I'M THE VILLAIN
192 episodes - English - Latest episode: 24 days ago - ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsWelcome to I'M THE VILLAIN, a podcast about 2 millennials trying to decode, deconstruct, and dismantle the world as we know it.
The show is a conversational podcast where we talk about all the things that are fucked up about the status quo in America, with the perspective of the villain (Isabel) and hero (Deondre'). We talk about norms we think need to change in society, and talk with other millennials about how to change those norms, including our obsession with work, the culture of quantifying everything we do, social media, the way we treat relationships, and more. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/im-the-villain/support
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Episodes
21. The Politics Episode: Hate Doesn't Have a Political Affiliation
December 04, 2019 23:37 - 58 minutes - 80.8 MBThis season is about to get political. We hadn't planned it this way: it just sort of happened. Almost all the guests we invited this season wanted to talk about socialism, local politics, call-out culture, etc. So with the media inundating us with political headlines for the next 11 months, we figured it was a good time to record an episode on our political stances as a backdrop for this season. Being generally liberal (though less liberal than some of the guests you'll see this season),...
The Politics Episode: Hate Doesn't Have a Political Affiliation
December 04, 2019 23:37 - 58 minutes - 80.8 MBThis season is about to get political. We hadn't planned it this way: it just sort of happened. Almost all the guests we invited this season wanted to talk about socialism, local politics, call-out culture, etc. So with the media inundating us with political headlines for the next 11 months, we figured it was a good time to record an episode on our political stances as a backdrop for this season. Being generally liberal (though less liberal than some of the guests you'll see this season),...
20. The Non-Monogamy Episode: 50 Ways to Stay with Your Lover
November 06, 2019 04:41 - 1 hour - 83.1 MBNot only do you get to stay with your lover, you also get to have sex and romantic relationships with other people! Including your ex! In the last episode of this season, we talk about how restrictive the classic script on romance is and why we think breaking down those rigid barriers actually can create an even more stable and communicative relationship. In short, there's no one way your relationship has to be for it to be valid and healthy. This episode has been a long time coming becaus...
The Non-Monogamy Episode: 50 Ways to Stay with Your Lover
November 06, 2019 04:41 - 1 hour - 56.8 MBNot only do you get to stay with your lover, you also get to have sex and romantic relationships with other people! Including your ex! In the last episode of this season, we talk about how restrictive the classic script on romance is and why we think breaking down those rigid barriers actually can create an even more stable and communicative relationship. In short, there's no one way your relationship has to be for it to be valid and healthy. This episode has been a long time coming becaus...
The Science Episode: P-Hacking, the Banality of Replication Studies, and other Perverse Incentives in the Scientific Community
October 30, 2019 12:01 - 41 minutes - 38.2 MBIf you are a scientist, you know that the frenzy for funding can be fierce, which is why, as with any system where people are competing for a pool of money, there can be perverse incentives to fudge the numbers, or select your variables to give you the most significant result. This practice, known as "p-hacking," is rampant, as argued by a mathematician known as Jordan Ellenberg, whose book Deondre' read recently, and whose talk on the subject is linked below. (There's a great explanatory i...
19. The Science Episode: P-Hacking, the Banality of Replication Studies, and other Perverse Incentives in the Scientific Community
October 30, 2019 12:01 - 40 minutes - 55.5 MBIf you are a scientist, you know that the frenzy for funding can be fierce, which is why, as with any system where people are competing for a pool of money, there can be perverse incentives to fudge the numbers, or select your variables to give you the most significant result. This practice, known as "p-hacking," is rampant, as argued by a mathematician known as Jordan Ellenberg, whose book Deondre' read recently, and whose talk on the subject is linked below. (There's a great explanatory i...
18. The Military Industrial Complex Episode: The United States of Raytheon
October 23, 2019 12:19 - 36 minutes - 50.1 MBWAR. Good god y'all. What is it good for? Making a FUCK TON of money for defense contractors like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing. The US currently spends $649 billion dollars on our military, which is more than the next 7 countries combined. And to justify that expenditure, we are constantly at war. Every single child living in America today has lived in a country that has been at war their entire lives, and for the most part, they couldn't even tell you who we are fighting. In this e...
