December 31, 2017

An NPR juxtaposition: Blitzed on cocaine and adrenaline.

I made this screen shot of my iPhone as I was reading in bed this morning. The article, at NPR.com, was "The 10 Most Popular 'Fresh Air' Interviews Of 2017":

IMG_1782

21 comments:

David Begley said...

Yeah, six exhilarating years of failure and treachery. See, mediocre job growth, Obamacare and the Iran deal.

Meade said...

I had learned not to care. I blew a few smoke rings, remembering those years. Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not adrenaline, though...

— p. 93 Dreams From Mein Führer

Kevin said...

Casey Jones you'd better watch your speed.

traditionalguy said...

Adrenaline, adrenaline, adrenaline...doesn't anybody do caffeine anymore.

The latest mind theory says Freud had it all wrong. The essential human motivating desire is not sex. It is exercising power over other people.

David Begley said...

How many copies will it sell? Way fewer than the Althouse book.

rehajm said...

It’s tougher to equate Trump and Hitler from this angle- how do they do it? Or perhaps they didn’t try and played the cool kids take drugs angle like Meade’s post?

David Begley said...

And when does Trump defund NPR?

ndspinelli said...

Just finished the referenced book, Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany. A fascinating read. The author meticulously accounted the methamphetamine[created by Germans] use of soldiers and Hitlers use of meth, opiates, and Merck cocaine, the latter being one of Keith Richard's favs. Allied generals were flummoxed by the ability of the German army to blitzkrieg across Europe. It was chemically fueled, just like rock band tours.

Josephbleau said...

In terms of drug use Hitler and JFK had a lot in common.

Oso Negro said...

Man, you think it was easy being Hitler? Who can blame him for a bit of indulgence. The Germans pretty much invented organic chemistry.

MayBee said...

Netflix's The Crown did not try to sugar coat the Kennedy's drug use. That was interesting.

dreams said...

Six exhilarating and exhausting years of working for Obama, to do bad. Very bad!

Quaestor said...

Blitzed on cocaine and opiates

I may have to pony up and buy this guy's book just to see if his claim stands up to the Quaestor Whithering Gaze (pat. pend.) Hitler was under treatment for a variety of "ailments" by one Theodor Morell, a crackpot physician noted for unorthodox "cures". Hitler was plagued by excessive intestinal gas, and he was always fearful that a particularly loud and disgusting fart could turn one of his Jew-baiting speeches into low comedy of the Mel Brooks variety. This fact is often given as the reason for Hitler's vegetarianism. If true Hitler was provoking farts by eschewing meat, not diminishing them. At any rate that's where Dr. Morell came into the picture. In 1936 he promised to instantly cure Der Führer's farting problem and apparently succeeded because from 1937 until mid-April 1945, Morell was the official personal physician to the German dictator. It is thought that Hitler developed Parkinson's Disease in 1940 or 1941, which Morell treated with hormone injections — testosterone from bull's testicles and pituitary secretions taken from monkeys from the Berlin zoo, among others.

Opiates were in wide-spread use in Germany, especially morphine by military hospitals. However, Albert Speer documented how Hermann Goering's morphine addiction helped cause his loss of prestige among the Hitler courtiers. Hitler came to despise his once-favorite confidant, and openly derided his drug abuse on numerous occasions, which makes me doubt Dr. Morell would rely on opiates to treat Hitler, at least not explicitly, though he may have occasionally treated Hitler's abdominal pain with opiates. But cocaine? Hilter was a notorious lie-abed. He loved to watch movies at night (especially Disney cartoons) until 3 or 4 in the morning, then retire, sleeping until the following noon regularly. After bathing, shaving, dressing, breakfasting, etc. it was generally 2 pm before Hitler received his generals or did any work. Next, it was tea-time at 4 followed by a bit more work. Then dinner, which generally lasted two hours as Hitler regaled his sycophants with his bilious table talk. Then movies til whenever Der Führer got sleepy. Day after day. This is not the routine of a cocaine addict.

However, this is Terry Gross and her maudlin Fresh Air, isn't it? Gross can't attract interesting guests, so she schedules the dullards and the poltroons of the Left, who fascinate her with their bilge. The only time I listen to Gross straight through was during a road trip in October 1988. I was trailering two horses from Grantville, PA to Davie, FL. In those days I listened to NPR fairly often as it was at least reasonably balanced, sorta. I heard Terry Gross interview a lunatic who was flogging the theory that George Bush had colluded with the Iranian mullahs to keep the American embassy hostages prisoner until Jimmah Cartuh left office, thus ensuring a landslide win for Ronald Reagan in 1980. When it was pointed out to the conspiracy theorists that Bush has been campaigning in Oregon and Washington during the time they claimed his mullah meeting took place they amended the theory to include a supersonic flight from Tehran to Tacoma via SR-71 with George Bush (a wartime pilot!) in the back seat. I listened for Ms. Gross to point out to her guest that her theory was bollocks on 'roids, but I was disappointed.

If Terry Gross told me the sky is blue, I'd go outdoors and look for myself.

dreams said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Quaestor said...

Dreams From Mein Führer

Could be a smash hit. Ten weeks at Numero Uno on the Bestsellers List, guaranteed. Care to negotiate an advance?

Lucien said...

@Quaestor:

So the fart sounds used in "Der Fuhrer's Face" were actually psy-ops?

Josephbleau said...

Being German, I think Hitler would have approached his problem technologically. As a young grade school student I got in a great deal of trouble by making drawings of a device which, when properly inserted would conduct gas under pressure from its source to the atmosphere without allowing it to transit a pair of thus vibrating elastic planes. I am sure I was not the first to have such insight.

Michael K said...

sleeping until the following noon regularly. After bathing, shaving, dressing, breakfasting, etc. it was generally 2 pm before Hitler received his generals or did any work.

Including June 6, 1944 when Rommel was asking for the panzers.

n.n said...

NPR juxtaposition: Obama is like Hitler. It was always a thinly veiled cover for rabid [color] diversity.

Spaceman said...

Listen to Terry Gross - she giggles after about every question and often giggles throughout her interviews. Combined with the up speak, I find the style quite annoying. And her interview topics are whatever is the latest hipster trendy artsy stuff or occasionally subject matter (like country music) to show that she identifies "with the common folk.'

n.n said...

a device which, when properly inserted would conduct gas under pressure from its source to the atmosphere without allowing it to transit a pair of thus vibrating elastic planes

You solved the perennial bane of polite company, the auditory burst caused by gas equalization, that affects most people, especially lactose intolerant, legume consumers, and others with similar digestive allergies? Positive progress.