Summer Short: Don't Page Me Bro!

What the HELL Were You Thinking?

Show Notes Summer Short: “Don’t Page Me, Bro!”

This week Host Dave Bledsoe slaps an old beeper he found in a box in the basement on the bar and asks if “doctors drank for free” (They don’t and he isn’t one.) On the show this week we are doing a Summer Short about that time in the late 80’s when every kid with the beeper in America was slinging smack. (They weren’t and it was racist moral panic thing.)

Along the way we learn about the Worst Summer of Dave’s Life. (He couldn’t drink for a couple of weeks.) Then we dive into the story with the “411” on pagers (but just the basics, this IS a Summer Short) before getting to the meat of the story: how beepers became synonymous with the drug trade. (Was the media involved? You already know the answer!) We then chart the progress from school suspension to felony beeper possession in America’s schools. (Fuck, White People were so scared of Black kids!) We see the fever break thanks to Howard Stern. (We are not making this up) and of course millions of dollars spent by corporations.

Our Sponsor this week is Beeper City, your one and pretty much only stop, for all your beeper needs. We open with all the reasons your dad should buy you a beeper and close with Sir Mix A Lot beep beep beeping along.

Show Theme: Hypnostate Prelude to Common Sense

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Closing Music: https://youtu.be/MPZ3cO2zOdQ?si=QGWS2v3qCOZs7mQv

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Citations Needed:

MESSAGE IS OUT ON BEEPERS

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1988/07/11/message-is-out-on-beepers/58840caa-523e-413b-9224-60ad94d7803f/

Street Smart: Drug dealers turn on to beepers

https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,962483,00.html

Schools Silencing Beepers

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-and-observer/143472926/

The Forgotten War on Beepers

https://newsletter.pessimistsarchive.org/p/the-forgotten-war-on-beepers

BEEPER BAN IN SCHOOLS URGED

https://www.chicagotribune.com/1988/11/30/beeper-ban-in-schools-urged/

Bad News Beepers

https://tedium.co/2023/06/07/pager-schools-negative-reputation-history/

'Cockroaches of the healthcare system': Why many physicians still use pagers

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/cockroaches-of-the-healthcare-system-why-many-physicians-still-use-pagers.html

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