Archives: “Generation Instant Gratification” with Brigitte Secard

November 18, 2009

November 11, 2009

November 4, 2009

The Naked Truth About Parenting.
(fasten your seatbelts for this show.)

 

October 28, 2009

Faux Humanitarianism + Activism as the New Status Symbol
Do you ever wonder what the people walking the red carpet for 5 star gala charity events are feeling? Chances are, so are they. Because no thinking and sensate individual could possibly be deluded into believing that throwing and attending lavish parties is any intelligent way to change things. Rather, it is only helping one person: the one walking that red carpet who needs to feel like they are impossibly hip to be so poignantly informed and "caring about the plight of others." While, later that night, they will return to their well manicured and luxurious lives. And the following morning: driving their Lexus hybrid SUV to their comfortably paid non-profit job, donning their Free Tibet bumper sticker, and Hispanic nanny in the back seat with their child.

It would all be a terrible, laughable parody if only it weren't so true and rampant.

All one has to do is watch someone interact with a person living on the streets... and you will see the narrative of our entire society in full effect.

Also to be discussed> Why environmental activists are chasing their tails and neglecting the real cause of planetary peril.

Music by: Weezer, Maiysha, Nine Inch Nails, and Brasileiro.

October 21, 2009

Fire Your Guru.
It is horrible that an issue in which I have been ringing the bell about for quite some time has now yielded a very tragic outcome in a recent story splashed all across the news. Surely you have seen it: it is the story of the self-help guru, whose seminar in a sweat lodge KILLED PEOPLE.

As much as it is a shock for people to hear, I am saying it loud and clear: Self-Help is a profit machine.

This topic is quite personal to me, as it is the very reason I am so on fire to bring this message to the world. I have seen firsthand how ridiculous and dark and exploitive this field has become. It is a full fledged industry, gleefully building businesses out of the suffering of the masses. So yes, tonight's show is quite a fiery call out... Gurus should pack their bags, because they are about to be evicted, fired, and retired! But one small note: that can only happen if people stop going to them. Hence, why it is crucial you listen to tonight's show. After all, who hasn't gone to a seminar, healer, psychic, guru, etc etc etc? Exactly. Everyone has, and we truly need to understand the danger implicit in how quickly and easily we give ourselves away. Especially to those who charge by the hour.

It is time for us to stop leaving our house to go home.

Discussing: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33415987/ns/us_news-life/ and of course, http://generationinstantgratification.com/2009/04/06/gurus-are-spiritual-drug-dealers/

Music by: Incubus (oh yeah), Bob Marley, Bei Bei & Shawn Lee, and Raheem

 

October 7, 2009

On Modern Human Suffering.
Ask anyone what they think of when they hear the words: "Human Suffering." Invariably, the responses will be "Oh, those poor people in (fill in the blank) of either A) Africa, B) Mexico, or C) India." It is usually delivered with a furrowed brow at how tragic the lives of those people are in countries they have either never visited... or went there once on safari or some other vacation. There is in our society, far and wide, zero comprehension of what suffering truly is. Because you will never hear someone actually respond with the answer of, themselves.

This show and topic is perhaps the most crucial and relevant not only of this project, but let it be clearly said: it is the most important topic of our modern world. The definition of modern human suffering is at the very nucleus of every other major issue we are contending with as a culture, and, in ourselves. We have mixed together pain and suffering into one disastrous cocktail, and they must both be clearly discerned, identified and understood. This theme has come to define our lives in the 21st century; yet no one has ever been so audacious as to claim that a cure for human suffering exists.... until now. I have said it before: The Buddha only went half way. = Life is NOT suffering. It is neither inevitable or necessary. As shocking and unprecedented as it is to say, I am now joyously saying it: there IS another way for the human condition. !Welcome to it!

Because ultimately: You cannot awaken what you don’t know is asleep.

Discussing: http://generationinstantgratification.com/this-is-for-you/

Music: Me’shell Ndegeocello, Three Days Grace, The Bravery, and Oumou Sangare.

September 30, 2009

The Anatomy of Depression, Part II.
There is an interesting phenomenon afoot in Hollywood... We are now seeing a spate of films and shows based upon a most curious dynamic: therapists seeing therapists. Doctors who are severely unwell. And self-help leaders who are displaying a foul mixture of personal confusion combined with unflinching arrogance in their open handed collection of money from all those people they are yes, "teaching how to live." (Ah, such a timeless theme: the filching of self-help and gurus.) Shows and films like: House. In Treatment. Love Happens. Rescue Me. And the recently released Kevin Spacey movie that shows the swollen underbelly of this theme in full view: Shrink. Profiting off of the suffering of others, while you yourself are suffering and unable to effectually help anyone, is a perilous reality on display throughout much of our culture.
 
