Shrinking America

Shrinking America
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Three millennial psychiatrists, military veterans, and friends break down what feels alive in America, right now, through a biopsychosocial lens. Check out more at https://www.shrinkingamerica.org  or https://www.instagram.com/shrinkingamerica

Episodes

  1. 4d ago

    Episode 6: The Hero's Journey

    Send us Fan Mail Several influences seemed to coalesce to lead us to creating this episode on the Hero’s Journey. There was the release of The Odyssey, which has grossed $1.4 billion worldwide, arguing there’s something in our collective psyche still drawing us to this original blueprint for the Epic. It also seemed like a natural follow-on from our last episode on Aggression, where we recognized the importance of Heroes who can help channel natural aggressive impulses toward prosocial acts. And then there was the happy circumstance that one of our beloved co-residents, Dr. Matthew Richter, was stopping in for a visit. Matt, who is also a millennial psychiatrist, military veteran, and friend, is a bit of an expert in this field. Be forewarned--with a fourth host, we digress and wander a lot in this episode--maybe fitting as we journey through the subject matter. And, like the best stories, we don’t always start at the beginning. In this one, we drop right in the thick of it.  Deeper Learning Points:  The Hero With A Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell: “In this study of the myth of the archetypal hero, Campbell posits the existence of a “monomyth” (a word he borrows from James Joyce), a universal pattern that is the essence of, and common to, heroic tales in every culture.”The Denial of Death, Ernest Becker: “ ‘The denial of death’ is a phrase from Ernest Becker, and the title of his most famous book, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1974. Becker’s book focuses on how we human beings develop strategies to fend off awareness of our mortality and vulnerability and to escape into the feeling that we’re immortal.”Nietzsche and the Nihilistic Crisis🧰 Narrative Therapy🧰 Logotherapy and Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl: “Dr. Frankl explains the experience which led to his discovery of logotherapy. As a longtime prisoner in bestial concentration camps he found himself stripped to naked existence. His father, mother, brother, and his wife died in camps or were sent to the gas ovens, so that, excepting for his sister, his entire family perished in these camps. How could he—every possession lost, every value destroyed, suffering from hunger, cold and brutality, hourly expecting extermination—how could he find life worth preserving? Answers About Maps: 1:25,000 shows a smaller area in more detailIndividualistic vs Collectivistic Cultures: “In individualistic societies, wiping away negative feelings is the gold standard of care; in collectivistic frameworks, unpleasant emotions are preserved as vital instruments for self-improvement, relationship building, and existential meaning.”Strong Ground, Brene Brown: “You have to learn to steer into the slide, because there is no ‘if this, then that’ equation that works out at this stage in human history. There too many variables that you’re never going to have control over.”Harry Potter: “It was important, Dumbledore said, to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then could evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated…”Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert: “In the end, I’ve come to believe in something I call the ‘physics of the quest’, a force in nature governed by the laws of gravity. The rules of quest physics goes something like this: If you’re brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting and set out on a truth seeking journey either internally or externally, and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher and if you are prepared most of all to face and forgive some of the most difficult realities about yourself, then the truth will not be witheld from you”🧰 Carl Jung’s concept of the Shadow: “People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own souls. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”…join us in Episode 8 to learn more about the Shadow!

