The Jordan Harbinger Show

Your brother-in-law cut off the family, can't hold a job, and asks his girlfriend what he's feeling. Hostage, or willing prisoner? It's Feedback Friday!
And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Gabriel Mizrahi (@GabeMizrahi) banter and take your comments and questions for Feedback Friday right here every week! If you want us to answer your question, register your feedback, or tell your story on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com. Now let's dive in!
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1365
On This Week's Feedback Friday:
Your brother-in-law Tommy was the little brother you never had. Then a much older girlfriend rebranded herself as a "somatic trauma therapist," diagnosed him from a certificate mill, and helped him cut off everyone who loves him, all while living rent-free in his parents' basement. Can you free a hostage who keeps demanding pizza money?
You've got a hard-working husband, three kids, and zero doubt that he loves you, so why do you feel so lonely? He'll show up to any date night you plan, buy you flowers you don't even want, but what you crave is initiative: being thought about. You've said it for years and nothing changes. Are you asking too much, or is something sneakier hiding in the ask?
You and your ex split amicably, but somehow you became fluffy Frankie's full-time everything: vet, food, boarding, your whole life rearranged around her while he "borrows" your soul dog whenever it suits him, then rages that it's not 50/50. Now you want to end the sharing for good, but he turns scary when he's crossed. Do you even have the right, and how do you say it without lighting the fuse?
Recommendation of the Week: Wise — a money-transfer app Jordan leans on for sending cash across 80-plus countries and holding 40-plus currencies, with wire fees of a few bucks instead of the $30 to $50 a traditional bank charges. Clean UI, fast, and it does the exchange-rate math for you.
You're a finance-and-stats builder moonlighting on an algorithmic trading system — after shelving a therapy app that ate your sleep — and Jordan's own newsletter about nothing being "too far" has you spiraling on the real question: when is grit wisdom, and when is it just refusing to quit? How do you tell the last mile from a dead end?
Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com!
Connect with Jordan on Twitter at @JordanHarbinger and Instagram at @jordanharbinger.
Connect with Gabriel on Twitter at @GabeMizrahi and Instagram @gabrielmizrahi.
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!
Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!
Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!
This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:
The Cybersecurity Tapes: Listen here: thecybersecuritytapes.com
BetterHelp: 10% off first month: betterhelp.com/jordan
DripDrop: 20% off: DripDrop.com, code JORDAN
Mint Mobile: Shop plans at mintmobile.com/jhs
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A late text isn't a diagnosis and chemistry isn't destiny. Psychologist Dr. Max Butterfield is here to debunk viral dating advice with science.
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1364
What We Discuss with Dr. Max Butterfield:
Viral relationship advice converts ambiguous behavior into confident universal rules because certainty sells. The halo effect makes attractive people believable and provocative claims spread, while real science says "maybe, sometimes, it depends," which rarely goes viral.
"If he wanted to, he would" ignores that motivation and desire are separate systems. People stall from fear, old wounds, or being buried — not indifference. Knowing what to do isn't the same as doing it, so give people room before writing them off.
Separate the pattern from the story. A slow text reply is a pattern you can verify; "they hate me" is a story you author on top of it. Before committing to the worst version, tell yourself the most likely, least likely, and current story — most people default straight to worst-case.
A red flag isn't one bad moment — it's a pattern that makes your life worse instead of better. The clearest one is inconsistency: a partner who pays out like a slot machine. What you actually want is the "boring" change machine that reliably returns four quarters.
Audit every rule you hear — is it one anecdote or real data, and does it lean on always/never or honest hedges like sometimes? Then keep it simple: find someone you like, make sure they like you back, and try really hard to make it work.
And much more...
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!
Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!
Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!
This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:
BetterHelp: 10% off first month: betterhelp.com/jordan
K12: Learn more at k12.com/jordan
Northwest Registered Agent: Get more at northwestregisteredagent.com/jordan
Progressive: Free online quote: progressive.com
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Your niece accused her cousin of abuse, but her story doesn't add up. Now you fear your own sons could someday be falsely accused. It's Feedback Friday!
And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Gabriel Mizrahi (@GabeMizrahi) banter and take your comments and questions for Feedback Friday right here every week! If you want us to answer your question, register your feedback, or tell your story on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com. Now let's dive in!
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1363
On This Week's Feedback Friday:
You fell head over heels for your nieces and nephews years ago. Now one niece says one of your nephews — her cousin — touched her back when they were both kids, but to you, the pieces don't quite click. Your mother-in-law fast-tracked a report, and you're bracing for the day your own toddlers get accused. Are you wrong to doubt, and can the family knit itself back together?
Your retired parents made a shiny new neighbor who buys your kids gifts, invites himself to dinner, then floats a wildlife outing eight miles deep into empty federal land. Mom's charmed. Dad's convinced he's a grifter — or the opening act of a kidnap-and-ransom plot. Is your gut reading the room correctly, or are you quietly writing a cartel thriller starring Roger from down the block?
You're a closeted gay high-schooler in a town where that's a very big deal, and your parents snooped your phone, found your boyfriend, called you disgusting, and quoted scripture at you for hours. So you're pouring everything into a plan to launch a career in aerospace an entire ocean away. Is running that far a reasonable escape, or is something sneakier hiding within the question?
