Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes debunk health fads, wellness info, and advice on ‘Maintenance Phase’
Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes present “Maintenance Phase,” a podcast challenging info on health trends, nutrition, and wellness advice. The hosts will debunk “junk science,” scams, myths, investigate what’s released as facts, and bring levity when addressing sensitive or triggering topics.
Since 2020, “Maintenance Phase” has released 30 episodes and counting. The series has received over 6,000 reviews on Apple Podcasts, and continues to be a top-10 charter in the health & fitness genre. The average run time of episodes is an hour, and you can check out the series in any order. The first-ever, 57-minute episode provides some context for the podcast if you’d like foundational info. If the episode arc is broken into two or more connected episodes, listen in chronological order, such as the ones about Oprah Winfrey and author/blogger/motivational speaker Rachel Hollis.
A recent episode discussed the history of vibrators and the hosts wondered, “Who fact-checks the fact-checkers?” Episodes will investigate concepts like Snake Oil (what is it, why does it exist, how did this become an idiomatic expression) and The Master Cleanse (why were people inspired to drink a concoction of maple syrup, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper). They’ll look at programs like Weight Watchers and recalled diet supplements like Fen Phen & Redux.
Learn about Twinkies, QAnon, celery juice, eating disorders, “Pizzagate,” weight bias, body positivity, skinny shaming, and Presidents’ physical fitness tests. The hosts will debunk concepts like oil pulling and Instagram aesthetics, just to name a few. They’ll answer questions about the Body Mass Index, obesity, and the keto diet and delve into TV shows like The Biggest Loser and Dr. Oz.
In the “Halo Top Ice Cream” episode, Aubrey and Michael explained the low-calorie dessert alternative, whether or not it is healthy, biohacking, and more. The hosts will explore questions like: Why is Gwyneth Paltrow drinking Moon Juice? Why were SnackWell cookies all the rage in the 1990s?
Aubrey and Michael will dive into books like Angela Lansbury’s Positive Moves, Ed McMahon’s Slimming Down, and Marianne Williamson’s A Course in Weight Loss and point out problematic information and material. In one of the Oprah-centric episodes, Aubrey and Michael spoke with Kimberly Springer, the co-editor of Stories of Oprah: The Oprahfication of American Culture.
Michael previously co-hosted the podcast, “You’re Wrong About.” Aubrey wrote Your Fat Friend, that was released in November 2021.
In a recent episode of Podsauce, “An Absurd Result” hosts shared their podcast picks. Linda Glantz told Podsauce that she tunes into weekly episodes of “Maintenance Phase.”
Check out new, weekly episodes of “Maintenance Phase,” wherever you listen to podcasts.
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