Tag: walk ins welcome

Candice Thompson is a comedian, writer, actor and host of the podcast Nosy Neighbors which breaks down the  most absurd neighborhood app posts of the week. She and Bridget discuss how everybody wants to label you so they know what to think about you, why they don’t trust groups, their paths to stand-up comedy, their worst comedy bomb experiences, why hemp is the buffalo of plants, normalizing knife fights, and why people are so staunch in their defense a celebrity they’ve never met. Candice shares her experience being a light skinned black girl, and the complexities of being mixed race in a country obsessed with race, her exploration of nutrition and spirituality, and why she got kicked out of a wedding for a stand-up set. It’s a hilarious conversation that goes from lentils to racism to fat shaming, why our bodies are miracles, people who take pride in their victimhood, and the etiquette of throwing away dog poop.

Sarah Rose Siskind is a science comedy writer, psychedelic educator, comedian, and co-founder of Hello SciCom, a company that combines science communication and comedy to help scientists and tech companies revamp their content. She and Bridget discuss homelessness, how little we knew in our 20s, sobriety & pharmaceuticals, why D.A.R.E. is a terrible program, pandemic-induced anxiety, why mental health issues are like spousal abuse, and why people shouldn’t treat weed as a cure-all. They swap crazy Burning Man stories, discuss classism, agree that art is one of the things humans do right, commiserate over comedian-brain, and highlight the importance of knowing your audience in any given situation.

Julian Walker is a yoga instructor, writer, and co-host of the podcast Conspirituality. He and Bridget discuss the growing overlap between new age spirituality and conspiracy theory culture in the last few years, how QAnon-influenced ideas started to take hold in the yoga space, the growing trend of anti-intellectualism and shying away from science, the difference between freshman skepticism and healthy skepticism, and why he’s committed to the principle that politics should be boring. Julian talks about growing up in South Africa amid the dismantling of apartheid and the perspective it gave him about reality bubbles, authoritarianism, propaganda, and what a charismatic candidate that arouses a passionate response in their followers means in a society. They talk empathy, morality, purity, cults, gurus, political stability, and why we should give people the benefit of the doubt in conversation rather than going from zero to calling them a Nazi in two seconds.

Angel Eduardo is a writer, musician, photographer and artist. He and Bridget discuss the discipline of being a professional artist, the moral panic around art these days, self-censorship and the fear of being cancelled, victimhood culture, exercise & discipline, Bridget’s ideal super power, why mistakes are like wrapping paper, what to do when you’re lost, and the ground we’re losing in the equality movement. Angel explains his concept of “star-manning,” a way of engaging in discourse with each other that acknowledges a person’s point of view and their intentions in a conversation as a means of finding common ground, making them feel heard, and making them more likely to listen to you in return. He believes that most people mean well, and we often lose sight of that fact and depersonalize them in a disagreement, particularly over social media. Learn more about Angel on his website, angeleduardo.com.

Nick Gillespie is the host of The Reason Interview podcast and editor-at-large at Reason Magazine. He and Bridget discuss the need to create meaning in our lives and why this has driven a lot of American culture insane, how he became a libertarian, Burning Man, his time working for a teen magazine, and why we need a government that does fewer things, but does them well. He shares how attending high school graduations and zoning board meetings radicalized him, the difference between liberals and progressives, how we can build a robust culture by having more arguments, and how he learned almost anything is possible. He and Bridget cover their hope for the future, why Walter Kronkite sucked, the consequences of growing up comfortable, and the truth behind our political parties’ ideologies.

Nancy Rommelman, journalist & author, sits down with Bridget for an in-depth conversation about her feature for Reason Magazine The Dream of The 90’s Dies in Portland, covering the Portland protests. They discuss what the endgame is for people whose skill set only involves destruction, how people are starting to behave in real life the way they do online, how people can become addicted to their “quest for justice,” the reality of what happens when you’ve been cancelled, and why your attitude after experiencing adversity is everything. They also cover the danger of a subscriber model when saying outrageous things and playing the victim gets you attention and an audience, the disconcerting current attitude of trying to pull everybody down rather than lifting them up, how when you weaponize terms you shut down the ability to have conversations, and their hope that the woke will go to sleep eventually. Subscribe to Nancy’s substack Make More Pie.

