Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy

Ryan Stout, stand-up comic extraordinaire, shares how he got into stand-up, parsing his college courses for material, the joys of being a stay-at-home husband, and the changing effect of wearing a suit when doing a comedy show. He and Bridget discuss how liberal people used to view artists as a minority community that needed to be protected and now they view them as oppressors, the future of advertising with deep fakes, and how to support comics you like (hint: don’t just tell them they’re going to be famous and walk away). They talk comedy as an art form with an extremely short shelf life, “post comedy,” rape jokes, suicide jokes, laughter as medicine, and how the victimhood mentality is so damaging psychologically that therapy doesn’t work. Learn the truth about “making it” in Hollywood, and why intersectionality is like trying to win in a small d*ck contest. Be sure to check out Ryan’s latest comedy album Man in the Suit.Full transcript available here: WiW56-RyanStout-Transcript  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

Melissa Chen (NY Editor, Spectator US) stops by for a brilliant chat that covers a lot of ground. She describes growing up in Singapore in a “benevolent authoritarian state,” feeling liberated in the US, the fact that most Americans take the first amendment for granted, being on the forefront of human genome research, the Pandora’s Box that is CRISPR, and points out that whatever moral concerns we have about gene editing technology, China does not have them. She is currently the Managing Director of Ideas Beyond Borders, a foundation aimed at translating online content into Arabic and making ideas accessible that can challenge extremism before it takes root. They cover tribalism, intuition vs instinct, post-colonial theory, Bridget’s recurring dream, free speech, self-censorship, and designer babies, among other things.Full transcript available here: WiW55-MelissaChen-Transcript 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

Adam Alter, author of Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked, stops by to talk about screen and tech addiction. He and Bridget discuss the billions of dollars that go into keeping us looking at our screens, from game app design to, story formatting, to rolling from one episode into the next. They talk the evolution of binging, the fragmentation of our attention spans, the dopamine overloads we’re being doused with, and the difference between wanting and liking. If you’ve ever been stuck down a YouTube rabbit hole at 3:00am wondering why you didn’t go to bed hours ago, Adam offers some answers and some tips for setting boundaries and breaking unhealthy habits.Full transcript available here: WiW54-AdamAlter-Transcript 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

Yasmine Mohammed, author of Unveiled: How Western Liberals Empower Radical Islam, shares her story of growing up in a fundamentalist Islamic home in Canada. At 13, when she tried to report the abuse she suffered at the hands of her step-father, she was told by a judge “you come from a different culture, and that’s how your family chooses to discipline you, so we just have to accept that.” And here lies the inherent contradiction in the way in which the West views fundamentalist Islam versus other fundamentalist religions, and turns a blind eye to the abuse and suffering of millions of girls and women. She and Bridget discuss how alienating that is, the message those girls receive is “we don’t care about you, you are ‘other.'” They cover the escalation of rape culture, sexual harassment, the problems with celebrating the hijab, the indoctrination of attitudes towards girls and women in Muslim culture, and being called Islamophobic for criticizing a tool and system of oppression. They bond over shared traumatic experiences and discuss their belief that if you can use your own trauma to help others, it has not happened in vain. If you only ever listen to one episode of Walk-Ins Welcome, this is the episode.Full transcript available here: WiW53-YasmineMohammed-Transcript 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 finally convinced Cousin Maggie to share her story, from a rather idyllic childhood in a small town in Rhode Island, to being raised in a stable environment with active, involved parents, to having a certain expectation about the track her life would follow, until she was completely derailed by depression in college. They discuss the little known realities of suicidal depression, picking up the pieces, the journey back to “normal” and how falling apart wound up being completely freeing. Maggie talks about the warning signs she has to be aware of when she’s sliding into a dark place, how to counteract the slow creep of depression, and how she found her way to LA. They also cover the importance of setting boundaries in your life, the value of life coaches (even though the name is ridiculous), the battle against laziness, and the absolute necessity of maintaining a sense of humor about it all.Full transcript available here: WiW52-CousinMaggie-Transcript 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

