What’s it like living underground? How did he get out?

Paul Vautrinot shares his story of living in the Las Vegas tunnels, or as he states it, beneath the neon. He shares what life in the Vegas underground city was like with the tunnel people, how he left, got sober & became a co-founder of Shine a Light Foundation. He shares the organization’s unique approach to ending homelessness & how they are by-passing wait lists.

This episode originally aired June 6, 2022

If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 248: SURVIVING THE TROUBLED TEEN INDUSTRY: SEPARATING IDENTITY FROM EXPERIENCE [REMASTERED]

Guest:

https://www.shinealightlv.com/

https://www.facebook.com/shinealightLV

https://www.instagram.com/shine_a_lightlv/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beneath-the-neon-podcast/id1532967337

Host:

https://www.meredithforreal.com/

https://www.instagram.com/meredithforreal/

meredith@meredithforreal.com

https://www.youtube.com/meredithforreal

https://www.facebook.com/meredithforrealthecuriousintrovert

Sponsors:

https://www.jordanharbinger.com/starterpacks/

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/

00:00 — The hidden city beneath Vegas

02:00 — A “happy” childhood behind chaos

03:20 — Getting invited underground

06:00 — First night in the tunnels

07:00 — Nicknames and neighborhoods below ground

08:00 — The drug dealer’s driver and the underground map

09:00 — Biking blind in total darkness

10:00 — Hierarchies of the homeless tunnels

12:00 — The girlfriend, the cricket, and the cops

18:00 — Jail, withdrawal, and a strange stroke of luck

20:00 — From drug court to sobriety

21:00 — Meeting Matt O’Brien and the flood-drain exposé

23:00 — The birth of Shine A Light

25:00 — Building a no-waitlist system for help

27:00 — Trust, recovery, and the Vegas community

29:00 — What would actually end homelessness?

30:00 — Creating stability in the smallest windows of hope

31:00 — What’s next for Shine A Light

32:00 — 104 people out of the tunnels

33:00 — How to help and get involved

34:00 — A new kind of light under Vegas

Request to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/

Is it possible to maintain mental acuity well into your golden years? How do we assess ourselves (instead of waiting to see)?

Dr. Dale Bredesen earned his M.D. from Duke University Medical Center & served as Chief Resident in Neurology at the University of California. He's now a Neuroscience researcher & internationally recognized expert in the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases. His newest book is The Ageless Brain: How to Sharpen and Protect Your Mind for a Lifetime. In this episode, we cover helpful early detection tests, the stages of decline & proven protocols for brain health.

If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 285: IS HEART COHERENCE A CHAOS CURE-ALL? HEALTH, BEHAVIOR & INTUITION

Guest:

https://a.co/d/jawEi3J

https://www.apollohealthco.com/

https://www.facebook.com/drdalebredesen/about

https://x.com/DrDaleBredesen

https://www.instagram.com/apollohealthco/

Host:

https://www.meredithforreal.com/

https://www.instagram.com/meredithforreal/

meredith@meredithforreal.com

https://www.youtube.com/meredithforreal

https://www.facebook.com/meredithforrealthecuriousintrovert

Sponsors:

https://www.jordanharbinger.com/starterpacks/

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/

00:00 — Why we excuse brain blips

01:02 — The doctor redefining “inevitable” Alzheimer’s

02:15 — Early detection that starts in your kitchen

03:40 — Prevention without the sales pitch

05:00 — The four stages of cognitive decline

07:00 — How to know if you’re in stage two

08:30 — The MOCA test and what scores really mean

11:30 — When neurodivergence clouds self-awareness

12:15 — Free tools to gauge your brain health

13:00 — Alzheimer’s vs. Parkinson’s: the subtle difference

15:00 — How toxins quietly cripple your mitochondria

17:00 — Early signs of Parkinson’s most people ignore

18:30 — The gut-brain link you need to know

20:00 — Mold, metals, and the six “bad guys”

22:00 — Functional vs. conventional medicine: finding real help

24:00 — Why doctors must ask “why,” not “what”

