If you've ever watched mainstream media soften authoritarian language and wondered if you're the only one noticing: You're not. This week we unpack "sanewashing": the practice of making insane statements and authoritarian behavior sound normal and reasonable. From Trump's cognitive decline to media ownership by billionaires who need chaos to stay profitable, we break down why the news feels like gaslighting.

You'll learn:
- Why "bonkers" and "goons" are sanewashing words
- How billionaire ownership changed journalism fundamentally
- Why CNN made $1 billion from Trump coverage (and needs him)
- What Walter Cronkite-era journalism looked like vs. today
- Specific independent journalists to follow instead

Plus: The independent journalists actually telling the truth (and how to support them instead of feeding the machine). (ProPublica, More Perfect Union, The Guardian, Joshua Doss, and more)
https://www.instagram.com/doss.discourse/

https://www.instagram.com/nowthisimpact/

https://www.instagram.com/underthedesknews/

https://www.instagram.com/perfectunion/

https://www.instagram.com/thehumanityarchive/

This is group therapy disguised as media criticism. You're not supposed to be here today—but here we are.
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Subscribe, watch and listen to I'm Not Even Supposed to Be Here Podcast

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🖥️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeHerePod

📱 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today/id1867373928

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3bypMpSmcoIjt4bHk0nvzz?si=18eab826d1394fd9

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Sponsored by Bearing 287

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If you've ever wondered whether you're being paranoid or whether your survival instincts are finally kicking in—this episode is for you.

Desiree predicted it at Thanksgiving 2024: "We're going to experience things we never thought we would." Now, with ICE raids in Minneapolis, transgender family members making escape plans, and the Handmaid's Tale's "Little America" feeling less like fiction and more like foreshadowing, we're processing the fear that Americans aren't supposed to feel.

We dive into:
- The violence we thought only happened on other soil
- Why Desiree watches documentaries about World War II to cope
- The "Little America" scene that broke her
- Epigenetics and inherited trauma
- Why men have no concept of the fear women carry
- The 2009 Tea Party moment that predicted all of this
- Robert Reich's call for business, religious, and institutional leaders to speak up
- Why Chris has no hope those leaders will

This is the rawest we've been. It's also the most necessary. For people who feel like they're taking crazy pills and need to know they're not alone.

Content Warning: Discussions of potential violence, ICE raids, family estrangement, and realistic fear about American democracy.

Resources mentioned:
- Robert Reich's Substack: "The Emergency Is Now"
- Heather Cox Richardson's Letters from an American

====================

Subscribe, watch and listen to I'm Not Even Supposed to Be Here Podcast

====================

🖥️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeHerePod

📱 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today/id1867373928

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3bypMpSmcoIjt4bHk0nvzz?si=18eab826d1394fd9

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Sponsored by Bearing 287

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Why did the media treat Ryan Coogler's box office hit "Sinners" with skepticism while breathlessly hyping Josh Safdie's "Marty Supreme"—which made a fraction of the money?

We trace the disparate coverage back to one source: Penske Media Corporation, which owns Variety, The Golden Globes, Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and more. Turns out when one company controls entertainment journalism, narratives get... controlled.

This week we explore:
→ The return of #OscarsSoWhite energy (and why it never really left)
→ How media consolidation shapes what films get celebrated
→ Teyana Taylor's uncomfortable truth about Black women's hypersexualization
→ The pattern of promised progress → quiet reversals
→ Speaking with your dollars when you have zero control over Hollywood

Content note: Discussion of racism, sexualization of Black women, and systemic media manipulation.

Resources mentioned:
- Penske Media holdings breakdown
- National Museum of African American History & Culture
- UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report
- Dartmouth research on Hollywood representation

Not Even Supposed to Be Here Today: Group therapy disguised as cultural commentary. We're talking WITH you, not AT you.
https://www.bearing287.com/