Episodes

  • The Real Reason Why Donald Trump raised his fist after being shot at

    The Real Reason Why Donald Trump raised his fist after being shot at
    Jul 19 2024
    Drs. Gartner and Segal are joined by clinical professor Justin Frank MD, who wrote "Trump on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President," who explains how Trump's grandiosity made him able to process the assassination attempt and raise his fist after the event. Make sure you join us here on Patreon to support our work and gain access to exclusive perks: patreon.com/ReallyAmericanMedia Our site: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/shrinking-trump Subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/really-political/id1742461616 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6AEHmPMAqDlLJEbMgXq1iJ Subscribe on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/83ca7283-59fb-4cb7-a34b-03c4b0218f29 Subscribe on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-really-political-169545670/ You are definitely going to want to hear Dr. Gartner and Dr. Segal’s shocking explanation for why they think Trump reacted the way he did at the shooting. “Listen, if I were shot in the ear at a rally, I'd stay on the ground,” Dr. Segal said. “This guy in two seconds puts his fist up. I mean, it's so a part of him. It’s so instinctual.” In this session, our hosts will be discussing the trauma of the shooting at Trump’s rally and the impact it’s having on the political landscape. We’ll also unbox how our culture’s irreverence toward elders has made Biden the victim of ageism, and as a result many have greatly misinterpreted the President’s normal signs of aging. Our guest, Dr. Frank rejoins the show to help us diagnose how the assassination attempt will likely impact Trump’s psychology. “Surviving the attack reinforces his paranoia that he is under attack,” Dr. Gartner said. “It reinforces his grandiosity that somehow he's so triumphant that even death can't take him.” We’ll also be talking about Trump’s VP pick JD Vance, the Republican National Convention, and so much more in this FANTASTIC episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 19 mins
  • Biden Bounces Back: It's his stutter, NOT cognitive decline

    Biden Bounces Back: It's his stutter, NOT cognitive decline
    Jul 12 2024
    Drs. Gartner and Segal talk to Dr. Eric Jackson, Director of the Stuttering and Variability Lab at NYU who argues that a lot of what looked like cognitive decline in Biden’s debate performance was actually stuttering: a message America needs to hear. Make sure you join us here on Patreon to support our work and gain access to exclusive perks: patreon.com/ReallyAmericanMedia Our site: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/shrinking-trump Subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/really-political/id1742461616 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6AEHmPMAqDlLJEbMgXq1iJ Subscribe on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/83ca7283-59fb-4cb7-a34b-03c4b0218f29 Subscribe on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-really-political-169545670/ We cautioned our listeners over the last week to take a deep breath and allow us to analyze more data points on Biden’s language, mannerisms, and overall cognitive health. In this episode, Dr. Gartner and Dr. Segal will use significant data to help put Biden’s debate performance in perspective by presenting a model of who Biden really is with a true expert in the field of communication. Our hosts also break down some of Trump’s most absurd statements from this week. Our guest today is Dr. Eric Jackson, a speech-language pathologist and Associate Professor in the Communicative Sciences and Disorders department at NYU. Eric's research focuses on the variability of stuttering and the inconsistencies of how stuttering events manifest themselves. Eric joins the show to decipher how much of Biden’s poor debate performance can be attributed to stuttering vs cognitive decline. “Stuttering is an articulation problem,” Dr. Gartner said. “It's not a brain problem. It's not a thinking problem. It's not a cognitive problem.” Dr. Jackson helps our listeners better understand the challenges stutterer’s face, including the anticipation of stuttering and what mechanisms they develop to disguise the stutter. “Biden uses a lot of these,” Eric said. “When he was younger and quicker, he was more able to implement them. But now that he's aging and slower, it's more difficult for him, and that seems to be contributing to what people are characterizing as the mumbling or the stumbling or even the losing his train of thought.” John and Harry also give us a clear contrast of Biden’s mental acuity vs Trump’s constant brain failures. “Biden’s a flawed candidate, Dr. Segal said. “But compared to Donald Trump he's perfect. And really compared to any candidate, he's quite strong.” You’ll also hear our hosts call out the media for failing to cover Trump’s psychopathology while spending the last two week’s obsessing over Biden’s “cognitive decline.” “Someone tweeted today that in the New York Times there are eight articles about Biden's cognitive decline, and no articles about Trump's psychopathology,” Dr. Gartner said. This is a trend now that we're going to have to deal with.” “John and I began the show because we were alarmed by the ways in which the media and even the political elites seem to be ignoring the ways in which Donald Trump was expressing early signs of dementia,” Dr. Segal said. “A few weeks ago, when Joe Biden showed up to the debate, the country was really caught off guard. It left me and many other people in the country wondering, how is Biden really doing? Who is he really? How is his functioning?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 23 mins
  • Post-debate analysis: We all need to take a breath

