339: Michele Rigby Assad | My Secret Life in the CIA

Christian Picciolini (@cpicciolini) is an Emmy Award-winning television producer, reformed extremist, founder of the Free Radicals Project, and author of Breaking Hate: Confronting the New Culture of Extremism and White American Youth: My Descent into America's Most Violent Hate Movement -- and How I Got Out. This is part one of a two-part episode. Make sure to catch part two here! What We Discuss with Christian Picciolini: How the marketing of extremism has evolved to become more palatable to the masses. How identity, community, and purpose drive extremism -- not ideology. Why extremism and race identity are popular with youth now more than ever before. What we can do if we know someone involved with -- or thinking of becoming involved with -- an extremist group. How an ex neo-Nazi skinhead became a uniquely qualified peace advocate to help others avoid walking in his footsteps. And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: https://jordanharbinger.com/317 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.

25 Feb 202050min

As a remorseful sex offender who's done your time and been officially cleared as posing no threat to society, you're committed to turning your life around for you, your wife, and your five-year-old. But how can you get a job when you're a convicted felon with the extra stigma of being on the registry for the next 20 years? We'll tackle this and more here on Feedback Friday! And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Jason DeFillippo (@jpdef) 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! Full show notes and resources can be found here: https://jordanharbinger.com/316. On This Week's Feedback Friday, We Discuss: How do you get a job if you're a registered sex offender who's done your time and been officially cleared as posing no threat to society? While your significant other wants kids someday, you're undecided. You're young, but you don't want to waste their time. How long do you reasonably have to make the decision? How do you handle a two-faced ladder-climber in your company whose Machiavellian manipulations aren't as invisible as they seem to think they are? What can a high schooler do to network in the field they wish to pursue when it's a bit esoteric -- like biochemistry? A job promotion for more pay and research experience sounds great, but you're worried about losing the downtime that allows you to get homework done for your current course load. Should you choose freedom or finances? After past disappointments, your wife is unexpectedly pregnant. It's great news, but you've been training for a dream job that would take you away for the months around your baby's birth and the opportunity window is about to close since you're near the age cap. What's your best next move -- for yourself and your family? Life Pro Tip: Real wealth is about freedom. Money can help achieve these things, but there are plenty of people who make lots of money yet aren't free. Make choices that get you this kind of wealth, not just the money. A quick shout out to John M. Carr! 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 Jason on Twitter at @jpdef and Instagram at @JPD, join his podcasting club, and check out... See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

21 Feb 202042min

Admiral William H. McRaven (@billmcraven) masterminded and executed the mission that brought down Osama bin Laden and is the author of Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World. What We Discuss with William H. McRaven: What are the benefits to taking every day, as a Navy SEAL might say, "one evolution at a time?" What are the potential downfalls of having a 20-year plan? Why is taking advantage of opportunities more important than charting a course — and how can we spot them? What are you proving when you're willing to take professional risks — even when you don't succeed? What is the most important thing to understand about leadership? And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: https://jordanharbinger.com/315 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.

20 Feb 202046min

Michael Yon (@Michael_Yon) is an author, columnist, and award-winning independent war correspondent who gives us a frontline view of the current civil unrest between Hong Kong protestors and the government of mainland China. What We Discuss with Michael Yon: What Michael means by his oft-truncated and misunderstood quote: "If a writer wants to make money, he should avoid truth and tell people what they want to hear. Yet to win the war, tell the truth." The difference between riots, protests, general civil unrest, and insurgency -- and what's really going on in Hong Kong right now in contrast with the official story. Why Michael considers himself a war correspondent and not a journalist -- and how the two differ. Why the long-simmering relationship between China and Hong Kong is only now coming to a boil, and what the rest of the world should take away from this. How the current movement in Hong Kong compares to Poland's Solidarity Movement of the '80s -- and why this especially worries the Chinese Communist Party. And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: https://jordanharbinger.com/314 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.

