In part 2 of Assholes, the immersive story of the Mediclub experience continues with three more fugues. The Asshole co-hosts review the similarities between meditation, marijuana and the right hemisphere of your brain. Then you'll see if 12-step programs fit or (don't fit) into the event. Most importantly you'll find out what Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” has to do with the most under-appreciated part of your brain. All culminating in a new and surprising ASS score. See how deep these assholes go! This is part 2 of 3.
In part 2 of Assholes, the immersive story of the Mediclub experience continues with three more fugues.
The Asshole co-hosts review the similarities between meditation, marijuana and the right hemisphere of your brain.
Then you'll see if 12-step programs fit or (don't fit) into the event.
Most importantly you'll find out what Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” has to do with the most under-appreciated part of your brain.
All culminating in a new and surprising ASS score.
See how deep these assholes go!
This is part 2 of 3.
--
Credits:
Written and produced by Gabriel Berezin
Original music by Santiago Arias-Rozo
Opening and closing music by Monuments (featuring Grant Zubritsky (bass), Robby Sinclair (drums) and Bryan Murray (saxophone), Gabriel Berezin (guitar))
Script editing by Melissa "Monty" Montan
Logo design by Justin Montan
Follow Fugues on Twitter and Instagram
References:
ANNOUNCER: The following program is taped in front of a studio audience and is a production of Fugues Media. Listener discretion is advised.
IG: Welcome back to Assholes, this is our Mediclub special Part 2 - I’m your host, Gabriel Berezin, and by my side - my Inner Voice
IV: Helloooo…hey, remember your dumb app idea?
IG: Of course I do, it’s Friday night, and you got nothing to do. This app matches you to parties already in progress that match your interests - like parties for people who don’t drink, gamers, trivia nerds, people who do a reasonable amount of drugs that attend watch-parties for award shows or Superbowls…?
IV: Got pretty specific there at the end. What was it called again?
IG: Gathr! I spelled it G-A-T-H-R
IV: Right there’s no E, I get it. Remember when you pitched it to your digital design expert friend?
IG: Kevin, yeah, he politely waited for me to finish, and then asked one question.
IV: “Is it addictive?”
IG: Is it addictive…shit…GATHR’s not addictive, it’s creepy!
IV: But that question basically explains…all for-profit industry doesn't it.
IG: From cigarettes to Doritos, to Tinder & Netflix, to fortune tellers. It’s a simple question.
IV: If it gives you a hit of some combo of the happy mood chemicals - endorphins, oxytocin, and dopamine.
IG: Then people will always come back for more. I feel like this is what they’re doing at Mediclub.
IV: Like the same stuff Facebook does?
IG: I dunno, I doubt they’re this-intentionally manipulating your brain chemistry, but I have to think these events are…engineered in a certain way.
IV: And we’re just speculating on what that might be. We don’t actually know.
IG: Sure, we don’t know those guys. In fact, now might be a good time to reiterate…
IV: State your hate?
IG: Yeah…here’s a clip from Part 1
IG: Well, the event we’ll be describing is basically a meditation retreat.
IV: So…
IG: Let’s just say I have a thing for events like this
IV: Like a crush?
IG: More like an anti-crush.
IV: And you say I’m the hater.
IG: I mean, we both find group meditation and wellness retreats a little…
IV: Lame?
IG: I was gonna say.. kinda…irritatingly positive.
IV: Okay, so…lame.
IV: Good reminder of your biases.
IG: And yours. So where’d we leave off from Part 1?
IV: The whole place was screaming [“AH” AUDIO FROM PART 1] while flailing their arms in tandem. You were being an asshole because you felt excluded.
IG: Oh yeah! So let’s pick up where we left off, at Mediclub 2018...
NARRATOR
After the paramilitary rally ended, our meditation facilitators shifted their energy from erratic to…tranquil. (stated more calmly) They told us to bring our hands to our laps and close our eyes.
