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PODCAST

The Brain Candy Podcast

Susie Meister PhD & Sarah Rice AMFT

Laugh and learn with Susie Meister PhD & Sarah Rice MFT from MTV"s The Challenge as they cover psychology, pop culture, human interest, and science, and make everything from The Kardashians to quantum physics accessible to all.

society & culture

All Episodes

01:00:13

871: Population Growth, Communal Living, & Vanity...

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/12/09

Therapist, psychic, what's the difference? That's what we're asking about Sarah's intuition, perception, and ability to read people, and it runs in the family. A political activist/novelist in Japan thinks the answer to Japan's population growth problem involves sterilizing women. Seems like this wouldn't solve the problem, but we do have some alternative suggestions. Sarah is really into the idea of communal living and wonders why communes have such a bad reputation when they might be the solution

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01:07:13

870: The Cowardly Lion, High Fives, & Photo Finish

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/12/05

Sarah is crushing it and we celebrate what a difference a year can make. We hear why she insisted on naming all of her cats "Sam" sort of like George Foreman naming all of his kids George. We learn how the originator of the high five was discriminated against and ended up losing his job for being gay. Susie describes the Olympic moment when Greg Louganis hit his head on the diving board and how it forced him to make the ethical decision on whether to disclose his HIV+ diagnosis. We discuss an

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01:04:54

869: Hologram Love, Big Donor Show, & Grandmother Grief

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/12/02

Sarah is thinking of going on the dating apps, and we are psyched! But we hope she doesn't end up married to a hologram like some "performance artist" that we hate. We talk about a reality show from the aughts that had people competing for a donated kidney from a terminally ill woman that turned out to be a hoax and was meant to raise awareness about organ donation. We learn about a man who loved a bakery only to find out later that the owner was his biological mom. We discuss a New York Times

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01:05:18

868: Ali vs Tyson, Stanford Prison Experiment, &...

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/11/28

Sarah's a happy bunny, and it's a long time coming. We discuss the Mike Tyson v. Jake Paul fight, whether it was fixed, and why the slap should've tipped us off. Susie explains how his lisp, his love of pigeons, and the death of his daughter made people see him differently. We hear how the Muhammad Ali documentary showed how learning to withstand suffering can be the sign of a champion. We hear about the Stanford Prison Experiment documentary showed how this famous psychology research was flawed,

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01:07:15

867: Gopher Miracle, Appalachian Sprint, & Cheesy Health

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/11/25

Sarah is navigating the wild world of homeownership and it's a jungle. We are heartned to hear cheese helps the medicine (alcohol) go down, and think we must be the healthiest women alive. We learn about a child influencer who recently came of age and because she has been exposed to online predators etc for so long she sees OnlyFans as her future. We discuss a phone that was installed on a bridge to help people in distress. We talk about a woman who beat the record for fastest hike of the

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01:04:34

866: Disney Disabilities, Dating Cliches, &...

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/11/21

Sarah's got a Pow Report, and she is as happy as a clam. Susie wants her to start a menopausal snowboarding group. We'll see. Susie talks about Mary McGee, who was the first motorcycle racing woman and the first PERSON to race the Baha 500 solo, and how she was a trailblazer without even really trying. And how her flippant attitude about a tragedy seemed well-adjusted rather than detached, and we analyze how that could be. We debate whether the Menendez brothers deserve to be resentenced, and the

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01:04:22

865: Real World Reunion, Wet Dog Shake, & Monkeys on...

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/11/18

Sarah returned to her Real World house and wasn't prepared for how emotional it would make her, and now she's considering why the experience brought out so many feelings. We talk about "wet dog shake," what causes it, and why some mammals have that response to certain stimuli, while others, like cats and mice, don't. We learn about dozens of monkeys who escaped from a research lab, and debate whether we're on team monkeys or team science. Either way, those monkeys are clever and free. We discuss a

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01:14:10

864: Alien Abduction, Surgery Scandal, & Strongest...

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/11/14

Sarah and Susie are fresh off their New York adventure, and they spent one night in their hotel room getting spooked by the Manhattan Alien Abduction documentary. Hear why we are kind of convinced that a woman was abducted, and feel bad that people question it. Susie met a man who gave himself a vasectomy (don't worry, he's a urology surgeon), and got the scoop on whether it really is as bad as men claim it is. We learn about a Strongman champion who recently died, and how he was a successful bird

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01:03:31

863: Bagel Ambassador, Weiner Business, & Bulky Bacteria

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/11/11

Sarah is falling in love with bacteria now that she knows they are excited for pow season too, and they get ready by packing on the pounds. We learn how Parkland survivors were given a special legal authority over the rights and licenses associated with the person who attacked them, and why more of these arrangements are ahead for survivors at long last. We talk about a study that said longevity can be increased by adding just a few minutes of movement to your day, but Susie thinks they're being a

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01:04:53

862: Good Vibrations, Uncrustables, & Bad Cheer

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/11/07

Susie is over the moon after having met her lifelong inspiration and hero, musical genius Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. She can't even articulate how amazing it was, but if you ever get the chance to meet your hero, DO IT! We discuss the Martha Stewart documentary, which is amazing, and how her complicated psyche and quirky personality make for fascinating psychological viewing. We talk about the Join or Die documentary that explores why civic associations are so important and why we must get

