Every generation gets a panic about its kids — and every generation’s panic looks deeply stupid in hindsight. In Part 1 of a new three-part series, Chris and Des trace how the modern “teenager” was even invented, then walk the timeline through Elvis’s hips, James Dean, the 70s nihilism of Over the Edge, Chris’s 80s coming-of-age in Ames, Iowa, and the slacker label that never quite fit. The setup for everything coming next: it’s not that the kids aren’t all right. It’s that the kids aren’t supposed to be all right — and adults keep forgetting their own teenage years.
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📱 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today/id1867373928

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#BeHerePod #NotEvenSupposedToBeHere #CulturalCommentary

Timestamps:
0:00 — Cold open: “the kids end up okay at the end”
1:30 — Welcome + a new three-part series
4:00 — The Michael Jackson biopic conversation
8:00 — The teenager was invented after WWII
13:00 — “Kids these days” — the cyclical hand-wringing
15:00 — Elvis’s hips and rock and roll panic
21:00 — “Cut your hair” as the universal theme
23:00 — The 70s: latchkey kids and Iowa childhood
29:00 — Over the Edge: the dark side of 70s teen life
32:00 — “It’s 10 PM. Do you know where your kids are?”
33:30 — The 80s: the “fake decade”
36:00 — Jocks, bullies, and 80s masculinity
41:00 — John Hughes brings teenagers to cinema
43:00 — MTV, hairbands, grunge, and the rise of rap

48:30 — Why we got called “slackers”
52:00 — Where does that energy go?
55:00 — Kids aren’t SUPPOSED to be all right
57:00 — Belonging, generational labels, and what’s next

References:
Project MUSE
University of Southern Indiana
https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2022/10/the-senate-comic-book-hearings-of-1954/
https://www.archives.gov/legislative/resources/education/comic-books
https://the-artifice.com/masculinity-gender-roles-tv-1950s/
AAIHS
Springer
https://www.history.com/articles/the-stonewall-riots
https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/stonewall-era
Latchkey kids
Over the Edge (1979)
Info on Stonewall
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0044118X211001096

Produced by Julia Bevolo

The melting pot was supposed to be America’s most generous self-description. Turns out it’s one of our most carefully curated myths. In the finale of the Crumbling American Myths series, Chris and Des trace ‘melting pot’ from a 1908 play to a Schoolhouse Rock earworm to the 2026 Supreme Court. Chris discovers that ‘melt’ always meant assimilating into whiteness, and even then only a narrow band of Europeans were ever really welcome. Expect history, pop culture, and a sharp read on present-day ICE raids, the H1B brain drain, and the wedge politics keeping working people fighting each other instead of looking up. Welcome to group therapy disguised as cultural commentary and enjoy episode 16 of I'm Not Even Supposed to Be Here Today.

Check out Kareem’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SubwayTakes
Schoolhouse Rock - ''The Great American Melting Pot''

Timestamps:
00:09 - Intro
10:24 Click here to skip Sirat spoilers!
10:45 The Melting Pot Myth
16:46 Historical Context of the Melting Pot
21:18 Cultural References and Reality of Immigration
29:01 The Impact of Immigration Policies
38:44 Contemporary Issues and the Political Climate
48:25 Suggestions for Understanding Immigration
56:59 Conclusion and Future Topics
====================

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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 https://www.bearing287.com/

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#BeHerePod #NotEvenSupposedToBeHere #CulturalCommentary

References:
Harvard Pluralism Project
Newsweek
EBSCO Research
Wikipedia: Melting Pot
ResearchGate
Sosyalarastirmalar.com
SSRC
Gale
CMS
Global Boston
National Archives / State Dept
Penn Today
American Immigration Council
TIME
American Immigration Council, Jan. 2026
Vera Institute
Deportation Data Project

Produced by Julia Bevolo

Part 2 of our Crumbling American Myths series tackles the big one: American exceptionalism and the U.S. global brand. Chris and Des trace the arc from WWI creditors to post-WWII superpower to—as Chris puts it—“the Sears of global brands.” They walk through three body blows that shattered the “shining city on a hill” image, share international polling data that will make you flinch, and close with real actions you can take to rebuild soft power from the ground up. Plus: the launch of Bearing 287’s Paradox Platform for mission-driven organizations navigating AI.

