A Think First Podcast with Jim Detjen

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% international rosters. These athletes train in U.S. clubs, compete for U.S. schools, and then take their peak performance home — winning Olympic medals for other countries. Add in new roster limits from...

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 “killing,” still others an “assassination.”

This episode of Think First breaks down what we know, what we don’t, and how language itself is being used to gaslight the public. From engraved ammunition to Wi...

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 common sense — the tipping point arrived.

Think First is going bigger. Starting now, you’ll get 25–40 minute episodes, at least twice a week. The same sharp lens on gaslighting and poetic truth… ...

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 Is it really outdated tech?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 pump delays — and why your mild annoyance may be the point, not the problem. From behavioral conditioning to advertising psychology, we break down how gas stations became attention farms disguised as fuel sto...

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 cashless society?

In this episode of Think First, Jim Detjen unravels the strange story of the “coin shortage” — why it appeared everywhere at once, how it shaped our payment habits, and what it reveals about crisis-...

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 family struggled to keep up.

But what if the repetition was the point?

What if the perpetrator knew exactly how to make it all look suspicious — just enough to be dismissed?

In this episode, we examine the turn...

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 documented over a hundred separate incidents. But here’s the thing: almost none of them could be verified.

Was she being hunted…
or haunted by her own mind?

In Episode 2 of The Cindy James Tapes, we re...

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 nurse who spent seven years reporting stalking, attacks, and threats… only to end up dead in a way no one can explain.

Was she the victim of an elaborate campaign of psychologi...

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 cursive was “outdated” — and expose what was really lost when we stopped teaching it: historical memory, cognitive depth, and analog privacy.

Could this have been about more than ef...

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?

In this episode of Think First, Jim Detjen traces the rise of Hannah and Daniel Neeleman, the “queen of the tradwife” controversy, and why their story is a case study in gaslighting, poetic truth, and t...

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 to the people who loved it.

This episode of Think First isn’t about pancakes. It’s about memory, meaning, and what happens when design confuses “modern” with “appropriate.” Nostalgia isn’t fluff. It’...

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 NCAA is fumbling the playbook, and why the smartest deals still come down to authenticity. From Bryce Harper’s clean-label fit with Just Ingredients, to Sprouts investing in women’s sports, to a high-s...

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 themselves. If that’s you, we need your help.

Text a friend. Post the link. Whisper it to your dog.

Because the only way smart voices cut through the noise… is if you send the signal.

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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 episode of Think First, we unravel the gaslighting baked into today’s customer experience: airlines charging more for less, restaurants pushing QR menus that nobody asked for, and shrinkflation turning famil...

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 drugged in a vacant lot in 1989.

Police called it suicide.

Her family called it murder.

The coroner called it… an unknown event.

But before she died, Cindy left behind letters.

Journals.

Notes.

Fragments of a story the system c...

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 First, we dig deep into the forgotten headlines, the Book of Enoch, the role of America’s most trusted museum, and the patterns of erasure that hint at something bigger… and taller.

What if the real cover...

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 may be messier — a long decline fueled by volcanic eruptions, climate swings, and a final “kill cascade.” So why do we cling to the Hollywood version?

In this episode of Think First, Jim Detjen explores how...

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 the truth, how that opens the door to poetic truth and gaslighting, and what it means when the “official record” isn’t actually the record.

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