Check Your Brain

Many predicted the 2026 midterms would go in favor of the Democrats, but the results were worse than some imagined. The Blue Tsunami swept through the House and Senate, as well as gubernatorial races, because both voters and non-voters made their displeasure heard. In this week's episode of the Check Your Brain podcast, Tony Mazur lays out what occurred at the midterms and how it's entirely the fault of the GOP. Rather than tackle affordabiliy and quality of life in the US, the Trump administration spent the last two years fighting wars of choice for Israel, backtracking on their promises of transparency, and offering nothing but 50-year mortgages. Tony places the blame on Trump's betrayal of who supported him, as well as the neocons and foreign lobbies (one in particular) who have been in the president's ear.   Be sure to subscribe to Tony's Patreon. $3 gets you just audio, $5 gets video AND audio, and $10 has all of the above, as well as bonus podcasts per week. Visit Patreon.com/TonyMazur. Tony is also on Rumble! Go find his video podcasts over there for free. Cover art for the Check Your Brain podcast is by Eric C. Fischer. If you need terrific graphic design work done, contact Eric at [email protected].

Scott Friedman is the co-founder of Ticket Talk Network, and he also hosts a show by the same name, where he breaks down what is happening in the ticketing ecosystem for live events. He joined Tony Mazur on the Check Your Brain to get to the bottom of what is known as "Blue Dot Fever," where seemingly popular acts are having trouble selling tickets. Scott also talked about buying seats the last minute vs. getting them in advance, the downward trajectory of live sports, and how the resale market killed off the PSLs. Visit TicketTalkNetwork.com for more information, and check out Scott's show on YouTube and Spotify.   Be sure to subscribe to Tony's Patreon. $3 gets you just audio, $5 gets video AND audio, and $10 has all of the above, as well as bonus podcasts per week. Visit Patreon.com/TonyMazur. Tony is also on Rumble! Go find his video podcasts over there for free. Cover art for the Check Your Brain podcast is by Eric C. Fischer. If you need terrific graphic design work done, contact Eric at [email protected].

Chad Law is an independent political commentator, host of Common Sense with Chad Law, and author of three recent books. He joined Tony Mazur on the Check Your Brain podcast to comment on the Trump administration and its issue with public relations the last 18 months, the upcoming midterms, and how the Republican Party refuses to wield power when they have it. Chad also touches on the AI boom and America's place on the globe. His books, all published in 2026, can be found on Amazon.   Be sure to subscribe to Tony's Patreon. $3 gets you just audio, $5 gets video AND audio, and $10 has all of the above, as well as bonus podcasts per week. Visit Patreon.com/TonyMazur. Tony is also on Rumble! Go find his video podcasts over there for free. Cover art for the Check Your Brain podcast is by Eric C. Fischer. If you need terrific graphic design work done, contact Eric at [email protected].

Check Your Brain's Tony Mazur has been on the road of late, and he noticed how (with some exceptions) there are virtually no lines at fast food restaurants. McDonald's is trying to find out what happen, and their response seems to be to give up. Their stores are grey boxes with kiosks and without character, and that may be the way going forward. Have the younger generations risen up and said no to chain food, or have gas stations like Wawa, Sheetz, and Buc-ees replaced them?   Be sure to subscribe to Tony's Patreon. $3 gets you just audio, $5 gets video AND audio, and $10 has all of the above, as well as bonus podcasts per week. Visit Patreon.com/TonyMazur. Tony is also on Rumble! Go find his video podcasts over there for free. Cover art for the Check Your Brain podcast is by Eric C. Fischer. If you need terrific graphic design work done, contact Eric at [email protected].

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently commented on how "crazy" everyone got during what's now called Woke 1.0. That means, what, Woke 2.0 is underway? When did 1.0 end and 2.0 begin? It seems Woke was never put away in 2024, and it's coming back with a vengeance. As Check Your Brain host Tony Mazur mentions in this episode, the last week has seen a broadcaster fired over old tweets and a #MeToo accusation surfaced at Cornell. Cancelation attempts and accusations of sexual assault were very prevelant during Woke 1.0, which means 2.0 isn't too different from the OG, just with more explicit calls for political violence.   Be sure to subscribe to Tony's Patreon. $3 gets you just audio, $5 gets video AND audio, and $10 has all of the above, as well as bonus podcasts per week. Visit Patreon.com/TonyMazur. Tony is also on Rumble! Go find his video podcasts over there for free. Cover art for the Check Your Brain podcast is by Eric C. Fischer. If you need terrific graphic design work done, contact Eric at [email protected].