The Paradox Platform on Substack
Take the Paradox Assessment

Timestamps:
0:00 — Intro & Paradox Platform announcement
8:30 — The myth of American exceptionalism defined
13:00 — How the U.S. rose to superpower status (WWI–WWII)
19:00 — The American hero narrative vs. reality
24:00 — Reagan’s “shining city on a hill”
30:00 — The hypocrisy: voting rights, torture, foreign intervention
35:00 — The Iran backstory most Americans don’t know
44:00 — “The Sears of global brands”
46:00 — Three body blows: Iraq, 2008, Trump
57:00 — Where the U.S. brand stands today
1:00:00 — Comparing fallen empires
1:04:00 — What we can do about it
====================

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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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#BeHerePod #NotEvenSupposedToBeHere #CulturalCommentary

References:
Reagan’s Farewell Address
WSJ Opinion Piece
Project Syndicate - Soft power
Federal Reserve History (wiki)
Harvard - USAID
Bright Line Watch
Forbes
Forbes - Tourism
Internat’l Trade Administration

Produced by Julia Bevolo

The American Dream was supposed to be a promise: work hard, get ahead, retire happy. But what if it was always propaganda? In Episode 14, Chris and Des kick off a three-part miniseries on Crumbling American Myths by dismantling the biggest one first. They trace the term to its ironic 1931 origin, unpack why “bootstraps” was always meant to describe the impossible, and lay out the brutal data: 40 years of wage stagnation, a retirement savings crisis, $1.7 trillion in student debt, and social mobility cut in half. Along the way, George Carlin drops truth bombs, Des connects Gilded Age robber barons to today’s tech overlords, and both hosts ask: Is the new American Dream just moving abroad? Stick around for the close because it might change how you think about your life. Part 1 of 3.

Timestamps:
0:00 — Intro
3:00 — Chris’s Nazi Germany reading rabbit hole

9:00 — The ironic origin of the American Dream (1931)

14:00 — “Bootstraps” was always meant to be impossible
19:00 — The GI Bill, FHA, and who actually got access
22:00 — Hard work ≠ success: the wage gap data

30:00 — The American Dream as propaganda
34:00 — George Carlin’s American Dream takedown
45:00 — Retirement, healthcare, student debt by the numbers
53:00 — Social mobility collapse
55:00 — FIRE movement and the expat option
1:02:00 — Live your goddamn life
====================

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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 https://www.bearing287.com/

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#BeHerePod #NotEvenSupposedToBeHere #CulturalCommentary

Links/References:
It's Time to Stop Living the American Scam
George Carlin
Economic policy institute
Pew Research Center (2025)
American Bar Association
Prudential
Pbs
TX Lt Gov suggests seniors sacrifice for the economy (2020)
* https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2025/new-federal-policies-spur-higher-health-insurance-premiums-consumers-2026-insurer-filings#:~:text=September%2030%2C%202025-,New%20Federal%20Policies%20Spur%20Higher%20Health%20Insurance%20Premiums,in%202026%2C%20Insurer%20Filings%20Show&text=While%20premiums%20for%20individual%20market,and%20the%20District%20of%20Columbia
* https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-statistics&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1775666392450321&usg=AOvVaw3JikP8mSXGEDgh4qRo9WH4
* https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aal4617

A jury just ruled that Meta and YouTube were “deliberately built to be addictive.” Chris and Des have been waiting for this moment and it just happens that it landed the same week the analog revolution smacked Chris in the face at the Mall of America.

In this free-flowing episode, Chris and Des unpack Big Tech’s “Big Tobacco moment,” the irony of #analoglife trending on TikTok, and the deep human need for third places, adult friendships, and unstructured play. Des shares her journey from nomadic isolation to betting on Santa Fe. Chris confesses to 10 unplayed board games and commits to finding a group for game night. Together they explore dinner-with-strangers apps, murder mystery parties, community education catalogs, conversational card games, and the terrifying beauty of walking into a room where you don’t know a soul.

It’s group therapy disguised as cultural commentary. And this time, the homework is fun: get offline, get out there, and find your people.