26:00 — The emotional weight of pursuing vitality

28:00 — True or false: the biggest Alzheimer’s myths

30:00 — The genetic odds—and how to beat them

31:30 — Oral health and Alzheimer’s connection

33:00 — The seed oil and statin debate

34:30 — Fighting the medical bystander effect

38:00 — Ketones, cold plunges, and other brain hacks

40:00 — The real deal on nootropics and psychedelics

42:30 — When memory and music come back to life

44:00 — Screen time, circadian rhythms, and your cognition

47:00 — Sugar: the brain’s ultimate saboteur

49:00 — The KetoFlex 12/3 diet for brainspan

52:00 — How sleep detoxes your brain

55:00 — Exercise as neuroprotection

57:00 — The caregiving parad

Join me and Scott Johnson for a virtual meet up! Thursday, November 6th at 6pm US Central Time.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89420413041?pwd=n7U64pcT5kNa4bxIEgerlHvj45yblg.1#success

Request to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/

What happens when attraction never shows up? Why does this label matter?

Tony Bogaert, PhD, is the professor of health sciences at Brock University in Ontario, Canada where he has taught & conducted research for the last 30 years, primarily in the area of human sexuality. He’s also the author of Understanding Asexuality.

In this episode, you’ll learn the difference between asexuality & sexual aversion disorder, celibacy & autism as well as how someone might be asexual, but also be married with children. We talk about asexual pop culture icons, historical figures & evolution.

If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 121: PROFESSIONAL CUDDLER? HUGGING, HORMONES & BODY AUTONOMY

Guest:

https://a.co/d/9NC71X3

tbogaert@brocku.ca

Host:

https://www.meredithforreal.com/

https://www.instagram.com/meredithforreal/

meredith@meredithforreal.com

https://www.youtube.com/meredithforreal

https://www.facebook.com/meredithforrealthecuriousintrovert

Sponsors:

https://www.jordanharbinger.com/starterpacks/

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/

00:00 — What if your “thing” is no thing?

01:00 — Game show kickoff: “What’s the Difference?”

01:30 — Asexuality vs. celibacy

02:00 — Midlife disinterest or lifelong orientation?

02:30 — Hyposexual desire disorder explained

04:00 — Asexuality vs. sexual aversion

05:00 — Asexuality and autism spectrum overlap

06:00 — Sheldon Cooper: autism or asexual icon?

07:00 — What causes lack of sexual attraction?

08:30 — Personal motivation behind his research

09:00 — How a survey question sparked 30 years of study

11:00 — Why sexuality takes up so much mental space

12:00 — Why labels drive us crazy—and why we need them

15:00 — “Gray” and “demi”—the asexual spectrum

16:00 — Are we overlabeling, or just being human?

17:00 — Why demisexuality finally clicked for Meredith

20:00 — Love route vs. lust route: two paths to attraction

21:00 — Romantic but not sexual—how that works

24:00 — The sexual recession vs. true asexuality

25:00 — What’s really behind declining sex rates

26:00 — How researchers untangle the gray areas

27:00 — Can people “overclaim” the asexual label?

28:00 — Why some asexuals still masturbate

29:00 — “Cleaning out the plumbing” — other reasons for solo sex

30:00 — Historical roots: early accounts of asexuality

32:00 — Sherlock Holmes and the “asexual aura”

33:00 — Virgin Mary as cultural symbol of purity

34:00 — Eunuchs, testosterone, and the myth of distraction

35:00 — Do asexuals have a focus advantage?

36:00 — Evolutionary puzzles: how does asexuality persist?

40:00 — Is sex really necessary for health?

41:00 — Connection without sex: what it looks like

42:00 — The flowchart of asexuality—how to self-reflect

45:00 — His book Understanding Asexuality and what’s next

46:00 — Sex makes us do crazy things—his next book topic

Request to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/

What was it like to work on Project Stargate? Is Psi science being taken seriously? What if our mind is not our brain?

Dean Radin, PhD, has been researching the paranormal for 45 years & currently serves as Chief Scientist at the Inst of Noetic Sciences. His new book, The Science of Magic, is a straight-faced look behind the scenes of psi research & even shares how you can do your own experiments at home.

