Cringe is the ultimate vibe killer. Plus, when I fear being judged that's me writing your story for you, and that's not fair for either of you. Today we talk about the fear of being perceived and how I'm working around it. THE INSPIRATION VIDEO: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8k8BVdo/ Resources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resisting-a-coup-b44571b9ad66 SUPPORT Julie (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed DONATE to the Palestini...
Jul 26, 2025•10 min
Why have some gifts of nature remained free? By: Alyssa Battistoni THE RESOURCE: The Value of Nature: https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/the-value-of-nature/ Resources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resisting-a-coup-b44571b9ad66 SUPPORT Julie (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed DONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.net GET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com TUNE I...
Jul 25, 2025•10 min
Why have some gifts of nature remained free? By: Alyssa Battistoni THE RESOURCE: The Value of Nature: https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/the-value-of-nature/ Resources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resisting-a-coup-b44571b9ad66 SUPPORT Julie (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed DONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.net GET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com TUNE I...
Jul 24, 2025•9 min
NOTE: This is an old episode that never got published!!!! I decided to release it today before we move on to new topics. Science confirms that facebook is a skinner box and we are just rats but we can be more conscious with our most valuable asset ( our attention ) and life will improve. we just have to be conscious we're a part of the experiment. RESOURCE : https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-social-media-persona-considered-new-bf-skinner-box-bertrand GET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME : w...
Jul 23, 2025•6 min
Note: This is a revisitation of a past episode from 2023. I used uptime.app to check out the brief spark notes version of "Antisocial Media: Siva Vaidhyanathan's How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy" (available here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/antisocial-media-9780190841164?cc=us&lang=en& ) and he said: "Facebook is a modern day Skinner Box" which sent me down a rabbit hole to understand what that meant. So today, I am sharing that with you! RESOURCE : https:...
Jul 22, 2025•6 min
Did you know that mixed emotions can be more emotionally taxing than purely negative ones? Today we talk about this + how to deal with it through things like “dialectical thinking," which is the attitude that opposite emotions are normal and compatible. The Sources: Arthur C. Brooks "Nothing Drains You Like Mixed Emotions" for The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2023/01/psychology-of-mixed-emotions-feelings-meaning-examples/672758/' Arthur C. Brooks Website: https://arthurbr...
Jul 21, 2025•9 min
I am starting to think some of us are looking at ourselves too much, and if you stare at anything too long, it will start to look weird after a while. Plus, the internet has warped our perception of what real humans + real aging is supposed to look like. But today, I want to talk about the ways "selfie-culture" has distorted many people's perception of themselves. I think if more people realized how distorted our selfie cameras make us look, they'd feel a lot less critical of themselves. Today's...
Jul 20, 2025•9 min
With everything going on in the United States, chances are you’ve been working to stay informed, and maybe even help out in some ways — both of which can take a lot of mental energy. Your main goal is to find the balance between taking action and taking enough care of yourself that you’re actually able to work effectively. - Anna Borges The Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/annaborges/recharge-then-resist Resources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resis...
Jul 19, 2025•10 min
With everything going on in the United States, chances are you’ve been working to stay informed, and maybe even help out in some ways — both of which can take a lot of mental energy. Your main goal is to find the balance between taking action and taking enough care of yourself that you’re actually able to work effectively. - Anna Borges The Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/annaborges/recharge-then-resist Resources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resis...
Jul 18, 2025•8 min
Engaging with AI ethically is never going to be black and white, but we shouldn't feel shame or guilt for using these things with more awareness and tact. Being conscious is the best way to avoid the risks + potential consequences that come from engaging with an unregulated new technology. Managing our expectations and understanding the risks is incredibly important to these beginning stages of AI. Today we talk about a few of the ways I'm engaging with ai more consciously. 15 times it's good to...
Jul 17, 2025•10 min
We should be cautious about normalizing AI before establishing regulations: Unreliable: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11729512/#:~:text=This%20study%20indicates%20that%20ChatGPT,back%20to%20an%20existing%20publication . AND https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07930- Plagiarism machine: https://youtu.be/TWpg1RmzAbc?si=OjKaOsE7GWKfm15p&t=868 Environmental racism, Energy Waste + Terror: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/08/terrorist-groups-artificial-intelligence Trai...