  2. Aug 19

    Episode 5: Aggression

    Send us Fan Mail Aggression rose to the top of our early episode list without us fully knowing why — maybe because, as psychiatrists, we see it almost everywhere. In its many forms, it's something we humans tend to deny, push aside, or bury deep — until it explodes, or quietly controls us. So why does aggression matter, in America, in 2026? Most of us can point to reasons — from school shootings and war to our own homes and relationships. But aggression isn't uniquely American, and it isn't entirely bad. It's primal — think fight or flight — and it's protective. It tells us when something is wrong. And when channeled wisely, it can fuel creativity, leadership, and change. The challenge for each of us as individuals, and for us as a nation, is to learn to own it. That means looking it in the face, even when we'd rather not, and manging it even when we like the feeling of letting it run free. It means taking the time to understand it, because it often hides another emotion — like fear or sadness. Like everything in this podcast, we're going here because a conversation this uncomfortable might be exactly the one we need to have. Deeper Learning Points:  Obama Center Opening, Michelle’s Speech: "The truth of this country lies... in the overwhelming goodness, the relentless striving, the quiet dignity that is inside all of us." The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama"When they go low..." quote context“Best Boy” Syndrome: “It’s the idea that young, closeted men deflect attention from their sexuality by investing in recognized markers of success: good grades, athletic achievement, elite employment and so on. Overcompensating in competitive arenas affords these men a sense of self-worth that their concealment diminishes.” (NYT, 2013)Idiot Compassion: “ Idiot compassion is a great expression, which was actually coined by Trungpa Rinpoche. It refers to something we all do a lot of and call it compassion. In some ways, it’s what's called enabling. It’s the general tendency to give people what they want because you can’t bear to see them suffering.”The Gift of Violence by Matt ThorntonAdler, Power and Tyranny: “Imagine a world where the most ruthless dictators, the most demanding bosses, and the most controlling partners are not driven by genuine strength, but by something far more fragile. What if their outward displays of power were, in fact, a desperate attempt to mask a deep-seated feeling of inadequacy? This is the unsettling yet profound territory explored by Alfred Adler, the often-overlooked pioneer of individual psychology, and the man who gave us a radically different understanding of human motivation.”Martial Arts and Aggression: “Traditional Chinese [martial arts] emphasizes the integration of internal cultivation and external form, balancing strength with flexibility. Beyond combat techniques, it embodies philosophical principles and cultural traditions, often incorporating moral education and the concept of ‘martial virtue’ (Wu De), which fosters character development and ethical conduct”Brene Brown and VulnerabilityWhy Sensitivity Is a Strength in BoysThis Jungian Life: “...lively, sometimes irreverent conversations about a wide range of topics and dream analysis through the lens of depth psychology provided by Carl Jung.” The Witch Trials of JK RowlingRapprochement: “Mahler speculated that the normal developmental process of separation-individuation led young toddlers to experience ambivalence when needing comforting contact with a caregiver. She labeled this period of characteristic ambivalence the rapprochement subphase of the separation-individuation process, roughly spanning the developmental period from 15 to 24 months of age”Violence Before and After COVIDThe King Archetype, The Tyrant Archetype: “Unlike the King archetype which creates and blesses others, the Tyrant seeks to destroy and tear down. Plagued by narcissism, he really does think that he sits at the center of the universe. The Tyrant wrongly believes that power is finite; he has a scarcity mentality. He doesn’t understand the truth–that power and influence actually increase the more you share it with others. Thus the burden of maintaining his fragile illusion of absolute power makes him very insecure; any threat to his authority and supremacy enrages him and causes him to lash out with abuse–physically, emotionally, or mentally.”Scott Galloway and MasculinityThinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel KahnemanStanford Prison Experiment Philip Zimbardo TED Talk: The Psychology of EvilStanley Milgrim: “Contradicting the predictions of every expert he polled , Milgram found that more than seventy percent of the subjects administered what they thought might be fatal shocks to an innocent stranger. Collectively known as The Milgram Experiment, this groundbreaking work demonstrated the human tendency to obey commands issued by an authority figure, and more generally, the tendency for behavior to be controlled more by the demands of the situation than by idiosyncratic traits of the person.”

