Ep 440 - The News Is Making You Sick | Hidden Health Crisis Behind Stress, Isolation & Social Media

Añadido: 2026-06-10

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[00:01:56]>> Welcome to Hard Yarn's podcast.

[00:01:58]>> Humans [music] are entangled emotionally and physically to other timelines.

[00:02:04]>> Plants are trying to kill you.

[00:02:06]>> You're a [ __ ] WEIRD BOY.

[00:02:08]>> AND more of us awakening, much more of us awakened to our light.

[00:02:14]>> Jeremy Piven, you're supposed to get off this viciously [music] mediocre podcast.

[00:02:18]>> [laughter] >> For the three in attendance, for the millions LISTENING AT HOME.

[00:02:23][laughter] LET'S GET HARD.

[00:02:27]>> HELLO HARD YARNERS, and welcome to this week's episode of the podcast.

[00:02:33]You can call it real fake news, you can call it Hard Yarns, whatever you want to call it. It's just me. And again, I do apologize for um maybe not having as many guests on.

[00:02:44]I just because with baby on the way, and we're actually 5 days overdue at the moment, and I didn't plan anything cuz I just didn't want to cancel on anyone.

[00:02:53]And I wasn't going to start planning guests and whatnot until then. So, I just said, "Ah, I'll just do solos until that happens." But, to be fair, you guys have enjoyed the solos, and the the downloads have showed that. So, But, um it probably marks uh or it's a perfect time before I go into being a dad to for the second time, and um and welcoming our my baby boy into the world. Um it marks this change in direction for the podcast permanently.

[00:03:25]Um and I've flirted with this idea often, and you might have known this if you've listened to every episode where I flirt with the idea of no longer talking about the news and politics and culture wars and these sorts of things that divide and create a bit of fear or anxiety or anger or frustration, those sorts of things. I've always flirted with the idea of no longer doing this, and just sticking to the conspiracy stuff, the spirituality, and talking to people who can provide tools to help us improve our lives, whether that with health, um with our connections, which is probably health-related, I guess, as we'll find out today. Um Uh whether that through um new technologies, new um ways of thinking, whatever, these sorts of ideas and whatnot. That's what I want to talk to people about going forward, philosophy.

[00:04:19]Um I'm sorry if you come here to hear about how the world is [ __ ] you over, but I'm no longer going to be contributing to your poor health, because that is what people who are doing that are doing, and they are doing it without knowing, and they're not doing it for the wrong reasons. Some are.

[00:04:40]Granted, some are. But some of these people who are, you know, like in in Australia or around the world at the moment, who comment socially and politically on the world, are doing it because they do think it's the right thing to do, to expose things, and through awareness, we can create change. I get it.

[00:04:56]But also, through that awareness, we are subconsciously taking in a lot of things, and I'm going to go into the science behind why that is making us genuinely physically sick, and mentally, but physically, it is manifesting in ailments um throughout our body. And that might explain why we see a rise in a lot of chronic um disease as well, because uh I'm not saying the vaccines aren't a problem, but um there is a certainly um stress is has has got a big part to play, and loneliness.

[00:05:33]And so, uh we'll start with this loneliness um trend at the moment. I don't know if you've seen it, it's a trend on TikTok to be alone. Um Uh but I want to talk about loneliness, um and the exhaustion that I think all of us are feeling. We're all feeling exhausted.

[00:05:51]Um, and that's because of our nervous systems not being able to keep up with the information that we're presented.

[00:06:01]We're not designed to be able to do this. So, the psychological exhaustion of the 2020s, um, this isn't just that people are tired.

[00:06:11]Um, it's our nervous systems are overloaded, infinite information, collapsing trust, economic pressures, identity confusion, algorithmic addiction, loss of community, lack of meaning, digital comparison, overstimulation without fulfillment, and some people would call it the awakening.

[00:06:31]And people are feeling it physically.

[00:06:34]Um, even our good friends, the World Health Organization, have reported loneliness now affects one in six people who globally, uh, sorry, globally and linked social isolation to over 871,000 deaths a year.

[00:06:53]In 20 a 2026 international study found nearly half of adults aged 18 to 24 reported loneliness across eight countries surveyed, and that's an insane number of people um, to be like 50% of 18 to 24 year olds in what is considered to be the most connected generation um, in civilization.

[00:07:15]Um, but if we go back to um, the the philosophy of Carl Jung. He was an old um, psychologist, philosopher.

[00:07:28]Carl Jung is is uh, one of me faves, most people would know.

