All of us are constantly being bombarded with distressing news, much of which is designed to overwhelm us. Anney and Samantha sip on some drinks and break down why this is a strategy, with tips to keep it from working.
Hey, this is Anny and Samantha and.
Welcome to Stuff I Never told you, PRODUCTU of iHeartRadio.
And we're back with another happy hour.
Yay.
And it's been a long first month of the year, like it's never ending.
It feels like it should be like one hundred and sixth day of January. Maybe it just seems like a never ending drag of all these things happening. So if it feels like you're being overwhelmed with a lot of bad you're not the only one. I think you've heard a say of many times we feel overwhelmed and everything's the worst. And it may be the doom scrolling, or it may be that the plan is to paralyze you with fear. But before we start, this happy hour isn't just a wineing session that I typically but a conversation we need desperately and something I need to shake out as we try to survive the next four years. You know how we do with the happy hours before we start, find a comfortable seat. If you're slipping on something special, do so responsibly. Whatever you're doing, do so responsibly. If you're in panic mode. This is this is a good conversation to have. I think we should you should take the time to listen to this. So we are talking about current affairs, but it is something that we need to talk about. But before we start, we're actually drinking a little fancy drinks today. Instead of going for the newer companies, we came back to a goodie and Annie, can you tell us what you're drinking right now?
Yes, I am drinking Black Girl Magic Bubbly Red and it can that Samantha delivered to me was kind enough to deliver to me yesterday.
I was just playing door dash yesterday, not a sponsor.
Sponsor, yeah, because I was going around. I've been looking for like just easy, ready made drinks for us who just need a quick sip of something nice and refreshing. And I forgot that Black Own Magic, who is the McBride sisters created their own line of canned beverages. So we got that red because we both love red and this is ef pervescent, which I was like, what a bubbly red?
How does it taste?
Because I haven't opened mind yet.
Oh it's really good. I thought. My concern with bubbly reds is that they'll be too sweet, and it's not at all. It's very Chris. It's got of nice bites, but it's really pleasant.
Yeah.
It kind of made my like, you know, like the tartness a little bit, but it's balancing out. It's really good. I like it a lot.
I think it's a Cabernet sauvignon, right, Yes, okay.
And shout out.
If you want to know more about the McBride sisters and their wine, we have a past episode.
Maybe we can bring it back much.
Y'all hear about them as a classic, but yeah, we did feature them before, so go back and listen.
And they have huge They're huge. I love it.
They are now available everywhere I saw them, not Trader Joe's recently.
They have a bubbly Yeah, they're they're doing their thing.
I have uh their she Can, So they have a whole special addition she Can. It's called it says, break the rules, Break the rules, drink the wine. Is there a little logo for it and it's uh tropical sprits. So it's a carbonated rose wine and it donuts to the mcbright sisters she Can Fund, which supports the advancement of women in male dominated industries with scholarships, memberships, and communities which is super cyper cool. Yeah, I'm gonna open it on mike Ya. If you don't like that crisp sound of opening, can to listen. Okay, I'm gonna taste it right now.
Oh oh that's nice.
Is nice?
Like the rose with the fruitiness, so you've got that little the wine bite with an extra kick.
Yeah, it's a tangerine to me.
Oh, we just did an episode on Tangerine's for Savor, so well.
Yeah, there's so many brands and Breeze and.
Like, okay, yeah, that's why I side is because tangerine is. We did a much larger category, but tangerine is anyway.
Angelo's all of those Oh.
It was I gave me a huge headaches. Man, it was really difficult.
I have a specific kind that I like that.
I'm like, I wait for the season because it's easy to peel off and it's very like Asian.
People love oranges. Yeah, all people do. I guess I apologize.
Anyway, go back to so that we are drinking that as we are having this very detailed conversation because we're going to support as many marginalized businesses as possible, and that includes women led businesses and black owned businesses because for the next four years, we are going to push.
Back with our money. Am I right? I am right. I'm also doing that with local businesses as well. So we did visit.
