December Bonus: THE 2024 GRIFTIES!

Loved the public health wins -section! I wanted to comment a one thing: I wish that we wouldnt state that there are no downsides to vaccines as a broad statemenent. Dont get me wrong - FUCK antivsxxers! But for many disabled people, whether to take them is a difficult question. I never shouldve gotten the corona vaccination as someone with EDS, but we didnt know that back then. The HPV vaccination is also one that's a bit questionable for EDS kids, we dont have enough info yet, but the risk might be bigger than the benefit. It's truly a mindfuck to try to think of whether I'll take the flu vaccine this season, since both the vaccine and the flu are risks for me. I understand that in the big picture its really important to talk for vaccines, but I hope that disabled people would be included in this conversation. Im lucky to live in Finland in an area where there is high vaccination coverage. If you're healthy, please take vaccinations, but please also understand that there are science-based reasons to not get them for some people and we're not anti-vax. 💗 No hate, love the podcast and the disability inclusion is generally on point 🫶

So I know I am late to the party on both this episode but also the trend, but when Aubrey said morning shed, I heard it as mourning shed and was like, ohhh a shed for a good cry, what could be wrong with that?!

I need speedrun video essay recs lmao

My toxic trait is that sometimes I listen to an episode, hear all the bad stuff about about some weird and deeply questionable wellness trend, and still somehow end up a little bit curious to try it 🤣.

I got a mouthguard for my tooth grinding after one of my molars broke in half on my 30th birthday 😂 I'd love Botox for it cause I literally get cramps in my jaw but you already know about the state of British healthcare 🤷

Relistening to this, and I had to say something, because the decreased overdose deaths part really missed the mark. The real credit goes towards everyone behind the harm reduction movement for decades, including many addicts and active users. Developing naloxone, sharing the knowledge and practices starting during the AIDS crisis, building safe use sites and needle exchanges (including underground when/where theyre illegal), advocating for harm reduction practices in communities and in policy, and so much more. Their work resulted in increased adoption and funding of harm reduction practices, which has greatly decreased the number of overdose deaths. While state departments have played a role by adopting harm reduction, there are also so many needle exchanges, safe injection sites, activists, organizations, and communities leading this charge and doing this work. I especially don't think the Biden Administration deserves their accolades.

I can’t tell which morning she’d videos are parodies and which ones are real. What does plastic wrapping a banana in its peel do to your chin?!!?

C

Grifties are my fave Patreon episodes and I relisten regularly. So funny that we get Ilona Maher for 2024 and we got her sister Olivia Maher last year for girl dinner. Do Adriana next!

I had something that made me hopeful but I figured no one would care and there’d be a ton of other entries… but f it I’m gonna share if no one else did. This year I became an expert patient and patient instructor at Uconn where I get to talk to medical students about how to talk to trans patients like me. They always start so nervous and end up being so receptive, it’s pleasantly surprising and deeply healing. Why is this important? I would NOT have gotten the job if I hadn’t sent my compilations of all my favorite maintenance phase show notes so I could talk about the intersectionality of weight and gender bias! I get to talk to medical students about how to communicate with people like me, often including having had symptoms largely ignored for weight even in eating disorder recovery. It may not seem huge, but it’s a start for my fat activism. I leave every shift after grading the students feeling like I made a difference for someone someday, and honestly? it’s thanks to Aubrey and Mike, because I could never have recovered from my eating disorder or come out without this show, let alone find fantastic research. So griftie for hope? y’all. Hands down.

Ughh I love relistening to this so much

I started clapping like a little monkey figure when Aubrey started singing about Lunchly. Together we made a beautiful song.

I would love to hear an episode about intermittent fasting. It is all the rage among my friends and family right now and it just can’t be as good as they say it is!! I’m exhausted from hearing about it!

Michael! Audrey! Regarding your tooth grinding problems--I also grind my teeth, and I learned a couple years ago that it's a sign of sleep apnea! And then I got tested and sure enough, I have mild sleep apnea. I now wear a very sexy upper and lower night guard secured in place with orthodontic rubber bands to keep me from grinding and obstructing, and it's made my sleep better for real. Please go get checked out! Long term untreated sleep apnea has lots of bad effects- heart disease, higher risk for dementia, etc. (I'm a doctor--a pediatric geneticist, so admittedly I'm no expert in sleep apnea, but still. Go get checked out!)

