Honest talk about culture, systems, belief, and mental health — with no corporate fluff. Welcome to The Slog Pod, where two longtime friends and Army veterans — Dustin Flatt (MSW, MBA) and TJ Westphal (MA) — cut through the noise of modern life, work, and culture to ask harder questions. Why do we think the way we do? Why do systems fail us? And why is change so damn hard? This isn’t therapy. It’s not hustle culture. It’s not another leadership podcast selling toxic positivity. It’s real tal ...
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Dustin Flatt And TJ Westphal Podcasts
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Ep. 2.23 Beyond Merit: How Luck and Privilege Shape Our Careers
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This episode of the Slog Pod explores the often-overlooked impact of luck on professional success and upward mobility. The discussion highlights how corporate narratives typically downplay luck, privilege, and timing in favor of promoting hard work and merit, which can lead to burnout and shame among employees. Various studies and personal anecdote…
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Episode. 2.22 Unpacking Old Beliefs: A Fresh Look at Sex and Drugs
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This episode of the Slog Pod delves into the cultural and personal influences shaping our views on sex and drugs. The hosts discuss the shame, confusion, and inherited stories many harbor about these topics, often without knowing their origins. They advocate for honest conversations to evaluate whether current beliefs and practices are effective or…
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Episode 2.21 Exploring Authenticity in Organizational Culture
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This Slog pod episode explores applying therapeutic principles used with individuals to larger systems and cultures. The hosts discuss the importance of authenticity, curiosity, and open-ended questions in understanding and improving organizations and societal systems. They emphasize meeting systems where they are, acknowledging discomfort and resi…
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Episode 2.19 Tracing the Origins: Unpacking Inherited Beliefs and Conditioned Truths
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In this episode of the Slog Pod, the hosts delve into the concept of conditioning; how our beliefs, behaviors, and perceptions are predominantly shaped by inherited and reinforced systems such as family, school, media, religion, and politics. They explore personal experiences and societal structures that mold our thinking, often before we have the …
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Episode 2.18 Anecdotes and the Truth: Finding Balance in Personal Stories
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This episode of The Slog Pod explores why people often rely on personal stories as truth and how anecdotal evidence can distort beliefs and decisions. The hosts discuss the psychological comfort of anecdotes, their potential damage in public discourse, and emphasize the importance of seeking truth beyond personal experiences. They argue that while …
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Episode 2.17 Facing the Mirror: America in Therapy
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The episode centers on the therapy-inspired concept that change, both in individuals and in broader cultural systems, happens through sitting with discomfort and self-reflection, not through quick fixes or avoidance. The hosts draw parallels between individual therapy clients recognizing and addressing dysfunction and the American culture's current…
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Episode 2.16 The Art of Seeing Others: Crafting a Considerate Culture
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In this episode of 'The Slog Pod', the hosts discuss the noticeable decline in politeness and awareness in public spaces such as grocery stores, airports, concerts, and traffic. They share personal stories of encountering thoughtless behavior and analyze the reasons behind this trend, including the impact of technology, the pace of modern life, and…
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Episode 2.15 D-Day: Honoring Our Past, Confronting Our Present
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This episode marks the 81st anniversary of D-Day, reflecting on the courage of young Americans who fought fascism in 1944. It contrasts that bravery with modern-day apathy and authoritarian threats in the United States. The hosts criticize President Donald Trump's actions and the rise of fascist tendencies. They explore the dangerous patterns of di…
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Episode 2.14 Society in Therapy: Identifying Our Collective Issues
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This episode of 'The Slog Pod' features a therapy-themed discussion where the hosts, Dustin and TJ, explore the state of modern culture through a therapeutic lens. They discuss how society resembles a traumatized client showing signs like denial, projection, and emotional numbing. They emphasize the importance of first recognizing and admitting the…
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Dustin hosts this episode of The Slog Pod alone while his co-host TJ is away. He discusses the pervasive issues plaguing modern society, including cultural and systemic failures. Using Simon and Garfunkel's 'The Sound of Silence' as a metaphor, Dustin highlights how society has created idols out of destructive systems. He shares personal experience…
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Episode 2.12 Living the Lie: When Personal Narratives Take Over Truth
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In this episode of the Slog Pod, the hosts explore the human tendency to shape and curate reality. They discuss why people resist facing facts, focusing on the psychological and cultural motivations behind this behavior. The conversation delves into how individuals and institutions manipulate narratives to protect identity, avoid pain, and maintain…
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Episode 2.11 Unmasking Performative Agreement: Truth vs. Flattery
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This episode delves into the increasing prevalence of performative agreement, empty flattery, and fear-based silence in various spheres such as corporate meetings, social media, and politics. Hosts discuss how sycophancy has become a career strategy and its impacts on organizational culture, political loyalty, and media landscapes. They highlight t…
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Episode 2.10 Breaking the Silence: Understanding Everyday Powerlessness
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This episode of 'The Slog Pod' addresses the feeling of powerlessness, particularly the insidious kind that arises in everyday situations such as work, relationships, and society. The hosts discuss how powerlessness stems from awareness hitting a wall, which is not always external, sometimes originating in our minds. They differentiate powerlessnes…
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Episode 2.09 Rebuilding Trust: From Mistrust to Moderation
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This episode of The Slog Pod delves into the pervasive distrust in media, science, and government, examining the causes and consequences of binary thinking. The hosts discuss the tendency to view systems as entirely corrupt or entirely trustworthy and emphasize the importance of embracing complexity and ambiguity. They encourage critical thinking a…
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Episode 2.08 The Slog of Discovery: Firing Confirmation Bias
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In this episode of The Slog Pod, hosts delve into the concept of confirmation bias, describing it as a persistent force that shapes our ego, distorts our thinking, and upholds unproductive systems. The discussion focuses on how confirmation bias manifests in our personal and professional lives, including in hiring practices and cultural beliefs. Th…
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Episode 2.07 The Slog to Belief: Navigating Uncertainty
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In this episode of the Slog Pod, the hosts dive into the theme of human beliefs, exploring how certainty often feels safer than doubt and how various systems exploit our fear of uncertainty. They encourage listeners to engage in the mental slog of questioning and adapting beliefs, recognizing biases, and understanding the conditioning behind these …
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Episode 2.05 God can handle your doubt, can you?