  3. Aug 5

    Episode 4: Community

    Send us Fan Mail Welcome, Shrinking America community, to the community episode! We had a running joke that we would just keep mentioning the community episode without ever actually recording it. And then we quickly realized this was a bit of a metaphor. It's much easier to talk about wanting more community, but the real work of building it can be just that…work. In this episode we try to use our own experience in building a community through podcasting to explore the possible roadblocks, the biological and psychological drives that lead us to seek out connection, and even small, actionable steps that can help us move toward creating a community we can all rely on. Full disclosure, this was actually our second time recording the community episode, because the first go-around didn't foster much, well, community. But as a quote from Woody Allen (misattributed to Woody Harrelson in this episode) states: "Eighty percent of success is showing up." So join us as we show up again, while exploring the therapeutic concept of rupture and repair,  to give building community together another shot. We hope you'll feel inspired to connect with us, as well as your fellow Americans, in our ongoing effort to form “a more perfect union."  Deeper Learning Points Atomic HabitsBowling Alone "In a groundbreaking book based on vast data, Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and our democratic structures– and how we may reconnect.”Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection “John T. Cacioppo’s groundbreaking research topples one of the pillars of modern medicine and psychology: the focus on the individual as the unit of inquiry. By employing brain scans, monitoring blood pressure, and analyzing immune function, he demonstrates the overpowering influence of social context—a factor so strong that it can alter DNA replication."Corrective Emotional Experience “A corrective emotional experience occurs when an individual experiences a healthier interaction with a therapist than they did with significant figures in their past, such as parents or caregivers. This shift allows patients to revisit painful emotions in a safe, supportive environment, promoting healing and growth.”Exposure Therapy “Exposure therapy is a psychological treatment that was developed to help people confront their fears. When people are fearful of something, they tend to avoid the feared objects, activities or situations. Although this avoidance might help reduce feelings of fear in the short term, over the long term it can make the fear become even worse.”Big 5 Personality TraitsSex Differences in the Impact of Physical Pain RelieversVANGELISTI, A.L., PENNEBAKER, J.W., BRODY, N. and GUINN, T.D. (2014), Reducing social pain: Sex differences in the impact of physical pain relievers. Pers Relationship, 21: 349-363. Dunbar's Number “The theory of Dunbar’s number holds that we can only really maintain about 150 connections at once. But is the rule true in today’s world of social media?”Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari "Homo sapiens rules the world because it is the only animal that can believe in things that exist purely in its own imagination, such as gods, states, money, and human rights. Starting from this provocative idea, Sapiens goes on to retell the history of our species from a completely fresh perspective."Social BatteryOur Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation (2023) by Dr. Vivek H Murthy 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States.DBT Interpersonal Effectiveness SkillsTribe by Sebastian Junger “We have a strong instinct to belong to small groups defined by clear purpose and understanding--"tribes." This tribal connection has been largely lost in modern society, but regaining it may be the key to our psychological survival.”Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

