Culture Changers with Allison Hare

Welcome back, Culture Changers! In this episode, I’m breaking down the runaway hit, "I've Had It" podcast, as part of a new series, Pod Phenom Playbook where I break down some of the top podcasts. If you’ve ever wondered why certain podcasts blow up and become cultural juggernauts seemingly overnight, this episode digs into the structure, psychology, and stickiness that make a show impossible to ignore.
I break down how best friends Jennifer Welch and Angie “Pumps” Sullivan catapulted "I've Had It" to the top 0.01% of global podcasts with their unfiltered, outrageously funny, and profoundly political take on modern grievances. This review explains how their bold, often shocking language, political savvy, and unique in-group vernacular have created a loyal, outspoken fanbase. You’ll learn about their meteoric rise, why their unapologetic progressive stance and visceral humor resonate in today’s media landscape, and how their approach can empower everyday listeners to find their own voice and point of view.
We discuss:
Podcast Growth and Virality Factors
Structure and Psychology of Popular Podcasts
Outrage, Humor, and Political Commentary
Point of View vs. Playing It Safe
In-group Language and Stickiness
Profanity, Nicknames, and Emotional Release
Empowerment Through Honest Cultural Analysis
Timestamps:
00:00 Pod Phenom Playbook
06:45 Creating In-Group Language
08:37 Podcast Blending Politics and Community
11:40 Nicknames, Insults, and Impact
15:04 Media Overload and Frustration
19:34 Protesting and the 3.5% Rule
22:27 Understanding Divided Perspectives
24:34 The Power of Perspective
28:17 Breaking Status Quo Together
Rather watch on YouTube?
Links & Resources Mentioned:
I’ve Had It Podcast
IHIP News
Kara Swisher podcast interview with Jennifer Welch
Rolling Stone coverage
New York Times feature on Jennifer Welch
Culture Changers Podmail: culturechangerspodmail.com (submit your favorite pod shows for me to review)
Want your podcast to be amazing? Book a free clarity call here: https://allisonhare.com/freecall

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.
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Something big is shifting in how we get our news, and you can feel it in your body. You want to stay informed, but you also kind of want to throw your phone across the room. I asked a simple question on Facebook. Where do you get your news? What came back wasn’t a list of outlets. It was a list of survival strategies. And once I started digging into the data, it became very clear why so many smart, thoughtful people feel unsettled right now.
This episode is about where Americans get their news, why trust feels so shaky, and what’s actually changing beneath the surface as we head into 2026.
We are talking about:
Why almost no one trusts a single news source anymore
How social media officially replaced TV as the main way Americans get news
Why independent journalists and news influencers are exploding
What’s really happening with political polarization and platform trust
The influence of AI and Deepfakes
How to stay informed without burning yourself out or getting duped
Key Timestamps:
0:38 Are you being radicalized by the news?
1:35 What people actually said when asked where they get news
3:51 Social media overtakes TV as the main news source
7:41 Why mainstream news feels like WWE
12:01 Personality trust vs platform trust
14:36 Video platforms as the new TV
18:58 The rise of independent journalists
22:35 Why newsletters and community matter
25:04 Why local news still has an edge
27:26 Political affiliation and platform behavior
28:29 Flooding the zone and source confusion
33:25 Why conversations change culture
Links and Resources:
Schedule a free podcast clarity call with me
Allison's IG: https://instagram.com/allison__hare

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.
Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
Sign up for the free weekly email
AllisonHare.com
Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
Reb3l Dance Fitness - Try it at home! Free month with this link.
Feedback and Contact:: [email protected]

Something big is shifting.
You can feel it.
You want to stay informed and you also want to smash your phone.
I’m Allison Hare, a podcast strategist, and this is Culture Changers.
Here is where we talk with smarts and snark about all the stuff they say not to talk about: power, politics, religion, relationships through the lens of Pop culture. Of course we are talking cults and trad wives, too. 
If you’re wondering what to do with all of this, you might just be a culture changer.
Episodes released every Thursday on all platforms including YouTube.

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.
Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
Sign up for the free weekly email
AllisonHare.com
Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
Reb3l Dance Fitness - Try it at home! Free month with this link.
Feedback and Contact:: [email protected]

Something big is shifting, and you can feel it. I’ve spent the last year stripping things down, walking away from what looked good on paper, and telling the truth about what actually works, what doesn’t, and what I refuse to carry into 2026. This episode is me coming back home to Culture Changers and explaining why I left, what broke, and what finally clicked. No polish. No performance. Just clarity, courage, and a mic. If you’ve ever felt like you outgrew something you built, this one’s for you.
In this episode, I talk about:
Why I’ve renamed this show five times (UGH!) and what that taught me
How pop culture reflects our values, fears, and blind spots
The moment I realized I was abandoning myself for “success” (Alignment over Approval)
Why self-help culture stopped working for me
What Culture Changers is becoming next and how you’re part of it
Rather watch on Youtube? https://youtu.be/ukcjGrrQtbo
Links + Resources Mentioned
Email the show (What pods do you love or love to hate? for Pod Phenom Playbook): [email protected]
NOTABLE QUOTABLES:
“I didn’t want to take Reinvention Room into the new year.” (01:04)
“I was abandoning myself in service of commercial success.” (08:11)
“I’m so deeply sick of self-help.” (26:06)
“I’ve created such a wall around me.” (40:45)
“How do we ground down on what is true when so much is uncertain?” (46:14)
KEY TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Why Culture Changers exists
1:04 Why I ended Reinvention Room
3:20 The origin story of the show
8:05 The identity crisis moment
12:52 Why podcast conferences broke my confidence
20:06 Why reinvention stopped working
26:06 Why self-help culture lost me
31:15 Anxiety, control, and truth
38:10 The friendship realization
46:14 What this podcast is actually for
56:08 Pop culture as empathy
58:30 Pod Phenom Playbook explained
3 TIPS / TAKEAWAYS
If you can’t explain what you do clearly, something is misaligned
Pop culture isn’t fluff. It’s a mirror
When things feel heavy, honesty creates momentum

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.
Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
Sign up for the free weekly email
AllisonHare.com
Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
Reb3l Dance Fitness - Try it at home! Free month with this link.
Feedback and Contact:: [email protected]

Christianity has taken on a totally different meaning these days.. It is in the oversized cross necklaces, the trad-wife hair, the school board fights, the subtle “illegal aliens vs immigrants” language, and the way a MAGA hat or a Pride flag can tell people your entire belief system before you say a word. In this episode, I pull together the data, the history, and my own messy spiritual story to ask whether we’re slipping into a full-blown religious dystopia or just finally seeing what was there all along. We’ll talk about why Christian fundamentalism feels more mainstream than ever, why so many of us are “Cafeteria Christians” or spiritual but not religious, and why Gen Z is both walking away from church and walking right back in through a different door. You will not walk away from this one neutral.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
How Christian nationalism and partisan politics got so tangled up you can’t tell where one ends and the other starts
Why Christianity has dropped to around 62% of Americans while the “nones” and spiritual-but-not-religious crowd keep rising
The two emerging “Americas”: the remixers (Cafeteria Christians, astrology, crystals, human design) and the revivalists (fundamentalism, trad-wife aesthetics, purity culture)
What Gen Z is actually doing with faith, and why some young adults are returning to church for structure while others are done with institutions for good
How thought-terminating clichés like “God works in mysterious ways” and “everything happens for a reason” shut down real emotions and critical thinking
Why belief in Satan, demons, and “spiritual warfare” is dropping overall, even as some conservative spaces turn it into a 24/7 fear channel
The difference between inherited faith and adult reality, and how to spot when “community” is tipping into control or culty dynamics
What it might look like to be human first and let belief and identity come second, without abandoning the possibility of God altogether
Timestamps:
00:00 Welcome to the Reinvention Room + why this one will piss people off or make you feel seen
02:28 Christian fundamentalism goes mainstream and hides inside politics
05:50 Growing up Protestant, “born-again” neighbors, and never feeling Christian enough
16:51 Mega-churches, mentors, and trying to find a faith home that isn’t culty
23:51 The long hair, oversized crosses, trad-wife aesthetic, and what they’re signaling
30:54 Deep research: declining Christianity, rising “nones,” and spiritual-but-not-religious trends
35:42 Crystals, tarot, human design and why the metaphysical often feels more helpful than church
40:08 Thought-terminating clichés and how they shut down real emotion and questions
51:13 Spiritual warfare, “the enemy,” and why demon talk feels like an abusive boyfriend
53:18 Christian nationalism, school boards, book bans, and politics dressed up as religion
58:23 Trump, media bubbles, and trying to stay human first in mixed-politics families
1:09:57 Burnout, belonging, and why everyone’s exhausted and spiritually unsettled
1:21:10 “Why are you letting assholes get in the way of your relationship with God?”
1:23:30 Are we already in a religious dystopia, and what happens next?
Links & Resources Mentioned:
Previous episode: Psychology of How Minds Change with David McRaney (on why people double down or actually shift)
Previous episode: Dr. Jay Van Bavel on social identity and tribal brains: EP108: Social identities
My weekly personal email: https://allisonhare.com/email
Work with me on your podcast: https://allisonhare.com/freecall
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allison__hare
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonhare/
Website: https://allisonhare.com
Notable Quotables:
[00:02:28] “Christian fundamentalism has gone from really kind of a fringe thing to totally mainstream. But now it’s wrapped in politics.”
[00:03:35] “Meanwhile, most Americans are building their own version of faith from scraps, like a cafeteria Christian.”
[00:33:18] “It really made me wonder, are people ditching belief, or are they ditching institutions?”
[00:40:08] “These phrases don’t comfort people. They shut off critical thought and shut down your actual feelings.”
[01:21:10] “Why are you letting assholes get in the way of your relationship with God?”
3 Top Takeaways:
Belonging often beats belief. People will choose social safety and their group over “getting the theology right,” especially when everything feels uncertain.
Two spiritual Americas are forming. Remix spirituality (Cafeteria Christians, crystals, human design) is growing at the same time as Christian nationalism and fundamentalism push for legal power. PRRI+3Pew Research Center+3Pew Research Center+3
You’re allowed to question. One of the healthiest spiritual moves you can make is asking, “Can I doubt here without being punished?” If the answer is no, that’s a data point.

Be sure to rate, review, and follow this podcast on your player and also, connect with me IRL for more goodness and life-changing stuff.
Schedule a FREE podcast clarity call with me - Your future audience is out there. Talk to them!
Sign up for the free weekly email
AllisonHare.com
Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
DOWNLOAD the free podcast equipment guide- No guesswork, no google rabbit holes, start recording today
Reb3l Dance Fitness - Try it at home! Free month with this link.
Feedback and Contact:: [email protected]