I did go to our local beverage, as you will. That's only in Atlanta. I don't think I've seen it anywhere else, but they are a local area. Greens also not a sponsor, but if you're in Atlanta, they have a great section of alcohols and then some Anyway, with everything we have, we have to find a middle ground, and it's easy to be overwhelmed. So we wanted to talk about what is happening with this shock and awe of this administration. A lot has happened. Executive orders have been signed, not legally, not all of them legally. There are so many things that they are being pushed back on, and I think it's important that we have this conversation of what is happening in our administration. Typically this would be something that we talk about on our Monday Mini, but I need to figure this out as a person who is trying to get as much detailed, correct and accurate information as possible and feeling like everything in the US has been censored or as propaganda somehow one way or the other. So I really feel like trying to get my bearings, and I think, I know I'm not the only one listening around. Sure you're with us. I know Annie feels the same way in so many respects.
Right, yeah, no, no, I do. I mean I had to. I had to be like, you can't overreact at everything, because you'll just drown. And I'm actually somebody who likes to let the dust settle before I deal with it, because otherwise, who knows if what you saw somewhere or heard somewhere is true exactly because it's all so fast paced, and so I like to, you know, not get too caught up in it. But I mean, I'm human, and sometimes it happens. But I definitely have friends where I have to be. I have to say. I can tell you're spiral ring, you're sending me all these texts. It's okay, right, I mean it's not okay, but let's were.
We have to deal with this and just breathe. So that is something that I think we do need to talk about. So yesterday I saw on a TikTok a woman named Jennifer Walters and her handle is it's Jennifer Walter, and I believe this is on threads, I guess on Instagram and again her handle is it's Jennifer Walter, and I think it's something that we really need to think about. So I want to read her thread right now go.
And I don't know.
Much about her other works, but she is a sociologist, so I think it says a lot.
But here's what she says. As a sociologist, I need to.
Tell you your overwhelm is the goal. The flood of two hundred plus executive orders in Trump's first day exemplifies Naomi Klein's shock doctrine, using chaos and crisis to push through radical changes while people are too disoriented to effectively resist. This isn't just politics as usual. It's a strategic exploitation of cognitive limits. Media theorist mcgluhahn predicted this. When humans face information overload, they become passive and disengaged. The rapid fire executive orders create a cognitive bottleneck, making it nearly in pops possible for citizens and media to thoroughly analyze any single policy. Agenda setting theory explains the strategy when multiple major policies compete for attention. Simultaneously, it fragments public discourse. Traditional media can't keep up with the pace, leading to superficial coverage. The result weaken democratic oversight and reduce public engagement. So that's something that I think we need to have that conversation. This is on purpose. They've been talking about doing this. Steve Bannon, one of his advisors from old has talked about the fact that this is what they were going to do.
This was the intent.
Project twenty twenty five kind of talks about that as well, and he doesn't care if it's going to work. The administration does not care. They want that shock to overwhelm the headlines, and that is what is happening. So every time you hear something with breaking news and there's a TikTok creator whom I don't quite trust, but he has a lot of information who comes out with breaking news and he probably posts. He's got to be exhausted, like ten times a day with different about what is happening within the US and specifically what is happening with this administration. And it's not because he's trying.
To overwhelm us. Maybe he is. I don't know.
I don't think he's he's I don't think he's an op as the gen Aziers would say, but maybe he is. I don't know, because he's giving good information and accurate information is just a lot and that is the point. So I think we have to have a conversation about what this is. With everything, we have to find a middle ground, and that is something that you know as a libra.
If I don't have that, I'm a fall asleep.
Because my narcolepsy is going to pop in and be like mop stress going to bed, you know. And it's easy to be overwhelmed. And as a normal citizen, you're not going to be able to fix the problem on your own or immediately. But as a citizen, we can make a difference. So both of those things. You're not the most important here and you're not the like key player, but you are a part of this puzzle. So these both of these middle lines. I feel like when we talk about the main character syndrome, this is what kind of happens like you feel like you have to do it immediately and if you don't, it's all your fault. So it's both overwhelming, guilt ridden and at the same time a little bit narcissistic.
It's all of these things. So she goes on.
Jennifer Walter goes on to talk about some solutions. She says, what now, So one set boundaries, pick two to three key issues you deeply care about, and focus your attention there. You can't track everything that's by design. Impact comes from sustained focus, not scattered awareness. So focus, use aggregators and experts. Find trusted analysts who do the heavy lifting of synthesis. Look for those explaining patterns, not just events. So again, we kind of gave you a list of people and a lot of people that you could look to to get for more information.
That was for a reason.
Remember, feeling overwhelmed is the point when you recognize this, you regain some power, take breaks.
Process. This is a marathon, and that's the beginning.
They're trying to get you to get tired out at the very beginning.
So you give up and you get numb to it.
