257: Overcoming Accidental Accomplice to Fraud | Feedback Friday

Alastair Smith is the Bernhardt Denmark Chair of International Relations at New York University, professor of political science in the Wilf Family Department of Politics, and co-author (with Bruce Bueno de Mesquita) of The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics. [This is part one of a two-part episode. Please check back later in the week for part two!] What We Discuss with Alastair Smith: How do dictators come to power and remain in power even when their policies serve only themselves and not the people under their "leadership?" Why do the majority of people living under dictatorships suffer in impoverished squalor, and how does foreign aid empower these dictators rather than help the general populace? Why do dictators consistently hate freedom, the media, and seemingly their own citizens? Why does bad behavior so often make for good politics — even in the most progressive nations? Are our own governments beyond saving, or can we use lessons learned here to make them work for us? And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/794 This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors: jordanharbinger.com/deals Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course! Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

14 Feb 20231h 1min

Are you dead wrong to trust the funeral industry in having your best interests at heart when it's time to shuffle off your mortal coil? Welcome to Skeptical Sunday, a special edition of The Jordan Harbinger Show where Jordan and fact-checker, comedian, and podcast host David C. Smalley break down a topic that you may have never thought about, open things up, and debunk common misconceptions. On This Week's Skeptical Sunday, We Discuss: The average cost of a funeral is over $11,000. Lack of regulation and high prices lead to some families not being able to afford funerals. As a result, about 88,000 bodies go unclaimed each year. Grieving people may not have the emotional energy or knowledge to compare prices, leading to exploitation by funeral companies — like Service Corporation International (SCI), whose prices are 47 percent to 72 percent higher than competitors. 4.3 million gallons of embalming fluid are used in the US each year, which potentially get into the drinking water. 1.4 million cremations recorded in 2017 created CO2 emissions equalling 52,000 cars on the road. Funerals.org provides information on funeral arrangements and what is necessary versus what is being sold by funeral homes. Connect with Jordan on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. If you have something you'd like us to tackle here on Skeptical Sunday, drop Jordan a line at jordan@jordanharbinger.com and let him know! Connect with David at his website, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, and make sure to check out The David C. Smalley Podcast here or wherever you enjoy listening to fine podcasts! If you like to get out of your house and catch live comedy, keep an eye on David's tour dates here and text David directly at (424) 306-0798 for tickets when he comes to your town! Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/793 This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors: jordanharbinger.com/deals Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at...See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

12 Feb 202333min

A number of red flags have you rethinking the effectiveness of your shrink. Shouldn't they make you feel more capable of facing the world and understanding your place in it instead of less capable and more confused? Is it time for you to shop for a newer, better therapist? We'll try to help you answer this and more here on Feedback Friday! And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Gabriel Mizrahi (@GabeMizrahi) banter and take your comments and questions for Feedback Friday right here every week! If you want us to answer your question, register your feedback, or tell your story on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com. Now let's dive in! On This Week's Feedback Friday, We Discuss: A number of red flags have you rethinking the effectiveness of your shrink. Is it time for you to shop for a newer, better therapist? [Thanks once again to clinical psychologist Dr. Erin Margolis for helping us with this one!] You're concerned about the well-being of an on-again, off-again ex. How can you check in on them without re-entering what always turns out to be a hurtful and toxic relationship? How might you pitch the higher-ups at your office about covering the costs of the doctorate you're pursuing that would increase your market value within the company — sure to be a win/win for both parties? When the city government and law enforcement won't do anything to stem the meth production and associated traffic blighting the neighborhood, can the landlords who allow this to continue be held legally accountable? [As always, thanks to attorney Corbin Payne for helping us answer this one!] Everyone you know reached out and offered support when you made your cancer diagnosis public — except for your best friend, who notably kept their distance. Should you even still consider this person your friend? Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com! Connect with Jordan on Twitter at @JordanHarbinger and Instagram at @jordanharbinger. Connect with Gabriel on Twitter at @GabeMizrahi. Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/792 This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors: jordanharbinger.com/deals Sign up for Six-Minute...See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

10 Feb 202356min

Mark Manson (@IAmMarkManson) is the New York Times bestselling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, and the subject of a new feature film that goes by the same name. What We Discuss with Mark Manson: Mark and Jordan discuss how they evolved beyond their roots in the seedy pickup artist (PUA) scene to help people from all walks of life transcend insecurities and discover their true potential — or at least derive entertainment from some books and podcasts. Mark experiences the ups and downs of becoming a viral sensation: from seeing his book publicly enjoyed by Congressional representatives and Hollywood movie stars to discovering that Putin's using it as an excuse to tighten Russia's censorship laws. The dangers of delusional positivity — just because believing something makes you feel good doesn't make it real, which means you're going to be especially disappointed when it's time to acknowledge what is real. Our brains want there to be an easy, fix-all formula for happiness that we can get from attending a self-help seminar or reading a stack of personal growth books, but the principles we learn from them are useless until we go through the effort to apply them to our lives in the outside world. There's no such thing as bad emotions — there are only bad reactions to emotions. And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/791 This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors: jordanharbinger.com/deals Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course! Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