[00:07:31]But he talked about loneliness in this way. He said, "Loneliness does not come from having no people around, but being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself, to your authentic self. Almost like self-censorship.

[00:07:47]And that is self-censorship around friends. Now, whether that's because of your political beliefs, whether that's because of uh something you just like, um whatever it is. Because socially we're trying to fit in with all these different dynamics of people and friendships, um society, whatever, uh families.

[00:08:05]If you are not saying that, that is a form of loneliness.

[00:08:08]Um around 67% of Gen Z say they feel lonely weekly, and roughly 28% say they feel lonely several times a day. A global Gen Z study found that 80% said they'd experienced loneliness in the past 12 months.

[00:08:25]80% of Gen Z.

[00:08:28]In Australia, the AIHW data showed loneliness spiked hard during and after COVID, especially among young people aged 15 to 24. Of course, we socially isolated each other, and then we tried to get all of our connection through digital means.

[00:08:44]What else did you think was going to happen? That is in a very small refined time. Imagine that over a lot of lot of prolonged time that we see slowly, it's generating. We're seeing it over and over again.

[00:08:56]Um we are continuously continuously prioritizing connection through digital means over the actual in-person connection.

[00:09:04]Um who knows how this ends if this was to continue. A large study found that heavy social media users were more than twice as likely to report loneliness compared to the light users.

[00:09:17]Um and what's interesting is the cultural side of it. So, TikTok has actually turned loneliness into an aesthetic.

[00:09:24]It's become a trend. Solo life, no friends, night in, staying in, romanticizing romanticizing quiet isolated routines. Although there is a place for your own space, your own silence. I understand that. But turning solo life and being alone into a trend, that can be dangerous. So millions of people are going um millions of views are going into videos people eating dinner alone, spending weekends by themselves, or saying they have no close friends.

[00:09:57]And the real reason that resonates is because people feel like it's real.

[00:10:03]They're seeing it themselves. And so instead of seeing this beautiful polished life, this fake persona that a lot of people put on their Instagrams and the TikToks, they're seeing someone who's showing the opposite of that, which probably feels real.

[00:10:17]Because it's less likely to be what you would put out there.

[00:10:21]Um so ironically, watching someone honestly admit, "I'm lonely and I don't have friends." feels more emotionally connecting than polished social media content.

[00:10:31]That's why we see growing trends in the IRL experiences, I in real life experiences, running clubs, book clubs, sober events, spirituality, long-form podcasts, uh camp camping, community gyms, analog hobbies, vinyl. Vinyl's made a massive comeback because it's a an experience instead of just the loop plays on Spotify, and local meetups.

[00:10:55]Um people are chasing presence again.

[00:10:57]Their nervous systems are overloaded with stimulation but underfed socially.

[00:11:03]But there's a darker side researchers are talking about. People are replacing real relationships with parasocial ones, AI companions, algorithmic validation, doom scrolling instead of socializing, and emotional dependence online on online communities.

[00:11:19]Um so some experts are even warning loneliness is becoming politically and psychologically weaponized because isolated people are easier to radicalize and emotionally manipulate online.

[00:11:31]Now one who listens to my podcasts >> [gasps] >> would realize that maybe I would think that potentially that is by design.

[00:11:38]Um But, what we're seeing here is social media burnout. And that, whether you want to believe that you're part of that or not, you are most likely part of that.

[00:11:50]We are suffering from social media burnout.

[00:11:54]There is also research around something called social media burnout. Basically, emotional exhaustion caused by constant exposure, performance, comparison, notifications, identity management, and over-stimulization uh stimulation online. Uh one really cons- one interesting concept is uh this context collapse.

[00:12:18]Uh that friends sight Oh, this is this is insane. Um the psychological stress of feeling like friends, family, co-workers, strangers, future employers, and audiences are all watching the same version of you online at once.

[00:12:35]So, people become hyper self-aware, emotionally guarded, and researchers described it as creating anxiety and imagined surveillance. So, this idea that everything you do is just being watched and judged by everyone around you. In reality, we're all self-interested. We're not paying attention to you, probably. And if anything, if you do something real weird, we might go, "Well, that's a bit odd." And then go back to our own lives.

[00:12:58]But, this is self-imposed imagined surveillance, and it's a real thing. It's a context that is creating anxiety in us, and um and that is because we are constantly seeing everyone else on our social media.

[00:13:14]Um It almost becomes like self-censorship as well. If you [ __ ] if you think you're constantly being watched, you feel like you have to say what you're supposed to say or what you think you your friends or people or your audience will agree with so it validates your opinion or how you feel or your authentic self. We're all seeking validation.