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01:06:04

861: Mormon Magic, Self-Awareness, & Snack Pockets

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/11/04

Ever think you could identify a person's religion from just looking at them? Well, apparently people can identify Mormons and we want to know what it is that makes that possible. We hear about a movement in Netherlands to turn concrete into gardens. We learn about a study on self-awareness that showed how most people are clueless about how people see them, and we learn tips on how to fix it in ourselves. We hear about Prada's new spacesuits for astronauts and Susie is jealous and Sarah has some

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01:11:30

860: Dream On, Organ Donation Hell, & Robot Dating

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/10/31

Sarah is grappling with her diminished enthusiasm for sPoOoOoOoky season and the reason she's less into it these days. We hear about the women's basketball Olympic team from 1996, and how they ushered in the creation of the WNBA, and the tragedy that befell one of the gold medalists. We discuss the British game of Conker and the championship scandal that is cracking us up (pun intended). And Sarah's got a theory about what really happened... We learn about a horrific organ donation story that will

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01:01:13

859: Cemetery Shenanigans, Elephant Evolution, &...

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/10/28

Sarah was feeling left out of the crazy spider bite conversation. She got one of her own, so she and Susie can be Spider Bite Besties. We hear about Sarah’s recent obsession with Love Is Blind: Habibi, and why it's so much better than the American version. We learn why elephants are evolving at a faster rate to cope with humans hunting their tusks, and Susie thinks it’s a real win for the species. A man was fined for being too spooky in a cemetery, but we’ve got some questions before we pass

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01:04:49

858: Darwin Awards, Daydream Believer, & Antarctica Mail

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/10/24

Susie brings a few nominees to the Darwin Awards--one is a snake influencer (?) who said anit-venom was for p*ssies who then, of course, was bit by his pet viper and the other was a man who was observing a friend drink an assisted suicide drug cocktail and then decided to take a sip for himself. We learn about a man who circumnavigated the globe on foot instead of getting a divorce and the unbelievable events that he went through for this dubious distinction. We hear about a daydreaming contest that

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01:04:13

857: Butterfingers, Extra Sensory Perception, & Fake...

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/10/21

Sarah might be changing her mind about the "fun size" chocolate candy bars. We find out what you can get from coining a slogan like "Nobody lay a finger on my Butterfinger." We learn whether you can sense that somebody is staring at you and we consider why we think we're exceptions to the rule. We learn why "superhero" is a special word and why we all are superheroes in some way. Plus a woman mistook an everyday item for an animal and even took the item to a veterinarian to make sure it was ok. Adam

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01:08:02

856: Foot Fetish, Price is Right, & Jailbreak

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/10/17

Susie is talking about one of her favorite subjects: the foot fetish. We learn what can trigger the fetish, what the fetishists look for in a foot, and whether Susie or Sarah has more desirable feet among the community. We hear about the toxic culture of sexual harassment, racial discrimination, and bullying on The Price is Right, and why Barker's Beauties felt trapped. We discuss a medical parts company who helped a paralyzed man walk for ten years, but refused to repair his device and prevented

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01:10:11

855: Mr. McMahon's WWE, NSFW Comments, & Harper & Will

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/10/14

Sarah is obsessing over Fall fashion and not just the goth stuff; tweed and tartan too! We discuss the Mr. McMahon documentary about WWE founder Vince McMahon, the history of wrestling, and the fallout from his many lawsuits alleging sexual harassment, assault, and more. We detail how professional wrestling has many of the same elements and problems as reality tv (especially the Challenge) including the blurred line between real and fake and how everyone contains multitudes, which is why we were

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01:07:02

854: Performance Art, Counting Rice, & Cargo Cults

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/10/10

There was another pop-up scam that rocked the fans of Bridgerton when they showed up for what they thought was a Victorian-era dance, but got flourescent lighting, an exotic dancer, and absolutely nothing Victorian. These are a treat. Sarah demoans a marble art installation that was smashed to bits by a "performance artist" for the hell of it and ancient sketches in the dessert were destroyed by off-roaders. People are the worst. But we learn about an art concept that involves counting rice that

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01:04:44

853: Stolen Gold, Science Bodies, & The Contestant

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/10/07

Fall is in the air, so our resident witch is getting her caldron out and preparing for snowboarding season. Sarah is willing to sacrifice a literal finger if that means not missing another powder season. (She's unwell.) Susie tells us about a 30 for 30 called Stolen Gold about an intellectually disabled paralympic basketball team that won the gold by having almost the entire team fake the disability. We learn how it affected the lives of the people who won fair and square. We discuss the

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01:00:51

852: Bionic Bodies, Office Ladies, & Musk Against...

The Brain Candy Podcast ·

2024/10/03

Sarah is living out her Bob's Burgers fantasies. Susie's still trying to do a pull-up, but we found research that shows she might never meet her goal! We debate whether kids should have their phones in school, and our opinions will probably surprise you. We learn why people who use prosthetics are frustrated with the way companies make their products and how it affects their autonomy. Sarah describes a trend on TikTok where people are exoticizing and romanticizing office jobs, and she says she

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953 results

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