Our society is clearly blanketed in anxiety and depression, yet, if our known modalities for dealing with these challenges are revealing themselves to be inherently flawed and very limited... then where do we as a culture go from here?
 
Cue the Generation Instant Gratification theme song = because THAT is why this project exists. To introduce new models, solutions, and paradigms(!) For it is truly about time someone said it: if depression hurts, then perhaps Cymbalta is not really the best answer after all.
 
Tonight, our interview guest is Charles Barber of Yale University, author of Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry is Medicating A Nation; who has appeared in The Huffington Post, The Nation, NPR, and The Daily Beast.

Discussing: http://generationinstantgratification.com/2009/04/06/the-new-normal/
 
Music: Pink Floyd, Beady Belle, Billie Holiday, and Bjork.

September 23, 2009

THE TASTY COMBO OF DIET COKE AND HEALTH CARE.
Which of the following is not like the others? Red Bull. Diet Coke. Cigarettes. Krispy Cremes. Pot. Iced Mocha Frappucino. Cheese Danish. Jack Daniels. In'N'Out. Health Care. Macaroni and Cheese.

Hmmm, tough one. However, if you picked 'Health Care' as the one least like the others, you would be absolutely correct. Because what is supremely amazing in all of this fervent national debate on Health Care Reform, is that no one is looking at the most flagrant root cause of our insanely ballooning fiscal reality for health insurance: US. Yep, kind of funny how the acronym of the United States truly is us. Except it is isn't comedic at all when a significant portion of our economy is being spent on avoiding the obvious. Yes, tonight's show is definitely a Health 911! = Mighty important topic, and this show will give you the tangible tools to turn this boat around from our everyday crisis management of what for most people has become: hellth, and into getting fully alive and strong!! Socrates spoke "may the inner and outer be as one." How 'bout we taste some of that wisdom pie?

Discussing: http://generationinstantgratification.com/2009/04/06/the-new-normal/

Music by: The Smiths, Foo Fighters, Cake (of course), Alison Crockett.

September 16, 2009

Save The Drama For The Popcorn.
Show of hands for those of us who have seen more drama in our families and the relationships around us, than that of a soap opera acting audition? Yeah, I thought so: everyone. No one is exempt anymore from the mind boggling miniseries-like sagas of couples, neighbors, siblings, and friends. It has become a never ending hourglass of drama in these here days of our lives. No wonder we are so emptied and migraine laden. Drama and busyness are the bookends that encompass most of our lives as we navigate in between the events on our calendars, as well as figuring out what we are going to say to the people that are going to be there. Really: how many people are tired of going to weddings when they already know the relationship is a disaster? And, why is this so important again? Because: these are generally the people procreating, and we, as a society, must learn how to stop enabling all of this drama and denial, because this generation is paying the price. And it is a steep one. Therefore, on behalf of kids everywhere: this show is a big giant call-out.

Tune in and hear how to get Drama Free = Yippee!! Seriously, let some real life begin already. Manufactured crises are truly unnecessary and they ruin the contrast for when we do go to the movies to see scripted drama that is, in fact, meant to be entertaining.

We will be discussing: http://generationinstantgratification.com/2009/04/06/desperate-is-not-cute-and-drama-is-not-fun/

Music from MGMT, Christine Anu, Frou Frou, Alison Crockett.

RECENT SHOWS

September 9, 2009

WHAT IS SEXY?
Flip the hair. Suck it in. Smile slightly. Hit the gas when the light turns green. These and a million other instructions of what is supposed to make us look sexy, are in constant rotation in the back of our minds. Advertising, culture, and our own upbringing both in school and at home, taught us young that life is a stage that we never seem to exit. In adulthood it is a surreal awareness then, when we finally come to the realization that yes, we are still incessantly working the room for that silent and ever coveted applause. However, when you juxtapose that with how unsexy the overwhelming majority feel within themselves on a day to day basis, (check those new rising sexless statistics anyone?), we have a bit of a cultural quandry. This is right where we need to hear some crooning from say, Tony Bennett, singing “Are You Having Any Fun?” And so he will, as this show is dedicated to bringing the sexy back where it belongs: in your life.

