Have you wondered how 5G conspiracies developed or what makes some people more vulnerable to conspiracy theories? 

Today Jessica talks with Dr. Eoin Flaherty, assistant professor at Maynooth University to find the  answers to these questions and many others. The two talk about conspiracism and the post-truth era in which we’re living. 

Dr. Flaherty explains 5G and why some people believe it’s dangerous. The two talk about Wi-Fi and 5G-free chicken, RFK Jr., how conspiracies generate and spread and Jessica asks him if she could be the next one to spread a theory of her own. 

Jessica came to his work via the article “The conspiracy of Covid-19 and 5G: Spatial analysis fallacies in the age of data democratization”, which he co-authored.

NBC: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. falsely claims measles vaccine protection 'wanes very quickly'

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Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Re-release Making America Healthy Again Part 2! Original air date: 10/31/24.

Jessica talks with three guests for their reflections on her interview with Jeff Hutt, spokesperson for the Make America Healthy Again PAC and shares email feedback from a listener and her 18 year old daughter.

Medical sociologist Dr. Natalie Ingraham joins the show to talk about the people part of MAHA and the concept of “again.” Jessica discusses the interviews of Calley Means and Charlie Kirk that she dove into. Natalie talks about the regulations of the 80s versus 90s and has some solutions we could try if we’re interested in future changes.

Jessica then talks to Kent Thomas about the men of it all in the MAHA conversation, and he asks Jessica why she’s looking into MAHA in the first place.

Lastly Jessica brings you a conversation with her dad about his reflections of the episode. That chat was wide ranging and opened up many future podcast episodes. 

Video of Charlie Kirk in the episode

TIME article referenced

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Jessica's book: ⁠It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies⁠

Great British Bake-Off alum Mike Wilkins joins the show to talk about farming and queerness in the UK! He is a fourth -generation farmer, working alongside his family on their farm, Nolands. He has a weekly Instagram series about what he’s been up to on the farm and it’s an absolute joy to watch. In this episode Jessica and Mike chat about the intersections among farming, queerness and mental health. A note that this episode talks about farmers’ contemplating ending their own lives to save their farms.

Mike is an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community within farming, and was an ambassador for the National Farmers Union in 2022. Mike and Jessica also talk about the farm inheritance tax in the UK.

Mike competed in the 15th season of The Great British Bake-Off, and having done so will now be making his own wedding cake. Mike’s baking style is both homely and wholesome. He likes making big, hearty bakes using high-quality local ingredients that can satisfy lots of people at parties and gatherings. He especially loves using seasonal fruits and edible flowers from his garden and farm.

Mike also answers Jessica’s burning question: Is Alison Hammond as delightful as she seems? 

Nolands livestock

Nolands arable

Shop Nolands

Alison Hammond’s book

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How to support this podcast? Follow/subscribe, rate and review and share with a friend!You can buy Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Soda taxes take 2. Jesica is joined by Raeann Bowlds, MPH and Blake Flaugher, MPH to discuss Dr. Kelly Brownell’s claims that crack, soda, Cheetos, and baby formula do the same things in our brains and our bodies. The three talk about tobacco and soda taxes to see if the two are the same, and what Berkeley CA has done (or hasn’t done) with its soda tax revenue. Jessica asked Blake and Raeann to teach her about public health because she couldn’t understand it if the steps to make healthy food a human right were addressing predatory marketing and adding labels to food. The three enjoy a conversation over adult beverages, with which they can live in harmony.

Berkeley Commission

$929,000 spent by Berkeley for it’s soda tax campaign

Dr. Kelly Brownell

Philadelphia soda taxes

Seattle soda taxes

Places with soda taxes

Sugar taxes reduce consumption

You can buy awkward merch!

You can become a Patreon member!

You can contact the show at [email protected]

You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod

Follow Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson

How to support this podcast? Follow/subscribe, rate and review and share with a friend!

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jessica-wilson-ms-rd/its-always-been-ours/9780306827693/

Jessica Wilson is joined by medical historian Dr. Bethany Johnson of University of South Carolina* to talk everything measles: their history, what we should know, what won’t treat them, and what happens after someone has them. Bethany gets deep into the medical history of measles and mumps outbreaks and the two talk about RFK’s claim that everyone got measles when he was a kid and it all worked out fine. Bethany also deconstructs RFK’s cocktail for treating the Texas outbreak. She invites RFK to put his immunity where his mouth is and will definitely be back on the show to talk more about medical history. 

*Jessica said University of Southern California even though she read Bethany's bio word for word and listened to the intro like 5 times. Sorry Bethany!

Dr. Robert Lustig episode about eugenics

Bethany’s book!