Hi I’m new to the Patreon! I love listening to it thank you. I had some ideas for topics in 2025. I loved the Richard Simmons episode and think a deep dive in other 90s fitness gurus like Susan Powter, Denise Austin, Billy Blanks etc would be fun! Just a thought. Keep up the good work.

From NPR https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/01/15/nx-s1-5258427/bmi-obesity-definition-health

My 7 yo nephew watches mr beast, its so bad.

I-75 rest stops in Ohio i noticed last summer all had overdose kits in the bathrooms

I'm a dietitian in the UK and COMPLETELY agree with your overview of the government scapegoating "obesity". I'm in a job where I get to respond to political consultations and I'm trying to challenge the narrative but it's an uphill battle right now.

I totally died from a fentyl overdose (someone spiked my mocktail), and someone had Naloxone and it saved my life. Scary thing was the same thing happened 2 years later to a friend a of mine at the same yearly convention.

Jay Bhattacharya has conveniently ignored the fact that long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis both increase risk for heart disease and cancer (among many other things). LC and ME are both post-viral chronic illnesses. By taking attention away from infectious disease research, Bhattacharya would be helping to increase the incidence of the very problems that he claims to want to prevent. Time to go back to med school.

Thick Of It mentioned 🙌 exactly what UK politics is

I am also what I call a messy sleeper. Recently stayed at a vacation rental that used two sheets instead of a duvet cover and I tore those sheets off and woke up raw dogging a communal comforter.

When Aubrey gets so excited that she sings a little song, it makes me so happy!!

“Willfully obtuse! It’s going great today.” Best quote ever

I seriously related to the teeth grinding. I was grinding so much after the election I broke my mouthguard 😭

I had no idea who mr beast was until my mom who works at an elementary school came home with BOXES of free mr beast feastables chocolate bars bc he had a van giving out free chocolate to kids outside a school?!?! And let me tell you, they were GROSS lol he is NOT a chocolatier, well said

So much LOLing while listening to this episode, some choice favorites so far have been “WE’RE BYE SISTERING” and “the Raygun of sleeping”

I started carrying Naloxone after literally finding a dude passed out on the side of the road in the rain at 11pm. It's important to note that after giving Naloxone to move away from the person you administered it to because sometimes people coming out of withdrawal can be combative.

The Portland, OR fire department has a department called CHAT that is specifically dispatched for low-acuity medical calls (but mostly overdoses). I don’t know if they got funding for 2025 yet because their 2024 budget was all from one time grants. However, they were able to treat 35% of patients on site through the overdose response team and save the healthcare system $9.4 million in ED diversions and ambulance diversions. It’s a tiny program operating 4 days a week for 10 hours with a budget of $3.4 million (most of that was from the opioid settlement). But the program has been incredibly helpful for the city and we need more programs like it funded fully!

Just had to write this down while I remember, because it’s such a great quote: “Diet products, and products marked as ‘healthy’ or ‘healthier’ versions, are inherently untrustworthy, because what they are making are marketing claims about health, not evidence-based health claims”. Gah, so good!

Loved hearing the shout out regarding drops in overall overdose deaths as a public health person working in the field of overdose prevention and response! It is a win. An important opportunity to also highlight, in contrast, that overdose death rates increased for Black people and American Indian and Alaska Native people, compared to white people. We still have a lot of work to do. Also taking a moment to shout out - for anyone who decides to get naloxone, please steer clear of high dose naloxone (greater than 3 or 4mg) so you can provide compassionate overdose response. We're seeing big pharma come out with high dose naloxone products and advertisimg them as "better" when they're actually hurting people. The withdrawal symptoms that occur when you are revived with a high dose of naloxone are excruciating and can increase risk of overdosing later (because your only option may be to use drugs again to feel ok). I have a feeling that a few years from now we'll know more about the slimy big pharma advertising that is going into high dose naloxone (example: a product called Kloxxado from Hikma Pharmaceuticals)

Your warning message literally made me snort-laugh. Thank you for that! Happy New Year eveyone!