The Military Industrial Complex Episode: The United States of Raytheon
October 23, 2019 12:19 - 37 minutes - 34.6 MBWAR. Good god y'all. What is it good for? Making a FUCK TON of money for defense contractors like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing. The US currently spends $649 billion dollars on our military, which is more than the next 7 countries combined. And to justify that expenditure, we are constantly at war. Every single child living in America today has lived in a country that has been at war their entire lives, and for the most part, they couldn't even tell you who we are fighting. In this e...
17. The Environmentalism Episode: Why Beer and Twitter May Save Our Souls
October 16, 2019 11:00 - 35 minutes - 48.1 MBIf you care about climate change, things might look a little bleak right now. It is so easy to listen to the news of the Amazon rainforest fires, see the ever-climbing emissions statistics, and watch Greta Thunberg admonishing the United Nations and get overwhelmed with the sheer scope of the issue and the collective action it would take to solve it. In this episode, Spencer Schecht talks to us about his organization, Green Drinks DC, and how he believes one solution to the problem is to h...
The Environmentalism Episode: Why Beer and Twitter May Save Our Souls
October 16, 2019 11:00 - 35 minutes - 33.2 MBIf you care about climate change, things might look a little bleak right now. It is so easy to listen to the news of the Amazon rainforest fires, see the ever-climbing emissions statistics, and watch Greta Thunberg admonishing the United Nations and get overwhelmed with the sheer scope of the issue and the collective action it would take to solve it. In this episode, Spencer Schecht talks to us about his organization, Green Drinks DC, and how he believes one solution to the problem is to h...
The Grief Episode: Life is Lived in the Transitions
October 09, 2019 10:45 - 53 minutes - 73.2 MBStrap in, we are taking you on an emotional rollercoaster this season. In a swift departure from the upbeat mood of the last episode, on this episode, Isabel talks with her friend Christen about what it's like to grieve a sick family member who is in and out of the hospital and how to cope with those emotions. Even if you have friends to support you, it can be really tough to even figure out how you want to be supported. Sometimes you need to post on social media, sometimes you need to make ...
16. The Grief Episode: Life is Lived in the Transitions
October 09, 2019 10:45 - 53 minutes - 73.2 MBStrap in, we are taking you on an emotional rollercoaster this season. In a swift departure from the upbeat mood of the last episode, on this episode, Isabel talks with her friend Christen about what it's like to grieve a sick family member who is in and out of the hospital and how to cope with those emotions. Even if you have friends to support you, it can be really tough to even figure out how you want to be supported. Sometimes you need to post on social media, sometimes you need to make ...
15. The Dating App Episode: You Up?
October 02, 2019 03:28 - 41 minutes - 56.4 MBLook, it is tough out here. Especially in the rough-and-tumble world of dating apps, where the Super Likes are few and far between, ghosting is imminent, and the zaddies are on the prowl. According to Greek myth, it was a golden apple labelled "for the fairest" that set off the Trojan War over whether Hera, Athena, or Aphrodite was the hottest goddess. In today's world, not much has changed. Now the golden apple is called "Tinder" and you get 50 swipes a day instead of one apple, but both st...
The Dating App Episode: You Up?
October 02, 2019 03:28 - 41 minutes - 38.8 MBLook, it is tough out here. Especially in the rough-and-tumble world of dating apps, where the Super Likes are few and far between, ghosting is imminent, and the zaddies are on the prowl. According to Greek myth, it was a golden apple labelled "for the fairest" that set off the Trojan War over whether Hera, Athena, or Aphrodite was the hottest goddess. In today's world, not much has changed. Now the golden apple is called "Tinder" and you get 50 swipes a day instead of one apple, but both st...
14. The Veganism Episode: Why Don't We Care Enough to Be Vegan?
September 25, 2019 00:24 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MBLet's get it out in the open: it's 2019. Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that the meat industry is morally bankrupt and also terrible for the planet. And yet, as of 2015, only 3.4% of the population said they were vegetarian and 0.4% said they were vegan. At the same time, Beyond Meat had the largest IPO of any company in 2 decades when it went public in May 2019. This means lots of people are betting big money that we are on the cusp of a huge change in the way we eat, espe...
The Veganism Episode: Why Don't We Care Enough to Be Vegan?
September 25, 2019 00:24 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MBLet's get it out in the open: it's 2019. Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that the meat industry is morally bankrupt and also terrible for the planet. And yet, as of 2015, only 3.4% of the population said they were vegetarian and 0.4% said they were vegan. At the same time, Beyond Meat had the largest IPO of any company in 2 decades when it went public in May 2019. This means lots of people are betting big money that we are on the cusp of a huge change in the way we eat, espe...
