Billy Dees

Billy Dees sits down with George Fontes, host of the World Ablaze podcast, for a wide-ranging conversation about free speech, citizen journalism, politics, geopolitics, artificial intelligence, and the rapidly changing media landscape.Billy and George begin by discussing one of the frustrations facing independent podcasters and commentators: people reacting to headlines, titles, and short clips without actually listening to the conversation. They examine how shrinking attention spans, social media algorithms, and short-form content can take comments out of context and make meaningful discussion increasingly difficult.The conversation then turns to the controversy surrounding California's so-called Nick Shirley Act and the broader question of what qualifies someone as a journalist. Billy and George discuss citizen journalism, government accountability, the First Amendment, and whether independent investigators should have the same ability to ask questions and document public issues as journalists working for m