S01.E17: The Dragon Slayer

[Trini]

Next episode description:

“The Dragon Slayer” – Miles gets an offer to join a podcast network that wants the exclusive rights to the God Account story. But when Cara has the chance to move up at her job by interviewing Simon Hayes about his possible connection to the Account, she must decide if she’s willing to risk Miles’ big break to further her own career, on GOD FRIENDED ME, Sunday, March 17 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

[shapeshifter]

The lady at Miles' interview says, "We believe FreeVerse can put The Millennial Prophet on the map just like Serial did for This American Life."
Isn't that backwards?!?!???
IMO, This American Life put Serial on the map.
Hrmph.
Back to our regularly scheduled program.

And (y'all are gonna hate me) a millennial blogger podcaster without a day job in NYC  has a spare bedroom??

Edited March 18, 2019 by shapeshifter

[stonehaven]

He's a podcaster..and I think he still has his job at the telemarketing place right?

Overall, I enjoyed this episode..and I think it really gets deep on how people face the challenges life throws at them...

Edited March 18, 2019 by stonehaven

[mommalib]

This continues to be one of my favorite new shows. I liked seeing a single black father taking care of his son through all the trials, tribulations and roadblocks. To me this show  represents progress on television. To see a young black man in maybe the most positive role I've ever seen a black man in on television and to have him be the romantic lead who's main interest is one of the most gorgeous white girl I've ever seen. And to think there was a time when this show would have seemed impossible.

Edited March 18, 2019 by mommalib

[Yeah No]

I loved the line from Cara's editor that her articles read like a cross between "Humans of New York" and Grand Design.  LOL, that's kind of like this entire show in a nutshell!  But how would he just happen to listen to Miles' podcast?  It just seemed a little too coincidental and contrived.  It's not like he's that well known or anything.

When Max's father mentioned the castle I thought he might be referring to Belvedere Castle in Central Park, but it turned out it was actually Connie Gretz Secret Garden on Staten Island.  That would be some ferry trip from lower Manhattan to get there!  That place has an interesting history.  It was built in the 1990s by a grieving husband when his wife died.  It's in a park and is open for kids to visit.

Edited March 18, 2019 by Yeah No

[mommalib]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

I loved the line from Cara's editor that her articles read like a cross between "Humans of New York" and Grand Design.  LOL, that's kind of like this entire show in a nutshell!  But how would he just happen to listen to Miles' podcast?  It just seemed a little too coincidental and contrived.  It's not like he's that well known or anything.

When Max's father mentioned the castle I thought he might be referring to Belvedere Castle in Central Park, but it turned out it was actually Connie Gretz Secret Garden on Staten Island.  That would be some ferry trip from lower Manhattan to get there!  That place has an interesting history.  It was built in the 1990s by a grieving husband when his wife died.  It's in a park and is open for kids to visit.

Impossible maybe 50 years ago, but interracial relationships have appeared on TV for a long time and so have positively portrayed black fathers, but I agree with you to the extent that this show is arguably the freshest and most inspiring example of that in maybe ever.

Of course interracial relationships isn't a new thing in TV or movies it's pretty common now, but when was the last time that you saw a black male lead with a white female as his main love interest in a TV series?

[Yeah No]

21 hours ago, mommalib said:

This continues to be one of my favorite new shows. I liked seeing a single black father taking care of his son through all the trials, tribulations and roadblocks. To me this represents progress on television. To see a young black man in maybe the most positive role I've ever seen a black man in on television and to have him be the romantic lead who's main interest is one of the most gorgeous white girl I've ever seen. And to think there was a time when this show would have seemed impossible.

Impossible maybe 50 years ago, but interracial relationships have appeared on TV for a long time and so have positively portrayed black fathers, but I agree with you to the extent that this show is arguably the freshest and most inspiring example of that in maybe ever.