The Patriotism Episode: What Does it Mean to Love Your Country?
September 18, 2019 02:22 - 56 minutes - 52.3 MBThis is where things start to get uncomfortable. We are trying actively push ourselves out of our comfort zones on this podcast, and to do that, we are inviting more guests onto the show and letting them pick the topic. Our first real guest of the second season is named Luke Phillips and he identifies as a social conservative and economic liberal, and he suggested for this episode that we talk about patriotism. Things get deep: we talk about what it means to be an American, how patriotism di...
13. The Patriotism Episode: What Does it Mean to Love Your Country?
September 18, 2019 02:22 - 56 minutes - 52.3 MBThis is where things start to get uncomfortable. We are trying actively push ourselves out of our comfort zones on this podcast, and to do that, we are inviting more guests onto the show and letting them pick the topic. Our first real guest of the second season is named Luke Phillips and he identifies as a social conservative and economic liberal, and he suggested for this episode that we talk about patriotism. Things get deep: we talk about what it means to be an American, how patriotism di...
12. The Suffering Episode: Do You Need to Suffer to Live Fully?
September 11, 2019 22:44 - 40 minutes - 55.3 MBI bet you don't really like suffering—that's kind of the definition. But Deondre' thinks it is an integral part of living a full life and relating to others. Hanyu vehemently disagrees and tried to avoid suffering at all cost. Isabel has lived an utterly undeserved life devoid of suffering, failure, or otherwise negative consequences. Except for that one time that has been conveniently edited out of her memory. Tune in to find out if her life is actually vapid and superficial and incapable...
The Suffering Episode: Do You Need to Suffer to Live Fully?
September 11, 2019 22:44 - 40 minutes - 55.3 MBI bet you don't really like suffering—that's kind of the definition. But Deondre' thinks it is an integral part of living a full life and relating to others. Hanyu vehemently disagrees and tried to avoid suffering at all cost. Isabel has lived an utterly undeserved life devoid of suffering, failure, or otherwise negative consequences. Except for that one time that has been conveniently edited out of her memory. Tune in to find out if her life is actually vapid and superficial and incapable...
The Rachel Dolezal Episode: Is Trans-racial a Thing?
September 04, 2019 01:41 - 58 minutes - 54.1 MBWelcome to the second season! So...we didn't mean to make this a clickbaity episode to kick off the second season. We really just wanted to have a discussion about transracialism - honestly when we were brainstorming for this episode, we were just trying to come up with the one thing we disagreed most on. And this notion of transracialism seemed to be the thing. In this first episode with new co-host Deondre' Jones, we go in deep on what race really means, who gets to define your identity, a...
11. The Rachel Dolezal Episode: Is Trans-racial a Thing?
September 04, 2019 01:41 - 57 minutes - 79 MBWelcome to the second season! So...we didn't mean to make this a clickbaity episode to kick off the second season. We really just wanted to have a discussion about transracialism - honestly when we were brainstorming for this episode, we were just trying to come up with the one thing we disagreed most on. And this notion of transracialism seemed to be the thing. In this first episode with new co-host Deondre' Jones, we go in deep on what race really means, who gets to define your identity, a...
10. The Death Episode: YOLO
August 08, 2019 00:48 - 34 minutes - 47 MBThinking about death is one of the best ways to appreciate life. As we round out season 1 with this last episode, we want to leave you with some thoughts on mortality. Isabel has been attending death cafes in the DC area and Meronne has been attending a number of funerals and these have helped us both think about life and the funeral industry and how we commemorate people's lives. There is a saying in Bhutanese culture that goes: to be a happy person, one must contemplate death five times da...
The Death Episode: YOLO
August 08, 2019 00:48 - 35 minutes - 32.5 MBThinking about death is one of the best ways to appreciate life. As we round out season 1 with this last episode, we want to leave you with some thoughts on mortality. Isabel has been attending death cafes in the DC area and Meronne has been attending a number of funerals and these have helped us both think about life and the funeral industry and how we commemorate people's lives. There is a saying in Bhutanese culture that goes: to be a happy person, one must contemplate death five times da...
The Growth Episode: Do We Ever Grow Up?
