Chewing the Fat with Jeff Fisher - Stop Squishing The Freaking Bread! Plus A Special Bonus Track You Dont Want To Miss! 8/16/14

Episode Date: August 16, 2014

Jeffy discusses stress and the media with Dr. Mary McNaughton Cassil(Universaty of Texas San Antonio),Shark Week jumping the shark, Why John Kerry isn't flying coach, the situation in Ferguson, Missouri and The latest twitter headlines including Al Gores law suit against Al Jazeera, and a mom that was arrested for using the F-Word around her kids. All this and more on Jeff Fisher Show!Jeff Fisher is live from 6am to 8am ET, Saturday. Listen for free on TheBlaze Radio Network.Follow Jeff at https://twitter.com/JeffyMRA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Now. Stable. It's alive. Set it loose. This is the Jeff Fisher Show on the Blaze Radio Network. It is the Jeff Fisher Show. Thank you so much for joining us today. So much to get to and so little time on the Blaze Radio Network.

Dr. Mary McNaughton Castle, professor, Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at San Antonio, author, Mind the Gap, dealing with stress in the modern world. Welcome to the broadcast. How are you? Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here. Okay, so stress in the modern world. Other research you've done between media consumption and stress and with the turmoil and unrest in Europe, Middle East, and of course, right here in our own country, St. Louis, Ferguson, to be exact,

celebrity suicides. It's all, all on the news 24-7. In fact, we're right here at Blaze Radio Network provided. So more and more people are just a little stressed and overwhelmed. So maybe that's just my feeling? Maybe that's just my feeling, or are they actually more stress? I think it's a feeling that's been building in a lot of people over a long period of time. The trick is really to think about the news media now, the communication networks that we have,

because obviously the world has always been complicated. There have always been wars and famines and crimes and disasters. but until we got modern communication, well, basically electricity and then radio and TV and the internet, you didn't hear about them, nearly as much and certainly not as graphically. Well, it seems, you know, my mother always said television was going to be the ruination of the world. Now, I don't know that she was right because since, you know, I'm on radio and TV, no, she's wrong. But, you know, it just seems like, boy, some days I just want to shut it all.

and I do, but not for very long. And I actually think that's an adaptive response. In my stress management class, which I teach here at UTSA, I have the students do an exercise where they go and talk to their parents and try to figure out as far back as they can get a line on their grandparents or great-grandparents and where they lived, what their lives were like, what their stressors were. And what they find is that people, even 60-70 years ago,

had much higher levels of physical stress. You know, people didn't have enough food, and they worked hard, and kids died. But they didn't have the mental, psychological stress that we have from living in this constantly connected, overstimulating world. And in the same class, I have the college kids keep track for 24 hours

of how much time they spend not sleeping, not with other people, and with no electronics. So just with their own thoughts. Probably not very much. Less than an hour. I would have probably bet on less than that. Oh, because we all get up.

Our radio goes off. We listen to the radio. We're in the car. And then when you think back to earlier days, if you were gardening, walking to school, there were just big stretch at the time where you were doing physical activity, but your brain was not engaged with anything other than your own thoughts and ruminations. Right. And on top of that, not only do we have this overload, but it keeps getting faster and faster.

Yeah. I mean, we're advertising here in Texas now that I can get faster Internet service than ever before. Right. I can download an HD movie in 30 seconds. And there's more and more channels, too. So, you know, we all, do you remember when people used to complain about voicemail and they didn't like it? And then we got cell phones, and now it's. Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and for a while everyone just kept trying to add more into their day

and even the college students are now telling me I have to back off I can't answer all of these things all day right where so what are we supposed to what I mean obviously I can't and most people want to know what's going on in the world and what's going on around them I mean you know you you kind of feel like you have to know whether you do or not. I don't know. I mean, I don't know what your findings are. Do people who don't get the news? Are they better off?

Or are they just someone who doesn't get the news? There's actually two sides to that. We are wired. I mean, psychologists have shown that part of survival is always being aware of your environment and threats. So the news feeds into that nicely. You do want to know if there's something that could be dangerous. to you, a flu bug or a crime wave or something else, the problem with today's news is that it's

24-hour and it's global. So if there isn't a threat in your immediate area, you're likely to hear a whole lot about one that's farther away. Right. And even if you know that you're not there, like Ebola or swine flu, it puts enough of a seed that some people start thinking about what if and and that sends them down another whole path of anxiety. It's a good thing I've not like that. No, I don't advocate not watching or listening, but what I think is people have to be conscious about it. So think about your responses. In my personal case, I have trouble with visual images.

If I see something that's really dramatic and gory, I'll even have a nightmare about it. So my approach is to listen to the radio or to get my information on the Internet so that I have some control. On TV, by the time I saw it, it's too late. I can't understand it anymore. We're talking with Dr. Mary McDonnell, Professor, Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Doc, and, you know, I mean, you've done research on media consumption and stress. And, you know, geez, the last week, I mean, for the last week you mentioned Ebola a moment

ago. We've had that. And then we've had a new uprising in Iraq. We've had a suicide from one of, you know, a world famous actor-comedian. We've had and then an uprising in a police shooting in a modern town here in the United States. All of that just keeps ramrodding into our face every day. There's, I mean, are we supposed to just

breathe deep. Not really. Here's what I say again is obviously when you're in the war and the disaster zones, it's horrible. You are, though, in a situation where you have some control or at least it's something you're dealing with. The problem, and maybe this is just a first world problem, but the problem for us is that we hear over and over and over about these seeming impossible situations. And a lot of people take from that that the world is just getting worse and worse and that it's hopeless. There's nothing they can do about it. And what I argue is, first of all, you have to really put it in perspective. I mean, even crime, even wars. Those have been

a part of human life always. And if you look, say, at FBI stats or at human rights watch data. Overall, the world has been getting safer. None of us want to go back to the middle ages when they could kill you and if you were a peasant, that was it. They didn't even talk about justice. Well, that was justice. Yeah. So there's a lack of perspective and that ties into a psychological construct that people call the optimism gap. And what it says is when you have immediate familiarity when you know something about a situation or it's in your own life, we often tend to be too optimistic. Like I'm sure when you get in your car in the morning, you don't actually calculate the odds of having a wreck. You think I'm a great driver and I'll deal with it on

my way to work. No question. No question. And that's probably psychologically adaptive and part of it is because in the real world where you live, you see the good and the bad. So yeah, you know that there is a bad teacher at your kid's school, but you also know that there's one who is really great and dedicated. But when your knowledge about the whole rest of the world comes only from the news, and they are really economically constrained, they have to make money, they have to get advisors advertising, so they need to be gripping. Well, I mean, yes. So you hear a lot of negative stuff. So for example, I could say, yeah, I'd love San Antonio,

