1325: Matriarchy | Skeptical Sunday

1329: Psychic Detectives | Skeptical Sunday

Psychics keep wedging themselves into police cases — and grieving families pay the price. Nick Pell explains the grift on Skeptical Sunday! Welcome to Skeptical Sunday, a special edition of The Jordan Harbinger Show where Jordan and a guest break down a topic that you may have never thought about, open things up, and debunk common misconceptions. This time around, we’re joined by writer and researcher Nick Pell [https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/author/nicholas-pell]! Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1329 [https://jordanharbinger.com/1329] On This Week's Skeptical Sunday: * Psychic detective work traces back to 19th-century spiritualism, which surged after the Civil War and WWI as a grief-coping mechanism — part therapy, part pop religion, part proto-reality TV. The post-WWII pulp era rebranded it as "science," birthing the modern psychic detective archetype. * The genre's most-cited "successes" — Etta Smith in the Melanie Uribe case, Dorothy Allison on the John List murders, and Noreen Renier's many TV appearances — all collapse under scrutiny. Police never credited any of them with usable leads, and Allison reportedly tried to bribe cops to vouch for her. * Sylvia Browne is the cautionary tale that turns this from harmless grift into genuine harm. She told Amanda Berry's mother her daughter was dead in 2004 — Amanda was alive, held captive in Cleveland until 2013. Mom died never knowing. Browne botched the Shawn Hornbeck case too. * Four mechanisms explain every "psychic solved it" story: confirmation bias (remembering hits, forgetting misses), post-hoc reasoning (vague claims retrofitted to fit), emotional vulnerability of grieving families, and Barnum statements — deliberately vague phrases like "I see water" that let your brain fill in the blanks. * Real cases get cracked by forensic evidence, behavioral profiling, and community tip lines — the unsexy, methodical work that rarely makes headlines. Families seeking closure are better served by counseling and victim support than by false hope, and learning to spot the four tells above makes anyone a sharper media consumer. * Connect with Jordan on Twitter [https://twitter.com/JordanHarbinger], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/jordanharbinger], and YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/c/THEJORDANHARBINGERSHOW]. If you have something you'd like us to tackle here on Skeptical Sunday, drop Jordan a line at jordan@jordanharbinger.com [jordan@jordanharbinger.com] and let him know! And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here [https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1344999619?mt=2&ls=1] — even one sentence helps! * Sign up for Six-Minute Networking [https://jordanharbinger.com/course] — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course [https://jordanharbinger.com/course]! * Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser [https://www.jordanharbinger.com/news/] newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom! * Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger [https://www.reddit.com/r/JordanHarbinger/]! This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors [https://www.jordanharbinger.com/deals/]: * Lufthansa Allegris: Go to Lufthansa.com and search for "Allegris" to learn more [https://www.lufthansa.com/us/en/discover-lufthansa/allegris] * SimpliSafe Home Security: 50% off + 1st month free: simplisafe.com/jordan [https://simplisafe.com/jordan] * Whatnot: Start selling today: whatnot.com/sell [https://www.whatnot.com/sell] * ZipRecruiter: Learn more at ziprecruiter.com/jordan [https://www.ziprecruiter.com/jordan] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

