Binchtopia

Is our food getting shittier, literally? Join Julia and Nick as they conduct an investigation into the complicated and deeply gross history of food safety. From murderous milk and The Jungle to RFK Jr. and diarrhea lettuce, they unpack the creation of our modern food system, America's addiction to ignoring science, and how one contaminated farm can suddenly become everybody's problem. Digressions include Johnny Crunkleseed, the FDA's young hoe era, and Insect Fragments George. This episode was produced by Julia Hava and Kylie Finnigan and edited by Livi Burdette. To support the podcast on Patreon and access 50+ bonus episodes, mediasodes, and more, visit patreon.com/binchtopia and become a patron today. SOURCE LIST

In the aftermath of the Lindsay Clancy trial, Julia and Eliza lock in for an investigation of the postpartum period, exploring the seismic changes that happen to your brain and body after giving birth. The girlies trace the shocking history of postpartum care, the highly misunderstood conditions of postpartum depression and psychosis, and the abysmal state of parental leave in America. Warning — this episode will leave you mad as hell!!! Digressions include welcoming new binchie babies into the world, being freed from the psychic torture of Tyra Banks, and having empathy for bad British food. This episode was produced by Julia Hava and Kylie Finnigan and edited by Livi Burdette. If you're looking for postpartum support, Postpartum Support International offers support groups, provider directories, helplines, and other resources at https://postpartum.net/. Carriage House Birth offers postpartum support groups and other resources at https://carriagehousebirth.com/. To support the podcast on Patreon and access 50+ bonus episodes, mediasodes, and more, visit patreon.com/binchtopia and become a patron today. SOURCES A scoping study of postpartum mental health problems and associated factors: opportunities for research and practice Beyond "Baby Blues" Biological Aspects of Postpartum Depression Brooklyn Mother Sentenced to 20 Years to Life in Prison For Killing Her Three Children Employee Benefits in the United States, March 2025 Fact Sheet: Maternal Mental Health From Pregnancy to Postpartum: The Dynamic Reorganization of the Maternal Brain Google Benefits Inequities in CPS contact between Black and White children Maternal Mental Health Conditions and Statistics: An Overview Matrescence: Lifetime Impact of Motherhood on Cognition and the Brain Mother Who Drowned 3 Children at Coney Island Is Sentenced to 20 Years Drownings at Coney Island Mark the End of a Mother's Descent Neuroanatomical changes observed over the course of a human pregnancy OECD Members and Partners Paid Family Leave Across OECD Countries Paid Leave: State Family and Medical Leave Laws Perinatal Depression Physiology, Postpartum Changes Postpartum Baby Blues Postpartum anxiety is invisible, but common and treatable Postpartum Care: An Approach to the Fourth Trimester Postpartum Psychosis and Bipolar Disorder: Review of Neurobiology and Expert Consensus Statement on Classification Postpartum Psychosis: Madness, Mania, and Melancholia in Motherhood Pregnant mothers with strong family support less likely to have postpartum depression, study finds Prevalence and Course of Unwanted, Intrusive Thoughts of Infant-Related Harm Protecting body and soul in medieval childbirth Rachel Moran, 'Making Sense of Postpartum Politics': Blue: A History of Postpartum Depression in America Racial Disparities in Maternal and Infant Health: Current Status and Key Issues The Baby Pinks: What to Know About Postpartum Euphoria The Effect of Spousal Support on Postpartum Depression and Quality of Life The hospital and the postpartum experience: a historical analysis The Impact of Motherhood on Women's Career Progression: A Scoping Review of Evidence-Based Interventions The Important Role of Partner Support in Women's Mental Disorders During the Perinatal Period. A Literature Review The Intimate History of Confinement The Landscape of Parental Leave-Taking in the United States The phenomenology of postpartum psychosis: preliminary findings from the Massachusetts General Hospital Postpartum Psychosis Project Understanding Infanticide in Context: Mothers Who Kill, 1870-1930 and Today Waffle House Careers What are Postpartum and Perinatal OCD? What data does the BLS publish on family leave? When can I go back to work after having a baby? Who is Andrea Yates? A Short Story About Insanity Women Should Rest for a Month After Childbirth—Myth or Fact? Women With Postpartum Depression Experienced Brain Changes During Pregnancy, Study Finds

