Make Your Damn Bed

Latest Episodes:

1387 || "people get ready" by rebecca solnit Mar 11, 2025

Show notes

"... we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end.

We shall fight in the Bronx and along the border, we shall fight in the national parks and forests, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the streets, we shall defend our nation, whatever the cost may be.

We shall fight on the public beaches, we shall fight to protect the public lands, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

And even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this nation or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our teenagers and youth would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World that is our beautiful multicultural future, with all its renewable power and grassroots might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old." - Winston Churchill

"I don't know when this regime will end or how, but I know that it will, and that we have a role to play in that and whatever comes after." - Rebecca Solnit

The source: https://www.meditationsinanemergency.com/people-get-ready/

Choose Democracy's mailing list: Choose Democracy

Handbook for nonviolent resistance campaigns: https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/resource/handbook-for-nonviolent-campaigns/

Join an affinity Group:

Resistance Rangers

https://indivisible.org/groups

Third Act

Tesla Takedown

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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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1386 || on cooperation Mar 10, 2025

Show notes

Cooperation is good for the goose and good for the gander, but it's built on trust. Our current society does a lot of work to convince us that we can't trust each other - and that is to our detriment. I'm here to remind you that humans are worthy of trust + cooperation.

The main resource: Cooperation: https://open.maricopa.edu/culturepsychology/chapter/cooperation/

Big Think: https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/secrets-of-cooperation/

Strategies to reduce social loafing: https://www.athleticinsight.com/sports-psychology/social-loafing

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1385 || tit for tat (the winning strategy) Mar 09, 2025

Show notes

In multi-cycle versions of the prisoner's dilemma, the most successful winning strategy was tit for tat (and later, tit for two tats) because it was:

Nice, (didn't defect first)

Retaliatory, (so they didn't get exploited for being too nice)

Forgiving, (they retaliate, and then return to cooperation. Not petty or vengeful.)

Non-envious (they didn't strive to get more than their opponent.)

I think this can teach us a lot about cooperation and mutual-beneficiaries, even in relationships where we have to work with people we don't like or trust.

Cooperation is still a better strategy than constant fighting, and that is exciting to me.

THE SOURCES:

Prisoner's Dilemma: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma#The_iterated_prisoner's_dilemma

The Evolution of Cooperation Book Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evolution_of_Cooperation

Tit for Tat strategy wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tit_for_tat

Check out this Veritasium video for more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mScpHTIi-kM

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1384 || the prisoner's dilemma Mar 08, 2025

Show notes

Believe it or not, in the official studying of strategy within game theory, cooperative strategies fared the best, even amongst those selfish motivations. Let's talk about the prisoner's dilemma and what we can learn from the thought-experiment.

Game Theory Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory

Prisoner’s Dilemma wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma#The_iterated_prisoner's_dilemma

Find ways to get involved in your community: mobilize.us

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1383 || the twilight zone finale Mar 07, 2025

Show notes

Today we discuss the Twilight Zone, its controversy, and a few of its more profound (and controversial) episodes.

If you like this stuff let me know by emailing mydbpodcast@gmail.com!

If you don't like this stuff, you can also let me know by emailing mydbpodcast@gmail.com!

The source: https://www.rogerebert.com/features/the-metaphor-years-writing-lessons-from-the-twilight-zone

The other source: https://gamerant.com/twilight-zone-most-controversial-episodes/

And this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Serling

Some of the episodes I discussed are broken down here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shelter_(The_Twilight_Zone)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monsters_Are_Due_on_Maple_Street

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_the_Night%E2%80%94Color_Me_Black

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Obsolete_Man

Access the full guide to The Twilight Zone here: https://www.twilightzonemuseum.com/show/index.php

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1382 || rod serling + censorship (part II) Mar 06, 2025

Show notes

Today we’re talking about Rod Serling’s dealings with censorship and how he turned his frustrations into something profound and timeless.

“The writer's role is to menace the public's conscience. He must have a position, a point of view. He must see the arts as a vehicle of social criticism and he must focus on the issues of his time.” - Rod Serling

Article 1 I referenced: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/early-run-censors-led-rod-serling-twilight-zone-180971837/

Article 2 I referenced: https://jfk.blogs.archives.gov/2024/12/18/jfk-in-the-twilight-zone-rod-serlings-letters-to-president-john-f-kennedy/

Article 3 I referenced: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/rod-serling-about-rod-serling/702/

Serling Quotes: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/840774-the-writer-s-role-is-to-menace-the-public-s-conscience-he

Read about Emmett Till: https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/emmett-tills-death-inspired-movement

VIDEO: The Emmett Luis Till documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvijYSJtkQk&rco=1

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1381 || the twilight zone - rod serling || part I Mar 05, 2025

Show notes

Today we explore who Rod Serling was before he created The Twilight Zone (which became a brilliant example of resilience, social commentary, and rebellion).

The Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Serling

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/rod-serling-about-rod-serling/702/

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1380 || "feeling like a punching bag" part II Mar 04, 2025

Show notes

"...the most important move a frozen person can make is whatever breaks the cycle. When so many people are isolated, community-affirming events are vital. When everything feels like it is simultaneously too much, and not enough, we must recognize the importance of beginning.

As Mariame Kaba reminds us, we must strive to reduce the distance between our actions and our values. Whatever brings us closer to other people, whatever allows us to act, rather than simply react, is worthwhile." - Kelly Hayes

THE KELLY HAYES' NEWSLETTER: https://organizingmythoughts.org/how-to-be-a-fighter-when-you-feel-like-a-punching-bag/

Mariame Kaba + Kelly Hayes book: Let This Radicalize You—a text about organizing in catastrophic times

Dean's Book Love in a F*cked-Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell Together,

Aaron Goggans: WildSeed Society,

Elise Granata: “Becoming a High Agency Person,”

Subscribe to Kelly's work: https://organizingmythoughts.org/

Donate to Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund::www.pcrf.net

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Read Julie's Medium Blog.

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1379 || on "feeling like a punching bag" - by kelly hayes Mar 03, 2025

Show notes

Most of us feel disconnected and unsure of where to begin. That's by design. We must be willing to redesign our reactions so we can reclaim a bit of agency we've been stripped of.

THE BLOG POST BY KELLY HAYES: https://organizingmythoughts.org/how-to-be-a-fighter-when-you-feel-like-a-punching-bag/

Donate to Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund::www.pcrf.net

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Read Julie's Medium Blog.

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