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Angry Gun Advocate Loses It Live On CNN In The Most. Bizarre. Interview. EVER.

Piers Morgan decided to advocate gun control after Sandy Hook. That caused this radio host, Alex Jones, who has millions of listeners (listeners I'd prefer to never meet), to create a petition to have Piers deported. Being the reasonable bloke he is, Piers invited Alex on his show to have a civil debate about guns. What follows is the most jaw-droppingly incoherent interview I have ever seen, in two deranged parts. The fact that this interview actually made Piers Morgan the most tolerable person on TV for 14 minutes isn't even the craziest thing about it.If this is what we're up against in the reasonable gun law debate, no wonder nothing gets done. Piers should get the Medal of Honor for not requesting a medical team to come tranquilize Alex and have him committed.

Act I: The Dumbening

  • At :30, in a hint at what’s about to happen, Jones gets things started by changing the subject completely, and then crafting a disconnected slew of sentence fragments.
  • At 2:10-2:36, Alex threatens to burn America to the ground if he doesn't get his way.
  • At 2:50, Alex reminds Piers (for the first of many times) that Americans once fought a war against the British. Piers responds with the kind of scathing, passive-aggressive restraint that the British have spent centuries mastering.
  • At 3:48, Alex talks about marine biology.
  • At 4:25, Alex talks about his favorite part of "Mad Max."
  • At 6:40, Piers gives up on getting anything coherent out of him.


Act II: All Aboard The Conspiracy Train

  • From 0-0:18, Piers suggests calming things down and actually having something resembling a coherent conversation. And then Alex starts speaking again, thus anything resembling healthy discourse ceases to exist.
  • At 1:33, Alex thinks an AR-15 will protect him from the largest military in the world and accuses all American soldiers of being potential traitors. Also, HITLER.
  • At 2:35, no judgment here, I just want to transcribe what Jones just managed to say, “A study out of Hawaii killed 292 million people.” He also requests that you google "Democide", so for balance sake, click here.
  • At 4:22, Alex quotes his favorite part of "Soylent Green" or "Dawn of the Dead."
  • From 4:51-5:40, Piers decides to let America in on the inner workings of Alex's brain.
  • At 5:40 … 5:40. Don’t cheat and skip ahead to this. Just be ready for it. Trust me on this one. It's like "Masterpiece Theatre."
  • Aaaaand at 6:27, Piers finally says what the rest of us are thinking.

You should make this guy the poster child for everything wrong with civilized discourse in America. There has to be a better way. Tweet it. Share it. Stop it.

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Our favorite giveaway is back. Enter to win a free, fun date! 🌊 💗

It's super easy, no purchase or donation necessary, and you help our oceans! That's what we call a win-win-win. Enter here.

Our favorite giveaway is back. Enter to win a free, fun date! 🌊 💗
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Our love for the ocean runs deep. Does yours? Enter here!

This Valentine’s Day, we're bringing back our favorite giveaway with Ocean Wise. You have the chance to win the ultimate ocean-friendly date. Our recommendation? Celebrate love for all your people this Valentine's Day! Treat your mom friends to a relaxing spa trip, take your best friend to an incredible concert, or enjoy a beach adventure with your sibling! Whether you're savoring a romantic seafood dinner or enjoying a movie night in, your next date could be on us!

Here’s how to enter:

  • Go to upworthy.com/oceandate and complete the quick form for a chance to win - it’s as easy as that.
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Special thanks to our friends at All In who are all in on helping moms!

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Special thanks to our friends at GOT Bag. They make saving the ocean look stylish and fun!

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Love nights in as much as you love a date night out? We’ve got you. Have friends over for a movie night or make it a cozy night in with your favorite person. You’ll get a Disney+ and Hulu subscription so you can watch Nat Geo ocean content, plus a curated list of ocean-friendly documentaries and a movie-night basket of snacks. Easy, comfy, and you’ll probably come out of it loving the ocean even more.

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We also love that BeachLife puts real energy into protecting the coastline it’s built on by spotlighting ocean and beach-focused nonprofit partners and hosting community events like beach cleanups.

Date includes two (2) three-day GA tickets. Does not include accommodation, travel, or flights.

5. Chef it up (at home)

Stay in and cook something delicious with someone you love. We’ll hook you up with sustainable seafood ingredients and some additional goodies for a dinner for two, so you can eat well and feel good knowing your meal supports healthier oceans and more responsible fishing.