This part was smoother - they handed off to each other, speaking in hushed tones, telling us to think of a person that brings joy and love to our lives, and to make them our symbol of these ideas.
Between their words, it was perfectly silent in there. I could hear distant sounds, but inside the room, I could barely hear people breathing.
I have to admit I felt…pretty good in that moment. And surprisingly more…receptive to their…sermon, or whatever you’d call this, than I expected.
So they continued - talking about projecting love into the world - a constant loving energy emanating from your mind and body…
Maaaybe this part wasn’t for me, but that’s okay, it still felt good to be there.
I even allowed myself to shut my eyes, which in a situation like this felt a little…performative. I struggled not to make fun of myself
IV: oooo, you’re soooo meditating right now
NARRATOR
But I focused on the sound again, or the lack of sound - something about the noiselessness in there, with all those people in one room. I can see why their other series is called the Big Quiet. It’s…a unique experience.
My mind started…going places.
I was thinking of all things happening right now, not just here, but in all of Greenpoint. I was weighing the really big stuff…
…like… how many people in a one-mile radius were having sex right now? 50?
No, more than that.
300?
I like to be specific, so let’s say…three fifty eight.
Three hundred fifty eight people were having sex at this very moment…or at least…heavy petting…
I imagined the neighborhood like a dollhouse, people going about their business - cooking, working, playing with their kids, staring at their phones.
And then I realized how absurd it is that we’re all here at the same time. Everyone in Brooklyn, and Manhattan and Queens - 8 million people! And then I high-speed zoomed out from the Northeast of the country, to the familiar shape of the United States, to the slow-at-first and then sped up spinning, pale blue dot, planet earth, to the solar system, the other solar systems, to the swirl of the Milky Way.
And then I was reminded that time is truly relative, and that the idea of a now moment is totally subjective, and it depends on where - you are in the universe-
IV: uhhh…cue the music please…
IG: Welcome back to Assholes! Boy…I’m in a real meditation high fugue here!
IV: Yeah, you kinda tripped out!
IG: I was surprised how much of an effect this exercise had - it definitely got me…present.
IV: Pretty big shift from the deathbed future-thinking fugue in during part 1.
IG: Very different.
IV: I feel like there’s at least three known ways to induce this present moment fugue. Remember that TED lecture with Jill Bolte Taylor?
IG: The Stroke of Insight?
IV: Yeah.
IV: Here’s a neuroscientist who had a devastating stroke in the left side of her brain, but her experience of it was..unique.
IG: Oh yeah, she kept being…like overcome in a present moment of awe, right?
IG: Ya know what that sounds like?
IV: Being stoned?
IG: Exactly.
IV: Without context, if you heard her talking like that, about “energy, and atoms and molecules” you’d probably think she just took a bong hit.
IG: So she’s making a big distinction between the left and right hemisphere. She talks about how our two hemispheres almost have different personalities.
IV: And the left side…“personality” kept going offline as the stroke was happening.
IG: Yeah, and that left hemisphere is generally associated with the mindset that thinks about the past and the future, it’s the planner, or the worrier...kinda reminds me of someone.
IV: (aside) Yeah, someone who only manages your life. (more out loud)
IV: So with that hemisphere offline, the right hemisphere of her brain takes the spotlight…which placed her more firmly in the present moment.
IG: Well, that’s the theory, and for those of you that have never had an edible or hit the weed, it definitely roots you in the present moment…like in that moment at Mediclub - I felt like I could relate to the state she was in. I think it’s why listening to music while high feels so good. You’re just attuned to every sound and its effect on you as it’s happening.
IV: Brooooo…duuude…I heard Carl Sagan even believed that THC, the active ingredient in marijuana reduces blood flow to the left hemisphere. Allowing the so-called “creative” right hemisphere to be more dominant.
IG: Carl’s no neuroscientist though. Has anyone studied this?
IV: Seems mostly anecdotal.