but New York has got to be the most scary place in the world. I wouldn't go there. It's all full of crime. And then you talk to a New Yorker and they say, no, it's fine. I've worked. I work there. You get off the subway and you just walk to work, you're fine. Right. So what happens is our view is

skewed and we get so much of our world picture from the news now. And again, I don't want to go backwards. Another thing I talk about in my class is that, you know, even wars, like World War II, it's not that that wasn't, that we weren't on the right side of that war, but there was also an awful lot of censorship. So if you were a news viewer back here, you didn't see friendly fire or

civilian casualties. And so it made it a little easier to feel like what we were doing was the right thing to do. And in today's world, you do. So the example I would use from my classes, you know, we've all knew, we all know that London got bombed, but when you ask younger kids today what happened in Dresden, they don't know,

but we bombed them. And in the communications literature, people have actually talked about this, that it wasn't until Korea and Vietnam, that they had helicopters and started having, you know, live radio and TV. And so people at home.

They were getting bombarded with it every day. And saw the bigger picture, not the censored part where we only look like the good guys all the time. Right. What about, you know, okay, so, and, you know, we get bombarded with news stories, you know, overwhelming. I mean, all we heard about for two or three days, and I'm just as guilty as anyone is talking about, you know, suicide and suicide prevention and how bad it is and how horrible

it is. and then we talk about unrest in a small, you know, one of the things that was a surprise is when we talked about St. Louis or Ferguson and all the unrest and the rioting. And then we talked to a man who was actually there, and he said, that's only a couple of block radius. Right. Wow. I mean, even for myself, I'm like, Jesus, it seems so much bigger. Absolutely. Well, I've dealt with that.

My family lives in Southern California, and I'll turn on the TV and see a wildfire and I'll think, oh, man, that's near them. and then you get on the news and it isn't, but it's hard to tell that. Right. My folks used to call me all the time when I lived in Florida when there was a hurricane. I'm like, it's out in the ocean. What's what are you talking about?

85 degrees. I'm at the beach. Leave me alone. Well, and I'd like to go back to the suicide topic a little bit. That is definitely a hot topic right now. Absolutely. I'm really sorry that we lost Robin Williams, but I told my class, my only hope is that we will talk more about suicide and mental health and risk factors and health care.

Yeah, that'd be nice. I mean, we've all had some kind of, I mean, really, I don't know about your family, but I mean, I know my family has been touched by suicide, and it's not pretty. It is not pretty. And even if it's not your family, you know, if you went to a public high school, you may well have known a kid. It's not a rare event. but there is a real media piece to this. And a colleague and I, Dr. David Pillow out here, we looked at media coverage after Princess Diana died.

Oh, my gosh. Yeah, geez, that was probably one of the first big ones. It was, but what happens is most of us have never met Robin Williams or Princess Diana. But because of the way the media works now, we've heard them, we've seen them, we've read about them, we've seen interviews. They've come into our living rooms. Right. We feel like we know them. Yes, absolutely.

And I think that's partly why these makeshift memorials start popping up, because if you really did know the person, you would go to the funeral. And the purpose of funerals and services is to give closure. But for all of us who don't actually know them, we have to try to find another way to do that. More with Dr. Mary McNaughton Castle in mere moments of this broadcast. This is the Jeff Fisher's. show on the blaze radio network this is the jeff fisher show we're talking with dr mary mcdon castle uh professor department of psychology at the university of texas at san antonio and you know

one of the big stories that we've been talking about and we touched on is is suicide and how important it is for people to deal with it you said it's most important to be talking about it um it's a hard subject it is a very hard subject and It's something that's scary because it always feels like it was something you could have prevented. And in fact, in the risk studies and research, they show that people deal better with a natural disaster, even if it's horrible, than they do with something that they feel people caused. So Hurricane Katrina is a perfect example. It was a horrible hurricane. But when people got really upset, it was when the levees fell and the response from the aid wasn't quick enough because that felt like something we could have done something about.

And with suicide, same effect. So it has a ripple. I should have noticed. Someone should have seen. Yep. And then if you knew the person or you knew someone who knew the person, everyone feels sort of a bit of guilt. So I think that's part of it. And it's also just the waste.

If someone dies of a very awful illness, you don't have the sense that there was a way to have avoided that. Well, and one of the things that we were talking about is that, you know, when celebrities commit suicide, as, you know, Robin did, you know, they've been in your house. They've been in your home. You've watched movies. You've shared drinks with them. Your kids have laughed with them. You've cried with them. and then you think, oh, my God, you know, he did talk about the struggles he had,

and it feels like, you know, obviously I couldn't have done anything, but, boy, I wish I would have known him maybe I could have. Exactly. And a colleague and I did a study, his name is David Pillow. He's here at UTSA as well, and we looked at how people felt after Princess Diana died, and in particular at how much media coverage they had been exposed to about that event. and one of the other things we talk about in psychology, it's a concept called counterfactual regret. It means how much time you spend thinking about how things could have turned out differently.

So in general, people will do that. You know, if you're driving and you're driving down the freeway and you almost get in an accident and you don't, you barely remember it. If you do get an offender bender, you spend hours thinking if only I'd left sooner or later or looked or done. something different. Let alone the Fenderbender, I mean, I don't know about, I mean, I'm just talking about me, but I mean, my gosh, you know, how much time do you waste thinking about, man, if I would have only done that, you know, 20 years ago, boy, that would a, where would I be now? And so then you run into these things like accidents, like suicide, and it's easy to have those

counterfactual regrets, but one of the things that our study with Princess Diana showed is that people got engaged in that thinking when they watched the media because a lot of the coverage is repeating over and over what happened and what people did or didn't say or did or didn't know. And I was actually listening to the news today and they were talking about the problems in Ferguson. And that was a lot of the conversation is, you know, how could the police or the community responded differently. And the issue is not that we don't want to think about alternatives or learn from them, but if you get too hung up in the if-onlys and don't think about going forward,

it can become a problem psychologically. People can kind of get stuck going over and over the trauma. Okay, so now we, in today's world, way more than Princess Diana's day. I mean, I was working in the same medium in radio when Princess Diana died. And now with Robin, I mean, we have social media. Oh, my gosh. Oh, yes. I mean, it's everywhere, and it's ran.