August 01, 2019 12:23 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBWe associate a lot of things with growing up: becoming more mature, more independent, more wise. But does living more life actually promote these qualities in people? Do you need to have suffered to achieve the elusive state of "wisdom" or can you live a perfectly charmed life and still end up wise? In a society that glorifies youth and youth culture, are these traits we even aspire to have anymore? There are so many ways in which the natural, linear narratives we build for ourselves are fal...
9. The Growth Episode: Do We Ever Grow Up?
August 01, 2019 12:23 - 40 minutes - 55.8 MBWe associate a lot of things with growing up: becoming more mature, more independent, more wise. But does living more life actually promote these qualities in people? Do you need to have suffered to achieve the elusive state of "wisdom" or can you live a perfectly charmed life and still end up wise? In a society that glorifies youth and youth culture, are these traits we even aspire to have anymore? There are so many ways in which the natural, linear narratives we build for ourselves are fal...
The Education Episode: School Isn't Enough
July 23, 2019 02:44 - 40 minutes - 37 MBRaise your hand if you learned the things you really needed to know in school. There's so many things that didn't make it into a class that should have been required reading. How to do your taxes and how to understand other cultures are two examples. And yet here we are in 2019 still taking swim tests and learning math. How can education stay relevant in an age when the job market changes drastically every couple of years? The fact that the jobs of tomorrow haven't been invented yet has give...
8. The Education Episode: School Isn't Enough
July 23, 2019 02:44 - 39 minutes - 53.8 MBRaise your hand if you learned the things you really needed to know in school. There's so many things that didn't make it into a class that should have been required reading. How to do your taxes and how to understand other cultures are two examples. And yet here we are in 2019 still taking swim tests and learning math. How can education stay relevant in an age when the job market changes drastically every couple of years? The fact that the jobs of tomorrow haven't been invented yet has give...
7. The Parenting Episode: Where Do You Draw the Line?
July 10, 2019 15:54 - 36 minutes - 49.9 MBDid your parents ever make you play an instrument growing up? Our parents both did, and it got us talking about how much parents should push their kids to do the things they associate with success and happiness, even if their child doesn't like it. At what point is it pushing them to have self-discipline, and at what point are you just making your kid suffer for no reason? Obviously we are not parents, but we have a lot of opinions on parenting dynamics, going off how we were parented, our ...
The Parenting Episode: Where do you draw the line?
July 10, 2019 15:54 - 37 minutes - 34.4 MBDid your parents ever make you play an instrument growing up? Our parents both did, and it got us talking about how much parents should push their kids to do the things they associate with success and happiness, even if their child doesn't like it. At what point is it pushing them to have self-discipline, and at what point are you just making your kid suffer for no reason? Obviously we are not parents, but we have a lot of opinions on parenting dynamics, going off how we were parented, our ...
6. The Money Episode: What Is It For?
July 03, 2019 12:06 - 52 minutes - 72.5 MBWhat the heck do we need money for? Is being rich ethical? At what point does saving money stop becoming a prudent decision to support yourself and becomes greed? We discuss America's culture of money, philanthropy vs. taxes, the way we were raised to think about money, the classic "what would you do with a million dollars?" question, and whether working hard really has anything to do with what economic class you wind up in. If you have thoughts about this episode, let us know! Tweet us at ...
The Money Episode: What Is It For?
July 03, 2019 12:06 - 53 minutes - 49.7 MBWhat the heck do we need money for? Is being rich ethical? At what point does saving money stop becoming a prudent decision to support yourself and becomes greed? We discuss America's culture of money, philanthropy vs. taxes, the way we were raised to think about money, the classic "what would you do with a million dollars?" question, and whether working hard really has anything to do with what economic class you wind up in. If you have thoughts about this episode, let us know! Tweet us at ...
The Work Episode: Kill the 40 Hour Work Week
June 27, 2019 00:57 - 33 minutes - 30.9 MBKeynes predicted by now we would have a 15 hour work week. What happened? Why are we even using an archaic time-based system for intellectual labor? What's the alternative? Is the workforce of the future going to be dominated by women because they dominate the fields that are hardest to automate, like teaching and caregiving? We talk about all this and other things that are fucked up about the workforce and work culture that Americans just seem to take for granted. Link to Statestarcodex ar...