 

18 hours ago, mommalib said:

Of course interracial relationships isn't a new thing in TV or movies it's pretty common now, but when was the last time that you saw a black male lead with a white female as his main love interest in a TV series?

I was talking about interracial couples in general, not that specific color combination.  But off the top of my head, the married couple on the TV series "True Colors" was that combination.  OK, they were not "love interests" per sé, but main characters married.  Sure, at one time it was impossible, but that was a long time ago.  Like "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" long time ago.  Being from NY myself, interracial couples have been a part of my life for my entire life, so to me it seems quite natural.  🙂

[Trini]

Well, it took a few steps to get there, but I'm glad that Miles & Co. were able to get a 'happy ending' for the homeless dad. (I'm actually okay with the resolution not being so simple.) And that it was just about finding them a home, but about them keeping hope alive for each other. That kid was cute!

I'm surprised with the show going with Miles and Ali encouraging their father to 'play the game', re: his nomination. But his children being an issue seems like something that could come up again later on.

So the issue with Cara and her editor was that he wanted her to write about the God Account and who is behind it specifically, and she didn't want to overstep on Miles podcast -- did I get that right? Well, they don't have all answers about the God Account yet anyway.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Trini said:

So the issue with Cara and her editor was that he wanted her to write about the God Account and who is behind it specifically, and she didn't want to overstep on Miles podcast -- did I get that right? Well, they don't have all answers about the God Account yet anyway.

I wonder what the editor would have replied if Cara had said something like: "Hypothetically speaking, if I discovered that my reporting on the God Account would ultimately cause The Millennial Prophet podcast to lose funding and ultimately shut down, should I still do the story?"

[MissLucas]

9 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

And (y'all are gonna hate me) a millennial blogger podcaster without a day job in NYC  has a spare bedroom??

He! Well, I wonder how much money Cara makes, her sweaters in this episode alone cost about $700. New York is the size of Walnut Groove and nobody seems to have a job requiring regular attendance. But the show's so damn charming - so let's handwave 😁

5 hours ago, mommalib said:

Of course interracial relationships isn't a new thing in TV or movies it's pretty common now, but when was the last time that you saw a black male lead with a white female as his main love interest in a TV series?

Seven years - RIP Leverage you're still missed.

I loved the little Dragonslayer - but who wouldn't? But there was an unusual amount of serendipity in this plot. How many times were Miles and Cara at the right spot at the right time by sheer accident? Don't overdo it show!

So who's going to elect Arthur in the end? It sounded like there's a lot of baby-kissing and hand-shaking involved. I had expected that it was some sort of stuffy committee.

Miles and Cara were surprisingly nonchalant about the 'exclusive content' stipulation of podcast lady. I sense trouble ahead. Same goes for Cara's editor.

Loved Rakesh and his horrible timing but I'm not sure finding one connection between the friends list and Simon Hayes is definite proof that he's behind the God account. Six degrees of separation and all that. But I thought it interesting that Rakesh still mistrusts Hayes. Ali's little bit of counselling was great. And yet it's possible that she's right about Rakesh and Rakesh is also right about Hayes having shady motives for hiring him. I really want to know what's going on there!

Edited March 18, 2019 by MissLucas

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, MissLucas said:

So who's going to elect Arthur in the end? It sounded like there's a lot of baby-kissing and hand-shaking involved. I had expected that it was some sort of stuffy committee.

I'm not the expert on this - I'll have to ask Mr. Yeah No, but I think it at the very least involves the election by other bishops and maybe priests in the Diocese.  What I found unrealistic is that the Episcopal Church, of which I am a member, is very liberal on sexual orientation and even tolerant toward atheism.  There is no official policy on whether atheists go to heaven and they are accepted into the church if they ever want to come in as atheists.  We even have openly gay/non-celibate bishops and have for quite a while here in the US (since 2003) and no one bats an eyelid.  Same is true for priests.  So it irks me that any of this is even being made an issue on the show.  It doesn't portray the church I know very well.

