Shake It Off with Mert & Lucas Live

The second hour opens with Bishop Alfred L. Phillips, pastor of Sheepshead Bay United Methodist Church and founder of the Sheepshead Bay Community Development Center, reflecting on faith, community, and decades of hands‑on work supporting youth and neighborhood stability.  The show closes with Beth Heller Gelles, author of Crazy for College, who unpacks the pressures, myths, and modern realities shaping today’s college admissions landscape.

Episode 99 opens with the explosive, nationwide backlash as 2026 graduates boo commencement speakers who praise artificial intelligence — turning ceremonies into viral flashpoints of frustration. It’s a generational revolt fueled by a shrinking entry‑level job market, rising debt, and the sense that elites are celebrating the very technology these students believe is undermining their future. The hour then shifts to the Hon. Shahar Azani, veteran Israeli diplomat and former Spokesperson and Consul for Media Affairs at Israel’s Consulate General in New York. Drawing on deep experience in public diplomacy and strategic communications, he tackles rising antisemitism head‑on, exposing its modern forms. Azani frames antisemitism as a “canary in the coal mine” for democratic societies and calls for education, factual advocacy, and bold action to protect Jewish communities and the values that sustain free societies

Our second hour opens by taking AOC’s viral line — “You can’t earn a billion dollars” — and using it to argue that her anti‑billionaire stance isn’t just bad economics but a philosophical rejection of the American idea itself. The hosts contend that her worldview casts wealth as theft, ambition as exploitation, and success as illegitimate, warning that if it takes hold, the country risks trading aspiration for resentment and innovation for stagnation. The show wraps with Judd Saul — filmmaker, evangelist, and founder of Equipping The Persecuted and TruthNigeria.com — whose organizations deliver rapid‑response aid and document ongoing attacks against Christian communities in Nigeria. His work puts him on the ground in some of the most dangerous parts of the Middle Belt, providing medical support, security training, and firsthand witness to a crisis the world rarely sees.

Episode 98 opens with a discussion of humanity’s shift from curing disease to engineering advantage, asking whether genetic optimization is compassion, control, or the first step toward a biologically divided society in a world with no real rules for embryo editing. The hour closes with investigative reporter Chris Papst, author of Failure Factory, whose nationally recognized work exposes how bureaucratic waste and mismanagement quietly hollow out American cities and leave taxpayers holding the bill.

The second hour opens with an exclusive interview with Candi Carter, CEO and Founder of Cistus Media, the innovative e‑commerce company reshaping how networks and creators monetize their audiences. A multi‑Emmy Award‑winning executive producer with more than three decades in television — from The Oprah Winfrey Show to The View to Tamron Hall — she also brings a deeply personal mission as the founder of We’ve Got Friends, the New Jersey nonprofit creating inclusive social spaces for teens with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The show wraps with Prof. J. Eric Oliver, a political scientist and social‑psychology researcher whose work uncovers the hidden intuitions and unconscious habits that shape how we think and behave; his book How to Know Your Self offers a clear, science‑driven guide to understanding identity and the inner forces that steer our lives.

Episode 97 begins with the Pentagon’s stunning release of 162 “never‑before‑seen” UFO files, shattering decades of official denial and igniting a national reckoning over what the government has really known. The hosts then explore how a long‑skeptical public — already primed by polls showing nearly half of Americans believe we’ve been visited — is now demanding answers as Washington finally admits it has been studying phenomena it couldn’t explain. The hour ends with an interview featuring Lt. Commander Jack Ratliff, who went from a rugged West Texas upbringing and rodeo bull-riding to Navy destroyer duty and the brutal Underwater Demolition Team training that helped shape the early SEALs. His memoir, Riding the White Bull, is a gritty, humorous coming-of-age story packed with hard-earned lessons on character and resilience.

The second hour explores America’s “always on” work culture — a system where late‑night pings, unpaid after‑hours labor, and digital tethering have quietly become the norm. The hosts argue that the fight for a legal right to disconnect is really a fight for boundaries, dignity, and the basic human right to reclaim your own time. The show then concludes with an interview featuring Bill Eddy, LCSW, JD — author of Why We Elect Narcissists and Sociopaths, a critical look at how high‑conflict personalities rise to power and what it means for the rest of us.

Episode 96 begins with a look at the terrifying new reality of AI voice cloning — a world where a scammer can steal your voice, mimic your emotions, and weaponize your identity using just a few seconds of audio. From Hollywood to Congress to everyday families, the hosts discuss how the technology has outpaced the law, shattered trust, and forced a national reckoning over who owns the sound of you.  The hour then ends with an interview featuring Adm. William J. “Fox” Fallon (Ret.), whose new book Decisions, Discord & Diplomacy unpacks the hard choices, global tensions, and behind‑the‑scenes statecraft that shaped his career. He offers a sharp, real‑world look at leadership, conflict, and the consequences of decisions made on the world stage.

