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CTP (S3EOctSpecial13) Chasing Meaning Beyond The Byline

• Joseph M. Lenard | Christian Activist & Author in Politics • Season 3

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CTP (S3EOctSpecial13) Chasing Meaning Beyond The Byline
[BOOKS / AUTHORS Weeks - Week 3 sub-episode 1 (Mon. 20251027)]
We sit down with longtime sports columnist Patrick Sangimino to talk about his novel Dogs Chase Cars and how a career can eclipse the people who matter. We dig into newspapers’ decline, the rise of paywalls and clicks, and why relationships must come first.
• golden age of newspapers contrasted with today’s thin print and paywalls
• layoffs, consolidation and the shifting business model of local news
• title origin as a metaphor for chasing success without purpose
• relationships strained by ambition and the cost of neglect
• journalism standards versus social engagement metrics
• hashtags, discoverability and the difference between reporting and verification
• adapting to technology without losing craft and values
• editing, titling and practical tips for new authors
• where to find Patrick online and how to follow his work  http://PatrickSangimino.com  


A Short Story: A Lasting Legacy? book Trailer

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SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Institutionalist Politics Podcast, aka C T P. I am your host, Joseph M. Leonard, and that's L-E-N-A-R-D. C T P is your no must, no fuss, just me, you, and occasional guest type podcast. Really appreciate you tuning in. Graham Norton will say, let's get on with the show. Hello everyone. Welcome to Books Authors Weeks. October of 2025. I had Health Weeks in February of 2025. I had a Music Weeks, three of those in the month of March 2025. So here we are October. I have a lot of fellow authors I have the chance to have discussions with. So Books, Authors, Weeks, October 25. Without further ado, let's head into a discussion with a fellow author. Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of Pristitutionalist Podcast. Welcome me today. I'm going to say the name slowly, so hopefully, even though I'll before I hit record, I tried to get the pronunciation all right. We'll see. Patrick San Gemino.

SPEAKER_00:

Very nice. Well done.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. The G sounds like a J. Yeah, then. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Soft G, yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Okay. And of course, if you're viewing behind the scenes video, BitChute, Brighty on Daily Motion in France, Rumble, YouTube, I'll put it at the bottom of the screen so you won't have to figure it out. And for the benefit of the audio andor the transcript, those reading, it's Patrick, as you would expect. S-A-N-G-I-M-I-N-O. So I'm just gonna say Patrick from now on, so I don't screw it up. Just don't call me late for dinner, right? Here's the saying goes exactly. So I got the write-up from Mickey. Dogs chase cars. I like that. Dogs chase cars details the details. Here we go. Again, I hit record and the mouth don't cooperate. Details the downturn in the newspaper industry through the eyes of a longtime Kansas City sports columnists. I like that. But before we get into the book, let's back this truck up.

unknown:

Beep, beep, beep.

SPEAKER_01:

Where were you born? Where were you raised? Where are you now?

SPEAKER_00:

I'm California native. Um I was raised in California. I moved to the Midwest. Whereas a sports writer for a lot of years. And um I have recently retired and I moved back to California to be closer to family.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, that makes sense. Hence the Kansas City sports columnist connection in this book.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, sir. You put one and one together.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Like I say in my how to write a book and get it published, hints, tips, and technique book. Write about what you know. Just fictionalize everything, but write about what you know. Yes. Absolutely. So dogs chase cars. What was Christian? So so get ready. The pun coming, right? The genesis for this project.

SPEAKER_00:

The genesis for the title or the genesis for the book itself?

SPEAKER_01:

Both. Go with whatever you wish first.

SPEAKER_00:

So for the book itself, the book itself, um, I think you I think most people can recognize that you pick up a newspaper nowadays and it's not what it used to be. It's a lot more expensive, it's smaller.

SPEAKER_01:

It's pretty thin, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

But it used to be, I I grew up in a time in the industry when when it was such a um a um just uh the daily routine. It was a wonderful time to be in the in the industry. And I was in what I consider to be the golden age of newspapers, you know, the the the the 80s, the 90s, and things started to change a little bit with the advent of the internet, and then kind of watched a few of my friends get get um swept up in these mass layoffs, really good journalists, and I thought And what AI gonna do to all this? Yes, yes, excuse me, and then it became what happens if you know what would I do if this happened to me, and it became this seed for a book, and here I was, you know, all of a sudden this guy's driving to work one day, and he's been in the same job for 32 years, uh, first as a sports writer and then as a sports columnist, and um he's driving to work expecting to be the latest uh casualty to mass layoff. So you you're uh you're watching this guy. Well, he's driving to work and he's and he's flashing back.

