Matt Taibbi, author and journalist, drops in to discuss the state of modern journalism, why it's increasingly difficult to source news you trust, "soft" censorship, link rot and stories that disappear, the instinct to conformity that is an epidemic in newsrooms right now, and why eventually the mob will always come for you. They cover Matt's background, how he comes from a family of reporters, what he learned from his dad about how to treat sources, his 10 years in Russia run...
Dec 22, 2022•1 hr 18 min
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, explori...
Dec 15, 2022•1 hr 26 min
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...
Dec 08, 2022•2 hr 30 min
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 he...
Dec 01, 2022•1 hr 13 min
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 ...
Nov 17, 2022•1 hr 29 min
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 experie...
Nov 08, 2022•2 hr 39 min
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 tha...
Nov 03, 2022•1 hr 23 min
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 d...
Oct 27, 2022•2 hr 34 min
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 ...
Oct 20, 2022•2 hr 37 min
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, wh...
Oct 13, 2022•2 hr 37 min
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 pro...
Oct 06, 2022•1 hr 29 min
Bridget and Cousin Maggie sit down to celebrate the 200th episode of Walk-Ins Welcome . They marvel at the fact that they've been consistent with a project for 4 years, take stock and look back on how far they've come, reminisce about the Days of Soup and Toast and why turning down $10k at her brokest was a good lesson for Bridget, and ponder the invisibility cloak that seems to surround all things Phetasy (though it's probably a blessing in disguise). They also discuss Bridget&ap...
Sep 29, 2022•55 min
Comedian and political commentator Lee Camp drops in for a conversation about his political awakening, why we should turn off all mainstream corporate media, working for RT America before it was shut down, seeing independent media and voices being purged from the internet, and what we do when the culture has lost faith in all news outlets. They also discuss where Lee gets his news, America's prison state, the real reason behind the war on drugs, whether Congress is owned by corporations, ho...
Sep 22, 2022•2 hr 46 min
Comedian Nimesh Patel sits down with Bridget to talk about his new comedy special Thank You China , how he got started in comedy, how TikTok was vital to his career, how everyone's selling out everywhere they go, why a degree in finance did him no good, and his writing gig for Chris Rock at the Oscars. They also cover the grind of feeding the algorithm, learning to step away, why you have to be Zen about social media, why healthcare jokes are so universal and popular, the travesty of the he...
Sep 15, 2022•1 hr 5 min
Greg Lukianoff ( The Coddling of the American Mind , Unlearning Liberty ) sits down with Bridget for a conversation about free speech on college campuses, how social media sped everything up and created the trend of cancel culture, how much worse things have gotten since Coddling was published, and how people just lost their minds since Covid hit. They discuss how deeply messed up it is to tell people they're more fragile than they are, how the victimhood mentality is undermining cognitive ...
Sep 08, 2022•1 hr 13 min
Mediated Series - Part 3: 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 3 Bridget and Thomas discuss how the intrinsic human desire for recognition and acknowledgement translates into seeking fame, when the no...
Sep 01, 2022•1 hr 22 min
James Kirchick stops in to talk about his new book Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington . He and Bridget discuss his fascinating deep dive into the history of homosexuality in Washington D.C., his process for writing the book, how he researched it, what he uncovered, and which US President he considers the most homophobic. They also cover the Lavender Scare, writing a narrative history in an engaging way, the important role World War II played on gay consciousness in America, the dr...
Aug 25, 2022•1 hr 12 min
Louise Perry, author of The Case Against the Sexual Revolution , sits down with Bridget to talk about the repercussions of the sexual revolution and why the claim that sex doesn't have a special status does not serve anyone's interests, particularly women's. They discuss how the people who are winning from this kind of culture are men who can get laid consequence free, sexual trauma and using hypersexuality as a weapon, sexual disenchantment, the idea that sex must be taken seriou...
Aug 18, 2022•2 hr 38 min
Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin of the Triggernometry Podcast stop in for a wide ranging and hilarious conversation with Bridget about their tour of America. They discuss why the doomsday narrative is very appealing to people, the risk they face as content creators of caving to audience capture, the importance of having integrity and not just doing what is easy, and the vanishing ability to have arguments with other people and still remain friends. They also cover the reality of America&apos...