9 Feb 20231h 20min

Florence Williams (@flowill) is a journalist and the author of The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative, Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History, and Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey. What We Discuss with Florence Williams: How "real" is heartbreak? Real enough that our brains react to the emotional pain of heartbreak in the same way they react to physical pain. The chronic loneliness brought about by heartbreak can increase the risk of early death by as much as 26 percent. Just as you wouldn't expect results from "wishing" a toothache away, ignoring the distress caused by heartbreak can exacerbate existing medical problems and create new ones — from inflammation to diabetes, heart disease, and irritable bowel syndrome. Differences between the causes and symptoms of heartbreak as typically experienced by women and men. What we can do to mitigate the pain if we find ourselves suffering from heartbreak. And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/790 This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors: jordanharbinger.com/deals Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course! Miss our conversation with evolutionary social psychologist Dr. Sarah Hill? Catch up with episode 280: Sarah Hill | This Is Your Brain on Birth Control here! Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

7 Feb 202353min

Is chocolate your guilty pleasure? Until you listen to this episode, we can almost guarantee you're not feeling guilty enough about it! But don't fret, because we'll also provide resources to help alleviate some of that guilt and allow you to become part of the problem's solution! Welcome to Skeptical Sunday, a special edition of The Jordan Harbinger Show where Jordan and fact-checker, comedian, and podcast host David C. Smalley break down a topic that you may have never thought about, open things up, and debunk common misconceptions. On This Week's Skeptical Sunday, We Discuss: How the production and consumption of chocolate perpetuates a range of negative impacts, including child trafficking, labor exploitation akin to slavery, deforestation, and climate change. The chocolate industry brings in $100 billion annually, but the farmers who produce it make less than $1 a day toiling long hours in the grueling heat, constantly exposed to poisonous pesticides in unsafe conditions. High demand for labor is met by children — some as young as five — who are forced into it either by their desperate families or opportunists who abduct and sell them. How, despite the health benefits of cocoa, there has been a high food safety concern regarding the presence and levels of heavy metals such as nickel, cadmium, chromium, and lead, both in cocoa beans and cocoa products including, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, cocoa powder, and chocolates. How consumers can contribute to positive change by being more mindful of where their chocolate comes from and demanding ethical and sustainable production practices. Vote with your dollars for conscientious producers of chocolate who observe fair trade practices! Connect with Jordan on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. If you have something you'd like us to tackle here on Skeptical Sunday, drop Jordan a line at jordan@jordanharbinger.com and let him know! Connect with David at his website, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, and make sure to check out The David C. Smalley Podcast here or wherever you enjoy listening to fine podcasts! If you like to get out of your house and catch live comedy, keep an eye on David's tour dates here and text David directly at (424) 306-0798 for tickets when he comes to your town! Full...See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

5 Feb 202334min

If the people back home choose to believe negative stereotypes about your true love from another land and the nature of your relationship, it's a damn shame — for them. On this Feedback Friday, we'll delve into why it's almost always okay to blow off the cockamamie opinions of people who should probably be minding their own business! And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Gabriel Mizrahi (@GabeMizrahi) banter and take your comments and questions for Feedback Friday right here every week! If you want us to answer your question, register your feedback, or tell your story on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com. Now let's dive in! On This Week's Feedback Friday, We Discuss: People in your town are bound to assume a number of negative stereotypes when you bring your true love from abroad home. But is that really your problem? What resources best prepared Jordan and Jen for their first child? What can you do when your sketchy new landlord is pressuring you to avoid his ex-wife (and half-owner of the building) if she comes to introduce herself? You share children with a gaslighting, abusive ex who damaged your confidence and sense of reality, so you still have to deal with him regularly. How do you warn his wonderful current girlfriend before he does the same to her? What support does the Chinese Communist Party have from Chinese citizens who have moved abroad? Will declining birth rates and emigration force regime change before the country's infrastructure collapses? Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com! Connect with Jordan on Twitter at @JordanHarbinger and Instagram at @jordanharbinger. Connect with Gabriel on Twitter at @GabeMizrahi. Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/788 This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors: jordanharbinger.com/deals Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course! Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter...See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

3 Feb 202355min

Mitch Lowe (@mitch__lowe) is a co-founding executive of Netflix, the former CEO of MoviePass, the former president of Redbox, and the author of Watch and Learn: How I Turned Hollywood Upside Down with Netflix, Redbox, and MoviePass ? Lessons in Disruption. [This is part two of a two-part episode. You can find part one here!] What We Discuss with Mitch Lowe: How Netflix tested, marketed, and made its DVD-by-mail service work at a time when the profit margins were low and its brick-and-mortar competition was high. How Redbox DVD rentals filled a consumer niche between Netflix and Blockbuster — and was so successful that one machine was being installed per hour for every hour of the day, three years in a row! Redbox's loss-prevention and cost-capturing strategies for what were essentially unstaffed video vending machines in operation 24/7. Obstacles Netflix and Redbox faced from business interests entrenched in the status quo (and how they were overcome). Why Mitch once faked a heart attack to get out of a meeting with Walmart executives. And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/787 This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors: jordanharbinger.com/deals Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course! Like this show? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

2 Feb 20231h 4min