A topic Check Your Brain host Tony Mazur has been pondering lately has been the death of monoculture, as well as the nod towards nostalgia, or Stuck Culture. He talks about how the powers that be are still pushing Baby Boomer entertainers such as Madonna and Howard Stern, even though the marketplace never asked for them.   Tony also joined Ryan Hoppe’s Hoppe Hour podcast to discuss the topic further, as well as how acts either adapt yet fail due to their cringe nature, or just fade away into obscurity.   Be sure to subscribe to Tony's Patreon. $3 gets you just audio, $5 gets video AND audio, and $10 has all of the above, as well as bonus podcasts per week. Visit Patreon.com/TonyMazur. Tony is also on Rumble! Go find his video podcasts over there for free. Cover art for the Check Your Brain podcast is by Eric C. Fischer. If you need terrific graphic design work done, contact Eric at [email protected].

In a slightly different type of Check Your Brain podcast, Tony Mazur talks about a man named Fulton J. Sheen. Some were introduced to him on the radio as Father Sheen, others Bishop Sheen during the early days of television. This week, he will beatified in St. Louis, Missouri at the Dome at America's Center, where Tony will be on Thursday. Tony discusses how he was introduced to Bishop Sheen, and he plays several clips from this impressive man, where his words are as powerful now as they were 50-70 years ago.   Be sure to subscribe to Tony's Patreon. $3 gets you just audio, $5 gets video AND audio, and $10 has all of the above, as well as bonus podcasts per week. Visit Patreon.com/TonyMazur. Tony is also on Rumble! Go find his video podcasts over there for free. Cover art for the Check Your Brain podcast is by Eric C. Fischer. If you need terrific graphic design work done, contact Eric at [email protected].

Don Jamieson is a comedian and host of various hard rock shows, most notably VH1 Classic's long-running That Metal Show, along with Eddie Trunk and Jim Florentine. Don made a return appearance to the Check Your Brain podcast with Tony Mazur to talk bad football and sports fandom, "Blue Dot Fever" canceling tours, the impact and forced decline of rock music in the culture, and all things Andrew Dice Clay. Don has not just one comedy album available on September 18th, but TWO. The first is his own called Comedy is Killing Me, which can be purchased here: The second is a collaboration with Florentine called Terrorizing Telemarketers Vol. 8.   Be sure to subscribe to Tony's Patreon. $3 gets you just audio, $5 gets video AND audio, and $10 has all of the above, as well as bonus podcasts per week. Visit Patreon.com/TonyMazur. Tony is also on Rumble! Go find his video podcasts over there for free. Cover art for the Check Your Brain podcast is by Eric C. Fischer. If you need terrific graphic design work done, contact Eric at [email protected].

Remember "Never Forget" in the days, weeks, months, and years after September 11th? Well, did the American people forget, or were they distracted by culture war issues, vices, and outsized elements out of their control? In this episode, Tony Mazur looks back on 25 years since the 9/11, as well as a year since Charlie Kirk's assassination, how we got here and what we can do to reverse matters. In the last quarter-century, the United States doesn't even resemble the same country, and now we have people openly cheering on political killings and child murderers with impunity.   Be sure to subscribe to Tony's Patreon. $3 gets you just audio, $5 gets video AND audio, and $10 has all of the above, as well as bonus podcasts per week. Visit Patreon.com/TonyMazur. Tony is also on Rumble! Go find his video podcasts over there for free. Cover art for the Check Your Brain podcast is by Eric C. Fischer. If you need terrific graphic design work done, contact Eric at [email protected].

Dolly Parton's death last week at age 80 signaled the end of what was called Monoculture. Today, due to demographics and technology, Americans don't collectively watch the same movies and shows, listen to the same music, or even consume the same news. The culture has been broken into thousands of subcultures, for better or worse, as Check Your Brain host Tony Mazur lays out in this week's episode.   Be sure to subscribe to Tony's Patreon. $3 gets you just audio, $5 gets video AND audio, and $10 has all of the above, as well as bonus podcasts per week. Visit Patreon.com/TonyMazur. Tony is also on Rumble! Go find his video podcasts over there for free. Cover art for the Check Your Brain podcast is by Eric C. Fischer. If you need terrific graphic design work done, contact Eric at [email protected].