Keeping It Real with Jillian Michaels

Episode Summary: Dr. Drew Goes Scorched Earth – Newsom, Medical Lies, & The Homeless Addiction Crisis

Date: December 14, 2025
Host: Jillian Michaels
Guest: Dr. Drew Pinsky

Overview

In this unfiltered, wide-ranging discussion, Jillian Michaels sits down with Dr. Drew Pinsky—one of America’s best-known addiction medicine specialists and medical commentators. Together, they tackle some of today's most volatile topics: the distortion of public health policy, vaccine controversies (focusing on hepatitis B and COVID-19 for children), hormone replacement therapy, and the entrenched crisis of homelessness and addiction in California. Dr. Drew draws on decades of experience and candidly discusses the political, ethical, and systemic failures perpetuating these crises—calling out propaganda and misplaced incentives along the way.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Reality, Propaganda, and Medicine (00:07–08:24)

• Dr. Drew’s Worldview Shaken

  • Dr. Drew opens by reflecting on how much propaganda and external agenda have shaped his—and the public's—understanding of reality, especially during COVID-19.
  • “I’m at the point now where I’m starting to think most everything about my sense of reality…was colored by someone…with an agenda, who shaped my reality my entire life.” – Dr. Drew (05:00)

• Skepticism is Necessary

  • Both Jillian and Dr. Drew agree on the importance of distrust and critical thinking in an era flooded by contradictory messages across media and social platforms.
  • “It is healthy not to trust anything right now.” – Dr. Drew (07:32)

2. Vaccine Controversies: Hepatitis B and COVID-19 for Children (09:39–29:00)

Hepatitis B Vaccine Debate

• Origins and Justification

  • The hepatitis B vaccine was added to the CDC's schedule in 1991 to prevent chronic infection and related fatalities, but Dr. Drew underscores historical context: the concern was mainly for mother-to-child transmission in specific at-risk populations, not universal application.
  • “All that people are asking for is the opportunity to make a decision when to get the hepatitis B vaccine when it’s appropriate…not have it mandated on day one of life.” – Dr. Drew (22:19)

• Modern Testing

  • He critiques the “mad doctor” mentality: if a mother has hepatitis B today and it goes undetected, it’s malpractice—modern screening makes universal, immediate newborn vaccination less justifiable in the US.

• Risk, Reward, and Blind Spots

  • Says the original studies on safety for neonates were only five days long.
  • “Why do we deal with [vaccines] differently than other biological agents we give children? …It is the public health influence…we need to protect the herd.” – Dr. Drew (33:18)

COVID-19 Vaccines and Black Box Warnings

• Potential Black Box Warning for mRNA Vaccines in Children

  • They discuss unconfirmed reports (from Alex Berenson, cited by Megyn Kelly) that the FDA may add a black box warning to COVID mRNA vaccines for children due to possible links to deaths.
  • Dr. Drew’s key point: The PREP Act grants broad immunity to organizations that mandated vaccines, removing liability for harm.
  • “It’s the PREP act…you need to understand that has been in place for a while and needs to be undone.” – Dr. Drew (17:43)

• Polarization of Vaccine Debate

  • Jillian laments how nuance is lost: “...you’ve got the group that [say] they’re all bad, and then...they’re all good, and neither side actually wants to have this conversation.” (19:53)

• Clinical Considerations

  • Drew differentiates between the biological environment of newborns and older children or adults, emphasizing the increased risk of introducing substances to the developing immune system.
  • “The closest biological tissue in your body to the brain is your immune system...during development, this infinitely complex [system]…we are prone to error.” – Dr. Drew (31:00)

Vaccine Risk-Benefit: Case Study of Whooping Cough

• Jillian shares her experience with severe adult pertussis, arguing the case for targeted vaccination.
  • Dr. Drew supports “selective, timely” vaccination strategies, rather than blanket mandates.

