What's Real, America?

I'm launching a new show and I want to hear from YOU. Yes, you.

I’m thrilled to announce I’m starting yet another show called Real America with Bridget Phetasy on the 2WAY network this Wednesday the 21st at 7pm ET. It’s interactive. It’s live. It’s video. And I want to hear from you.

For our maiden live show we will be talking all things unemployment. We will hear from a woman who got “DOGE’d’ and a freelance writer who lost his job to AI. If you have been unemployed or are currently, we’d love to hear from you. What did you learn? What would you do differently? You can email us realamerica@2way.tv or even better, sign up here to get the zoom link and be a part of the audience. Raise your hand and chime in.

Why another show?

In the decades leading up to doing all the stuff I’m doing now (writing, comedy, multiple shows and podcasts) I paid the bills waiting tables. It was a thankless job and you often serve as a punching bag—but there is a camaraderie amongst people who have done service work. We were in the weeds together.

And it’s a job I loved and miss because I got to talk to people from all walks of life, all the time. The ladies who lunch after spin class. Cops before their shift. Down-to-Earth old money. Folks in recovery. The owners of small businesses. Executives. Nannies. The back of the house staff. The revolving door or waitstaff and bartenders. My customers and co-workers would share their struggles, their hopes and dreams, their wins and losses. It taught me that most people aren’t stressing about politics. They’re stressing about money, love and relationships, kids, education, aging parents, health.

It’s also why I’m excited that Phetasy will continue to partner with Quest as our sponsor for Real America. Quest offers lab tests without a visit to a doctor’s office and without the hassle of health insurance. As a woman who has been freelance since I was 19 years old, I appreciate Quest offering a product that cuts out the middlemen and allows Americans to take control of their health. Synergy, baby.

For subscribers to this newsletter Quest is offering a 20% off your purchase. Use the discount code PHETASY in your Questhealth.com shopping cart at checkout.

Why 2WAY?

This past April marked ten years since I was first published for Playboy online and got caught in the crossfire of the culture wars. After a decade engaged in “The Discourse” I’ve learned a hard lesson or two: Media is more cutthroat than Hollywood. New Media doesn’t realize it’s mainstream yet. And podcasting is mostly the same people talking over and over to one another.

There are obviously exceptions but the episodes that perform the best, are the episodes that have the biggest “gets” (media terminology for a hard-to-land, usually famous, guest). This creates a incentive structure that rewards the incestuous nature of media and from my perspective, leaves out the most important people—you. The consumers. The audience. The normies.

When Mark Halperin started 2WAY he set out to address this shift in media. “Almost all media—books, concerts, sporting events, newsletters, social media—is one way,” Mark said. “2WAY is a whole new category of media that creates authentic communities around interesting people, subjects, and ideas."

Media is no longer passive. It’s dynamic and interactive. I see you in my mentions, my comments, you’re in my live audience when I do comedy. You’re behind the paywall here in the chat showing me your gardens and your baking. Now—I want you on my show.

It’s been a wild decade but what has stuck with me the most are the thoughtful emails I’ve received during this time. From men sharing their feelings about balding or low-T for my Playboy column, to asking people on Twitter their thoughts about gun violence and self-censorship, to my project, “Letters from the Politically Homeless” — it’s hearing your stories that has given me insight into what is really top of mind for people. It’s what has also kept me going when I wasn’t always sure what I was doing in the Wild West of new media.

With my new show, Real America, I strive to bring all of this together. My decade of work. My years in the service industry. My fans and supporters and friends. My hopes for this country and world. The feeling that “Real America” is the middle seat in coach. It’s the coastal elites. It’s the flyover states. It’s all of us.

Media and algorithms thrive on division and in many ways we are a country that is politically divided, there is no denying that. But there is so much more that unites us. Our common shared experience—being in the weeds as a human— trying to make ends meet, striving to find meaning, laughing at memes. I want to know: what’s pressing on the back of your mind? What’s inspiring you? What’s terrifying you?

In short—what’s going on with you? I’m eager to find out. See you there every Wednesday at 7pm ET make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and never miss an episode.