#rtbth

About #rtbth

Welcome to #rtbth - Real Talk: Beyond the Headlines /// #rtbth is a conversational podcast that deliberates a variety of cultural, societal, and science topics. Plenty of sports talk too! /// Featuring co-hosts, Herschel, Ehi, and Tunde. We are researchers and data analysts in our day jobs - critical thinkers with unpopular opinions and unusual perspectives on the podcast. /// We’re just a couple of ATLiens with microphones, plenty of hot takes, and willing to explore both the socially acceptable and barbarian sides of society, science, sports, and more.

Publisher

Real Talk: Beyond the Headlines

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

5 Feb 2016

Latest episode

9 Dec 2025

Latest episodes

63 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   9 Dec 2025

   #rtbth LIVE with Emory U.

   #rtbth records our first LIVE VIDEO PODCAST (https://www.engage.emory.edu/s/1705/21/interior.aspx?sid=1705&gid=3&pgid=23786&cid=34956&ecid=34956&crid=0&calpgid=13&calcid=1160) at Emory University! The co-hosts, Tunde and Herschel - both alumni of Emory University - teamed up with The Emory Alumni Association - sponsored by the Emory Impact Circles and the Caucus of Emory Black Alumni - to record a live podcast on Emory's campus. The co-hosts bring the usual conversational, informal and informed, and mildly spicy style of beyond the headlines real-talk. The broad topic for this conversation was consumption in the black community. We cover dark patterns, parasocial relationships, Tunde's fraught relationship with "YN" rap, black people using psychedelics and more! And of course we start the podcast addressing the rollback of DEI at Emory U. References Education department threatens to cut public school funding over DEI practices (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/education-department-dei-discrimination-trump-funding-cuts-rcna199575) At Emory University, the disbanding of DEI contradicts the school's progressive reputation (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/emory-university-disbanding-dei-betrays-schools-progressive-reputation-rcna230260) Emory provides update on DEI offices and programs (https://news.emory.edu/stories/2025/09/er_dei_update_03-09-2025/story.html) Q&A: Sears addresses DEI, open expression in first interview with Wheel - The Emory Wheel (https://www.emorywheel.com/article/2025/11/q-a-sears-addresses-dei-open-expression-in-first-interview-with-wheel?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPNTY3MDY3MzQzMzUyNDI3AAGnJD5etUVqgfIEajN6EZ98CcvC3y8qygw0V2ZnUnigDcfi-Obv8fU-0jy9ctg_aem_oFEmx2eY4hYkXHY9pQk3oQ) Law and Policy Efforts to Dismantle Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion | AJPH | Vol. 115 Issue 7 (https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2025.308081) Parasocial relationships, social media, & well-being - ScienceDirect (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352250X22000082) AI chatbots are sycophants — researchers say it’s harming science (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03390-0) AI sycophancy isn't just a quirk, experts consider it a 'dark pattern' to turn users into profit | TechCrunch (https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/25/ai-sycophancy-isnt-just-a-quirk-experts-consider-it-a-dark-pattern-to-turn-users-into-profit/) Chapter 19: The AI-empowered dark patterns in: Handbook of Service Experience (https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781035300198/book-part-9781035300198-28.xml) Dark Patterns | Business & Information Systems Engineering (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12599-022-00783-7) The Numbers Don't Lie: Why Is Rap Falling Off the Charts? - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5011o-JvUs4&list=PLn5qSkeC3xpLP7hlMxru5JSavDdJLmRHl&index=6&pp=gAQBiAQB) People Are OVER Rap Music… and We All Know Why - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcTNzdp2Zac&list=PLn5qSkeC3xpLP7hlMxru5JSavDdJLmRHl&index=7&pp=gAQBiAQB) A guilty pleasure: The legal, social scientific and feminist verdict against rap - Ummni Khan, 2022 (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13624806211028274) The complicated, tragic end to Tay-K’s race | The FADER (https://www.thefader.com/2019/07/24/tay-k-the-race-explainer-history) Rapper Tay-K convicted of murder for second time in Texas (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rapper-tay-k-convicted-murder-second-time-texas-rcna201272) Frontiers | The Need for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in the Black Community and the Burdens of Its Provision (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.774736/full) A systematic review of participant diversity in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy trials - ScienceDirect (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165178125000083?via%3Dihub) Psychedelics and Racial Justice | International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-023-01160-5) Perceptions of psychedelic-assisted therapy among Black Americans (https://www.jmoodanxdisorders.org/article/S2950-0044(23)00023-8/fulltext)

2. 

