Psychobabble

We worry about what pornography teaches boys to expect from women. Why aren't we asking the same questions about the explicit fiction being promoted to girls? It's not just pushed to teens by the industry, but defended and celebrated! Nothing can be wrong with female sexuality. But what is it changing in women? Please take a moment and leave a rating and a review! That will help Psychobabble reach...

Elizabeth Holmes was convicted of deliberately deceiving investors. Why is the conversation now about feeling sorry for her? Her new documentary, You Can See Everything, presents a softer image: a mother facing separation from her children. In this episode of Psychobabble, I examine that sympathetic portrait alongside her conduct, her deposition footage, and the evidence of deliberate fraud. Using...

Are women's political choices driven by too much empathy—or by the pressure to agree with the group? If empathy explains their politics, why can it disappear when the victim challenges the cause? In this episode, I question whether "suicidal empathy" adequately explains what we're seeing. From women's suffrage in Switzerland to footage from the French protests, I examine a different explanation: s...

Even Republican women blame men for the challenges women face. Tom Golden presents survey data suggesting that this attitude reaches across political parties and age groups—and we discuss what happens when blaming men replaces examining your own choices. I'm joined by Janice Fiamengo, Tom Golden and Jim Nuzzo for a conversation about feminism, female accountability and false accusations. Starting...

I'm joined by Dr Fiona Girkin, a researcher specialising in female psychopathy and dark personality traits, whose doctoral research examined workplace bullying in the community services sector. We discuss relational aggression, weaponised victimhood, revenge, parental alienation and the difference between everyday selfishness and calculated abuse. We also explore whether feminism, social media and...

The Cornell 7 case has become about much more than what happened that night. Jane Doe's lawyer says her behavior afterward — including initially describing the encounter as consensual — is a "textbook" trauma response. Across social media, people are making the same argument: contradictory behavior after an alleged assault doesn't undermine the trauma narrative; it may actually confirm it. But is...

The Cornell 7 case raises a bigger question: is there any moral category left between "illegal" and "good"? Listen ad-free by subscribing on Substack: https://hannahspier.substack.com/podcast  

What does it actually take to "cure" feminism? In this episode, I look at why grievance-based feminism is psychologically attractive, why facts alone rarely change minds, and what can actually replace it. From mate choice and accountability to marriage, interdependence, motherhood and cultural incentives, this is a practical look at how women can move from grievance and victimhood toward responsib...

Female rage is increasingly being reframed as something righteous, therapeutic, even healthy. This is how we have taught women that their anger is not something to regulate but evidence that they've been wronged. Then we look at the dangerous consequences of the therapies built on these assumptions.

In this episode, I look at the Lindsay Clancy juror interviews and the psychology behind how the jury processed the case. Why did evidence of psychosis seem less important than the belief that Lindsay was a loving mother? Why did the holdout juror become the problem? And what do the interviews reveal about conformity, cognitive dissonance, the motherhood halo effect, and female group dynamics? I a...

Evolutionary psychologist Edward Dutton joins me to discuss his new book Borderline Genius, Borderline Insane and we ask the question: have women with borderline traits had an outsized influence on powerful men, culture and history? We get into the unstable self, mirroring and attachment, whether borderline manipulation is conscious, the overlap between BPD and vulnerable narcissism, and the incre...

McKenna West agreed to carry a baby for a California couple for around $60,000. When the baby was diagnosed with a serious heart condition, the genetic parents requested an abortion. West refused, moved to Texas, gave birth and is now being sued for breach of contract. In this episode, I look at what this case reveals about commercial surrogacy. I also bring in The Handmaid's Tale because the show...

Hannah is joined by returning guests: Janice Fiamengo, author of "The Goddess That Failed" Tom Golden, host of the "Men Are Good" podcast, and Jim Nuzzo author of "The Nuzzo Letter," whose research and writing on men, gender and public policy has featured regularly on Psychobabble. Their work and links are included below. In this episode, the four investigate a new crop of feminist buzzwords — and...