Psoriasis! I would love to hear y’all’s thoughts on psoriasis and biologic meds and all the grifty advice out there. I am currently starting my second biologic and boy oh boy the amount of time I have had to spend on the phone arguing with my insurance and the drug company and the specialty pharmacy is wild.

Michael was your friend at the Wendy’s on Rainier?! If so, I will also get some Narcan.

Don't worry Aubrey, nothing the Labour Party says or does is "from the left". Keyboard cat for benevolent dictator.

All the Covid deniers used Bhattacharya as an expert witness when they sued governments for doing public health. My most shit for brains colleague got to cross examine him and instead of doing that, kept posing hypotheticals that were thinly veiled pleas for personal medical advice. I think he was successfully discredited by better lawyers in other jurisdictions but not mine!

Why does everything have to be so complicated? In my day, you went to bed with a face and woke up with a face and that was that. Now get off my lawn.

I'm an Oregonian for whom the dark cloud hanging over the reduction in opioid deaths is that Oregon and Washington were two of only six states in which opioid deaths rose over that time period, statistics that belie their reputations as informed and progressive. I love Oregon, but we can and should do better.

I’m currently in dental hygiene school and I wanted to chime in on the mouth taping segment. All of what that dr. said about the benefits of nasal breathing is true and there is legitimate research to back it up. Mouth taping is also a legit practice to force nasal breathing but there is some controversy in the dental industry on using it for children due to a safety concern. If you are not a mouth breather during sleep…. Mouth taping will do nothing for you. Breathing through your nose ensures the maximum amount of oxygen is delivered to your cells and your brain. If your mouth is open and you are mouth breathing your tongue tends to fall back towards your throat which occludes part of your airway. All of this being said…. The mouth taping trend is excessive and misleading as this is not going to be helpful or effective for everyone.

Mouth taping might sound a little weird, but I’ve been using it to help with my snoring—and it actually works! A lot of people use it with their CPAP machines to keep their mouths shut while they sleep. This helps the CPAP do its job better by sending air through your nose and keeping the pressure steady. It feels a bit strange at first, but you get used to it pretty quickly. Just make sure your nose isn’t stuffed up, or it’s not gonna be a fun time.

Love this! I got more compliments from people when I was skinny due to cancer treatment than I have at any point in my life. Took a sick enjoyment from telling ppl exactly what my “weight loss secret” was. Make me uncomfortable I’m gonna make you feel worse

TWO different people congratulated my mom on her weight loss when she was DYING OF CANCER. ....many thanks for making me laugh Aubrey and Mike, the real world is rough.

Botox for TMJ is so good, changed my life! Love your take on the U.K. Larry the cat lives at Downing Street and would probably do a better job than any government.

Obviously, the best celebrity take of the year came from Dua Lipa.

Mouthtaping is my favorite indie horror game

The news about decreasing opiod overdose deaths is so great to hear

YESSSSSSSS thank you both i needed a good ass ep

y'all should do a crossover ep about jay bhattacharya and covid minimization with death panel.

Just wanted to say that every Maintenance Phase episode that comes out - after dark or regular - makes me very happy, even when its content is actually infuriating. Joining the Patron was a really excellent decision I made in 2024.

Meijer mentioned

A dental surgeon told me as a teenager that my lower jaw had to be broken and reset from an underbite to an overbite, otherwise all my teeth would fall out in the future. I immediately said no and my teeth are stable and not grinded down now at 33 so I am very sceptical of preventative jaw interventions 😅

Botox is also very helpful for those of us with chronic migraines. You can usually get them to cover it as long as your neurologist says you need it

I work at Target, and I have donated more than 300 Mr Beast chocolate bars to food banks in the past year. No adult buys a $3 chocolate bar. (We also donate the natural/organic type chocolate when they near expiration)

I watched a morning shed video with my 16yo daughter after hearing about them here first. I thought I'd see if she was aware of the trend. Gladly she'd never heard of it and proclaimed WHAT the fuck is THAT!