   23 Aug 2025

   Glaze You to Oblivion

   Tunde and Herschel discuss how AI is glazing you and all of society into oblivion. References I love ZOTERO. : r/GradSchool (https://www.reddit.com/r/GradSchool/comments/12y50t8/i_love_zotero/) Information literacy and chatbots as search • Buttondown (https://buttondown.com/maiht3k/archive/information-literacy-and-chatbots-as-search/) GPT-5: HasAI Hit Plateau? | Mirage News (https://www.miragenews.com/gpt-5-has-ai-hit-plateau-1512925/) America’s Unhealthy Relationship with Antidepressants - Mad In America (https://www.madinamerica.com/2025/04/americas-unhealthy-relationship-with-antidepressants/) Explained: The full saga of Kendra Hilty falling for her psychiatrist (https://thetab.com/2025/08/12/i-fell-in-love-with-my-psychiatrist-heres-the-full-crazy-saga-explained-after-25-tiktoks) 'Zola' Review: A Twitter Thread Turns Into A Fever Dream On Film : NPR (https://www.npr.org/2021/06/29/1009630748/zola-review-twitter-taylour-paige-riley-keough-janicza-bravo-movie) "I fell in love with my psychiatrist" - but did he do anything unethical? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3zW7LrKP54) 2025 Top-100 Gen AI Use Case Report *UPDATED* (https://learn.filtered.com/thoughts/top-100-gen-ai-use-cases-updated-2025) Why It's Okay to Love Your Therapist - LindsayBraman.com (https://lindsaybraman.com/love-your-therapist/) Algorithms in Social Media Platforms (https://www.internetjustsociety.org/algorithms-in-social-media-platforms) AI investment led to zero returns for 95% of companies in MIT study (https://www.axios.com/2025/08/21/ai-wall-street-big-tech) China Is Quickly Eroding America’s Lead in the Global AI Race - WSJ (https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/artificial-intelligence-us-vs-china-03372176?st=SaD7Zq&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink) AI used to make video of deceased victim deliver impact statement in court : NPR (https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/g-s1-64640/ai-impact-statement-murder-victim) Jim Acosta interviews ‘made-up’ AI avatar of Parkland victim Joaquin Oliver |Parkland, Florida school shooting | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/04/jim-acosta-parkland-shooting-victim-ai-interview) ETHEREAL Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethereal) Ukraine Turns Frontlines Into Testbed for Foreign Military Tech, Draws 45 Potential Collaborators (https://thedefensepost.com/2025/08/18/ukraine-frontlines-testbed/) Did Albert Einstein Say World War IV Will be Fought 'With Sticks and Stones'? |Snopes.com (https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/einstein-world-war-iv-sticks-stones/) Trump opens door to sales of version of Nvidia's next-gen AI chips in China | Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-opens-door-sales-version-nvidias-next-gen-ai-chips-china-2025-08-12/) The Myth of AGI | TechPolicy.Press (https://www.techpolicy.press/the-myth-of-agi/) What if A.I. Doesn’t Get Much Better Than This? | The New Yorker (https://www.newyorker.com/culture/open-questions/what-if-ai-doesnt-get-much-better-than-this) Weizenbaum’s nightmares: how the inventor of the first chatbot turned against AI |Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jul/25/joseph-weizenbaum-inventor-eliza-chatbot-turned-against-artificial-intelligence-ai) With $93M Raised, Slingshot Debuts AI-Powered Therapy Service - Behavioral HealthBusiness (https://bhbusiness.com/2025/07/22/with-93m-raised-slingshot-slingshot-ai-debuts-ai-powered-therapy-service/) Illinois bans AI therapy tools from making mental health decisions - Axios Chicago (https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2025/08/06/illinois-ai-therapy-ban-mental-health-regulation) Prompt for Harry your ChatGPT Therapist : r/ChatGPT_Prompts (https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT_Prompts/comments/11lwbz9/prompt_for_harry_your_chatgpt_therapist/) Nevada Passes Law Limiting AI Use for Mental and Behavioral Healthcare | WilsonSonsini (https://www.wsgr.com/en/insights/nevada-passes-law-limiting-ai-use-for-mental-and-behavioral-healthcare.html) The Mismatch between Mental Health Care Access and Demand | U.S. GAO (https://www.gao.gov/blog/mismatch-between-mental-health-care-access-and-demand) Data & Society — What Happens When People Turn to Chatbots for Therapy? (https://datasociety.net/points/what-happens-when-people-turn-to-chatbots-for-therapy/) Trust in the