1060: Dreams | Skeptical Sunday

Should you throw in the friendship towel after a feckless frottage foul with someone's significant other? Can you make it right? Welcome to 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: Should you throw in the friendship towel after a feckless frottage foul with someone's significant other, or can you make it right? Shrugging your shoulders and quipping, "At least it's a dry cheat" is probably not your best option. As parents, you've been bearing the burden of your adult daughter's bad choices in education, employment, and financial responsibilities, but she hasn't always been so reckless. What's changed, and how can you help her regain her footing when she doesn't even seem to want to help herself? You love to travel, but struggle to sleep away from your own bed due to persistent insomnia or hypersensitivity. You've experimented with all the common remedies to no avail, but what's left to try? [This segment is sponsored by BetterHelp. Big thanks to Haesue Jo, Head of Clinical Operations at BetterHelp!] How do you gently nudge your 70-year-old parents away from offering body-shaming commentary that was more socially acceptable in their youth (and was instrumental in the negative way you felt about yourself in yours)? Though life in your hometown is what many would consider idyllic, you can't shake the feeling that you've missed out on experiencing what it would be like to live elsewhere. How can you explore your options without upending the quality of life your family currently enjoys? 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 and Instagram @gabrielmizrahi. Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/897 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.

15 Sep 202358min

Recovering stolen ships from pirates in the world's most troubled waters is big business, and Captain Max Hardberger is here to steer us through it. What We Learn in Conversation with Captain Max Hardberger: Not all pirates are impoverished desperados with nothing to lose — the most vicious ones wear suits and hobnob with royalty. The surprising places where ships are illegitimately seized by the rich and powerful who know how to play the game. When ship owners can't recover their seized property through legal channels in corrupt courts, they turn to people like Captain Max Hardberger. How Max determines if someone's claim to a seized ship is valid, or if they're trying to scam him into heisting somebody else's property. The extreme "extraction" methods Max is prepared to employ when ships can't be reclaimed by mere paperwork. And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/896 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 Sep 20231h 7min

What can an 85-year study tell us about the science of happiness, and how can we leverage this knowledge to live the good life? Robert Waldinger explains! What We Discuss with Robert Waldinger: How does the ongoing Harvard Study of Adult Development, initiated in 1938, shed light on the key elements of leading a happy and fulfilling life? Relationships are the most important component of happiness — the good news is it's never too late to make new friends. The touch of a good friend or a beloved pet can bring our stress levels down and reduce whatever pain we're experiencing at that moment. 20 years from now, the only people who will remember that you worked late are your kids. Social media can be responsible for generating a lot of angst and FOMO, but it can also contribute to happiness if you use it for curated, positive communication with others. And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/895 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.

12 Sep 20231h 8min

Even if psychics and tarot cards can't give you reliable advice from the great beyond, what's the harm? Join us for Skeptical Sunday with David C. Smalley! On This Week's Skeptical Sunday, We Discuss: Why aren't psychics and tarot card readers prosecuted for fraud when they can't genuinely provide supernatural information to paying clients? Furthermore, why do they charge for their services if they could simply use their powers to win the lottery? If psychics can't really tap into the other side for forbidden knowledge from beyond the grave, how do they seem to know so much about my dead uncle's final wishes? Despite a thriving industry of self-proclaimed psychics claiming expertise in finding missing children and solving cold cases, investigative journalists (and normal people just paying attention) have proven their claims wrong more often than right. What tarot cards are actually telling you. It's easy to dismiss psychics as harmless fun and a way for people to cope with the loss of their loved ones, but sometimes they can emotionally (and financially) harm those who are vulnerable in their time of grief. 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 C. Smalley 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/894 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

10 Sep 20231h 25min

Can you balance support for an unlucky but amicable ex with personal boundaries that keep you tethered to your own improvement? Welcome to 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: Can you balance support for an unlucky but amicable ex with personal boundaries that keep you tethered to your own improvement? As the rock upon which others find stability when they're pushed to their limits, official assistance for your coaching role is lacking. Is it time to organize? Is the therapist advising you to stick with your philandering, narcissistic dentist of a husband because "you're not getting any younger, and that's just how dentists are" a quack? Your hard work and seed investment allowed your wife to quit her 9-5 job to start her own business, which is thriving after a bumpy start. But now she's seen by your family and the community as the savvy entrepreneur and you're just the dude who "works on the computer all day." Is there a way to elevate yourself (and your withering ego) without diminishing your better half? After being caught smuggling Bibles into China 20 years ago, you'd love to revisit the country. How can you find out if you're on some kind of list that might get you instantly arrested and disappeared by the totalitarian government when crossing the border? 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 and Instagram @gabrielmizrahi. Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/893 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! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

8 Sep 202356min

Wait But Why's Tim Urban helps us find ways to cope with the chaos of current events in his new book, What's Our Problem?: A Self-Help Book for Societies. What We Discuss with Tim Urban: Why we're so polarized and partisan in our political beliefs — seemingly more than ever before. How low-rung thinking prevails on both sides of the political aisle (and what we can do to ascend to higher-rung thinking). The perspective we can gain if we imagine the history of humanity as a 1,000-page book. How the internet went from a unifying force of human connection to a division-sowing outrage generator. Why we should strive to build our own "idea lab" instead of comfortably hunkering down in a tribally sponsored, anger-generating echo chamber. And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/892 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.

7 Sep 20231h 26min

Women Are The Fiercest Creatures author and Nobody Should Believe Me podcast host Andrea Dunlop joins us to discuss the prevalence of medical child abuse. What We Discuss with Andrea Dunlop: Munchausen syndrome by proxy (aka factitious disorder imposed on another): a form of medical child abuse where parents or caregivers fake or exaggerate their child's health problems for personal gain. How the widespread availability of medical information online, social media platforms, and crowdfunding has broadened the spectrum of people engaging in medical child abuse beyond professionals in the healthcare field. What the long-term psychological toll looks like for children who survive such abuse and how they struggle to discern the truth as they grow older. Why prosecution of medical child abuse cases is difficult when family courts may not thoroughly examine medical records and even accept a guilty parent or caregiver's word as fact. How we can keep an eye out for signs of medical child abuse, and who we should contact if we suspect the worst. And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/891 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.

5 Sep 20231h 52min

On this Skeptical Sunday, comedian Michael Regilio joins us to discuss the pros and cons of bioplastics and the importance of responsible plastic use. On This Week's Skeptical Sunday, We Discuss: Plastic pollution, especially single-use plastic, is a significant environmental issue, with 40 percent of all plastic produced being single-use plastic packaging. Bioplastics, made from renewable sources like plants and algae, are seen as a potential solution to the plastic problem, but come with their own challenges. Biodegradable and compostable plastics, often labeled as such, may not always live up to their claims and can end up in landfills, where they release harmful greenhouse gases. Harvesting algae from excessive algal waterways and using it to create biodegradable products, like flip-flops and packaging materials, is a promising and eco-friendly approach. To help address the plastic problem, individuals can reduce their single-use plastic consumption, properly recycle plastic materials, and support initiatives that promote sustainable alternatives like algae-based products and responsible waste disposal. 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 Michael Regilio at his website, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and make sure to check out the Michael Regilio Plagues Well With Others podcast here or wherever you enjoy listening to fine podcasts! Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/890 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.

3 Sep 202343min