1328: They’re an Ideal Pair, but Is Her Baggage Fair? | Feedback Friday

You're 47, dating a guy 15 years younger, and quietly drafting his exit so he can find someone "better." Noble move, or self-sabotage? It's Feedback Friday! And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger [https://twitter.com/JordanHarbinger]) and Gabriel Mizrahi (@GabeMizrahi [https://twitter.com/GabeMizrahi]) banter and take your comments and questions for Feedback Friday right here every week! If you want us to answer your question, register your feedback, or tell your story on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com [friday@jordanharbinger.com]. Now let's dive in! Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1328 [https://jordanharbinger.com/1328] On This Week's Feedback Friday: * You run daily, hold down a job, parent your kids, pay the bills — and quietly drink a fifth of liquor every single day. You're high-functioning by every external metric, but you're trapped in a loop where feeling like crap fuels the drinking. You wrote in hoping supplements might do the trick? * You're 47, met a guy 15 years younger at the dog park, and two magical years later he wants to move in. But you're widowed, infertile, and carrying debt from a traumatic marriage. You're convinced you're saddling this catch with your baggage. Is letting him go the kindest thing — or are you pre-breaking up with yourself? * You've been the family breadwinner for 15 years until a bad job move ended in bankruptcy. Your husband — diagnosed with BPD — has bounced between jobs, ignoring every training course you've funded. You've secretly stopped job hunting hoping he'll finally step up. How do you support him without twisting the knife? * Recommendation of the Week: Six Feet Under [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006GLLR4A/?tag=jordanharbing-20] — Gabe's pick for the single greatest TV show ever made. The HBO family drama (2001–2005) about a clan running a funeral home becomes a five-season meditation on death, meaning, and being alive. Stick with it past episode three, he begs you. * You're a 40-something European attorney with a 24-year marriage and a life you built mostly on your own. But your clinically narcissistic dentist father and severely ADD mother left you with conditioning you can't outrun — episodes of rage, a haunting sense that your warmth might just be a mask. Now what? * Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com [friday@jordanharbinger.com]! * Connect with Jordan on Twitter at @JordanHarbinger [https://twitter.com/JordanHarbinger] and Instagram at @jordanharbinger [https://www.instagram.com/jordanharbinger]. * Connect with Gabriel on Twitter at @GabeMizrahi [https://twitter.com/GabeMizrahi] and Instagram @gabrielmizrahi [https://www.instagram.com/gabrielmizrahi/]. And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here [https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1344999619?mt=2&ls=1] — even one sentence helps! * Sign up for Six-Minute Networking [https://jordanharbinger.com/course] — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course [https://jordanharbinger.com/course]! * Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser [https://www.jordanharbinger.com/news/] newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom! * Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger [https://www.reddit.com/r/JordanHarbinger/]! This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors [https://www.jordanharbinger.com/deals/]: * Lufthansa Allegris: Go to Lufthansa.com and search for "Allegris" to learn more [https://www.lufthansa.com/us/en/discover-lufthansa/allegris] * BetterHelp: 10% off first month: betterhelp.com/jordan [https://www.betterhelp.com/jordan] * Marathon Rewards: Sign up today: marathonrewards.com [https://www.marathonarcorewards.com/] * AT&T: Get an iPhone 17 Pro for $0: att.com/iphone or visit an AT&T store for details [https://att.com/iphone] * AG1: Welcome kit: drinkag1.com/jordan [https://drinkag1.com/jordan] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

1327: Eric Zimmer | Making Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life

A little of something beats a lot of nothing every single time. How a Little Becomes a Lot [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0063420805/?tag=jordanharbing-20] author Eric Zimmer explains the math of meaningful change. Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1327 [https://jordanharbinger.com/1327] What We Discuss with Eric Zimmer: * Real change isn't the cinematic rock-bottom epiphany we love to romanticize — it's the thousands of unglamorous, repeated micro-decisions that follow it. Calling the sponsor instead of the dealer. Driving the long way home. The watershed moment only matters because of what comes after. * What feels permanently insurmountable can genuinely vanish as a problem. Eric drove oxycodone to his mom for weeks without flinching, when years earlier he'd have robbed someone at gunpoint for those same pills — proof that cravings don't always require lifelong white-knuckled willpower. * All-or-nothing thinking is the silent killer of progress. The protein-powder-and-two-hour-gym-sessions fantasy keeps people doing literally nothing, when a 15-minute walk after dinner would honor the underlying goal and keep momentum alive. A little of something beats a lot of nothing. * You can't pull a "feel happy" lever — emotions don't have one. But behavior does, and acting your way into right thinking is often more reliable than thinking your way into right action. Show up, shake hands, do the small thing, and the inner state tends to follow. * Get honest about what you actually value by noticing what stays constant across different rooms and moods, not what flickers based on whoever you were just hanging out with. Then make those values easier to live — shrink the action, remove the friction, and let the next good choice be the path of least resistance. * And much more... And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here [https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1344999619?mt=2&ls=1] — even one sentence helps! * Sign up for Six-Minute Networking [https://jordanharbinger.com/course] — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course [https://jordanharbinger.com/course]! * Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser [https://www.jordanharbinger.com/news/] newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom! * Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger [https://www.reddit.com/r/JordanHarbinger/]! This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors [https://www.jordanharbinger.com/deals/]: * BetterHelp: 10% off first month: betterhelp.com/jordan [https://www.betterhelp.com/jordan] * Article: Visit article.com/jordan for $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more [https://article.com/jordan] * Booking.com: Book your getaway now with booking.com [https://booking.com/] * ButcherBox: Free protein for a year + $20 off first box: butcherbox.com/jordan [https://butcherbox.com/jordan/] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