Hour 2 begins with a sharp, satirical dive into America’s redistricting circus — a political geometry war where voters overwhelmingly dislike the process, yet politicians keep sharpening their pencils anyway. The hosts then discuss developments in Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, and California, exposing a coast‑to‑coast battle of lawsuits, power plays, and map‑making mayhem that underscores a simple truth: if you can control the map, you can control the country. The show concludes with an interview featuring Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath -- a cognitive neuroscientist and internationally recognized researcher specializing in how digital technology affects attention, learning, and human behavior. He is the author of The Digital Delusion, a book that unpacks the science behind our screen‑saturated lives and challenges the myths driving modern tech culture.

Episode 95 begins with a chilling look at the growing cluster of missing and deceased scientists — a pattern that stayed invisible for years because the cases were scattered across states, agencies, and jurisdictions. The hosts then examine how the disappearance of Maj. Gen. William Neil McCasland finally forced the FBI, the White House, and Congress to launch coordinated reviews, raising the uncomfortable question of why it took so long for anyone to connect the dots. The show then pivots to an interview featuring Dr. Monica Vermani -- a clinical psychologist and internationally recognized expert on trauma, anxiety, and emotional wellness. She is the author of A Deeper Wellness: Conquering Stress, Mood, Anxiety and Traumas, a guide that blends clinical insight with actionable strategies for building a healthier, more resilient life.

This hour examines President Trump’s executive order fast‑tracking psychedelic drugs through the FDA pipeline, a move that has ignited a national debate over science, veterans’ care, and the limits of presidential authority. The hosts frame the order as both a response to America’s escalating mental‑health crisis and a cultural turning point, raising questions about urgency, influence, and the future of psychedelic medicine. The hour closes with Justin Keener, President of Americans for Public Safety, whose work centers on public‑safety reform and evidence‑based strategies to reduce crime and strengthen community outcomes.

Episode 94 opens with a breakdown of Trump’s AI‑generated “Jesus style” image — the white robe, the glowing hand, the hospital‑bed tableau — and the political, religious, and cultural shockwaves it set off. The hour tracks the fierce reactions from supporters and critics, who argued over false prophets, messianic symbolism, and whether the imagery is strategy, sacrilege, or something far more destabilizing: a moment when the line between faith and power appears to be dissolving in real time.  The hour concludes with Jonathan Tepper, author of Shooting Up, a memoir rooted in his childhood in Madrid’s heroin‑ravaged San Blas neighborhood, where his parents founded a drug‑rehabilitation center and the addicts he grew up with — nearly all HIV‑positive — became his closest friends and deepest losses. Moving between a book‑saturated home life and the brutal realities of AIDS, grief, and survival, Tepper traces how a boy shaped by death, loyalty, and literature ultimately finds purpose and resilience on the path that leads him to becoming a Rhodes Scholar.

The second hour examines the unprecedented legal and moral questions raised by the 2025 FSU shooting, where the accused gunman exchanged more than 200 conversations with ChatGPT — including operational questions minutes before the attack — forcing prosecutors, families, and regulators to confront whether information alone can constitute “help.” It’s a deep dive into the collision between human intent and machine response, and the unsettling reality that AI stayed in the conversation long after every human in this young shooter’s life had walked away. The show closes with an interview featuring Barry Maher, author of The Great Dick: And the Dysfunctional Demon, a darkly comic supernatural thriller set in 1980s California. The novel blends horror, satire, and character‑driven chaos as an ordinary man finds his life hijacked by a mischievous, malevolent entity — a story that uses humor and the paranormal to explore how identity unravels under pressure and how ego can become its own worst haunting.

Episode 93 opens with a breakdown of the viral “alphabet soup” moment from Canadian MP Leah Gazan, using her 17‑letter acronym as a springboard to show how jargon‑heavy political language numbs the public, buries real crises, and turns urgent issues into performative word salads. The hosts deliver a sharp critique of how overloaded identity acronyms desensitize audiences, shut down debate, and let politicians signal virtue while dodging accountability. The hour then features an interview with Ray Zinn, a Silicon Valley pioneer and the longest‑serving CEO in the industry, known for building Micrel into a model of disciplined, values‑driven leadership. He’s the author of The Essential Leader, which distills his decades of experience into a clear, character‑first blueprint for anyone who wants to lead with integrity and endurance.