+ Music from Arctic Monkeys, The Tings Tings, Pitbull and Yeasayer.

August 26, 2009

THE INFIDELITY SHOCKER
What do you think is the real reason that people cheat? After a whole lot of speculation and postulation and multiple other forms of something-ation in our society, no one still has a freaking clue as to how it all falls apart or how to really see it coming and right the ship, before the iceberg ultimately hits.

No wonder, with all the infidelity scandals continuously populating Congress and splashed across every other tabloid relationship in Hollywood. It seems we have normalized the belief that eventually people will either cheat or inevitably tire of each other, and duh... trade up. Now, is this a dismal reveal of the failure of monogamy or, are we really just that blind when it comes to relationships? We never seem to see it coming, yet somehow we always knew it all along.

Join us for what is sure to be a scintillating and eye opening hour on the shocking truth at the root of infidelity; you will hear a conversation and solutions on this topic that are sure to be the first of their kind. Listen to get your relationship first-aid and preventive help. Because this here is the kind of health care you can believe in. Ah, if only that was funny. (Oh yes, that topic will be coming in the weeks ahead.) Anyway, this show will definitely be a zinger that you won't want to miss. Unless, that is, you enjoy finding an inbox full of emails that make you want to throw up your breakfast. Fun times.

Life is far too short to be with anyone who doesn't move you to the sky, that you have the best sex of your life with, and who you can trust with every password ya got— not to mention your heart. You deserve nothing less.

Tonight's music = Puddle of Mudd, Esthero, Days Ahead and Arcade Fire.

August 19, 2009

Fertility Gone Wild
It is tempting to look at Octomom or Jon and Kate Plus 8, as if it all is some bizarre spectacle of an extreme and unusual premise. If only. The flagrant taboo of our culture is to call out how the typical modern woman has become a botoxing, spray tanning, and carefully highlighted fertility machine. And she will not stop until she has her 2.5 (or oops, that Clomid sure is potent), er— 5.5 children/husband package secured. We are oh so accustomed to hearing about the horrors of women in one half of the world in conditions of archaic oppression that obviously requires great change, but why does no one ever address the horrors of modern day womanhood which is anything but kind and nurturing. Pregorexia, anyone?

This is the show you will want to hear before you watch the Octomom special tonight, in order to connect the dots to a much larger social commentary. Yep, I am absolutely going there, and all the way. It is about time that we bring to light, say, that according to a recent study: one in four pregnancies are intentional by the woman but not by the man. Wow. The cultural mythology of woman as wide-eyed victim must be blown open so that we can finally see the long denied truth. The quest for instant gratification in a culture of disconnected women is a very dangerous thing. Ladies, it is not all about you. Just ask your kids.

Music by Cobra Starship, Artful Dodger, Rolling Stones and Zaki Ibrahim.

Discussing: http://generationinstantgratification.com/2009/04/06/womanhood-in-crisis/

August 12, 2009

Anatomy of Depression
All one has to do is look at the facts: 237 million prescriptions were written for anti-depressants last year. In the last ten years, the number of people taking anti-depressants have doubled. 6 month old babies are now being diagnosed as depressed. Today, the word itself gets tossed about in conversation as casually as if ordering coffee. No one seems to notice what is actually the truth: This is a cultural epidemic. So I am asking the question which no one else will— How much of Mental Illness is all in your head? What if the reality is: that there is only a small percentage of people who are certifiably mentally ill, and the rest of us are addicted to the IDEA of taking a pill to feel better and/or keep ourselves together? We are taking pills for what we believe to be anxiety and depression, never understanding that for a substantial majority... we will never get back off of them.

This is not conjecture or opinion, this is science. There are now new scientific findings confirming what I have been saying for a lifetime: we are not victims to our own biology. Neuro-chemistry is revealing stunning new information about the relationship between behavior and biology, upending our conventional notions and often deeply entrenched justification for those pills we are throwing back with every meal.

This will be a two-part show because this is obviously a topic of enormous importance for our society. And in Part II of the show to be aired in the weeks to come, we will be hearing from a woman studying to become a therapist. I will also be interviewing the author of “Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry Is Medicating A Nation,” Charles Barber, who writes for The Huffington Post and was recently featured on NPR and The Daily Beast.