You know, I'm a big proponent of it. But, you know, now instead of also we get news from, you know, I'll call them credible news sources. All of them are not the blaze. and then we get just, you know, the headlines, the 140 characters from Twitter, and then we start worrying about what that said about the particular event that happened. I mean, I guess your point is that I'm supposed to just shut it off. Not exactly. See, again, it has so much to do with the way that our brain works

and the fact that our capabilities evolved in a time when all this technology was not available. So, you know, the vast majority of things that you notice and say and think in a day, you forget. You don't need to remember what you ate for lunch and what shirt your color shirt your friend was wearing. But when something big or dramatic happens, we all try to focus on it and remember it. And now that gets very amplified by the social media. But what can happen easily is we hear something over and over and we forget the source. So like you said, it might be a credible. source, it might be a rumor that has gotten loose on Facebook.

But we don't, after a while, it starts to seem like if we've heard it often enough, it must be accurate. Oh, yeah. And that's part of the problem. Yeah, that's a big part of the problem. Repeat the lie long enough, it becomes the truth. And the other part is, you know, even if you were trying to manage your news flow, something like Robin Williams, you could say, yeah, I didn't watch the news tonight,

but the minute you go on Facebook or Twitter, you're going to see it anyway. And my college students actually write about that. They say that oftentimes they don't bother to follow the news anymore because they figure that if it's important, it'll show up on their social media. Absolutely. And, you know, I was thinking about how I was in our dining room and my wife said, you need to log on to the computer. And that's, I mean, that was Robin Williams. Yeah. You know, I mean, that's how we found.

I mean, she was like, you need to know. Right. It is just a whole different world. Now, if you think about it... 888-9033 is the phone number if you want to get in. Mike Opelka and Pure Opelka immediately following this broadcast. Share 69 on Twitter, you may have come close to winning the $5 that you said I would spill coffee on the control board and kill the broadcast. I didn't kill it completely.

I just spilled coffee and cut off the dock and went right to the newscast because the news. guy was looking at me like, it's my turn, not yours. Why are you continuing to talk? So Dr. Mary McNaughton Castle, a professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas of San Antonio, was right in the middle of telling me about managing news and how it still could be overwhelming. So, Doc, go ahead. And the other part is, you know, even if you were trying to manage your news flow, something

like Robin Williams, you could say, yeah, I didn't watch the news tonight. But the minute you go on Facebook or Twitter, you're going to see it anyway. And my college students actually write about that. They say that oftentimes they don't bother to follow the news anymore because they figure that they will, if it's important, it'll show up on their social media. Absolutely. And, you know, I was thinking about how I was in our dining room and my wife said, you need to log on to the computer. And that's, I mean, that was Robin Williams. You know what I mean?

That's how we found. I mean, she was like, you need to know. Right. It is just a whole different world. Now, if you think about it on one level, it's great. I mean, you can go back in history and find times where they had a battle after the war ended because the message didn't get there in time. You know, we don't want to go back to that, but we're immersed in so much now that I think it's overwhelming.

in my data, I will get people at both ends of the spectrum. Some of my participants will say, I got rid of the TV. I do not watch anymore. Others will say, I keep it on all the time because I want to know what I'm up against. And I suspect that both of those folks actually feel fairly anxious. They just pick a different way of managing it. But what I tell my students, and I don't just say this about the news media, I say it about social media, social contact, obligations, expectations, is that we have to consciously start making choices.

We have passed the point where you can just keep absorbing everything that's being pushed at you. And the analogy they seem to actually like is of either nuclear weapons or medical technology. In both cases, we got and used technology before we really thought. about the ethics of it. So we're still debating about using the bomb in World War II. And we're keeping elderly folks alive and really premature babies, but then we're debating whether that's fair to them. And I think on a personal level, the technology media creep has reached the point where each of us has to say, it's here, it's not going away, but I personally am going to have to think about how to manage it

because it has exceeded an amount that any one person can really handle. Right. Well, and you know, so many people will tell you that, you know, they handle it with their faith. Or they handle it by just shutting it off. I mean, so I can't tell you the amount of

evenings that I think one of my main coping, you can tell me if it's okay or not. One of my main coping things is I just drive in my car. with nothing. Yep. No radio. No, no internet, no internet radio.

No sudden, just drive. See, I think that's great. It might even be better if you went outside in nature and sat, but that's hard to do when you're commuting and working. But I think one of the reasons Americans cling to their car and not to mass transit. Their time? Carpools is because it's one of the few times where you have control of what you have to hear.

Well, you know, I've got to tell you, I took mass transit for two or three years when I lived, well, I was working in Manhattan. And, you know, I took the train in and out of the city every day. And that's, I mean, headphones. Right. Immediately. You're on the train and it's your time, but you're still, you know, it's not quiet time. Exactly.

The other part of this, and, you know, it sounds trite. But part of the technology push is that we are all sleep deprived. Well, not all, but great number of us. I am one of those. Right. And there's a psychologist out in California. His name is Matthew Walker, and he's done studies where he keeps college students awake for a while, a couple of days, and then shows them gruesome images from the media, and their amygdala, the emotional part of their brain, overreacts,

compared to people who see the same pictures but got enough sleep. So it may be that part of the media is overwhelming because we are not really in a position to process it and if you add that into the sort of frantic race, the busyness, the tiredness, it becomes a cycle. Gotcha. So we need to get, I mean, obviously then, I mean, this interview is done.

Everyone needs to sleep. Yes, I had a student who said she put on Facebook. My professor told me to take a nap. Isn't that right? Got to sleep. Everybody needs to know that there are seven hours, that's it, seven or eight hours, you're done. Well, again, if you've ever been camping and didn't have electricity, you know that you slept more when there wasn't a way to stay up after dark or to wake yourself up.

And that's new in the history of humans. 888-903.33 is the phone number. Dr. Mary McNaughton Castle from the University of Texas, San Antonio. Thank you very much. Welcome to the broadcast. This is The Jeff Fisher Show. the Blaze Radio Network, day 138. Day 138 for Andrew Tamarisi being in prison in Mexico.

Yeah, yeah, that's right. 138, it's embarrassing that he is still in prison. Coming up after this broadcast is Pure Opelka, and I see Mike so nice to send me an email to update, hey, heads up, what's coming up on my show? How about you mention it? He doesn't say that. He just says heads up, but that's what he meant.

