Entertainment

The Business Side of TV News

May 11, 2020 Tim Branding, Business, Entertainment, Episodes, Life & Style, Marketing, Media, Public Relations, Society 00:52:04 Comments Off on The Business Side of TV News

TV news industry veteran and consultant John Altenbern joins Tim to talk about the business of TV news. John runs a consulting firm named Crawford Johnson & Northcott, Inc., that specializes in helping TV news operations get better ratings and grow their audiences. John tells what it takes for TV news operations to compete against each other for your time and attention. He gives a glimpse of some of the methods and strategies those news directors, producers and reporters use to keep us tuned in.

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Marilyn Monroe: A Bombshell Story

May 4, 2020 Tim Branding, Entertainment, Episodes, History, Life & Style, Marketing, Media, People, Public Relations, Society 00:47:23 Comments Off on Marilyn Monroe: A Bombshell Story

Author Charles Casillo joins Tim to talk about the most iconic sex symbol in the modern era Marilyn Monroe. Charles is the author of the novel “The Marilyn Diaries” and a non-fiction work “Marilyn Monroe: The Private Life of a Public Icon.” In this episode, we about Marilyn Monroe, her legacy in the entertainment industry, in society and her imprint on pop culture.

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Miss Manners to the Rescue

April 27, 2020 Tim Branding, Entertainment, Episodes, History, Life & Style, Marketing, Media, People, Society 00:39:02 Comments Off on Miss Manners to the Rescue

Judith Martin, better known to millions of readers as Miss Manners, joins Tim to talk about good manners, an understanding of etiquette and civility are as important as ever. Judith is an author and a syndicated columnist. In this episode, she talks about her career at the Washington Post, about how etiquette and manners in society have evolved, and about her new book called, “Minding Miss Manners: In an Era of Fake Etiquette.”

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Story Behind a Song: Wagon Wheel

April 23, 2020 Tim Branding, Entertainment, Episodes, History, Life & Style, Marketing, Media, Music, People, Society 01:02:43 Comments Off on Story Behind a Song: Wagon Wheel

Ketch Secor joins Tim to talk about his long journey in roots music, his band the Old Crow Medicine Show, that now iconic song he co-wrote with Bob Dylan, and how the nation’s COVID quarantine has created a new phenomenon – an explosion of live music on the Internet. Coming to a live stream near you!

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Carol Roth: Using Humor to Make a Point

April 13, 2020 Tim Branding, Business, Crisis Communications, Entertainment, Episodes, Marketing, Media, People, Public Relations, Society 00:59:29 Comments Off on Carol Roth: Using Humor to Make a Point

Carol Roth joins Tim to talk about a wide range of things, most notably how to use humor to make a point. Carol is a 2020 version of a renaissance woman, a national media personality, a former investment banker, a New York Times best-selling author, and now an investor, business advisor and entrepreneur. We talk with Carol about her career and the niche she has carved for herself providing tough love on business, entrepreneurship and how she leverages the power of humor to make a point.

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Meme Culture: How “Buckle Up, Baby” Became a Meme

March 23, 2020 Tim Business, Entertainment, Episodes, Life & Style, Marketing, Media, People, Public Relations, Society, Sports 00:22:56 Comments Off on Meme Culture: How “Buckle Up, Baby” Became a Meme

Tyler and Hilary Avolia join Tim to talk about the time a spontaneous moment at a hockey game when Tyler was two turned into a meme that is now known around the world. In this episode, we look back to the time a local TV news clip from a Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game in 2014, made Tyler’s baby face one of the most shared memes on the Internet. The topic? Meme culture.

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One Fun Mess: Double Dare with Marc Summers

March 16, 2020 Tim Branding, Entertainment, Episodes, Food, Life & Style, Media, People, Society 00:28:36 Comments Off on One Fun Mess: Double Dare with Marc Summers

Television host and producer Marc Summers joins Tim to talk about the classic Nickelodeon show that put him and the Nickelodeon cable network on the map, Double Dare. Before Double Dare, kids didn’t have their own game show and the Nickelodeon network was not as widely known as it would become after this crazy, messy, green slimy “party” that millions of millennials would rush home after school to watch.

