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Ginger Snap

April 4 - Andrew Huberman in These Foolish Things

April 4, 2024, 10:32 a.m.
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Public

I can’t remember how I’d fairly recently discovered Andrew Huberman, the neuroscientist professor at Stanford who also had a podcast and a popular Instagram page with 6.2M followers, but I’m sure it was either from a friend or I stumbled across his stuff while searching for something about healthy lifestyle.

Either way, I found him. And I found him fascinating to watch and, like a lot of people, ate up his information like a plate of hyper-palatable health food (oxymoron).

One evening, before The NY Mag Story broke, I watched an Instagram Live that he was conducting, seemingly in an Uber on the way to an appointment or something.

I listened a bit as he answered question after question that viewers sent via IG message in rapid fire. He sounded so smart and so suave. I think it was the first time I’d actually seen him live, whereas before it was more reading of articles. I hadn’t even listened to his podcast yet.

And I noticed something almost immediately - and maybe it’s because I’ve had to see this in myself to recognize it: the guy couldn’t stick to his boundaries when it came to answering all of these questions. He’d answer a slew of things about exercise and medical conditions and sleep and sunshine, and then he’d say something like, “Okay, I can answer two more questions!”

And he’d go on and on and answer five and six and ten minutes later he was STILL TALKING! It got to a point where I had to go in order to get something else done!

Maybe he was excited about talking to his audience, I thought.

But I happened across another IG live maybe a week or so later, and he was doing it again. He kept saying, “Okay! I only have time for one more question!” And then he answered dozens more.

When the story broke about him being in “exclusive” relationships with six different women and none of them knew about each other, my mind went back to those shows where it may have sounded innocent enough - generous, even - for him to keep going with his question and answer schtick after telling his audience that he had to go.

But boundaries are clearly an issue for the guy.

Regardless, I’ve since gone back to start listening to his podcasts because NOW I want to hear more. This thing has stirred up so much controversy on the guy and how much you should really believe what all of these “podcast bros” put out there.

There’s so much more I have to say about how much this guy reminds me of my ex-fiance (the one who had girlfriends in every city that I didn’t know about), but my time is up for my morning writing and I gotta go work out…and then go get some sunshine when the sun rises because…Huberman said so!

Love,
GS

sourapple ⋅ April 04, 2024

I started to be curious about him when I stumbled on a YouTube video, but he presents himself as a subject matter expert on too many things. I don’t think one person (even a Stanford professor) can be a subject matter expert on enough different topics that he can create all these multi-hour videos. And something about the way he presented the information irked me. It always felt like a sales pitch rather than someone with a thirst for knowledge who’s excited to share what they’ve learned. That gave me pause because like… what is he selling me??

So he gave me the ick. And now he’s blown up with a full show, guests and all. And the ick has only grown.

Jinn ⋅ April 04, 2024

He is an interesting person but arrogant , impressed with himself , and now we know he is a cheat too . :-) Men. Sometimes it feels like there is a shortage of good ones.

CharminglyNeurotic ⋅ April 04, 2024

Knew he was a sociopath the minute I saw/heard him.

Ginger Snap CharminglyNeurotic ⋅ April 04, 2024

I figured you would. You can spot em!!

pandora CharminglyNeurotic ⋅ April 05, 2024

I had the same vibe the one time I tried to listen to his podcast, about a year ago.

Complicated Disaster ⋅ April 04, 2024

Never heard of him! xx

Skeletor ⋅ April 04, 2024

I can’t stand the terms ‘the ick’ or ‘red flag’, and I also dislike when big time terms like ‘sociopath’ or ‘narcissist’ or ‘gaslighter’ are thrown about like candy. But then I see people like this guy and I don’t question why those terms are used or felt. Some folks just fit the fuckin bill like OJ fit the glove.

Ginger Snap Skeletor ⋅ April 04, 2024

ha! Great analogy!

Skeletor Ginger Snap ⋅ April 04, 2024

You inspired me to write a whole entry about influencers 😆 I appreciate the good vibes!

Firebabe ⋅ April 04, 2024

Dear god. This guy. One article I read had a full paragraph explaining the logistics he carried out to fly one woman to California and put her up six hours from where another woman was staying, while he then went out and met a THIRD woman for coffee -- all on the same freakin' day! The guy's an ass, yet his time management skills are on point.

I never warmed up to him because the few times I heard him, he was always pitching something, and I firmly believe that when someone is talking about physical and mental health, it should always be presented in an agnostic context. Pros AND cons should always be discussed, and while you can discuss general medications, directly pitching a specific brand of anything should be avoided. And... I don't know... When someone "famous" starts pitching THEIR particular product... It just immediately turns me off. Because then I can't really believe anything they're saying, it all just sounds like a moneygrab.

Ginger Snap Firebabe ⋅ April 04, 2024

Yeah. This guy. It's funny - I've only listened to one podcast, and with all podcasts, I fast-forward through all commercials so I never listen to what they're peddling. I didn't realize how much he was pushing certain specific things that are controversial, and yes...MONEYGRAB for sure!

I honestly don't even see the appeal of trying to secretly date multiple people. It's EXHAUSTING. Yet, like my EX, I guess it's super thrilling to have a stable of women who are oblivious about what they're doing behind their backs.

WhatDreamsMayCome ⋅ April 04, 2024

These days, I've become very comfortable in not knowing about all the BS that is out there.

TrippyNina WhatDreamsMayCome ⋅ April 04, 2024

Same! I've never heard of this guy and I'm absolutely okay with that.

woman in the moon ⋅ April 04, 2024 (edited April 04, 2024)

Edited

What a massive explosive coincidence. My New York came a day or so ago and I read the aricle last night. Before reading it I had looked him up on YouTube and watched most of a program of his on habit making and breaking. I wrote a bit about him in my last entry here. I said he reminded me of Rasputiin but still I thought he had some helpful information. I'm eating bad for my diabetes and I'd like to get my GOOD habits back and I thought he might be/was/could be helpful.
And then here - are more notes on one person, on one subject, maybe from people I know here and respect - all about him.
How 'bout that?

Athena ⋅ April 05, 2024 (edited April 05, 2024)