The Charles Binder Program
"Yesterday Is Gone" is Charles Binder's personal perspective about politics, art, science, health, the past, the present, and what will probably happen...now that Yesterday Is Gone.
It's a quiet break in your noisy day...a little like what the English might call "Tea Time." But there are no short cuts...no tea bags.
There are some smiles and even a few laughs. But it also packs a powerful punch. So be careful. Sip it and savor it. Don't try to just chug it down.
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Episodes
If you'd prefer, you can download some episodes without subscribing. Click on an episode title below for a description and download link for the episode. Or Listen to the latest episode.
If you'd prefer, you can download some episodes without subscribing. Click on an episode title below for a description and download link for the episode. Or Listen to the latest episode.
Episode 74
From Romans to Oatmeal: Ain't History Grand?
Many of the things we use today had very early beginnings. Our ancients were more sophisticated than we realize more...
Episode 73
Famous Tightwads
Charles and Dick start off talking about finances and Charles mentions Schadenfreude, the German word for taking pleasure in more...
Episode 72
The Law and Lawsuits plus some Bizarre Rituals
Charles says he gets "inmate mail". "Inmates don’t get a lot of correspondence or contact from the outside world, more...
Episode 71
Baseball, Dumb Laws, and the GPS
By now you know that Charles is a Yankees fan, and Dick is a Mets fan; but the important more...
Episode 70
Dumb Crimes and Dumber Criminals
If a crime is committed with something other than a "weapon", it's referred to, in law, as an "instrument". more...
Episode 69
Supreme Court Qualifications, and Gun Control
Charles tells the ludicrous story of the first time he was sued by a client after he had won more...
Episode 68
Little Koi and Yankee Stadium – all versions
Koi, which means "carp" in Japanese, or more specifically nishikigoi, which means "brocaded carp" (sometimes called Japanese carp), are more...
Episode 67
Famous Last Words and "The Homeless"
Many last words are literal, but many others are a variation of what was actually said and still others more...
Episode 66
Who said that?
There are many quotes that are actually misquotes. "There are basically two types of misquotes," says Charles. "It's more...
Episode 65
Money, Fundraisers, and Politicians
As supposedly smart people, Tom Daschle and others in his income bracket, do some pretty dumb things. Surely they more...
Episode 64
What is Rich?
What makes someone rich? Dick says, "It would depend on where you live." Charles concurs. A more...
Episode 63
Nurses and Doctors and Grizzlies, oh my
Nurses are great! "I like nurses," says Charles, "They work hard." We couldn't do without them. more...
Episode 62
What's In a Name? (Part II)
Charles says, "The most common boys and girls name in the 1880s was John and Mary." This isn't more...
Episode 61
What's In a Name?
Nicknames have been part of the English speaking culture for hundreds of years. Even in Shakespeare's Henry IV, more...
Episode 60
Technophobe Talk and Government Corruption
Charles and Dick mention some of the new technologies coming up but admit they are not techies. "For someone more...
Episode 59
Good Samaritans, the Constitution, and Guns
Most states have a Good Samaritan Law which allows a doctor to help someone in distress without being sued more...
Episode 58
Ponzi Schemes: "There's a sucker born every minute"
Attributed to P.T. Barnum, this phrase was actually uttered by David Hannum, in reference to Barnum's part in the more...
Episode 57
Flying: Airplanes and Birds
In honor of the brilliant landing of US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River, Charles and Dick consider more...
Episode 56
Baseball, Baseball, Baseball
"For about twenty years, I went to Opening Day," says Charles. "I never missed it." One game, more...
Episode 55
The Original Vote; the Incomparable Elling; and Perpetual Baseball
As this country was being formed, the rule was if you owned land you could vote (unless, of course, more...
Episode 54
Humans: add problem-solving and corruption
In England, they've begun to eat grey squirrels and you'll find them on many restaurant menus. They're convinced more...
Episode 53
Spitzer's Socks and Barney Frank
Charles says, "My spouse and I recently stayed in the Washington DC Mayflower Hotel," made newly infamous by Elliot more...
Episode 52
It's Not the Day and the Time You Think It Is
What really drives Charles crazy is President's Day. "I hate President's Day," he says. "I like holidays more...