IG: I hear you though, I do love this quote from his 1977 book, “The Dragons of Eden:” (in Sagan voice?):
BAD CARL SAGAN IMPRESSION:
“I wonder if, rather than enhancing anything, the cannabinols simply-uh…suppress the left hemisphere and permit the stars to come out. This may also be the-uh…objective of the meditative states of many [BLEEP] regions.”
IV: Oh god, was that your Sagan impression?
IG: Maybe not enough…?
IV: Btw, what did you bleep?
IG: Uhhh…well, he said bleeped) regions, which was probably permissible in 1977 when he wrote it,but…
IV: Wait, you bleeped it again.
IG: (bleeped again)
IV: What?
IG: Asian you dummy! Asian.
IV: Oh!
IG: Anyway, it’s just interesting that he made the same connection.
IV: It rounds up the three known ways to ground yourself in the present moment.
IG: Meditation, smoking pot, and….
IV: Having a terrible stroke in the left hemisphere of your brain?
IG: Yeah…lets…avoid that one, but it made me think about Mediclub - why do these guided meditations? What’s the point?
IV: Other than from the future thinking, left hemisphere personality to the stony, present moment, right hemisphere personality?
IG: Um…yeah.
IV: if I had to guess, when you feel…high and present like that, there is a sense of…creativity and…possibility.
IG: Every present moment is a chance to…turn it all around? Is that it?
IV: I guess?
IG: And that you can snap out of your patterns and…make a change.
IV: Which is basically the goal of all self-help programs, though it’s unclear if that’s even what this event actually…is…?
IG: Either way, you don’t need a drug or…brain damage to have that feeling. Pretty smart actually.
IV: Well look at you, Mr Open-Minded!
IG: Good time for the ASS scale I’d say!
IV: What do we think, studio audience - during this session of Mediclub - is Gabe on the Woody slash Rose, sucker side of the spectrum? Open to new experiences?
IV: Or the Larry David, aka, Richard Dawkins skeptical to the point of closing himself off completely asshole side?
[AUDIENCE: slight, but not overwhelming applause - “you suck” and small laughs echoes out]
IG: Barring that one dude, I guess I’m opening up! Well now I’m feeling real growth, let’s see what’s next, I’m actually excited now.
IV: okaaaay.
IG: What…?
IV: Nothing! Let’s head back to Mediclub!
NARRATOR
Our guided meditation guest hosts handed back to Jesse, and he demanded another round of applause, and boy did he get it.
And then he announced the next guest - a singer. A white woman in flowy urban hippy clothes, who was going to perform a song, it turns out, in the style of Amy Whinehouse…I guess?
I didn’t hear all the words, but it was something about being wary of your mind’s bad habits.
Fair topic - not much of a song.
To her credit though, she sang it a capella, no guitar to back her up or anything, which is really hard and stressful…
But she also had that...blissful smile on her face while she sang and it looked...a little forced, b/c she seemed very nervous, so I don’t know where that smile was coming from.
Still, when she finished everyone hooted and hollered. And given how hard it is to perform like that, I appreciated everyone’s enthusiastic support.
She put her hands on her heart, taking it all in, her bliss smile really beaming now.
Jesse took the floor again and announced a new exercise.
We were told to break into groups of four.
And the prompt was “to pick something you're avoiding in your life, and ask, “what your life would look like” if you stopped avoiding it.”
I spoke to three women. The first was very tall and slender, with very distinct facial features.
She was dressed to kill - a white, fishnet top with a leather vest, leather skirt and high heels. She had dark black hair and her lips looked constantly pursed.
Observing her outfit made me take stock of mine - a long sleeve, black t-shirt, gray jeans and boots - not impressive.
I think she talked about staying motivated for her business, but all i could think about was whether or not I missed the dress code for this thing.
Then the woman to my left spoke. She’d just ended a four year relationship. Now she felt stuck - afraid of deciding who to be with next. Should she get in another relationship that just runs its course and doesn’t work out?
So for now, she was avoiding getting close to anyone.