18 Feb 20201h 13min

Your boyfriend's close friend flirts with him directly in front of you. He doesn't reciprocate, but it does bother you because you know -- from conversation you've had with her in the past before you became his significant other -- that she actually does fancy him. Should you communicate your displeasure to either party or just keep your cool? And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Jason DeFillippo (@jpdef) 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! Full show notes and resources can be found here: https://jordanharbinger.com/313. On This Week's Feedback Friday, We Discuss: Confused by The Adam Carolla Show clips at the end of a few of our episodes? If you're not skipping commercials, you should have gotten the memo! ;) Like our new show art? Much thanks to Santi Fox for making it so! Many thanks to all the unknowns out there who keep sending us gifts but don't provide a return address! Should you call out your boyfriend's close female friend for flirting with him directly in front of you, or should you keep your cool? Friends give you the silent treatment when they're upset with you. Should you give them time to cool off, or is life just too short to deal with this kind of drama? Your mom has ADHD and gets so distracted by her phone and surroundings that it always causes a scene. How can you travel together and remain sane? You're either too social and your grad school work takes a hit, or you're too involved in school and your social life takes a hit. How can you strike a successful balance? Your friend/employer insists on paying you by check, but you usually have to text him reminders and personally pick it up. Aren't there easier ways to get paid these days? What are some tips for someone without a college degree going into interviews for entry-level corporate jobs? Life Pro Tip: For parents: Instead of always telling your child what to do, give them two options with the same outcome to prevent the headache of having them refuse the task. (For example, instead of telling them to put on their pajamas for bed, ask them which pajamas they want to wear to bed tonight. This works well because kids love having control over what they are doing.) For travelers: Bring a power strip with you to use at airports, and you'll never have to wait for an outlet to be available again. Recommendation of the Week: The Weekly, Hulu A quick shout out to Gareth Emery! Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

14 Feb 202040min

John Tierney (@johntierneynyc) is an award-winning science columnist for The New York Times, and he's the co-author of The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It. [Featured photo by Jamie Meggas] What We Discuss with John Tierney: What is negativity bias, and why does even a small dose of it have the power to overwhelm even our greatest reserves of positivity? How can we psychologically overcome this innate negativity bias? How we can watch the news (especially during an election year) without succumbing to deep despair at the state of the world by consuming what John calls a low-bad diet. Why the worst person at your workplace has the power to passively drag the whole team down beyond the abilities of the best person to bring it up. The negative golden rule -- it's what you do not do unto others that really matters. And much more... Full show notes and resources can be found here: https://jordanharbinger.com/312 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.

13 Feb 20201h 18min

Susan David (@susandavid_phd) is a Harvard psychologist, co-founder and co-director of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, and author of Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life. What We Discuss with Susan David: What is emotional agility? What’s wrong with trying to force ourselves to be happy all the time? Is our society misguided by a tyranny of positivity today? Unpleasant and negative emotions actually serve a purpose — but what is that purpose and how can we use it to our advantage? How do our thoughts, emotions, and stories hook us into responding ineffectively to life’s challenges, and how can we break these patterns? Practical ways to develop our responses to adversity that leave us stronger and more capable. And much more… Full show notes and resources can be found here: https://jordanharbinger.com/311 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.

11 Feb 20201h 23min

As an active 45-year-old woman who is usually mistaken for someone 10 years younger, you're throwing your hat back in the dating game after six years. You realize that if you put your actual age on your dating app profile, you'll probably get filtered out by the age range of men you're looking for. Friends have encouraged you to put down 37 or 38 as your dating profile age so you'll still fall within the desired search results, but you're uncomfortable about the deception. In a situation like this, should you fudge your age in dating apps? We'll break down this and much more on the latest Feedback Friday right here! And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Jason DeFillippo (@jpdef) 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! Full show notes and resources can be found here: https://jordanharbinger.com/310. On This Week's Feedback Friday, We Discuss: When you're active and appear 10 years younger than you are, is fudging your age in dating apps acceptable if you're only trying to fool the search algorithm and not potential matches? You never really bonded with your mother and you'd like to change that now, but she considers you "selfish." How much responsibility do both parties have to create familial closeness? There's a family rift between your father and uncle thanks to inheritance drama. You'd like to invite your aunt to your wedding, but don't want to appear disloyal to your father. What's the right thing to do? You've noticed that people who are very successful seem to have mastered the skill of remembering people's names, but you're terrible at it. How can you get better at remembering the names of people you meet? You have an amazing new job opportunity, but you've been planning a gap year to travel abroad and the timing couldn't be worse. Should you trust your gut and travel even though this opportunity might never come your way again? What are your options? How do you strike a balance between being an entrepreneur and a family man without neglecting your spouse and new baby -- or the needs of the nascent company you've worked hard to build? Life Pro Tip: Google your kid's prospective name before they're born. This way, when their name is googled, people won’t see news of some a-hole criminal with the same name. Recommendation of the Week: Pandemic A quick shout out to Eric Hulbert! 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 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

7 Feb 202043min