We begin the second hour with an exclusive interview with Jami Floyd — an attorney, veteran journalist, and public‑affairs commentator whose career spans ABC News, MSNBC, Court TV, and WNYC, and who recently suspended her congressional campaign in New York’s 12th District after confronting the structural and financial barriers facing first‑time candidates. She brings a rare blend of legal insight, media experience, and hard‑earned political perspective to any discussion of law, democracy, and public service.  We wrap the show with a conversation with Dr. John Richard Lott Jr. — an economist, researcher, and founder of the Crime Prevention Research Center, known for his extensive empirical work on crime statistics, public safety, and the effects of policy on real‑world outcomes. His data‑driven scholarship and decades of academic work have made him a prominent and often debated voice in national conversations about crime and public policy.

Episode 92 begins with a look at the staggering $93 billion price tag behind America’s return to deep‑space flight, contrasting the awe of Artemis II with the hard question of whether such spending is justified when housing, healthcare, infrastructure, and education are in crisis. The hosts then widen the lens, using Pew and Gallup data to show how Americans remain inspired by space exploration yet increasingly demand accountability, fiscal restraint, and a clearer argument for why lunar missions should outrank urgent needs here on Earth. The hour ends with an interview featuring Nancy Lee Gulbrandsen -- a Florida‑based author and humorist whose satirical dating guide, Swipe Left: The Savvy Woman’s Guide to Decoding Men’s Dating Profiles, recently ranked in Amazon’s Top 10 in the Online Dating category.  Her sharp, self‑aware take on modern romance has resonated with readers nationwide, turning her real‑life misadventures into empowering, laugh‑out‑loud insight for women navigating today’s dating landscape.

Hour 2 examines the Jaden Ivey firestorm, tracing how a 45‑minute Instagram Live attacking the NBA’s Pride Month initiatives triggered his sudden waiver and ignited a league‑wide debate over faith, speech, and brand protection. The hosts unpack the Bulls’ swift “conduct detrimental” decision, and the polarized reactions across players, media, and fans as the NBA confronts its own limits on expression. The show wraps with an interview featuring Rev. Dr. Terrlyn L. Curry Avery—a theologian and psychologist whose work bridges spiritual healing and racial justice, challenging individuals and institutions to confront the emotional and moral roots of racism. She is the author of Dismantling Racism, where she outlines a transformative framework for understanding racism as both a systemic force and a spiritual wound that requires courageous self‑examination and collective repair.

Episode 91 opens with the collapse of a revered labor icon’s legacy as multiple women come forward with allegations of rape, coercion, and long‑buried abuse, forcing the country to confront a truth that shatters decades of mythmaking. What follows is not merely a culture‑war cancellation but a moral reckoning, as the movement he built—and the nation that sanctified him—must now confront the darkness that lived inside its chosen hero. The hour ends with an interview featuring Dr. Renata Moon, MD, FCP -- a board‑certified pediatrician and veteran medical educator with more than 25 years of clinical experience in general pediatrics and pediatric hospital medicine. She is known for her advocacy on informed consent, medical transparency, and the protection of open inquiry in medical education, work that has positioned her as a prominent voice in debates over pediatric care and physician autonomy.

The hour opens with an examination of the explosive rise in disability accommodations on college campuses — especially elite ones — where registration rates have surged to levels with “no historical parallel,” driven largely by mental‑health diagnoses and easier access to private evaluations. While some of this reflects overdue support, the system is increasingly strained, inequitable, and vulnerable to strategic use, raising the looming question of what happens “if it hits 50 or 60 percent.”  The show wraps with an interview featuring Diana Colleen, a novelist whose work blends moral tension with imaginative, reality‑bending storytelling. Her award-winning novel, They Could Be Saviors, explores billionaire-ism as a mental illness that psychedelic therapy might treat, framing it as one potential path toward addressing existential issues like climate change.

Episode 90 opens with an activist’s X post describing dogs as “unclean,” a remark that set off a wave of online speculation about Muslims supposedly trying to ban pets in New York City—despite no such proposal ever being formally introduced. From there, the hosts move to the debate surrounding Congress’s BOWOW Act, where dogs again entered the political conversation, this time as part of an immigration‑related messaging fight rather than a discussion about animal welfare or statutory changes.  The hour ends with an interview featuring Michael Bedenbaugh -- a historian and civic advocate whose work focuses on preserving America’s cultural foundations and renewing public engagement. He is the author of Reviving Our Republic, a call to restore the nation’s democratic fabric through historical insight and community action.