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The episode discusses the complex role of religious belief in individual lives and society. The hosts explore how religion can be both a personal guide and a means of institutional control. They share personal backgrounds and experiences with religion, highlighting shifts in religious norms and how faith can sometimes short-circuit critical thinkin…
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Episode 2.04 Bridging Paradigms: Gen X in Business, Media and Politics
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The podcast discusses the unique position of Generation X in today's society. The hosts argue that Gen Xers serve as cultural translators, bridging the gap between analog and digital realms and fostering a balance between skepticism and pragmatism. They reflect on their formative experiences, such as living without the internet and dealing with sig…
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Episode 2.03 Selling Outrage: A Business Model
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In this episode of “The Slog Pod,” the hosts discuss the pervasive influence of outrage culture in today’s society, particularly on social media platforms like X and Instagram. They explore how businesses, media, and religious institutions capitalize on outrage to drive clicks, views, and profits, often at the cost of social and cultural health. Th…
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Episode 2.02 Breaking Chains: Due Process and Cultural Awakening
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This episode of The Slog Pod addresses recent alarming actions by the Trump administration regarding deportation of individuals to El Salvador bypassing due process and defying the Supreme Court. The hosts discuss the broader implications of these actions for the American justice system, democracy, and constitutional values. They emphasize the impo…
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Episode 2.01 Tariffs and the Victim Mentality
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In this episode of “The Slog Pod,” the hosts shift their focus from mental health in the workplace to analyzing the broader American political atmosphere, culture, and corporate impact through a sarcastic lens. They express frustration with recent U.S. policies, particularly tariffs, which they argue are harmful to American consumers and irrational…
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Episode 12 - A new perspective on workplace mental health
1:19:51
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Dustin and TJ welcome Heather MacDonald to a conversation about current strategies for workplace mental health. The group discusses contemporary solutions and potential systemic solutions for the future. Heather works in the space, explaining what she encounters in her everyday work and why she is seeking a new way forward.…
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Episode 11 - Why social interactions are the foundation. Investment vs expense
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TJ and Dustin revisit the reasons they are continuing the discussion and why they press organizations to see and improve mental health through a social-cultural perspective. They are advocating for companies to prioritize social interactions as a key element of a healthy culture and mental well-being. They also aim to help others recognize that inv…
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Episode 10 - Identifying a poor organizational culture. #1-authenticity
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The hosts discuss whether most people would even admit if they have a poor organizational culture. We often have blinders and bias leading us to dismiss what may need to be corrected. Is that you? Additionally, do you start with authenticity?By Dustin Flatt and TJ Westphal
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Episode 9 - Be genuine, leaders don't need to know, and focus on culture.
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Dustin and TJ dive into being genuine at work along with a discussion about leaders needing to know everything. Overall, they press asking questions driving cultural change and offer that the foundation for organizations should be cultural rather than individual.By Dustin Flatt and TJ Westphal
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Episode 8 - Are you a cultural fit, self-aware, and open to incremental change?
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Dustin and TJ question the idea behind being a "cultural fit" as well as wonder where most people are on the road to self-awareness. They also discuss having patience for incremental cultural and individual change in organizations.By Dustin Flatt and TJ Westphal
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Episode 7 - Questioning Loyalty, Means-To-An-End, and Balance
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TJ and Dustin discuss how loyal they should be to their organizations. The hosts also delve into what it's like working at a job where it's a "Means to and end." Ultimately, they continue to seek balance while assessing the purpose and value recognition they hope to gain.By Dustin Flatt and TJ Westphal
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Episode 6 - Challenging Belief, Patterned Thought, and Questioning Team Players
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The hosts discuss challenging belief within an organizational setting while also question what it means to be a "team player." They also look into mental health among professional athletes and how systemic pressures can further the difficulty to change problematic decisions and thought.By Dustin Flatt and TJ Westphal
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Episode 5 - Entitlement, Questioning Authority, and why TJ Sucks at Fantasy Sports
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The hosts take jabs at each other concerning their fantasy teams while discussing some common workplace problems. They specifically look into a common theme of assumed entitlement and the potential problematic outcomes this produces for the organization, manager, and employees. They also ponder questioning authority within the therapeutic framework…
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TJ and Dustin discuss their first job together and what led them to discuss leadership, culture, and their workplace environment. This support amongst each other brought about an ever increasing search to find and create better workplaces beyond their initial jobs in the US Army.By Dustin Flatt and TJ Westphal
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Attempting to utilize a therapeutic lens, Dustin and TJ dissect an example. Finding probable problematic thought, they discuss how this clinical viewpoint could change future thought or interactions creating healthier outcomes for both the organization and the individual.By Dustin Flatt and TJ Westphal
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After having discussed the reasons for looking into mental health at the workplace, TJ and Dustin begin to break down interactions in our workplaces. Through a systems and therapeutic lens, they provide starting points and a basic plan to recognize poor outcomes and analyze individual problematic thought as well as interactions common in the workpl…
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Dissatisfaction with organizational culture and management practices has spurred two friends to undertake a comprehensive assessment and propose innovative solutions aimed at fostering improved mental health in the workplace. In episode 1, the focus centers on the foundational question of why this initiative has been undertaken and outlines the tra…
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