-music.com Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

    47 min
  3. 50 | Eclipse 2024: Random notes from under the Path of Totality

    04/23/2024

    50 | Eclipse 2024: Random notes from under the Path of Totality

    On the eighth day of April 2024, Montreal found itself in an extremely unusual and fortunate position. For the first time in ninety-two years, and the last time for another eighty-two, its citizens were directly underneath the tiny shadow cast on the Earth by the Moon as it passed in front of the Sun AKA the Path of Totality. And if you're hearing the 5th Dimension's shimmering pop hit from 1969, "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" playing inside your head, you're not alone. Although that's astrology, not astronomy, and never the twain shall meet. In this week's double-barrel episode, Richard and Dave talk about their eclipse experiences, but only after indulging themselves in a discussion about recent sci-fi movies and streaming series that cast dark shadows across their notoriously fickle attention spans. Music and image credits: Totality as seen from Montreal by Megan Ranco Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud Music promoted by free-stock-music.com Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

    45 min
  4. 49 | This week: We boldly go where many have gone before

    04/10/2024

    49 | This week: We boldly go where many have gone before

    Is it even possible to imagine a cultural vocabulary that doesn't include phasers, photon torpedoes, communicators, the bridge, the transporter room, sickbay, beaming down, beaming up, the Enterprise, shuttlecraft, warp engines, dilithium crystals, The Federation, Star Fleet Command, Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, the neutral zone, Talosians, Andorians, Gorns, Metrons, tribbles, subspace radio and open hailing frequencies? And what about Harcourt Fenton (Harry) Mudd and his mummified wife Stella? What about them? In our opinion, a universe without Star Trek would be like a day without starshine. Music and image credits: Starship Enterprise by p2722754 from Pixabay Star Trek theme "Where No Man Has Gone Before" by Alexander Courage Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud Music promoted by free-stock-music.com Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

    40 min
  5. 48 | Do you speak newspeak?

    04/02/2024

    48 | Do you speak newspeak?

    Sir Winston Churchill (not the guy who ran the Crescent Street pub) described the United States and his own country as being two nations "divided by the same language." The same could be said of the generations, each of which develops its own set of expressions in order to assert its sense of linguistic individuality by infusing their day-to-day conversations with terms, phrases, and metaphors that reflect their life and times. In their latest bad ass pod, hep cats Richard and Dave groove deeply on some of the newspeak jive they've heard recently, and ask themselves where all this kludgy word salad could be heading. Music and image credits: Episode image graphic courtesy of ChatGPT    Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud Music promoted by free-stock-music.com Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

    49 min
  6. 47 | This was Spinal Tap (warning: this episode goes to 11)

    03/27/2024

    47 | This was Spinal Tap (warning: this episode goes to 11)

    Ah, the wretched excesses of late-70s English rock bands with roots in the kaleidoscopic, Swinging London days of the UFO Club, Carnaby Street, Twiggy, Vidal Sassoon, and Sgt. Pepperland. Rob Reiner's first-of-a-kind 1984 'mockumentary' follows fictional hard rock has-beens, Spinal Tap, as they try to get it together for just one more US tour to promote their pungently titled new album, 'Smell the Glove.' Richard and Dave take their love of rock music to 11 this week with a characteristically freeform examination of this riotous masterpiece of cultural satire, in an episode that somehow devolves into fond reminiscences about paintball-related injuries in the closing minutes. For added content value, Dave provides a progress report on his avoidance of using five really stupid expressions. Long Live Rock and Roll! Long Live Tap! Music and image credits: Dial at 11 by Three-shots from Pixabay    Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud Music promoted by free-stock-music.com Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

    1h 12m
  7. 46 | Albums that left a mark: Who's Next

    03/17/2024

    46 | Albums that left a mark: Who's Next

    After being stuck in heavy traffic on the outbound T-Can for close to six months, Richard and Dave regrouped to complete production on this fond look at a milestone album in the first installment of a new series titled Albums That Left a Mark.  Along with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Kinks, The Who rank as one of the key bands that led the British Invasion of the mid 1960s. Originally known as a singles band with hits like I Can't Explain, My Generation--check out their explosive performance of this signature pre-punk snarl of youthful protest on the Smothers Brothers Show (you can find it on YouTube), and I Can See for Miles. In 1969, the Who broke new ground with their acclaimed "rock opera" Tommy. This was followed in 1971 with Who's Next, the remnant of a second rock opera concept titled "Lighthouse," which never saw the light of day. Who's Next remains one of the finest rock albums of all time, featuring masterpieces like Baba O'Riley, Behind Blue Eyes, and Pete Townsend’s defiant look back at the failed promise of the sixties counter-culture revolution, Won't Get Fooled Again. Music and image credits: Photograph of the Who in 1970 from the Trinifold Archive  Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud Music promoted by free-stock-music.com Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

    1h 1m
  8. 45 | Part Two: Stuff that jumped the shark (not us)

    09/27/2023

    45 | Part Two: Stuff that jumped the shark (not us)

    While trying not to jump any metaphorical sharks themselves (see below), the guys return for the second part of their investigation into this irritating cultural phenomenon. Along the way they identify the one popular movie franchise that jumped the shark, didn't like what it found lurking on the far side, and had the balls to turn around and jump back a full four decades later. Better late than never, we say, sort of like this episode. A few bonus movie reviews are tacked on at the end because, why not? According to Wikipedia: "The idiom 'jumping the shark' is a pejorative used to argue that a creative work or entity has reached a point in which it has exhausted its core intent and is introducing new ideas that are discordant with, or an over-exaggeration of, its original purpose." The phrase was coined in 1985 by radio personality Jon Hein to describe what Henry Winkler had done, given that the stunt was his idea. Music and image credits: Shark jockey by Three-shots from Pixabay    Semi-Retired “flipz” theme by tubebackr from SoundCloud Music promoted by free-stock-music.com Perforated steel by YuriyC from VectorStock

    40 min
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About

Each Tuesday, hosts Richard and Dave offer insightful and humourous takes on topics including media, technology, music, culture, and photography. Join in for a tasty brew that’s guaranteed to hit the spot.

Information

  • Creator
    Richard Bonomo and Dave Farrant
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2024
  • Episodes
    53
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 the Semi-Retired podcast
  • Show Website
    the Semi-Retired podcast