This week, Anna and Bonnie try to wrap their brains around the story of Phineas Gage, a construction foreman whose custom tamping rod took a little trip through his frontal lobe. The gals discuss how in the world Phineas was able to survive such a thing, how the accident affected who he was, and how this case has affected what we know about the brain even today. They also try to figure out what exactly made the tamping rod custom. Did he shoot pool with it? Did he use it to fend off wild dogs on his walks home? Only Phineas himself knows (unless the part that held that knowledge got skewered).

The girls are going for gold this week to talk about resilience, especially inspired by the 2020 Olympics and some mental health controversy. Anna uses her vast sports knowledge to talk about Simone Biles, specifically how awesome it is that she can do all those flips while she’s got balls of steel, and meanwhile, Bonnie has made good on her promise (threat?) to implement sound effects as she talks about the three types, five pillars, and seven C’s of resilience.

“It’s all in your head.” “Time heals all wounds.” “Have you tried yoga?” This week, Anna and Bonnie are chatting about some frequently used sayings and platitudes that get thrown around about mental health, and how these can be more hurtful than helpful. To go along with this, they chat about the general power of words and how we talk to ourselves. Also, Bonnie spends a lot of time brainstorming sound effects as part of her master plan to implement foley work into the ‘cast, so stay tuned for that!

Anna and Bonnie are chatting this week about how brains may differ depending on gender — or more accurately, how they don’t differ much at all, according to newer research. Naturally, this includes heavy disclaimers for gender binary stuff, and how the history of this research is rooted in some pretty gnarly sexism. They talk about some of the more well-known works on the subject, like the work of Gina Rippon and the many books in the “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” series.

This week, Anna and Bonnie are talking about Robert Hare and the test he made to assess whether someone is a psychopath! They chat about what words like psychopath and sociopath mean, how they relate to antisocial personality disorder, and they even go over Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist, which you should NOT do at home, exactly like the girls do in this very episode! Is Anna a psychopath? Listen to find out!

WARNING: There's another echo in this episode, despite Anna’s best efforts! Oh, wait, that's the wrong warning. WARNING: SEX! Because this week, the gals are talking about fetishes, kinks, and paraphilias. Armed with an appropriately themed shot and several lists of kinks, Anna and Bonnie go from mild to wild as they talk about sexy times. This one is obviously more NSFW than usual!

Trying to stay one step ahead of the Podcast Police, Anna and Bonnie are talking this week about hoarding, the disorder that causes people to accumulate things to excess. They chat about how this might look, how closely this is related to anxiety and trauma, the levels of hoarding (WARNING: gross!), and the kind of treatments that could be beneficial. They also try SO hard to be funny, if only to exceed Bonnie’s expectations.

Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Social media sites are an almost unavoidable part of life, but how do they affect our mental health? Anna and Bonnie dive in and discuss how using social media can actually make us feel less connected to others, and how it can affect how we see ourselves as well. Oh, and remember to like, comment, and subscribe to give us that sweet, sweet dopamine!

Is the news BAD? Well yes, lately, generally, but does it try to be even WORSE? Anna and Bonnie investigate! They follow a hot scoop about negativity bias in news, including unpacking stuff such as emotionally loaded language and even subliminal messaging. They chat about how the presentation of news can really affect your mental health, and even what you can do to watch out for it!

Anna has finally convinced her mother to talk about marijuana in front of microphones! They chat about what marijuana actually is, the history of the plant, its effect on our brains and bodies, and even some fun names for marijuana (AKA ganja AKA grass AKA the devil’s lettuce). And of course, they also talk about the goods and the bads of substance use, including legality issues as well as the effects on a person’s mental health.