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Episodes

Why don’t lifters share a bar anymore? Guest: Jacob Ross
June 11, 2025

Why don’t lifters share a bar anymore? Guest: Jacob Ross

Jacob Ross joins Jim to take on the question, “Why do so many lifters resist training in groups in the current age of powerlifting?” We also cover Jacob’s time working with the South Sudanese Olympic Basketball team in Paris ...
Josh Hajar: Staying positive, beating cancer, and losing over 100 lbs
June 4, 2025

Josh Hajar: Staying positive, beating cancer, and losing over 100 lbs

Mike is out of town, so Jim brought in one of Third Street Barbell’s most consistent and inspirational members, Josh Hajar. Josh is an emergency department nurse who faced a harrowing fight with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and th...
Netflix’s How to Change Your Mind (2022) | Review
May 28, 2025

Netflix’s How to Change Your Mind (2022) | Review

Psychedelics in psychotherapy. That’s the theme of this four-part documentary from Netflix. Can psychedelics break damaging thought patterns and allow people to heal from depression and trauma? This doc series would like to p...
Netflix’s Untold: The Liver King | Review
May 21, 2025

Netflix’s Untold: The Liver King | Review

Netflix’s Untold documentary series takes a look at the phenomenon of The Liver King. Purportedly already a multi-millionaire, Brian Johnson launched a muscular social media and YouTube presence as a “primal” influencer who u...
The IPF reverses on stiff knee sleeves plus World’s Strongest Man quiz
May 14, 2025

The IPF reverses on stiff knee sleeves plus World’s Strongest Man quiz

Under pressure from, well, pretty much everyone, it appears the IPF will allow stiff knee sleeves through the end of 2026. World’s Strongest Man is back in Sacramento this week, just about a mile from our gym. We take a look ...
The Way Down rewind | Examining media about cults
May 7, 2025

The Way Down rewind | Examining media about cults

We’ve been talking about cults and how they’re covered in the media. Back in 2021, we looked at the HBO documentary series “The Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin” on a couple of episodes. It is about a crazy, scary religious cult....
How YouTubers covered the downfall of a Scientologist’s skateboard channel | Examining media about cults
April 30, 2025

How YouTubers covered the downfall of a Scientologist’s skateboard channel | Examining media about cults

The founder of the biggest YouTube skateboarding channel is a Scientologist. Has that fact become public, explaining the channel's drop in popularity over the past few years? Was it the money he spent climbing the rungs of this cult (and not on his...
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015)| Review | Examining media about cults
April 23, 2025

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015)| Review | Examining media about cults

We’re taking a closer look at a topic that we’ve touched on briefly before: Media covering the effects and inner workings of cults. The HBO documentary Going Clear is one of the most recognizable documentaries about the Church of Scientology....
Getting stiffed by knee sleeves : The politics of IPF approval
April 16, 2025

Getting stiffed by knee sleeves : The politics of IPF approval

A couple of episodes ago, we talked about a dramatic change in leadership at the International Powerlifting Federation. The latest wrinkle is that the federation has recently notified the manufacturers of “stiff” knee sleeves that their products are...
Hungry for Change (2012) | A 50% Facts Review
April 9, 2025

Hungry for Change (2012) | A 50% Facts Review

A stroll back 13 years in time takes us to a very “well-reviewed” nutrition documentary that ultimately only delivers a laundry list of fear appeals, misinformation, and pro-vegan propaganda. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a vegan, but...
IPF drama at the top, AI stealing jobs at the bottom?
April 2, 2025

IPF drama at the top, AI stealing jobs at the bottom?