It says it right there. It's Invisible Ink. How about you mention it? Fat man, it says that right there. He's going to talk to the authors, Anne Marie Morel, Morgan Brittany, and Dr. Gina Loudon, What Women Really Want? Coming up on the Pureau Pelka broadcast,

immediately following this broadcast at 8 o'clock. What Women? really want. So many jokes, and I'm letting you right of yourself. So it's been Shark Week all week. You watched it? I don't think so. I've heard much, you know,

maybe it's still big. Maybe it's still huge. I think Shark Week has jumped the shark. It's jumped itself. I believe that it's jumped itself. Because after the last few years, Megalodon, and we came up with giant sharks. And then this year we had the shark

that the zombie sharks where, you know, you turn it upside down? The tonic immobility, the catatonic zombie-like state. Did we find it? Was that real? Was that real?

Because it looked real, but I don't know. You can't trust those guys on Shark Week anymore. Or at least it seems like you can't trust those guys. But I've swam in the ocean many times. swam, swam, went swimming, jumped in, floated, sank, done it all in the ocean. And I haven't had a problem. Now, they used to tell you you had to shuffle so that you didn't get stung.

But no sharks, they're little baby sharks in the Gulf of Mexico. The big ones are out farther. Supposed to be out farther. But according to mental floss. beds, balloons, ladders, television, lawnmowers, vending machines, swing sets, staircases, bathtubs, cell phones, and bicycles, or bicycles, depending on what professional rider you're talking to, are all deadlier than sharks. So how scared should I really be?

You're listening to The Jeff Fisher Show on the Blaze Radio Network. This is the Jeff Fisher Show on the Blaze Radio Network. Jeff Fisher Show. It is. It is the Jeff Fisher Show. 888-9033.33 is the phone number. Big day of broadcast here on the Blaze Radio Network,

Puro Pelkin next. Canaan Cup, Chris Celcito, Mike Slater, Joe Pags. Hello. I mean, there's a Saturday for you. You don't even need to shut it off. Just turn it on and turn it up. The blade. All right, here we go.

You can tweet me, Twitter, at Jeffie MRA. Some of you already are. A new report warns that delaying action on climate change comes with a heavy price tag. A delay that causes an emissions rise of 3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels rather than 2 degrees could increase economic damages by approximately 0.9% of global output. Oh my gosh. Sit down.

Take a breath. I mean, that's horrific. Why is that horrific? Because that's equal to $150 billion in damage to the U.S. economy. Yeah. that according to the White House. Climate change, according to John Kerry, our Secretary of State, biggest challenge of all that we face right now.

According to a tweet from Matt, given his enormous achievements as Secretary of State, John Kerry has to be considered a leading contender for the 2016 nomination, does he? Does he? Secretary John Kerry who I know you know and love I mean I do I can't get enough

I personally can't get enough of the guy just wish he wasn't Secretary of the United States of America he told an audience in Hawaii this past week he spoke at the U.S. Oh my gosh I don't even just play the clip because I'm going to set it up I set it up he spoke Wednesday in Hawaii

his speech was entitled U.S. Vision for Asia-Pacific Engagement. All of us in this room understand. Climate change is not a crisis of the future. Climate change is here now. It's happening. Happening all over the world. It's not a challenge that's somehow remote

and that people can't grab onto. And what's happening is the science is screaming at us Ask any kid in school. They understand what a greenhouse is, how it works, why we call it the greenhouse effect. They get it. And here's what. If you accept the science, if you accept that the science is causing climate to change, you have to heed what those same scientists are telling us about how you prevent the inevitable consequences

and impact. Do you? You know, that's why President Obama has made climate change a top right of the world. Yes. He's doing by executive authority what we're not able to get the Congress to do. Those bastards. Those bastards won't do it because they won't accept the science we're giving them. They won't do it.

They won't accept it. You must accept. He's right in one thing. If you accept the science that they're ramming down your throat, well, then you have to accept the science that's causing climate to change. You have to accept the science that they're ramming down your throat. The speech at the East West Center, which is a Honolulu-based think tank. These guys are so damn smart. One of the good things are sad things, I mean, it's not a good thing at all.

It's a sad thing. You know, Kerry, he's jetted off around the world. He's been all over the place flying crazy. In fact, he's probably one of the, I think he's probably one of the most traveling. U.S. Secretary of States in that by now. He's traveled all over, but he's been pissed, which makes me kind of happy, actually, that my plane is unacceptable.

It's too old. I need a new plane. I can't fly this anymore. His plane broke down in Hawaii after his little except climate change speech, and he had to fly, he had to fly commercial. I know, John, how did you do it?

How did you do it? So he flew commercial. He flew, uh, oh, what's so funny is all, you know, his entourage. They're all with them, the, the press, everybody's with him. I'm going to go ahead and fly first class. You guys sit back there, okay? You, none of you get up here because I'm up here by me.

I don't need you up here. And it was, someone needs to fix my life. plane. Get Barack on the phone. I want a new plane. Damn it. So unbelievably sad. Anyway, this is the Blaze Radio Network. So much more to come. I have got a huge amount of stories.

I'm going to do a segment. I'm just going to call it Twitter Blast because it's these headlines you need to know. I don't know. If you haven't seen the headlines, you need to know the story just to get through the week. You have to. You don't need to be overwhelmed. You just need to get the headline for me and be done with it. Yeah.

And then if you have something to say about it, you can call 888-908-303.33. Not difficult. This is the Jeff Fisher Show. Only on the Blaze Radio Network. It was a success. Begin Life Force reboot program. Now. Stand clean.

Stable. It's alive. Set it loose. This is the Jeff. Fisher Show on the Blaze Radio Network. Oh, my. Welcome to it. How are you? Good to see you.

Oh, my gosh. I know last week you wore something that was a little frightening, but this week you were great. Seriously. I mean, just wear that all day. Don't let anybody tell you don't look good as you do. Thanks for listening to the broadcast here on the Blaze Radio Network weekend broadcasting. tremendous. We've got

Pure O'Pelke coming up right after this show. Canaan and Cup, Chris Salcido, Mike Slater, and Joe Pags. He's your Saturday lineup, and then tomorrow you've got David Barton and Bill Handel, some gun talks, some Hollywood 360, my gosh. Besides the weekdays, now you've got the weekends, there's no place else that you need

to go, then the Blaze Radio Network. It's just that simple. How many of you? I'm telling you, I woke up yesterday and I thought, you know, I think I feel like I kind of cold. I know I know you don't care. I'm talking about my health, but I can't help it because it's all of this on my mind, because then

today I woke up, and I am like this close. I am just to a, z-you, to it being just a full-blown cold, and I don't know where I got it. I'm trying to remember all the places I've been, the things I've touched. Okay, stories you need to know.