Links from Bethany: 

Building the Worlds that Kill Us, by David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz

Marketplace of the Marvelous, Erika Janik

Pale Rider by Laura Spinney

Good follows:

@sciencewhizliz [Who she mentioned]

@laurel_bristow 

@raventhesciencemaven [A scientist who also had long COVID]

@epidemiologistkat

@unbiascedsciencepod 

A quick look at the history of measles vaccine policy 

Also, here's a great infographic series from @unbiascedsciencepod about how contracting measles is not, in fact, a good thing 

You can buy awkward merch!

You can join the Patreon!

You can contact the show at [email protected]

Follow Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson

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How to support this podcast? Follow/subscribe, rate and review! Jessica’s dad will read reviews and comments on the air!

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Jessica Wilson, MS RD is joined by Dr. Kelly Brownell, Director Emeritus of the World Food Policy Center at Duke University. The two talk about soda taxes, food systems, policy, and marketing. Jessica asks Dr. Brownell about the Duke World Food Policy Center’s Identifying and Countering White Supremacy Culture in Food Systems report. And to wrap up, Dr. Brownell shares how he thinks we achieve healthy food as a human right. 

The show wants your feedback on this episode for Part 2! You can contact the show at [email protected]

ShopRite in Philadelphia 

Berkeley soda taxes

Taxes in other countries

World Food Policy Center’s info on soda taxes

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Follow Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson

You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod

How to support this podcast? Follow/subscribe, rate and review! Jessica’s dad will read reviews and comments on the show!

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Jessica Wilson is joined by author Tessa Rapaczynski for the next episode in the re-grifting series. Tessa's article for Medium titled “The Long Con and dirty dong of Andrew Huberman, PhD” immediately caught my eye. Today’s episode is their conversation about the evolution of Huberman and his path from nerdy professor who didn’t leave his lab to podcast bro with 7.3 million followers and multiple identities. 

The two discuss Tessa’s initial connection to Huberman and his work and the evolution of Wellness spaces to use words like “optimization.”

The two also reference the Mar. 25, 2024,New Yorker article by Kerry Howley titled: “Andrew Huberman’s Mechanisms of Control; The private and public seductions of the world’s biggest pop neuroscientist.”

Links mentioned: 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DFVtQ3MSVgn/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGoFgqCPr85/?hl=en

McGill article

You can buy awkward merch!

You can contact the show at [email protected]

Follow dietitian Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson

You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod

How to support this podcast? Follow/subscribe, rate and review! Jessica’s dad will read reviews and comments on the air!

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Eating disorder awareness week is this week and it falls during Black History Month. Tigress Osborn, Dr. Whitney Trotter, Angela Goens and Elizabeth Ayiku return to the pod to talk about these intersections and Elizabeth's film Me Little Me. Elizabeth first talked about the film on the pod 11/7/24.

They chat about their thoughts on the film, how it's been received at festivals and by the eating disorder field at large. They end by discussing how folks can support this important film!

You can buy awkward merch!

You can contact the show at [email protected]

Follow dietitian Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson

You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod

How to support this podcast? Follow/subscribe, rate and review! Jessica’s dad will read reviews and comments on the air!

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

Skittle-fed beef? Jessica joined recent guests Dr. Sarah Dougherty and Mackenzie Behrle at Harmon and Son Beef in Grants Pass, OR for a farm tour and chat with recent guest Trampus Harmon. Jessica went to the farmers market there and got to talk to folks about raw milk, RFK Jr and vaccines in a red county. She shares those conversations today. 

Then the four of them gathered in Trampus’s living room for a wide ranging conversation that includes skittle-fed cows, this administration’s impact on farming and the safety of the food supply. 

You heard from Corban at Nuna Farms in this episode

Natalie kicks off the episode with a voice memo. 

Skittle-fed cows⁠?!

Fox News story

You can buy awkward merch!

You can contact the show at [email protected]

Follow dietitian Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson

You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod

How to support this podcast? Follow/subscribe, rate and review! Jessica’s dad will read reviews and comments on the air!

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies

This week registered dietitian Jessica Wilson chats with agricultural teacher, Mackenzie Berhle, about farm subsidies and cheese caves. Mackenzie talks about agricultural check off programs, and the dairy buyout (or buy back) program. They discuss got milk? and milk in school lunches.

The two get into Big Cheese, and cheese caves and Jessica is very confused about where and to whom the money, milk and cheese flow.

Also, Mackenzie shares her experience checking out farming in caves and her incredibly expensive cheese.

Links:

Check off programs

Dairy Management Inc. (DMI)

Government cheese

Cheese caves

McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and Wendy’s to develop cheesier products

You can buy awkward merch!

You can contact the show at [email protected]

Follow Dietitian, Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd

You can watch this episode on Spotify and at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod

How to support this podcast? Follow/subscribe, rate and review! Jessica’s dad will read reviews and comments on the air!

Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies