The Jordan Harbinger Show

Are "incels" dangerous radicals or just lonely guys punching walls online? Nick Pell takes us to the basement to find out here on Skeptical Sunday.
Welcome to Skeptical Sunday, a special edition of The Jordan Harbinger Show where Jordan and a guest break down a topic that you may have never thought about, open things up, and debunk common misconceptions. This time around, we’re joined by writer and researcher Nick Pell!
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1275
On This Week's Skeptical Sunday:
The term "incel" was originally coined by a woman in the late 1990s as a gender-neutral, supportive community for lonely people — but it transformed over time into something darker as those who improved their lives left, leaving behind increasingly bitter participants.
The "blackpill" philosophy — the belief that genetics predetermines your romantic fate — functions as a psychological trap that offers simple answers to complex pain while simultaneously absolving incels of responsibility to change their circumstances.
Despite media portrayals, incel violence is statistically rare — only 12 incidents of "misogynist terrorism" worldwide over 40 years — though the broader phenomenon represents a warning sign about male loneliness and social disconnection at scale.
A UK Home Office study revealed surprising demographics: 25% screen positive for autism spectrum traits, 42% are non-white, most identify as politically moderate, and 80% are neither employed nor in education — complicating the simplistic "angry white basement dweller" stereotype.
Ex-incels exist and lead normal lives — they escape by building social skills, joining communities, finding purpose, and focusing on self-improvement like fitness, therapy, or hobbies rather than fixating on dating failures — proving that the "blackpill" worldview is a choice, not destiny.
Connect with Jordan on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. If you have something you'd like us to tackle here on Skeptical Sunday, drop Jordan a line at [email protected] and let him know!
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!
Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!
Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!
This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:
BetterHelp: 10% off first month: betterhelp.com/jordan
Wayfair: Start renovating: wayfair.com
Quiltmind: Email [email protected] to get started or visit quiltmind.com for more info
Homes.com: Find your home: homes.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You served time 22 years ago, and now your business partner's wielding your criminal record like a blackmail card to take everything. It's Feedback Friday!
And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Gabriel Mizrahi (@GabeMizrahi) banter and take your comments and questions for Feedback Friday right here every week! If you want us to answer your question, register your feedback, or tell your story on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at [email protected]. Now let's dive in!
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1274
On This Week's Feedback Friday:
You paid for a youthful transgression over two decades ago, built a thriving company from nothing, and now your best friend/business partner is weaponizing your past to push you out — all because of a conflict with his girlfriend. How do you break this pattern and reclaim your story? [Thanks to Corbin Payne and Joanna Tate for helping us with this one!]
Your stepbrother's getting married in 10 days, and despite nearly 20 years of brotherhood and a close bond, you still haven't received an invitation — apparently because his fiancée and yours had a falling out. Can you break through the silence before it's too late?
Testosterone replacement therapy transformed your energy and recovery as a firefighter-turned-fintech professional — until you discovered it may have rendered you infertile while you and your wife were trying for a second child. Now your sperm count is zero. What comes next?
Recommendation of the Week: Camp Snap Digital Camera
You've got the dream life — great marriage, strong friendships, vibrant city — but your career keeps flaming out after the honeymoon phase ends. Now you're eyeing a pivot to therapy, but you're terrified you'll repeat the same burnout pattern. How do you finally make it stick?
Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at [email protected]!
Connect with Jordan on Twitter at @JordanHarbinger and Instagram at @jordanharbinger.
Connect with Gabriel on Twitter at @GabeMizrahi and Instagram @gabrielmizrahi.
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!
Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!
Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!
This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:
Cape: 33% off for six months: cape.co/jordanharbinger, code Jordan33
CovePure: $200 off: covepure.com/jordan
Mint Mobile: Shop plans at mintmobile.com/jhs
Audible: Visit audible.com/jhs or text JHS to 500-500
Momentous: 20% off first order: livemomentous.com, code JORDAN20
Homes.com: Find your home: homes.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hacking the Human Mind authors Richard Shotton and MichaelAaron Flicker reveal ways brands exploit human psychology and how we can use this to our benefit!
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1273
What We Discuss with Richard Shotton & MichaelAaron Flicker:
Five Guys built a $1.6 billion empire on a single insight: doing one thing exceptionally well signals expertise. The company's refusal to add chicken, salads, or ice cream is strategic proof that specialization creates perceived mastery in the consumer's mind.
Counterintuitively, the "goal dilution effect" shows that adding more benefits to your pitch actually weakens it. When tomatoes were described as preventing cancer and improving eye health, people rated the cancer benefit 12% lower, suggesting that focus beats feature-stuffing every time.
As a species of "cognitive misers," our brains evolved to conserve energy, so we rely on mental shortcuts rather than deliberate analysis. Brands that understand these heuristics work with human nature instead of against it, making persuasion feel effortless rather than forced.
Environmental cues shape our experiences more than we realize. Classical music makes wine taste more expensive, heavier cutlery makes food seem more premium, and tempo controls how fast we eat. Our senses are constantly being orchestrated without our awareness.