5. The Work Episode: Kill the 40 Hour Work Week
June 27, 2019 00:57 - 32 minutes - 44.6 MBKeynes predicted by now we would have a 15 hour work week. What happened? Why are we even using an archaic time-based system for intellectual labor? What's the alternative? Is the workforce of the future going to be dominated by women because they dominate the fields that are hardest to automate, like teaching and caregiving? We talk about all this and other things that are fucked up about the workforce and work culture that Americans just seem to take for granted. Link to Statestarcodex ar...
4. The Happiness Episode: Be Bigger Than Yourself
June 19, 2019 22:39 - 33 minutes - 46.4 MBAre you happy? In America, we uphold the values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But then why are we so incapable of attaining, despite our relentless pursuit? We read countless articles and listen to countless podcast episodes trying to guide people in how to be happy, and yet we live in a society that does so little to promote the lifestyles that we know are scientifically proven to make people happy: we live in isolation, don't have the kinds of public spaces other countrie...
The Happiness Episode: Be Bigger Than Yourself
June 19, 2019 22:39 - 34 minutes - 32 MBAre you happy? In America, we uphold the values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But then why are we so incapable of attaining, despite our relentless pursuit? We read countless articles and listen to countless podcast episodes trying to guide people in how to be happy, and yet we live in a society that does so little to promote the lifestyles that we know are scientifically proven to make people happy: we live in isolation, don't have the kinds of public spaces other countrie...
The Relationship Episode: When shit hits the fan, who's ready to pull up?
June 12, 2019 09:00 - 52 minutes - 48.5 MBIn this episode, we GO IN. We shit on marriage, we shit on romance, we shit on apologizing. We talk about why you should shit on your friends more. Basically we shit on everything that likable people typically like, so if you hate us after this episode, we understand. Just kidding, we actually offer up some nuanced commentary on why people should criticize their friends more, the unreasonable expectations in modern romance, the differences in group dynamics vs. one-on-one dynamics, and wheth...
3. The Relationship Episode: When shit hits the fan, who's ready to pull up?
June 12, 2019 09:00 - 51 minutes - 70.8 MBIn this episode, we GO IN. We shit on marriage, we shit on romance, we shit on apologizing. We talk about why you should shit on your friends more. Basically we shit on everything that likable people typically like, so if you hate us after this episode, we understand. Just kidding, we actually offer up some nuanced commentary on why people should criticize their friends more, the unreasonable expectations in modern romance, the differences in group dynamics vs. one-on-one dynamics, and wheth...
2. Good Vs. Evil and the Pressures of Levelling Up
June 05, 2019 03:53 - 33 minutes - 45.6 MBIn this episode we talk about leaving college diploma in hand, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, only to find a lot of the assumptions we had about what was "good" and "evil" were totally oversimplified. Then you go through the emotional roller coaster of trying to derive core principles of what actually matters to you when you want to have a positive impact but also need to balance your quality of life. How can you be happy when the very act of turning what you love into a career sucks out of t...
Good Vs. Evil and the Pressures of Levelling Up
June 05, 2019 03:53 - 34 minutes - 31.5 MBIn this episode we talk about leaving college diploma in hand, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, only to find a lot of the assumptions we had about what was "good" and "evil" were totally oversimplified. Then you go through the emotional roller coaster of trying to derive core principles of what actually matters to you when you want to have a positive impact but also need to balance your quality of life. How can you be happy when the very act of turning what you love into a career sucks out of t...
1. How to be a Villain
May 29, 2019 00:52 - 29 minutes - 40.4 MBThe show is a conversational podcast where we talk about all the things that are fucked up about the status quo in America, with the perspective of the villain (Isabel) and hero (Meronne). In our first episode, we talk about the hero-villain complex, what making an impact means when you were brainwashed to have a very narrow definition of "doing good" in college, and why the world we are moving towards is going to be increasingly built by teams instead of gloried individuals, whether heroe...
How to be a Villain
May 29, 2019 00:52 - 30 minutes - 27.9 MBThe show is a conversational podcast where we talk about all the things that are fucked up about the status quo in America, with the perspective of the villain (Isabel) and hero (Meronne). In our first episode, we talk about the hero-villain complex, what making an impact means when you were brainwashed to have a very narrow definition of "doing good" in college, and why the world we are moving towards is going to be increasingly built by teams instead of gloried individuals, whether heroe...