Wife: "Please read this news story for your health." Husband: "No way."

Point: What can experimentation with today's apathetic audiences teach us about breaking through creeping apathy to media ahead?

Men's health author Gregg Stebben has interviewed most of the famous men who've survived prostate cancer: Guliani, Millken, Swartzkopf, Arnie, etc. These worldly-wise men all told Gregg the same thing: "I only went to the doctor where I was diagnosed because my wife made me go."

Yet the media publishes reams of information about the dangers of ignoring prostate health. This case of an audience apathetic to vital news and information affecting it may be a prescient example of dangerous personal filtering in emerging media. Within a social network, where everyone clues each other to topics, if the rest of the group is also uncaring or ignorant about a vital topic, how does it get on the conversational agenda?

In this case we considered the role of wives in moving men to action since the media might not hold the key today. We asked: If women can't persuade men to read basic information about prostate health, what can they do? Our experiment: Can women get men to dial a 1-800 number for a comedy bit with the nudge in it? This phone meme test will expand with new bits by comics and others. Please try it: 1-800-PSA-TEST.