Jul 16, 2025•10 min
Here are some reasons we should be cautious about normalizing AI + ChatGPT before establishing regulations: It’s unreliable. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11729512/#:~:text=This%20study%20indicates%20that%20ChatGPT,back%20to%20an%20existing%20publication . AND https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07930- It’s a plagiarism machine. https://youtu.be/TWpg1RmzAbc?si=OjKaOsE7GWKfm15p&t=868 Environmental racism, increasing consumer's energy bill. Terrorism: https://www.theguardian....
Jul 15, 2025•10 min
AI is becoming increasingly unavoidable. It's in our phones, our TV's, and emails. But ChatGPT is one we STILL have a choice on how much we use it. There is a vast number of reasons we should be moderating the amount of AI we’re engaging with, while we still can. Here are some reasons we should be cautious about normalizing AI + ChatGPT before establishing regulations: It’s shockingly unreliable : ChatGPT is known to falsify sources, reinforce biases, and perpetuate misinformation. AI hallucinat...
Jul 14, 2025•9 min
People are more productive than ever before and YET our wages are not reflecting the growth in labor. Our wages have been stolen by the wealth hoarders and redistributed to shareholders at the expense of our dignity. We need to ensure their propaganda about laziness doesn't continue to influence the people around us. The robber barons are worse than ever, but at least we're FINALLY talking about their crimes. Justin Scott's TikTok video on Livable Wages: https://www.tiktok.com/@cypher.j/video/75...
Jul 13, 2025•8 min
I'm baaack!!! and today I'm diving into Zohran Mamdani's platform and campaign which has given me a surprising amount of renewed hope for the future of American politics, if we can stay focused on resistance, revolution, and harm reduction. SOURCES: NYTimes on Zohran: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/us/politics/what-is-democratic-socialism.html Zohran's Platform: https://web.archive.org/web/20250701190438/https://www.zohranfornyc.com/platform Who's afraid of socialism? https://ips-dc.org/whos...
Jul 12, 2025•10 min
there are so many different "consequentialisms" out there + it's important to not get lost in the "sauce" of the different combinations, but focus on the perspectives you can manage now, ideally the ones that affect you, your community, and the world around you. RESOURCE: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consequentialism/ GET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com TUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcast OR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PA...
Jul 11, 2025•6 min
What to expect under an authoritarian regime: 1. Democratic election through fear mongering. 2. They will divide + rule. 3. They will subjugate media outlets to create a propaganda machine. 4. They will create a sense of chaos + fear. 5. They will distort truth and lie to create confusion. 6. They will slander their "enemies" 7. They will create distractions to fight while they pass more insidious legislation to dismantle democracy. 8. They will further marginalize groups. 9. They will attempt t...
Jul 11, 2025•10 min
Hypernormalization: Pretending everything is fine, when it is obviously NOT fine. The goal is to keep us overwhelmed and confused and disengaged. Resist your apathy. Resist in any way you can. Join a co-op, a tenants union, a mutual aid network, a food pantry, local politics, and fight for a new reality that doesn't force so many to pretend it's not happening. FOUSHY ON IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/DEhR7_Rge95/?hl=en THE DOCUMENTARY WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperNormalisation THE D...
Jul 10, 2025•10 min
I'm back!!!! I've missed you so much and wanted to ramble about community again (for old time's sake). GET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com TUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcast OR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcast OR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podc...
Jul 09, 2025•7 min
we tend to over-intellectualize our feelings because we don't allow ourselves to work through them. Working through means DOING, CREATING, ACTING, PLAYING, and SEEKING JOY. Let down your walls + learn to feel through the act of creation. GET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com TUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcast OR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcast OR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The ...
Jul 08, 2025•9 min
It starts with recognizing the game. If someone is doing you a favor out of the kindness of their heart, it won't be so difficult to offer them a favor in return. When someone is attempting to manipulate you with that favor??? You're allowed to respond in whatever way you see fit. DONATE: www.pcrf.net Get Involved: Operation Olive Branch: Spreadsheets + Links GET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com TUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodc...