Dressed to kill asked what it would look like if she stopped doing this. She said that maybe she’d find the right guy…if she was more optimistic.
Then we moved onto another lady who sat a row ahead of us. She talked about her family life.
She moved far away from her parents, because she was avoiding being close to them, but was now trying to return.
Then I went. Mine wasn’t far off from everyone else’s, …
SOUND FX OF SPACE IN PRESENT MOMENT: “I think I’m becoming sort of..post-love…”
“...and as I get older, watching family and friends divorce, or die…”
“...I just don’t wanna get any closer to anyone…I worry that if I do, everything about my life will be filled…with the pain of…loss”
Narrator: The lady that feared new romantic relationships asked how my life would look if I stopped avoiding this?
“...I’d be less alone..i suppose…”
(clumsily) “Ya know what? I’m gonna…run to the…restroom…
IV: (overly cheery) Hi Everybody, welcome back to “Assholes.”
IG: (sullen) Yeah, thanks for joining us.
IV: What’s wrong kitten, you seemed a little…despondent there.
IG: Nothing, I just…didn’t like this part.
IV: Didn’t you make kind of a connection with that group tho?
IG: Eh...
IV: It’s an interesting scenario - all those people in a room, opening up to each other, listening intently to each others’ fears.
IG: Yeah, it just felt…familiar somehow.
IV: Like a 12-step program?
IG: Yeah exactly, mostly because of this…”shares” format.
IV: Shouldn’t be a surprise - the point of 12-step programs is to create community and fellowship.
IG: Yeah, but I kind of resented that.
IV: Why?
IG: Because I thought this was about finding inner calm, not crowdsourced therapy.
IV: But weren’t you hitting on real issues?
IG: Yeah but I didn’t come for that.
IV: So you don’t like 12-step programs?
IG: No, I think they’re very useful! But I thought they were reserved for people with addiction problems and in those scenarios, their shares about their struggles, are in a confidential setting..
IV: So you felt…exposed?
IG: Yes I did! These stories people tell in exercises like this are potential traumas for them. And in 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, people are paired with a sponsor. And you build, like a real, authentic relationship with them. And it doesn’t cost you fucking money.
IV: That’s true.
IG: (continuing) and I feel like it was all…repurposed…like they used it as a manipulation just to get people bonding.
IV: Right, and with bonding comes the natural drug high of oxytocin. That place must have been dripping with it.
IG: (annoyed) Exactly. Which is probably an addictive feeling.
IV: Maybe that’s true, but is the bonding such a bad thing? You said your birthday makes you depressed - wouldn’t this make you feel a little…less alone?
IG: By what, sharing my personal fears with three fucking strangers?
IV: Well…why not?
IG: I just don’t like the context, I don’t trust that a for-profit organization like this really gives a shit about my struggles.
IV: I get that-
IG: And if we’ve learned anything from the endless cult documentaries and podcasts it’s not to trust charismatic guru thought leaders, especially in the trillion dollar wellness and self help industry!
IV: Trillion?
IG: trillion, bitch! And we’ve discussed this before, the more power and influence people accumulate the shittier they become.
IV: Yeah, but your issue seems more about this exercise than Jesse Isreal, doesn’t it? You’re all upset- about the wellness industry
IG: No no no,
IV: Hold on, I just don’t see what this- has to do with the discomfort you were feeling…
IG: You know what, you win! I’m an asshole, okay? I’m FINE with that, because you know who get fucked the most in these things? The consumers - the vulnerable people desperate to give their money away for some kind of guidance, or peace of mind.
IV: Honestly, it just feels like you’re looking for something to rant about. What does this have to do with your discomfort during your share?
IG: I explained that!
IV: Not really, it seemed to be going fine before you spoke, so what happened?
IG: I don’t know!
IV: Well here’s what I think. It seemed like you thought you were…above this part.
IG: (dismissive) No.