I'm calling it, I kind of like the Twitter blast, because I don't want to get into detail on some of these stories. There's just, you know, 140 characters. Twitter blasts. You need to know the story. Let's move You know, I saw this story last week, and then there's an update. Oh, my gosh. A reply to the Twitter feed.

The headline was Casey Kasem's body is on the road. Casey Case's body is about to top James Brown on the mileage front. Oh, my gosh. According to TMZ, who did this story, Casey's body is currently in Montreal. And it's been there after he died in Washington for the last couple of months. And now, Gene Kasem is making arrangements to have the body flow. to Europe. So I think to myself, I see that headline and I think, what the heck? I mean, do we get an update? Do we find out what's going on? Anything at all? Why, yes, we do.

She's planning to bury the late radio personality at Norway. We thought Casey wanted to be interned in Los Angeles? No. The children want him in L.A.? No. I don't know what's going on with the whole Casey Kasen family, but it's weird. And somebody, I just, I just, don't know. Okay? I just don't know. Weird. But apparently, now he's headed to Norway.

And the family doesn't have much recourse. I mean, she's the wife and whatever, you know, the way it goes. Polish couple killed after they tried to take a selfie on a cliff in Portugal. Stop it. Fell hundred in front of their children. Oh, my gosh. They were backing up. They went over the barrier because it's a beautiful cliff.

the southernmost point. We're going to take a selfie and they fell off and the kids are like, what? Mom, dad. So the next time you're taking a selfie, be omnipresent of where you're at at all times. I know Kim Kardashian, those of you that caught Pat and Stu yesterday,

we talked a little bit about the Kim Kardashian selfie book, which I thought was a tremendous idea. I mean, absolutely tremendous. She's going to make a fortune. However, then I got to thinking, I should make a selfie book. So we put some of my selfies up during the Pat and Stu show. And, you know, hello, I believe I'm going to make a selfie book. Because I thought, I wonder if I have enough selfies on my phone.

And I'm going through, I mean, I didn't even scratch the surface. So, I mean, if Kim Kardashian can do it, so can I. David Gregory, leaving NBC, meet the press. Now he tweeted I leave NBC as I came humbled and grateful I love journalism and serving as a moderator of MTP

highest honor there is then he added I have a great respect for my colleagues at NBC News wish them all well to the viewers I say thank you now the tweet that he didn't tweet it's still in his drafts

NBC bite me okay I'm not crazy leave me alone I don't know why you don't like me very sad. He is not happy. Twitter blast here on the Jeff Fisher broadcast

here on the Blaze Radio Network. Ann Compton, ABC News, retiring after 150 years of her liberal commentary for ABC News. Ann Compton saying goodbye. I believe she leaves in a couple of months. Bye, Ann. Talk to you later. I used to talk to Anne from time to time when one of the radio stations I worked for was an ABC News affiliate.

You know, I guess she was in a... lady. We never had a fight or anything. But she did have her, we'll say, this administration spin on things. Shall we? Yes. Let's say that.

The big story. Bad paper. They're talking about 77 million Americans. 77 million Americans owe a debt collector. Wow. 77 million Americans, 35% of adults have a file and report a debt to the collector's office.

Kind of weird. Kind of weird, isn't it? Jet Airways pilots suspended for distracted. Apparently they, you know, we're flying. He gets a break. The pilot gets a break. He thought he'd take a nap. He takes a nap.

The co-pilot, you know what? I'm going to play on my iPad for a little bit. I might as well play this new game I downloaded last night. And then the air controller said, excuse me, hello jet airways pilots. You just plunged 5,000 feet. You're in the track of another airline.

Could you please do something about it? And so the co, you know, the co-captain freaks out and wakes up the pilot and they took care of it. However, big trouble, big trouble. They're being investigated now. Come on. You know, they get a break. They're on cruise control.

Now, you know, the co-pilot should have been alerted. The co-pilot doesn't need to be playing games. The co-pilot's got a big issue there. I don't want to be looking at, I think, hello? Are we going down? No, don't worry about it, sir. Have another Coke. Okay, thank you.

Appreciate it. No problem. Twitter blast here on the Jeff Fisher Show. 1-888-90-33-33 is the phone number if you want to get on board. And, you know, you can have your little 60-second. and soapbox if you want. Say what you want for 60 seconds about anything you want. But right now, Twitter blast. Stories you need to know for your water cooler chat this week. That, you know, you don't need to know much about them. You just need to know the story. Al Gore, suing Al Jazeera.

Oh, what? You mean the great Al Jazeera? Al Gore? Oh, for withholding money from sale of current TV. Do you mean Al Jazeera feels that they spent too much money for the network? No. They finally figured that Get out. Get out. Unbelievable. Yes. The plaintiffs are seeking $65 million. Oh. A little short on cash. I mean, it's still pretty good, pretty good paycheck. That's the thing? Yes. I think so, too. Yes, Rob Reiner. Rob Reiner calling the Tea Party. Hamas. It needs to be eliminated. Thanks, Rob.

We love you too. Really. Rick Perry indicted on two felonies. Two felonies. This case has been going on for a while. He withheld money. It's a state story. I don't know that anything big will happen,

but just know they'll make big headlines because Rick Perry indicted. Yes, indicted on two counts. Now, he's also fighting for drones on the border against the federal government, so he's in the news. So this is a good way for them to slam him while he's trying to get more drones on the border. Arizona law, yes, we don't have, I mean, we have, sure, we have, sure we have illegals crossing the border all the time. So what? Sure we have illegals crossing the border in Texas.

Sure. Sure, sure, it's a big problem. And they're, you know, we're Senate and Arizona. Sure, it's a big problem. So what? But we need a law that makes golf carts okay on the road in Arizona. Yes. Yes, we do because golf carts are classified as motor vehicles.

It previously was illegal to drive on the shoulder of the road. Oh, I think I like this law. Golf carts rule the roads in Arizona or at least the shoulder. Now that a new law allows the carts to legally drive on the side, I read this headline wrong. I like this law. Get off the road. Get over to the side.

Yes. wait a minute I agree with Arizona South West Coast just told the notion golf cards are more convenient and economical passing law was absolutely the right thing to do organized a parade

100-decker view yes they could ride on the side of the road and not in the middle of the road without getting their citations thank you I agree with that law Arizona good job get out of the way in fact you could use the bike lanes

I don't know that the law says that but I'm okay with that why are we having bike lanes Stop it. Millions of dollars of sidewalks. We want the bikes on the road, along with the golf cards. Stop. It's okay. Ride to the sidewalk.

Although, you know, bikes can't ride on the shoulder. I got it. It's gravel. I got it. I know. Sidewalk's been good, though. Spent a lot of money on sidewalks. But good job, Arizona.