    Post-debate analysis: We all need to take a breath
    Jul 5 2024
    Hosts Dr. John Gartner and Dr. Harry Segal are joined by geriatrician and dementia expert Dr. Elizabeth Landsverk to analyze Biden’s debate performance and determine what signs of dementia, if any, he actually displayed. Dr. Vince Greenwood is also back on the show to help us evaluate the signs of aging and cognitive decline shown from both candidates. Make sure you join us here on Patreon to support our work and gain access to exclusive perks: patreon.com/ReallyAmericanMedia Our site: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/shrinking-trump Subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/really-political/id1742461616 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6AEHmPMAqDlLJEbMgXq1iJ Subscribe on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/83ca7283-59fb-4cb7-a34b-03c4b0218f29 Subscribe on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-really-political-169545670/ Welcome to another edition of Shrinking Trump, where we normally talk about how Donald Trump’s behavior shows signs of dementia, and to point out how the media improperly covers it. Since the debate, however, many Americans, including us, have been left wondering if Biden's performance was simply a bad episode or if it's a sign of a worsening cognitive condition. Dr. Gartner is optimistic, and based on available data is concluding that Biden is showing normal signs of aging and not suffering from a cognitive condition. Dr. Segal, however, is not so sure. “What accounts for what happened last Thursday,” Dr. Segal asked. “Was it simply exhaustion? Or was it a cognitive decline that we're now being allowed to see? I think it’s very important for us to ask these questions.” In this episode, our hosts analyze Biden’s appearance and behavior in the week that followed the poor debate performance, including a rally in North Carolina and a strong speech about the Supreme Court presidential immunity ruling. We’ll talk about how Biden’s aging should not necessarily be confused with incompetence. “It looked so terrible,” Dr. Gartner said “And it had such a terrible impact that the truth might not even matter. But if we're looking at the truth, we have to understand how someone can show signs of aging but also be competent.” We’ll highlight some of Trump’s cognitive failures from the week to demonstrate the clear difference from Biden’s normal signs of aging and Trump’s clear decline. “The symptoms we're seeing in Trump are worse and more constant,” John said. “Biden may have not been able to complete his sentence properly, but at no point during the debate did he think Obama was President. He's not making up quotes from Ulysses S. Grant. He's not talking nonsense about sharks and batteries.” You’ll also get our take on why Biden’s debate performance was such a flop and hear who John thinks is primarily to blame for the whole debacle. Trust us, this is an episode you won’t want to miss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • Debate Debacle: Aging, stutter or cognitive decline?