[00:13:38]Um So the internet solved that distance by uh but it dis- uh sorry, the internet solved the distance issue by people being separated, but they destroyed presence.

[00:13:51]So social media promised connection, freedom, expression, community, but now people compare themselves 24/7, outrage gets rewarded because of the algorithm, attention spans are collapsing, identity becomes performance, and dopamine becomes currency.

[00:14:09]Um Axios actually called modern society the rattled generation describing this era as one of the most psychologically disorientating periods since World War II.

[00:14:23]And to be fair, that feels accurate.

[00:14:25]I mean, I can't I'm not going to put ourselves in this situation where we were in a world where World War II was going on and I I'm not going to pretend to understand how they felt, but disorientating, this understanding of like what the [ __ ] is happening, these men in suits are creating these issues in the world that rep- that that seem to play no effect on their lives and only ours, and that creates some sort of yes, disorientation, but frustration and a distrust.

[00:15:00]Um Back to what I was talking about. Um But uh this actually probably makes us feel exhausted. It Well, it does. It definitely makes us feel exhausted. And that uh leads to a collapse of shared meaning.

[00:15:19]Um for most of history people had religion, local communities, sport clubs, families living by nearby, strong cultural identity, and physical gathering places. Now, we have people work remotely, consume isolated entertainment. We don't even go to the movies anymore. We watch it at home.

[00:15:37]Communicate digitally. We don't know our neighbors. We distrust institutions. We distrust the media. We distrust the government. We distrust corporations.

[00:15:45]Even the trust in our national institutions has measurably declined recently. So, humans are losing the very systems that won once gave them identity, belonging, certainty, structure, ritual, and meaning.

[00:15:59]And when meaning disappears, people start searching.

[00:16:02]That's why you're seeing a rise in spirituality, a rise in people going towards faith, podcasts exploding because they are craving real long-form conversations where it's not perfect, polished content. They are They are being pushed towards things like psychedelics are becoming mainstream.

[00:16:22]Even conspiracies because people are reaching for an understanding of what is going on.

[00:16:27]And I am guilty of it. I have not only been a part of that system, but I've contributed to it as well. And this is why I'm changing the direction.

[00:16:39]Look, conspiracies are fun, but I don't want to contribute to a a situation where people feel like they've found a community in the I guess the distrust for their government when they can find community in the people around them.

[00:17:00]Um And this is why young men This is the young men issue that we found going on.

[00:17:05]I'll get to why how it's making us sick in in a short moment.

[00:17:10]Um but yeah, I'm just going through the whole process of what issues social media and the algorithms are making. So, this is why young men are becoming a huge conversation because um there's a growing concern about men globally.

[00:17:25]Um specifically, isolated young men have a lack of purpose, a lack of mentorship, a lack of direction, digital addiction, porn addiction, and declining real-world skills.

[00:17:37]Like I'm I'm so happy that my dad taught me so many real-world skills.

[00:17:44]Like I I can very um happily tell you that it you know, if I go into a house and I need to do all the things that are around there except for probably plumbing or electrics, I can do it because my dad taught me. I he taught me how to [ __ ] get by. Maybe I can't completely fix a car engine or or do everything, but like simple things like some people these days, they can't [ __ ] hang a painting on the wall.

[00:18:14]They don't know how to paint.

[00:18:16]Like they don't know how to do anything.

[00:18:18]Like I just laid carpet in my house. I can help with cabinet making. I can weld. I can put together all sorts of like I'm not gloating in any way, but it's because of what my dad taught me on how to be a [ __ ] person and and get by and be independent.

[00:18:35]Um that I can actually do these things. Whereas young men these days are taught to live in this digital world where it'll be done for you.

[00:18:48]Where's their purpose?

[00:18:50]Um And with that >> [sighs] >> um Sorry, I've lost my place here.

[00:18:59]Um Gallup data found younger men in the US are among the loneliest demographics in the Western world. And what's interesting is when people lose meaning and community, they believe uh they become vulnerable to identity movements.

[00:19:16]What How else can you explain what we're seeing at the moment? You know, politics, extremism, cult ideology, influencer worship, conspiracy rabbit holes, and hyper-tribalism is exactly what we see in the world. This This is exactly what we're seeing in the world.

[00:19:30]And that is driving up the more we feel more lonely.

[00:19:35]Loneliness itself is now being weaponized by on online by extremist groups offering belo- offering belonging and identity. And that's fascinating in itself. Because it's a It's a very real conversation we need to have.