Giveaway ends 2/15/26 at 11:59pm PT. Winners will be selected at random and contacted via email from the Upworthy. No purchase necessary. Open to residents of the U.S. and specific Canadian provinces that have reached age of majority in their state/province/territory of residence at the time. Please see terms and conditions for specific instructions. Giveaway not affiliated with Instagram. More details at upworthy.com/oceandate

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How to keep your mouth shut in conversations when you know you should really stay quiet

Most people never regret just staying silent.

quiet, finger over lips, don't talk, keep it to yourself, silence
via Canva/Photos

A woman with her finger over her mouth.

It can be hard to stay quiet when you feel like you just have to speak your mind. But sometimes it's not a great idea to share your opinions on current events with your dad or tell your boss where they're wrong in a meeting. And having a bit of self-control during a fight with your spouse is a good way to avoid apologizing the next morning.

Further, when we fight the urge to talk when it's not necessary, we become better listeners and give others a moment in the spotlight to share their views. Building that small mental muscle to respond to events rather than react can make all the difference in social situations.

argument, coworkers, angry coworkers, hostile work enviornment, disagreement A woman is getting angry at her coworker.via Canva/Photos

What is the WAIT method?

One way people have honed the skill of holding back when they feel the burning urge to speak up is the WAIT method, an acronym for the question you should ask yourself in that moment: "Why Am I Talking?" Pausing to consider the question before you open your mouth can shift your focus from "being heard" to "adding value" to any conversation.

The Center for The Empowerment Dynamic has some questions we should consider after taking a WAIT moment:

  • What is my intention behind what I am about to say?
  • What question can I ask to better understand what the other person is saying?
  • Is my need to talk an attempt to divert the attention to me?
  • How might I become comfortable with silence rather than succumb to my urge to talk?

tape over muth, sielnce, be quiet, mouth shut, saying nothing A man with tape over his mouth.via Canva/Photos

The WAIT method is a good way to avoid talking too much. In work meetings, people who overtalk risk losing everyone's attention and diluting their point to the extent that others aren't quite sure what they were trying to say. Even worse, they can come across as attention hogs or know-it-alls. Often, the people who get to the heart of the matter succinctly are the ones who are noticed and respected.

Just because you're commanding the attention of the room doesn't mean you're doing yourself any favors or helping other people in the conversation.

The WAIT method is also a great way to give yourself a breather and let things sit for a moment during a heated, emotional discussion. It gives you a chance to cool down and rethink your goals for the conversation. It can also help you avoid saying something you regret.

fight, spuse disagreement, communications skills, upset husband, argument A husband is angry with his wife. via Canva/Photos

How much should I talk in a meeting?

So if it's a work situation, like a team meeting, you don't want to be completely silent. How often should you speak up?

Cary Pfeffer, a speaking coach and media trainer, shared an example of the appropriate amount of time to talk in a meeting with six people:

"I would suggest a good measure would be three contributions over an hour-long meeting from each non-leader participant. If anyone is talking five/six/seven times you are over-participating! Allow someone else to weigh in, even if that means an occasional awkward silence. Anything less seems like your voice is just not being represented, and anything over three contributions is too much."

Ultimately, the WAIT method is about taking a second to make sure you're not just talking to hear yourself speak. It helps ensure that you have a clear goal for participating in the conversation and that you're adding value for others. Knowing when and why to say something is the best way to make a positive contribution and avoid shooting yourself in the foot.

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Researchers tested 6 brands of bottled water against tap water, and there was a clear winner

New technology allowed them to analyze the water in ways they never could before.

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via Canva/Photos

A woman drinking bottled water after a workout.

Ever since bottled water became popular in the 1990s, there has been a vigorous debate over whether it's healthier to drink bottled water or tap water. Bottled-water aficionados often claim it's purer than tap water because it's traditionally marketed as being "from the source" or having come from an untouched stream. That has to be cleaner than water that reaches your home after traveling from God-knows-where through city pipes, right?

What many people don't realize is that bottled water isn't regulated as stringently as tap water. Tap water is overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which requires more frequent testing and stricter disinfection standards. Bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a food product.

Tap water found to have fewer microplastics than bottled water

A recent study from The Ohio State University (OSU) delivered another big victory for Team Tap, finding that after testing six brands of bottled water against tap water from four water treatment plants, bottled water contained more than three times as many microplastics as tap water. The big problem is that plastic bottles can shed tiny plastic particles, smaller than a speck of dust, into the water when temperatures change, the cap is removed, or the bottle tumbles around in a purse or the back seat of a car.

tap water, kitchen water, boy drinking, thirsty boy, kitchen sink A boy drinking from the kitchen sink.via Canva/Photos

The tests revealed that the amount of microplastics in bottled water ranged from 2.6 to 11.5 million particles per liter, while tap water ranged from 1.6 to 2.6 million particles per liter. In the best-case scenario, tap water contains similar levels of microplastics, but in the worst-case scenario, bottled water contains more than seven times as many.