SPEAKER_01:

Don't give too many spoilers. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

But he but he um it kind of flashes back to the relationships he's had, how he got to where he was, some of the sports stories he's covered, but mainly the relationships and you know the uh the coincidences and the the god winks of of what brought him to this this place. You know, I'm firm firm believer in godwinks and and uh and the messages passed on by people because that's the way life is. And the title? So here we are. Um he gets to the end of life and he realizes or he gets to the end of his career, and he realizes not only is his career over, but all of those relationships that he kind of put on the back burner to to uh at the expense of his career.

SPEAKER_01:

Wasted uh lost, yep.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, so it's a it's a cautionary tale on um the the balance between home and work life, but also a a just a story of how you need to embrace the people around you every day, tell them you love them and tell them.

SPEAKER_01:

I thought maybe yeah, I thought maybe the title is you were answering the proverbial question dogs chase cars. What happens when they catch one?

SPEAKER_00:

The story, that story started in high school, and I was um I was kind of talking to a girl. I was trying to make some time with a girl. I was seeing her in high school, and uh uh the bell rang. I was late for class, and it was right across the hall, and the teacher was watching me, and I was like, there's no way I'm gonna get to class right now. I'm making time with this girl. So I finally went to class and and teacher looks at me and I said, sorry I'm late. I was talking to someone, and he said, Dogs chase cars, but they can't drive them. And I was probably a little too um young at that time, yeah. Yeah, ignorant to realize what that meant, that he was just throwing the ultimate rip on me. And um, but it became this metaphor for life. What happens when you're you you're uh you chase the the car and you catch it? Do you know what to do? What happens when you get the girl? Do you know how to keep her? What happens when you're chasing a story? Do you know what comes next? Everything. Yeah, life.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. I was gonna say these, all these metaphorical things, though. I like to joke. I'm far too clever an author for metaphors. I use meta sixes, pum pum. That's funny. Yeah, uh, I think it's clever, but I'm easily amused. And you mentioned high school. I took journalism in high school. I wrote for the school paper, and like the school paper of then is thicker than some of the newspapers of today.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, exactly. Yeah, and uh that newspaper doesn't cost a quarter anymore.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, just the uh uh the ink and the paper and factoring in the distribution costs. That's why a lot of them are downsizing staff, but trying to expand content online behind a paywall uh model, yes?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, but you've you've asked your customers, and I think I think customer service in every industry is is failing just because people have had to make um make these concessions. Uh companies have had to make concessions to make ends meet. So you've got fewer people um doing the job, and you're asking people to pay more for getting less.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, I have customer service. I've recently, I I think both in this month did two CTP video exclusives on customer service with a lack thereof.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's an oxymoron in a lot of ways, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's like uh one of the uh running into issues with daily motion. One of my five video outlets is like, do you have anyone who actually looks at the error logs rather than begging, have I tried this? Have I? Yes, I've tried all that. How about you actually go look at the error logs and see what the real problem is? Find somebody to fix it, because of course, on my side, being a former IT guy, I know bad programming from some people, rightfully fired for their bad programming over the years. They just throw out the same generic, oh, we're having a problem. Try back later, air mess. That doesn't tell me what the problem is or how to fix it at all. Look in the logs, what was the real problem? How do we fix it? And obviously, the frontline customer service people are just to beg off to others uh who will actually look at it and fix it. You're no help, pass me on.

SPEAKER_00:

And it's something I'm talking something so simple as I didn't get my paper this morning. And it you call you call the number that they give you now, and and or now they want you to go online and and do it, but but um you get a call center that's not even in the town you're in.

SPEAKER_01:

Not even in the country, and most likely.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so it's so we've created this really weird um system where customer service is not really customer service, and you feel just gypped by it, but the company's saving lots of money because rather than having two or three people in every office for every paper they own, they have one call center with a hundred people there, and it could be in a foreign country, like you said.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, but are they really saving money with all the customers they wind up losing? Right? So indeed, right? I didn't get my paper. This is real simple. If you're at a place that can actually help, look in the computer, who is my delivery person? Get them on the phone, find out why I didn't get a paper. This isn't rocket science, but yet, and does it save money if I've got to go through 10 people to get to the actual person who can look that up?

