Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy

Zak Williams is CEO and founder of neurotransmitter health company PYM , and is passionate about developing products for supporting optimal mental wellness and alleviating anxiety. He and Bridget sit down to talk about the concept of mental hygiene vs. mental health, dealing with the suicide of a loved one, not knowing how to manage depression and anxiety, discovering mental health advocacy, realizing that if you’re seeking to truly heal through service you have to take care of yourself, exploring nutrition for mental well being, and his goal to expand the toolkit to help people manage their mental health. They discuss his company PYM, the quick jump to medicate when there should be a gradient and spectrum of care, why we need research around diet, exercise, sunlight, sleep, and connection - supporting them as factors in our mental well being and care, how men are more resistant to talking about depression and mental health, why we need to develop resilience in our communities so that we can better manage stress, and why knowing his life's mission is his path to happiness. Sponsor LinksLomi - https://bit.ly/lomiWiWVegamour - https://bit.ly/vegamour-walkinsAG1 - https://bit.ly/AG1-WiWFIRE.org - https://bit.ly/thefire-wiwProgressive Insurance - https://pgrs.in/3Dp5ZIW This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.phetasy.com/subscribeSupport the show

Noam Blum, Chief Technology Officer at Tablet magazine, sits down with Bridget for a conversation about Twitter and the online space. Known on Twitter as @neontaster, Noam talks about having his identity revealed, the different versions of online anonymity, and the consequences of not revealing himself on his own terms. They discuss online activism, how Twitter is a concentrated version of the diluted opinions that live in regular society, news cycles about Twitter posts and Twitter reactions to news stories, how partisanship is a bigger corollary to whether or not you're gonna share something online rather than whether or not you think it's accurate, dealing with negative comments, and people who they used to like but have become terrible because of what society incentivized them to lean into. They also cover Elon, Trump, dating apps, Sam Harris, therapy, blue checks, and the awkwardness of seeing someone in real life who’s blocked you on Twitter. Check out Noam's podcast The Ambitious Crossover Attempt. Sponsor Links: Lomi - https://bit.ly/lomiWiWThe Jordan Harbinger Show - https://spoti.fi/3LhJBTPFIRE.org - https://bit.ly/thefire-wiwProgressive Insurance - https://pgrs.in/3Dp5ZIW This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.phetasy.com/subscribeSupport the show

Heather Pasternak, stand-up comic and old friend of Bridget's, stops in to talk about her new comedy special Slay At Home Mom. She and Bridget discuss being new moms, being neurotic and having a child, feeling both terrible and magical when you're pregnant, how being a parent is a double edged sword, the pressure in the Mommy World - particularly on Instagram, and why getting back to work after having the baby made her feel like her again. They cover how Heather wants her comedy to help people to feel less alone, the focus on quality over quantity in your work, how finding a way to make it joyful is the only way it’s sustainable, how she uses the stage to process where she is at the moment, and they commiserate over the feeling of failing at being a mom and working and having to be okay with not doing both of those things perfectly.Sponsor Links: FIRE.org - https://bit.ly/thefire-wiwProgressive Insurance - https://pgrs.in/3Dp5ZIW This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.phetasy.com/subscribeSupport the show

Rina Raphael is a journalist and author who covers health, wellness, and women's issues. She sits down with Bridget to discuss her new book The Gospel of Wellness , where she looks at the recent explosion of the wellness industry, the fads, the gimmicks, the marketing strategies, and what lies underneath it all. Rina is a reformed wellness addict herself, and became aware of the dark side of an industry that's constantly telling you what to buy next in order to feel better. They cover how liberal, affluent women in coastal cities and big cities have really adopted the aspirational reinterpretation of wellness, why they might turn to alternatives out of desperation because the healthcare industry is not working for them, how control is a huge part of the wellness industry, how wellness culture is driving people to extremes and making them more stressed, what overidentifying with your choices means about you as a person or a parent, and how aware Gwyneth Paltrow is of the Goop grift. Sponsor Links:Storyworth - https://bit.ly/storyworth-wiwVegamour - https://bit.ly/vegamour-walkinsFIRE.org - https://bit.ly/thefire-wiwAG1 - https://bit.ly/AG1-WiWJustWorks - https://bit.ly/justworkswiwProgressive - https://pgrs.in/3Dp5ZIW This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.phetasy.com/subscribeSupport the show

Tara Henley, journalist and author of Lean Out: A Meditation on the Madness of Modern Life , joins Bridget for a free ranging conversation about starting her career as a hip-hop critic, the transcendence of music and live music in particular, how quickly humans can adapt to anything, and how having colon cancer in her 20s taught her at a fundamental level that life is out of our control. They discuss how the pandemic made us reevaluate our priorities in the age of hyper capitalism, their experiences working in restaurants, how journalism used to be a working class profession, and why she left mainstream media when she saw things becoming more extreme and the woke point of view became the only voice in the room which meant only telling one small part of every story all the time. They also cover how her letter of resignation went viral, why being critical of our institutions is the job of journalists and this has gotten lost, how Twitter plays an outsized role in group think, and why ultimately, journalism is about being willing to change your mind. Check out Tara's substack at tarahenley.substack.com. Sponsor Links:Lomi: https://bit.ly/lomiWiWThe Jordan Harbinger Show: https://spoti.fi/3LhJBTPProgressive Insurance: https://pgrs.in/3Dp5ZIW This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.phetasy.com/subscribeSupport the show