August 5, 2009

Multi-Tasking Madness: Step away from the iPhone.
Do you think that doing more, being busier, going faster, and doing it all at the very same time makes you more productive? Of course you and everyone else on the planet are all probably nodding your heads vigorously to this. Well, perhaps everyone has not thought about this question and outrightly answered yes— but if you look at the actions (and health) of our population worldwide, it is abundantly clear we are all riding the Go-Faster-Frenzied-System-Overloaded Train. Because when Bill Withers sang the song “Watching you, watching me,” it is highly doubtful he meant for the people around us to partake in how cool we look chatting away on our blackberry.

What is the real impact of technology on our relationships and lives? Are we a slave to the many gadgets ringing and beeping around us? Do you find it difficult to unplug or put your ringer on silent? Why?

Join us for a discussion on the very real issues of how our societal obsession with staying in touch has taken us totally out of touch from life right in front of us. We will be discussing the stories of recent days about cell phone texting/talking and driving, and the actual causes at the root of this issue. Which, of course, no one else is talking about. Ergo, why you need to listen = so you can be a part of the solution, not the problem. And everyone around you will be so impressed by your new found relaxed focus and composure that they will want to know what new medication you are taking. (Um, just kidding.)

Music for this show: Talking Heads, Sy Smith, Amanda Ghost and Lenny Kravitz. Discussing: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31853449/?GT1=43001

July 22, 2009

Money and In$tant Gratification.
What is the real reason behind the Financial Meltdown? Newsweek doesn't know. The nightly news doesn't know. Even our political leaders are missing the most important component to solving this economic crisis. Listen to this show to hear for yourself just what it is that no one else is talking about. (Hint: Tyler Durden would be jumping up and down for joy.) On this show, we will also be discussing the difference between the ideological schools of Keynesian Economics and Austrian Economics and the functional implications of both; as well as hearing the introduction to the new paradigm of "Trickle Up Economics."

Music will include songs by MSI, Kaori, Cassandra Wilson and Annie Lennox. Because, where else are you going to hear punk, jazz, and the toughest challenges confronting the human condition: deconstructed, and all wrapped up in one show? Exactly.

To be discussed on air: http://generationinstantgratification.com/2009/04/06/the-real-god-in-which-we-trust-and-worship/

Interview Guest: Lew Rockwell, Chairman and Founder of the world renowned Mises Institute. www.Mises.org

July 15, 2009

What is your PQ?
Why is it that there are so few human beings at peace?? We all know that people pride themselves in a high I.Q., yet what does this really have to do with the type of human being you are? Study after study shows that the more intelligent people are, the less likely they are to be fulfilled or feel passionate about life. What is extremely key information + relevant to one’s quality of life, is to determine what your P.Q. is: your Peace Quotient, which indicates your degree of self-connection. This is, in fact, the foundation to everything else in your life: health, love relationships, career, sex life, and overall well-being and aliveness = the good stuff. We will be exploring: Are you living in your head? Read every self-help book but still don’t know how to deal with your anger? What is a trigger? Are you managing your life, or are you living it? +Have you had your life orgasm today?

Today’s show is all about bringing the statement Be The Change You Want To See In The World, into a contemporary application. (Finally.) We will also be discussing the article: http://generationinstantgratification.com/2009/04/06/the-question-that-is-the-giant-elephant-in-the-room/

Bring your inner Howard Beale, and listen to a show that will prevent you from feverishly flinging any windows open and yelling out of them.

July 8, 2009

The Roots of Violence:
It is time to put the word Civilized back into Civilization. We know the 8th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution prohibits the federal government from inflicting “cruel and unusual punishment”... yet, how many of us have normalized the presence of cruelty in our daily lives? Whether it is during our commute (road rage), dealing with co-workers (those lunchtime cliques), at school (bullying), or in our relationships (break out those passive aggressive party hats); pretty much everyone has been there and done that, it turns out. Violence is a many layered dynamic-- and whether it is happening in our homes or on the streets, the only way to evolve beyond it as an automatic reflex, is to understand accurately its origins. Because ‘human landmines’ are no longer the exception: they have have become the rule. Just take a look around. Our cultural statistics and realities clearly require the new solutions this project is dedicated to bringing.

Q: What do you get when you evolve the theories of Mohandas Gandhi to meet the spectacular challenges of 21st century modern life?
A: Tune in and find out.