The researchers were surprised by their findings because nanoplastics are so small that they've been hard to quantify in the past.

"This lack of knowledge primarily reflects limitations in the methods to isolate and analyze the nanoplastics," said Megan Jamison Hart, a PhD candidate at OSU and the study's lead researcher. "In this study, we developed and validated a novel method for isolating MNPs [micro- and nanoplastics], allowing for the determination of their concentrations using scanning electron microscopy and identification using optical photothermal infrared spectroscopy (OPTIR)."

Are microplastics harmful to humans?

Much more research on microplastics is needed to determine their potential harm to humans. Studies have linked microplastics to impaired immune function, increased inflammation, and cellular damage in animals. Researchers believe that larger nanoplastics pass through the digestive tract and are eventually excreted. Smaller nanoplastics, however, may move into human tissues and even enter the brain.

"While we don't really fully understand the human health risks associated with nanoplastic exposure, it's still better to try and mitigate that risk because evidence indicates that they do cause problems, even if we're not fully aware of what those are yet," said Hart.

water bottle, plastic, thirsday woman, woman workout, workout clothes, A woman drinking out of a plastic water bottle. via Canva/Photos

Given that scientists have yet to determine the harm that micro- and nanoplastics can cause in our bodies, they believe it's best to avoid them as much as possible.

"We can make educated choices to try and reduce our daily exposure to these harmful chemicals," said Hart. "For the average person who is thirsty and wants a drink, the best way to do that would be drinking it straight out of the tap rather than grabbing pre-bottled water."

Hart told StudyFinds that the best thing to do is ditch bottled water and instead drink filtered tap water from a reusable metal bottle.

"This has definitely changed my own drinking habits," she said. "I was primarily a tap water drinker before, knowing that disposable bottles were bad for the environment, but this is something I am even more adamant about now, and I swapped my reusable plastic bottle for a reusable metal one."

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Happiness researcher explains how making a 'reverse bucket list' can change your life

Counterintuitive in our culture, but effective.

arthur c. brooks, harvard, psychology, happiness research, bucket list
Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons

Harvard researcher Arthur C. Brooks studies what leads to human happiness.

We live in a society that prizes ambition, celebrating goal-setting, and hustle culture as praiseworthy vehicles on the road to success. We also live in a society that associates successfully getting whatever our hearts desire with happiness. The formula we internalize from an early age is that desire + ambition + goal-setting + doing what it takes = a successful, happy life.

But as Harvard University happiness researcher Arthur C. Brooks has found, in his studies as well as his own experience, that happiness doesn't follow that formula. "It took me too long to figure this one out," Brooks told podcast host Tim Ferris, explaining why he uses a "reverse bucket list" to live a happier life.

bucket list, wants, desires, goals, detachment Many people make bucket lists of things they want in life. Giphy

Brooks shared that on his birthday, he would always make a list of his desires, ambitions, and things he wanted to accomplish—a bucket list. But when he was 50, he found his bucket list from when he was 40 and had an epiphany: "I looked at that list from when I was 40, and I'd checked everything off that list. And I was less happy at 50 than I was at 40."

As a social scientist, he recognized that he was doing something wrong and analyzed it.

"This is a neurophysiological problem and a psychological problem all rolled into one handy package," he said. "I was making the mistake of thinking that my satisfaction would come from having more. And the truth of the matter is that lasting and stable satisfaction, which doesn't wear off in a minute, comes when you understand that your satisfaction is your haves divided by your wants…You can increase your satisfaction temporarily and inefficiently by having more, or permanently and securely by wanting less."

Brooks concluded that he needed a "reverse bucket list" that would help him "consciously detach" from his worldly wants and desires by simply writing them down and crossing them off.

"I know that these things are going to occur to me as natural goals," Brooks said, citing human evolutionary psychology. "But I do not want to be owned by them. I want to manage them." He discussed moving those desires from the instinctual limbic system to the conscious pre-frontal cortex by examining each one and saying, "Maybe I get it, maybe I don't," but crossing them off as attachments. "And I'm free…it works," he said.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

"When I write them down, I acknowledge that I have the desire," he explained on X. "When I cross them out, I acknowledge that I will not be attached to this goal."