1 hour ago, MissLucas said:

Miles and Cara were surprisingly nonchalant about the 'exclusive content' stipulation of podcast lady. I sense trouble ahead. Same goes for Cara's editor.

I felt the same way.  Why aren't they a little concerned about that?  It seemed out of character for both of them to accept that so easily.  I too sense that's going to mean trouble.

1 hour ago, MissLucas said:

Loved Rakesh and his horrible timing but I'm not sure finding one connection between the friends list and Simon Hayes is definite proof that he's behind the God account. Six degrees of separation and all that. But I thought it interesting that Rakesh still mistrusts Hayes. Ali's little bit of counselling was great. And yet it's possible that she's right about Rakesh and Rakesh is also right about Hayes having shady motives for hiring him. I really want to know what's going on there!

Yeah, I thought that too.  I have people on my LInkedin contacts who have contacts I know at both completely unrelated companies I worked at in the past several years yet I'm sure there is no conspiracy going on there relative to me.  It really can be a small world sometimes.  I think the fact that both Simon Hayes and John Dove have a connection may just be another example of the same freaky connectedness they're finding between other friend suggestions on this show.  A lot of the friend suggestions have been related to them or other friend suggestions in some way or another, as they find out later.  Like Cara's mother being the nurse of Miles' mother.  Or Fliss being the next door neighbor of that one guy in that recent episode.

[Empress1]

12 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

And (y'all are gonna hate me) a millennial blogger podcaster without a day job in NYC  has a spare bedroom??

He does have a day job and he might only have a one-bedroom - he could have slept on the couch and given Max and his dad the bedroom. 

I liked what Arthur said about how these days, it's easier than ever to fall on hard times. There's a saying that most Americans are two missed paychecks from disaster (look at how long the food bank lines were during the government shutdown). I kept thinking that they were lucky to have a car in the first place - most New Yorkers don't.

3 hours ago, MissLucas said:

Well, I wonder how much money Cara makes, her sweaters in this episode alone cost about $700. New York is the size of Walnut Groove and nobody seems to have a job requiring regular attendance. But the show's so damn charming - so let's handwave 😁

I LOVED the color-blocked sweater Cara wore. I can handwave Cara not being in her office regularly since she's a journalist; journalists are often on the move. 

Miles said he was looking forward to their second date ... while they were together at a bar. Wasn't that a date? Really, they've been dating since they met - they should just go 'head and make it official. But I like that they're taking it at a pace they're both comfortable with. Rakesh realizing he'd walked in on A Moment had me cracking up.

[mojito]

Quote

But there was an unusual amount of serendipity in this plot. How many times were Miles and Cara at the right spot at the right time by sheer accident? Don't overdo it show!

Too late.

[jhlipton]

16 hours ago, mommalib said:

To see a young black man be the romantic lead who's main interest is one of the most gorgeous white girl I've ever seen. And to think there was a time when this show would have seemed impossible.

13 hours ago, mommalib said:

When was the last time that you saw a black male lead with a white female as his main love interest in a TV series?

It's still far more common than a gorgeous dark black woman lead in love with a white man.  Still Star-Crossed was one of the few, and that only lasted a season.

[Trini]

10 hours ago, MissLucas said:

... But there was an unusual amount of serendipity in this plot. How many times were Miles and Cara at the right spot at the right time by sheer accident? Don't overdo it show!

This is true. We're only in the first season, let's make more connections.

[Empress1]

2 hours ago, jhlipton said:

It's still far more common than a gorgeous dark black woman lead in love with a white man. 

Viola Davis's Annalise Keating and her late husband Sam Keating (IRL the actor who played Sam is married to a Black woman) from How to Get Away with Murder come to mind, as do Michaela and Asher from the same show. (Annalise and Sam's relationship was ... troubled, and Michaela and Asher are broken up.) And Scandal comes to mind, although I wouldn't call Kerry Washington dark.