We take a stab at which jobs AI might eliminate (do you want your drive-through order taken by a bot?). Plus, the long-time IPF president resigned suddenly a few weeks ago. Is there any situation where a quick exit from a top position like that...
Court of Gold | Netflix Documentary | Olympic Basketball (2025) | A 50% Facts Review
March 26, 2025

Court of Gold | Netflix Documentary | Olympic Basketball (2025) | A 50% Facts Review

The 5-part Netflix Documentary Court of Gold chronicles the 2024 Olympic Basketball tournament in Paris. It’s obviously a love letter to the gold medalist US team, but more specifically, Kevin Durrant, Steph Curry, and to a lesser extent, LeBron...
Generation Iron: Natty 4 Life (2020) | A 50% Facts Review
March 18, 2025

Generation Iron: Natty 4 Life (2020) | A 50% Facts Review

The third sequel to the bodybuilding documentary Generation Iron is all about the natties. It follows a group of competitors during the countdown to the Natural Olympia of 2019. Will natural bodybuilding ever gain the kind of traction that its...
Would you rather live under the ocean or on the moon?| One Good Question
March 11, 2025

Would you rather live under the ocean or on the moon?| One Good Question

We’re pulling from our backlog of short, unreleased One Good Question episodes to fill this week’s gap in scheduling due to travel. This time, we tackle a listener question that’s pretty philosophical in nature: Would you rather live under the ocean...
CT Fletcher: My Magnificent Obsession (2015) | A 50% Facts Review
March 5, 2025

CT Fletcher: My Magnificent Obsession (2015) | A 50% Facts Review

The “Superman from Compton” took YouTube in the 20-teens by way of a video called “The Strongest Man You’ve Never Heard Of.” Who was this man who “commanded” his arms to grow and reminded us over and over that it was indeed still our set? This...
Generation Iron (2013) | A 50% Facts Review
Feb. 26, 2025

Generation Iron (2013) | A 50% Facts Review

This documentary, the first from Generation Iron, covers the runup to the 2012 Mr. Olympia bodybuilding contest. Phil Heath is a repeat winner, but Kai Greene is pushing him hard. A number of other well-known competitors are also hoping to dominate...
Is powerlifting in a slump?
Feb. 19, 2025

Is powerlifting in a slump?

Have you noticed that powerlifting is experiencing a bit of a dip in popularity? We have. What might be the cause?   We kick around some possibilities. Is the last wave of lifters starting to age out and move on to other hobbies? Is it turmoil among...
Ronnie Coleman: The King (2018) | A 50% Facts Review
Feb. 12, 2025

Ronnie Coleman: The King (2018) | A 50% Facts Review

This documentary from Generation Iron recaps the career of 8-time Mr. Olympia, Ronnie Coleman, as he prepares for yet another back surgery. While we don’t gain a lot new information, it’s a nostalgic look at some of the most iconic training footage...
Generation Flex | A 50% Facts Review
Feb. 5, 2025

Generation Flex | A 50% Facts Review

This documentary from Men’s Health tells us that body dysmorphia is running rampant among teenage boys in America. It follows four teens who take “extreme” measures to try to match the body images they see on social media (sorta). Then, the video...
Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever |A 50% Facts Review
Jan. 29, 2025

Don't Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever |A 50% Facts Review

Bryan Johnson, former head of the firm that owned Venmo (and sold it to Paypal), is obsessed with slowing down his aging process. Is there anything he won’t try toward that end? Dozens of daily vitamins, nearly religious workouts, red laser masks, and...
Weight Loss Island and East Coast travels
Jan. 22, 2025

Weight Loss Island and East Coast travels

And we’re back with a fresh 2025 episode!   Mike headed to Florida to coach three streamers to losing 25 lbs each while streaming 24 hours a day from "Weigh Loss Island." Jim went to Canada for some family time, and to NYC for some shows, including a...
If you could start a business with zero risk, what would it be?
Jan. 15, 2025

If you could start a business with zero risk, what would it be?

We’ve still had some holiday and non-holiday travel going on, so we’re dipping into the vault again for a One Good Question episode to fill the gap.   FRESH 2025 EPISODE NEXT WEEK.   A listener asked, “If you could start a business with zero risk,...
Do vegans crave meat?
Jan. 8, 2025

Do vegans crave meat?

We’ve got some holiday and non-holiday travel going on, so we’re dipping into the vault for a couple of One Good Question episodes to fill the gap.   This episode features one of our gym members who is a practicing vegan, Nick Squires, sharing some...
How to make new friends in the gym?
Jan. 8, 2025

How to make new friends in the gym?

We’ve got some holiday and non-holiday travel going on, so we’re dipping into the vault for a couple of One Good Question episodes to fill the gap.   A lot of people are joining gyms at this time of year. Some for the first time. Gyms can make you...