[00:19:49]Because we find ourselves in a place where our leaders seem to want to silence real conversation and push us to the extremes. They want to amplify tensions. They want to amplify the division in the world, and they want to silence dissent and skeptic civis skeptic civic skepticism. Now, why do they want to do that?

[00:20:08]I I mean, there's Again, we fall into this rabbit hole of conspiracies, but it does feel by design.

[00:20:16]Um and then AI companions are just going to completely change the way this loneliness epidemic increases. So, um AI companions are exploding. AI girlfriends, AI boyfriends, AI therapists, AI emotional support chatbot friends. And research is already warning that these systems may emotionally attach most strongly to the vulnerable and isolated people.

[00:20:39]So, imagine a few uh a future with fewer marriages, lower birth rates, more remote work, declining community, and personalized AI environmental emotional support.

[00:20:51]>> [sighs and gasps] >> At what point does humanity begin replacing human friction with artificial comfort?

[00:20:58]It's not science fiction anymore.

[00:21:00]>> [gasps] >> And ironically, it's podcasts like ours, that's probably what's grown this popularity because people miss real conversation.

[00:21:11]It's not just us.

[00:21:13]It's other people, obviously. We're just one of the one of many. But humans are trying to make sense of reality.

[00:21:20]And potentially hearing other people do the same makes them feel like they have some sort of community that they've been searching for. They've been lacking cuz they don't have it in person.

[00:21:30]But even that, it doesn't give us what we need, which is a true connection.

[00:21:35]And this is where it leads to the main idea of what I wanted to talk about in this episode. And it's that that the news and social media is actually bad for your health.

[00:21:47]It's so ironic that I find myself that I have been contributing to this myself, albeit on a smaller scale.

[00:21:56]But I have been contributing to this.

[00:21:58]And I actually wrote an article about this when I first started.

[00:22:02]I wrote an article titled The News Is Bad for Your Health 7 or 8 years ago.

[00:22:09]And then I went and did this.

[00:22:11]I went and contributed to the exact thing that I thought was making people sick. And I've come full circle to understanding I can no longer do that.

[00:22:20]I'm going to read you a couple of little things from my article. And then I'm going to go into the science of why cuz I've got obviously this is 7 or 8 years ago.

[00:22:29]Um but I have more information now and more science to show how sick and not like I I knew it was making me sick, but I didn't realize how sick physically cuz I see it manifested in my own body and my own elements.

[00:22:46]I didn't realize. I always I've been searching for [ __ ] answers as to why I feel these things.

[00:22:53]Why I've been having these issues. It's been in my [ __ ] face this whole time.

[00:22:58]So the news is bad for your health.

[00:23:01]This is uh just one paragraph from that article that I wrote 7 or 8 years ago.

[00:23:08]The subconscious brain has trouble distinguishing the difference between reality and imagination. And most notably, we can point to the piano experiment conducted at Harvard Medical School. Briefly explained, volunteers were separated into two groups. The first of which was shown a number of keys to play in order for 2 hours a day for a week. The second had the same keys and order, but instead of physically playing the keys, they were told to imagine playing them. The ability of mere thought was able to alter the physical structure and function of our gray matter in our brain.

[00:23:43]As tests revealed that the region of the brain that controls the piano-playing fingers also expanded in the brains of the volunteers who imagined playing the music just as they had who had physically played it.

[00:23:56]That means that what we imagine has the same effect on our brains and our bodies that what we can see and what is actually happening to us. So, stress-related hormones, namely cortisol, have been linked to inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, and other serious health concerns. So, that was the the the paragraph that I wrote. Now, I didn't go further into other health concerns, but rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, and other serious health concerns, that's enough for me.

[00:24:35]It should have been.

[00:24:37]But now I I can see more. There is so much that it physically manifests in.

[00:24:43]And I'm going to go through that now.

[00:24:45]So, chronic elevation of cortisol and stress hormones can affect almost every system of the body because it stress responses were designed for short bursts of survival, not constant activation.

[00:24:59]Um some major long-term health effects researchers associate with chronic stress include and the reason I'm just going to make sure you're all aware of it.

[00:25:08]Chronic stress is what happens to our body when we're constantly taking in all of this negative news because our brain can't differentiate it between what we are reading and what's actually happening to us. Like I said, it can't differentiate between the subconscious and the conscious mind.

[00:25:24]Take it on in the same way as pointed out in the piano experiment. So, some of the major long-term effects researchers associate with chronic stress include related to taking in social media and the news.