    Debate Debacle: Aging, stutter or cognitive decline?
    Jun 29 2024
    Co-hosts Drs. John Gartner and Harry Segal discuss the presidential debate with famed psychologist David Dunning, co-author of the “Dunning-Krueger Effect. The nation must deal with the shock, panic, and trauma created by Biden’s poor performance. But what caused it? Age, stuttering, illness, cognitive decline, poor debate preparation and strategy, or some combination? How concerned should we be? Make sure you join us here on Patreon to support our work and gain access to exclusive perks: patreon.com/ReallyAmericanMedia Our site: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/shrinking-trump Subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/really-political/id1742461616 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6AEHmPMAqDlLJEbMgXq1iJ Subscribe on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/83ca7283-59fb-4cb7-a34b-03c4b0218f29 Subscribe on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-really-political-169545670/ We started this show to call out the media for failing to recognize Trump’s early signs of dementia and to contrast that with Biden’s normal aging. “It’s what John referred to as, ‘the aging brain versus the dementing brain’,” Dr. Segal said. “And our goal is really to raise clinical awareness and sophistication on the part of you, our viewers, but also of the media.” Week after week we have offered a series of progressive hypotheses to explain Trump’s behavior, his language, and even his physical bearing. And now, after the debate sent shockwaves through the media and the public, we thought it important to look at what actually happened that night. “As far as a performance and as far as the political impact, I would say it couldn't have been worse,” Dr. Gartner said. “In terms of understanding what happened, however, I think we are actually going to have a very interesting discussion today because it's actually quite complex. You’ll hear our hosts share their very relatable personal reactions to the debate and help us all understand the trauma Americans suffered that evening. “I felt like the walls were closing in,” John said. “I felt the floor actually fall beneath me like I was falling into the void.” “I felt that I had just experienced a trauma - like my whole world had changed,” Dr. Segal said. “This was not normal functioning. This was terrifying and traumatizing.” We’ll run through some of the clips to analyze how the candidates’ body language made Trump’s answers sound better than they were - and Biden’s WAY worse than they actually were. While Trump had a more commanding performance, our hosts argue that he had a clever way of hiding his cognitive decline. “Trump is stringing together his slogans - he gums them together,” Harry said. “We've been watching him do this in rallies. But through the forcefulness of his tone and his ability to create rhythm in his speech, it seems to make sense in a cohesive, coherent way. This is a way that Trump is managing his own decline, which is not being expressed through a weakness in his voice, but in other ways.” We’ll also analyze the physical signs of advanced aging Biden displayed, and discuss what role the debate prep likely played in his delivery. And we weigh the impact of Biden’s traditional stutter on his performance and how that can often be confused with actual signs of aging. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 26 mins
  • Trump and Biden ARE NOT the same

    Trump and Biden ARE NOT the same
    Jun 21 2024
    Top Psychologists John Gartner and Harry Segal are joined by Professor of Neuropsychology and Neurology at UCFF Dr. Joel Kramer, as they parse significant differences between Biden's chronic stutter and Trump's glaring dementia. Make sure you join us here on Patreon to support our work and gain access to exclusive perks: patreon.com/ReallyAmericanMedia Our site: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/shrinking-trump Subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/really-political/id1742461616 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6AEHmPMAqDlLJEbMgXq1iJ Subscribe on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/83ca7283-59fb-4cb7-a34b-03c4b0218f29 Subscribe on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-really-political-169545670/ Dr. Joel Kramer is the director of the neuropsychology program at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center. He studies the effects of neurodegenerative disease on intellectual abilities and behavior. Dr. Kramer was quoted in the Washington Post last week saying that the risk for both Biden and Trump are “about the same for demonstrating some degree of cognitive decline over the next four to five years.” Our host John Gartner brought him on the show to challenge this conclusion. The Post failed to mention that in their interview Dr. Kramer also said, “Biden has an established history of a developmental language disorder - stuttering, while Trump's gaffes are more likely driven by disordered thinking.” Welcome to another addition of Shrinking Trump, our weekly show where we review the ways in which Trump’s behavior over the past week demonstrates signs of early onset of dementia, and express his malignant personality disorder. “And each week,” Dr. Segal says, “we've been trying to help you, our listeners, as well as the media, to think about Trump in a more clinically sophisticated and accurate way.” We’ll analyze Trump’s wildest episodes from the past week and point out the different variables that likely influence his shifting behaviors and cognitive ability. From forgetting the name of Joe Biden and the Doctor who administered his cognitive test, to calling Milwaukee a “horrible” city, to suggesting that Nancy Pelosi would want to date him, Trump “really writes his own Saturday Night Live cold open,” as Dr. Gartner puts it. “Why are we talking about this? Because there's a deterioration in his frontal lobes that are causing him to become disinhibited and lose his executive functioning.” Clips on social media can be distorted and misleading. At times Trump can be articulate and forceful. But as our hosts show you each week, there is likely enough video evidence to diagnose actual signs of a progressive dementia and cognitive decline. “As I predicted when we started this show two months ago, he will continue to get worse, Dr. Gartner said. “He will continue to show these symptoms more and more.” Dr. Kramer answers Dr. Gartner’s challenge, defend his statements, and will walk us through the major differences between Trump and Biden, as both a concerned citizen and as a practicing neuropsychologist. “You and I are taking a big risk by coming on this show every week and talking, not definitively, but arguing strongly for a diagnosis of Trump,” Dr. Segal said. “Not just what seems to me to be an onset of cognitive decline, but also his severe personality disorder. But the mainstream press doesn't want to come out and label Trump. And so they're just putting it out there that they're both old. I think it's cowardly. I don't think it helps the public.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • How shame formed Trump's narcissism, with John Skrovan