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. You know, and and I talked about the golden age. I remember when I first got into the the industry, somebody called and didn't get a paper, and somehow that call got to the newsroom. I remember getting in my car and going delivering it myself. You know, the that that's customer service right there. Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Amen. Amen. I I don't want to keep going down this road though, or I'll rant and rave for three hours about it.

SPEAKER_00:

That's the um that is the um what we've we we're reaping what we sowed, and and a lot of it has to do with with technology and and and what it's done. And uh technology has been great in many ways. You were in the IT industry, you understand the the uh the benefits of it, but for for all of the um the uh the benefits, there are two or three really bad things. I remember when direct deposit became a big deal. And and oh the banks are gonna all close. Yes. But try to go to your but try to go to your bank right now, and and um when you have a problem, they don't know who you are. I always like knowing who the people taking care of my money are.

SPEAKER_01:

That's why I go to my local branch. I for now, somewhat small operation, and that's why credit unions do so well. Far more personable.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, you you just want to know that you want them to know who you are, so when you have a problem, it's gonna get taken care of. That part of society is gone now, and and that's a shame.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I'm gonna make myself a note here. I'm gonna I just doxed my bank. I will obviously that out. There you go. You be careful with that, exactly and yeah, and former IT guy, right? It's ask people at the time that were buggy makers, right? About the automobile. You either adapted to making bodies that could work in a propelled buggy, or you went by the wayside. Every new thing, as you alluded, there are good things and bad things in them.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and yeah, do you still own a buggy whip? Or did you ever own a buggy whip?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, me personally, no. Yeah, exactly. But yeah, that's why I use the buggy as the better example because buggies could translate to self-propelled buggy operations.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. But no, I mean the world changes and we and we adapt. You know, when when um when the eight-track went away, we didn't stop listening to music, and and that's what's going on with the newspaper industry right now. We're uh we're we're just kind of reinventing ourselves. But the problem is that um by by putting it behind a paywall online, you're asking people who once got this product for free online to suddenly pay for it, and that's the problem. Um, now I understand that that news costs money. You know, the the producing news costs money, the people doing the job.

SPEAKER_01:

But yeah, the collection of it, the aggregating it, how to most succinctly deliver it in word form. Yeah, that all takes time, that all takes people, that means money, and with social media, people, oh, I just you know, get my and they don't want details matter. I rant and rave about this all the time, right? Details matter. That's why I try to keep the shows to around 30 minutes, the Twitter attention span, tick tock. Not everything can be explained in 30 seconds on a TikTok. Details matter, people.

SPEAKER_00:

Agreed. So yeah, the the newspaper industry is just reinventing itself right now, and and it's going to it's going through some hard times right now. And sadly, it's just not what it used to be.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Uh again, like as we discussed, the buggies. You either adapted to a buggy that can work in a self-propelled environment, or you died, everything comes a point, adapt or die.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Um, you know, I chose the newspaper industry to write this story as a vehicle because it's what I have expertise in. You could have chosen any industry, and all of them are going through their uh adaptation to technology. Meanwhile, I think the story is far more about the relationships you uh that that are that are meaningful in life and how it is important to keep those things going. There's there's a wonderful relationship to a relationship between a man and his father, and how he really didn't appreciate it until the father died.

SPEAKER_01:

And there's there's a story of a man who that brings to mind the uh Mike and the mechanics song in the living years, right?

SPEAKER_00:

The living years, great song. But you also realize um, you know, when when your job, this is everything you've ever wanted. Putting someone on the back burner, putting a a marriage on the back burner for a job, and all of a sudden waking up and realizing the job. Excuse me, the job is just a job. The the person, your soulmate, supposedly, is now gone. But yeah, and now the job's gone.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, just before recording with you, I was speaking with Jeffrey H. Haskell, uh, also, uh, and you both are associated with Mickey Mickelson. Uh, and we were talking similar things, human nature hasn't really changed it creeps and props up over and over all through time. We're talking human condition, not exactly the same, but adapting or dying is the same thing through the centuries, just slightly different situations, but human condition remains the same, yes?

SPEAKER_00:

You have a choice in all of this, and it's putting the people uh the people matter, and putting them first has to be a priority.

SPEAKER_01:

Is this your first book?