Stop stop practice, going slow, Wait forty eight hours before reacting to new policies. So the way you're saying, let the dust settle. Yes, Yes, yes, the urgent clouds the important initial reporting often misses context. Yes, cute, build a community share the cognitive load. Different people attract different issues. Network intelligence beats individual overload. Again that you're part of the puzzle. You're not the main character here. Come together, you know's that whole common does something.
I'm just kidding. I'm just we're already on.
A list, right, and I feel like we're probably on a list already. Remember, they want you scattered. Your focus is resistance. Once again, this is just that immediate moment of conversation and understanding when you're feeling that scattered and overwhelmed.
We get there. We're all there.
We're all there, Like COVID is already kind of this up real good and that level of chaos, and so what we want to do is hide and seclude ourselves. This is not that point. This is not that point. You can take breaks, You need to take breaks. Let's add that into this. You're not going to solve every problem. We're not going to solve all the problems. You need to consider what is important at this point for you and focus on that. So I think that's really important. Like we talked about intersectionality, Yes, but there's a lot of us and we can all have segments of wow.
Yes, And I think Another important part of that is knowing when you are agreeing with someone or being kind of maybe performative, you're taking up space, So like, no, no, who should like if you're not the expert, If it's an issue you care about, but it's not one of your like three main issues, perhaps just know the difference between showing support and kind of taking up space.
Yes, a necessarily amount of space. Talking too much for no reason. You don't need to have, Like, you don't.
Need to have a hot take on everything. You don't.
I get it, I get hot takes. I got some take.
I'm just saying I get to I get to like the feeling. But it's especially if you haven't waited for the dust to settle just.
And I think that's the other conversation here is if you feel offended by your peers by something because they didn't take your recommendation or they don't think whatever you think is important it's important to them. Right now, you need to take a look at why you're doing this. That's a you problem. I'm gonna put that out there. I'm gonna call you in and tell you that's part of the problem. And that is what Annie was saying was performative if you are so like I have to be the center of this and you to you that might not be the thing because that's the main character syndrome. M. You just have to figure out what it is best for the collective. Yes, very apocalyptic, do it so again with all of that, take the time to work through your emotions. Yes, And I know you know what I will say, the marginalized community, women, people of color, they're the best at knowing bad like they understand that. So we know how to go through that because we've been told that we need to so that we're a pro with that at this point, right. Yeah, but make sure you're doing that in this moment. Make a plan and research your information, research your information, find the community that to plan those things out with, like, you need to have this community. And as a reminder, there was another TikTok that I really thought was good where they talked about the fact that it's a new form of propaganda they think, in which they don't give you all the information and then if the information is wrong, they come back and backtrack and be like, no, that's not what we said, that's what they misinterpreted us. This is what we're saying about keeping up to date and letting the dust settle. Both of those things are important because you don't know exactly what's happening now. What just happened with the federal funding freeze. That's one of the big conversations, Like what they try. They're trying to gaslight. Everybody's like, no, we didn't say that. I don't know who did that.
That was.
That was just back out. The government is trying to gaslight us at the thinking that we made that up.
Yep. You know where I saw this play out on next door of all places, huge fight broke out of people being like that's not what happened, and other people be like, yes it is. It's like whoa gosh.
Wow, wow exactly. The conversation is like wow.
But with all of that, I think we need to remember what this is about again. Like I said, this is partially me hashing it out in myself because I've been so overwhelmed and wanted to give up.
But we can't.
Yeah, and especially those who are not black women who again are like I'm we're done. We're gonna take a break rightly. So we have to have this conversation. We have to pick it back up. And when I say that about black women, they're not. They want to say that out loud, but they, as people who have been at the front of these fights, would like to say that, but we know they don't.
We wish they could take a break.
Yeah, and they're the unfortunately, the ones that understand the most about what is happening. And we're at the price the pay. So I know it's a lot. And thank you for hanging there with me and Annie. If you have thoughts about this, please send us messages. We love messages.
We do we do love messages and there's always resources. Any suggestions send them our way. You can email us at Hello at stuff Onever Told You dot com. You can find us on blue Sky at mom. Stuff podcast are on Instagram and TikTok at stuff One Never Told You from us on YouTube. We have a teep pepic store and we have a book you can get wherever you get your books. Thanks as always to our super produced Christina, our executive producer Maya, and our contributor Joey.
Thank you, Thanks to you.
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