Recommendation of the Week: Anker Prime 3-Port Charger — the tidy little brick that retired the wad of five plugs Jordan used to haul around in his backpack.
An HVAC crew stepped on a sprinkler and flooded your entire house, destroying 90% of your belongings. The company swore it'd cover everything, then ghosted you, and now you're awake at 4 a.m. racking up credit-card debt while your eight-year-old keeps asking when you can go home. Do you lawyer up and sue, torch them on social media, or grit your teeth and wait?
Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com!
Connect with Jordan on Twitter at @JordanHarbinger and Instagram at @jordanharbinger.
Connect with Gabriel on Twitter at @GabeMizrahi and Instagram @gabrielmizrahi.
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!
Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!
Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!
This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:
CookUnity: 50% off first week: cookunity.com/jordan or code JORDAN
Jack Archer: 15% off first order: jackarcher.com, code GETJACK
Paka: Paka hoodie & crew socks: go.pakaapparel.com/jordan
Castbox: Find, organize, and subscribe to the world's best podcasts: castbox.fm
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our alphabet is history's junk drawer. Why Q Needs U author Danny Bate traces letters back through 4,000 years of pictures, invasions, and happy accidents.
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1362
What We Discuss with Danny Bate:
How the alphabet became civilization's 4,000-year-old junk drawer of borrowed symbols, stitched together from Egyptian pictures, Greek tweaks, and Roman branding: not a language at all, but a wildly successful technology shared across English, Spanish, and dozens of unrelated tongues.
Why a capital A is secretly an upside-down ox, and Q is a monkey that kept its tail to this day, O began as a lashed human eye, and R traces back to an ancient word for "head" that still lives inside the Hebrew rosh.
How dropping the vowels turned writing into an MP3 file. Semitic workers in Egypt around 1900 BC repurposed hieroglyphs into one symbol per consonant, trading the beauty of pictograms for something fast, portable, and simple enough to spread across the ancient world.
Why English spelling looks broken at first glance. Letters sit frozen while sounds quietly drift, so Caxton's 15th-century printing press locked in words whose silent K's and GH's were once fully pronounced, leaving competing rules that only look like anarchy.
What a gloriously messy alphabet can teach us about each other. Because our spelling fits no single accent perfectly, it clunkily serves everyone at once. Noticing that gap between speech and spelling is a standing invitation to be more curious and generous about how other people talk.
And much more...
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!
Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!
Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!
This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:
Boll & Branch: 15% off first set of sheets: bollandbranch.com, code JORDAN
Chime: Open an account in two minutes: chime.com/jhs
Factor: 50% off first box: factormeals.com/jordan50off, code JORDAN50OFF
Hims Weightloss: Get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you: hims.com/harbinger
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You biked nude for body positivity. Years later, a predator posted the pics and your personal info online. How can you fight back? It's Feedback Friday!
And in case you didn't already know it, Jordan Harbinger (@JordanHarbinger) and Gabriel Mizrahi (@GabeMizrahi) banter and take your comments and questions for Feedback Friday right here every week! If you want us to answer your question, register your feedback, or tell your story on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com. Now let's dive in!
Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1361
On This Week's Feedback Friday:
10 years ago, you rode naked through Philadelphia in the name of body positivity and silliness. Then a stranger's LinkedIn message informs you your nudes are live on an exposure site — posted by a serial creep who's quietly stalked a dozen women across two countries. You've filed a report and started reverse-doxxing him. So how do you actually bring this ghoul to justice?
You're an agnostic-leaning-atheist dad shipping your whip-smart five-year-old off to a Christian private school, and she's already home reciting Sunday School certainties about Heaven, God, and why we're here. You want kids who interrogate ideas, not swallow them whole — but how do you plant healthy doubt without quietly torching her teachers or picking the fight for her?
Recommendation of the Week: Peak Design — a gear-obsessed cult favorite (not a sponsor) whose magnetic phone case snaps onto a wallet, bike mount, tripod, or charging stand with zero fiddling, which Jordan calls a gamechanger for a serial bike-borrower and car-renter like himself.
For 10 months, you loved a woman who was the kindest person alive sober — and a fork-throwing, credit-card-swiping, bouncer-brawling storm after a few drinks. You drank alongside her, made excuses, watched your own kids clock the change. Now it's finally over, and you're stuck on the hardest question of all: do you try to save her, salvage the wreck, or let her go?
Have any questions, comments, or stories you'd like to share with us? Drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com!
Connect with Jordan on Twitter at @JordanHarbinger and Instagram at @jordanharbinger.
Connect with Gabriel on Twitter at @GabeMizrahi and Instagram @gabrielmizrahi.
And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!
Sign up for Six-Minute Networking — our free networking and relationship development mini course — at jordanharbinger.com/course!
Subscribe to our once-a-week Wee Bit Wiser newsletter today and start filling your Wednesdays with wisdom!
Do you even Reddit, bro? Join us at r/JordanHarbinger!
This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:
Chime: Open an account in two minutes: chime.com/jhs
SimpliSafe: 50% off + 1st month free: simplisafe.com/jordan
Zazzle: 25% off first order: Zazzle.com
ConciergeMD: 20% off all services/memberships: conciergemdla.com/jordan, code JORDAN
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.