The story of someone who suffered alone in secret for 8 years with a problem he was too afraid to Google -  and then he stumbled into a support group. In this episode, we dive into the emotional dynamics of support groups with Jason Yu. Why did support groups help him, when nothing else did?

From the episode: 

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Whoever wins the election, Americans will still want to rip each other's heads off. Social psychologist Jay Van Bavel helps us understand why we should care about polarization, how we got here, and what, if anything, we can do about it. 

From the episode: 

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We all know that moment - when you feel like you need to cry in front of other people, but don't want to cry. In this episode, Yowei talks to Heather Christle, the author of The Crying Book, to parse what’s happening in that moment, what tears are saying and how we should respond to them. 

From the episode:

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Finally, a campaign reveal. Did we get additional funding to hire Kim for more hours? Plus, some updates for what’s in store for Proxy. 

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The final installment of Yowei's quest to solve the mystery of proxy converations. In this episode, Yowei talks to a ritual expert and tries explaining what she's learned about proxy conversations to her mom. 

From the episode:

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Part 3 of Yowei's extremely meta quest to solve the mystery of proxy conversations. In this episode, Yowei learns about psychodrama, a psychotherapy that has similarities to proxy conversations and used to be a dominant modality in the U.S. and then died. Dr. Scott Giacomucci breaks down the mechanics of proxy conversations and tries his psychodrama techniques on Yowei. 

From the episode: 

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Part 2 of Yowei's quest to solve the mystery of proxy conversations. Why do they work?  How? Can Yowei figure out how to explain the show to people who don't get it?  In this episode, Yowei gets advice from actor, comedian, and proxy conversation expert Connor Ratliff. Over 20 years ago, Tom Hanks fired Connor from a small role in the HBO mini-series Band of Brothers - apparently for having "dead eyes." But is that really what happened? Connor made a podcast to investigate, and had 30 episodes worth of proxy conversations before talking to Tom Hanks himself. 

From the episode:

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Yowei has a problem. She's having trouble explaining the show to people who don't get it. She knows proxy conversations work. But why? How? Part 1 of a 4-part quest to solve the mystery of proxy conversations. Yowei learns about a proxy conversation happening in a completely different context: restorative justice with proxy survivors and offenders. 

From the episode:

Proxy is an independent podcast and we rely on listeners. To support emotional investigative journalism™️ and help the show keep going, consider joining our Patreon. You’ll get ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus interviews.

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Teaser for full-length exclusive bonus episode on Patreon. An in-depth interview with UMass Amherst sociologist and professor Ofer Sharone about the stigma trap that laid off workers can fall into and how the myth of meritocracy impacts even people who don't think they believe in it. For the full bonus episode, go to patreon.com/proxypodcast.

From the episode:

Proxy is an independent podcast and we rely on listeners. To support emotional investigative journalism™️ and help the show keep going, consider joining our Patreon. You’ll get ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus interviews.

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Follow us on Instagram: @proxypodcast @yoweishaw

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With every layoff, there's the blackbox of what's really going on behind the scenes. Why did it go down the way it did? Was it really not about your performance, like they told you? How does the layoff list get made anyway? In our inaugural proxy conversation, we connect Miles and Elliot with a proxy HR professional to answer their layoff questions.

From the episode:

Proxy is an independent podcast and we rely on listeners. To support emotional investigative journalism™️ and help the show keep going, consider joining our Patreon. You’ll get ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus interviews.

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Follow us on Instagram: @proxypodcast @yoweishaw

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