CommonX Podcast

Rob Rosen spent decades inside the machine. From KCBS Los Angeles to five seasons producing Reasonable Doubt on HBO Max, he has watched journalism drift from fact-gathering into something closer to activism -- and he has documented exactly how it happened.His new book, Crimes of Omission, makes a case most people already suspect but can't quite articulate: the media's biggest problem isn't outright lies. It's the stories they decide you never need to hear.In this episode, Rob walks us through the cases, the newsroom culture, and the moment around 2012 when legacy media stopped holding up a mirror and started choosing sides. If you grew up trusting Cronkite and Brokaw, this one will hit.TOPICS COVERED:-- The "crimes of omission" concept: bias through silence, not fabrication-- The 2012 inflection point when soft bias became active advocacy-- Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray: what the coverage left out-- Tony Timpa: the police killing that was worse than anything you saw on TV -- and that you've never heard of-- Why newsroom monoculture is the structural root of the problem-- What the morning meeting decides about your reality-- Reasonable Doubt: why 3 out of 4 cases they investigated, the convict was actually guilty-- How to protect yourself as a news consumer-- FCC pressure on legacy media and whether the market is the answer-- The vibe shift: is the public ready for objective journalism again?TIMESTAMPS:0:00 -- Intro and Dead Files tangent (Jared is a fan)1:17 -- What "Crimes of Omission" means3:51 -- Why omission is more dangerous than an outright lie5:01 -- The 2012 inflection point10:21 -- Newsroom culture and who populates the room13:30 -- Morning meetings set the national agenda15:27 -- Behind the scenes during Ferguson and BLM17:43 -- Where the pressure actually comes from23:34 -- Reasonable Doubt: a real search for truth on HBO Max27:46 -- Is there a path back to objective journalism?35:13 -- Why covering Trump put the media on tilt38:59 -- FCC and government pressure on legacy media40:44 -- Why Rob wrote this book now47:55 -- How to be a better news consumer53:09 -- Tony Timpa: the case no one covered1:01:25 -- Jared's Five rapid-fireCrimes of Omission is available for presale now. Out June 2nd.SUBSCRIBE for new episodes and follow us at CommonXPodcast.com.

In this episode of the Common-X Podcast, we sit down with Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley to break down the controversial decision to remove ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) from a county government facility.This move has sparked intense reactions across the political spectrum — raising critical questions about immigration policy, federal vs. local authority, taxpayer accountability, and leadership responsibility.Mark Pinsley shares the inside story of how the decision unfolded, what he discovered about ICE operating in the building, and why he ultimately chose to take action.Whether you agree or disagree, this conversation dives deep into one of the most polarizing issues in America today.👉 Topics Covered:ICE presence in local government buildingsFederal vs. local authorityImmigration policy and enforcementGovernment transparency and taxpayer accountabilityLeadership under pressure🎙️ Subscribe for more real, unfiltered conversations with leaders, innovators, and disruptors.

What would it look like if everyday Americans could weigh in on actual legislation, not just every few years at the ballot box, but in real time, on every bill being debated in Washington or their state capitol?Ramon Perez is a Georgia Tech-educated engineer who changed course after 9/11, became a military intelligence officer, deployed to four combat zones, and lost a friend to a sniper in Fallujah. That experience shaped his understanding of what democracy means and what it costs when it starts to fail.After January 6th and the protests in Portland, Ramon saw the same pattern he'd watched abroad: when people stop believing the system works for them, they start looking for alternatives. His answer was Digital Democracy Project, a nonprofit using blockchain-based mobile voting software to let verified U.S. citizens vote on real legislation and see exactly how their representatives voted on the same bills.The result is a scorecard, like a baseball card, that shows every legislator's alignment with the people who elected them.We get into the structural reasons democracy feels broken (gerrymandering, one-party districts, politicians who write the rules they compete under), why the Princeton study on public opinion vs. legislation passing should make your blood boil, and why Ramon thinks AI and fusion energy are reasons to be genuinely optimistic right now.Also: the best answer we've ever gotten to "what would you tell your teenage self."Visit digitaldemocracyproject.org to verify, vote, and see how your legislators score.CommonX is two Gen X dads talking to people actually doing things in the real world. Subscribe on YouTube and visit CommonXPodcast.com for more.Related episode: E81 -- Thomas Joseph, Main Street Party (directly connected to the structural reform conversation in this episode)