10 hours ago, MissLucas said:

But there was an unusual amount of serendipity in this plot. How many times were Miles and Cara at the right spot at the right time by sheer accident?

They also tend to do things like give really broad descriptions of places, and then go right to that place. Like on this episode Miles said the father had mentioned planning to park the van in Morningside Heights. Not "112th and Broadway," but Morningside Heights. So what, they were just going to roam around the neighborhood block by block until they found him? I guess so!

Edited March 18, 2019 by Empress1

[jhlipton]

25 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

Viola Davis's Annalise Keating and her late husband Sam Keating from How to Get Away with Murder come to mind, as do Michaela and Asher from the same show. (Annalise and Sam's relationship was ... troubled, and Michaela and Asher are broken up.) 

While Viola Davis is radiant, she's 53, hardly the same category as Violett Beane, who is 22.  Not only are Michalela and Asher broken up, she's now with a man almost as dark as she is.

But this belongs more in Race and Ethnicities (where we've talked about this, and other aspects of colorism) quite a bit.

[KaveDweller]

14 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I wonder what the editor would have replied if Cara had said something like: "Hypothetically speaking, if I discovered that my reporting on the God Account would ultimately cause The Millennial Prophet podcast to lose funding and ultimately shut down, should I still do the story?"

I think it is going to cause trouble that Cara didn't tell Miles her editor wants to report on the God account.

But in terms of who is behind the account. This is a fictional show, so I suppose that leaves a door open for some supernatural stuff. I've wondered whether they will actually want to reveal who is behind the account, or if they will start to hint that there is no person, it is actually some kind of act of God. When I first saw the previews for this show, I thought that was where they were going to go with it.

[mommalib]

15 hours ago, MissLucas said:

He! Well, I wonder how much money Cara makes, her sweaters in this episode alone cost about $700. New York is the size of Walnut Groove and nobody seems to have a job requiring regular attendance. But the show's so damn charming - so let's handwave 😁

Seven years - RIP Leverage you're still missed.

I loved the little Dragonslayer - but who wouldn't? But there was an unusual amount of serendipity in this plot. How many times were Miles and Cara at the right spot at the right time by sheer accident? Don't overdo it show!

So who's going to elect Arthur in the end? It sounded like there's a lot of baby-kissing and hand-shaking involved. I had expected that it was some sort of stuffy committee.

Miles and Cara were surprisingly nonchalant about the 'exclusive content' stipulation of podcast lady. I sense trouble ahead. Same goes for Cara's editor.

Loved Rakesh and his horrible timing but I'm not sure finding one connection between the friends list and Simon Hayes is definite proof that he's behind the God account. Six degrees of separation and all that. But I thought it interesting that Rakesh still mistrusts Hayes. Ali's little bit of counselling was great. And yet it's possible that she's right about Rakesh and Rakesh is also right about Hayes having shady motives for hiring him. I really want to know what's going on there!

On Leverage Hardison wasn't the lead character.

 

7 hours ago, jhlipton said:

It's still far more common than a gorgeous dark black woman lead in love with a white man.  Still Star-Crossed was one of the few, and that only lasted a season.

I see black women with white men on tv and in movies constantly. And of course the white man is usually the main/lead character.

[MissLucas]

5 minutes ago, mommalib said:

On Leverage Hardison wasn't the lead character.

I always considered Leverage an ensemble cast with 5 leads. 

[tennisgurl]

Cara's sweater collection is like its own main character. They are just so cute and look amazing on her! I wonder if her whole apartment is just a bed, and a massive sweater collection all over the place?

Grand Design meets Humans of New York is actually a really good description of the show! Miles was so sweet with the kid on the subway even before he had his dads name, the guy is just so ridiculously charming. 

Little dragon slayer kid was adorable, and I felt so bad for his poor dad. He was just trying so hard, and he couldn't catch a break even for a second. It really can be so hard to get out of that hole, I was so glad when he got his perfect job at the perfect time! The God Account works in mysterious ways....

