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When Thom Hartmann began our last interview asking me about my career as both a Los Angeles Times nightlife columnist and investigative reporter in broadcast news, it gave me a moment to reflect back on a past life that in many ways prepared me to be useful in these times.
Always limited by either inch count in print or trt (total running time) in broadcast news, I discovered that brevity is queen and went with my best material right out the gate. And in being brief and punchy, I also learned to craft headlines or promos that would grab attention. Once I had that attention, it was imperative that I delivered the goods.
We are flooded with too much gobshite, I don’t see it easing, and I’m dancing as fast as I can.
As I noted in my review of American Overthrow, quoting Russia-watcher Ruth Deyermond, the second Trump administration is “looking like mid-late period Yeltsin.”
In other words, not a good look. Unless systemic corruption, violence, chaos, media control, and oligarchical rule is your thing.
Bette in the News
I had an opportunity to discuss the above in my recent interview with Thom Hartmann, host of the top progressive radio show in the country and bestselling substack author. He was interviewing me about my Sloptocracy report, where I note how the Trump regime uses AI slop as a primary tool of governance.
Thom and I covered myriad topics and even worked in some Roman history. As I noted, “Julius Cesar was a superb propagandist.” You can watch our interview here:
My Viper Room Reflections
In other news, I was interviewed on Saturday by ABC radio out of Australia (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) for their Nightlife podcast. Its producers invited me to wax poetic about the World Famous Viper Room on the Sunset Strip. I immediately said yes, because I’m a big fan of ABC programming, particularly its 2018 series, “Russia, If You’re Listening.”
Here is the tease they wrote for the segment:
Rooms That Rocked: The Viper Room is a nightclub on the famous Sunset Strip in Los Angeles where Heidi Siegmund Cuda spent a lot of time at The Viper Room as the nightlife correspondent for the Los Angeles Times
And here is the interview:
My interview begins at 3 hours and 30 minutes and lasts for a half hour. If you like the ‘90s, rock ‘n’ roll, and Hollywood, you might enjoy this ‘trip’ down memory lane.
For me, it was a nice break from the flood of gobshite.
Calendaring Bette — all events are at 11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern, 7 pm UK
We do not have a Happy Hour this Tuesday, but we’ll be back on Sunday, September 27 for Bette’s Speakeasy with Monique Camarra, who will be sorting out the associate member union between Canada and the EU. Monique predicted this development more than a year ago, and last week, the geopolitical analyst told me:
“I teared up a bit listening to the speech. It’s been a long time coming. I feel like I’m invested emotionally and culturally and politically. The relationship is a good fit.”
Mo’ will have details for us, and for those who missed it, here are political philosopher Dr. Michael MacKay’s initial thoughts:
And in Bette’s Book Club news, here are our upcoming authors:
Craig Unger, Sunday, October 4 — discussing his “House of Trump, House of Putin” book
More about the New York Times-bestselling author and investigative reporter here:
David Colon, Tuesday, October 13 — we’ll learn more about the work of this French historian, who has authored multiple books on information warfare, including the upcoming Infodemic. You can read more from Colon here (it’s easy to translate into English):
And here is one of his reports, which I cross-posted in Bette:
Dr. Marci Shore, Tuesday, October 27 — for a master-class lecture on “Eichmann In Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil” by Hannah Arendt. Marci, an intellectual historian whose own book, The Ukrainian Night, is a must-read, calls Arendt one of her first loves and has given many lectures on the profoundly important work of the German philosopher and historian.
I will be sending out more details in advance of each event, with registration links for the Bette subscribers who wish to attend. If you are not yet a paid member, and would like to join our community events, please take out a membership here:
Follow Ups
I have reported on the important work of the International Criminal Court in The Hague since I began this substack.
Today, I am noting that the media continues to report on how the lawless Trump regime is trying to destroy the ICC, but for some reason, there’s a failure to note that a former head of state is sitting in detention awaiting trial for the SAME MURDEROUS CRIMES THAT TRUMP COMMITTED.
To ignore Rodrigo Duterte’s upcoming ICC trial for crimes against humanity in his so-called war on drugs is to ignore Trump’s mass murders in the Caribbean. For starters.
Parroting is different than reporting.
Trump’s regime is ramping up attacks on the ICC — he and his loyalists say it’s due to Netanyahu’s arrest warrant.
Okay, but the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Putin, and they’re about to put Trump’s friend Rodrigo Duterte away for life. I always ask you to recall how Trump congratulated Duterte on his murderous rampage. On the record.
Once again, I ask you to recall that Trump’s murderous rampages already qualify him for permanent residency at The Hague.
And if the ICC isn’t equipped, then follow the dozens of countries that are in the process of creating a Special Tribunal for Putin and his war criminals.
I’ll leave you with this pearl of wisdom from Vesna Pusić, who documented the war trials of the former Yugoslavia.
“If you are a potential war criminal, international tribunals are a tricky thing: you never know who or when they are going to indict.”—Vesna Pusić, Croatian sociologist and politician
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More info about Bette Dangerous: This magazine is written by Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter, author, and broadcast news veteran, as well as former music and nightlife columnist for the Los Angeles Times. A No. 1 Amazon best-selling author and award-winning film director, Cuda writes the Hot Type column in Byline Times, an independent UK-newspaper. She executive produced the film Kherson: Human Safari. Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism, arts, and culture reporting.
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Begin each day with a grateful heart.
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The author performing at the Viper Room, Punk Rock Karaoke.