  4. Jul 22

    Episode 3: The American Dream

    Send us Fan Mail For our first real "topic" episode, we decided to start with the American Dream. Maybe we chose it because we thought it’d be a hopeful topic and we want this podcast to be hopeful. But we also quickly got to the dark underbelly of the subject and that also just feels real for our times. But let’s back up and begin with a question.  What is the American Dream? It’s a phrase so woven into our cultural fabric that we rarely stop to ask where it actually came from — or what it originally meant. The term was coined by a historian named James Truslow Adams in his 1931 book The Epic of America. And, notably, Adams wasn’t talking white picket fences. He was describing something closer to a social promise — a society where every person, regardless of where they were born or who their parents were, could reach their fullest potential. A better life — with the emphasis on life, not on the material trappings of it. So we dive in to reviewing what this idea holds for each of us personally — and then explore how alive it is at large in the American consciousness today. We get into what it can ignite in us, and the vulnerabilities it can exploit or lay bare. Just a quick reminder that this episode was still quite early in our process, so you’ll still hear a lot of behind-the-scenes, working out our process talk but we wanted to leave that in because well — quite frankly we think it can be valuable to get a glimpse at us, working out our own dream of making this podcast a reality, in our own raw and vulnerable way. Deeper Learning Points The concept of The American Dream: “In 1931 a historian named James Truslow Adams set out to make sense of the crisis of the Great Depression, which in 1931 was both an economic crisis and a looming political crisis…for Adams, worshipping material success was not the definition of the American dream: It was, by contrast, the failure of ‘the American dream of a better, richer, and happier life for all our citizens of every rank.’ Adams did not mean “richer” materially, but spiritually; he distinguished the American dream from dreams of prosperity. It was, he declared, ‘not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.’”The Statue of Liberty HistoryThe New Colossus by Emma Lazarus: “...Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”A People’s History of the United States by Howard ZinnPerception of America in the World: “The share of the public who considers the U.S. a reliable partner has declined steeply in many countries since we last asked this question in 2022, during Joe Biden’s presidency.”Income Inequality Statistics: “Over the past four decades, the very richest Americans have enjoyed by far the fastest income growth. Between 1979 and 2022, the average income of the richest 0.01 percent of households, a group that today represents just over 13,000 households, grew over 12 times as fast as the income of the bottom 20 percent of earners.” Raj Chetty: The Fading American Dream: “We find that rates of absolute mobility have fallen from approximately 90% for children born in 1940 to 50% for children born in the 1980s.”Fundamental Attribution Error: “People have a cognitive bias to assume that a person’s actions depend on what ‘kind’ of person that person is rather than on the social and environmental forces that influence the person.”“OK, Boomer”Post Traumatic Growth🧰  Dialectic Behavioral Therapy HandbookThe Dark Side of Meritocracy, with Michael Sandel🧰 The Psychological Benefits of Engaging With History🧰  Splitting Defense🧰  Magical Thinking DefenseErik Erikson’s America🧰 Selection biasSheryl Sandberg and Leaning In or Out?“Good Enough Mothering”

  5. Jul 8

    Episode 2: The Toolkit

    Send us Fan Mail Welcome to episode 2 of Shrinking America. This episode is a continuation of our first episode — where we really asked ourselves what we’re doing here. Now that we’ve asked some important defining questions we’re trying to figure out how to walk our talk. Literally.  We talked a lot last time about how we’re using our training to ask important questions to deepen understanding. We cannot underplay the importance of simply questioning and maintaining a mindset of curiosity - a mindset that inherently fosters connections and growth. But we want this podcast to be more than just helping us to understand. We want you to walk away every time with something tangible.  So, in this podcast, we will make plenty of reading recommendations, what we refer to as bibliotherapy. We’ll also call upon specific frameworks. Frameworks like Erikson’s stages of psychological development, Kaufman’s stages of moral reasoning or Marsha Linnehan’s dialectical behavioral therapy. We aim to introduce orienting psychological concepts, big and small, that help shift your thinking and to give you practical tools for change. Or - to help you to accept. And hopefully help cultivate some wisdom as to when to practice which. Shout out to the serenity prayer — one of our favorite toolkit items. And for real — in this episode you’ll hear us actually walking our talk as we go through what we want this toolkit to look like. So please excuse any lower quality audio issues — as Sarah’s sister pointed out in an earlier edit — at one point a murder of crows was so loud they killed our message. So we did incorporate some minor editing of the street noise. But mostly - what you’re getting in this episode is Shrinking America, in the raw. And hey - We want to build this with you. The toolkit is never finished. It's a living, breathing library. It's something we'll develop together with this community over time.  So take a walk with us. This is episode two, The Toolkit.  Deeper Learning Points Bibliotherapy, “Bibliotherapy, a relatively underutilized lifestyle intervention in psychotherapy, is a unique cost-effective avenue of treatment that empowers patients by integrating therapeutic reading into their treatment plan.”🧰 Einstein and Aimlessness🧰 Ru Paul: “With all the darkness that’s going on in the world, you can look at the darkness, don’t stare, it will make you crazy, it will make you cross eyed, it will make you what it is. The solution is to create magic, dance, sing, love, create environments where you can find joy, because you can create joy.🧰 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: We have mentioned this form of therapy before; this time, here are a few more resources:WorkbookValues InventoryHappiness Trap WorksheetsBright Light Therapy: For the many of us who :( in the wintertime🧰 Atomic Habits by James ClearTsundokuJacob Riis: “When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.Confucius: "The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."Radical Acceptance by Tara BrachThe Vital Spark by Lisa MarchianoThis Jungian Life PodcastEcho Chamber Effect: “The ‘Echo Chamber Effect’ refers to a phenomenon in which an individual's beliefs and views are reinforced by exposure to information that aligns with their preexisting opinions”The Greatest Sentence Ever Written, Walter IsaacsonCivil Conversation: The American Bar Association indicates, “One of the hallmarks of a democracy is its citizens' willingness to express, defend, and perhaps reexamine their own opinions, while being respectful of the views of others.”