I have no idea what the actual story behind the God Account really is, but I feel like the show will deliberately keep it ambiguous. They seem to be heading towards a person being the one running the God Account with all the Simon Hays stuff, but there are just so many coincidences that allow for things to work out, it all seems to be a bit too much for a person, program or not to do.

[Trini]

2 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

But in terms of who is behind the account. This is a fictional show, so I suppose that leaves a door open for some supernatural stuff. I've wondered whether they will actually want to reveal who is behind the account, or if they will start to hint that there is no person, it is actually some kind of act of God. When I first saw the previews for this show, I thought that was where they were going to go with it.

I feel like this is something that will never be truly answered -- or at least not anytime soon. The mystery is there, but the show isn't really about the "who", it's about helping people. IMHO.

[mommalib]

2 hours ago, MissLucas said:

I always considered Leverage an ensemble cast with 5 leads. 

Even so Miles is the clear main character/lead and his romantic relationship with a white girl is so rare on prime time TV that I even can't remember the last time I saw anything like it. I just think the progress is pretty awesome. And I like that it all feels so natural.

[KaveDweller]

3 hours ago, mommalib said:

I see black women with white men on tv and in movies constantly. And of course the white man is usually the main/lead character.

I agree it is seen quite a bit, at least within the subset of interracial couples that we see on TV. Definitely more than the other way around.

1 hour ago, Trini said:

I feel like this is something that will never be truly answered -- or at least not anytime soon. The mystery is there, but the show isn't really about the "who", it's about helping people. IMHO.

Oh, I agree it is about the people they help and the God account is just a means to do that. But they are spending so much energy on the investigation into Simon Hayes, they are going to have to have some kind of conclusion to the storyline, even if it isn't an answer to who's behind the account.

Edited March 19, 2019 by KaveDweller

[Yeah No]

Quote

  20 hours ago, MissLucas said:

... But there was an unusual amount of serendipity in this plot. How many times were Miles and Cara at the right spot at the right time by sheer accident? Don't overdo it show!

I'm still trying to figure out how they managed to catch up to Max and his dad at that diner.  First we see Miles lose them on the subway, then suddenly he and Cara are sitting in the diner across from them.  And they skipped the part about Cara joining him.

Mr. Yeah No caught up with this episode tonight, and confirmed that a special group of bishops would be involved in appointing Arthur, so there would be no real need for any kind of "campaign".  He froze the screen and shook his head - I knew he was going to be as frustrated as I am with the way the show is handling this.  Don't they realize that there are still a few Episcopalians out there that would know they're not portraying this realistically?  I get it that they have artistic license but if they wanted to make it look like a more conservative church they could have made them Baptists or Pentecostals or something like that.  Not that I'm complaining, I'm actually tickled that they chose to portray them as Episcopalians.

So why doesn't Cara just tell her editor that Miles' podcast company is going to have exclusive rights to the story about the God account so therefore she can't write about it?  Wouldn't that give her a perfect "out" so he can't accuse her of "letting her emotions get in the way of a story"?  There's a mildly malevolent air about this guy and I wonder why he's being portrayed that way.  That kind of character has been pretty much absent in this show so far so he sticks out like a sore thumb.

Also, just before my DVR cut off I noticed in the coming attractions that next week we're going to see Arthur in a different church, which turns out to be the Church of the Ascension on 5th Avenue and 10th Street in the Village.  I've been in that church before and have passed it many times.  If Arthur becomes the Bishop of NY then he would be based out of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, which happens to be in Harlem.  That would be neat if they actually film him there.  Mr. Yeah No is boggled by the choice of churches on this show because there are some really beautiful Episcopal churches that are actually in Harlem, but I pointed out that sometimes those things depend on the receptiveness of the specific churches to having filming done on their premises.  