Love love love you guys!! Just wanna say that, as a mama who just (barely) survived a 3.5 year literal nightmare of having an infant/toddler with airway/sleep issues, I cannot emphasize enough how serious tongue placement is in airway health. Mouth tape (which has a tiny hole in it so you can actually breathe through your mouth if you had to) helps you keep your mouth closed during sleep, which not only encourages nasal breathing, but it also encourages tongue placement at the roof of your mouth which opens your airway. For children, we don’t use tape, but instead we use these fancy orthodontic mouth pieces which closes the mouth and pulls the lower jaw forward, which then places the tongue at the roof of the mouth, opening the airway and encouraging forward jaw growth on the upper jaw. This is why children who are mouth breathers can have moderate to severe facial deformity—that’s how important a closed mouth and proper tongue placement during sleep is! So many adults end up mouth breathing *at some point* during sleep, which leaves us under-rested upon waking, and yes it can actually affect the way our jaw looks. All of the airway experts we met on our journey swear by saline spray and mouth tape as a part of good sleep hygiene. Anyway, my nightmare with my kiddos lasted years longer than it needed to because do few doctors are up to date on the science of airway health. 😭😭 I promise mouth tape isn’t a grift, it’s actually a huge part of airway health!

LOVE when Aubrey breaks into song. 💖

When I went to the ENT, she laughed when I opened my mouth for her to examine because it was so obvious that I was having TMJ issues. Then she proceeded to tell me mouth guards don't work, didn't explain why it was so obvious, and then told me the only thing I could do was "be less stressed!" 🫤 Then I got a mouth guard from my dentist and the pain went away after like a week. That definitely lessened my stress for sure. 🤪

I’m just sad this article came out too late to get a mention in the Grifties. 😂 Great episode, as always! https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/31/us/raw-water-natural-springs.html?unlocked_article_code=1.l04.11Ch.yPgVOCTKPSgp&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&tgrp=off

“What about Nicki Minaj’s cousin’s balls, though?”

I GAGGED when you said Jay Bhattacharya because boy do I have a story. My family member was inducted into the American Academy of Sciences and Letters, and I went with them to the ceremony in Washington DC. The whole thing seemed really cool, a lot of really impressive researchers who are doing important work, but then they started occasionally saying things about “academic freedom” and “rationality” and “freedom of thought on campus” when introducing people, and then fucking Steven Pinker walked across the stage (turns out he and my family member are acquaintances and apparently the man can’t stop talking about his wife, which is a redeeming trait if ever I’ve heard one). Anyways, after the inductions they brought Jay Bhattacharya out and awarded him “the Robert J. Zimmer Medal for Intellectual Freedom” then had a weird ass panel discussion with him. The cherry on top was that, of course, they mentioned that last year’s medal recipient was Salman Rushdie. It was honestly a little heartbreaking, and kind of disturbing, but also it was just a wild situation that I would’ve live tweeted had I been prepared.

cannot believe there is a non-zero chance aubrey saw my comment about lunchly . i feel so famous

Morning sheds. Holy cow.

Did a literal spit take over "don't have a January 6th over Logan Paul" thank you so much

We all needed this episode today, thank you! Rosanna’s videos showing Lunchly had mold is how I learned about these. I wouldn’t buy chocolate from Mr. Beast either 😂

"Mr. Beast is not a chocolatier" sent me 😂😂 Thanks for keeping us sane Aubrey and Mike 🫶

New Year's resolution: convince people that they should tape up their mouths all day long

My son likes a horror video game based on Lunchly where the Prime drink and other ingredients chase you and try to kill you.

Putting the "grift" back in "Griftmas"

I needed this so much today!

oh my god thank you i NEED this right now

When talking about NIH funding, it’s worth noting that Infection Associated Chronic Conditions are all underfunded. IACCs feel relevant to Jay Bhattacharya’s plan to defund infectious diseases because these are chronic conditions that follow infection. IACCs include long Covid, ME/CFS, Chronic Lyme (or PTLDS). And speaking of outliers, ME/CFS is currently the most underfunded disease at the NIH.