Aug 11, 2022•2 hr 57 min
Colin Wright is an evolutionary biologist and Founding Editor of Reality's Last Stand , a publication and newsletter exploring the biology of sex and gender ideology. In grad school he started noticing a lot of ideas about biological sex going heywire, in 2018 he wrote an article for Quillette called The New Evolution Deniers , and people went mad. He and Bridget discuss the fact that if we can't agree that sex is a biological reality we're all screwed, the reaction Colin's c...
Aug 04, 2022•2 hr 31 min
Comedian Brittany Schmitt returns for a talk with Bridget about her new comedy special, From Ho To Housewife , what it actually takes to produce a comedy special, why being an artist means having to let go of the results, and how stand-up is essentially a solitary activity - it's just you and a mic, you don't need anyone's permission to do it. They also cover the letdown that can occur after completeing such a huge project and long-term goal, being selective about the opportunitie...
Jul 28, 2022•2 hr 31 min
Comedian Dusty Slay stops in for a fun and freewheeling conversation with Bridget about the joys of new parenthood, being a road comedian during Covid, how people forgot how to act and travel in public during the pandemic, the worst spots they've ever done comedy, their issues with the term "geriatric pregnancy", and what they won't take advice about from rich people. They also cover Dusty's roots in a trailer park in Alabama, how he met his wife, the difficulty of being...
Jul 21, 2022•1 hr 27 min
Mediated Series - Part 2: 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 2 Thomas explains Justin's Helmet Principle and how it contributes to the evolution of the nanny state, how we're all finding w...
Jul 14, 2022•1 hr 20 min
Noah Rothman returns to discuss his new book, The Rise of the New Puritans: Fighting Back Against Progressives' War on Fun . He and Bridget discuss the cultural role reversal that he's documenting which is very new and still evolving, how being charitable to the other side doesn't sell anymore and you have to be totally convinced of the righteousness of your views, and why trying to create an intellectual monoculture is the pathway to destruction. They also cover how the rules aro...
Jul 07, 2022•2 hr 49 min
Inez Stepman is a senior policy analyst at Independent Women's Forum, has over a decade of experience in education policy, and also handles issues related to the definition of sex in law and culture. She sits down with Bridget to discuss why you can't sit out the culture war in this day and age because it will come through your door, how we get a false sense of security from people who are defecting from the hard, woke Left, when in fact their ideals are being insitutionalized at a rap...
Jun 30, 2022•1 hr 24 min
Blaire White is a popular YouTuber and media personality. She sits down with Bridget for a frank conversation about being a transgender woman and the problems with the trans movement today. They discuss her personal transition journey and how different it is now than it was in 2014, why she's too Right for the Left and too trans for the Right, why she wouldn't wish gender dysphoria on her worst enemy, how the idea that you must let your child transition or face their suicide is emotion...
Jun 22, 2022•1 hr 23 min
Mediated Series - Part 1: 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 1 they cover the introduction to the book, how Thomas wound up writing it, his unique JFK assassination story and the insight it gave him...
Jun 16, 2022•2 hr 31 min
Lacey McLaughlin is an executive coach who has guided top leaders through challenging workplace scenarios across the aerospace, automotive, entertainment, and technology sectors. She and Bridget discuss how she wound up in her field, the temperament in the corporate world right now, how Covid caused leaders to show up in a new way that's much more human, how norms and expectations have changed around leadership, and what advice she gives now that she wouldn't have given ten years ago. ...
Jun 09, 2022•1 hr 25 min
Konstantin Kisin ( Triggernometry ) sits down with Bridget to discuss his new book, An Immigrant's Love Letter To The West . They have a fascinating conversation about their jobs as culture war commentators, how it affects them, how to push back thoughtfully and not wind up in a crazy place, how he processes Ukraine since he has family both there and in Russia, trying to explain to people in the West how people not in the West are thinking, and how to communicate a message that's easie...
Jun 02, 2022•1 hr 27 min
Bridget sits down with Grace Lidinsky-Smith, a detransitioned woman, to talk about her experience getting top surgery and then regretting it, the danger of always thinking about everything through the lens of gender, how knitting saved her, and her hard won knowledge that with time and patience things can actually improve. They discuss Grace's wish that therapy had advocated for her to slow down and do some more assessment of her situation, how people with gender dysphoria are being sold a ...
May 26, 2022•1 hr 14 min
