Usually I arrive at an episode with a decidedly contrarian take on the news at hand. I like finding the flaw or the fake within the news, the sleight of hand that is occurring, or the manipulation with how it is being presented that, if exposed, alters the story being told. I also enjoy highlighting the grander strategies in play. To some degree and in my own way, I do both of those things in this episode.

But I am arriving at the microphone for this episode with much less of a contrarian disposition than is my norm. That is because I can relate to the major economic news of today and the last several days. Or rather, I relate to how others are relating to the economic news of recent days. My confidence in the Trump administration and its economic strategies aside— I get it. I identify with the stress, with the reactions, and with the panic.

I relate to the catastrophizing because catastrophic thinking, well, I do that a lot. I'm okay, but defeating the vicious, negative thought loops, especially once they get an entropy to them, and escaping the distortions they imbue is exhausting.

All across the recent news cycles, negative thought loops are being sown, leading people to be captured by both the negative narratives coming at them and their own catastrophizing based on those narratives.

So with all that in mind, I approach this episode not so much with an aim to contradict the narratives themselves but instead to adjust your perspective on them through reorientation and with clarity from where you are, not from where the negative narrative originates.

That’s the first half of the episode.

In the second half… Well, you’ll have to listen/watch to find out.

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