[paulvdb]

2 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I'm still trying to figure out how they managed to catch up to Max and his dad at that diner.  First we see Miles lose them on the subway, then suddenly he and Cara are sitting in the diner across from them.  And they skipped the part about Cara joining him.

I thought they had mentioned that diner to Miles. So that's why they caught up there.

As for who's behind the God account, in my opinion there are too many coincidences for it to possibly be arranged by a human.

[shapeshifter]

59 minutes ago, paulvdb said:

As for who's behind the God account, in my opinion there are too many coincidences for it to possibly be arranged by a human

@paulvdb, would you also rule out the possibility of the God Account being a computer? How about if Henry Chase immortalized himself as an AI? He could now be either dead or either mentally or physically incapacitated.

Hmmm. Maybe Rakesh's boss is in contact with Henry Chase and the hacking attempt was staged . . .?

****************

It was really bothering me that when Miles gets a friend suggestion from the God Account that Miles never swipes or clicks on it to accept the suggestion. He and the Scooby Gang just immediately go old school and find the suggested person IRL. I'm kind of used to it now, but I still wish Miles would at least respond with a thumbs up icon or something.

***************

If I had Cara's sweater, I would wear it to work today.

Edited March 19, 2019 by shapeshifter

[paulvdb]

35 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

@paulvdb, would you also rule out the possibility of the God Account being a computer? How about if Henry Chase immortalized himself as an AI? He could now be either dead or either mentally or physically incapacitated.

Seems very unlikely to be organized even by a computer. For example in the pilot when Cara runs into the street and is hit by a car. The doctor who helps her is the one Miles helped earlier in the episode. That seems impossible to arrange.

[Yeah No]

5 hours ago, paulvdb said:

I thought they had mentioned that diner to Miles. So that's why they caught up there.

You're right, they did, I missed it.  I couldn't keep up with this episode - It moved too fast.  I kept having to freeze the frame to give me time to "digest" everything.

Watching it over I admit I admired Miles' dad's "no charity" policy, but do have to question the extent to which he took it.  Not accepting a bed to sleep in when you have a child does seem like he wasn't putting his kid's safety and comfort ahead of his pride.  But I guess the show had to at least try to make it plausible that he would have ended up living in his car.  I know from reading about the homeless in NY that a lot of people don't want to go the route of shelters and the housing they would be given if they went that route because of pride and even not liking having to stay in those situations.  There are more people from the middle class in that situation now and they cringe at the thought of living in one of those places.  I know I would.  I also question that he was a veteran twice over - I know that today there are lots of organizations that focus on giving help to veterans in need.  So I guess the show had to play up his pride angle to try to make it more plausible.

4 hours ago, paulvdb said:

Seems very unlikely to be organized even by a computer. For example in the pilot when Cara runs into the street and is hit by a car. The doctor who helps her is the one Miles helped earlier in the episode. That seems impossible to arrange.

I know, I thought the whole thing with "predictive analytics" is that the program can predict future events based on trends, not cause them.  But I'm with you, I don't see how they can be caused by a computer, even one with AI or some sci. fi. notion of a person's intelligence being downloaded into it.  If they're going to go the scifi route, perhaps they will claim that Henry's coding was so sophisticated that it morphed into a "God"-like being that could influence the course of events.  Which leaves it open as to whether that God-like being actually becomes a "part" of the same one God of faith.  Although even the God of faith doesn't make or allow all those coincidences happen.  Perhaps Henry was in his own way trying to solve the Problem of Evil by stacking the statistical deck to produce good, while the God of faith doesn't stack it that much and allows for more evil.

[Trini]

2 hours ago, Yeah No said:

... I know from reading about the homeless in NY that a lot of people don't want to go the route of shelters and the housing they would be given if they went that route because of pride and even not liking having to stay in those situations.  There are more people from the middle class in that situation now and they cringe at the thought of living in one of those places.  I know I would. ...