I read that wrong. I love Arizona. That's a great call. If you're a golf cart driver, golf ride on the side, what are you talking about? Why are you trying to ride on the road? A 38-year-old Washington man arrested

Fourth degree assault Fourth degree assault Did you know there was a fourth degree assault? Well, now you do. He assaulted a man He was dying at a local restaurant He was Attacked the man by throwing mashed potatoes at him

They threw him in jail Fourth degree assault throwing mashed potatoes This is the Jeff Fisher show on the Blaze Radio Network. Twitter blast mom in a grocery store, South Carolina. She moved to South Carolina from the great state of Ohio,

one of the worst states of the Union. I mean, I love Ohio. Seriously, there's still four dead there, right? You're under arrest, said the North Augusta Public Safety Officer. What? Yes. What did I do? You said the F word in front of your

kids. What? Yes. All I did was tell my kids stop squeezing the effing bread so some lady in the store, some busy body upset that this lady is

telling her kids to stop effing the bread. I'm sorry, the quote is, stop squishing the effing bread. Reports her and she gets arrested. Come on. First of all, dear North Augusta Public Safety Officer.

Goodbye. Somebody's stealing from the store. Go arrest them. Or how about you stop squishing the eff and bread? Agonizing. That can't be real. This cannot be a real story.

Oh, my gosh. It just can't be. People are getting arrested. If you're telling their kids to stop squishing the eff and bread? Stop it. Donald Sterling, no longer the owners of the LA Clippers. Oh, no.

Oh, no. Steve Balmer, officially the new owner, $2 billion for the L.A. Clippers. $2 billion. Twitter blast here on the Jeff Fisher program. President Barack Obama coming back to Washington this weekend. Why is he coming back? No one knows.

But he's going back to Martha's Vineyard on Tuesday, so don't you worry about it. He's going to be back. Hang out. Some reports say he's going to sign some bill. Executive order. Some reports say the daughter's getting their driver's license, but why would Michelle come back with them?

Who knows? We don't know. We don't know. We don't know why he's coming back, but he's coming back. And it was already planned, so it's not like he thought that the world's on fire. I probably should be in Washington instead of party in Martha's Vineyard.

It's not like he was thinking of that at all because it was already planned. So when the French foreign minister told him, you know, you ought to get back to the White House and do something. This is the French foreign minister? I know it's the holiday period for our Western countries. But when people are dying, you've got to come back from vacation. The French, really?

Keith Ablo tells the Fox News. crew. Michelle Obama needs to drop a few pounds. Oh, the horror. They were just horrified that someone would say Michelle Obama, the great Michelle Obama,

needed to lose some weight. Dear Fox News hosts, just take a look at the pictures of the great Michelle Obama. It's okay. She just needs to lose a few pounds. Don't we all? Michelle, simple to lose.com.

Simple, the number to lose.com. Or just, you know, call me. The NSA's got my number. I'm sure you can get it from. Give me a call. I'll help you out a little bit, all right? Yeah. No problem.

Just call me. This is the Jeff Fisher Show. On the Blaze Radio Network. This is the Jeff Fisher Show. It is that. On the Blaze Radio Network, 888-90. 333.93 is the phone number. Welcome to it. Day 138, Sergeant Andrew Tamarisi in a Mexican prison for making a wrong turn. Stop squishing the effin' bread. Yeah. In America, America, you can get arrested for saying,

stop squishing the eff and bread to your kids. You make a wrong turn in Mexico. You go to prison for more than 138 days. insane. All right. I know. I know. I know. I know. But we got a touch on it a little bit. I know you're over you're over Ferguson already. I got it. So am I. I'm with you. I get it. I get it. I do. But

if you threw it away, close the door, and stopped listening for a little bit like we talked about with the doc earlier today, then just go with me with a few of the headlines of the story. All right? I won't get into it. I promise. I'll just give you some of the headlines,

so you don't have to feel overwhelmed, but you know about the story, okay? You know that police officer shot Michael Brown. You know that, right? You know that they were rioting in the streets. You know that half a billion dollars of military gear go to local law enforcement last year. You saw it.

It was shot here in the Dallas area. You saw it in your hometown. You saw it everywhere, and you most definitely saw it in Boston, with the Boston bombing, after the bombing, and you saw it in Ferguson. Okay, the local police forces have the military stuff. They got it. You saw that how Michael Brown was portrayed in the beginning,

and you saw how it seemed to be bungled the case. The governor didn't talk until, until what, Friday, right? Thursday, Thursday the governor talked. Governor Nixon. I met him before. He's all right. I know he's a Democrat. I got it.

He's a good guy. At least he tries, or at least I believe that he is. You know that they released the video of Michael Brown in the convenience store. Strong armed robbery. You know that they released the police officer's name. Six-year veteran.

You know that the officer said that when he stopped Michael Brown and they ended up with the shooting, he did not know he was a robbery suspect, like we had first heard. heard in the beginning. One of the very first stories were heard was that. You know, yesterday they said that an eyewitness live tweeted the Michael Brown shooting. I just, I went through that. Shows a couple of pictures. You can see Michael on the ground. You know that the Missouri State Senator Maria Chappell Nadell. You don't know SBC, you never communicate, F.U. Governor.

Get on your knees, Governor. Get ready. F you, Governor. I'm calling your BS. This is Missouri State Senator. She was apparently protesting in Ferguson and got a little tear gas and was a little upset at the governor. Listen, let me tell you something, Maria Chappelle Nadell. Stop squishing the effin' bread, okay?

I'll make me tell you again. If I have to tell you again to stop squishing the eff and bread, That's it. You're in big trouble. The Jeff Fisher Show. The Blaze Radio Network. The Jeff Fisher Show. It is.

Welcome to it. How are you? Good to see you. I already told you that look great. I love the outfit. Don't change. Just leave that on all day, all right? So you see this headline?

You think, really? Because we all heard that James Brady, White House Press Secretary, that was wounded in the assassination to attempt of President Ronald Reagan. He died, the fourth of this month. It was very sad. He was 73 years old.

And then I see the headline. A little bit ago, medical examiner rules James Brady's death, the homicide. I think, what? I thought he, it was 73? I thought he did. Okay. Stop it.

Now they're saying, you know, they're calling him a homicide because of, Look, he was shot in 19 when, whenever the heck he was shot in 81, more than 30 years ago. So they're just saying that he died because of that gunshot. Okay. Stop it. I got it. Okay.