IV: (continuing) Coming in as a skeptical spy guy - but you were feeling lonely and depressed. Is it possible you were craving some kind of…connection?
IG: I don’t…no, I don’t- think so.
IV: Yes you were, and when their struggles about being alone resonated with yours, you entered a…vulnerability fugue and you were uncomfortable with it. Isn’t that it?
IG: Fuck off.
IV: Just admit it, you’re pissed because you’re just like everybody else.
IG: How am I like everyone else?
IV: You’re seeking answers, and you were hoping to find some at Mediclub.
IG: I wanted to see if I could…calm…my mind a little- that’s all.
IV: Then learn mindfulness techniques, you could have done that by yourself.
IG: That wasn’t- the whole point of going though
IV: You went to an event where you knew hundreds of people would be doing this together. Plus, you could have just passed when it was your time to share.
IG: It was awkward, I…(searching)...feared the pain of exclusion…that thing we were talking about before-
IV: Bullshit - you wanted to share, you wanted to. But you didn’t want to admit it. So admit it!
IG: Admit what??
IV: That you were curious. Admit that you were curious!!
IG: Christ, calm down.
IV: You were hiding behind this cool guy persona, judging everyone else. And it didn’t feel good to hear that you have the same problems as the other suckers, isn’t that it?
IG: FINE, YES FUCK YOU. I didn’t wanna feel like everyone else, okay, who wants to be like everyone else?
IV: Lotsa people. Anyway, it turns out you’re a sucker and an asshole.
(pause)
IV: Hey, are we having a breakthrough?
IG: NO!
IV: So your bitchy vulnerability aside, your issue is that they’re trying to manipulate a sense of bonding and trust by using methodology from 12-step programs?
IG: And charging for it, yeah! Don’t you agree?
IV: Honestly, it doesn’t seem that out of bounds. Maybe they needed a warning that potentially difficult topics were coming up and it’s okay to opt out, but mostly it seems you were being a spaz.
IG: You should become a therapist. Your couchside manner is- really making me feel at ease.
IV: Either way, we don’t know, we don’t know exactly what their strategy was…and besides..I’d rather ask the studio audience about your ASS rating.
IG: Fuck
IV: Alright everyone, was Gabe being open and fair-minded Rose/Woody?
[AUDIENCE: one hand claps]
IV: Wow,one solo clap…wait was that you?
IG: No! …I Dunno…
IV: Or was he stuck in a narrow minded grump fugue, being a super skeptical, not-funny-at-all Ricky Gervais slash Larry David?
[AUDIENCE: raging applause]
IG: (calmer now) Alright, but we did have a breakthrough. Maybe I’ll have another…?
IV: Let’s see what happens next… at the Sad Birthday Boy Mediclub.
NARRATOR
I considered walking out of Mediclub after I left the bathroom, but at this point I was pot-committed.
As I returned to my seat, Jesse was in the middle of a number of up-sell announcements and then introduced a woman who was doing her last Mediclub as an organizer. She was blonde and wore a flowy peach-colored dress. She told a 5-minute story about what it meant to her and all the wonderful people she met and the unforgettable experiences she had.
She was in tears and spoke of how thankful she was that this community let her spread her wings…felt seen and heard…yadda yadda...this led to thunderous applause and…a standing ovation.
Yup, we’re standing up - like she just finished an impossible piano recital. I thought we were going to carry her out..
Then back to Jesse who introduced the finale…
…a singalong.
A musician (that didn’t look nearly as cool as the other pretty people) walked up the aisle into the center with a guitar on his shoulder, accompanied by a much hipper looking, light-skinned black woman.
He wasn’t dressed in denim with cool hair, he was a bit pudgy and wore khakis and boat shoes and looked like he just rolled out of bed.
I kinda liked him for that.
So they started singing a…positive thinking song that was…annoyingly tolerable.
And then it was sing-along time. The guitar player introduced our section to a three-note melody to sing as a group, and then we rehearsed it. Then he turned his attention to another section and added a harmony, which…kinda threw people off.
