Drax Radio Hour Ends After Seven Years

 
Noted Second Life media personality Draxtor Despres is noted for many shows. Nowdays, he's known for hosting the Second Life Book Club, and the Second Life Destinations videos he does for Linden Lab. But there was one show he'd still been doing after over seven years and over 300 episodes: The Drax Files Radio Hour. But a few days ago on October 24, he aired a brief five minute episode announcing "This Is The End."

"I'd sad, but also relieved," he stated in the final show, saying his listenership for this particular show had dwindled to a tiny few, "It makes no sense to continue this podcast with this lack of interest. ... That's totally fine. ... It's a very saturated marketplace. And truth be told, I am extremely busy on other fronts that are very gratifying. People know that I come from radio. I love radio. I love the podcast medium. I love audio. But I also love making videos and profiling Second Life people. And I love making documentaries. ... We are very busy with an upcoming documentary about virtual cultures in Pandemic times ... I produce a minimum of about 140 videos per year for the official Second Life social. ... we're extremely productive. The podcast is just not catching on. I'm sorry, but there is enough media, enough stories, enough art, and reportage documentaries from yours truly. I think I'm overexposed as it is."

On the webpage, he would post the following:

My friends: I decided to end this podcast. we started way back in 2014, shortly before Ebbe Altberg came in. We had over 2000 listeners per week. We are down to 9!

I don’t mind. I am happy that i can cancel myself in fact because we churn out over 150 videos with second life stories per year, not counting the feature length work.

That should be enough should it not? listen to my short announcement and tell me what you think. Thank you for making my second life awesome every day!

The Drax Files Radio Hour first aired on Friday January 10, 2014. At first he did the show with Jo Yardley, best known for her "1920s Berlin Project." The first few episodes would go into topics like supposed NSA investigations of Second Life, other platforms such as High Fidelity and Cloud Party, and the resignation of then CEO of Linden Lab Rod Humble. More recent episodes were about subjects of Second Life Book Club airings. The second to last episode, Show 320, aired on August 16. So the Radio Hour had been on hold for a while.

For those wanting to keep in touch with Draxtor, "Befriend me inworld, join the book club, ... follow me on Twitter." One can also email him at draxtor@draxtor.com, or madeinsl@draxtor.com if there's a story about Second Life to tell

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Political Update: "Avatars Aganst Trump," Conservative Podcast Goes on Hiatus

It's been a little over a month since the new President's inauguration. But political discussion in Second Life has still been going on. Some residents would rather have nothing to do with politics and it's "poo-flinging shrieking monkeys" to paraphrase one. For others, however, it remains a hot topic.

"Avatars Against Trump," a Flickr group, invites Second Life photographers "to express their opposition to Trump and his policies in screenshots and machinima. ... Get creative, get angry, get ridiculous with in-game signs, sculptures, satire, and more!" As of the writing of this article, various people have submitted over 140 screenshots. Many were dark and humorless pictures, calling for resistance. Adolf Chapman in contrast had an amusing one inspired by a news article about an upcoming cartoon movie, poking fun at Trump's idea of a border wall.

Earlier this week in the Second Life Republicans group, some of whom gather to listen to the "Front Porch Political Talk" conservative podcast, there was an announcement by Hatton Humphrey, known in Second Life as Hatton Hunghi. He was putting his podcast on hiatus.

Those are very difficult words for me to write but I have to. For a number of different reasons the show has, for the moment, run its course. We have always had the goal to provide insight and information from different perspectives and on different issues. The current media and political climate makes achieving that goal week in and week out neigh on impossible. The arguments are repeating themselves and if we continue on the path we're on it turns into either an echo chamber or a broken clock.

Hatton thanked his listeners for their support over the years, his show having gone on since 2007. He expressed his hope to "restart the show some time in the future." He reminded that the show's Facebook page was still up for people to leave comments.

Bixyl Shuftan

Second Life Republicans Podcast Meeting

It's been a wild election year, in real life as well as Second Life. Of those inworld who declared their support for the the conservatives, the most visible this year were the Trump Organization, which ended up getting in trouble. But there is another group: the Second Life Republicans, which gather to discuss the topics of a regular podcast hosted by Hatton Hunghi. Second Life Newser dropped in to have a listen, then have a few words with Hatton.

Read more in People.

An Interview with Hatton Hunghi (Hatton Humphrey), Talk Show/Podcast Host

With the US Presidential season in the news, some are turning to talk shows as a source of information, or a soapbox to speak their minds for a few minutes. While on the radio, they can be found in Second Life. One such show is East Coast Conservative, co-hosted by Hatton Humphrey, known on the Grid by his avatar Hatton Hunghi. Recently, he and I sat down for an interview, in which he talked about his show, and its current new location.

Read more in People.