Merlin The Duck

Merlin The Duck

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1759881/fan_mail/new] We bounce from everyday check-ins to big headlines, mixing weather, internet oddities, and practical safety stories with our usual skeptical curiosity. We track earthquakes and solar activity, question how news gets framed, and end on the surprising history of a simple white line that changed how people drive at night.  • value-for-value podcasting and keeping the show free and open  • experimenting with cartoon-style YouTube Shorts and TikTok clips  • weather snapshots across London, Mount Vernon, Spokane, and Phoenix  • a reflection pause with the tone segment  • Merlin the Duck as a viral World Cup mascot story  • earthquake totals, ring of fire notes, and a quick solar flare update  • CERN shutdown rumors, social media claims, and how belief spreads online  • dinosaur fossil reporting from Antarctica and why we push for clearer evidence  • the Wall Street Journal story on the white road edge line and road safety impact  Support the show [https://theuglyquackingduck.com/support-our-podcast/]  I hope you enjoy the show!  If you find value in our show, 1. Pray for us! Send Us Positive vibes. 2. Come back, and tell a friend. Sharing the podcast with someone is a very good way for us to grow. 3. Contact Us. Email: theuglyquackingduck@gmail.com.  4. Send Us Fan Mail: Under our description on any podcast player you will find a link you can text us or record a message. Leave a voice message: Just letting us know you are out there listening is a big boost! 5. Help us with ideas, technology, art work, etc.  6. Support us financially. The equipment, the Podcast hosting, the web page all costs Anyway you can support us is very much appreciated! Thank You. Until Next time. 73 and may the Father's love go with you. Bruce   Email:          theuglyquackingduck@gmail.com Website:     https://theuglyquackingduck.com/

We Are Going To The Store

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1759881/fan_mail/new] We lose a full recording, hit record again, and turn the do-over into a reminder to step away from the daily noise and look for something good. We share a strange floating store art piece in Toronto, track World Cup news and streaming crackdowns, and end with weather, earthquakes, space weather, and a NASA rescue plan that raises eyebrows.  • the second-time recording mishap and why we laugh through it  • a fully stocked floating convenience store sculpture in Toronto’s harbor and how it’s built to float  • World Cup knockout rounds and the emotions of sudden elimination  • a short “tone” moment to pause and think about something pleasant  • the DOJ seizure of nearly 400 illegal World Cup streaming sites and what feels odd about the story  • quick weather readings across the US and around the world including air quality and UV index  • seven-day earthquake rundown and a reminder to pray for affected places  • solar flare and CME talk with a possible July 4 aurora window  • NASA’s $30 million plan to boost a doomed space telescope back to a safer orbit  Support the show [https://theuglyquackingduck.com/support-our-podcast/]  I hope you enjoy the show!  If you find value in our show, 1. Pray for us! Send Us Positive vibes. 2. Come back, and tell a friend. Sharing the podcast with someone is a very good way for us to grow. 3. Contact Us. Email: theuglyquackingduck@gmail.com.  4. Send Us Fan Mail: Under our description on any podcast player you will find a link you can text us or record a message. Leave a voice message: Just letting us know you are out there listening is a big boost! 5. Help us with ideas, technology, art work, etc.  6. Support us financially. The equipment, the Podcast hosting, the web page all costs Anyway you can support us is very much appreciated! Thank You. Until Next time. 73 and may the Father's love go with you. Bruce   Email:          theuglyquackingduck@gmail.com Website:     https://theuglyquackingduck.com/

Done Hot Over There In Europe!

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1759881/fan_mail/new] Two massive earthquakes, less than a minute apart, force a question most of us would rather avoid: how do you even describe disaster at that scale without turning it into background noise? We talk through the Venezuela double quake, what 7.0+ really implies for buildings and lives, and why hearing the news after the fact doesn’t make the suffering any less real. We slow down long enough to name the grief, the missing, and the long recovery that follows headlines. From there, we get practical and a little nerdy. We share how we’re tracking earthquakes daily instead of only doing a seven day report, and why counting 6.0+ events helps us notice when a week turns unusually intense. That leads to a bigger curiosity: is there a pattern worth watching? We don’t pretend to be scientists, but we do log solar wind, sunspots, and other space weather signals as a way to learn, stay consistent, and resist the temptation to jump to conclusions. Then we pivot to hope and everyday life. We test a new Audacity beta while recording, swap thoughts on the World Cup and the surprisingly human way it can cut through stereotypes, and even get into why some soccer players cut holes in their socks. We also cover the Europe heat wave, local tornado damage in Illinois, and a record number of tornadoes this year. We close with a simple reminder: when you hear the tone, look around and grab the moment you’re in. If this mix of real world news, curiosity, and grounding helps you, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review. What part of the conversation hit you the hardest or gave you the most hope? Support the show [https://theuglyquackingduck.com/support-our-podcast/]  I hope you enjoy the show!  If you find value in our show, 1. Pray for us! Send Us Positive vibes. 2. Come back, and tell a friend. Sharing the podcast with someone is a very good way for us to grow. 3. Contact Us. Email: theuglyquackingduck@gmail.com.  4. Send Us Fan Mail: Under our description on any podcast player you will find a link you can text us or record a message. Leave a voice message: Just letting us know you are out there listening is a big boost! 5. Help us with ideas, technology, art work, etc.  6. Support us financially. The equipment, the Podcast hosting, the web page all costs Anyway you can support us is very much appreciated! Thank You. Until Next time. 73 and may the Father's love go with you. Bruce   Email:          theuglyquackingduck@gmail.com Website:     https://theuglyquackingduck.com/

