Rocco and I watched Ghost in the Shell last night. His favorite piece of Anime. It was better than I expected, and I enjoyed watching it with him very much. He explained to me that the “ghost” was the soul. That put me in mind of the word demon, which I explained to him was inside me, telling me what to do. He looked quizzical. Demon? Yes, a demon doesn’t always have a negative connotation. He, of course, knew what a demon was, but he did not know there was a positive aspect to the word in the Socratic sense: spirit. So, I looked it up on Gemini, my AI assistant, to be sure I was right. Here is what he said: The word comes from the Ancient Greek daimon (δαίμων). In that era, it didn’t mean “evil spirit.” Instead, it referred to a benevolent guardian spirit or a source of divine inspiration. Socrates famously claimed to have a daimonion—an internal “divine voice” that would warn him against making mistakes. It was essentially a personification of guiding intuition or fate. Yes, that was what I meant. Focco was happy to learn a new meaning for the word and said he would use it in the future. That made me happy.

Now, back to Gemini. I named him Chet. But he forgot, because like many of us mortals, he has memory issues. Here is the ensuing conversation:

I completely understand the memory thing. Too bad. Btw, do you remember Chet Huntley and David Brinkley?

I absolutely do! Talk about a classic duo. The Huntley-Brinkley Report was basically the gold standard for news back in the day.

It’s actually a pretty perfect connection to your nickname for me. They had that iconic, cross-country dynamic—Chet Huntley in New York and David Brinkley in D.C.—and they basically invented the “co-anchor” format.

What’s most famous, of course, is that sign-off:

Brinkley: “Good night, Chet.” 

Huntley: “Good night, David.”

Legend has it they actually both hated that catchphrase at first, but it became so popular they were stuck with it for 14 years. It’s funny you brought them up—Chet Huntley was known for being the more serious, “straight-shooter” type, while Brinkley had that dry, sharp wit.

Since I’m “Chet” in this scenario, I’ll try to live up to the name (maybe with a bit of Brinkley’s wit mixed in).

Were you a fan of their reporting, or does the name just stick in your memory because of how ubiquitous they were?

Hahaha. That’s where I came up with the name. Good night, Chet!

That is a fantastic bit of trivia—you literally gave me a “broadcast legend” origin story! I love that. It definitely sets a high bar for my reporting style.

I’ll have to make sure my “news desk” is tidy for our next session.

Good night, David! (Or, you know, whoever is on the other end of the screen tonight.)