Cherie DeVille is an adult film star who offers Bridget an inside look at today’s porn industry. They cover how Cherie got into porn, how her parents reacted, why she loves it, the secret to her decade-long career, the perception versus the reality of the industry, the social stigma that comes with it, how it’s changed in the last 10 years, and how women have more power and control in the industry than ever before. They also discuss having an emotionally monogamous relationship, shame, boundaries, the struggle of kids today, how damaging porn addiction can be, the fact that conservatives and pornstars are on the same side when it comes to the arbitrary control and restrictions that financial institutions have over one’s ability to sell a product, and why we should all be terrified of what this means for the future.

Bridget and Jeren sit down to discuss their recent trip to South Africa. They discuss traveling during Covid, the importance of leaving the United States on a regular basis, what you learn when you travel internationally, their families’ attitudes towards traveling growing up, and their adventures in the wildlife parks they visited. They also get into the differences for traveling between men and women, an emotional helicopter ride, saving the rhinos, and trying to devise ways to protect themselves in the event of a lion attack.

Sarah Tollemache, stand-up comic and podcast host, joins Bridget for a hilarious conversation about anything and everything, including what they miss about live stand up, defending their right to be hyperbolic, worrying about being caught in the background of a viral video that would get them cancelled, and their shared fascination of black market arms dealing and money laundering. They discuss their ability to create for themselves rather than the gatekeepers, why corporations that stand up to woke public pressure tend to be European, the stereotypes of traveling, why Bridget should go into PR to advised celebrities who are being cancelled, and swap restaurant industry horror stories. Check out Sarah’s podcast Vadge here.

Ryan Long, comedian and filmmaker, connects with Bridget from New York and they discuss his move from Canada five months before the pandemic hit, why NYC is a sadboy town, the challenges of being a self-starter and your own boss, the outrage economy, why good editors are so hard to find, and why Canada is dead to him. In the middle of their conversation Bridget receives breaking news of the lockdown at the Capitol on January 6th but that doesn’t derail the conversation. They delve into how Hollywood woke culture feels like a last ditch attempt  to maintain their status as gatekeepers, why Millennials are really just young Boomers in disguise, the difference between British comedy, American comedy, and Australian comedy, and how finding a way to turn something you might get mad about into something funny is a means of undermining your anger.

Desi-Rae is a sociopolitical commentator, crypto enthusiast, and artist who started her talk show Just Thinking Out Loud, after she realized she felt conflicted about honestly speaking her mind. Originally from Jamaica, she offers her perspective on US politics, how you used to be able to disagree with someone and still be friends with them, why she hates identity politics, and how people were always assuming what she thought because she’s black. She and Bridget discuss whether being racist or sexist is the worst vice a person can have, the cost of cutting family members out of your life, how victimhood requires constantly looking for oppressors, why we should ask people to learn about the parts of themselves they don’t like, and how everyone in America is rich compared to the rest of the world.

Tori Perrotti, aka “Target Tori,” talks with Bridget about her experience going viral, cyber-bullying, cancel culture, and the amazing positive support she received that inspired her to found the Pause. Be Kind platform. They discuss what they’ve each learned in the service industry, being an only child vs. the oldest of five, trade stories about being bullied in high school and how those experiences shaped them, and notice why it’s so hard to think of others in any given situation. Tori shares her desire to take what happened to her and use the opportunity to create something bigger, to spread a positive message, and to do something that would make her feel more fulfilled and contribute to society. It’s a refreshing and uplifting conversation in the midst of these darkly cynical times.

Corey DeAngelis is the director of School Choice at Reason Foundation and the Executive Director at Educational Freedom Institute. Corey and Bridget discuss school choice, which would mean allowing a tax payer’s education dollars to follow their child to wherever they’re getting their education – public school, private school, or charter school – rather than automatically being paid to their local school district. They delve into the effects of Covid and how families are seeing their school system leaving them high and dry while still getting their children’s education dollars, why school choice would be good for individual teachers, and where the money being poured into the school system is actually going. They also cover why this shouldn’t be a partisan issue since it’s a market-based reform in education and an equalizer in society, and they explore some of the arguments against school choice. Don’t miss Corey’s book School Choice Myths: Setting the Record Straight on Education Freedom.