Hey Ho Off To The Studio We Go

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1759881/fan_mail/new] The weather outside feels like a warning sign, and we start right there: heat in the studio, storms pushing across the Midwest, and a quick check on tornado alerts before we zoom out to a whirlwind world weather roundup. We call out conditions from Spokane to Phoenix, Moscow, Tokyo, Beijing, the Australian Plains, and back home near Mount Vernon, Illinois, because sometimes the fastest way to feel the moment we’re living in is to name it out loud. Then we make a hard turn into a bigger question that won’t leave us alone: just because we can change biology, should we? We revisit a set of movies that all orbit gene editing and human modification, then connect that fictional warning to real headlines like human embryo editing, anti-aging gene therapy trials that aim to make cells “young” again, and even genetically modified hookworms engineered to deliver therapeutics inside a living host. It’s equal parts fascinating and unsettling, and we try to keep the focus on long-term consequences, unintended effects, and basic ethics. We also bring it back home to the parts of health that don’t require a lab: faith, prayer, positive living, eating better, and staying physically active. Along the way we share updates to uglyquackingduck.com, drop a dad joke, and run our seven-day earthquake report. If you got something out of this, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave us a review so more people can find the flock. What’s your line in the sand when it comes to gene editing and “anti-aging” science? Support the show [https://theuglyquackingduck.com/support-our-podcast/]  I hope you enjoy the show!  If you find value in our show, 1. Pray for us! Send Us Positive vibes. 2. Come back, and tell a friend. Sharing the podcast with someone is a very good way for us to grow. 3. Contact Us. Email: theuglyquackingduck@gmail.com.  4. Send Us Fan Mail: Under our description on any podcast player you will find a link you can text us or record a message. Leave a voice message: Just letting us know you are out there listening is a big boost! 5. Help us with ideas, technology, art work, etc.  6. Support us financially. The equipment, the Podcast hosting, the web page all costs Anyway you can support us is very much appreciated! Thank You. Until Next time. 73 and may the Father's love go with you. Bruce   Email:          theuglyquackingduck@gmail.com Website:     https://theuglyquackingduck.com/

Somebody Left The Heat On

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1759881/fan_mail/new] Somebody left the heat on in the Midwest, and we’re feeling every degree of it. We start with the kind of summer heat wave that messes with your sleep, forces the air conditioner decision, and makes you stare at the electric bill like it’s a personal betrayal. Then we lighten it up with a “supposedly accurate” weather tour that lets you compare your day to places like Beijing, Moscow, the Australian Plains, Phoenix, Spokane, Tokyo, and our own backyard in Southern Illinois complete with humidity, UV index, wind, visibility, and air quality. The mood turns when we talk about severe storms and outages up north, and we share a quick note for soccer fans about the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026 schedule and the unique North America hosting setup. After that, we shift into an earthquake report with weekly totals and the sobering reality of major quakes, including a 7.8 earthquake near the Philippines, the tsunami warning, and what it’s like to watch aftershocks stack up when people are already shaken and vulnerable. One of the hardest parts is admitting it out loud: earthquake warnings still aren’t where they need to be, and that gap costs real people real safety. We close with the question that ties a surprising list of sci-fi movies together from Gattaca to Wrath Of Khan: genetic modification. CRISPR gene editing isn’t just a plot device anymore, and headlines about embryo genome editing raise the same moral dilemma those stories keep shouting at us: just because we can, should we. If you care about heat waves, disaster news, earthquake preparedness, bioethics, and where genetic engineering might lead, you’ll find plenty to wrestle with here. Subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review if our mix of curiosity, faith, and oddball reporting gives you something to think about. Support the show [https://theuglyquackingduck.com/support-our-podcast/]  I hope you enjoy the show!  If you find value in our show, 1. Pray for us! Send Us Positive vibes. 2. Come back, and tell a friend. Sharing the podcast with someone is a very good way for us to grow. 3. Contact Us. Email: theuglyquackingduck@gmail.com.  4. Send Us Fan Mail: Under our description on any podcast player you will find a link you can text us or record a message. Leave a voice message: Just letting us know you are out there listening is a big boost! 5. Help us with ideas, technology, art work, etc.  6. Support us financially. The equipment, the Podcast hosting, the web page all costs Anyway you can support us is very much appreciated! Thank You. Until Next time. 73 and may the Father's love go with you. Bruce   Email:          theuglyquackingduck@gmail.com Website:     https://theuglyquackingduck.com/