[00:25:39]Brain and mental health, let's start with that. Anxiety disorders, depression, panic attacks, emotional numbness, irritability, burnout, brain fog, poor concentration, and memory issues.

[00:25:51]Immune dysfunction.

[00:25:53]Uh chronic stress can suppress and dysregulate the immune system, potentially contributing to getting sick more often, slower healing, increased inflammation, autoimmune flare-ups.

[00:26:05]Gut and digestive problems.

[00:26:07]Gut and digestive problems.

[00:26:10]The gut and nervous system are deeply connected through the gut-brain axis. Of course, we've talked about this multiple times on the podcast. Stress is associated with IBS symptoms, bloating, reflux, altered gut microbiome, stomach pain, and appetite dysregulation.

[00:26:30]Stress.

[00:26:32]Watching the news, watching social media, and watching what's happening in the world is [ __ ] your gut.

[00:26:39]That is crazy. Hormonal and reproductive effects. Chronic cortisol elevation can interfere with your testosterone, estrogen, uh and your thyroid function.

[00:26:51]Potential symptoms, uh reduced libido, uh fertility issues, irregular cycles, low energy, reduced muscle mass. And if you again, I'm going to point it out. If you listen to the podcast, you know that I think that's probably by design.

[00:27:06]Stress hormones can influence your blood sugar regulation, insulin resistance, and fat storage. I've been having these weird blood sugar regulation things happen to me.

[00:27:15]And I didn't know why the [ __ ] it was happening. I thought it was my diet.

[00:27:18]Everything was measuring correct.

[00:27:22]>> [snorts] >> The [ __ ] I continuously look into these things because I think it's important that we report on it. But I didn't realize I was subconsciously taking it on.

[00:27:32]Um Uh abdominal fat accumulation.

[00:27:37]People who know me know that I've been dealing with this weird abdominal fat [ __ ] thing and I can't get rid of it and I don't know why. I'm so healthy.

[00:27:45]I'm so fit. I exercise consistently.

[00:27:48]And that's why people chronically stressed often deal with stray cravings, weight fluctuations, and energy crashes.

[00:27:57]I'm literally everything I've been telling you, I'm giving you my own symptoms. And if that's me, what have you guys been feeling?

[00:28:03]Um Even if you're trying to eat well, cardiovascular disease as you mentioned, hypertension, increased heart rate, arterial inflammation, higher stroke risk, interior cardiovascular disease risk.

[00:28:19]Um muscle pain. So, jaw clenching.

[00:28:22]That's my Everyone's been listening to the podcast for a while knows I've had jaw issues. My jaw clenching and TMJ is [ __ ] My neck tension is [ __ ] My headaches is [ __ ] My tight fascia.

[00:28:33]We're talking about the fascia with Delby. My chronic pain and my back pain.

[00:28:37]All of the above.

[00:28:38]All of the above from reading and taking in the [ __ ] world that is constantly put in our face.

[00:28:45]The body can remain a semi-protective guarded state for years. Skin conditions.

[00:28:51]>> [laughter] >> Oh my god. Stress is strongly list linked to eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, and seborrheic symptoms. All of which I've been complaining about on the [ __ ] podcast for 7 or 8 years.

[00:29:07]>> [sighs] >> This is like a come-to-Jesus moment where I realize I've been the source of all of my health issues by trying to help you and me have an understanding of it.

[00:29:18]Cognitive behavioral effects. People under chronic stress often unconsciously move towards addictive behaviors, doom scrolling, emotional eating, social withdrawal, compulsive stimulation, and alcohol and drug reliance.

[00:29:35]All of the above were an issue for me.

[00:29:39]I'm proud to say that almost all of them are gone.

[00:29:45][ __ ] me.

[00:29:47]Was I contributing to my own demise?

[00:29:50]Are you?

[00:29:51]Without knowing it, thinking that we need to be across what's going on in the world as if it makes a difference?

[00:29:59]Your brain and nervous system don't just process information intellectually, they process it emotionally, chemically, and physiologically.

[00:30:07]So, if you're constantly consuming outrage, fear, division, violence, doom, comparison, anxiety-driven content, your nervous system can can be can begin acting as if those threats are a part of your immediate environment.

[00:30:21]So, if you consciously think I'm just scrolling, your subconscious is absorbing emotional tone, threat signals, social tension, fear cues, uncertainty, and the body responds accordingly.

[00:30:35]You can end up in prolonged low-grade stress activation, which creates the elevated cortisol, muscle tension, poor sleep, hyper-vigilance, anxiety, emotional numbness, brain fog, exhaustion.