The idea that attachment itself causes unhappiness is a concept found in many spiritual traditions, but it is most closely associated with Buddhism. Mike Brooks, PhD, explains that humans need healthy attachments, such as an attachment to staying alive and attachments to loved ones, to avoid suffering. But many things to which we are attached are not necessarily healthy, either by degree (over-attachment) or by nature (being attached to things that are impermanent).

"We should strive for flexibility in our attachments because the objects of our attachment are inherently in flux," Brooks writes in Psychology Today. "In this way, we suffer unnecessarily when we don't accept their impermanent nature."

What Arthur C. Brooks suggests that we strive to detach ourselves from our wants and desires because the simplest way to solve the 'haves/wants = happiness' formula is to reduce the denominator. The reverse bucket list, in which you cross off desires before you fulfill them, can help free you from attachment and lead to a happier overall existence.

This article originally appeared last year.

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Young woman who 'doesn't want kids' holds a baby for the first time and was so not prepared

Baby fever hits some harder than others.

baby, baby fever, biological urge to have a baby, want a baby, having a child
Photo credit: Canva

Holding a baby can trigger a wave of "baby fever."

Choosing to have a child is one of the biggest life decisions a person can make and a highly individual choice. Some people know they want to be parents from a young age, some people decide to never have kids, and a whole lot of people fall somewhere in between. Some plan to have kids and it doesn’t work out. Others have no desire to have kids until something happens and suddenly they do.

A perfect example of such a change of heart can be seen in a video from Daniela Brkic, who captured the moment her friend, who didn’t want kids, held a baby for the first time. She clearly wasn’t prepared for how she would feel, as we see the young woman holding the baby with tears streaming down her cheeks and a look of utter joy and bewilderment on her face.

@daniela.brkic

First time holding a baby and now she wants 8, probably my favourite video ever 😭😂 #fyp @brkicbaby

She's so taken with the wee one that she can barely look at her. As her friends wipe her tears (at her request, so she doesn't get them on the baby), she says, "I need to have a kid," and "I want to take my top off and have skin-to-skin contact."

Brkic wrote that it was the friend's "first time holding a baby," adding, "and now she wants 8." So many people recognized the overwhelming urge to have a baby coming out of nowhere and commiserated in the comments.

"If that’s not baby FEVER then idk what is."

"Omg don't let her smell the baby's head. 😭😂"

"Just another example of our bodies betraying our good common sense. 😂"

"Her-i dont want kids. her uterus-WE ARE SOOOOO GETTING ONE OF THESE!!!! 🥰🥰🥰"

"Her ovaries activated 😂❤️❤️❤️"

baby, baby fever, biological urge to have a baby, want a baby, having a child, baby feet Tiny baby toes are too cute. Photo credit: Canva

"Those maternal instincts booted down the door and arrived with a BANG with the skin to skin comment 🤣🤣🤣"

"She’s not ready for skin to skin, her heart will literally explode."

"What a wholesome crash out 😂🥰❤️"

"She’s going to be the greatest mom!"

"THIS HAPPENED TO ME. I NEVER WANTED KIDS. Then I held a baby and it drooled on me and laughed. We now have 2 and they're my favorite people in THE WHOLE WORLD AND THEY'RE SO FUN."

"I NEVER wanted kids!!! I held my cousin's baby and fell in love. That was July of 2014. My son was born July of 2015!!!!"

baby, baby fever, biological urge to have a baby, want a baby, having a child Beware the sleepy baby as a baby fever trigger.Photo credit: Canva

Other commenters warned her that the baby fever is a temporary feeling, with some going so far as to call it a "trick" or a "trap." After all, they don't stay sweet, adorable babies forever.

"They DONT ALWAYS SLEEP. They're much harder awake. Do not fall for sleeping babies."

"Give her a toddler, she will get over it really quick 😵💫😂"

"now give her a 3 year old that has missed their nap, got the blue cup instead of the green and their biscuits broke 👹👹👹"

"Girl it’s a trick 😩 they start that cute for a reason."

"It’s a trap. They need cars and insurance 😭"

Is 'baby fever' a real phenomenon?

