The Midnight Citizen 230: "The Babbitt"

Join Mike in the studio late on a Saturday night…Where he burns a bourbon-whisky scented candle he made, and wonders when the American “boy” becomes the American “man”. Perhaps it’s when he gets his first Boy Scout Handbook? Or maybe when he finds out the Boy Scouts are a sham? Also: memories of the Boy Scouts (all I got from it was a first place medal for the Pinewood Derby, a competition I cheated at); why I quit the Boy Scouts of America; the “manly” art of chandlery (candle making); Mancaves, and the modern obsession with being a “man” in the Teddy Roosevelt/Ernest Hemingway-sense; Sinclair Lewis’s Babbitt novel explored the notions of the American man as a role and facade; Music Break*; the waning days of summer; announcement this week that my 20 year high school reunion will be held in September, but I probably won’t go; signs of aging; a trip to the Video Street Video Store**; another Criterion haul from the Barnes and Noble (Medium Cool, Salesman -- both 1969). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mikesbonfire.substack.com