[00:30:47]Over time, that chronic stress absolutely impacts physical health through inflammation, immune suppression, gut issues, cardiovascular strain, and we go into those as I've just spoken about.

[00:31:00]So, it's not woo-woo science anymore.

[00:31:01]It's just [ __ ] mainstream science.

[00:31:03]The news is making you sick. Social media is making you sick. Your health ailments are obviously, they're probably being contributed by what you're eating and what you're taking in and what our environment is giving us. But, they're also contributed to by what we're taking on through what we're watching and listening to on social media and the news.

[00:31:25]Your nervous system can't fully distinguish this is happening to me from this is emotionally entering my own awareness repeatedly. So, if something's coming into your awareness repeatedly, it doesn't know that it's not happening to you.

[00:31:39]Your subconscious and nervous system takes it on as if it's actually happening to you, and your body responds accordingly. This is why these are physically manifesting as ailments in our body.

[00:31:52]Especially when the algorithms are um especially when the algorithm uh especially when algorithms reward the intensity that they're coming at.

[00:32:01]And negative content also sticks harder because our brains um are negatively biased.

[00:32:06]We're biologically wired to prioritize a threat um for survival, which we've talked about before.

[00:32:13]So, one fearful headline can emotionally outweigh 10 neutral experiences.

[00:32:19]Um there's also a thing called emotional contagion.

[00:32:22]And humans subconsciously mirror emotional states. So, facial expressions, tone, group emotion, fear responses. So, online platforms basically industrialized emotional contagion. Um and that's why if you think you're seeing this cultural swing towards presence.

[00:32:38]Uh sorry, and that's why I think we see this cultural swing towards presence, nature, spirituality, running clubs, uh real conversation, long-form podcasts, analog hobbies, um intentional communities, um because people are searching for something that helps regulate their nervous system.

[00:32:57]Breathwork, meditation, they're all getting huge.

[00:33:01]Um and it's not because the information is bad, it's because our human brain wasn't wired to be able to take it on at this emotional intensity.

[00:33:12]And that's why when I see some of these people who are commenting on this sort of stuff all the time, myself included, we're contributing to the downfall of people's health, not only mentally but physically, especially when we've got this base-level understanding of what's going on. We're not diving deeper into understanding what are the implications of what's being talked about. We're just saying what we're seeing, sparking outrage, uh diving and and and feeding that outrage um algorithm to get more likes and clicks because it gives us more money, and it's it validates us because people agree with us. Because of course we agree with it because our brains are wired to um to spot threats rather than what is actually going to help us.

[00:33:59]And maybe it becomes the downfall of this podcast because I try to uh lean towards positivity as opposed to what is a threat to our society, but [ __ ] it, I'm no longer going to be a part of it. I can't do it.

[00:34:12]Um we don't actually regulate emotionally through content. We regulate through nervous our uh we regulate through nervous systems interacting with other nervous systems.

[00:34:26]Eye contact, tone, silence, laughter, shared struggle. That shared struggle, that thing. Think about like when you go down and run a like if you if you do a fun run and everyone around you is feeling so good, feeling so engaged because they've all participated in this shared struggle together. It's not the struggle, it's doing it together. It's getting through something as a community.

[00:34:55]And that presence has become rare.

[00:34:58]Um most people most people physically um they're physically somewhere, but they're psychologically elsewhere.

[00:35:06]They're thinking about work, checking notifications, filming the moment instead of living it.

[00:35:11]Waiting to speak instead of listening, distracted by identity management. And that creates an emotional starvation.

[00:35:18]Um and I think that's why conversations are around authen- authenticity are exploding.

[00:35:26]I didn't realize that I was leaning towards that.

[00:35:29]Um like I I don't know if it was intentional or whether it was just that's where you go when you real- when you reach the peak of I've taken on so much and it doesn't help.

[00:35:41]>> [sighs and gasps] >> But that brings me to where I am now. About to have a child.

[00:35:49]Well, I'm not about to have a child.

[00:35:51]>> [laughter] >> My beautiful partner Grace is about to have a child, bringing to the world our baby boy.

[00:36:02]And it it gets me thinking about what sort of world I want to live in and what world I want to bring him into.

[00:36:14]Cuz I don't want to bring him into this world where his nervous system is just bombarded and he feels like he's in a constant state of fight or flight.

[00:36:29]I'm going to read this article.

[00:36:31]I wrote this about what I want to teach my daughter. I wrote this about 7 or 8 years ago, and this is one uh paragraph of that.

[00:36:40]And my understanding of this is evolved, obviously.

