The Jordan Harbinger Show

You live in an extended family situation and the only contribution one member makes to the collective is drinking, smoking pot, eating your food, stealing your old phones to pawn, and making messes they can't be bothered to clean up. Since they're not liable to move away from free room and board of their own volition, is there anything you can do to expunge the family sponge and restore sanity to...

Jessica Tracy ( @ProfJessTracy ) is a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where she also directs the Emotion & Self Lab . She is the author of Take Pride: Why the Deadliest Sin Holds the Secret to Human Success . [Note: This is a previously broadcast episode from the vault that we felt deserved a fresh listen!]   What We Discuss with Jessica Tracy: Pride...

Laurie Santos ( @lauriesantos ) is a professor of psychology at Yale University, instructor of Coursera's The Science of Well-Being course (adapted from her popular Psychology and the Good Life course at Yale), and host of The Happiness Lab podcast. What We Discuss with Laurie Santos: Happiness is actually a set of skills we can learn and master as opposed to some ideal state of being. While there...

Your best friend speaks glowingly about her fiancé, but she lives far away and your recent communications have only taken place by text and telephone. The thing is, this fiancé seems to be ever-present and listening in the background whenever she's in contact , and she let it slip that he's fantasized about seeing her lick from a dog's dish. You're worried he might be controlling every aspect of h...

Will Storr ( @wstorr ) is an award-winning investigative journalist and best-selling author. His latest book is The Status Game: On Social Position and How We Use It . What We Discuss with Will Storr: The evolutionary purpose of status and why it's always been important for human survival. How seeking status spurs innovation. The three kinds of status games we've been playing throughout human hist...

T-Pain ( @TPAIN ) is a rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer known for popularizing auto-tune in modern music, and host of the Nappy Boy Radio podcast. What We Discuss with T-Pain: Why T-Pain will wear a Fitbit over a Rolex , and why there's no shame in wearing fake jewelry in public. T-Pain's tattoo goals and the meaning behind the ones he already has. What T-Pain learned after avoiding time...

Your father was physically violent toward you and your brother on at least two occasions that would have warranted police intervention, but your also-abusive mother begged you not to call them. Years later, how can you reframe the anger you have toward yourself for putting up with your mother's manipulations and not reporting your father's abuse to the police when you had a chance? We'll try to fi...

Mickey Royal ( @mickey_royal ) is a former gangster, drug dealer, pimp, mob enforcer, and bestselling author of The Pimp Game: Instructional Guide and The Pimp Guide: Secrets of Mind Manipulation . [This is part two of a two-part episode. Catch up with part one here !] What We Discuss with Mickey Royal: How Mickey's pseudobulbar affect and bipolar disorder came in handy as advantages in his line o...

Mickey Royal ( @mickey_royal ) is a former gangster, drug dealer, pimp, mob enforcer, and bestselling author of The Pimp Game: Instructional Guide and The Pimp Guide: Secrets of Mind Manipulation . [This is part one of a two-part episode. Stay tuned for part two later this week!] What We Discuss with Mickey Royal: How Mickey's pseudobulbar affect and bipolar disorder came in handy as advantages in...

When your stepfather passed away and your mother posted about it on Facebook, an old friend -- a self-described "swami" who claims to be psychically linked to her -- called to reconnect. Now, he seems to be taking advantage of her grief and loneliness to get closer, and based on a number of his wild, unlikely claims, you're worried that his end game may be less than altruistic. What can you do to...

Scott Adams ( @ScottAdamsSays ) of Dilbert fame revisits us to discuss his book Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don't Matter . [Note: This is a previously broadcast episode from the vault that we felt deserved a fresh listen!] What We Discuss with Scott Adams: Is Scott Adams a Trump supporter? People don’t use facts to make decisions. They use emotion. Learn the three types of persuad...

Rachel Nuwer ( @RachelNuwer ) is an award-winning freelance journalist who reports about science, travel, food, and adventure for The New York Times , National Geographic , Scientific American , and more. Her multi-award-winning first book, Poached: Inside the Dark World of Wildlife Trafficking , is out now. What We Discuss with Rachel Nuwer: What drives the global demand for resources cruelly der...