We will be discussing the article: http://generationinstantgratification.com/2009/04/06/denial-is-the-greatest-danger-of-all/

July 1, 2009

Where does The Pursuit of Happiness ultimately lead? Did anyone ever stop to think that maybe just maybe happiness is not the equivalent of arriving at “the mountaintop” of personal achievement? That perhaps, the Dalai Llama with all of his books on Happiness with the capital H, has it all mixed up? We are sold and told for all of our lives that the most important thing in life, is: to be happy. Therefore, isn’t it about time we took a probing look at such a sentiment, considering the societal reality that those three little words in the U.S. Constitution have now yielded for our own country, as well as the impact we have on the rest of the world? American Beauty was not just a movie, but a thorough indictment of what I call our cultural case of severe Donald Trump-itis. We are addicted to success, and it shows. We will be discussing the article http://generationinstantgratification.com/2009/04/06/happiness-is-a-crackpipe-our-high-the-picture-of-a-life/. Be prepared to be challenged to the truth. And to like it.

June 17, 2009

Racism in the Post-Racial 21st Century.
Can Racism be solved? You will want to tune in for this hour of a brave and bold discussion on the unspoken reality of Racism in America, circa 2009. Because it must finally be said: sparkly speeches and swapping stereotypes are not the same thing as actual, substantive societal change. Our guests will include the esteemed Dr. Horace Huntley, Director of the Oral History Project for the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute as well as television host and celebrity chef to President Clinton, Yitzhak Rabin, the Oscars, and NAACP Image Award recipient: Chef Gerry Garvin.

We will be examining the article Rainbows and Butterflies Are Not A Solution: http://generationinstantgratification.com/2009/04/06/racism-is-over/ which spans topics such as political correctness and racism in the Obama era, the legacy of Malcolm X, Frantz Fanon, the contrast between Phyllis Hyman and Amy Winehouse, the Congo and the Holocaust, and why Dave Chappelle is a very wise man.

June 10, 2009

Self-Helpless: Cutting out the middle-man to yourself.
Why following gurus, scripts, laws, and affirmations usually leads one place: to someone's bank account = selling you enlightenment.
+Activism Re-Defined. “Mindfulness” gets a big ol’ makeover.
And: Why turning off the news is never a solution.
Discussing: http://generationinstantgratification.com/2009/04/06/gurus-are-spiritual-drug-dealers

 

June 3, 2009

LOVE is more than a word.
Yes Virginia, there really is such a thing as a drama free, grenade-less love relationship. (phew.) Why then, are there so many marriages that are the non-entertaining version of the BBC, (as in: bitter, boring, and brrrr cold.) Why is true love an endangered species? Why are the two words Love Yourself, something everyone knows but no one seems to know what the heck they mean in practical application? This show will be examining a culture of hooking up and hooking into each other: the concept of Romanticizing Dependency. Also will be focusing on friendships (can you break up with friends?) and the state of our relationships, overall. And, drumroll... there will indeed be a mystery guest from the real life trenches of love!
Discussing: http://generationinstantgratification.com/2009/04/06/desperate-is-not-cute-and-drama-is-not-fun/

 

May 27, 2009

Addiction
Why is everyone popping pills??
To quote Radiohead,”Is Down The New Up?’ Is addiction the new normal? And, is taking another pill to help us stop taking pills, really that great of an idea? We will be discussing: http://generationinstantgratification.com/2009/04/06/the-new-normal/

Special Guest is Alesandra Rain, the creator and founder of the truly inspired organization Point Of Return, helping people to free themselves naturally from the unintended addiction to anti-depressants, sleeping pills, pain pills, and other prescription drugs that have permeated our culture. Tune in to hear an unusually honest conversation about the truth of addiction and how you can be a part of the solution for the world around you, and in your own life.

May 20, 2009

S-E-X
A must-listen for women AND men!! Gather round the campfire, because too few bells are being rung and this is no bien. Do you know the song (Kings of Leon)"Sex On Fire"? You sure will after this show, in more ways than one.
Discussion of: http://generationinstantgratification.com/2009/04/06/womanhood-in-crisis/

Guests (including one of the top plastic surgeons in Beverly Hills discussing his insights on the Modern Woman as well as Andrea Sanzo, the owner of Sensuous Beauty, joining us for the second half of the show) + Listener Call In.

May 13 2009

Kick-Off Show, live from Hollywood
Introduction of this project + Listener Call-In

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