Binchtopia is on a little post-tour vacation this week, so we're releasing this healing episode from the vault <3 Join Julia and Nick in the desert at sunset as they recap the shrooms trip that finally healed them. Digressions include having extreme horse experience, society carrying the weight of Drake's pain, and the life affirming beauty of feeling it all. Plus, a crucial addendum recorded after Realizing Things on horseback. This episode was originally released on March 25, 2026 as a Patreon exclusive. Become a patron today to support the show, keep us ad-free, and unlock our backlog of 50+ bonus episodes at patreon.com/binchtopia.

Julia is joined by Carina Hsieh, Deputy Features Editor at Women's Health and the writer widely credited with inventing the term "situationship," to revisit the term's origins and assess the current state of modern dating. They trace the history of dating from courtship and going steady to hookup culture and dating apps, unpack the anxious-avoidant trap, and examine whether dating advice reels, and other online rules actually protect women from heartbreak or just give them more ways to blame themselves. Digressions include the bygone thrill of being pinned, men who self-report as securely attached, and the horror of buying a cheater a PS5 with your own money. Check out more of Carina's writing at Women's Health and follow her on Instagram @carinahsieh! WE'RE GOING ON TOUR!!!! Find tickets for the Shake Up Your Life Tour at https://binchtopia.com/tour This episode was produced by Julia Hava and Kylie Finnigan and edited by Livi Burdette.

Julia is joined by bestina and hospital chaplain Sarah Doumar to confront the only thing we are unfortunately promised in this lifetime: death. Together the girlies deconstruct how dying transformed from an intimate, familiar occurence to a hidden and medicalized taboo, unpacking the predatory funeral industry, the West's treatment of elders, and society's obsession with immortality. Plus, Sarah shares what sitting with dying patients has taught her about grief, fear, and spirituality. Digressions include tyrannical choir teachers, a sacred dream about Heath Ledger, and smoking hookah at the retirement village. WE'RE GOING ON TOUR!!!! Find tickets for the Shake Up Your Life Tour at https://binchtopia.com/tour This episode was produced by Julia Hava and Kylie Finnigan and edited by Livi Burdette. To support the podcast on Patreon and access 50+ bonus episodes, mediasodes, and more, visit patreon.com/binchtopia and become a patron today. SOURCES A Third of Young Adults Are Still Living With Their Parents—as Old Taboo Aging Out by Lucy Schiller Approaching Death: Improving Care at the End of Life Becomes the New Normal Amid Soaring Costs Being Mortal by Atul Gawande Death Is Having a Moment Death anxiety. The worm at the core of mental health. Does The Internet Change How We Die And Mourn? Overview And Analysis Good Grief Growing Old in America by David Hackett Fischer It's Mourning in America It's Time to Let the Five Stages of Grief Die Longevity increased by positive self-perceptions of aging Mid-Late Victorian Mourning Dress Mortal Remains: Death in America by Nancy Isenberg Mourning during the Civil War New study challenges notion that aging means decline, finds many older adults improve over time Place of Death Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic Poor Relief and the Almshouse Senior Living History: 1930 - 1939 TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY The American Way of Death Revisited by Jessica Mitford The Denial of Death and the Practice of Dying The Hour of Our Death by Philippe Ariès The FTC Funeral Rule The other side of sadness: What the new science of bereavement tells us about life after loss. The Trouble with Nursing Homes The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion U.S. centenarian population is projected to quadruple over the next 30 years Western Attitudes Toward Death From The Middle Ages To The Present by Philippe Ariès When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Julia and Nick explore the dark side of shaking up your life — because sometimes, the shake TAKETH! From accidental military enlistment to having a warrant out for your arrest, they tell the stories of tremendous flops and binchies who rose from the ashes. Digressions include Nick's failed attempt at heterosexuality, a horrifying clown-centric production of Moby Dick, and Kaitlin Bennett x Soho House. WE'RE GOING ON TOUR!!!! Find tickets for the Shake Up Your Life Tour at https://binchtopia.com/tour This episode was originally released on May 13, 2026 as a Patreon exclusive, and we're unlocking it for you to make the most of the extra week in July AND in honor of the Shake Up Your Life Tour. Become a patron today to support the show, keep us ad-free and unlock our backlog of over 50 bonus episodes at patreon.com/binchtopia.