    How shame formed Trump's narcissism, with John Skrovan
    Jun 14 2024
    Top Psychologists John Gartner and Harry Segal are joined by Clinical Psychologist John Skrovan, as they address Trump's malignant narcissism, and his inability to process shame, and how that shapes his rapid cognitive decline. Make sure you join us here on Patreon to support our work and gain access to exclusive perks: patreon.com/ReallyAmericanMedia Our site: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/shrinking-trump Subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/really-political/id1742461616 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6AEHmPMAqDlLJEbMgXq1iJ Subscribe on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/83ca7283-59fb-4cb7-a34b-03c4b0218f29 Subscribe on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-really-political-169545670/ Welcome to another addition of Shrinking Trump, where we meet each week to present the mounting evidence of Trump’s mental decline and early onset dementia. “Our goal is really to educate the public, to help them to think clinically in a more sophisticated way,” Dr. Segal said. In this episode, our hosts will be sharing the latest audio and video examples of Trump’s disorientation, confusion, and some peculiar but very specific physical telltale signs of brain damage and deterioration. Joining the show this week is leading clinical psychologist Dr. John Skrovan who gives us his take on how difficult Trump’s malignant narcissism was born out of shame from a horrible emotional environment. “When you have a repeated kind of a shame, it can become a mortifying shame,” he said. “Some people will even call it a soul murder.” He’ll walk us through how that shame is manifested in his behavior You’ll hear Dr. Segal’s take on Dr. Phil’s (who is no longer a licensed psychologist) recent softball interview in which the severity of Trump’s narcissistic personality was put on full display. “It's getting to the point where I never hear anything true,” said Dr. Segal. “And I've heard the lies being recycled because he gums them together.” We’ll also walk through some of the terrifying details of Trump’s Project 2025 and talk about the convicted felon’s recent open embrace of the role of America’s Hitler. “One of the pieces of his plan that I find most dangerous and offensive, as a Jew is their attack on immigrants,“ says Dr. Gartner. “They are demonizing them. They're dehumanizing them, and they're setting people up for the idea that we can send them to concentration camps.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • "He's made himself the victim"