Next time you're pitching yourself or your idea, resist the urge to list every qualification and benefit. Pick your strongest single message and let it breathe. Your audience's brain will reward clarity with credibility, turning restraint into your most persuasive tool.
And much more...
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!
Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!
Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!
This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:
SimpliSafe Home Security: 50% off + 1st month free: simplisafe.com/jordan
Rag & Bone: 20% off: Rag-Bone.com, code JORDAN
Progressive Insurance: Free online quote: progressive.com
Homes.com: Find your home: homes.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Scissors, spiral notebooks, cultural taboos — lefties have it rough. Jessica Wynn explores why 10% of us are southpaws here on Skeptical Sunday.
Welcome to Skeptical Sunday, a special edition of The Jordan Harbinger Show where Jordan and a guest break down a topic that you may have never thought about, open things up, and debunk common misconceptions. This time around, we’re joined by writer and researcher Jessica Wynn!
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1272
On This Week's Skeptical Sunday:
Left-handedness isn't controlled by a single gene — it's a cocktail of genetics, prenatal environment, and random brain development. The rare gene variant TUBB4B shows up three times more often in lefties, but even identical twins sharing 100% of their DNA can have different dominant hands.
Your handedness was essentially decided before you were born. Ultrasound studies reveal fetuses showing consistent hand preferences by 18 weeks — those who suck their left thumb in the womb typically become left-handed. Your fetal position and which direction you turned your head may have sealed your southpaw fate.
Left-handers possess a larger corpus callosum — the neural bridge connecting both brain hemispheres — enabling faster communication between the two sides. This biological quirk gives lefties advantages in multitasking, creative problem-solving, and activities requiring rapid information processing like video game
Cultural conditioning has historically punished left-handedness, associating it with everything from uncleanliness to witchcraft. Schools once forced children to switch hands, and in some cultures today, using your left hand for eating remains taboo — a lingering echo of pre-toilet paper hygiene practices.
Celebrate your brain's beautiful asymmetry — whether you're a lefty or righty. Try using your non-dominant hand for everyday tasks on August 13th (International Left-Handers Day) to appreciate how deeply ingrained handedness really is. It's a humbling reminder of how wonderfully weird human development can be.
Connect with Jordan on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. If you have something you'd like us to tackle here on Skeptical Sunday, drop Jordan a line at [email protected] and let him know!
Connect with Jessica Wynn at Instagram and Threads, and subscribe to her newsletters: Between the Lines and Where the Shadows Linger!
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!
Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!
Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!
This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:
Quiltmind: Email [email protected] to get started or visit quiltmind.com for more info
Momentous: 20% off first order: livemomentous.com, code JORDAN20
Homes.com: Find your home: homes.com
Progressive Insurance: Free online quote: progressive.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Your 15-year-old just made a request that would make your church-raised mother faint. How do you parent without the shame spiral? It's Feedback Friday!
And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Gabriel Mizrahi (@GabeMizrahi) banter and take your comments and questions for Feedback Friday right here every week! If you want us to answer your question, register your feedback, or tell your story on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at [email protected]. Now let's dive in!
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1271
On This Week's Feedback Friday:
Your 15-year-old daughter approached you with a request that left you speechless — she wants help purchasing something to explore her own body safely. You escaped purity culture and want better for her, but where exactly do healthy boundaries live in this uncharted territory? What does a sex-positive parenting expert have to say? [Thanks to Dr. Linda Baggett for helping us with this one!]
Your sister-in-law has burned through a $100k inheritance on vacations, alienated the entire family with vicious voicemails, and is now hunting down your daughter's friends to badmouth everyone who's cut her off. You've been nominated as the family's designated messenger of doom — but how do you deliver a "we're done forever" speech with compassion?
You've weathered seven moves, two abortions, and a trailer lifestyle with your husband — but now that you're ready to settle down and start a family, he seems to have ghosted his own future. He told you he didn't believe in marriage, yet you married him anyway. Now you're daydreaming about other relationships — is this marriage salvageable, or are you just delaying the inevitable?
Recommendation of the Week: Flighty Flight Tracker App
You went on a passionate rant about airplane window shade etiquette, and the internet had opinions. From claustrophobic flyers to grandmas photographing clouds to rhinestone-cowboy-hat disco balls — listeners are pushing back hard. Is keeping your shade open a cardinal sin, or are you the unreasonable one?
Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at [email protected]!
Connect with Jordan on Twitter at @JordanHarbinger and Instagram at @jordanharbinger.
Connect with Gabriel on Twitter at @GabeMizrahi and Instagram @gabrielmizrahi.
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!
Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!
Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!
This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:
BetterHelp: 10% off first month: betterhelp.com/jordan
DeleteMe: 20% off: joindeleteme.com/jordan, code JORDAN
HomeServe: Find the plan that's right for you: homeserve.com
DripDrop: 20% off: DripDrop.com, code JORDAN
Homes.com: Find your home: homes.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.