In this video, you’ll hear about the maturation of psi research, the psychic gene theory, religion vs magic & behind the scenes of project Stargate.

If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 276: ARE ALIENS HUMANS FROM THE FUTURE [REMASTERED]

Guest:

https://www.deanradin.com/

https://www.facebook.com/DeanRadinsPage/

https://x.com/deanradin

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-radin-9417877/

Host:

https://www.meredithforreal.com/

https://www.instagram.com/meredithforreal/

meredith@meredithforreal.com

https://www.youtube.com/meredithforreal

https://www.facebook.com/meredithforrealthecuriousintrovert

Sponsors:

https://www.jordanharbinger.com/starterpacks/

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/

00:00 — Consciousness, God & quantum weirdness

01:00 — Why science fears the unseen

03:00 — The worldview problem

04:00 — Psychedelics meet data

05:30 — Consciousness without limits

07:00 — His wild LSD story

08:00 — Why weed hits different

09:00 — When meditation backfires

10:00 — The quantum collapse mystery

12:00 — Consciousness as missing link

15:00 — Religion vs real magic

16:30 — Psi research grows up

18:00 — Inside Project Stargate

19:30 — Remote viewing revealed

20:30 — The psychic soldiers

21:00 — How they found “the gifted”

22:30 — Intuition saves lives

24:00 — The moment that stunned him

25:00 — Why the CIA shut it down

28:00 — UFO parallels & secrecy

30:00 — The black-budget truth

32:00 — A world without secrets

33:00 — The psychic gene theory

35:00 — 23andMe surprises

37:00 — MRI scans of intuition

38:00 — Are psychics just talented?

40:00 — The free-will illusion

41:00 — Is the brain a receiver?

42:00 — Small effects, huge stakes

43:00 — Who controls the “magic”?

44:00 — Power, faith & fear

45:00 — Psychic animals & plants

46:00 — The plant lie detector

47:00 — Sentient yogurt & AI

49:00 — Panpsychism explained simply

50:00 — Experimental metaphysics

51:00 — The kindness side-effect

52:00 — Why insight changes us

53:00 — His hope for humanity

55:00 — Where to find *The Science of Magic*

56:00 — Making the mysterious simple

57:00 — Reality, curiosity & closing thoughts

Request to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/

Why do most of us work Mon-Fri? What would happen if Thursday was the new Friday?

Joe Sanok is a former psychologist & current author of Thursday is the New Friday. In this episode, he shares how the signs of a shorter work week (& longer weekends) have been popping up since the 1980’s.

In this episode he shares why a four-day work week is critical to society’s advancement, examples of places already implementing alternative schedules, how we can recalibrate our minds away from the industrialist mindset & how to discover your internal inclinations & sprint type.

This episode originally aired in two parts on March 28 & April 4, 2022.

If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 202: IS TAKING A BREAK FROM WORK AN OPTION? MIDELIFE GAP YEAR

Guest:

https://a.co/d/fBTWvsi

https://www.instagram.com/heyyymizcarter

https://www.carter-sherman.com/

https://bsky.app/profile/cartersherman.bsky.social

Host:

https://www.meredithforreal.com/

https://www.instagram.com/meredithforreal/

meredith@meredithforreal.com

https://www.youtube.com/meredithforreal

https://www.facebook.com/meredithforrealthecuriousintrovert

Sponsors:

https://www.jordanharbinger.com/starterpacks/

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/

00:00 — Why we work five days a week

01:00 — The myth of “normal” work

02:00 — What the pandemic taught us about time

03:00 — Real-world case studies: Iceland to Shopify

04:00 — Cooling empty buildings and saving millions

05:00 — The outdated industrial mindset

06:00 — Why “butts in seats” is a bad KPI

07:00 — The messy middle of change

08:00 — Are Americans too proud to adapt?

09:00 — The rebellious gene pool of the New World

10:00 — Schools as factories for future workers

11:00 — Teaching consent, confidence, and conversation

12:00 — Building emotional intelligence at home

13:00 — Parenting as part of societal recalibration

14:00 — Four-day weeks in “essential” jobs

15:00 — Testing, tweaking, and experimenting at work

16:00 — A shift from prescription to experimentation

17:00 — Who gets to work less? Privilege or possibility?