therapeutic relationship: Psychodynamic contributions to counsellingpsychology practice | BPS - British Psychological Society (https://explore.bps.org.uk/content/bpscpr/25/2/6) Corrective Emotional Experience: A Pathway to Emotional Healing - Chicago PsychoanalyticInstitute (https://chicagoanalysis.org/blog/elements-of-psychoanalytic-technique/corrective-emotional-experience/) OpenAI’s GPT-5 Launch Causes Backlash Due to Colder Responses - The New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/business/chatgpt-gpt-5-backlash-openai.html) What is AGI? - Artificial General Intelligence Explained - AWS (https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/artificial-general-intelligence/) The AI Doomers Are Getting Doomier - The Atlantic (https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/08/ai-doomers-chatbots-resurgence/683952/?gift=Jk8OVFznkwVV8TutfsyrUSuUgiwfGddcvx_iLx7bDj4&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share) Scarlett Johansson’s OpenAI clash is just the start of legal wrangles over artificial intelligence | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/27/scarlett-johansson-openai-legal-artificial-intelligence-chatgpt) FACSIMILE Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/facsimile) The Great Language Flattening - The Atlantic (https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/04/great-language-flattening/682627/?gift=Jk8OVFznkwVV8TutfsyrUUEVvjsFqw_yEOuwzC-7U6g&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share) TRIANGULATE Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/triangulate) Inside Microsoft’s AGI Clause Fight With OpenAI (https://www.techrepublic.com/article/news-openai-agi-clause-threatens-microsoft-deal/) 20 Years On From ‘Minority Report’, Are We Living In Spielberg’s Vision Of A Retail Future? (https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonbird1/2022/01/24/20-years-on-from-minority-report-are-we-living-in-spielbergs-vision-of-a-retail-future/) AI sycophancy: The dangers of overly agreeable AI (https://www.axios.com/2025/07/07/ai-sycophancy-chatbots-mental-health) Chatbots Can Go Into a Delusional Spiral. Here’s How It Happens. - The New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/technology/ai-chatbots-delusions-chatgpt.html?utm_campaign=likeshopme&utm_content=ig-nytimes&utm_medium=instagram&utm_source=dash+hudson) ‘I Feel Like I’m Going Crazy’: ChatGPT Fuels Delusional Spirals - WSJ (https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/i-feel-like-im-going-crazy-chatgpt-fuels-delusional-spirals-ae5a51fc?st=exdzko&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink) Meta is bringing the voices of Judi Dench, John Cena and Keegan-Michael Key to AI chatbot | CNN Business (https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/25/tech/meta-ai-celebrities-chatbots) A flirty Meta AI bot invited a retiree to meet. He never made it home. (https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/meta-ai-chatbot-death/) AI Companion Nomi Promises 'Enduring Relationships,' But Incites Self-Harm, Other Horrific Acts (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/309851/20250402/ai-companion-nomi-promises-enduring-relationships-incites-self-harm-other-horrific-acts.htm) Grok companions include flirty anime 'waifu,' anti-religion panda (https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/grok-companions-include-flirty-anime-waifu-anti-religion-panda-rcna218797) Have I Been Pwned? - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_I_Been_Pwned%3F) The UK Shows How Not To Do Online Age Verification | Opinion - Newsweek (https://www.newsweek.com/uk-shows-how-not-do-online-age-verification-opinion-2111998) AI Is A Money Trap (https://www.wheresyoured.at/ai-is-a-money-trap/) How AI Conquered the US Economy: A Visual FAQ (https://www.derekthompson.org/p/how-ai-conquered-the-us-economy-a?publication_id=2880588&utm_campaign=email-post-title&r=7ezw0&utm_medium=email) Nvidia Is 8% Of The S&P 500 Index - History Shows Beast Mode May End (NASDAQ:NVDA)| Seeking Alpha (https://seekingalpha.com/article/4814625-nvidia-is-8-percent-of-the-sp-500-index-history-shows-beast-mode-may-end) S&P 500’s impressive first half dominated by the ‘Magnificent Seven’ (https://proactiveadvisormagazine.com/sp-500s-impressive-first-half-dominated-by-the-magnificent-seven/) Empire of AI by Karen Hao: 9780593657508 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/743569/empire-of-ai-by-karen-hao/)