Yep. It is. That doesn't mean everyone experiences it, of course. But according to Gary Brase, an associate professor of psychology at Kansas State University who spent nearly 10 years studying the “baby fever” phenomenon, not only is it real, but it’s not limited to women. Though it shows up more frequently and to a stronger degree in females, it happens across the gender spectrum,. Brase and his wife Sandra went into their research looking at three theories about what contributes to a sudden, strong urge to have a baby:

1. The sociocultural view: "People want to have a baby because they are taught gender roles. Women think they should have children because society says that is what they are supposed to do."

2. The byproduct view: "Humans experience nurturance. When they see a cute baby they want to take care of it, and that makes them want to have a baby of their own. Baby fever is a by-product -- it is nurturance misplaced."

3. The adaptationist view: "Baby fever is an emotional signal -- like a suggestion sent from one part of the mind to the other parts -- that this could be a good time to have a child."

baby, baby fever, biological urge to have a baby, want a baby, having a child Is "baby fever" a natural phenomenon? Photo credit: Canva

But the results of their research found three different factors that contribute to wanting to have a child.

"The first two had to do with the visual sensory things," Brase told NBC News. "Seeing a baby, hearing a baby, smelling a baby led some people to want to have a baby." Conversely, seeing the more “disgusting” parts of having a baby, such as dirty diapers and spit-up, had an anti-baby-fever effect. The third factor was about life circumstances and trade-offs that made it seem feasible or not feasible to have a baby.

"People would say, 'I don't want to have a baby because I don't have money or I don't have time or I don't have a partner," Brase said. "All of the rational thoughts. That showed up as a third factor."

The mix of biological urge and societal conditioning can be a potent combo, which is why older adults will often tell young people that they might change their mind. Then again, they might not. Plenty of people live happy, fulfilling lives without having children, and plenty of people who never saw themselves becoming a parent find it to be the highlight of their life.

Time will tell whether this woman's baby fever is temporary or permanent, but how lucky is that baby to be surrounded by so much love?

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Mom shares her family's 10-year tradition of ending each day with an hour of silent reading

"This has to be one of the top nervous system regulators out there."

reading routine ,reading for kids, bedtime routine for kids, raising calm kids, parenting
via @1beccapike/Instagram, used with permission

A great way for the whole family to wind down.

Mom and business coach Becca Pike (1beccapike) recently shared a rather unconventional nightly routine that she and her family have been doing over the past decade: reading in silence for one hour.

In a video posted on her Instagram, Pike explained that her house has a hard lights-out curfew of 8 p.m. However, that curfew can be pushed to 9 p.m. if you are reading. It was something she started with her eldest child at seven (now 17), and continued with all four of her kids. Even before her young kids could read, they would still participate in the routine, and “just stare at the pictures” in their books.

The result: a pack of calm booklovers able to sit comfortably in boredom and get great sleep. All this happened by simply not ending the night with the “TV blaring” or “running errands till passing out,” according to Pike. Hence why she claimed "this has to be one of the top nervous system regulators out there."

To say parents were inspired would be an understatement.

“Love this! Trying to cultivate better sleep habits...and this is perfect,” one parent wrote.

Another added, “ Ready to start this with my 5 month old lol”

A few other parents shared their own similar routines.

“We do ‘quiet time’ for an hour before bed - rules are you can do reading, writing or drawing ❤️ it’s so lovely to do these quiet activities together and a calm end to the day.”

“What a beautiful scene! We do something similar, and it’s a great transition to bedtime ❤️”

“Love this - we have a no phones in the bedroom rule and you get an old school alarm clock ⏰”

We generally know how vital boredom is to a child’s development, helping them become more creative, better at problem-solving, more emotionally resilient, and yet, our modern world makes that unstructured time harder and harder to come by.

The truth is, relaxation only comes if one intentionally carves out time for it. Pike’s kids are not only getting to learn this firsthand, but because she herself participates. They see this kind of healthy behavior modeled by an adult, which also helps the habit stick.

There are other kid-friendly, screen-free activities—like enjoying a warm bath, listening to soft music, doing gentle stretches—that can also be effective at inspiring a sense of calm before bed, so long as they’re done consistently.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

But what’s particularly cool about this reading routine is that it can be enjoyed both as a solo activity and as a shared family experience with shared benefits. Adults are in equal need of a respite from the screens, chores, and last-minute to-dos. This simple, predictable ritual offers a shared pause button where everybody wins. Kids get a sense of autonomy (“stay up later if you read”) while parents still reinforce boundaries and rest. And for both parties, reading is reframed as a cozy privilege rather than a chore.

When modern life moves relentlessly fast and demands constant stimulation, an hour of collective quiet might be one of the most generous gifts a family can give itself.

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