Finlos Lives

Some Ooo for You, and Me Too - RwtH 034 - 01.28.2026

In this episode, I deconstruct the cozy, meditative aesthetics of Ooo to expose the rot within our own structural "walls," using the Adventure Time episodes "Time Sandwich" and "Jake the Brick" as a dual lens for examining the current political crisis surrounding ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and political activism in general. I explore how "Time Sandwich"—centered on a frantic quest to reclaim stolen labor and joy—mirrors the frantic, often performative energy of liberal (white) outrage, while "Jake the Brick" serves as a haunting metaphor for white fragility and passivity, where the desire to "just be a brick" and witness the world’s collapses from a safe distance becomes a form of complicity. I challenge the audience to confront how the pursuit of personal peace amidst systemic violence reinforces the very structures of displacement we claim to oppose.

Sub-Lethal Standards - RwtH 033 - 01.05.2025

In this episode of Rowing with the Homies, I look into the intersection of industrial chemistry and our daily biology, prompted by a University of Cambridge study on how common pesticides and pollutants affect our beneficial gut bacteria. I wanted to move past standard regulatory definitions of safety to explore how the degradation of these internal ecosystems, which are so central to our mental clarity and emotional stability, can act as a subtle form of governance over our lives. By framing gut health as a matter of personal sovereignty and a practical act of internal defense, I discuss the importance of trusting our own physical experiences over generalized institutional narratives. Join me as I connect microscopic research to the necessity of biological autonomy, finding a steady rhythm of resilience in a world often focused on extraction.

Finlos Lives - Sharing Chisme

In this episode, I explore the radical tension between the "Stone", the rigid, official record used by institutions to exert control, and the "Echo," the subterranean flow of chisme that serves as a vital counter-archive for the marginalized. Moving from the forensic, de-mythologizing political photography of the Trump cabinet to the tactical social media survival databases used by communities to evade ICE raids, revealing how gossip functions as a decentralized form of accountability in low-reliability environments. By reclaiming the root of gossip as "god-sibb" or intimate witness, I argue that sharing chisme is a fundamental act of abolitionist praxis, allowing us to dismantle the carceral logic in our heads, challenge capitalist metrics of worth, and protect one another through the transformative power of the whisper.

The Year-End Cycle and Emotional Honesty - RwtH 032 - 12.08.2025

In this episode, I dive into the profound emotional pull we experience as the calendar year winds down, a phenomenon I call the gravity of memory. I explore how the intense melancholy and nostalgia of the season, woven into our traditions and triggered by familiar recipes or traditions is not a weakness, but a healthy, necessary response to the symbolic death of the year. I argue that this time of reflective emotional repose is a deliberate, even resistant, act against the demands of hustle culture, and is essential because the preservation of our future traditions absolutely requires us to embrace the honesty of our present feelings, allowing both the ache of loss and the gratitude for life to coexist.

Relationships of Convenience - RwtH 031 - 11.13.2025

In this episode, I explore what I call relationships of convenience, dissecting the difference between reciprocal care and the "extractive mindset" that treats people, whether romantic, platonic, or familial, like a temporary resource for short-term gain. I argue that this pattern is not accidental, but a personal manifestation of a broader systemic failure, rooted in colonial, capitalistic, and patriarchal logic that devalues consistent, inconvenient emotional labor. I connect this relational failure to an internal one, exploring how the resulting cynicism and fear of being disposable makes depression feel like being unable to trust anyone. Ultimately, I challenge the listener and myself to reject this transactional model by committing to relational discipline: the choice to be the Samwise, the Tanjiro, or the Mirabel who prioritizes shared well-being over personal extraction, and embracing self-reciprocation to build the internal trust necessary to risk genuine connection again.