Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy

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E222. Ian Lara Will Come To Your Town & Sleep With Your Wife Mar 02, 2023

Show notes

Stand-up comic Ian Lara stops in to talk about the ups and downs of his career in stand-up comedy, how he veered from a political science & engineering background and pre-law trajectory into stand-up, and how his parents who immigrated from the Dominican Republic reacted to the change. They talk about his favorite parts of being on the road, competition among comedians, the delicate dance of not discussing your current relationships in your comedy, defending your right to be hyperbolic, and how comedians these days are being held to a higher standard than the President of the United States. They also cover how surprised Ian was to learn that men's rights activists were a thing because he didn't know that men were fighting for rights, comedians who don't like their fans, how any opinion can be validated on the internet, what to do when you hit a plateau, how nobody cares about you as much as you think they do, why he hopes that the average person is not who they play online, and the absurdity of someone telling you to take your own life because they don't like your comedy. Check out Ian's new comedy special Romantic Comedy.

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E221. Fred Mwangaguhunga Thinks Gossip Is Innately Human Feb 24, 2023

Show notes

Fred Mwangaguhunga, founder of urban celebrity news site, Media Takeout, sits down for a conversation about entrepreneurship, the three businesses he's started, what he learned from each of them, and why you should always see your mistakes as an opportunity to learn. He and Bridget talk about parenthood and what it's like as the father of triplets, why families need more support than they’re getting, how money you lost should be viewed as paying for the lesson that you learned, why you have to be a certain level of delusional to start a company, why it's good that your mistakes keep you up at night, finding the balance in a team, respecting your audience, and being able to admit when you're wrong. They also cover wanting to do something that actually provides value to people, finding holes in the market, why he didn't want to stay in the laundry business even though he believes it could have been worth $10 billion, how he wound up starting Media Takeout, and why being the boss means you’re the lowest man on the totem pole.

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- AG1 - https://bit.ly/AG1-WiW
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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/subscribe

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E220. Wilfred Reilly Could Save America Feb 16, 2023

Show notes

Wilfred Reilly, professor & author, sits down with Bridget for a fascinating conversation about the disconnect between what people in upper middle class America believe and reality, the power of victimization, and racial dynamics in the US. They cover the true stats on police killing unarmed civilians, interracial crimes, the politicization of Covid and the vaccines, and people in leadership making decisions based on completely bullshit data. They also discuss the actual definition of the word "woke," why wokeism invariably ignores class and just focuses on race, sexual orientation & gender, how normal people need to get together and oppose crazy people, the long term effects of riots and looting, how journalists and social scientists are trying to shoehorn criminals into a pre-planned narrative, and the simple fact that if you don’t enforce the law, people will commit crimes. Don't miss Wilfred's latest book, Taboo: 10 Facts You Can't Talk About .

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Your Welcome podcast - https://bit.ly/WiW-YourWelcome

Progressive - https://pgrs.in/3Dp5ZIW

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/subscribe

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E219. Byron Bowers Feels Like The Black Forest Gump Feb 09, 2023

Show notes

Bridget sits down with comic Byron Bowers for a wide ranging conversation that covers his entry into standup, his burgeoning acting career, and their shared experience of being raised by someone with mental illness. They discuss separating the message from the messenger, transhumanism, homelessness, evolving past being carbon-based life forms, spirituality & religion, trusting your gut and the messages it's giving you, the value of acid trips, learning to understand the difference between your instincts and fear, peeing in the ocean, therapy, and how we should all be complaining less and grinding more. Check out Byron's new comedy special SPIRITUAL NI**A streaming on Hulu .

Sponsor Links:

- Congressional Dish podcast - https://bit.ly/WiWCongressDish

- The Jordan Harbinger Show - https://spoti.fi/3LhJBTP

- Your Welcome podcast - https://bit.ly/WiW-YourWelcome

- Progressive Insurance - https://pgrs.in/3Dp5ZIW

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/subscribe

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E218. Michael Shermer On The Truth About Conspiracy Theories Feb 02, 2023

Show notes

Michael Shermer stops in to talk about his new book Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational . He and Bridget discuss trying to diffuse the pejorative nature of the word “conspiracy”, the difference between a hypothesis and a conspiracy, why a lot of conspiracy theories turn out to be true, the eroded trust in our institutions, and why we still have to maintain some of that trust or we can’t have a civil society, and the entertainment value and appeal of conspiracy theories - they make you feel like you have an inside track on complex issues. They also cover Ponzi schemes & crypto, people who fall down a Q rabbithole, queer science, price gouging and price fixing, conscious capitalism vs. effective altruism, scientific fraud, selection bias, audience capture, and the most important factor in being able to tell the likelihood that a conspiracy is legit.