[00:36:44]But uh maybe I'm going to start writing articles articles again because I really did enjoy it, and it helped me it's it's been a great time capsule to understand what I was thinking and feeling at the time, but um Our children are born a blank canvas.

[00:37:01]They have two natural fears from birth.

[00:37:03]The fear of loud noises and the fear of falling.

[00:37:06]They have no care for their appearance, for what clothes they wear, how they smell, or even how bad you smell.

[00:37:13]They have no care for what's happening tomorrow, nor what happened yesterday.

[00:37:17]They live in the present moment, only seeking happiness and new experiences.

[00:37:21]Curious about everything that's presented in front of them. And most importantly, they have a complete and utter unconditional love for anyone that plays a part in their life.

[00:37:31]Everything else is a learned behavior.

[00:37:33]And everything and everyone else that surrounds them is molding their values, fears, attitudes, personalities, likes, and dislikes.

[00:37:43]And conscious of the fact that my daughter will ultimately make her own decisions and choose her own path, I still wonder how can I best guide her to be happiest?

[00:37:52]And what do I wish someone told me when I was growing up?

[00:37:59]It's in It's interesting because we do want the best for our children.

[00:38:03]And I think by trying to mold and manipulate our children, that's not the the wording.

[00:38:13]I feel like just by being a good example of what values that you've learned, what lessons you've learned, how you want to be as a person, and basically upholding the values of treat others as you want to be treated.

[00:38:35]That's the golden rule for me.

[00:38:40]I definitely want my daughter to be and my son I want my kids to live in a world where they are not bombarded socially by constant negative outrage content that's spiking their cortisol.

[00:39:00]And that they live in a present moment.

[00:39:05]I wrote an article and I haven't got this down here, but I'll um I'll tell you about it.

[00:39:12]It's called It was called I was only 12.

[00:39:17]And the premise of the article was that when I was 12, I was graduating year seven, which I think what is now called as middle school.

[00:39:31]I was graduating into high school.

[00:39:34]And we had our graduation and I was asked uh to fill out a form that they would read out as they they presented us with our certificate. And it was, you know, who we are um and what we want to do in life.

[00:39:52]And I was asked, "What do I want to be when I grow up?"

[00:39:59]And my first option was I wanted to be a sports star.

[00:40:03]I wanted to be a footy player.

[00:40:05]And I was told that's not a career.

[00:40:10]And okay, I get that.

[00:40:14]They don't want to know what sport I want to want to play. That's a hobby in their mind.

[00:40:19]So, I was like, "Okay, well, I want to be an actor."

[00:40:23]And they said, "No, that's not a career.

[00:40:25]I want you to choose a career."

[00:40:28]And then I said, "Okay, well, I want to be an artist. My granddad was a painter. I want to be an artist."

[00:40:34]And he said, "That's not a career.

[00:40:37]It's a hobby."

[00:40:39]Eventually, with a lot of back and forth, we got to this idea this absurd idea that I could be a cartoonist for a newspaper because that somehow was a career.

[00:40:50]And this isn't to have a go at my teachers at the time, but I was only 12.

[00:40:55]And I was already being told what I could and couldn't do in life. I was being told what my aspirations should and shouldn't be.

[00:41:03]I was told to be realistic.

[00:41:07]But to be fair, the [ __ ] did I know when I was 12 anyway?

[00:41:12]Even when you graduate, when you're 15, you have to pick what you have to study when you're in year 11 and 12 so you can choose a career that you're going to be in for the rest of your life.

[00:41:24]You don't know who you are. You don't know what you want. If anything, I want to teach my daughter and my son, go traveling.

[00:41:32]Get a job in a coffee shop. Go work in a bar. Go try a heap of things. Make mistakes.

[00:41:38]Because you can't even pretend to know what you want to do if you don't know who you are.

[00:41:43]And you don't know who you are if you don't experience all there is to experience in life, good and bad.

[00:41:50]So, I'll encourage my kids to travel first and career second. I will encourage my kids towards presents, hiking, experiences with your family and those closest to them.

[00:42:03]Because how can we make decisions?

[00:42:06]And why should we make a decision that we should continue our whole life path on, especially when we're so [ __ ] young and immature.

[00:42:16]Also, our thoughts and feelings and who we are evolves over time.

[00:42:23]If I was to have a life goal when I'm 15, it's going to be very different to the one I am when I'm 30 or when I'm 40.

[00:42:32]And this is the thing that I hope people start to understand is that this is so exciting.

[00:42:41]People who are in a a state of depression, people who are feel lost and hopeless, I hope they understand that there are songs that they haven't heard that can change their life still.