Masseter botox! My jaw had been slightly dislocated on one side for a month, so they injected the botox and after a few days the muscle released enough so the joint slipped back in! So many people online are like “I heard it gives you jowls 😭😭😭” but it gave me my jaw back 💯

I must be getting old because my first thought about the “morning shed” was that it had to do with organizing your garden tools in your garden shed 😂😂😂

Hey cool kids, this was the best Grifties episode so far. I'm relying on you to supply more feel good content of making fun of RFK's fringe beliefs. If we do not laugh, etc.

Loved this as always, but Mike kept mentioning an episode when they talked about mewing and I cant figure out which episode where it is. Anyone know?

I giggle every time Michael calls Aubrey “Aubrel”, thanks for that.

I would absolutely love a boco on Logan Paul bc I 1000% want to know and don't want to do the research

If you're worried about mouth breathing at night, talk to a doctor about sleep apnea! Mouth taping is just a sleep apnea mask that's less efficient and more dangerous!

“Don’t have a January 6th about Logan Paul” someone put it on a bumper sticker

No mention of the South Park ozempic special 😕

Oh my god, Michael is saying everything I've been screaming about the Labour/NHS for the past few months and it's simultaneously exhausting and vindicating.

It’s my Christmas. Thanks Aubrey and Michael :)

So i'm a medicinal chemist. And i have a biochem background and i worked with peptides for grad school. And i had to answer various bad faith questions from my department all the time because "why would you study bio molecules because they don't make good drugs". So anytime that a successful protein drug (ozempic) comes out or mrna vaccine i get to go: what was that again??? Another modified biomolecule making bank even if it has to be injected???? Oh it's like the low hanging fruit in organic chemistry is gone, biomolecules are the here and now b****es. And so mrna vaccines are cool. But... now that there is a protien vaccine on the market i really need people to know that mrna vaccines can be cool as shit, And having a fever for 24-36 hrs after the shot is a negative side effect. Having more fever after a shot does not increase your level of immunity compared to those that get the shot and don't have fevers. It is a sign that your immune system is working but fevers to shots are not necessary to get immunity. Like when it was the only option it was fine... but you do not get better immune outcomes because you suffer more. And now that a protein option is on market that is also doing it's part in reduced hospitalizations. You can just ask for the protien one. ... and most people with real bad reactions to the mrna who are not allergic to other protein vaccines like the flu vaccine... are likely to have a better side effect profile. Also protein vaccines still don't need access to as cold of temperatures for storage and there are like actual reasons why we should be persuing multiple types of vaccines for most things. Sorry rant over. I just. Every time. The new tech that was invested in is really cool AND they filled a necessary alternative to protein vaccines AND protein vaccines are still great and sometimes the best option for an individual. Sorry all this to say, even when we invest in the newest shiniest options... ignoring some of our older solutions (like how protien covid vaccines are still devalued by the fda every time in favor of mrna) isn't always helpful for actual health outcomes.

You guys don't post as much as you used to, but when you do it is so gratifying! My sister is a "wellness" freak who basically believes and repeats anything she reads that confirms her biases. Earlier in the year, she had heard me snoring at a family overnight (ugh), and the next morning proceeded to try and convince me on the merits of - you guessed it - mouth tape. Every single year the Grifties capture at least one fad that she's been on about and every single year I am privately gratified.

I absolutely love the Aubrey/Michael dynamic. Even when you are talking about the worst things, your episodes still put a big smile on my face. I am so very grateful to both of you for all of the knowledge and giggles you have provided me!! Thank you so much for your work!!

Learning about frownies has reminded me of someone I knew 20 years ago who walked around in public with a piece of presumably wrinkle-preventing scotch tape between her eyebrows

I wish I had a discord for everyone, because when I see Marianne Williamson on my TV and I just start shrieking, I immediately need to text friends and warn them

I dunno what Michael's talking about. You two are hilarious 😂 Thank you for this episode. It definitely helped cheer me up with all the impending doom and everything. Happy New Year! 🎉🎆🎊

It’s the Grifties!!! I’m so excited

The plastic surgeon talking about benefits of mouth breathing is EXACTLY the shit my grandma is watching and falling for on TikTok. And they all have that same urgent delivery! My grandma bought nicotine patches to put on her arthritis. Thank you guys for all your work this year! Great episode to round it out :)

My ex called my tossing and turning “turning like a rotisserie chicken” and it still makes me giggle. It sounds like Aubrey and Michael are also living that rotisserie chicken life.