I got it. 888-90-33-93 is the phone number if you'd like to get on board, but you don't have to use that phone number. You can tweet me at Jeffrey MRA. You can Facebook me, Jeffrey Fisher, you can do all that. You can listen to Pure O'Pelka coming up right after me. then Canaan Cup, then Chris Salsito, then Mike Slater, then Joe Paggs, you can do all that. You can also remember Sergeant Tamarisi, who's in a Mexican prison for 138 days now so far for making a wrong turn. You can please remember that.

Please remember that. Agamizing. New Jersey, renaming the Kennedy Center. I'm kidding. I was trying to make something funny, but it's not funny at all. It's not funny. The Kennedy Senator, Deputy Mayor Jacqueline Jennings being reported in Willingboro, New Jersey,

wants to rename the Kennedy Senator President Obama Center. Yes, President Obama Center. Well, good. Now, there was some angry outputs and some people upset, and then there were some people that said, hey, you know, it's a privilege to name this community after him. We're excited. and one responder said,

look, stop bitching people. It's going to get changed whether you like it or not. Think about it. That is why I want to just one of the reasons. One of the reasons that you need to go to gettheblaze.com and sign up so that the Comcast Time Warner Cable merger doesn't happen. get the blaze dot com you cannot deny service

for anything do you remember any of you or any of you or most of you actually almost everyone listening to this broadcast can remember a time when you could go into a store and have the owner say get out

you could walk right into the store you can remember a time where you'd walk in and hear the owner get out you don't have any shoes on get out. You don't come in here without any shoes on? You don't have a shirt on? No, I don't care if you're only going to be in here for a couple minutes. Get out of here. Then tell your mother I said hello to. Don't forget your dad. Your dad owes me 20 bucks from bowling on Thursday. Get out of here. Something like that. We all had that. Did we? Didn't we all have neighbors that said, stop, knock it off.

We'll be doing that crap. I don't want to have to tell you. You don't have to tell you. You don't have to your parents. Well, a lesbian couple planning to marry needed wedding gowns. They decided to call WW Bridal in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. An employee of the boutique

replied to the owner, hey, you know, the owner he doesn't serve a same-sex couples. We feel we have to answer to God for what we do, and said the store owner, Victoria Miller.

And providing those two girls' dresses for a sanctified marriage would break God's law. That's what we believe here at the boutique. One woman turned down by the boutique took her complaint to Facebook. Then things heated up. Really? Are you kidding me? Because we've already shut down other shops. Yeah. You can't refuse service.

Can't refuse service to anybody anymore. Discriminatory practices. Oh, my gosh. Yes, it was. It was discriminating. And I bet that you could probably go to another shop and get those dresses made. I'm sorry, gowns. You could get those gowns made, but no, no.

You're going to make WW bridle either close down or make you your gown. That's what's going to happen. And, of course, we have the lawsuit. Good, good, good. Exciting, exciting. Can't wait for another shop to be closed down because they cannot refuse. I don't care what you believe. It doesn't matter what you believe.

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that it's your shop, that you're paying for, that you've put your life, sweat, and blood in, and you decided that I don't want to serve these people. I don't like these people. It doesn't matter. You must. Ohio woman received a visit from local police and a firestorm of screaming. scrutiny. After she posted a

poster a picture showing her granddaughter with a pacifier duct taped to her mouth. It's not funny. I don't know why I'm laughing because I don't know why you're laughing either because it's not funny. You don't be duct taping pacifiers to kids' mouth. Horrible. We're not horrible people. They're making this out to they're making this out to be.

It was just a joke. We put a little tape on the pacifier because we were being silly. We wanted to share it with friends because everybody knows us. They know. We play around like that. The photo inspired others. She had seen the depicting babies posing with flowers or resting

mixing bowls, babies everywhere. So I thought, hey, here's my grandkid with a, you know, a pacifier duct tape to her face. Uh-oh. Now, everybody thought it was horrible. And then the local sheriff and child protective services ultimately visit her home to check on the

well-being of the child. Now, charges haven't been filed yet. Do you think they will charge fine. Probably not. I mean, the lady's probably telling the truth. She said, it's definitely taught me a lesson. What we think is funny, other people don't. It will never happen again. It's definitely taught us a lesson. Yes, it has taught

you a lesson, hasn't it? It's taught you a lesson to shut up. Don't say anything. Don't try to be funny. Especially, oh my gosh, on social media, forget about it. Good thing you weren't making wedding gowns because you couldn't say no to anyone. This is The Jeff Fisher Show on the Blaze Radio Network. The Jeff Fisher Show. Welcome to it. How are you?

So I just tweeted Gibo or Gibo. I'm not sure actually I didn't listen to the entire video, but it's the world's first family robot. You can pre-order now. its potential extends far beyond engaging in casual conversation and completing daily tasks. This friendly robot could one day be your family's personal assistant. It is an appliance. It's a companion, one that can interact and react with its human owners in ways that delight. Yes, J.I.D.

So you can priority yours because by 2025, according to, To this tech article, sex bots will be commonplace, which is, according to the headline, just fine. We'll all be unemployed and bored thanks to robots stealing our jobs. So we might as well have a sex bot. They'll be commonplace in 2025. Are you ready? My question to you is from this article by Corey Adwar. Why is Alaska so dangerous?

I don't know. Why is Alaska so dangerous? Native Alaskans make up 61% of the sexual assault victims in the state, even though they make up just 15% of the population. Violent crimes in the U.S. At, I'm going to be a national average of three, almost double of violent crimes in Alaska. 75 Native American-Alascan villages don't have any law.

enforcement, maybe that is a reason that it's so dangerous. Possible. It's very possible. Because when you look at the dangerous cities in America, well, obviously now we think St. Louis and Ferguson, but no. No. No. Number 10? Well, here you go.

Look at this. Number 10, the most one of the dangerous, top 10 dangerous cities in America. East St. Louis. Oh, Ferguson is, that's right, Northwest. Never mind. No, my wrong place. Completely different place. Number nine, Flint, Michigan.

Ugh. Number eight, Camden, New Jersey. Number seven, West Memphis, Arkansas. Wow. Number six, my hometown, Saginaw, Michigan, baby. Think about it. Number five, Detroit, Michigan. Are you right in the middle?

We can't even get up in the top five. Bessemer, Alabama, number four. Chester, Pennsylvania, number three. And the top two. dangerous cities in America, Oakland, California, and with a crime rate coming in, with a crime rate of 60 per 1,000, you have a chance of becoming a victim of violent crime is 1 in 17. Yes, it's Newburgh, New York. How many times have you said to yourself, honey, we're going on vacation.