  6. Jun 24

    Episode 1: What Are We Doing?

    Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Shrinking America…this time, for real. This episode, recorded in January before any of our other content, dives into a conversation about what got us going on a podcast, who we are as individuals, friends, psychiatrists and as Americans, and demonstrates a bit of how conversation flows so often in long-term therapy. The distillation? Kyle captures it with “seeking to understand what is happening in our country in this moment through a biopsychosocial and dare I say philosophical lens.” Deeper Learning Points 🧰 Defenses: Intellectualization: “Anna Freud defined these defense mechanisms as ‘unconscious resources used by the ego’ to decrease internal stress.” Basically, they’re things our brain does fairly automatically to help us cope with life.The speed of modern life and how this is all probably too much🧰 Erikson Stages are a useful construct for understanding different phases of life and what we seek to accomplish, in the world and internally, in each eraThe Savior Complex is what it sounds like…a tendency, to varying degrees, to help or try to save others, sometimes too much, often because you get something from it tooVulnerabilityThe Power of Vulnerability by Brené BrownCreativity: The process of creating and of appreciating the creations of others are both deeply human and deeply therapeutic. We didn’t discuss it beforehand, but ending our episode with a poem felt like a spontaneous moment of feeling into the power of art to define the human experience.Ranier Maria Rilke, “Live the questions now”“Big 5” : We talked about the Introvert/Extrovert divide that makes up part of the "five-factor model" of personality: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. If you don't know where you fall on these scales, taking an online test can be a fun way to get to know yourself a bit better. Quiet by Susan CainBrian Little and personalityCulture and Introversion: Country by country, even state by state, this differsThe Enneagram is another one of many tools for personality exploration (just like the “Big 5”). These tools certainly aren’t the only way to understand ourselves (if you prefer astrology, that’s alright too); but  they can provide a useful jumping off point for introspection.Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking, Fast and Slow"🧰 Rupture and repair is a core theme in human development and long-term therapy; this quote captures the concept nicely: “Rupture and repair are key ingredients to connection. When ruptures in relationships occur, which they will, it is important to revisit the situation to work on restoring safety, regulation, attunement, and understanding. Through engaging in this process and providing consistent secure base and safe haven supports, conflicts have the opportunity to heal.”

