In every episode of the “Maintenance Phase,” hosts Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes try to unite each other in a two-year-old podcast that tackles crude nutrition research and anti-fat bias. opener?
“Welcome to the maintenance phase. This is a podcast that shows only your body, not your head, from across the street.” Hobbes begins with one episode about the suspicious origin of the so-called obesity “epidemic” of the 1990s.
“In fact, there is research on that particular thing,” Gordon replies. “And we are completely [bleep]I will talk about it. “
“In American life, many of the headless torso are the only places where we can see that they are the local news segment about obesity and grinders,” Hobbes says. “As a gay man studying this issue, I’m very familiar with this format,” they laugh.
The success of the “maintenance phase” runaway is primarily due to the relationship between Hobbes and Gordon. This constitutes a nutritional statistic with a keen critique of the trendy diet and a funny joke of exaggerated laughter.
Both started their careers in the non-profit sector. Gordon was the organizer of a community focused on LGBTQ + rights, and Hobbes was involved in international development. That sense of mission led them to report.
Gordon anonymously blogged as “Your Fat Friend” for five years before her first book was published. What we don’t talk about when we talk about fat, Published in November 2020. Hobbes HuffPost And that New Republic From 2018 to 2021, we co-sponsored another podcast “You’re Wrong About” with Sarah Marshall for 10 years.
The first two connected in 2018 HuffPost exposé Hobbes writes about the myths surrounding the epidemic of obesity. (Supplement: Both prefer to use the simple descriptor “fat” rather than “obesity” where a scientific veneer hides a pile of disapproval.) Gordon published his publication. Reading his work, which was impressed by his alter ego, he takes a bitter and compassionate attitude about how obesity strengthens the perception that obesity is a moral and personal failure.
Just before the pandemic, the two met for the first time at dinner and talked all the way to the evening. They crushed each other. They agreed with each other. They decided what would happen if they recorded the conversation.
If the podcast feels like two friends riffing each other’s jokes and sending a text message to a ridiculous clip for the other to read aloud, it’s due to how Hobbes and Gordon work. .. They select specific topics in the episode in order. For example, the rise and fall of Snackwells low-fat cookies, or the psychological abuse that children endure in fat camps. After that, it will take several weeks to conduct an independent survey. Next, Hobbes in Berlin and Gordon in Oregon will record an hour’s talk. Researchers lead the conversation, others react, and add informed comments to the discussion.
Despite its spontaneity, the “maintenance phase” has become a master class of research and how to critically examine diet claims. Gordon and Hobbes point out flaws in population-based nutrition research and explore the questionable history of concepts such as calories and the classification of obesity index. They track the origin of commonly cited statistics about obesity epidemics. Hobbes, for example, recently learned that the idea that the rates of obesity and diabetes reduce the life expectancy of today’s children holds true. In 2002, a well-known pediatrician issued the statement in a newspaper interview, which did not do any research to support it, but soon the US Surgeon General quoted it as a fact.
The question of the statement about the health effects of overweight, although the two frequently argue, is not that overweight is associated with a higher risk and higher mortality of a particular health condition. .. They do not doubt it. However, doctors and researchers often think that obesity is the root cause of health problems, not a symptom, not to mention lean people. “We’ve heard this very simple story about obesity for a long time, so it’s really hard to see it the other way around,” Hobbes says in one episode. Researchers haven’t investigated their own assumptions that fat people should lose weight, so systematic racial prejudice, poverty, and lack of health insurance (all factors can have a significant impact on health. Shown) is downplayed.
In addition to appearing in the top rankings of health podcasts, the “maintenance phase” is currently supported by over 38,000 people through Patreon. This allows Hobbes and Gordon to focus full-time on podcasts and writing projects. Gordon says he received a ton of emails from fat people who were relieved to hear the discussion about nutrition and fats that work from the basic human baseline.
“I have a great belief in public health. I’m working hard not to encourage scientific denial or other forms of conspiracy at the show,” Hobbes says. “But most of what we know about diet and health comes from studying the population. Individuals are much more complex. It’s hard for someone to see them and know how healthy they are. I can’t. It should look different. ”
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