18:00 — The Walmart question: can everyone benefit?

19:00 — Rethinking weekends as recovery

20:00 — Are you working for an industrialist?

21:00 — Early signs of a four-day revolution

22:00 — The affair between Friday and the weekend

23:00 — Part Two: how to get things done by Thursday

24:00 — Why slowing down makes you sharper

25:00 — Parkinson’s Law and the myth of busy

26:00 — One-minute breaks that change everything

27:00 — Add one, remove one: weekend resets

28:00 — Toxic friends, grocery delivery & energy leaks

29:00 — Designing weekends for joy, not recovery

30:00 — Boundaries aren’t walls, they’re choices

31:00 — Hard and soft boundaries in real life

32:00 — Improv night as productivity tool

33:00 — From farm country to flow state

34:00 — The three internal inclinations

Request to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/

What do we have to show for the #metoo movement? Were men benefited or hurt by the movement?

Carter Sherman is an Emmy nominated reproductive health & justice reporter at The Guardian & author of the book The Second Coming. Her comprehensive review of sex, culture & policy combined with over 100 conversations with people about their sex lives made her uniquely qualified to unpack the good, the bad & the confusing of the #metoo movement.

You’ll hear about false accusations vs. real assault rates, why “good men don’t do this” backfired, sex Ed's missed opportunity, vulnerability, therapy, and better sex.

If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 208: TRIGGER WARNINGS: MAKING US FRAGILE OR HELPING US HEAL?

Guest:

https://a.co/d/fBTWvsi

https://www.instagram.com/heyyymizcarter

https://www.carter-sherman.com/

https://bsky.app/profile/cartersherman.bsky.social

Host:

https://www.meredithforreal.com/

https://www.instagram.com/meredithforreal/

meredith@meredithforreal.com

https://www.youtube.com/meredithforreal

https://www.facebook.com/meredithforrealthecuriousintrovert

Sponsors:

https://www.jordanharbinger.com/starterpacks/

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/

02:00 — Story #1: the creepy guest

04:00 — Story #2: when consent gets messy

05:00 — Can Me Too prevent both extremes?

06:00 — What Me Too did (and didn’t) change

07:00 — A legacy without real policy

08:00 — Fear on both sides of the spectrum

09:00 — False accusations vs. real assault rates

10:00 — Who’s doing the assaulting?

11:00 — The “eye contact = consent” problem

12:00 — Assault among men, too

13:00 — Do some women misuse Me Too?

14:00 — Why false reports are so rare

15:00 — Modeling work and overlooked male consent

16:00 — How hegemonic masculinity hurts men

17:00 — Could Me Too have lifted all boats?

18:00 — Why “good men don’t do this” backfired

19:00 — Internet outrage vs. nuance

20:00 — Is “pervert” a life sentence?

21:00 — Cancellation: perception vs. reality

22:00 — Who really pays the price of harassment

23:00 — The ripple effect on women’s futures

24:00 — Young people connecting the personal to politics

26:00 — Why Me Too reforms focused on work, not sex

27:00 — What legislation do we actually need?

29:00 — Title IX and sexual harassment in schools

30:00 — Enforcing protections in K–12, not just college

31:00 — Sex ed failures: STDs, fear, no consent

33:00 — Why talking to your kids matters

34:00 — Local school boards and sex education battles

37:00 — Why Gen Z is having less sex

38:00 — Politics, anxiety, and intimacy colliding

39:00 — Have the “rules” really changed?

40:00 — Conversations as the simplest (but hardest) fix

41:00 — Vulnerability, therapy, and better sex

42:00 — Integrating politics and intimacy in the bedroom

Request to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/

Is there an uptick of people claiming to be actual witches? When in history were witches NOT seen as evil? Is this commercialism packaged as a spiritual practice?

Julie Walsh, PhD, is the Whitehead Associate Professor of Critical Thought & Associate Professor of Philosophy at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Her primary research focus is on metaphysics & the ethics of human freedom in the early modern period.