I'll just my two cents and say that some shelters are terrible, and that sometimes it's more trouble to try and get a bed in one than it is just sleep on the streets. There are problems at shelters, too.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

TPTB are sadly heading into alt-universe land.  They also are doing their darnedest in making this a Scooby Doo mystery.  If Scrappy shows up, I am outta here!

There is no freaking way the coinkydinks can be attributed to human chance.  However, it can absolutely be the case that God is using Henry and Miles (and likely Neela (Pria) to His own devices.

The Rakesh arc is genuinely angering me.  If he is really the close(est) confidant of Simon, no way would he have any real freedom now.  He'd also be super-well compensated.  But, a Simon would be ridiculously jealous of his new toy.  I will say I loooooved the moment when Miles took umbrage over Rakesh prying into his financials.  Sauce for the goose, Miles.  Sauce for the goose.

Cara's boss is absolutely correct.  If girl wants the career she says she does, she has got to grow calloused.  Otherwise, she'll be eaten alive by the yooge school of sharks in that field - especially in NYC!  He's also smart to be wary that she can't duplicate her finding of stories outside of her connection to the GA.  Her lack of ambition in turning down the promotion is also indicative of someone not ready for prime time.    

I look forward to the special NY, NY - Las Vegas ep.  They can walk around to all the iconic sites and nobody can point out how impossible that is.  The shopping is insane, too.  Cara and Ali would like that.

[shapeshifter]

8 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Not accepting a bed to sleep in when you have a child does seem like he wasn't putting his kid's safety and comfort ahead of his pride. . . . I know from reading about the homeless in NY that a lot of people don't want to go the route of shelters and the housing they would be given if they went that route because of pride and even not liking having to stay in those situations. 

6 hours ago, Trini said:

I'll just my two cents and say that some shelters are terrible, and that sometimes it's more trouble to try and get a bed in one than it is just sleep on the streets. There are problems at shelters, too.

Yes. Shelters can be even more dangerous for a child than the street, and very likely more dangerous than living in a locked car parked at night. <--my 2 cents.

So I was doubly annoyed at the dad's verbal expressions of misplaced pride.
Claiming he didn't want to take charity means to me that he's got a skewed sense of reality and/or he's just saying it to sound better than others.
There are so many reasons he deserves shelter (veteran, victim of the health care system, victim of employer's downsizing).
And he should surely know that the real reason to not go to a shelter is because it is no place for a kid.
I would have rather that the shelter would have had a lot of scary dudes, and the dad would have admitted he was just spinning the don't-take-charity story so his kid wouldn't be terrified if/when they wound up in a shelter--but since it was a shelter at Miles' dad's church, I guess it had to have a mellow crowd. No raging mentally ill folks, no pickpockets, no seizing junkies, etc., and no lice or bedbugs. </end-grumping>

[jhlipton]

So some people can accept that Miles and Cara are finding these people and getting them resolution in a day or two, but can't accept that they go right to the correct spot in Morningside Heights?  Ooooookaaaaayyyy...

On 3/18/2019 at 1:52 AM, shapeshifter said:

I wonder what the editor would have replied if Cara had said something like: "Hypothetically speaking, if I discovered that my reporting on the God Account would ultimately cause The Millennial Prophet podcast to lose funding and ultimately shut down, should I still do the story?"

On 3/18/2019 at 11:50 PM, Yeah No said:

So why doesn't Cara just tell her editor that Miles' podcast company is going to have exclusive rights to the story about the God account so therefore she can't write about it?  Wouldn't that give her a perfect "out" so he can't accuse her of "letting her emotions get in the way of a story"? 

That's what I thought too.  I think a channel claiming exclusive right to a broadcast is pretty standard stuff.  The shows on CNN or Fox News probably have an exclusive rights clause.  The same probably applies to shows on Sirius XM.

On 3/18/2019 at 5:48 PM, mommalib said:

I see black women with white men on tv and in movies constantly. And of course the white man is usually the main/lead character.

