A Think First Podcast with Jim Detjen
Think First is a short-form podcast that makes you pause — before you scroll, share, or believe the headline.
Hosted by Jim Detjen, a guy who’s been gaslit enough to start a podcast about it, Think First dives into modern narratives, media manipulation, and cultural BS — all through the lens of gaslighting and poetic truth.
Some episodes are two minutes. Some are ten. It depends on the story — and the energy drink situation.
No rants. No lectures. Just sharp questions, quick insights, and the occasional laugh to keep things sane.
Whether you’re dodging spin in the news, politics, or that “trust me, bro” post in your feed… take a breath. Think first.
Visit Gaslight360.com/clarity to sharpen your BS filter and explore the 6-step clarity framework.
Episodes
75 episodes
#68 We Pay. They Podium. — How U.S. Colleges Train the World’s Olympians
America’s college sports system is the best in the world — but who’s really reaping the rewards? In swimming, more than 15% of NCAA athletes are foreign, with some top programs like University of Florida running over 60% inte...
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Episode 67
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12:57
#67 Engraved Bullets · How the Charlie Kirk Story Is Already Being Written
Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah.The rifle has been found. The bullets were engraved with words tied to ideology.And before the facts are even settled, the headlines are already at war — some calling it a “shooting,” others a...
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Episode 67
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5:18
🚨 By Popular Demand: The New Era Begins for Think First
The people spoke — and we listened. After a long late-night dinner at Cowboy Star in Colorado Springs with Don and Sarah Marbauch of Arizona — a retired fighter pilot, Air Force Academy grad, clarity advocates, and unofficial ambassadors of com...
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2:12
#66 Why Gas Pumps Are Still So Slow · The Psychology of Pump-Time Manipulation
It’s 2025… and gas pumps are still painfully slow. Is it really outdated tech? Or is your time at the pump being deliberately hijacked for something else?In this episode of Think First, we unravel the subtle gaslighting behind p...
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Episode 66
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5:53
#65 The Coin Shortage That Wasn’t · Think First
Remember those little signs at checkout in 2020?“Due to a national coin shortage, please use exact change or pay with card.”Was it really about supply chain disruption — or was it a quiet nudge to push us further into a c...
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Episode 65
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5:52
🔍 Ep. 3 The Cindy James Tapes · Patterns of Fear
By 1983, Cindy James had reported over a dozen attacks.But each incident followed the same script:No witnesses.No suspects.No evidence.Police began to doubt her.Doctors prescribed medication.And her own ...
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7:16
🔍Ep. 2 The Cindy James Tapes · Someone’s Watching
Cindy James always said it started small.Phone calls with no one on the line.Notes left on her windshield.Footsteps outside her window — when no one was there.By the time police finally started paying attention, Cindy had ...
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7:09
🔍 Ep. 1 The Cindy James Tapes · Hog-Tied Truth
A woman is found dead — hog-tied, drugged, and strangled.But police don’t call it murder.They call it suicide.In the opening chapter of The Cindy James Tapes, we examine the haunting death of Cindy James — a 44-year-old ...
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6:20
#64 Cursive · The Poetic Truth Behind Its Erasure
Cursive wasn’t just elegant — it was untraceable.So why did American schools suddenly erase it… while students in France, India, and China still learn it today?In this episode of Think First, we examine the poetic truth that cur...
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Episode 64
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5:53
#63 Ballerina Farm · The Poetic Truth Behind Perfect Motherhood
A Juilliard ballerina. A JetBlue heir. Eight kids. And a farm in Utah with 20 million followers.Ballerina Farm is wholesome, nostalgic, and almost too perfect. But is it empowerment through motherhood—or a carefully curated illusion?...
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7:31
#62 Cracker Barrel • Minimal Isn’t the Problem. Meaningless Is.
Cracker Barrel spent $700 million on a makeover. New interiors. A new menu. A new logo.The company says the heart of the brand hasn’t changed. But when a logo stops telling the truth — when it could belong to anyone — it stops belonging ...