1326: Simone Stolzoff | How to Make the Most of Uncertainty

Why does not knowing feel worse than bad news? How to Not Know [https://www.amazon.com/dp/1324089458/?tag=jordanharbing-20] author Simone Stolzoff shows us how to make uncertainty work for us, not against us. Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1326 [https://jordanharbinger.com/1326] What We Discuss with Simone Stolzoff: * Certainty feels like wisdom but often isn't — Phil Tetlock found the average expert predicting the future is about as accurate as a dart-throwing chimpanzee, yet we keep mistaking confidence for competence and rewarding the loudest voice in the room. * Our brains are wired for the savanna, not the spreadsheet. The same alarm bells that once warned us about rustling bushes now fire over phone storage decisions, leaving us anxious about choices that have almost nothing to do with survival. * We hate ambiguity so much we'd choose guaranteed pain over uncertainty — one study found people facing a 50 percent chance of a shock felt more stressed than those facing 100 percent. Not knowing whether you'll lose your job hurts as much as actually losing it. * Intolerance for uncertainty traps us in mediocre jobs, mediocre relationships, and mediocre lives. The "safe" choice quietly becomes the costly one, because the breakthroughs — entrepreneurial, creative, personal — all live on the other side of not knowing. * Treat uncertainty tolerance as a muscle you can train. Take a new route to work, order the unfamiliar dish, run small experiments, write down your predictions, and trust your future self to handle future problems — that version of you will have more context than the one worrying today. * And much more... And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here [https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1344999619?mt=2&ls=1] — even one sentence helps! * Sign up for Six-Minute Networking [https://jordanharbinger.com/course] — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course [https://jordanharbinger.com/course]! * Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser [https://www.jordanharbinger.com/news/] newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom! * Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger [https://www.reddit.com/r/JordanHarbinger/]! This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors [https://www.jordanharbinger.com/deals/]: * Lufthansa Allegris: Go to Lufthansa.com and search for "Allegris" to learn more [https://www.lufthansa.com/us/en/discover-lufthansa/allegris] * The Cybersecurity Tapes: Listen here: thecybersecuritytapes.com [https://thecybersecuritytapes.com/] * Boll & Branch: 15% off first set of sheets: bollandbranch.com, code JORDAN [https://www.bollandbranch.com/] * AT&T: Get an iPhone 17 Pro for $0: att.com/iphone or visit an AT&T store for details [https://att.com/iphone] * Progressive Insurance: Free online quote: progressive.com [https://www.progressive.com/] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].

1325: Matriarchy | Skeptical Sunday

Have women ever ruled the world — or did we just make it all up? Jessica Wynn separates feminist folklore from real anthropology here on Skeptical Sunday! Welcome to Skeptical Sunday, a special edition of The Jordan Harbinger Show where Jordan and a guest break down a topic that you may have never thought about, open things up, and debunk common misconceptions. This time around, we’re joined by writer and researcher Jessica Wynn [https://jessicawynn.substack.com/]! Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1325 [https://jordanharbinger.com/1325] On This Week's Skeptical Sunday: * The world's most famous "matriarchies" — the Minangkabau, Khasi, Bribri, and Mosuo — share a curious pattern: women hold the property, the lineage, and the daily labor, while men retain the prestigious roles like religious authority, political leadership, and ceremonial titles. * The prehistoric "golden age of matriarchy" so beloved by 19th-century theorists and 1970s feminist spirituality has no solid archaeological evidence behind it — but the historical record itself is biased, since colonial chroniclers often erased or ignored female authority structures they didn't recognize. * A landmark study of Mosuo communities found women in matrilineal villages had less than half the chronic inflammation rates and notably lower hypertension than women in patrilineal ones — and crucially, men in those same matrilineal villages showed no meaningful health penalty. * Patriarchy isn't just costly for women; it quietly taxes men too, pushing them into rigid dominance roles that produce emotional isolation, shorter lifespans, and higher suicide rates — meaning the same structure that disadvantages women also corrodes the men it supposedly elevates. * The most useful reframe isn't matriarchy versus patriarchy but dominance versus care — societies organized around reciprocity, redistribution, and consensus produce measurably better well-being across genders, and that's a model anyone can build toward without needing a mythical past to justify it. * Connect with Jordan on Twitter [https://twitter.com/JordanHarbinger], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/jordanharbinger], and YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/c/THEJORDANHARBINGERSHOW]. If you have something you'd like us to tackle here on Skeptical Sunday, drop Jordan a line at jordan@jordanharbinger.com [jordan@jordanharbinger.com] and let him know! * Connect with Jessica Wynn at Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/iamjessicawynn/] (and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/NeverMetJessicas]!), and subscribe to her newsletters: Between the Lines [https://jessicawynn.substack.com/] and Where the Shadows Linger [https://storiesbywynn.substack.com/]! And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here [https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1344999619?mt=2&ls=1] — even one sentence helps! * Sign up for Six-Minute Networking [https://jordanharbinger.com/course] — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course [https://jordanharbinger.com/course]! * Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser [https://www.jordanharbinger.com/news/] newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom! * Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger [https://www.reddit.com/r/JordanHarbinger/]! This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors [https://www.jordanharbinger.com/deals/]: * The Perfect Jean: 15% off first order: theperfectjean.nyc, code JORDAN15 [https://theperfectjean.nyc/] * Mint Mobile: Shop plans at mintmobile.com/jhs [https://www.mintmobile.com/jhs] * Momentous: 35% off first order: livemomentous.com, code JHS [https://www.livemomentous.com/] * Quiltmind: Email jordanaudience@quiltmind.com to get started or visit quiltmind.com for more info [https://www.quiltmind.com/] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy [https://art19.com/privacy] and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info [https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info].