SPEAKER_00:

It was my first book. And others in development? There's another one in development, yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh don't give up title, never give up. Create a working title. Do you have a working title? You can see. I don't have a working title yet.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, Dogs Chase Cars was the last part of the uh I I had written this book and I was pretty satisfied with it, and then it went through the editing process, and I realized I had a lot of work to do to go, and um, and we've reworked a lot of it. My editor was um was really good, and um um Steven Perlone in in um in Colorado Springs, really good uh editor. Anyway, he um he he guided me through this whole thing, but the one thing we didn't have was a title, and then all of a sudden that one dawned on me. That was the last thing I wrote for this book was the title.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, in my how to write a book and get it published, it's tips and techniques. I always say never give out your title, always have some like the book of Kennedy Project Carpe Diem was the working title, it became the subtitle to the Book of Kennedy Project Carpe D. Never give away your title because someone might steal it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I I was trying to come up with some um kitschy little um newspaper slang term, and then all of a sudden I was just realizing that was way too inside baseball, and I I um um it just nothing worked, nothing felt natural or authentic. And and uh dogs chase cars. When I first came up with it, I was like, no, that's horrible. But the more I the more I uh kind of tried it on, the better it felt. And now I'm very happy with the name of that.

SPEAKER_01:

I yeah, and it's great when you can factor in an old adage or phrase like that, like I did Project Carpe Diem, right? Seize the day, dogs chase cars. Uh most people that are at least older than 35 and have had any real schooling of any kind at all will be familiar with the concept, at least, uh to try to draw people in, yes?

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely, yeah. Anybody who's seen the Dead Poet Society would know what carpet. There you go.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I'm trying to think, I'm sure dogs chase cars in some uh vestige, some variation has been in classic TV or movie somewhere too, that even younger people, you know, it's like, oh, that's an old phrase, that it's been introduced somewhere in some way or form to them. I hope I can't think of an example offhand.

SPEAKER_00:

We can't either, and and you know, I I am not so naive to believe that my my high school English teacher was the one who came up with that because while while he was a smart man, I don't think he was a brilliant man. So we'll cut that out in case he's watching. No, he hope he hears it. Bill Curran, I hope you're you're alive for this.

SPEAKER_01:

So uh right, yeah. I I think to me back to many of my teachers indeed, uh standing on the shoulders of all who came before, as an adage comes to mind, right? As me, I'm far from brilliant, I'm far from being a genius. Uh, I come up with some creative new things, but a lot of it is a variation on a prior theme, building on standing on the shoulders of those who came before, yes?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, you and and most great ideas are just that. Most most inventions today started with something before it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, something in some way, shape, or form. It's why invented the term and trademarked constitutionalist, the left, right, Democrat, Republican. Anyone hears liberal conservative automatically usually engages an emotional hysteric rather than a logic, reasoned, thoughtful, considered response. So I wanted a new term. You're either Christian or you're not, and you understand the Judeo-Christian foundations, or you don't, and why I'm here to try to educate on that.

SPEAKER_00:

I agree.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, well, as I said, today's Twitter attention span short is better, right? But details matter. So, website where people can get more details about the book and about you.

SPEAKER_00:

I do have a Twitter handle and and uh uh and it's P San Gemino, S-A-N-G-I-M-I-N-O. Peace as in peace sign? No, just a P as in Patrick.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, oh, P as in Patrick. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I am not nearly created enough to come up with P San Gemino. That would be that would if I had to do it over again, I probably would. But um my website address is patricksangiomino at uh.com. Um my Instagram is Patrick Sangiomino. Um that's about it. You can probably find me on Facebook as well, but at PatSangi. But you can track me down, I'm sure. A quick Google and you'll find me.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, well, I shall want to get into that either, but uh I'm shadow banned on most of Google. I've been writing articles as an IT guy before there was such a thing as an internet to put things online, right? So, but yet somehow, five decades of writings, Google pretends doesn't exist. They don't censor my books because that would be screwing with Bezos' money and all the ad revenue they give them, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. No, it's interesting because you know, we talk about Twitter and and uh, or if you want to call it X, whatever you want to call it, um, and and how much it has changed the journalism world. And you know, it's it's everyone has a platform now, and that's a scary thing. You know, most people most people deserve to be able to, well, everybody deserves to be able to voice their opinion. It's the world we live in, it's the it's the country we live in. I believe in free speech. But just because you have an opinion, uh, the right to an opinion doesn't mean you should share your opinion on everything. And and we live in a world right now where everybody does.

SPEAKER_01:

Without fact, yeah. You is you were going where I was going next. Yes, you have a right to an opinion, but it matters if your opinion is based on the real world or unicorn fart delusions, exactly.

