The Laughing Satirist: Recent Episodes
Fred McGavran
Welcome to The Laughing Satirist, Our first episode is “The Butterfly Collector.” On the surface it is the familiar story of a miraculous healing followed by a terrifying relapse. A butterfly follows an elderly man possibly suffering from Alzheimer's disease or some other dementia out of a butterfly exhibit and shares its dreams with him. Beneath the surface, this is a gentle satiric exposé of our desire to avoid other people’s visions by labeling them with a diagnosis. I will not comment on the author’s descriptions of a long term marriage.
“Memories of a Family Vacation” is a satire of a disappointing inheritance, family values, resort shopping, time travel, and influence shopping with the Department of Defense. It raises the important but largely unexplored question of how family memories are passed from one generation to another, particularly when the recipient is an in law.
“My Life in Genealogy” is a satire of applied genealogy and the greed that underlies so much genealogical research. “Applied genealogy” is the study of an elderly person’s family fortune in order to transfer it to the researcher. For novices this is a “how to” manual; for long time practitioners, a seldom seen nod of approval. Part 2 is recorded separately.
"Statistical Abuse" is a delightful satire of scented soap balls, forensic epidemiology, and sudden death syndrome in middle aged white males.
This is the conclusion to "The Flipper Guy," a delightful tale of house flipping, immigration enforcement, and Freudian psychology. Or maybe it’s about something you may be able to identify better than I.
“The Flipper Guy” is a satire of house flipping, immigration enforcement, and Freudian psychology. Or maybe it’s about something else we have difficulty naming. This episode concludes in Episode 19 - Part 2
“The Resurrection of Nelson Campbell” is a satire of family values and the family dynamics that occur after a deceased businessman returns to life.
“Displaying Dreams” is a satire of higher mathematics, psychological research, graduate student life, and human aspirations. A doctor of psychology and a PhD in math combine to create a program that will display a person’s dreams. There is only one hitch.
“Acting Out” is a satire of psychiatry and psychiatrists told by a patient who has endured much at their hands. As his recovery progressed, however, he gained the self-confidence to insulate himself from unpleasant stimuli that threatened to cause a relapse.
“Beethoven’s 10th” is a satire of gene therapy, modern medicine, and family dynamics, where a man discovers he has Beethoven’s 10th Symphony embedded in his genome. His wife finds a unique way to capitalize upon this unexpected but for her welcome development.
“The Beautician” is the story of a makeup artist called to a hospital to remove the ravages of impending death from a patient.The story explores the odd relationship between a cosmetologist and her client, and what is revealed beneath her handiwork.
“Suffering Little Children” is a satire of the drug driven alliance of overstressed mothers, psychologists, and drug companies that has reduced two generations of little boys to a zombie like state of passivity and weakness. A warning to listeners: like Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” the satirist calls for a radical remedy as likely to turn his readers away in shame as to bring about a moral awakening.
In “Gone” all the students in a failing high school suddenly disappear, leaving the faculty and the administration to fight it out alone.
"Mother’s Recipe for Happiness” is the inspiring story of an entrepreneur who went from health supplements for animals to health supplements for people, capitalizing on the “all natural” products movement and providing all species experiences they had never known they needed.
"Lillian" is a story about the dissipating memories of a resident in a long term care facility, where the real and the imagined often collide. Can you guess which prevails?
This is a story about how a plunge into depth psychology and kinesthesia alters relationships and leads to personal empowerment until it doesn’t. Apparently he author has been in treatment himself or has picked up the essentials of these disciplines from the personal experiences of others. Or maybe it's just empathy or what the poet called "negative capability."
“Lawyer Assisted Suicide: A Brief for the Bar” is a "how to" manual for lawyers to facilitate the passing of wealth from one generation to another in jurisdictions where the right to die is still frowned upon.
This is the conclusion to "The Dinner Bell," where Melissa negotiates with the agent of an Arab prince who wants to buy "The Dinner Bell." He doesn't understand with whom he is dealing.
“The Pillow is” a delightful story of old age and family values, where an elderly man and his wife compete about which one can put the other into assisted living first, leaving the victor to enjoy their golden years alone.
"A Killer App is a satire of where apps can take us when backed by unlimited venture capital and unsuspecting users. A man develops a killer app to ring your phone when your scrambled eggs are done and parlays it into an app to predict the weather and then the end of the world. Venture capital is nonplussed.
“The Dinner Bell" is a satire of the New York art world, a grasping family, a lawyer, art appraisers and manipulators, and a buyer for an Arab prince, all ready to pounce upon an old woman to relieve her of a valuable painting.
“Crobson’s Syndrome” is an autobiographical sketch by Anthony Crobson, M.D., the greatest pharmaceutical inventor and marketer of all time. Dr. Crobson invented “Crobson’s Syndrome” to have a disease to treat with Crobson’s Elixir, a combination of stimulants he created that became the most widely prescribed medication in history. A marketing genius, he created the “Ask your doctor” ads to avoid disclosing its alarming side effects. He is best known for warning consumers not to crush and sniff his popular pain killer pellets, thereby suggesting that crushing the pellets produced an overwhelming high.
“The Landfill”is a satire of waste management, crater dynamics, construction economics, and technological progress. Butch Siegel, the contractor from “Recycled Glass” in Episode 2, makes a cameo appearance as the contractor for an enormous plastic dome set over the landfill to channel methane gas to nearby homes for fuel. When Siegel blows up the dome looking for a leak with his Zippo lighter, he sets off a process that leads the world to turn inside out.
“Recycled Glass” is a satire of kitchen remodeling, orthopedic surgery, marriage, and Russian gangsters. Months into remodeling their kitchen, the recycled glass countertop has still not arrived, and narrator Walter's wife Joyce demands action from contractor Butch Siegel. Both Joyce and Walter are surprised when the countertop is delivered with the contractor’s arm embedded in it. Enraged, Joyce confronts Tudomir Vlascev, the manufacturer. He takes her criticism personally, leading her to consult orthopedic surgeon Felix Mexta, M.D. for finger replacement surgery. After a difficult start to their relationship, Walter and Tudi Vlascev become collaborators feeding severed limbs to Dr. Mexta to build his practice.
Episode 1 is “The Butterfly Collector.” On the surface it is the familiar story of a miraculous healing followed by a terrifying relapse. A butterfly follows an elderly man out of a butterfly exhibit and shares its dreams with him. Beneath the surface, it is a gentle satiric exposé of our desire to avoid other people’s visions by labeling them with a diagnosis. I will not comment on the author’s descriptions of a long term marriage.