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Episode 62
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6:10
#61 NIL Unmasked · How College Sports Went Pro Without Saying It Out Loud
The rules of college sports just changed forever — and not everyone’s playing fair. In this episode of Think First, Jim Detjen pulls back the curtain on NIL — Name, Image, and Likeness — to show how athletes are getting paid, how the N...
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Episode 61
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8:34
Be Someone's Reason to Think First
No flaming cars. No gaslighting breakdowns. Just a quick bonus drop to say… we’re at 200 downloads per episode — and it’s time to grow. This one’s for the OGs, the founding listeners, the people who laugh at the dark stuff and think for themsel...
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3:04
#60 When Empathy Becomes a Sin
Empathy is supposed to be untouchable—a universal virtue. But what happens when empathy gets rebranded as weakness… or even sin? In this episode, we dig into how empathy is praised, twisted, and weaponized—from theology to politics to pop cultu...
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Episode 60
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6:07
#59 What Happened to Customer Service After COVID?
Remember when stores were open 24/7, hotel rooms came with daily housekeeping, and tipping was a thank-you — not a ransom note?Since COVID, businesses keep promising that “normal” will return… but the truth is, it’s not.In this ep...
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Episode 59
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5:00
🕵️♂️ Trailer: The Cindy James Tapes
She said she was being watched.For seven years, no one believed her.And then… she was dead.In this five-part investigative series, Think First opens the files on Cindy James — a woman found hog-tied, strangled, and...
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1:29
#58 Giants, Gaslighting, and the Smithsonian
Over 100 newspaper reports from the 1800s claimed giant human skeletons were discovered across the U.S.—many reportedly sent to the Smithsonian. But today, there’s no trace. No bones. No files. Just silence.In this episode of Think F...
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Episode 58
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5:01
#57 How the Dinosaurs Disappeared — and Why We Love the Story
What really killed the dinosaurs?We’ve all heard the asteroid story: a rock from space slams into Earth, fire rains down, and the mighty dinosaurs vanish overnight. It’s clean. It’s dramatic. It’s the perfect ending.But the truth ...
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Episode 57
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4:45
#56 The FBI Doesn’t Hit Record — And That’s the Point
For decades, the FBI refused to record interviews — relying instead on handwritten notes and “302” summaries. Even after a 2014 policy change, the loopholes remain. In this episode, Jim Detjen unpacks why the Bureau prefers its own version of t...
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Episode 56
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4:09
#55 The Casual Sex Myth · Gaslit by the Culture
Modern culture tells us sex is just fun, casual, and consequence-free. But what if that’s the biggest gaslight of all? From hookup culture and porn to OnlyFans and Bonnie Blue, Jim Detjen unpacks the poetic truths and lies shaping how we think ...
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Episode 55
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7:34
#54 Military Families · The Other Side of Service
What if the ones who never wore the uniform carried the heaviest burden of all?Military families serve too — quietly, constantly, and without recognition. While headlines focus on the battlefield, their sacrifices unfold in silence: miss...
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Episode 54
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5:43
#53 Beauty · Not Everyone Is. And That’s Okay.
Why does a beautiful woman in a jeans ad spark national outrage?Why are babies better at recognizing beauty than most media outlets?And why do we pretend everyone is equally beautiful… when we know it’s not true?...
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Episode 53
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6:59
#52 The Pendulum Swing of Gen Z
What happens when a generation raised on racial sensitivity, identity politics, and moral language flips the script? In this episode of Think First, we explore the quiet rebellion taking shape across Gen Z — and the growing backlash to...
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Episode 52
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8:06
#51 Sydney Sweeney Has Great Genes… and That’s a Problem Now?
When Sydney Sweeney put on a pair of jeans, the internet saw Nazis.Seriously.What was supposed to be a cheeky denim campaign turned into a cultural meltdown about eugenics, whiteness, and “fascist fashion.”But beneath the o...
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Episode 51
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7:18
