Pretty busy in my area. I have two radios, one that stays home and one that I bring places. I find it cool that i can see messages from north LA county here in San Diego that are all routed thru a single node someone put out on the coast of Orange County.
Most of the time the chat is just “good morning” etc. During wildfires though I do see local “reporting” of fire progress and first responder presence.
Occasionally people report ICE presence which is kind of cool.
Not as strongly as you, but yes, I have a strong aversion to popular media. I didnt used to be that way but somewhere in my adulthood that changed (I’m 45 now).
The more people try to sell me on a show, game, movie etc the less I want to interact with it. I still dont have a solid reason for why but there’s a few ideas (for me at least): 1 I don’t like watching stuff WITH people as I feel self conscious that they will be watching me and my reactions. 2 I’m not interested in discussing the things I enjoy with others. I just dont participate in Fandoms. I just want to take in the experiences and enjoy them for what they are. 3 People recommending stuff can take a really pushy turn and it can become a prickly topic if you don’t take their advice (whether you asked for it or not). 4 Fans can zealously hype their media and create expectations that aren’t lived up to in the consumption. Just comes down to we like that we like and it’s not the same for everyone.