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Singing is Good for You: Choirs are on the Rise

March 2, 2020 Tim Branding, Entertainment, Episodes, Life & Style, Marketing, Media, Music, People, Society 00:36:09 Comments Off on Singing is Good for You: Choirs are on the Rise

Susan Medley joins Tim to talk about new research that revealed that singing is good for you, mentally and physically, and America’s participation in choirs is on the rise. Susan is Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Music at Washington & Jefferson College and is the music director of the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale. Today, one in six Americans sing in community choirs.

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The Story of a Song: “Play That Funky Music”

February 17, 2020 Tim Business, Entertainment, Episodes, History, Life & Style, Marketing, Media, Music, People, Society 00:44:51 Comments Off on The Story of a Song: “Play That Funky Music”

The founder of the band Wild Cherry and the creator of the iconic song “Play that Funky Music,” Rob Parissi, joins Tim to do an anatomy of a funky song. That funky song, which has been named one of the top 100-performing songs of all time. Rob tells stories and gives a hint why new generations are embracing it even today.

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The Rise of Rush Limbaugh & Conservative Talk Radio

February 10, 2020 Tim Branding, Business, Crisis Communications, Entertainment, Episodes, History, Life & Style, Marketing, Media, People, Politics, Politics, Public Relations, Society 00:50:16 Comments Off on The Rise of Rush Limbaugh & Conservative Talk Radio

Brian Rosenwald joins Tim to talk about the rise of Rush Limbaugh and conservative talk radio. Brian is the co-editor of a daily Washington Post history blog called “Made by History.” He’s a Scholar in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania. He’s also the author of a new book called: “Talk Radio’s America: how an industry took over a political party that took over the United States.”

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The Philosophy of Mister Rogers

February 3, 2020 Tim Branding, Business, Entertainment, Episodes, History, Life & Style, Marketing, Media, People, Public Relations, Society 00:45:45 Comments Off on The Philosophy of Mister Rogers

Bill Isler joins Tim to talk about his friend and colleague and Fred Rogers and the film “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” starring Tom Hanks and where Bill serves as an important character in the movie. Bill sheds light on  Fred Rogers the man, his philosophy and his unquestionable legacy.

 

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YouTube Creator: The Kavalier

January 27, 2020 Tim Branding, Business, Entertainment, Episodes, Life & Style, Marketing, Media, People, Public Relations, Society 00:36:58 Comments Off on YouTube Creator: The Kavalier

He’s an up and coming YouTube creator better known to his 100,000 subscribers as The Kavalier. Jon Shanahan joins Tim to talk about what it was like to come up with this YouTube concept, and then come up with a successful strategy to build a large following as a full-time YouTuber.

 

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Our Top 10 Moments of 2019

December 30, 2019 Tim Branding, Business, Crisis Communications, Entertainment, Episodes, Food, History, Life & Style, Marketing, Media, Music, People, Public Relations, Society 00:28:51 Comments Off on Our Top 10 Moments of 2019

In this episode, Tim revisits the Top 10 moments in the Shaping Opinion Podcast for 2019. Which one was your favorite? Find out if your fellow listeners selected it in their Top 10!

 

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Hanukkah, The Festival of Lights

December 16, 2019 Tim Entertainment, Episodes, Food, History, Life & Style, People, Society 00:29:33 Comments Off on Hanukkah, The Festival of Lights

Rabbi Seth Adelson joins Tim to talk about the story of Hanukkah, its history, its traditions and its meaning. Rabbi Adelson serves the Congregation Beth Shalom in Pittsburgh.

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Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

December 9, 2019 Tim Entertainment, Episodes, History, Life & Style, Media, People, Society 00:27:50 Comments Off on Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

Jim Temple is the grandson of Virginia O’Hanlon, who wrote a letter to the New York Sun that would lead to an editorial that would cement Santa Claus in the minds of children of all ages for generations.  Jim joins Tim in this episode to talk about the lasting impact of that letter and the editorial. This is that now iconic editorial that features those legendary words, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”

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Tim O’Brien

Tim O’Brien, author, senior media advisor and veteran damage control expert, takes you inside the issues, the stories and to the people who reveal things you may not know, and other things some may want to keep hidden.  With over 35 years in handling high stakes and complex crisis management situations, and in his own comfortable style, Tim probes to uncover what’s real and what matters. What will shape the future. He developed the Shaping Opinion podcast to help you see how influence is at play every day. Get a fresh perspective that will help you see through the spin.