In episode 03 of The Kurty D Show, Kurt welcomes attorney and Matt Bilinsky to the show to discuss his wide-ranging legal and business background, plus what inspired him to launch his own news source, The Bilinsky News Network. Kurt and Matt discuss the lost art of critical thinking and the sorry state of our news sources. Matt speaks passionately about many issues he’s involved in and looking to change, including recalling LA District Attorney George Gascon. Finally, Matt shares some of the challenges he’s had to overcome to get to where he is today. Whether or not you agree with Matt's controversial point of view, critical thinking is promoted as foundational for a productive society that works for as many people as possible.
What we covered:
01:49 – Kurt welcomes to the show, Matt Bilinsky, who shares his background as an attorney in the business, tech and media industries and some of the exciting projects he’s working on
07:11 – How Matt launched his own news source, The Bilinsky News Network
11:03 – The lost art of critical thinking
24:52 – Vicious side effects of a broken education system
30:02 – What it means to live above the line
32:00 – The troubling lack of true news reporting
35:18 – How the Great Recession of 2008 impacted Matt’s professional trajectory
46:08 – One unknown fact about Matt and the one band Matt would go see play live if he could
48:05 – Kurt thanks Matt for joining the show and let’s listeners know where they can connect with him
Episode Sponsor:
Tweetable Quotes:
“Critical thinking is a lost art. People want to see, and are thirsting for, someone actually going through a forensic process to determine the truth, because news doesn’t do that anymore.”
“The traditional media sources, whether it’s the newspapers, magazine or TV stations, that we used to count on to do really good reporting and synthesize the facts in the world around us, they’ve corroded. They’ve decayed. They don’t have quality or ethics.”
“Humans are tribal, right? And there are always hierarchies in tribes. And we’re predisposed to feel good about things that show us with elevated on the totem pole and feel bad about stuff that shows us lower. Now, you’re getting hit constantly with where you are status-wise. If you’re not well-adjusted, prepared, and conscious, it definitely can do a lot of damage to people, and I think it is.”
“We’re not a forgiving civilization, modern America. It’s a harsh, tough, unforgiving society.”
“Even over this last year during the pandemic there have been winners and losers in the economy. In 2008, there were just losers.”
“You ask anyone who is being honest, homelessness in California, petty crime, everything is skyrocketing since Prop 47 was instituted that decriminalized a lot of lower level crimes, including making a misdemeanor robbing anything less than $950, and letting a lot of people out of jail.”
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