Timestamps:

0:00 — Intro & DTF St. Louis Review

5:46 — The Meta/YouTube Negligence Verdict

9:30 — Mall of America and the Analog Revolution

11:20 — The Loss of Third Places

14:30 — Pickup Basketball & How We Used to Find Community

24:00 — Small Towns vs. Suburbs vs. Cities

27:30 — Bowling Alone and the History of Civic Decline

31:00 — Chick-fil-A Phone Coops & the Algorithm Irony

35:00 — Dinner With Strangers Apps (Timeleft, Bass)
40:00 — Why We’re Scared to Talk to People

44:30 — Adult Play, Super Soakers, and Murder Mystery Parties

46:00 — The Delve Deck: A Card Game for All Generations
48:30 — Des’s Pledge: Sunset DJ Parties in Santa Fe

52:00 — Chris’s Pledge: Board Game Night and Cause-Based Community

58:00 — Wrap & Call to Action

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

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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 https://www.bearing287.com/

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

If you’ve ever called someone a narcissist, been told you’re being gaslighted, or diagnosed yourself via TikTok, this one’s for you.
Pop psychology has gone mainstream. Therapy terms flood our group chats, dating app bios, and Netflix watchlists. But what happens when clinical language enters everyday conversation without the clinical expertise behind it? In this episode, Chris and Desiree sit down with Dr. Coreen Haym — a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who trains therapists in graduate and doctorate programs to unpack the good (destigmatization), the bad (oversimplification and self-diagnosis), and the ugly (grifters, mass therapy platforms exploiting early-career therapists, and AI chatbots designed to validate you).

This is group therapy for people who are exhausted by pop psychology telling them everything is trauma and everyone around them is a narcissist.

Timestamps:

0:00 — Cold open: “Nothing applies to everyone”

1:40 — Spring check-in, introducing Dr. Coreen Haym

4:00 — Netflix dating shows and the rise of therapy speak

8:00 — Queer Ultimatum, Age of Attraction, and spotting who’s actually been to therapy

10:00 — The normalization of therapy talk post-COVID

15:00 — Pop psychology deep dive: narcissism, self-diagnosis, confirmation bias

20:00 — TikTok therapists vs. real therapists: how to tell the difference

25:00 — Good therapists to follow: Therapy Jeff, ThatTherapistGirl, Nicole Artz

28:00 — What it actually takes to become a licensed therapist

35:00 — Dr. Phil, Mel Robbins, and grifters in the therapy space

43:00 — Lawyers vs. therapists: why Mel Robbins’s background matters

45:00 — Therapists navigating the current political climate

50:00 — Mass therapy platforms: Headspace, Talkspace, and the exploitation of early-career therapists

56:00 — AI therapy: validation machines and the human connection they can’t replace

59:00 — The hunger for analog connection: silent book clubs, phone-free spaces

1:02:00 — The manosphere and where men are actually going for mental health

1:04:00 — Dr. Haym's closing: starting therapy is scary, but trust the process

1:07:00 — Wrap

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

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📱 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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If you've ever voted for someone you didn't believe in because the alternative was worse, this one's for you.

Harm reduction voting — the idea that you should support the lesser of two evils to prevent greater damage — has been the Democratic Party's core ask since 2000. In this episode, Chris and Desiree trace the concept from its origins in AIDS-era public health (needle exchange programs, not ballots), through the Ralph Nader math that handed Bush the presidency, the Bernie Bro postmortem of 2016, and the 2024 silences that told Desiree the election was going the wrong way.

Then they get into what actually started this conversation: Hasan Piker saying he'd vote third party in a Newsom vs. Vance matchup — and the furious backlash from moderate Democrats who said that was dangerous. And they spend some time on why Gavin Newsom specifically is a walking argument against harm reduction as a long-term strategy.

This is group therapy for people who are exhausted by being asked to vote against something when what they desperately want is something to vote for.

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

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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

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

Sponsored by Bearing 287 https://www.bearing287.com/

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

If you've ever opened your phone and within 30 seconds gone from a bombed city to a Holiday ad to a dead child to your niece at a pumpkin patch, you already understand cognitive dissonance. You're just living it.

In Episode 10, Chris and Desiree name the thing that's been eating at all of us: the crushing gap between a world that is genuinely on fire and the expectation that we still function, perform, show up, and act normal.

They compare 2026 to the actual worst years in American history (1862, 1939, 1968, 2020) and make a case for why this moment hits different. Not because things are objectively worse than being a slave in 1862 (Desiree checks that), but because of something no previous generation dealt with: 24/7 inescapable, algorithmically-weaponized information overload.

Then, critically, they give you five ways to survive it without going numb. Including why finding joy right now is an act of resistance, not betrayal.

You're not malfunctioning. The world actually is this bad. And yet here we are.

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

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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

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

Sponsored by Bearing 287 https://www.bearing287.com/

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