In my section, I could hear people singing it wrong.
I found myself correcting them and obnoxiously singing the right part overly loud so they’d hear me.
Ya know like plugging my left ear with my finger so I could hear myself better-
We rehearsed it until we got it right, and after a number of tries, we put it together with all the other sections, and then, boom-
Magic religious singing.
I can’t stress this enough, I sang my little heart out.
If someone had reached out for my hand, I would have taken it.
Worst of all, I think I was doing that bliss-smiling thing while I was singing.
Jesus Christ.
IG: Welcome back to Assholes. Well, Inner Voice, I guess they really pried my third eye open. I was in a total bliss fugue…I can’t believe it.
IV: Who was having a good time?
IG: I was
IV: They kinda…struck a chord there didn’t they. They’re closing on a good note!
IG: Okay
IV: I didn’t see this coming, how did they convert you?
IG: I dunno, it was a perfect storm I guess. It makes sense, I’m mostly an extrovert, kind of bossy, and I’m obsessed with music - listening to it, playing it, so, ya know…
IV: Sure…but it probably speaks to a bigger social phenomenon.
IG: Waz that.
IV: The high of synchrony.
IV: It made me think of your little brain.
IG: It’s your brain too.
IV: I know, it’s our little brain.
IG: What are you talking- about…
IV: Your cerebellum.
IG: Oh…yeah.
IV: You don’t get my joke do you.
IG: No i do not!
IV: Cerebellum literally means “little brain” in Latin. It’s a structure just above your brainstem, and it literally looks like a smaller version of your whole brain - it’s like a “mini-me” brain, embedded in your regular brain.
IG: Stop saying “brain.” What’s it do again?
IV: It’s best known to coordinate physical movement. For instance, if an asshole magician made your cerebellum disappear you would no longer be able to…dance.
IG: I wouldn’t even be able to stand up, right?
IV: Yeah, it basically optimizes instructions for large muscle groups in your body for balance and other movements.
IG: Okay, so everything from a…yoga tree pose…to …having sex.
IV: Great, another random sex reference, but yeah, do you know how many muscle groups it requires just to walk? Let alone copulate?
IG: Yeah, I dunno…your…groin…your quads?
IV: Your hamstrings, your glutes, your hip adductor, your lower calves, your shins, dozens of back muscles.
IG: And we just take it for granted.
IV: The cerebellum’s like a machine-learning supercomputer up there, and it makes all physical movements seem…seamless.
IG: Right, like we don’t remember learning to walk when we were kids, but it was a mess for a while.
IV: Well yeah, that was until your cerebellum, practiced until it got it right, making it now feel automatic.
IG: (suddenly motivated) There should be a Cerebellum Recognition Day.
IV: Yeah…for dorks!
IG: And I think I know the theme song - “I’m your tiny dancer, dancer for money, I’ll do what you want me to do-”
IV: that’s the…wrong song.
IG: ] “I’m your tiny dancer-”
IV: Wrong song!
IG: (continuing) dancer for money, and any old- will do” - what are you bitching about?
IV: That’s Private Dancer - why would it be “tiny” dancer in that Tina Turner song, that doesn’t even make sense. Elton John sings Tiny Dancer.
IG: Oh. (singing again doing Elton John impression), “hold me closer tiny dancer!”
IV: Are you done?
IG: I guess.
IV: So get this, they looked at the brains of classical music conductors while they listened to Bach and followed along to the score. They found that when they changed the rhythm of the piece, blood flow to the cerebellum increased, even though the conductors didn’t actually move a muscle.
IG: So the cerebellum doesn’t just process and coordinate physical movement, it processes sensory information too.
IV: It’s also known to regulate emotional responses like fear and pleasure.
IG: And music is basically an emotion delivery system. And here we are…in the context of Mediclub, people aren’t just listening to music, they’re now bliss-singing it…together.