3. 

   8 Apr 2025

   "We Deserve it."

   Part 2 of our podcast featuring JSwill, #rtbth west coast correspondent. JSwill tells us how and why the lakers always get the big star - this time that star being Luka Legend. And why the Clippers should probably just move to Seattle or Las Vegas. We also talk about the single stain on Lebron's perfect NBA record. References IsKendrick is the King of Hip Hop? 👑 : r/KendrickLamar (https://www.reddit.com/r/KendrickLamar/comments/1dlgynv/is_kendrick_is_the_king_of_hip_hop/) LukaDončić–Anthony Davis trade - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luka_Don%C4%8Di%C4%87%E2%80%93Anthony_Davis_trade) Nico& Dumont: a case study in leadership failure : r/Mavericks (https://www.reddit.com/r/Mavericks/comments/1ivsnzy/nico_dumont_a_case_study_in_leadership_failure/) Fifthconsecutive All-NBA nod shows Luka Doncic is in rarefied air - Mavs Moneyball (https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2024/5/24/24163714/luka-doncic-named-to-all-nba-team-for-fifth-consecutive-time-awards) Ownersbalking at big contracts? Five players who will still get PAID this summer -Yahoo Sports (https://sports.yahoo.com/article/owners-balking-big-contracts-five-163618958.html) Here'swhy LeBron James, not Michael Jordan, is the GOAT | Salon.com (https://www.salon.com/2024/04/20/lebron-james-nba-michael-jordan-goat/) LettingGo of Your Torschlusspanik | by Broaden & Build | Medium (https://broaden-and-build.medium.com/letting-go-of-your-torschlusspanik-efa2dc617231) Exploringthe Historic Rivalry Between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers (https://lakersnation.com/exploring-the-historic-rivalry-between-the-boston-celtics-and-the-los-angeles-lakers/) GalaxyBrain | Know Your Meme (https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/galaxy-brain/) Shaqsays Ben Simmons needs to be ‘f–king arrested’ in wild evisceration of modernNBA - Yahoo Sports (https://sports.yahoo.com/article/shaq-says-ben-simmons-needs-172332604.html) IntuitDome is state-of-the-art. It now boasts something even rarer: last-call foralcohol at 4 a.m. | LAist (https://laist.com/news/food/intuit-dome-last-call-for-alcohol-at-4-am) LeBronJames and the Limits of Nepotism - The Atlantic (https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/03/lebron-james-bronny-smith-journalists/682059/?gift=Jk8OVFznkwVV8TutfsyrUWbG1gowk7gpmDfeJEN5thw&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share) AaronDonald explains decision to retire, reflects on career (https://www.therams.com/news/aaron-donald-explains-decision-to-retire-reflects-on-career)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Contact #rtbth

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.