Dr. Phil

Rachel and Ash peer into the soul of Phil McGraw, Oprah's favorite straight-talking daytime TV guru, who has more recently pivoted to pro-ICE content creator. Folksy animal metaphors abound.

Sources:

Phil McGraw, Self Matters: Creating Your Life From the Inside Out, https://shop.drphil.com/products/book-self-matters-creating-your-life-from-the-inside-out-studio

Sophia Dembling & Lisa Gutierrez, The Making of Dr Phil: The Straight-Talking True Story of Everyone's Favorite Therapist, https://www.strandbooks.com/the-making-of-dr-phil-the-straight-talking-true-story-of-everyone-s-favorite-therapist-9780471696599.html

David Armstrong and Evan Allen, "Dr. Phil says he rescues people from addiction. Others say his show puts guests' health at risk," Stat News & Boston Globe - https://www.statnews.com/2017/12/28/dr-phil-guests-say-show-risks-health-of-some-addicts/

David Armstrong and Evan Allen, "How Dr. Phil's new addiction recovery venture trades on his TV show's marketing clout," Stat News & Boston Globe - https://www.statnews.com/2017/12/29/dr-phil-path-to-recovery/

Scaachi Koul, "Dr. Do Nothing," BuzzFeed News - https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/scaachikoul/dr-phil-mcgraw-mental-health-danielle-bregoli

Dennis Cass, "Dr. Phil Is a Softie," Slate - https://slate.com/culture/2003/10/dr-phil-s-fat-fighting-crusade.html

David K. Li, Janhvi Bhojwani and Toby Lyles, "How 'Dr. Phil' suddenly became so outspoken about immigration," NBC - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dr-phil-immigration-ice-raids-rcna189691

Nitish Pahwa, "Just What the Doctor Ordered," Slate - https://slate.com/business/2025/10/dr-phil-mcgraw-donald-trump-merit-media-maga.html

Lisa de Moraes, "On Dr. Phil, a Dose of Bad Medicine?" Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63905-2004Sep30.html

Matt Flegenheimer, "Dr. Phil's Road From Oprah to ICE Raids," New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/10/style/dr-phils-road-from-oprah-to-ice-raids.html

Merit Street Media YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@newsonmeritstreet/videos

Eric Rasmussen & David Ewoldsen, "Treatment via Television: The Relation Between Watching Dr. Phil and Viewers' Intentions to Seek Mental Health Treatment," Journal of Health Communication - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10810730.2015.1114054

Colton Wooten, "My Years in the Florida Shuffle of Drug Addiction," New Yorker - https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/10/21/my-years-in-the-florida-shuffle-of-drug-addiction

Teen Torture, Inc. HBO - https://play.hbomax.com/show/6e25d97c-26ec-439b-83ef-6b3cca5af597