IV: Yeah, all their cerebellums-
IG: Their Tina Turner Tiny Dancers-
IV: (sigh) Their Elton John Tiny Dancers, dipshit, are all…lit up.
IG: Together. Synchronized. Which is probably familiar if..for instance, you’ve ever attended a musical concert.
IV: “a musical concert?”
IG: Shaddup. Rock show, hip hop shows, where the audience is singing every word with the artists. That high will never die.
IV: Not to poke the bear, but we’ve established you’re not exactly a…fan of cult leaders, right?
IG: Obviously…so…?
IV: Well one of the most iconic visual representations you see of people being manipulated by cult leaders is a marionette, a close up of a hand connected by strings to a puppet.
IG: uh-hmm, my favorite.
IV: Okay then…If our cerebellums, our tiny dancers, are our movement processors, don’t you think it’s kind of funny that 200 people, including skeptical Larry David you, all handed over the keys to your cerebellums, allowing the Mediclub organizers, to essentially pull your strings, making you sing and dance precisely as they wanted you to in this… slightly cult-like event?
IG: Ugh..yeah…but..connecting musically with other people is probably one of the best things humans do.
IV: And look at that…now you’re defending them.
IG: I don’t get it, whose side are you on?
IV: I’m just pointing it out, this is how they getcha! And they gotcha!
IG: Maybe I will join a cult. We should test my thetan levels for the next ASS scale.
IV: ASS thetans, good idea! And good reminder…Soooo whatta ya think studio audience? After this mediclub choir, are we looking at a House MD, aka Larry David asshole?
[AUDIENCE: some mild applause]
IV: Or Rose / slash / Woody Sucker?
[AUDIENCE: more rousing applause]
IG: We’re gonna have to change the name of this show? From Assholes to Suckers! I’ve totally redeemed myself!
IV: Slow your roll there, let’s do a quick review. At the end of Part 1 you were sitting at around a 7.5 on the ASS Scale - your composite score. Pretty far along towards asshole.
IG: So what’s my score for Part 2?
IV: You’re been all over the place. In your meditation high fugue you were sitting around a 3, much closer to Sucker.
IG: God I’m so open-minded
IV: Yeah until we got to the shares.
IG: Right, my resentment fugue, (defensive) I still think that’s a healthy dose of skepticism. Scamming 12-step programs to create community bonding- at a paid event…
IV: Yeah yeah yeah, I remember, you were a 9.
IG: A 9??!
IV: And that’s being generous, you had a total meltdown. I mean, I see your point, but you were the definition of an asshole. You were basically a…cat.
IG: What?
IV: Cats - who’s a bigger asshole than a cat?
IG: Oh.
IV: But hey, at the end of your glowing sing-along fugue, getting your cerebellum tiny dancer tickled, you were at a 2 on the ASS scale!
IG: I never again wanna think about my cerebellum being tickled, but…you’re right, this was a manic episode!
IV: So your part 2 final score is….about a 4.5.
IG: Hey, not bad!
IV: It’s been a journey! And in Part 3 we’ll get to the end of this Mediclub journey.
IG: Thanks for joining us out there, and keep an eye out for the conclusion of this event, where we’ll find out just how deep this asshole goes.
ANNOUNCER
Assholes is brought to you by Fugues Media, all rights reserved. Distribution of this material is strictly prohibited. Services rendered and promotional fees provided by the following Teal Swan
NARRATOR
Lots of extra credit video and articles in the Show Notes. Jill Bolte Taylor’s unforgettable TED talk, the Stroke of Insight, probably one of the first TED talks to go viral, and some fun insights into what a pothead Carl Sagan was. You can also read about the history of 12 step programs, and there’s a great article in Scientific American about the high of synchronized activities, plus loads about how our Tiny Dancer (Elton John) Cerebellums work.
Fugues is written and produced by this asshole, Gabriel Berezin
Music composition by Santiago Arias-Rozo
Script editing by Monty Montan.
Logo design is by Justin Montan.
See you in the next fugue!