Jamie Kilstein, stand-up comic and podcast host, sits down with Bridget to discuss his conversion from a woke, SJW, male feminist to a humbler and healthier version of himself. He shares the scars of being falsely accused of sexual misconduct, the fallout to his career and life, being suicidally depressed, and why he was basically taken down for being a self-righteous a**hole who everyone was willing to turn on. They cover being addicted to validation, being crazy in relationships, people who have teams and not principles, the importance of healthy male role models, and the struggles of losing friends to suicide. Jamie wonders when Republicans became funnier than Liberals, examines why he stays in toxic relationships so long, credits his improved mental health to no longer fighting with strangers online, and points out when you don’t offer people a path to redemption, you offer them a path to radicalization.Full transcript available here: WiW51-JamieKilstein-Transcript 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

Helen Pluckrose, one of the three authors of the Grievance Studies and editor-in-chief of Aero magazine, sits with Bridget to discuss the much richer role for women in history than the lenses by which we’re viewing them today, the contradictions in feminism and social justice activism, the argument against post-modernism, and the inherent problems with intersectionality. Helen talks about her own journey from a care assistant in hospitals, to getting a Masters in Early Modern Literature with a focus on religious writing by and about women, her conversion from a Christian to an atheist, and how she met James Lindsay and became involved in the Grievance Studies. It’s a fascinating conversation covering complex topics with a true master of critical theory. Helen helps breakdown the fundamental contradictions within intersectionality and offers Bridget a way to formulate a compassionate and rational response to the intersectional argument.Full transcript available here: WiW50-HelenPluckrose-Transcript 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

Comedian and actor Jim Gaffigan stops by to discuss the long and painful journey to a career in the entertainment industry, from studying finance at Georgetown, to taking improv classes so he can overcome his fear of speaking in meetings at the advertising agency where he worked, to falling in love with stand-up and watching everyone else in his comedy class find success before he did. Jim talks why failure is such a great teacher, getting lost in other people’s expectations, the creepy thing about doing press, and why he doesn’t want power. In his new movie, American Dreamer, he gets the chance to play against type with a complex character in a disturbing thriller, and he shares how he could relate to the delusions of his character, the American fantasy of the “quick fix,” and the rewards of being able to explore a dark character. He and Bridget marvel at Joe Rogan’s abilities, commiserate over the repressed rage of comedians, and reflect that more dangerous than cancel culture, is the growing trend of leaving people out of the discussion altogether.Full transcript available here: WiW49-JimGaffigan-Transcript  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 and Peter Boghossian have a conversation under the Colorado stars about the search for ultimate meaning in life, the denigration of reason, the loss of being able to wonder publicly, figuring out the best type of life to lead, and teaching people how to value the right things. Peter explains how bales of hay, lifting weights, and prison inmates got him started on his career path and led him to question whether you can fundamentally change the way people think about problems and the way they view morality. They cover street epistemology, the truth about “pecking orders,” the difference between rationalizing and reasoning, and the glorification of violence in our society. His book, How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide, co-written with James Lindsay, is a distillation of decades of study and offers the best ways to approach and have conversations with people who have different opinions and foster a climate of civility.Full transcript available here: WiW-PeterBoghossian-Transcript 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

Story Hour with Bridget Phetasy is a segment where Bridget reminisces with cousin Maggie and tells stories explaining who she is and how she got here. Full transcript available here: WiW47-AccidentalPundit-TranscriptThis week Bridget covers how she went from being the Playboy Advisor to an accidental pundit on Ben Shapiro’s Election Special. She can trace every opportunity she’s had since leaving waitressing behind to one thing – Twitter. The realization that Twitter is just like high school, with its cool kids and its cliques helped her understand it and how to use it to her advantage. She discusses using it to hone her writing and her wit, being blocked by Demi Moore, the wrath of Dane Cook and her first mobbing (you can read the essay here), and how Twitter helped her get sober. Hear about her first taste of virality with her essay Bill Cosby Raped Me… Kind Of, how she built her following and created her own community of people who offer support in some of her darkest moments. Her journey from Playboy to the Federalist was a direct result of the paradigm shift that occurred after Trump won the election. She honestly had no idea what she was getting into when it came to political commentary and being caught in the crossfire of the culture war. She wonders as much as anyone “How did I get here?” 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