You stopped renting from a violent, paranoid landlord as soon as you saw the warning signs, but you fear a future tenant may not be so lucky. Can you publish some kind of APB as a heads up to potential victims without getting in legal trouble? We'll try to find an answer to this and more here on Feedback Friday! And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger ( @JordanHarbinger ) and Gabr...

R. Douglas Fields ( @RDouglasFields1 ) is a neuroscientist specializing in the cellular mechanisms of nervous system development, plasticity, and memory, and author of Why We Snap: Understanding the Rage Circuit in Your Brain . [Note: This is a previously broadcast episode from the vault that we felt deserved a fresh listen!] What We Discuss with R. Douglas Fields: What is rage , and what evolutio...

Nicole Perlroth ( @nicoleperlroth ) is an award-winning cybersecurity journalist for The New York Times and bestselling author of This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race . What We Discuss with Nicole Perlroth: The startlingly simple reasons why most nation-states now resort to using cyberwarfare tactics before conventional weaponry in acts of aggression -- to increasing...

Four years ago, you lost your spouse and child in a tragic car crash that you barely survived. Now, with a supportive partner and a toddler by your side, you're determined to move on with your life. Unfortunately, it's hard to meet new people who can see past what you've endured without pitying you. How can you truly enter your next chapter when well-meaning but oversympathizing strangers keep rem...

Daryl Davis ( @realdaryldavis ) is a musician, author, lecturer, host of the Changing Minds podcast, and anti-racism activist featured in the documentary Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America . [This is part two of a two-part episode.  Make sure to catch part one here !] What We Discuss with Daryl Davis: How Daryl Davis, a black musician who was once told by a Ku Klux Klansman that...

Daryl Davis ( @realdaryldavis ) is a musician, author, lecturer, host of the Changing Minds podcast, and anti-racism activist featured in the documentary Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America . What We Discuss with Daryl Davis: How Daryl Davis, a black musician who was once told by a Ku Klux Klansman that he played piano "just like Jerry Lee Lewis," leveraged the encounter into a te...

It's not a request; it's a demand from the brother who sexually abused you when you were eight in a family that gaslighted you about the whole thing: "You will speak at my wedding." Maybe he thinks you're too spineless to say anything that will embarrass him, but the truth is that you've been diagnosed with complex PTSD and the thought of speaking at his wedding at all fills you with dread. On the...

Kevin Kelly ( @kevin2kelly ) is the founding editor of Wired magazine and author of The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future . What We Discuss with Kevin Kelly: Technology is an extension of the natural process of evolution. What’s driving technology ; what will the future look like? Why Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the biggest thing since electricity...

Julia Galef ( @juliagalef ) is the host of the Rationally Speaking podcast, co-founder of The Center for Applied Rationality , and author of The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't . What We Discuss with Julia Galef: How to spot bad arguments and faulty thinking -- even when the source is you . The difference between having a soldier mindset that defends whatever you...

You and your five siblings aren't close, but you all have one thing in common: you endured a childhood marred by abusive parents who played you against each other. Now that you're all adults, you'd like to unite your siblings to confront your parents as a group for some closure -- but you're not sure they're all on board with the idea. Is there a good way to convince them, or might it be possible...

Greg McKeown ( @GregoryMcKeown ) is the host of the  What’s Essential podcast, and author of the New York Times bestseller Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less . His latest book, Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most , is out now. What We Discuss with Greg McKeown: If you want 10x the results of any endeavor without putting in 10x the effort, it's important to understand your...

Tristan Harris ( @tristanharris ) is a former Google design ethicist, primary subject of the acclaimed Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma , co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology , and co-host of the podcast Your Undivided Attention . What We Discuss with Tristan Harris: Why we're worth more to social engagement platforms as manipulatable slabs of predictable human behavior than as fre...

You're a veteran who's been lucky enough to return home from war in one piece only to fight a new battle on two fronts: heroin and PTSD. How are you going to fight your way free of this doubly dangerous burden? We'll try to help with 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 t...