Episode 51
Sandy Koufax and Hospital Emergency Wards (no connection)
The first players who "held out together and got a lot more money," says Charles, "were Don Drysdale and more...
Episode 50
Plastic surgery; Days to Remember; and What do Women Like? (Depends on the Woman)
From what Dick has read, women tend to prefer older guys with a little gray at the temples and more...
Episode 49
Where Would We Be Without Baseball and Hockey?
Charles thinks George Steinbrenner is sleazy, but his sons aren't much better – particularly Hank. "Hank is just an more...
Episode 48
A Scoop of Vanilla and Hold the Nuts! (don't bother - they're here)
You never know where the conversation is going to go with Charles and Dick and this final program for more...
Episode 47
Women in Men's Locker Rooms and Champagne and Beer (not simultaneously)
In the sports world, the majority of men's locker rooms are still a bastion of chauvinism where female journalists more...
Episode 46
Immortality – Well, Almost
"What makes someone immortal?" Charles asks. No -- medical science hasn't come up with a potion, pill or more...
Episode 45
The Truly Historical 2008 Presidential Campaign
We don't have to wait for history to tell us that the outcome of the 2008 Presidential campaign was more...
Episode 44
The Campaign Media and 2008 Election Winners and Losers
The media loved McCain at the beginning of the Presidential campaign but the Obama campaign became "so much more more...
Episode 43
The 2008 Election (and, of course, there's always room for baseball)
Charles is a Yankees fan and Dick is a Mets fan, so naturally the conversation initially finds its way more...
Episode 42
Cheerleaders and . . . Vacuum Cleaners?
The first organized "cheer" was started by Thomas Peeples in 1884 at Princeton University. Of course, it was more...
Episode 41
Baseball and those Bizarre, Dubious Mascots
Charles loves baseball, especially the Yankees, but not so much its mascots. The Yankees briefly had a mascot more...
Episode 40
New York Times Crosswords to Art to Bubblegum: Do we digress?
Charles loves to do the New York Times Crosswords and he and his spouse work on them every day. more...
Episode 39
Politics, Politicians and Fred Korematsu
This election
Is rife with tension
Not to mention
Nasty more...
Episode 38
More Unusual Museums: by Popular Demand (hold on to your navel fluff)
Charles and Dick discuss their thoughts on a wide variety of unusual, bizarre and downright weird museums.
more...
Episode 37
Unusual Museums: Mustard Anyone?
There's a mushroom museum in this country – everything you've ever wanted to know about every kind of mushroom more...
Episode 36
Football, Models, Underwear, Shampoo – wait, wait, there's more
Charles used to follow football as a kid, but doesn't so much anymore. There used to be ten more...
Episode 35
Baseball and Raising Kids: both "hard to figure"
Charles is a Yankee fan. This should be clearly understood. "I was raised on Mickey Mantle," he more...
Episode 34
Rare Diseases and Old Inventions with a McCain Top-off
Charles remembers black and white television although he didn't watch much of it because he was "too busy reading". more...
Episode 33
A Little Hero Worship and Obscure VPs and Other Politicians
Charles had an epiphany, in 1974, when he first heard a recording of Stephen Sondheim's Company. "Everyone has more...
Episode 32
Fakes in the World of Wine
"Fakes are interesting," says Charles, and one of his favorite fakes were the bottles of wine that supposedly belonged more...
Episode 31
Fast Food, Baseball, and Baseball Fast Food
Charles – an egomaniac? No, no – his co-host is Dick Summer who, until now, chose to remain more...
Episode 30
Biased Food and Drug Testing, Eating Unusual "Food" and the Destruction of our Food Sources and the Wilderness
Charles reads medical journals in honor of his mother who wanted him to become a doctor. He says more...
Episode 29
Pegs, Nails, Rivets and Architecture (with a little Airplane Construction on the Side)
Wooden pegs held Noah's Ark together, and almost everything else until the 18th Century, even though nails were found more...
Episode 28
Plastic surgery: older than you think; Government incomes: lower than you think; Lobbyists: lower than you think; The census: older than you think
Surgery, including plastic surgery, began long before Alexander the Great and was essentially born out of war to remove more...
Episode 27
Egocentric Trial Lawyers, Gross Autopsies, Great Ella and that Hideous "Nip ‘n Tuck"
Charles finds the idea of going back to college appealing. "It would be fun to learn" in an more...