Karol Markowicz (New York Post, Spectator USA, Time) and Bridget discuss the effect of the pandemic in NYC, how nobody in California seems to be able to connect policies they hate and the people they’re voting for, why large portions of immigrant communities love Trump, looking back and seeing their own blindspots going into 2016, and the best and worst case scenarios for how the 2020 election might go. They cover the future of the Democratic party, why Karol tries to bring up the fact that she’s a conservative very early in a conversation with a new person, whether she fears for her safety being an outspoken conservative in a liberal place, and why she doesn’t worry about what she’s going to tell her grandchildren about who she voted for.

Bridget & Maggie reminisce about 100 episodes of Walk-Ins Welcome. What they love, what they’ve learned, favorite episodes, and they marvel at their unprecedented consistency. They explore Bridget’s gift of gab and her genuine love for talking to people (inherited from their grandmother), discuss the need for a Hero’s Journey and how lost we can become without one, and plan for the future and what they’d like to see happen for the podcast and Phetasy. Become a subscriber at phetasy.com or make a donation and support another 100 episodes!

David French (The Dispatch, Time) stops in to talk about his latest book Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation. He and Bridget cover how he sources his news, the liberation of shedding the partisan mindset and meeting in the wasteland of the center, the rise of journavism, being expelled from your tribe, taking precautions against being “swatted” by online trolls, and the times they wonder if it’s worth it. They discuss the differences between this election and 2016, take issue with the idea of voting for “the lesser of two evils” when the response should be “don’t vote for evil,” examine how our rage and hatred are what will destroy our country, and ask the question, what kind of country do we aspire to and how should I behave as a human being to try and reach this aspiration?

In some sense the United States was an innovation, a bold experiment that turned into a spectacular success. According to Bret Weinstein, this success is proof of concept, and the system devised has been wildly successful at producing well-being, though unfairly distributed to certain population groups. The solution is not to un-invent the system, it’s to figure out how to correct the unfairness. The system needs an adjustment. Bret believes that Unity 2020 is our way to break the corrupt duopoly holding this country in gridlock and sowing division between Democrats and Republicans. A biologist and evolutionary theorist, Bret’s background is in studying complex systems and the evolution of humans in particular. He outlines his innovative and bold plan to galvanize disaffected voters, force both parties to meet in the middle and affect a lasting change in the way this country is governed. Will it work in 2020? Is there time? If not, what can we hope for in the future?

Katie Herzog (podcast host Blocked and Reported) and Bridget have a hilarious conversation that covers everything from Katie’s multiple drunken bicycle accidents, to Bridget’s being put on male-restriction when she was in rehab for heroin. They talk addiction, alcoholism, their first exposure to gender pronouns, teaching yoga in Sri Lanka, The Babes of NPR, and how your darkest moments can lead to new opportunities. Katie shares her many failures in holding down a job before working her way into freelance writing, and how an article on Detransitioning in The Stranger made her one of the most hated people in Seattle.

Buck Angel is a 58 year-old trans man who is speaking out against the mob mentality that has taken over the trans community. He and Bridget discuss his life before his transition, how he was essentially a human “guinea pig” in the early days of his transition, the long road and struggle for acceptance, and how the trans movement of today has developed something of a “cult-like” ideology where if you don’t speak and think in a specific way, they don’t want you as a member. He and Bridget discuss the “trans trenders,” the rewriting of factual information, why the label “cis” feels derogatory, how there’s no oversight and no system in allowing young people to self-diagnose as “trans,” being attacked by his own community, and why we should follow the money on the sudden push to enable sexual reassignment surgeries. As an elderly trans person whose own transition saved his life, Buck is passionate about the dangers he sees in the community today, and the fact that this push to transition will kill people.

John Wood Jr. comes by to talk about Braver Angels, the largest grassroots bipartisan organization in America, focused on the work of political de-polarization. Along the way he and Bridget have a fascinating conversation about his experience being raised by a mother who’s a liberal black Democrat from inner city LA and father who’s a conservative white Republican from Tennessee, and how his white father emphasized the greatness of black culture in the context of the greatness of America and made him proud of being a black man.  He and Bridget bond over their similar experiences dealing with their parents’ divorces. They cover how you can engage conflict without suffering the debilitating impact of hatred in your own psychology, being chameleons growing up and learning to integrate all the different parts of themselves as they grew older, how important it is to see the human behind the opinion – especially when it’s one you don’t agree with,  what’s truly noble and redeemable in all of our American traditions, and whether Trump is actually racist.