[00:43:00]There are experiences that are going to become memories that they tell their grandchildren that they still are yet to experience.

[00:43:08]There are people that they are going to meet that are going to hold a deep connection in their life for the rest of their life that they still haven't met.

[00:43:19]There are career paths they are going to take that they still haven't even decided upon.

[00:43:25]They are going to create things for the sake of creating.

[00:43:29]And I hope I hope they find excitement in that.

[00:43:37]Love in that.

[00:43:41]And that's what I want my kids to know.

[00:43:44]Is that there's always an adventure around the corner.

[00:43:48]I don't hate or regret my path to where I am now.

[00:43:53]I don't look back on contributing to my own demise in regards to my health.

[00:44:01]I don't regret that I was potentially contributing to other people's downfall in their health and their mental health.

[00:44:15]I'm just thankful that I've realized that now.

[00:44:20]And so, I really want you to understand like you that I'm talking to right now at home. You.

[00:44:27]I'm I'm not joking right now. This is me trying to give you some connection.

[00:44:36]I am talking to you if you're listening.

[00:44:39]You.

[00:44:43]It's never too late to change anything.

[00:44:49]It's never too change It's never too late to change who you are.

[00:44:55]It's never too late to be present with the people around you.

[00:45:00]It's never too late to evolve.

[00:45:05]To begin.

[00:45:09]It's never too late.

[00:45:14]I guess that's the one thing I'm going to teach my kids. It's never too late to change.

[00:45:20]And it's okay to change.

[00:45:26]And if people are uncomfortable around you when you change, the reason they're uncomfortable around you is because you're no longer the version of yourself that validated the existence the existence that they've chosen to take.

[00:45:47]And that by losing that safety, that predictability in you, that anger, disappointment, whatever they throw at you, it's just they're mourning the loss of the part of themselves.

[00:46:11]And maybe one day they'll realize that.

[00:46:19]But at the end of the day, all we can do is focus on ourselves and what makes us feel aligned.

[00:46:30]What feels true to ourselves.

[00:46:33]And to be fair, for me, what feels true to me is is to just uh create more connection for everyone around me.

[00:46:44]To have great conversations. And look, I understand that this is an is a form of connection and a form of conversation.

[00:46:52]And this will this plays a role in in community building. I understand that, and it will continue. I'm never going to stop.

[00:47:01]I love the fact that I have listeners that feel and think the same.

[00:47:07]And that will when I say what I think helps you understand you're not alone.

[00:47:12]So, that is a good thing.

[00:47:14]But I still want people to understand that they need to start seeing the world around them.

[00:47:23]Because any form of loneliness is a choice.

[00:47:31]We can change.

[00:47:38]Yeah.

[00:47:39]And this is why I want to start to do live shows.

[00:47:43]I'm going to start to do live shows.

[00:47:45]I'm going to do these to create fun, to generate humor around some of the things that potentially sometimes enrage us.

[00:47:57]To have fun with some of my mates on stage who are comedians.

[00:48:03]To create a community with people who listen. I'm going to tour as well.

[00:48:07]That's a That's a cool fun thing.

[00:48:09]That's going to expand.

[00:48:12]And look, maybe it becomes harder financially. Maybe it doesn't. Maybe being more authentic actually is probably Maybe it was the thing that was holding me back in the first place.

[00:48:26]I don't know. You always think that you just got to do what's right or do what's in the algorithm. Which is is is click bait.

[00:48:38]It's talking about the issues that are important to you that people are obviously going to be outraged about.

[00:48:43]Because it outrages you and they feel the same.

[00:48:47]But [ __ ] that.

[00:48:48]No more.

[00:48:50]It's time to talk about solutions and positive things. Things that have changed your world for the better.

[00:48:57]Maybe some fun stories. Maybe ghost stories. Tales of the afterlife. They're They're all going to stay.

[00:49:03]But [ __ ] this political stuff. I'm done.

[00:49:05]I'm sorry.

[00:49:07]No longer.

[00:49:10]I can't do it anymore.

[00:49:15]There's enough people doing it.

[00:49:19]And that's why I That's why the news is making you sick. It's [laughter] come full circle.

[00:49:27]It has come full circle. Hope you guys um are having a great day.

[00:49:33]And uh I look forward to the arrival of my baby boy in the next coming days. And bringing him into a world that we all want to see.

[00:49:45]Love you guys. I really do. And um Yeah, that was an that was a fun episode.

[00:49:56]See you soon.

[00:49:57]Bye-bye.