Let's go to Newburgh. I just want to go on record as saying a zero, a zero. I don't remember ever saying I wanted to go to Newburgh, New York. All right. Now, amazing story on Glennbeck.com about a man who survived an attempted suicide. And the only reason I'm telling you about this is because I want to say goodbye to Robin Williams. You know, I know there's another story that we were just jammed up with all week, but it really is sad. And he brought so much joy in so many tears and happy.

us into my life, I just have to say goodbye. I'm so sorry that he struggled so much, he couldn't make it anymore. You know, so many, so many of us have had suicides touch our lives, whether it be friends or family. And it was horrible.

And I feel really sad for his family and sad for him. And for those of you that want to beat up the Academy for tweeting, Geney, now you are free. Shut up. Okay, it's okay. just being nice, just being nice during a horrific situation.

This story, Kevin Hines, Glenn interviewed him last week. It's up on Glennback.com. It may even be up on the blaze.com. He jumps off the Golden Gate Bridge. He said the millisecond he let go. He realized, Kevin, you're an idiot. This is the wrong thing to do, so he prayed all the way down. Prayed to survive.

And he did. He hit the wall. was obviously, you know, we've all heard it was like if you hit the water from the bridge and so, you know, feels like a wall of bricks, it was, broke some vertebrae, couldn't walk, and he was trying to swim to the top, couldn't move his legs, and the Coast Guard finally rescued him. Well, he said that he felt something hit his body and push him up to the top. He thought he was going to get eaten by a shark.

Well, come to find out a few years later, that it was. was a sea lion that saved him, just swimming around underneath him, pushing him up to breathe until the Coast Guard rescued him. So, when you think that prayers don't matter, this particular story, Kevin Hines, jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, tell you that prayers do matter, don't they? So, Robin, we will miss you. I will watch your movies and listen to your comedy acts, and there's so many of them that I enjoyed over the years. I don't even know where to begin.

Every time I turn around, I see a movie that Robbins in, and I think, oh my gosh, that's another Robin Williams movie. I mean, he was I just, you know, hello, he's Robin Williams. He's the man. And his family had to share him with the world, and now they have to share his death with the world, and suicide with the world,

and I hope that they can get some peace. I hope that they can get some peace, because he will be missed. And he, no question, he will be missed. So listen, Piro Pelka, I'm not going to bring you down. Hello, happy Saturday. A little more suicide talk for you. Wack, whack, whack.

Piero Pelka coming up with his riveting interview with what women really want. I bet. I'm willing to bet. As the list of people that were tweeting me at Jeffrey MRA, I bet not one time during this interview of what women really want, do they say, oven mitts. And we all know, don't we? I mean, you know as well as I do, but what women really want is brand new oven mitts that match. Have a good weekend. And forget you can download the show. Download it. Blase.com slash radio.

This is the Jeff Fisher Show. Only on the Blaze Radio Network. I was just talking to someone about how they were, their lifestyle has changed so much since electricity. And you think that prior to electricity, people would sleep, you know, obviously up at daylight. And then they would go to bed at dark. And then they would wake up. You'd sleep for three or four hours. Then you'd get up. And that's when you would read or you would pray or you would be with your wife or you would be with your children.

and that would be, you know, really kind of in the middle of the night, but, you know, you'd go till, you'd go till three or four or five in the morning or whatever, it'd still be dark out, and then you'd lay back down and go to sleep, and you'd wake up when you woke up or when it was daylight, and then you'd go to work or you'd go to open your shop or whatever you did, and then, you know, that was the cycle. With electricity, now you're, I mean, it's, you're up. Right. I think I saw that article.

It was about whether or not we should have more of a, split sleep cycle, right? Yes. Yes, that's exactly what it was. I did see that. And it's really interesting. There's another psychologist named Abraham Maslow, and he had a hierarchy of human needs, and it looks like a little pyramid. And the bottom is, you know, food and water. And the idea is, if you don't have the basics, nothing else matters. You'll take any risk to survive. Sure. And then he moves up to security and the middle is sort of social issues, belonging. The top, he called it self-actualization. It was reaching your potential. But what I think is happening in the modern world is that most of us, most of the time, are not dealing with the security issues and the food and water.

Yeah, I mean, we are feeling. We certainly don't live in a food desert like we're told. But we're in the middle where all of the social issues and press. pressure and the media and the technology are feeding into that. So our lives are not as hard physically as our relatives were, but it's a different level of stress. And it does take a toll. You can look at the psychology. People have done MRIs when you are concentrating for a really long time

and it affects how your brain functions. So we're kind of running a giant experiment on ourselves that's never been done before. Dr. Mary McDonnell, Castle, thank you so much. I know you've got the author of Mind the Gap, dealing with Stress in the Modern World. Do you have a website? Anything you want to push out there for me? Cognella is the publisher, and they have it all up on their website.

But I did want to just explain the title, because people look at me like, what is that? Mind the Gap. I was at a stress conference in London, and I was taking the tube to get back and forth. And instead of saying, watch your step, It says mind the gap. I do exactly what you were talking about.

Don't fall in between the train and the platform. Well, I always describe stress as the gap between what you have and what you want, whether that's belongings, time, energy, thoughts. And it struck me in the middle of that trip that for the vast majority of us, we can't make huge changes in the external things around us. Maybe you have to keep your job. Maybe you have to deal with someone's illness, whatever. So you have to mind the stress in your own head.

It becomes a matter of attitude and choice. And that's what the book is about. It actually talks a lot about this modern stress, but then how to get a hold of those thoughts using this concept of cognitive behavioral psychology, which is a real powerful way of managing thoughts. Well, so you're talking about you have the power to, you mean, you have to affect the things in your life that you can. Right?

You have to change the things that you can, but you can also very much change the way you look at it. I give you an example. A kids will come in my office, same test, two of them, both got a C. One is crying. I need to go to med school. I can't get a C. I studied. The other is dancing around. I didn't study.

I didn't think I passed. I got a C. This is great. And what they do from there is what is important. If the kid who's upset says I'm a failure, I'm not going to go, they're probably going to going to have a little bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. If they say I'm going to come to office hours and get tutoring and study more, it might turn things around.

So you have to be aware of that. One of the questions you asked me earlier, but I'll stick it in. As you said, you know, you just can't turn all this off sometimes. Yeah. And what I say is bring it down local. So if you are really upset watching a lot of starving kids in another country, go volunteer at your own food bank. or find something to do where you feel like you're making a difference.

Because no one can fix all the problems, but it helps a whole lot to feel like you're contributing something.