  7. May 13

    Episode 0.125: America on Hold

    Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Episode 0.125. It’s an impromptu addition to our prequel series, where we decided to turn the psychiatric lens on ourselves. We noticed in our text thread we were all having interesting reactions about finally putting our work out into the world, and the only logical next step was to put ourselves on the couch and let the shrinking begin. This process brought up some interesting themes around narcissism, imposter syndrome, and inadequacy. Yes, shrinks work through all of that too. So, join us as we explore our thoughts and feelings surrounding the soft launch, in real time. Because in psychiatry, it's all grist for the mill, and sometimes we also need our own time on the couch. Deeper Learning Points “Grist for the Mill”A metaphor for therapeutic material coined by therapy giant Dr. Irvin YalomOverton Effect: A thing we plan to trademark🧰 Overview Effect: A repeat from episode 0Overton WindowPer Wikipedia, “The Overton window is the range of subjects and arguments politically acceptable to the mainstream population at a given time”Self-disclosureSelf disclosure refers to how much we reveal about ourselves to our patients. We try to be intentional about it as the therapeutic setting is a unique environment and relationship wherein the exploration of the psyche is inherently more one-sided. Historically, therapists were supposed to be a “blank slate“, but even Freud let his patients into his personal life at times, and it is important for us to consider when this may or may not be therapeutic, and what the risks and benefits of self disclosure may be.A major premise of the show Shrinking is exploring the different perspectives that the therapist characters have on self disclosure and just how rigid or permeable our boundaries can and should be.Imposter SyndromeSome people are immune :)🧰 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy/Values🧰 Healthy NarcissismWe’re fans of the Psychiatry and Psychotherapy podcast, and they do a nice episode on healthy narcissism, to include its adaptive aspectsPositive stress (“Eustress”)Freud’s psychoanalytic approachThere’s a lot to cover with Freud, including the concepts of transference/countertransference, which we refer to in the episodeLoneliness Epidemic: The surgeon general declared this a public health issue in 2023Community Episode: We’re planning this for episode 4, released August 5th!🧰 Internal Family Systems (IFS) / “parts theory”🧰 Humor as DefenseOpus No. 1

  8. May 4

    Episode 0 : Artemis II and One Small Step For Shrinks (One Giant Leap Coming June 24th!)

    Send us Fan Mail We've been chipping away at this podcast for a while — balancing our collective perfectionism with a "good enough" energy, finding time in chaotic millennial midlife to meet, laugh, and record together on an almost weekly basis. When Artemis II launched, we couldn't help ourselves. Turns out when your co-hosts include a former military pilot, a Navy flight surgeon, and someone who applied to the astronaut program — twice — space is never really far from the conversation.  Kyle, our closest brush with NASA, got us going on a conversation that covers a lot of range. So since this felt time sensitive, and because it was finally time to take one small step, we're doing a soft launch before we get fully underway in June (June 24th, to be specific). And why May the 4th? Come on. Space, exploration, the hero's journey, daddy issues...too good to pass up. Join us for a slightly rambling conversation about space, exploration, and what it means to reach for something. For Deeper Exploration... 🧰 Toolkit Item: Hawthorne Effect🧰 Toolkit Item: The Overview EffectEarthscape VRAstronaut ProfilesChristina Koch Overview Video 1and Overview Video 2NASA: The Overview EffectThe Pale Blue DotThe Science of Astronaut WellbeingAnd also The Burden of Space Exploration on the Mental Health of AstronautsThe Hero ArchetypeHow mythologist Joseph Campbell made Luke Skywalker a hero“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: The hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” - Joseph Campbell“We need a great rebirth of the heroic in our world. Every sector of human society, wherever that may be on the planet, seems to be slipping into an unconscious chaos. Only the heroic consciousness, exerting all its might, will be able to stop this slide toward oblivion. Only a massive rebirth of courage in both men and women will rescue the world.” – Moore and Gillette🧰 Toolkit Item: Cognitive DissonanceCognitive Dissonance, More DetailThe Drive for Discovery/ExplorationWe hadn’t read it before we recorded, but this article captures so much of what we discussed–the drive for exploration and the cost, shooting for  the stars versus grounding on earth and solving the problems here, knowing what really matters in life: “Billionaire space race: the ultimate symbol of capitalism’s flawed obsession with growth”

    Episode 0 : Artemis II and One Small Step For Shrinks (One Giant Leap Coming June 24th!)

  9. Season 1 Trailer

    Shrinking America Trailer

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About

Three millennial psychiatrists, military veterans, and friends break down what feels alive in America, right now, through a biopsychosocial lens. Check out more at https://www.shrinkingamerica.org  or https://www.instagram.com/shrinkingamerica

Information

  • Creator
    Shrinking America
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Shrinking America
  • Show Website
    Shrinking America

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