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“Avoid talking about politics and religion” is such a boring cliche. It’s not helpful. Obviously, it’s prudent to know when to give in to that rule, because meaningless fighting is the real problem with a discussion about politics or religion. When it comes to politics and religion, differentiation should be the goal. In this episode of Factory Settings, Bridget and Jeren dive into religion, God, moderation, Catholicism, a Higher Power, and how to manage —all of the stuff, and more. We’re living through an era of infernal Discourse. This episode is an example of how to escape it. QUESTIONS Bridget * If you’re celebrating Lent, what are you giving up? And if you’re not celebrating Lent, or religion at all—whatever you need to access your higher self: What are some distractions in your life? What’s distracting you? Jeren * What’s one thing in your life that you would better for, if you gave up? Is there something you’re doing that you shouldn’t be doing? Or if you did less of it, or gave it up, it would allow you to access some other part of yourself or achieve something—what would that be? MENTIONED “The Lord’s Prayer” from The Sermon On The Mount by Emmet Fox The War of Art by Steven Pressfield “Bill’s Story” from The Big Book - Audio Version Humbuggery Substack by Father Tom Miller Beyond Parody with Bridget Phetasy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.phetasy.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.phetasy.com Bridget and Jeren discuss their diverging relationships with AA as they approach 13 and 9 years of sobriety, respectively, exploring what it means to feel “dry” (acting like a drunk without drinking) and how resentments, control issues, and the loss of spiritual connection can creep in during long-term recovery. QUESTIONS How does a normie kind of do this…

The Epstein news cycle has captivated Bridget in a way that it hasn’t captivated Jeren. Why? Why do we latch on to certain stories, but not others? QUESTIONS Where are you at with the Epstein Files? If you are captivated by the Epstein Files, why? How did you get to that place? If you’re not interested: Why? What makes you go, “Don’t care”? And, whatever you believe, why do you want to believe it? What are you getting from the Epstein Files? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.phetasy.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.phetasy.com In a hilarious return episode Jeren finally sits down and explains to Bridget how Dungeons & Dragons and other Role Playing Games work. Her endless questions include; Does sex come into the campaigns? What happens if I just walk up and stab the guy in the tavern? What does a Dungeon Master actually do? And so many more. Questions: Have you ever played a …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.phetasy.com Bridget Phetasy and her co-host/husband Jeren Montgomery, a licensed marriage & family therapist, have a fun catch up conversation about their lives lately, what they’ve been reading, what they’ve been watching, the general loss of our ability to focus, the different types of science fiction, and the form and function of art as a means of protest and in…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.phetasy.com Bridget Phetasy and her co-host/husband Jeren Montgomery, a licensed marriage & family therapist, discuss technology this week. They cover what it’s like to raise a young child in today’s technology environment, the rise of AI, the debate about screen time, the number of technological shifts that occurred during their lifetimes, which new technologies b…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.phetasy.com This episode will remain open to the public for 2 weeks and then go behind the paywall. Bridget Phetasy and her co-host/husband Jeren Montgomery, a licensed marriage & family therapist, decided to talk about optimism this week to bring a little more positivity into the world. They discuss whether being in the real world is a more optimistic place than be…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.phetasy.com This episode will remain open to the public for 2 weeks and then go behind the paywall. Bridget Phetasy and her co-host/husband Jeren Montgomery, a licensed marriage & family therapist, discuss discipline this week. They talk about their first exposure to the concept, what it looks like to them, whether they agree with the idea that discipline equals fre…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.phetasy.com This episode will remain open to the public for 2 weeks and then go behind the paywall. Bridget Phetasy and her co-host/husband Jeren Montgomery, a licensed marriage & family therapist, discuss pets this week. They talk about the ups and downs of pet ownership, their first pets, having traumatic experiences with pets, and how their dog Hope changed both …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.phetasy.com Bridget Phetasy and her co-host/husband Jeren Montgomery, a licensed marriage & family therapist, talk about the gifts they’ve found in sobriety. They discuss how they feel about the phrase “this too shall pass,” the relationship between stoicism and some of the AA teachings, recognizing that sobriety wouldn’t just automatically solve your problems, the…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.phetasy.com Bridget Phetasy and her co-host/husband Jeren Montgomery, a licensed marriage & family therapist, discuss self-awareness this week. They debate whether self-awareness alone will help you change your subconscious patterns, bad habits and things that hold you back, the importance of building trust with yourself, humility vs. low self-esteem, overcoming fe…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.phetasy.com Bridget Phetasy and her co-host/husband Jeren Montgomery, a licensed marriage & family therapist sit down to discuss being late bloomers. They talk about giving up on themselves, failing young, and how living in such a youthful culture can make it feel like you missed the boat if you haven’t gotten your career together and found the love of your life by…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.phetasy.com Bridget Phetasy and her co-host/husband Jeren Montgomery, a licensed marriage & family therapist, talk about the “f**k its” this week. They discuss what they are, where they come from, how they fight them, and when they surrender to them. They cover maintaining a routine and allowing for slips off the beam, letting yourself down, getting the “f**k its” …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.phetasy.com Bridget Phetasy and her co-host/husband Jeren Montgomery, a licensed marriage & family therapist, finish their discussion of the 3 pillars for mental and physical well-being by talking about exercise. They cover the sports they played as kids, how active they were, how active their parents were, when they actually had to start consciously focusing on ex…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.phetasy.com Bridget Phetasy and her co-host/husband Jeren Montgomery, a licensed marriage & family therapist, talk about sleep as one of the 3 pillars for mental and physical well-being. They discuss how much sleep contributes to mental health - probably more than the average person realizes, what their sleeping patterns were like as children, what their sleeping p…