TBI-100 The 8-Year-Old's Guide To Avoiding Irony With Barbarians

The Big Inside

Not an iota of irony.
Photo credit: bodybuilding.com

Social media does a lot of things well. And some things it does terribly. But if you're 8-tyears old and it's 1983, it doesn't do much at all because, well, it wasn't even invented yet. And that means all your dreams and hopes don't fall subject to public scrutiny and competition. And so maybe you can end up like Cedric McMillan.

McMillan turned a victory in competition into an opportunity to invoke an idea about the cynicism of our times due to social media's negative effects. Of course, his comment was a lot more gruffly worded, and it was focused on the arena of pro bodybuilding, but it nonetheless communicated a whole lot about how things that start out positive can get dragged down in the mire of their own efforts – and how social media and the internet can speed that process.

The irony here is not what McMillan said, but how it was heard by his audience. And that is the jumping point for this episode, where host Christian Matyi, aka "XN," guides you through the landscape relevant to McMillan's comments, and then sidecar show regulars Scott Bottorff and Nick Lefebvre add their own two cents of perspective.

Also in this episode, Nick hijacks the sponsors, and Scott tells you which pine trees make you jacked.

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