Make Your Damn Bed

Latest Episodes:

1611 || are we blaming the wrong guy? Nov 15, 2025

Show notes

America has a habit of blaming poor people + immigrants for the problems that policy makers create. Stop letting the oppressors scapegoat the oppressed, and start focusing your outrage on the people who perpetuate (and profit from) this harmful false narrative.

The Big Short Script: https://www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/wp-content/uploads/screenplay/scripts/The-Big-Short.pdf

The "Careful, that foreigner wants your cookie" Meme: https://www.reddit.com/r/PoliticalHumor/comments/lwssxm/america_summed_up/

The "average taxpayer pays $36 in SNAP vs $300 corporate bailouts" meme: https://www.reddit.com/r/theydidthemath/comments/1kjoekc/request_is_this_accurate/

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The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

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1610 || break some rules for justice Nov 14, 2025

Show notes

"Perhaps the greatest failure of liberal democracies is their historical failure to successfully protect the vital economic and security interests of their less advantaged citizens through their institutions."

"It is a cruel irony that this great promise of democracy is rarely realized in practice."

"The job of trade unions, parties, and even radical social movements is precisely to institutionalize unruly protest and anger. Their function is, one might say, to try to translate anger, frustration, and pain into a coherent political program that can be the basis of policy making and legislation."

"As Martin Luther King, Jr., noted, “a riot is the language of the unheard.” Large-scale disruption, riot, and spontaneous defiance have always been the most potent political recourse of the poor. Such activity is not without structure. It is structured by informal, self-organized, and transient networks of neighborhood, work, and family that lie outside the formal institutions of politics. This is structure alright, just not the kind amenable to institutionalized politics."

JAMES C. SCOTT - TWO CHEERS FOR ANARCHISM

More from James C. Scott: https://politicalscience.yale.edu/people/james-scott

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1609 || how do you know? Nov 13, 2025

Show notes

How do we really know anything? Well, it starts by connecting with what you feel.

Faron Sage's article: "How Do We Make Heads or Tails of What's Going On?"

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Read Julie's Medium Blog.

Support JULIE (and the show!)

Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.

Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com

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1608 || when rules are meant to be broken Nov 12, 2025

Show notes

It's that time again, where we take a step back and check in with the cop in our heads.

“One day you will be called upon to break a big law in the name of justice and rationality. Everything will depend on it. You have to be ready. How are you going to prepare for that day when it really matters? You have to stay "in shape" so that when the big day comes you will be ready. What you need is "anarchist calisthenics." Every day or so break some trivial law that makes no sense, even if it’s only jaywalking. Use your own head to judge whether a law is just or reasonable. That way, you'll keep trim; and when the big day comes, you'll be ready.” - James C. Scott Two Cheers for Anarchism

MochaEinstein: https://www.tiktok.com/@mochaeinstein27

Mocha Einstein's video: https://www.tiktok.com/@mochaeinstein27/video/7557378325279214861

TheOfficialJaiButle's video: rhttps://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8DxV84u/

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1606 || buck what society says Nov 11, 2025

Show notes

Your brain does what is reliable, not what is best. It does what is safe, not what is productive. Our culture has shaped each and every one of us through rules + repetition.

How has society tampered down the way you connect to your body and to others? How has society's expectations stifled you? How have our societal norms impacted the way you feel? and react?

Can you buck some of those norms for a bit of nervous system regulation? If you can find a moment alone, scream. If you can find a moment to dance? Dance. Cry if you need to cry.

Address the ways you've been holding yourself back from feeling your feelings, to appease some made up rules.

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Read Julie's Medium Blog.

Support JULIE (and the show!)

Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.

Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com

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Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed.

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1605 || habit hacking Nov 10, 2025

Show notes

optimize your cues + your environment to create + reinforce better habits + discourage your "not so good" ones.

Time cues < (paired with another) action cues. "I will do this at 7 am every single day" is waaaaay harder to commit to than committing to something with something else, "I will do this after I do that."

Intrinsic motivation > external rewards

Tweak your environment to reduce the friction between you and your desired habit.

Set yourself up for success + visualize it! Don't visualize the work.

https://www.joincarbon.com/blog/the-neuroscience-of-habit-formation

Use findhelp.org is an amazing website where you can type in your zip code and it will show you free or reduced-cost resources like food, housing, financial assistance, health care, and more.

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Read Julie's Medium Blog.

Support JULIE (and the show!)

Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.

Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com

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1604 || old dog, new tricks Nov 09, 2025

Show notes

You can, in fact, teach an old dog new tricks - if you use a couple of old ones.

Habits are formed and reinforced through repetition, salience (how much it stands out), time, intensity, specificity. Today we talk about what that means.

Use findhelp.org is an amazing website where you can type in your zip code and it will show you free or reduced-cost resources like food, housing, financial assistance, health care, and more.

SUPPORT JULIE (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed

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Read Julie's Medium Blog.

Support JULIE (and the show!)

Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.

Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com

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Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed.

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1603 || repetition (for good vs. evil) Nov 08, 2025

Show notes

Repetition is how we learn, so be careful what (and who) you're listening to.

The source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-main-ingredient/202509/harnessing-the-power-of-repetition-for-good-and-evil

More reading: https://www.neurolab360.com/blog/principles-of-neuroplasticity-repetition-matters

Use findhelp.org is an amazing website where you can type in your zip code and it will show you free or reduced-cost resources like food, housing, financial assistance, health care, and more.

SUPPORT JULIE (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed

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Read Julie's Medium Blog.

Support JULIE (and the show!)

Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.

Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com

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1602 || satisfaction vs. pleasure Nov 07, 2025

Show notes

Today we talk about how to build your tolerance for discomfort.

THE SOURCE: https://shoesandshots.substack.com/p/discomfort-is-the-price-you-pay-for

Further reading: https://www.outsideonline.com/health/training-performance/dealing-pain-discomfort/

and: https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/living-well-when-your-body-doesnt-cooperate/202405/stretching-distress-tolerance

Use findhelp.org is an amazing website where you can type in your zip code and it will show you free or reduced-cost resources like food, housing, financial assistance, health care, and more.

SUPPORT JULIE (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed

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Read Julie's Medium Blog.

Support JULIE (and the show!)

Support + get some bonus stuff over on PATREON.

Get an occasional personal email from me: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.com

Tune in on INSTAGRAM ANDYOUTUBE or TIKTOK

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1601 || urge surfing Nov 06, 2025

Show notes

It's not about giving in, and it's not about fighting it. Sometimes, you can just observe, ride the wave, and allow it to pass.

Resisting Impulse Spending: https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/holiday-shopping-personal-finance-spending.html

Urge Surfing: https://www.dartmouth-hitchcock.org/sites/default/files/2021-03/urge-surfing.pdf

Stop impulse Spending Hacks: https://bodybrainalliance.com/stop-impulse-spending-with-these-4-behavior-change-hacks

Use findhelp.org is an amazing website where you can type in your zip code and it will show you free or reduced-cost resources like food, housing, financial assistance, health care, and more.

PLEASE Watch Kendra Austin's video on Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8DyB7xE/

The incomparable Dollar Tree Dinners: https://www.youtube.com/@DollarTreeDinners

How to make Sandwich Bread: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8DyEXum/

Cheap vegan friendly grocery inspiration: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8DyqykN/

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Support JULIE (and the show!)