Raymond Lavine has spent 16 years helping families prepare for one of the most emotionally brutal — and financially devastating — things that can happen: a parent, spouse, or sibling needing long-term care. He's an author, podcast host, and financial services professional. He's also watched his own family navigate it — his mother used a long-term care policy for 18 years and lived to 103. He gets it from both sides.In this episode, Raymond breaks down what long-term care actually means (hint: it's way more than diapers), why Gen X is uniquely squeezed between raising kids and caring for aging parents, and why "I'll figure it out when it happens" is the most expensive plan you can have. He also admits something most people in his industry won't say out loud: he doesn't enjoy being a caregiver. And that's exactly why he plans for it.If you've been avoiding this conversation — this one's for you.🎙️ Guest: Raymond Lavine — Co-author of Empathy and Understanding in Business, host of Planning with Purpose and The Caregiver's Blueprint📌 Topics covered:→ What long-term care planning actually means for a regular family→ Why caregiver burnout causes real mental health crises→ How LTC insurance works (and what it actually pays for)→ The "sandwich generation" squeeze on Gen X→ Why self-insuring is a bigger gamble than most people realize→ How to start planning even on a tight budget🌐 CommonXpodcast.com📺 Subscribe on YouTube | 🎧 Listen wherever you get podcasts

Your congressman probably wasn't picked by you. Tom Joseph — founder of America's Main Street Party — breaks down the machinery that decides who even makes it onto your ballot, why gerrymandering is less about drawing lines and more about burying opposition votes, and how he found a legal loophole that lets a political party run a free, moneyless nomination contest completely outside the reach of the FEC.If you've ever felt like the process is rigged — that the real decisions happen before you ever see a name on a ballot — this one's for you.🌐 mainstreetparty.org | wilsonsfountain.us📋 Sign the petition at mainstreetparty.org——🕐 CHAPTERS0:00 — Intro: politics as a group text nobody can leave2:07 — Meet Tom Joseph, founder of America's Main Street Party2:14 — What is gerrymandering, actually?4:52 — The COVID breaking point that started all this7:05 — How the people's primary app works9:10 — Getting nominees onto the actual ballot10:17 — The ideologically neutral Super PAC12:25 — When did Tom realize the whole nomination process was broken?15:49 — How this cuts the cord between candidates and donors16:40 — Operating inside the current legal system without changing it18:49 — What a people's primary looks like for an everyday citizen21:18 — Local committees and keeping them incorruptible22:28 — The term limits debate24:03 — The Digital Democracy Project (Ramon Perez is coming on the show)25:20 — Keeping it non-ideological: equal red and blue districts26:42 — Reaching younger voters who've already checked out27:44 — Can this actually break gerrymandering?28:40 — Public response so far — and why mainstream media won't cover it30:04 — James Wilson and the "fountain of democracy"31:59 — Who's most threatened by this idea (the answer will surprise you)33:08 — To the skeptics: someone will just corrupt this too34:44 — A system from 1929 that hasn't caught up with technology37:31 — What's kept Tom going when everyone said it couldn't be done38:52 — What America looks like in 5–10 years if this works40:20 — A message to the politically homeless41:32 — Mobile voting security: blockchain, face ID, and Carnegie Mellon42:38 — Jared's Five: movies, cartoons, and collecting John Lennon's autograph49:10 — Outro——CommonX is two Gen X dads talking to people actually doing things in the real world. New episodes weekly.🎙️ CommonXPodcast.com📺 Subscribe on YouTube📝 X-Files Blog: CommonXPodcast.com

Most of us are drowning in content but starving for actual facts. This week, Jared and Ian sit down with Kira Shishkin — 4-time entrepreneur, investor, and CEO of informed.now — to talk about why the news media stopped serving readers and started serving advertisers, how misinformation is manufactured at scale, and what a genuine "information diet" actually looks like.Kira built TurboTax Full Service at Intuit, evaluated 600+ venture deals, and grew up across Ukraine, Israel, and the U.S. — giving him a front-row seat to information warfare in three different cultures. He's not just complaining about the problem; he built a solution: news by SMS, no accounts, no ads, no data collection, just facts from primary sources.Whether you still watch cable news or you've checked out entirely, this one will make you rethink how you consume information.Check out Kira's company: https://informed.now📌 CHAPTERS0:00 — Ian's overcooked intro0:43 — Meet Kira Shishkin1:46 — Why he left Intuit and TurboTax Full Service2:51 — How informed.now works: news by SMS4:15 — Sourcing only from primary sources6:46 — How news became an advertising business9:44 — Are people waking up to media manipulation?12:09 — AI in journalism: useful tool or dangerous shortcut?21:46 — The coming era of information overload25:54 — What a healthy information diet actually looks like28:51 — Growing up in Ukraine, Israel, and the U.S.33:42 — SMS, anonymity, and radical privacy36:16 — Will the world be more or less informed in 10 years?38:19 — Evaluating 600+ venture deals — does informed.now pass its own test?41:42 — Are we living in truly unique times?43:21 — Is America's division real, or manufactured by media?45:26 — Jared's 5 rapid-fire questions51:02 — Outro🎙️ CONNECT WITH USCommonX Podcast | Two Gen X dads talking to people actually doing things in the real world.#CommonXPodcast #MediaLiteracy #Misinformation #InformationOverload #GenX #NewsMedia #informed #KiraShishkin #FactsNotOpinions #MediaBias