Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy

John McWhorter, author of Nine Nasty Words: English In The Gutter - Then, Now and Forever , sits down for a fascinating and fun conversation with Bridget. They discuss the appeal of swear words, the evolution of language, the rise of "like" and "literally," the arc of curse words from blasphemy, to the body, to slurs, and evaluate Critical Race Theory from both sides of the arg...

Carol Roth is a leading business advisor, 'recovering' investment banker, and author of bestselling book The Entrepreneur Equation . She stops by to discuss her latest book, The War on Small Business: How the Government Used the Pandemic to Crush the Backbone of America . She and Bridget cover the effect of the pandemic on small businesses and what that means for our economy, what happen...

Former US Congressman, Justin Amash, gives us an inside look on the inner workings of Congress and the fact that people in Washington aren't actively trying to harm people, it's just that they mostly don't care. He and Bridget discuss the difficulty of having a free society when everyone's angry and hostile with each other, why the use of the word "defend" is problema...

Jonathan Haidt ( The Coddling of the American Mind , The Righteous Mind ) is a social psychologist who believes that we're currently suffering from Wisdom Deprivation Disorder. He and Bridget analyze how the "like" and "retweet" functions changed the face of social media - and eventually the mainstream media, why wokeness makes it impossible to do anything, the costs of sp...

Bari Weiss is a journalist ( New York Times , Wall Street Journal ) and author of How to Fight Antisemitism . She and Bridget have an in-depth conversation about how full personhood is not possible on the internet, faux outrage and what it's doing to us, the explosion of independent media, the dangers of exploring TikTok, and why the end of Trump's presidency means you're suddenly y...

Glenn Greenwald ( No Place To Hide , Securing Democracy ) shares the journey that led him to Brazil, how he met his husband, what led him to the path he's on, and why tries to make sure he's always open to people who challenge his convictions. He and Bridget discuss their shared mistrust of authority, why the acceptance of gay marriage accelerated so rapidly, living outside of America an...

Eliza Bleu is a survivor advocate for those affected by human trafficking, she’s also a survivor of human trafficking. She and Bridget discuss the red flags both parents and youths should be aware of, grooming tactics and how insidious they can be – especially from someone you’re supposed to be able to trust, the fraught conversation around personal responsibility in the survivor space, and the ro...

Mitchell Jackson stops by and talks about his beloved friend and surrogate mother, Sandie Crisp, aka The Goddess Bunny, a disabled trans icon. She died in January of Covid, after surviving polio and HIV.  Mitchell discusses the ups and downs of her life, stints of homelessness, having her picture hanging in the Louvre, why she’s huge in South America, her hatred of identity politics, the surrogate...

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 knif...

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 menta...

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 h...

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 l...

Stand-up comic, Erica Rhodes, stops in to trade stories with Bridget about their various adventures that always seemed to start with “there was a boy…”. They discuss the winding roads that brought them to comedy, why spoken word poetry is a lot harder than you might think, acting as a gateway drug, the joys of creativity, the embarrassment of journals full of men, and their struggles with love and...

Heather Heying is a scientist, educator and author. She and Bridget discuss the possibility of a vaccine passport and why they’re so unsettled by the idea. They reflect that nothing good comes from being told that in order to do something you have to show your papers, that once you give up a certain amount of liberty or power, it’s much more difficult to get it back, how being against the idea of...

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 hig...

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 thei...

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...

Jeff Charles is a political commentator, podcast host, and freelance writer. He and Bridget discuss a variety of issues including why Republicans seem more interested in making it more difficult to vote than winning over hearts & minds, how even though most conservatives aren’t racist, they fall into a trap that lets the left paint them as racist, why the far left doesn’t really care about bla...

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a research fellow, former member of the Dutch parliament, and author of the new book Prey: Immigration, Islam and the Erosion of Women’s Rights. She shares her story with Bridget and discusses fleeing an arranged marriage, seeking asylum in the Netherlands, the methods women in oppressive countries have developed to cope with or avoid being harassed, and the failure that occurs...

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...

Story Hour with Bridget Phetasy is a segment where Bridget reminisces with cousin Maggie and tells stories explaining who she is and how she got here. Bridget’s globe trotting tales really kick off with the first leg of her months-long journey. Hear how a spontaneous opportunity to go to Burning Man, led to a weed farm in Oregon, to an ashram in Australia, and wwoofing on a horse farm in New Zeala...

Mark Normand, stand-up comedian and podcast host, connects with Bridget to make fun of Gwyneth Paltrow’s vagina candles, the absurdity of people on Twitter telling you to reach out if you’re feeling depressed or suicidal when they’re the ones calling you Nazis, political hypocrisy and posturing, and people wielding the word “complicit” as a weapon. They cover why doing stand-up seemed like becomin...

Yannis Pappas (stand-up comic) stops by to mock everyone and everything with Bridget, including: Bill Gates, white people presenting as POC, China, Tom Cruise, the two cults running this country, Scandinavians, and comedians being taken seriously as political pundits. He and Bridget also cover how things have changed since he became a dad, what Kurt Cobain would be like if he were still alive toda...

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 th...

Kmele Foster is a partner at Free Think, a media company that tells stories about the people and ideas that are changing the world, he’s also a co-host of The Fifth Column podcast. He and Bridget discuss the weirdness of signs like “Black People Welcome Here,” and how they give him a Get Out sort of feeling, what he would teach kids about media literacy right now, why he prefers lukewarm takes ove...