Jul 07, 2025•9 min
When you change the way you show up in your world, you encourage others to do the same + like the butterfly effect, sometimes the smallest + simplest changes can make the largest and most complex impacts! Resource: https://creaworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/All-About-Power.pdf More resources: https://commonslibrary.org/ DONATE: www.pcrf.net Get Involved: Operation Olive Branch: Spreadsheets + Links GET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com TUNE IN ON INSTAGRA...
Jul 06, 2025•9 min
I’m the type of person who always feels like I’m running late despite the fact that I very rarely am. I’ve been trying a new type of thought exercise where I take a moment to visit with a more senior or elderly me. Sometimes it’s my 81st birthday. I sit as her, with the underlying understanding that everything did eventually work itself out, and I had a great, full, and beautiful life despite all of its challenges. As I sit in my 80 ish year old body, I take a moment to reflect on the good parts...
Jul 05, 2025•8 min
It's not too late. Every action counts. But don't get overwhelmed with doing everything. Instead, choose something + act. Every little bit helps. THE GUIDEBOOK: https://www.nottoolateclimate.com/_files/ugd/c8ef46_65f7332b00de468aa7091e31a4b2f772.pdf THE AUTHOR: http://rebeccasolnit.net/ THE RESOURCES FROM GWUniversity: https:// onlinepublichealth.gwu.edu/resources/sources-for-climate-news/ MORE RESOURCES: 350.org AND https://hiphopcaucus.org/action-center/ DONATE: www.pcrf.net Get Involved: Oper...
Jul 04, 2025•11 min
Another draft that (apparently) never got published, because I haven't been feeling well! "I sat with two diferent feelings: the sense of success and the worry that we didn’t really make a change. I could have given in to either of them. But instead, I began to wonder: What’s strategic here? How do my local actions add up to real changes? How do we move from one-time actions to a whole movement, where all kinds of people from all walks of life are joined together in common cause? Tis book is for...
Jul 04, 2025•11 min
Democratic Socialism has no singular definition, but the simplest way to describe it, academically, is an ideology, economic or political system, rooted in opposing capitalism's profit motive by shifting the power back to the people, through prioritizing workers instead of the corporations themselves. People > Profits. That said, there can be a lot of descriptions which can lead to a lot of confusion. Today, we're digging into the spectrum of definitions and how it relates to our current cont...
Jul 03, 2025•9 min
I've been sick for the last two days and so today, we're jumping back in time to an older episode that I never published (oops!) from Rebecca Solnit's book, Hope in the Dark. "We are used to constant flux in the daily details of existence, yet the basic structure of the status quo always looks so unalterable. But it’s not. Profound change for the better does occur, even though it can be difficult to see because one of the most common effects of success is to be taken for granted. What looks perf...
Jul 02, 2025•10 min
The problem is, people aren't talking about the same things when they refer to socialism. Most people define socialism differently - but there is a definition (albeit broad) that we can and should all learn together, so we aren't reading to people who aren't even close to the same page. SOURCES: The 2022 research on American's views of socialism: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/09/19/modest-declines-in-positive-views-of-socialism-and-capitalism-in-u-s/ Who's afraid of socialism? https:...
Jun 30, 2025•10 min
Back to talk about Zohran tomorrow, but for now let's talk about our core belief filter that shapes how we see the world. For our entire lives, every single one of us has been developing a filter through which we see and interpret the world. This filter dictates the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, about other people, and the world around us, but because we’ve carried this narrator with us our entire lives, it can be hard to tell which stories are actually fiction, and it can be even m...
Jun 29, 2025•6 min
Democratic socialism in the United States has been maligned since before I was born. After WWII, there was the Cold War (which was a series of proxy wars that ended with the dissolution of the USSR in 1991) and since then, there has been a deliberate effort to associate any form of socialism with dictatorships and communism and tyrannical government overreach. But in reality most people I speak to are truly democratic socialists n the policies they’d like to see. And I know that sounds like a bo...
Jun 28, 2025•9 min