Jennifer Briney, host of the Congressional Dish podcast, sits down with Bridget to talk about her mission to read the bills and laws passed by Congress, to find out what is being done with our taxes, explain what is hidden in bills over 1000 pages long, and to create a community of people who were interested in Congress’s effect on our lives. They cover how living abroad during the US invasion of Iraq got Jen interested in how the media was covering the war, how she started looking for media that would tell her the truth but couldn't find it so she started watching CSPAN, and her shock at hearing things discussed on the House floor that she thought would be massive scandals but weren’t even being discussed in blogs, all of which led her to starting the podcast. They discuss how the "bosses" for both parties are really multi-national corporations, how in lockstep both parties are when it comes to war, the impossibility of leaving your bias at the door and how she deals with it, and why she's enthusiastic because independents like herself are making a living in media and not toeing the corporate line.Sponsor Links: Progressive Insurance - https://pgrs.in/3Dp5ZIW This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.phetasy.com/subscribeSupport the show

Chris Williamson, host of the Modern Wisdom podcast, sits down with Bridget to talk about how he got where he is. They cover his start as a nightclub owner, model, and reality TV star, why he always tried to get himself into a position where people needed him for something, how he didn't think he was worth that much unless he was offering people something else in return, and the existential crisis that led him to realize he wasn't the person he was pretending to be. They also discuss doing something that you genuinely believe in, why it's very difficult to not feel like your self worth is gauged by the way that people respond to your work, the danger of audience capture, the state of today's man, why we should be pedestalizing motherhood, the UK's particular culture around success and people that do different things, and why you should always ask the question, "Why am I doing this?"Sponsor Links:Vegamour - https://bit.ly/vegamour-walkinsThe Jordan Harbinger Show - https://spoti.fi/3LhJBTPProgressive - https://pgrs.in/3Dp5ZIW This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.phetasy.com/subscribeSupport the show

Bridget sits down with Sarah Haider, writer, activist and podcaster, for a wide ranging conversation covering Sarah's thoughts as an ex-Muslim on the reaction of the Progressive left when you criticize Islam, how little the lived experiences of those who disagree with the woke orthodoxy matters, why she thinks Western feminism died a while back, her experience immigrating from Pakistan as a child, what she observed growing up in a lower class neighborhood, and how her activism and speaking out against Islam was a form of social death for her parents. They also discuss Sarah's ambivalence about the value of putting yourself in a group, why it affects your intellectual honesty, whether we can claim any kind of community outside of religion and faith, the unraveling of community in America, and why supporting young, working mothers should be a priority in our society. Check out Sarah's writing on her substack Hold That Thought . And don't miss her podcast with Meghan Daum, A Special Place in Hell. Sponsor Links: JustWorks - https://bit.ly/justworkswiwProgressive - https://pgrs.in/3Dp5ZIW This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.phetasy.com/subscribeSupport the show

Ariel Pink is an American musician, singer, songwriter and indie rock icon. However, his attendance at the January 6th Trump rally at the White House - an event he would like made very clear in its distinction from the violence at the Capitol hours later - led to his subsequent cancellation among fellow musicians and fans alike, being dropped from his music label, and left him looking around bewildered, wondering what happened. He and Bridget talk about how the rules have changed on everyone, why you should have to be pro United States to be eligible for President, why he believes he's more liberal than anyone that cancelled him, his theory about the last election, what keeps him grounded, what his plans for the furture are, and why he'd rather be put in jail and serve some time than be cancelled, because there's no expiration date to it.Sponsor Links:Athletic Greens - https://bit.ly/AG1-WiWVegamour - https://bit.ly/vegamour-walkinsThe Jordan Harbinger Show - https://spoti.fi/3LhJBTPProgressive - https://pgrs.in/3Dp5ZIW This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.phetasy.com/subscribeSupport the show

Mediated Series - Part 4:Published in 2005, Mediated: How the Media Shapes Your World and the Way You Live In It , became Bridget's bible for understanding the changing media landscape and how it is affecting our society and behavior. Now she sits down with author Thomas de Zengotita for a multi-part series discussing the book chapter by chapter. In Part 4 Bridget and Thomas discuss the extent to which children are fluent in mediated culture, the speed with which slang spreads, how the process of curating their social media profiles is kind of publicly inventing who they are, and how people can feel a kind of nostalgia for times they never lived in because they've lived in it representationally. They also cover the verbing of words, like "adulting," and how when you verb a word you're displaying the fact that you are aware of yourself as playing the role, how we've moved from risk-averse to risk-less world and there's an entire economy around taking away all risk, the value of psychobabble, when you need to watch out for the curmudgeon factor, how misery is enhanced by online comparisons of your own life with other lives, and why Thomas is more optimistic now than he was 20 years ago.Sponsor links: Helix - https://helixsleep.com/?walkinProgressive Insurance - https://pgrs.in/3Dp5ZIW  This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.phetasy.com/subscribeSupport the show