Episode #1065: Vacuum Tubes
First Broadcast: 10/5/26
When we recorded this episode, the 12 attorneys general who had sued Paramount Skydance to block its proposed merger with Warner Brothers Discovery had reached a settlement to allow the merger to go forward, and Paramount was attempting to sell debt to fund the deal while waiting for a judge to approve the settlement--an approval which has since come to pass. Needless to say, we at Free New York don't approve of this kind of media consolidation, especially the kind that puts four different news outlets like CBS, CNN, HBO, and Comedy Central (yes, I count those last two as news outlets, thanks to The Daily Show and Last Week Tonight) under the same roof. But, wait! There's more! Well over 300 different media properties will now call this new mega-corporation home, and that doesn't sound good for anyone. After all, if that many media outlets are all owned by the same parent, aren't they only creating the illusion of difference instead of maintaining their own individual visions? What can consumers do, if all their media choices turn out to be different angles of the same choice? I guess Jello Biafra's advice still holds: "Don't hate the media: Become the media!" We're trying, man! We're trying!
So, what is Free New York anyway? The simple answer is that it's a
this neat little
public access TV show on
Manhattan Neighborhood Network which I co-produce with the
tremendous help of my camerawoman/editor/everything else,
Kim. The complicated answer
is that it's a project of mine to broadcast opinions and events which
don't always appear within "the mainstream media" (like The New York Times,
the major networks, local radio, etc.), and so far I think it's been working.
If you think I'm doing a good job--or not--and you feel
like sending me snail mail, the address is:
Free New York
P.O. Box 20945
Tompkins Square Station
New York, NY 10009
You can also email me at fny@freenewyork.net, which should get to me a lot faster than the snail mail.
last updated October 4, 2026
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