Have you ever been enormously relieved that nothing happened? This week, SM attends a dinner party -- that includes an unwanted visitor -- causing SM to wonder: What does our Relief tell us about what we’ve just been through?

Join SM on a trip across the pond to attend a football match. He encounters an Enemy from the Enemy Spotting Guide -- our old friend, the Limelighter! This provides an introduction to two new words coined right here by SM for the show!

The first? It's "vergehush." Vergehush describes the quiet state of tense, protective apprehension when another person’s escalating, unpredictable behavior may cause harm -- accompanied by uncertainty about whether intervening would prevent that harm or provoke it.

Then, Letters to SM answers a question from C.M., who is in a similar situation with his friend, A.R. His antics at the bar, as well as his weak excuses after the fact, reveal him to be a Wilter, the Mind Menagerie's Lamb of Appeal to Pity.

Going out with his buddy A.R. on Saturday night puts C.M. into "brinkvigil." Brinkvigil is the sustained watch kept over another person’s potentially harmful loss of control, while remaining prepared to respond -- and simultaneously judging whether to intervene, wait, seek help, or withdraw.

Vergehush names the feeling. Brinkvigil names the watch you keep. We've all been there. Now we have terminology to describe it! Let's all adopt this into our everyday vocabulary! We're talking to you, psychology researchers...

Subscribe at the "Certified Liver" tier of membership on Patreon to access the NEW Mind Menagerie and Enemy Spotting Guide as downloadable pdfs!

Links to all the platforms that host the podcast, as well as the Living a Liver's Life merchandise store, are on our website and our Linktree.

Until the next episode...Get out there Liver! Get out there and Live a Liver's Life!

SM passes by a refrigerator on the curb and asks: "Why has preserving the usefulness of something become harder than purchasing its replacement?" That's right--our topic this week is Disposability!

Join SM on an epic quest to repair his warrantied water heater...you won't believe how difficult it is, or the complex network of competing forces involved. It sounds like the work of two Enemies. First, the Optimizer Robot!

This particular model specializes in maximizing profit above all else. SM discovers the origin of planned obsolescence--and it goes back much further than you might think!

All set to buy a new mobile phone? Because you want one that folds three ways...or because your old phone has developed...some problems? Yes friends, Disposability has also infected our electronic devices, and you can guess who's pulling the strings on that arrangement. Yes, its another visit from our digital Oligarch, the TechnoSoverign!

Letters to SM focuses on the fine line between maintaining a supply of spare parts and becoming the Damkeeper Beaver of the Sunk Cost Fallacy. In the end, Disposability may be inevitable, but a Liver always has the freedom to choose!

Subscribe at the "Certified Liver" tier of membership on Patreon to access the NEW Mind Menagerie and Enemy Spotting Guide as downloadable pdfs!

Links to all the platforms that host the podcast, as well as the Living a Liver's Life merchandise store, are on our website and our Linktree.

Until the next episode...Get out there Liver! Get out there and Live a Liver's Life!

Why do we keep obeying beliefs we insist we don't really believe? Join SM for an explanation of the little habits and rituals that represent our Superstitions -- and learn how they can have a dark effect on our lives.

First, SM recounts a story about performing live, onstage radio dramas in England -- and how a single penny can have more value than its component metals. This leads to an encounter with a NEW creature from the revised Living a Liver's Life Mind Menagerie: the Linker Parrot of False Causality!

Next, it's Letters to SM, where T.L. writes in with a question about advanced soccer training -- and asks whether she might be a cheapskate parent. This leads to an exposé of the second new Menagerie creature: the Joiner!

Our Sardine of Social Proof and the Bandwagon Effect! Magical thinking and imagined alternate realities affect our happiness when we look back at our choices -- SM discusses how to avoid that!

In the end, Superstition is one of those things we inherited from our ancestors that we probably don't want. Handle those instincts like a Liver!

Subscribe at the "Certified Liver" tier of membership on Patreon to access the NEW Mind Menagerie and Enemy Spotting Guide as downloadable pdfs!

