The Mason Minute

Jan 21, 2026 • E5418 • 00:01:00

The mood here in Nashville has shifted over the last couple of days. You can feel the panic as the weather people tell us we could see severe weather over the weekend. Sure, TV meteorologists love to incite panic. I usually don’t pay any attention to thes...

Jan 20, 2026 • E5417 • 00:01:00

Over the last few months, I’ve talked more about sports than I usually do. Here in the US, it’s big business. And it has been for years, but the metrics keep growing. The price of winning in professional or college sports grows exponentially. Yesterday, I...

Jan 19, 2026 • E5416 • 00:01:00

Today is Dolly Parton‘s birthday. It’s her 80th. And the governor has proclaimed that it’s Dolly Parton Day. That makes some people very happy, and it’s rubbed others the wrong way. Because it’s also a federal holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And of c...

Jan 18, 2026 • E5415 • 00:01:00

For most of us, the first time we eat cheese, it’s usually bright orange in color and wrapped in plastic, and not really cheese. After that, most of us encounter it coming out of a green cylinder that we shake over pasta. Many of us call it Parmesan chees...

Jan 17, 2026 • E5414 • 00:01:00

On Thursday, Verizon Wireless users suffered a nearly day-long outage in many parts of the country. Sadly, it’s not the first outage for a major cell phone service. I understand that technology is constantly changing and improving, but at some point, we h...

Jan 16, 2026 • E5413 • 00:01:00

It may seem simple, but I know a few people who wish we’d go back to the old days when we had just four or five television stations to watch. Those days are long gone, and that’s both good and bad. We do have a lot of choices these days, and for many, the...

Jan 15, 2026 • E5412 • 00:01:00

If you’re a college sports fan, for decades, you’ve likely followed the story of whether to pay the athletes. Of course, everything changed just a couple of years ago, and now student athletes can sometimes be paid up to half a million per year to play a...

Jan 14, 2026 • E5411 • 00:01:00

If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time on social media. Perhaps too much. And one of the hassles of social media is all the ads we see in our feeds. But do you ever feel inclined to comment on an ad that you don’t care about? In my work for my social...

Jan 13, 2026 • E5410 • 00:01:00

Because of my media and marketing background, I tend to view life through a ‘commercial’ lens. I sometimes pay more attention to the ads and promotional announcements than to the TV show or the performance on the field. I’m a long-time NASCAR...

Jan 12, 2026 • E5409 • 00:01:00

The first round of the NFL playoffs wrapped up tonight. It’s called the Wild Card round. And that rubs me the wrong way. While yes, every wildcard team plays, so do the majority of division-winning teams. I understand branding and marketing. I’ve been inv...