In this episode, we talk about the historical origin of witches & word choice, the connection between female sexual satisfaction & witches, the 1400’s witch hunting manual & how time legitimizes magical practices

If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 195: ROUNDING UP SUSPICIOUS WOMEN? THE AMERICAN PLAN

Host:

https://www.meredithforreal.com/

https://www.instagram.com/meredithforreal/

meredith@meredithforreal.com

https://www.youtube.com/meredithforreal

https://www.facebook.com/meredithforrealthecuriousintrovert

Sponsors:

https://www.jordanharbinger.com/starterpacks/

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/

00:00 — Generations of witches in pop culture

01:20 — First encounters with “I’m a witch”

02:10 — The word wicce and its earliest meaning

04:00 — Magic before evil: shifting definitions

05:00 — Witch as a living, changing word

06:10 — Salem isn’t the beginning

07:00 — The 1487 bestseller that fueled hunts

09:00 — Sex, power, and the devil’s contract

10:30 — Why ridiculous ideas still matter

11:30 — How witch manuals went viral

13:00 — From Europe to Salem: ideology travels

14:00 — What counted as a witch in 1690s Salem

15:00 — Tituba’s confession and survival strategy

17:00 — Executions, prisons, and spectral evidence

19:00 — How do you defend against a ghost?

20:00 — LSD bread or land grabs? Debunking theories

22:30 — Property disputes and colonial lawsuits

24:30 — From persecution to empowerment today

25:30 — Why modern women claim “witch”

27:00 — Moon cycles, ancestors, and ritual

29:00 — Ancient solstice parties and survival

31:00 — The risks of claiming witchhood

32:00 — Are modern witches linked to the executed?

34:00 — Saints, voodoo dolls, and cultural taboos

36:00 — Whose magic gets mainstreamed?

37:00 — Why old beliefs feel more “legit”

38:30 — Tarot cards, tradition, and authority

39:30 — Crystals, consumerism, and moon circles

40:30 — Salem today: trinkets and tourism

41:30 — Can spirituality resist commercialization?

42:00 — Beyond WitchTok: finding your roots

43:30 — Elders, ancestry, and empowerment through knowledge

44:30 — Where history, nature, and identity converge

45:00 — Closing thoughts + future book tease

Request to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/

When & why did circumcision begin (it’s not what you think)? What are the arguments for it & what are the experts saying? Sugar water instead of anesthetic??

Brendon Marotta is a filmmaker whose feature-length documentary, American Circumcision, won multiple awards & can be found on Amazon & YouTube. In this episode, we talk about the surprising history of circumcision, the practice today, parental consent & why this is so hard to talk about, but female circumcision isn’t.

This episode originally aired March 13, 2023.

If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 293: THE SECRET LIVES OF MEN: MENTAL HEALTH CONFESSIONS!

Guest:

https://www.hegemonmedia.com/

https://brendonmarotta.com/

https://twitter.com/bdmarotta

https://www.instagram.com/bdmarotta/

Host:

https://www.meredithforreal.com/

https://www.instagram.com/meredithforreal/

meredith@meredithforreal.com

https://www.youtube.com/meredithforreal

https://www.facebook.com/meredithforrealthecuriousintrovert

Sponsors:

https://www.jordanharbinger.com/starterpacks/

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/

00:00 — Why Americans still circumcise

02:00 — Thought barriers around foreskin

04:30 — Cultural hypnosis at work

07:00 — The ripple effect on men’s lives

09:00 — Masculinity, shame & silence

13:00 — Who really benefits?

14:00 — Circumcision’s strange beginnings

16:00 — From “cure for masturbation” to medicine

18:00 — Parental choice or medical coercion?

21:00 — Relative vs absolute risk explained

23:00 — Science, politics & cultural blame game

27:00 — The baby restraint nobody wants to see

28:00 — Sugar water instead of anesthetic

29:00 — Trauma that lives in the body

30:00 — Physical consequences & lost sensation

33:00 — When men discover hidden trauma

35:00 — Anger, intimacy & what’s really missing

36:00 — The simplest solution of all

37:00 — Where to find Brendon’s work

Request to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/