There are entire NIH institutes focused on heart disease and cancer—NHLBI and NCI. ARGH!

In the past year my weight has fluctuated a lot due to medical garbage. Nobody commented when I gained weight, but did when I lost it. I've started just staring confusedly when they say "You look great!" and make them utter "you've lost a lot of weight." Then I just say "okay" with the same confused expression. 100% recommend making it weird.

YESSSS. Best way to end the year.

I did not know about Lunchly. I have now read the entire site #michaelstyle and am convinced it’s like exactly the same thing as lunchables and all of the nutrition changed because of the capri sun to prime switch.

YES IVE BEEN SO PATIENT FOR THIS

Best gift of the year! I love me some grifty goodness or uh badness.

Frownies are actually amazing. They have also been around for decades, like early 1900's or so. I had 11 lines in my early 20's, and using frownies stopped them adequately until I was 35.

I'm writing a novel about wellness scammers and keep relistening to your old episodes to help! You guys are amazing! Please please keep on doing what you're doing. Not only is your work hilarious and entertaining, it's also very very important. Thank you, lovely Aubrey and Michael. 💚♥️🩵

Michael, you can’t pretend you only watch speed running videos and then pull out some Jaclyn Hill lore like that. 💋

Thanks so much for all your hard work Aubrey & Mike!! I've been listening since almost the beginning & I still go back when i need comfort to relisten to almost every episode. I look forward to this every month, your effort and care around this podcast means the world :.) Happy New Year!!

What was that thing that Mike mentioned about federal comment periods in the newest RFK episode? What are these commenting periods exactly and where would I find good quality information about them ?

Happy new year!! Thanks for all the brilliant episodes! Having you in my feed has been life changing ❤️

A cat with a keyboard being better than the Tories nearly killed me

I'm in the UK and I accidentally let out a little woo clapped out loud on a bus when you called Wes Streeting a fucking shit. Honestly that little fucking gremlin can get to fuck.

Ok they stole the mouth taping shit from young CPAP user Reddit. He’s claiming that the mouth tape we use is the answer when the tape is just keeping our mouthes closed so nasal CPAP remains pressurized Almost like the actual therapy is most often prescribed in overweight patients while patients of normal weight are refused testing. I had to gain 10lbs for the computer to prompt that testing 😒

Very here for Aubrey calling Wes Streeting a shit in the first ten minutes! Happy New Year!

The UK has been living in an episode of The Thick of It for the last couple of years and I’m so glad the world is finally recognising it 😅

THANK GOD

The thesis statement of the Trillbilly Workers Party podcast is "we don't need neoliberal employment schemes in Appalachia, just give us money" Was the whole Liver King debacle this year or last?

Am I the only (ex) food scientist wanting to get into why the Lunchly stuff is worse than A+M described? 😅

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Woo hoo! Happy New Year xxxxx

Well now I wanna hear Michael do a Crypt Keeper impression!

I've been sitting by the phoneeee

Hooray! Happy New Year maintainers! Thanks for being the 'on fire in a fun way' light in the gloom, Mike and Aubrey

Yay, what a great way to start the last day of the year! :) (And the RSS feed is working now.)

NYE here in Oz. Will listen to this as i write up my 2025 resolutions!

Yall really push it to the very end of the month, huh? 😭😭😭 Anyways, happy new year!

Thanks for the amazing podcasts this year, a beacon of light in the darkness❤️

Hell yeah. Happy New Year everyone 💚💜

Ooooh I was just making brekkie and hoping for this to plop into my feed! (Podcast feed, not my breakfast...) Happy new year to you both - thank you for all your hard work, I hope you know how appreciated you are 💕

I’m excited for this one!