Dr. Jack Keefe, a psychologist and educator researching mental health and AI, joins Julia Hava for a fascinating tour through AI psychosis and chatbot dependence. They explore how sycophantic systems can reinforce paranoia, grandiosity, OCD rumination, and fatal fantasy worlds. Along the way: glass delusions, telegraph paralysis, The Truman Show, Mr. Beast, and why real human conflict may be crucial for staying tethered to reality.

This week, Julia is joined by artist and writer Mackenzie Thomas to discuss the beautiful and humiliating archive of the self. They revisit adolescent diary entries, being trolled by your middle school crush, the childhood-loneliness to Tumblr pipeline, and the power of turning your most embarrassing moments into art. Digressions include The Rizzler being our generation's Shirley Temple, asking the CEO of Instagram for what you want, and dance moves that should be illegal for men to perform. Check out Mackenzie's newest project here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fccuzvnb8JA and on Instagram @mackenzie WE'RE GOING ON TOUR!!!! Find tickets for the Shake Up Your Life Tour at https://binchtopia.com/tour

This week, Julia is joined by Allegra to investigate the enduring, mythical appeal of the music festival. From medieval carnivals to Woodstock, and Coachella brand trips to FYRE fest, the girlies explore the human desire to build temporary utopias — and how festival outcomes range from communal transcendence and PLUR to corporate-branded slop and FEMA-level weather events. Digressions include Billie Eilish starring in The Bell Jar for some reason, the ouroborous of influencer video essays, and Allegra's parents getting matching plastic surgery on her birthday. WE'RE GOING ON TOUR!!!! Find tickets for the Shake Up Your Life Tour at https://binchtopia.com/tour This episode was produced by Julia Hava and Kylie Finnigan and edited by Livi Burdette. To support the podcast on Patreon and access 50+ bonus episodes, mediasodes, and more, visit patreon.com/binchtopia and become a patron today. SOURCES 19 Worst Things About Woodstock '99 After the Astroworld Disaster, a Reckoning Altamont : the Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the inside story of rock's darkest day Bakhtinian thought : an introductory reader Burning Man: how a festival became a culture Castlemorton 1992, the rave that triggered the ban Castlemorton Common: The rave that changed the law Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994, s.63 ("repetitive beats") Crowds and Collective Behavior Get access Arrow Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy From Woodstock to Coachella: The ultimate music festivals FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened Half a Million Strong: Crowds and Power from Woodstock to Coachella by Gina Arnold Impact: From riots to crowd safety 'It was the peak of the flower power era': The story of the first ever Glastonbury Festival in 1970 How Music Festivals Became a Massive Business in the 50 Years Since Woodstock Juggalos & the FBI "hybrid gang" label Live Aid (1985) Live Music in America: A History from Jenny Lind to Beyoncé Lollapalooza's rise (Perry Farrell's acid precognition) Monterey Pop Murder at the Altamont Festival Rabelais and His World The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure Of Other Spaces The Oral History of Monterey Pop, Where Jimi Torched His Ax & Janis Became a Star: Art Garfunkel, Steve Miller, Lou Adler & More Remembering Meredith Hunter Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) Trainwreck: Woodstock '99 The Elementary Forms of Religious Life The Music Festival That Time Forgot: Inside Steve Wozniak's US Fest The Night Bob Dylan Went Electric The Sacred and the Profane The Society of the Spectacle "This Film Was My Chance to Correct History": Questlove on Summer of Soul and the Oscars The Pop Festival: History, Music, Media, Culture Woodstock '99 Predicted America's Future Woodstock 1999 Ends in Violence Wattstax (1972), the "Black Woodstock" Wattstax drew 100,000 people — this 1972 concert was about much more than music What's behind the decline of music festivals? Without Helicopters, There Wouldn't Have Been a Woodstock Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music

Find tickets for the Shake Up Your Life Tour at https://binchtopia.com/tour