Links to all the platforms that host the podcast, as well as the Living a Liver's Life merchandise store, are on our website and our Linktree.

Until the next episode...Get out there Liver! Get out there and Live a Liver's Life!

Human beings have come to Agreements for as long as we have been humans. The way we document these agreements has changed, but have we taken it too far?

SM relates two personal stories about Agreement and explores the four different levels of this deeply human act -- Agreement, Assent, Acquiescence, and Submission. The binary choices our modern technology employs to gain our consent tie directly to a bold Mind Menagerie creature -- the Split-Horn!

Our Ram of False Dichotomy. Only now it represents the way Choice Architecture presents us with two distinct buttons -- that aren't really choices at all!

In this week's Letters to S.M., a listener describes a store clerk who manifests three different Robot models in one encounter. If you guessed Policy Drone, Script Reader, and Compliance Bot -- you're three for three!

Subscribe at the "Certified Liver" tier of membership on Patreon to access the entire Mind Menagerie and Enemy Spotting Guide as downloadable pdfs!

Links to all the platforms that host the podcast, as well as the Living a Liver's Life merchandise store, are on our website and our Linktree.

Until the next episode...Get out there Liver! Get out there and Live a Liver's Life!

Is there a difference between Certainty and Certitude? Have you ever projected certainty? Answer these questions and more in this week's episode!

SM uses an old film projector as an analogy for projected certainty. When the world has slowed down, we can closely examine each frame of the film on the reel. But when the world turns...at 1000 miles an hour...or 30 frames per second? That's a different story.

Join SM in the shower -- figuratively -- as he discusses "shower ideas."

In this week's Letters to S.M., two listeners share individual stories about two very different bosses.

Plus three levels of management, from a small program...to a Cabinet Secretary...to the Oval Office itself? Three Mind Menagerie creatures in one segment -- the Boaster, the Towerback, and the Buryer? What more could you ask for!?!

In the beginning, you'll ask que sais-je -- "What do I know?"

By the end, you'll have your answer!

Subscribe at the "Certified Liver" tier of membership on Patreon to access the entire Mind Menagerie and Enemy Spotting Guide as downloadable pdfs!

Links to all the platforms that host the podcast, as well as the Living a Liver's Life merchandise store, are on our website and our Linktree.

Until the next episode...Get out there Liver! Get out there and Live a Liver's Life!

SM posits a bold hypothesis -- that a Liver can't be bored. Diving deeply into the world of psychology and personal experience, SM arrives at an interesting conclusion that may just change the way you look at your experience of Boredom!

First, SM takes a trip to the South Pacific and spends a week on a naval base. What he learns there is revealing -- and helps define what it means to live a Liver's life!

Then, we explore a forgotten Mind Menagerie creature -- the Magpie!

The Collector representing our Availability Heuristic! He disregards everything except for what is bright, shiny, or new. Like the constant alerts on our phones!

Then SM discusses groups chats and the social pressure to conform to collective opinions -- called belonging surveillance -- in this week's Letters to SM! This strange, artificial interaction between friends relies on both the Trend Follower Robot and the Bundler:

The Peacock representing the Package Deal Fallacy. The entire show reveals that these two creatures represent parallel failures of internal initiation.

Subscribe at the "Certified Liver" tier of membership on Patreon to access the entire Mind Menagerie and Enemy Spotting Guide as downloadable pdfs!

Links to all the platforms that host the podcast, as well as the Living a Liver's Life merchandise store, are on our website and our Linktree.

Until the next episode...Get out there Liver! Get out there and Live a Liver's Life!

What does it mean to have energy? More importantly, how do we lose energy...and where does it go? This week, SM explores the concept of Enervation!

First, Join SM as he takes us through the history of this often-forgotten word. Then, he explores the workplace -- and shares an encounter with a new Vampire from the Enemy Spotting Guide! This week, the Vampire is one that has hit the mainstream -- The Energy Vampire!