As I said in my previous comment, this was discussed at length in the Race and Ethnicity forum.  

On 3/18/2019 at 6:18 PM, tennisgurl said:

I was so glad when he got his perfect job at the perfect time!

Both job placements were unbelievable -- the first would never have given him the job without the background check (and a drug test).  And not only would he need to pass both tests to work as a Ranger, he'd probably have to pass a written and a physical test.  But "God Account", so, ok..

[KaveDweller]

5 hours ago, jhlipton said:

That's what I thought too.  I think a channel claiming exclusive right to a broadcast is pretty standard stuff.  The shows on CNN or Fox News probably have an exclusive rights clause.  The same probably applies to shows on Sirius XM.

I'm not sure how the podcast channel can claim exclusive rights to the God account. It isn't someone's intellectual property. It is someone friending people on Facebook. And, if Miles talks about the God account on his podcast, any journalist could write an article reporting on things said in a podcast anyone could listen to.  They can't sue someone for talking about something they are putting out on the internet. And they can't sue someone for reporting on events they witness happening (unless that person signed an NDA). So Miles couldn't talk about the God account to others. But Cara or Rakesh, or any of the people they've helped could.

Now, if the podcast company doesn't want to pay Miles to do his podcast if others talk, it is another matter. But you could argue that a good journalist shouldn't care.

[Kromm]

34 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

I'm not sure how the podcast channel can claim exclusive rights to the God account. It isn't someone's intellectual property. It is someone friending people on Facebook. And, if Miles talks about the God account on his podcast, any journalist could write an article reporting on things said in a podcast anyone could listen to.  They can't sue someone for talking about something they are putting out on the internet. And they can't sue someone for reporting on events they witness happening (unless that person signed an NDA). So Miles couldn't talk about the God account to others. But Cara or Rakesh, or any of the people they've helped could.

Now, if the podcast company doesn't want to pay Miles to do his podcast if others talk, it is another matter. But you could argue that a good journalist shouldn't care.

They're not claiming rights to the God account. They're saying that he can't discuss the God account through any other outlet.  They have exclusive rights to him talking publicly about it.

[jhlipton]

5 hours ago, Kromm said:

They're not claiming rights to the God account. They're saying that he can't discuss the God account through any other outlet.  They have exclusive rights to him talking publicly about it.

And didn't the editor spefically site the Millenial Prophet as what he wanted Cara to cover (in which case she just says that she has a conflict of interest).

[Yeah No]

11 hours ago, jhlipton said:

Both job placements were unbelievable -- the first would never have given him the job without the background check (and a drug test).  And not only would he need to pass both tests to work as a Ranger, he'd probably have to pass a written and a physical test.  But "God Account", so, ok..

Yeah, I thought that was unrealistic too.  I don't remember ever being told I had a job at the end of one interview.  There's always a "We'll call you" which may be for a second interview if you're lucky.  OK, maybe it happened once when I was 18 at Burger King.

[Ghost Bear]

On 3/19/2019 at 6:36 AM, shapeshifter said:

@paulvdb, would you also rule out the possibility of the God Account being a computer? How about if Henry Chase immortalized himself as an AI? He could now be either dead or either mentally or physically incapacitated.

In my headcanon, I'm firmly convinced the God Account is really just Northern Lights v2.0. 😄

Any minute now, I expect the Machine Gang to make an appearance in the background.

[KaveDweller]

22 hours ago, Kromm said:

They're not claiming rights to the God account. They're saying that he can't discuss the God account through any other outlet.  They have exclusive rights to him talking publicly about it.

Right, the rights to him talking about it. So it isn't technically a reason for Cara not to write about it, except for the fact that she has a personal relationship with Miles.

17 hours ago, jhlipton said:

And didn't the editor spefically site the Millenial Prophet as what he wanted Cara to cover (in which case she just says that she has a conflict of interest).

I thought he wanted her to write about the God account and figure out who was behind it.