Keeping It Real: Conversations with Jillian Michaels

Just found this podcast. Yay!

I’ve been Team Jillian since 2004—enjoying Biggest Loser, Losing it, Just Jillian, the Fitness App! …but mostly I’ve enjoyed every iteration of Jillian’s podcast for years. I’ve loved the much more nuanced, everyday Jillian we’ve gotten to ‘meet’ via podcasting vs. the caricature that TV producers seem to like to paint. I’ve respected often hearing her talk through her changing perspectives over the years (gained by staying engaged with new research and often competing or contradictory information). And I certainly enjoy when she shows up to a conversation with ‘all the receipts’! So it feels so strange to admit I no longer recognize who I’m listening to these days. The volume of unchecked claims made by guests, and the reliance on unverified anecdotes from guests to make a poorly veiled political argument has grown so loud. I’m having trouble hearing the nuance, the open-ended (not leading) questions, the balance of perspectives, and the ‘challenge the status quo’ conversations I’ve enjoyed for years. I hear Jillian ‘try’ to sound ‘moderate’ (though that seems to occur less lately). But even these fleeting moments feel quickly contradicted by just how much time she gives her guests to go on unmoderated rants about “some pink haired freak barista” and “Enviro Whackos” and “deep blue” propaganda. Talk about pots and black kettles! Come on, y’all. Trading barbs about the far left and the far right is too damn easy. Let’s meet back in the middle and do the hard work of having real, practical, fact-checked dialogues. I hope I’m still around to see “Keeping it Real” follow it’s host’s own advice and tone down the rhetoric.

This has been hands down the best interview of Tom I have ever heard. As a realitively new fan, I like to know the artists I follow beyond the stage persona. In a culture that seems so polarized, after hearing his story, I understand why he seemed to be an enigma when it came to find out who he is. This interview game Tom the space to be very raw and honest. I appreciated the conversation's authenticity. Jullian does a great job asking probing questions that give regular people real insight to Tom. Well done! A couple potential smokin' interview canidates could be Andy Stumpf or Shawn Ryan.

I am so grateful for Jillian Michaels. In a sea of insanity, you are a life boat. It’s so refreshing and mentally stabilizing to hear someone ask honest questions and care about the answers! I love that Jillian is open to truth, no matter what jersey it wears. Please keep it up! You are a much needed voice of logic and reason.