Episode 26
Take Me Out to a Ball Game, and Knowing When to Quit in Washington Politics
Charles doesn't eat Cracker Jacks, but he'll go to a Minor League baseball game. He just went to more...
Episode 25
Evolution and Airline / Airport Hell
The first question Charles would ask the Presidential candidates in the next debate is: "Do you believe in more...
Episode 24
A Struggling Wage in New York City
Any city that closes down for the night, "is not a city", Charles says. You have to have more...
Episode 23
It's All Irritating
Going out to eat has become a fiasco of body parts and absurdities. Cheeks and Sea Urchins are more...
Episode 22
A Range of Irritations
The Lone Ranger has always been Charles' "inspiration". And although he has never been on a horse, or more...
Episode 21
Haiti: Unnecessary Poverty and U.S. Medical Records: Necessary Privacy
"Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas," says Charles, "the most impoverished place in the world." Something more...
Episode 20
Not the Good Old Days: Charles as a Legal Aide Attorney
Charles began his legal career as a Legal Aid Attorney for the City of New York. Join him more...
Episode 19
Office Politics: Funny, Insane, Stressful
Office politics can be "fun to observe", Charles says, but not fun when you're part of them. Everyone more...
Episode 18
Personal Quirks, Rituals and Drinking Wine
Charles is a night person. Living in a large city, he finds it the quietest and "best time more...
Episode 17
Women in Politics, Race and the Brilliance of Barrack Obama
Of the recent media obtuseness regarding the décolletage of Hillary's dress, Charles says, "It astonishes me that she has more...
Episode 16
Females, Girls, Women, Ladies: 1943 Hiring Guidelines and the Confusion Now
In 1943, the July issue of Transportation Magazine published a list of guidelines for men who were hiring women. more...
Episode 15
A Hooker By Any Other Name
Charles lives next door to a building being used for, what some would refer to as, nefarious purposes: "professional" more...
Episode 14
Phony Family Values, Clean Water, Gone Forever? and the Devastation of PDSD
"Family values are phony values" says Charles, and "every politician who goes around for family values" it's preaching one more...
Episode 13
The Energy of (Sexual) Chemistry and the Chemistry of (Clean) Energy – Both Very Complicated
Humans are animals – literally. We're mammals. And although we try to rise above that natural connection, more...
Episode 12
Nixon, Lieberman, Nader - Phooey and "Ma, what's for supper?"
Bumper sticker: I thought I'd never miss Nixon. Although it made him laugh, seeing this reminded Charles more...
Episode 11
The Biggest Political Losers: Did someone say Bush?
When the President of the US is one of the biggest political losers in the history of the country, more...
Episode 10
Political Losers and More Political Losers
With the impending Presidential Election, Charles considers some politicians who don't quite make the grade: Joe Biden, Chris more...
Episode 9
Revolution to Abortion: The Fight for a Right
"What makes people revolutionaries? How does this affect the world today? And, which way is the weather blowing?" more...
Episode 8
The Civil Rights Bill, the Iraq War and being American
Charles talks about the "greatness" of Martin Luther King, Jr., the "terrific" political leadership of Lyndon Johnson (even if more...
Episode 7
Crime, Criminals and Appropriate Punishment
For several years, Charles was a criminal defense attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Manhattan. As a more...
Episode 6
Men's Toys, Baseball and Non-polluting Transportation
Charles, who has a basement full of "toys", reflects on his New York City childhood playing cookie-jar-lid Frisbee and more...
Episode 5
Planes, Trains and Automobiles in America
We used to be a country of innovation in transportation: the great railway connecting the East and West coasts more...
Episode 4
Bill, Hillary and …Stephen or Clinton, Clinton and Sondheim?
Holding a fundraiser with Bill Clinton as the guest speaker is something out of a Hollywood movie. The more...
Episode 3
The Supersizing of Our Stomachs
We're fat. Not over weight, not plump...we're FAT. And we're getting fatter. A blood sample of the Average Fast more...
Episode 2
Rudolph the Red Faced Mayor
These are some of Charles' tales of New York City...including the story of the bashful gym teacher, the current more...
Episode 1
Yesterday is Gone, Episode 1
Welcome to the first of what will probably be an endless parade of podcasts and blogs. This week's podcast more...