Indirect Message – Details, episodes & analysis

Discourse about hot-button social issues is broken. Can we fix it?

Sociologist Ilana Redstone joins Laci to discuss the challenges of embracing viewpoint diversity. They explore how identity politics took academia and social media by storm, society's turn toward moral absolutes, whether our intentions matter, bad behavior vs bigotry, dealing with being offended, the secret ingredient for a vibrant discourse, and more.

Even in progressive company, polyamory is a widely misunderstood relationship style. Today we take a deep dive to better understand polyamory through the lens of our sexual evolution.

Evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller joins to discuss the stigmas of evolutionary psychology and polyamory, negotiating sexual boundaries, mate selection, dealing with jealousy, how poly can help people who struggle romantically, and technological threats to monogamy.

Is it possible to become addicted to sex? How much sex is too much, exactly?

Laci is joined by Dr. David Ley to untangle the sticky web of sex addiction. Ley makes the case against the concept of sex addiction, arguing that it is rooted in sexual shame. They discuss sexual repression, porn addiction, "normal" sexuality, impulse control, politically incorrect fantasies, and why our sexual fantasies often correlate with our politics.

Content Notice. This episode contains: frank discussions of sensitive sexuality issues, a brief mention of a mass shooting, and brief descriptions of sadomasochistic sex acts.

How does making sex ed videos on YouTube land you in the center of the online culture wars? Pretty quickly, in fact.

Laci is joined by YouTuber Arielle Scarcella for an open ended discussion of her controversial perspectives and work. They discuss critiques of "woke" activism, abusive tactics in leftist circles, lesbian identity, impossible discussions about sex and gender, Arielle's "conservative" re-brand, being a lesbian on OnlyFans, and collective self-censorship.

Content Warning: This episode contains frank discussions of sensitive sexuality issues as well as graphic descriptions of sex acts.

How can we cultivate happy relationships that last years, or even decades? While the modern explosion of self-help books tell us how to get love, ancient Buddhist texts offer a different approach: how to give it.

In this episode, Laci and Susan explore The Four Noble Truths of Love. They discuss how our modern approaches to relationships can set us up for failure, expectations vs. reality, how to create the right "container" for relationship success, the pitfalls of passion, intimacy vs. love, and a well-traveled path to lifelong partnership.

A storm of media coverage regularly accuses YouTube of radicalizing the masses with their recommendation algorithm. The only problem? A closer look at the research paints a very different picture.

In this episode, Laci and Anna explore the YouTube politics scene and how the 2020 algorithm works. They discuss left and right content "bubbles", mainstream media vs. YouTube, the plight of independent content creators, and why the rabbit hole theory has enduring psychological appeal.

Americans are more polarized than we have been since the civil war. Data shows growing numbers of people feel political violence is justified. How did we get into this hellscape? And how do we get out of it?

Featuring Lee Drutman of Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop. (This episode is made for YouTube: https://t.co/VQsMmkfkCA?amp=1)

The internet is flooded with attempts to grab our attention.. So what gets us to click?

Laci and Ben Parr discuss the booming attention economy and how it is changing the world, from parasocial relationships to politics. They discuss 7 common tactics used to capture (and sell) our attention.

How do you handle the setbacks in your life? Laci and Bill discuss practical Stoic techniques to find greater resilience and strength in the face of life's challenges. 

Conversation topics include our need for social approval, righteous anger and victimhood, dealing with failure and rejection, declining civility, an unusual approach to grief, the trappings of consumerism, and what it truly means to embrace our circumstances.

Perhaps the biggest threat in a pandemic is not the virus itself...but how we react to it.

Last year, Dr. Steven Taylor predicted what would happen in the next pandemic with astonishing accuracy. In this episode, Laci and Steve discuss media distortion, the politicization of masks, backlash to mandates, American individualism vs. collectivism, the upcoming anti-vax crisis, personality types prone to mask hesitance, depressive realism vs. optimism bias, and what the past predicts about the future.