Sponsor Links:

- Congressional Dish podcast - https://bit.ly/WiWCongressDish
- Your Welcome podcast - https://bit.ly/WiW-YourWelcome

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/subscribe

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E217. Katherine Dee Needs To Log Off Jan 26, 2023

Show notes

Katherine Dee, writer and internet historian, sits down with Bridget to discuss the strange corners of the internet she's explored and how she manages to predict coming trends in our culture. They talk about internet culture & internet history, whether you can really tell who someone is via Twitter, drunk Tweeting, the definition of a lolcow, feedback loops, the coming wave of sexual negativity, and how we don’t truly appreciate how much AI might change things. They also cover the coming trend of middle and upper class women having babies younger and staying closer to home, how Twitter changed both of their lives, addicts who test their drugs for fentanyl, the real-life fallout of cancel culture, trying to pivot out of the culture war, trends on their way out, and why Katherine thinks the most disturbing thing she sees online is people’s isolation, alienation, and loneliness. Check out Katherine's Substack at defaultfriend.substack.com

Sponsor Links:

AG1 - https://bit.ly/AG1-WiW

Congressional Dish podcast - https://bit.ly/WiWCongressDish

Your Welcome podcast - https://bit.ly/WiW-YourWelcome

Progressive Insurance - https://pgrs.in/3Dp5ZIW

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/subscribe

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E216. Phil Hanley Explains The Gifts Of Dyslexia Jan 19, 2023

Show notes

Comedian Phil Hanley drops in to talk about his new stand up special Oh La La. He and Bridget discuss what it was like for him growing up with undiagnosed dyslexia, the challenges but also the gifts of dyslexia, the book he is writing about it, and the most important thing he thinks parents should know about raising a child who is dyslexic. They talk about the failures of the school system to support children with dyslexia, why it made him good at crowd work as a comic, dealing with stage fright, drinking and stand up, the triumph of the human spirit, and the things we take for granted.

Sponsor Links:

Progressive Insurance - https://pgrs.in/3Dp5ZIW

Your Welcome Podcast - https://bit.ly/WiW-YourWelcome

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/subscribe

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E215. Thomas de Zengotita Discusses The Rise of Identity Politics Jan 12, 2023

Show notes

Mediated Series - Part 5:

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 5 Bridget and Thomas discuss identity politics, how they evolved from the effort to get yourself a platform where you could be heard, which turned into self-promotion, and their evolution into grievance politics. They cover the attention economy and how if you can’t package what you want to say into soundbite form you’re not going to be heard at all, how when you take on an ideology it starts to do your thinking for you, why highly focused and committed activism is the response to psychological numbness and apathy, and the difference between what we’re presenting and what we believe vs the reality and the actions we take, armchair activism, and finding hope in the rise of independent media.

Sponsor links:

Progressive Insurance - https://pgrs.in/3Dp5ZIW

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/subscribe

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E214. Joel Stein Hates People Who Have Yachts Jan 05, 2023

Show notes

Joel Stein (columnist, author & podcast host) joins Bridget for the first video edition of Walk-Ins Welcome! They sit down for a fun and wide-ranging conversation about their obsession with super yachts, the one-upsmanship of the super wealthy, why people in rural America know all about liberals yet liberals know nothing about them, Joel's propensity for smugness, and why he thinks our differences as a country are severe but not irreconcilable. They cover how democracy is young and fragile and the assumption that it’s going to keep going forever is ignorant, why the whole idea of a Civil War seems preposterous to Joel, how television disintegrated society in a way we don’t necessarily understand, being addicted to tech, living through butt-pinching as a server, and the Christmas tree selling racket in New York City. Don't miss Joel's podcast Story of the Week with Joel Stein , where he investigates random stories don’t get enough attention these days.

The Walk-Ins Welcome video is now on the Phetasy YouTube channel! - https://www.youtube.com/phetasy

Sponsor Links:

The Jordan Harbinger Show - https://spoti.fi/3LhJBTP

Progressive Insurance - https://pgrs.in/3Dp5ZIW

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/subscribe

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E213. Bari Weiss Believes It's Never Going To Get Easier To Speak Up, So Do It Now Dec 29, 2022

Show notes

Bari Weiss is a journalist (New York Times, Wall Street Journal) and author of How to Fight Antisemitism. She and Bridget have an in-depth conversation about how full personhood is not possible on the internet, faux outrage and what it's doing to us, the explosion of independent media, the dangers of exploring TikTok, and why the end of Trump's presidency means you're suddenly you're allowed to say things that have never stopped being true. They discuss what to do when you notice you're self-censoring, the potential for being de-platformed, how quickly our brains deny the reality of something terrible happening, how Jews are the obvious victims of antisemitism but the wider victim is the society infected by it, intersectionality, race, the dangers of focusing on whiteness, and why Bari believes that the fight of our lifetimes is the fight against illiberalism. Don't miss Bari's podcast Honestly .

[Note: This is a previously broadcast episode that we decided to rebroadcast in honor of the Twitter files.]

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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/subscribe

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