A discussion of the different human capacities follows, as well as the ancient concept of reciprocity. SM gives us questions to ask ourselves to determine whether we're in a one-sided relationship.

Then, in a touching Letters to SM, we hear from a listener --K.R.-- who could quite possibly be married to the Vampire of the week -- though only she will be able to tell us!

In the end, we learn that Energy Vampires experience interactions as connection, while we just feel the drain. This knowledge can help us drag these Vampires into the light!

Subscribe at the "Certified Liver" tier of membership on Patreon to access the entire Mind Menagerie and Enemy Spotting Guide as downloadable pdfs!

Links to all the platforms that host the podcast, as well as the Living a Liver's Life merchandise store, are on our website.

Until the next episode...Get out there Liver! Get out there and Live a Liver's Life!

How does the placement of our Loyalty affect our ability to live a Liver's life? Join SM for a deep exploration of the human concept of Loyalty!

First, Join SM on a journey to historic Geneva -- where he encounters a Robot from the Enemy Spotting Guide! This week, it's our old friend the Corporate Loyalist!

Then, a new submission from the mailbag -- Letters to SM! -- describes challenges faced in a different kind of workplace. SP's letter reveals two Mind Menagerie creatures. First...the Sweller!

The Balloon Frog representing the Straw Man Fallacy. Its partner quickly joins the story, working deep in the minds of us all. It's the Affirmer!

The Mimic Octopus representing Confirmation Bias! See how these two creatures work together to support the Corporate Loyalist. As a trio, they assure that the larger an organization grows, the further it will drift from its original mission.

Subscribe at the "Certified Liver" tier of membership on Patreon to access the entire Mind Menagerie and Enemy Spotting Guide as downloadable pdfs!

Links to all the platforms that host the podcast, as well as the Living a Liver's Life merchandise store, are on our website.

Until the next episode...Get out there Liver! Get out there and Live a Liver's Life!

SM dives deep into the Enemy Spotting Guide to expose a particular Oligarch who seeks not wealth, but Admiration. They haunt charity galas, fundraiser red carpets, and late night TV commercials. This week's Enemy? It's a new one -- the Philanthro-crat!

SM draws a connection between displays of philanthropy and the quest for legitimacy. After sharing a story about a billionaire in Rio, SM digs more Letters to SM! out of the mail bag.

This week? It's a question about how to stop analyzing bad commercials. SM's advice -- analyze them more, of course...and have fun with it!

Ever wonder why companies seek out celebrities for their advertisements instead of experts? Or slap their names on stadiums? The answers may surprise and shock you. Frustrated by utility companies? So is SM! By the end of the show, you'll never spend your Admiration the same way again!

Subscribe at the "Certified Liver" tier of membership on Patreon to access the entire Mind Menagerie and Enemy Spotting Guide as downloadable pdfs! Links to all the platforms that host the podcast, as well as the Living a Liver's Life merchandise store, are on our website. Submit your own "Letters to SM" by emailing SM directly -- [email protected].

Until the next episode...Get out there Liver! Get out there and Live a Liver's Life!

SM dives into both the Enemy Spotting Guide and Mind Menagerie to explore our concept of Obligation, drawing a distinction between Rightful Obligations and Orphaned Obligations. This week's Enemy? It's a new one -- the Martyr Vampire!

SM relates several personal stories about a place he used to work -- and some of the Spotting Guide and Mind Menagerie denizens who still haunt the place. Then, in the Letters to SM! segment, a listener shares a similar story about a terrible supervisor.

It's back! It's The Matcher, the Chameleon representing False Equivalence! That habit rewards unproductive workers and punishes productive ones. Find out how this creature developed in our ancestors and still influences us today.

Subscribe at the "Certified Liver" tier of membership on Patreon to access the entire Mind Menagerie and Enemy Spotting Guide as downloadable pdfs!

Links to all the platforms that host the podcast, as well as the Living a Liver's Life merchandise store, are on our website.

Until the next episode...Get out there Liver! Get out there and Live a Liver's Life!