    "He's made himself the victim"
    Jun 7 2024
    Top Psychologists John Gartner and Harry Segal are joined by Dr. John Talmadge, one of the first to have written about Trump's dementia, as they address Trump's fixation on vengeance and peel back the layers of his rapid cognitive decline. Make sure you join us here on Patreon to support our work and gain access to exclusive perks: patreon.com/ReallyAmericanMedia Our site: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/really-political Subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/really-political/id1742461616 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6AEHmPMAqDlLJEbMgXq1iJ Subscribe on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/83ca7283-59fb-4cb7-a34b-03c4b0218f29 Subscribe on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-really-political-169545670/ Welcome to another addition of Shrinking Trump, where we meet each week to present the mounting evidence of Trump’s mental decline and early onset dementia. This week was particularly telling for Trump, as he attempts to deal with the reality of his conviction on 34 felony counts. Our guest Dr. Talmadge is a Dartmouth University grad and former clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas. His article from 2015, described Trump as demented, and suffering from malignant narcissism. “Trump's dementia is generally overlooked because of the florid, colorful, and newsworthy nature of his malignant narcissism,” Talmadge wrote. In this episode, Dr. Talmadge explains how Trump’s mental deficits and his attempts to conceal them are laid bare in the way he communicates. “With my background, I was struck very quickly by his language, his inability to handle complex ideas, and his difficulty adapting to novel situations,” Dr. Talmadge said. “The fact that he doesn't talk with people, he talks at people, which is called compensating for your deficits.” You are not going to want to miss Dr. Talmadge’s diagnosis, in detail, of four of the most significant psychological symptoms that serve as evidence of Trump’s mental decline. On today’s show, our hosts give us their diagnosis of a pandering, lie-filled, interview the Fox and Friends “B Team” gave to Trump over the weekend. They’ll break down Trump’s wildest statements from the interview and explain why that kind of unchecked, biased presentation of his lies is so dangerous. “He told lies about the conviction,” Harry said. “They asked him not one question about the charges. Not one question about the substance. They accepted his story that it's all made up.” Our hosts will also examine how Trump’s paranoia and malignant narcissism allows him to energize his supporters by creating false threats based on generalities. “He said that there was someone with a machete in a McDonald's,” Dr. Segal said. “It turns out there was once someone with a machete outside of McDonald's. So Trump reads this one little clip, and now suddenly it's an invasion of criminals who are going to chop you to pieces with their machete.” And finally - I hope you’ll enjoy this week’s segment of Good News, Bad News, where our hosts absolutely rip apart WSJ journal coverage of Biden’s mental health, based on statements made by, as Dr. Segal said, “Kevin McCarthy, a pathological liar and psychopath.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr
  • Special Edition: Conviction Day episode, "This is an emergency."

    Special Edition: Conviction Day episode, "This is an emergency."
    Jun 3 2024
    Top Psychologists John Gartner and Harry Segal discuss with Dr. Lance Dodes the psychological fallout America will have to brace itself for, following the first conviction of an unhinged former President in history on Really American's SMASH HIT podcast, Shrinking Trump. This special episode is an "emergency session” of the iTunes chart-topping podcast to discuss fallout from the unstable Republican presidential candidate that could have dire consequences. Our site: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/shrinking-trump Subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shrinking-trump/id1745797271 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4xuuqHxzruLEsQXtTuJjP4 Subscribe on Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a101a15a-8b18-49c8-b556-c201aece30ee/shrinking-trump Subscribe on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-shrinking-trump-175213669/ Returning to the show for this special is our friend Dr. Dodes, a retired assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. In this episode, Lance will be helping our hosts psychoanalyze Trump’s unhinged press conference from the morning after he was convicted of 34 felonies. “Right now, Donald Trump is a wounded animal, " John said. “There's nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal. And there's really nothing more dangerous than a wounded malignant narcissist.” Using video and direct quotes, our hosts provide you with an in-depth analysis of how Trump’s projection, narcissism, sociopathy, and dementia were on full display in his sham of a press conference. “Remember, this is a press conference to explain why he's been convicted of 34 felonies,” said Dr. Gartner. “But from the way he presents it, you'd think he was there to accept an award.” Dr. Dodes walks us through his own diagnosis of Trump’s performance, and helps us understand the dangerous psychology of how a now-wounded malignant narcissist like Trump would respond if he were to regain power. He also gives us a rundown of the deranged cult mentality that empowers charismatic leaders like Trump, and the interpersonal effects his distorted beliefs have on his followers. Trump’s ability to manipulate the truth rests in his ability to repeat his lies over and over. But he’s also helped by an army of surrogates who parrot his false reality. In this episode, we’ll be taking a hard look at how the conviction and these competing realities might affect the psychology of voters. There’s also a chilling conversation comparing Trump’s malignant narcissism to Hitler’s that you are not going to want to miss. “I've been saying now for six years that Donald Trump is the American Hitler,” John explained. “And immigrants are the new Jews.” Dr. Segal said it best when sounding the alarm. “We're not saying this as political activists,” he said. “We're talking about a very disturbed person with tremendous power and influence saying psychotic things that are organized around evoking rage and fear in his supporters.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    54 mins