SPEAKER_00:

And and and the one thing people mistake uh uh uh there's a lot of people who call themselves journalists who don't do the actual reporting and the investigating of stories. And and uh and that's where the that's where things get really tricky is you gotta do the work.

SPEAKER_01:

The writing part is the there's a big difference between a journalist and a re anyone can be a reporter, walk up to John Doe, John Doe says X. Well, that's reporting. He said it, it doesn't mean it's true. Did you check? That's what makes a journalist checking facts. And John Doe is full of shit when he says X, because you know, uh, it isn't pink, it's purple, or whatever, right? Uh uh again, that unicorn fart delusion. Well, this is what I would prefer reality to be. Well, no, no, reality is reality. Whether you like it or not, it is the reality that has to be dealt in, not your delusion and complete fantasy. And you had mentioned Google, but uh as an IT guy, I mean uh Twitter changed Google because Google uh used to engage in or the internet was based around keywords. Well, they completely it still is, but hashtags are the keywords now, uh whether real or imagined. LO hashtag LOL is a valid keyword now because it's a hashtag often use, right? So uh I get people who complain I use too many hashtags, including in my books a couple of places, I will use a hashtag you know phrase there. That's how the internet works, people. I've IT, I know how it works. You use hashtags, you get unless if Google's shadow banning you, you get better cross-referencing. That's the way the internet works now, and you know, people outside don't know or don't understand that.

SPEAKER_00:

It's a uh different world, and and it it also shows how um, you know, as a longtime journalist who wrote in complete sentences and and complete words, I mean, we're not good at Twitter. We're we just uh we have had to adjust to this and and make uh make make do. Meanwhile, these young journalists are coming up and they can't write a complete sentence, they can't spell, they can't do anything, but they are amazing on Twitter, and they're getting all the clicks, and you know, they can't write. So it's it's interesting. So it's it's what has become what do we consider to be good journalism right now? Is it the one that whether there's great reporting and great writing, or is it the one that's getting the most clicks? And we've often um confused the um the number of likes and number of of clicks to how good a story is, and therein lies the problem.

SPEAKER_01:

Back to customer service. It's uh customer service, the measure like I used to work for Kmart headquarters, right? The measure of a good cashier, they want to measure on how quickly can they scan and get a customer out the door. Well, that's one definition. Frankly, that's a bad definition. Now, if there's a thousand people in the store, yes, you want them to shut up and scan the crap out of everything and get customers out the door. But if it's slow, the measurement of that cashier needs to be how personable are they? And the clicks per minute don't tell you anything about that, whether they help bring a customer back because they talked about the weather, they cared about their day, they shared a smile. The computer can't tell you that.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. No, you're absolutely right. It's it's um our our metrics now are just skewed by by this new engagement that that makes no sense in terms of um the actual product you're producing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Wrapping things up. Thank you, Patrick Sanjamino. The G sounds like a J. I got it. You got it, you got it for coming on, appreciate it. Take care, God bless. Appreciate you. For tuning in to books. There will be several different books, authors, several different authors, books, authors, weeks for October of 2025. And remember, you can check out my books at josephmleonard.us shop. And again, Joseph M. Leonard, it looks French, it's French, it's not Lennard, it's Leonard without an O, and I have to put the middle initial in there because there is a Joseph Lennard, who is also a Christian author out of South Carolina, so I have to make that distinction. And going in line with books author's weeks, I've joked as guests on other shows. I am not he, he is not me, and neither of us will be confused for Shakespeare. And frankly, most writers out there are not going to be confused for Shakespeare. They're not trying to be. There might be a few that, you know, looking for that Renaissance era feel, but hey, it's a new millennia, people. Right? This is the here and now. It isn't Shakespearean Renaissance area. If you're looking for Shakespeare, reread Shakespeare. Take care, God bless, love you all. Like and subscribe to Christitutionalist Politics Podcast and Care Episodes. We need your help. Thank you for having tuned in for Christitutionalist Politics Show. If you haven't already, please check out my primary internationally available book, Terror Strike, coming soon to a city near you. Available anywhere booked for sold. If you have locally run bookstores still near you, they can order it for you. And let me remind, over time, the fancy high production items will come. But for now, a starter, it's just you as a very appreciated person by me. Also, no floor, just straight to Key Discussion Point, a show that looks at a variety of topics, mostly politics, through a Christian US Constitution plan. So again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Take care. God bless.

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