Maintenance Phase

Russell Brand Part 2 looks at Brand’s shift from actor, pundit, and wellness figure into a YouTube-driven conspiracy persona. It appears to connect his celebrity evolution with allegations, media accountability, and the incentives of online grift.

Salt is the subject here, from the low-sodium health messaging of the 1980s to its 2026 makeover as “electrolytes” in wellness culture. The episode looks at how public health guidance, research debates, and diet trends helped flip salt’s reputation.

RFK Jr.'s claim that HIV doesn't cause AIDS leads into a look at one of the most persistent and destructive conspiracy theories in modern public health. The episode traces how AIDS denialism rose, fell, and returned, and why its revival matters now.

Tim Ferriss’s The 4-Hour Body gets a fresh look as Aubrey and Mike are joined by Peter Shamshiri to revisit a diet-and-biohacking book aimed squarely at men. Expect a skeptical, funny examination of rapid fat loss promises, “slow carb” ideas, and the larger self-optimization mindset around the book.

The episode looks at the unresolved Surgeon General vacancy nearly halfway through Trump’s second term. It traces a string of nominations, withdrawals, controversies, and MAHA-world infighting to ask why one of the country’s top public health roles remains unfilled.