In this episode, I examine the growing Quiet BPD narrative and the behaviors being described as internalized—from withdrawing and ghosting to relationship tests, reckless behavior and emotional escalation. I ask what happens when psychiatry describes a disorder entirely from the perspective of the person experiencing the emotions, while overlooking the effect those behaviors have on partners, pare...

The Lindsay Clancy case has become a story about postpartum psychosis, psychiatric medication and a healthcare system that supposedly failed a struggling mother. But does the evidence actually support that story? In this episode, psychiatrist Hannah Spier examines the psychiatric arguments at the center of the ongoing Lindsay Clancy trial: what an acute psychotic break actually looks like, the unu...

Check out our sponsor: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code HANNAH at  https://www.oneskin.co/HANNAH   A viral voice memo has everyone arguing about timing, pressure and consent. But the real issue is something else entirely. It exposes how ridiculous the conversation around sex and dating has become.

Sponsor: Looki L1 is an AI Life Memory Camera that helps you stay present now and return to the day later. Learn more: https://www.c2go.cc/r/HannahSpierMD | code: Hannah. What ordinary moment would you want to relive?  Girls were taught to speak up, resist influence, reject criticism and never change for anyone. But what happens when every part of culture—film, advertising, social media, schools a...

"High-value woman" dating advice promises better men, stronger boundaries and a softer life. A new manifestation of feminism. But much of it is really a guide to entitlement, strategic detachment and low reciprocity—traits that make lasting relationships almost impossible. In this episode, psychiatrist Hannah Spier explains how modern dating coaches rebrand narcissistic behavior as femininity, con...

How did ordinary adulthood become evidence of psychiatric suffering? What's the real attraction? In this episode, I react to young women presenting normal functioning as "high-functioning depression," insisting that invisible distress cannot be questioned, and using suicidal language to make disagreement morally dangerous. I explain how mental-health labels can turn basic responsibilities into act...

Dissociation is a real and measurable psychological phenomenon—but does that validate dissociative identity disorder as it is commonly portrayed online and diagnosed in clinical practice? In this episode, psychiatrist Hannah Spier examines the evidence behind DID, the limitations of self-reported amnesia and diagnostic interviews, and the difficulty of distinguishing separate "identities" from shi...

SPONSOR: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code HANNAH at https://www.oneskin.co/HANNAH  In this episode, we look at the Mackenzie Shirilla case as a starting point for a broader question: how do we understand female physical violence? The discussion moves from the details of the case — including Shirilla's behavior before and after the crash, the public reaction, and the question of remorse — into a w...

Modern dating has become increasingly expensive for men — not only financially, but emotionally, socially, and psychologically. In this episode, I look at the inflation of chivalry: the way ordinary courtship has turned into elaborate performance, "princess treatment," promposals and endless proof of male devotion. What is the problem with this? We also look at the rise of "the ick," and what that...

Get 15% off OneSkin with the code HANNAH at https://www.oneskin.co/HANNAH #oneskinpod  On June 3, 1968, Valerie Solanas walked into Andy Warhol's studio and shot him. Decades later, she has become a feminist icon, her SCUM Manifesto is taught in universities, and Hollywood celebrated her life in a major film that is now returning to theaters in a new restoration. How did an attempted murderer beco...

Most treatments for Borderline Personality Disorder focus on emotional dysregulation. The goal is to reduce distress, self-harm, anxiety, and crises. But that misses the mark. In this episode, I argue that modern psychiatry has adopted a model of Borderline Personality Disorder that is incomplete. By focusing almost exclusively on suffering, it neglects the maladaptive strategies harm others. I al...

What is the real difference between a psychopath, a sociopath, and antisocial personality disorder? In this episode, I respond to Dr. Ramani's claim that "psychopaths are born and sociopaths are made" and explain why that framing is far too simplistic. I also explain why cold psychopaths unsettle us so much and how antisocial personality disorder fits into this.