3. Medical System Failures & Empowerment (38:21–46:11)

• Loss of Personalized Medicine

  • Drew bemoans the algorithmic nature of modern medicine and the reduction in physician-patient relationships.
  • “When medicine is so algorithmic, there’s no caring physician there…It’s much more easy to just follow an algorithm.” – Dr. Drew (37:47)

• Nurse Practitioners and PAs

  • While praising many extenders for genuinely caring, he warns patients to be aware of their tendency to stick to strict protocols.
  • “I’m seeing [NPs and PAs] think more carefully than my peers, which is a terrible indictment.” – Dr. Drew (40:57)

• Patient Agency

  • Jillian: “You got to be the commander of your own ship here. You just do.” (39:09)

4. The Value and Politics of Hormone Replacement Therapy (46:11–55:15)

• Undoing the Women’s Health Initiative Mistakes

  • Dr. Drew strongly supports early hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for women, stating medical authorities catastrophically harmed women’s health by misrepresenting HRT risks.
  • “It was my experience when I was mandated to stop hormone replacement therapy…I watched women fall apart.” – Dr. Drew (48:08)
  • He asserts HRT reduces cardiovascular disease, mortality, bone fractures, and dementia risks.
  • Critiques the continued stigma, including testosterone, especially in women.

• Political Context: Newsom’s Veto & Halle Berry

  • Halle Berry’s viral criticism of Gov. Newsom for twice vetoing the Menopause Care Equity Act becomes a flashpoint for the politicization of women’s health.
  • Dr. Drew: “Are you trying to ask me to make sense of Gavin Newsom? That is not something I’m capable of.” (55:15)

5. The Homeless Industrial Complex: California’s Crisis (57:19–76:42)

• Medical Neglect by Design

  • Dr. Drew explains how California’s homelessness crisis is exacerbated by policies that make it nearly impossible to intervene in severe psychiatric/addiction cases.
  • “All my staff were recovering opiate addicts…they were thriving and continue to thrive…I treated people all the time for opiate addiction quite successfully. There was never a problem.” – Dr. Drew (58:22)

• Legal and Policy Failures

  • Dr. Drew rails against the “Housing First” model and explains how Prop 47 and related laws have decriminalized the behaviors associated with addiction, removing the leverage needed to compel treatment.
  • “By downgrading drug possession and theft…California removes the stick from the carrot and the stick approach…destroy[ing] the intervention tool.” – Jillian (67:13)

• Corruption and Waste

  • Billions of dollars are funneled to a “billion-dollar ecosystem” that profits from perpetuating homelessness, with little oversight and a perverse incentive to increase not reduce homelessness.
  • Drew: “It’s disgusting. It’s killing people. A thousand people…in the streets of Los Angeles die.” (65:55, 66:13)
  • Jillian highlights the outrageous per-unit costs for homeless housing ($600–800k each) and exposes Project Home Key and other headline scandals.

• Therapeutic Nihilism

  • Many social service providers are “not medically trained…they don’t understand what they’re doing.” Fails to address medical and addiction needs—the very causes of homelessness.

• Personal Experience with “Gel Man Amnesia”

  • Dr. Drew recounts being misrepresented in the Los Angeles Times and how credentials and perspectives that challenge the status quo are vilified. (74:19–76:42)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It is healthy not to trust anything right now.”
  — Dr. Drew (07:32)

• “The scientific method is rational uncertainty trying to ascend to an approximation of the truth. Humbly understanding that we'll never get there… But we are in a weird time when everything is certain and that’s not science.”
  — Dr. Drew (29:21)

• “When medicine is so algorithmic, there’s no caring physician there…It’s much more easy to just follow an algorithm.”
  — Dr. Drew (37:47)

• “Are you trying to ask me to make sense of Gavin Newsom? That is not something I’m capable of.”
  — Dr. Drew (55:15)

• “There’s a power in place that should not be or a motivation—money—that is going in the wrong direction. We have to unravel this. It’s disgusting. It’s killing people. A thousand a year in the streets of Los Angeles die.”
  — Dr. Drew (66:13)

• “We are in a time of…irrational certitude. The scientific method is rational uncertainty.”
  — Dr. Drew (29:21)

• “You got to be the commander of your own ship here.”
  — Jillian Michaels (39:09)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:07 – Dr. Drew’s bio and intro
• 05:00 – Discussion on propaganda, perception, and reality
• 09:39 – Vaccine controversy: Kennedy, vaccine schedule changes, and blind spots
• 17:43 – The PREP Act and immunity for mandates during COVID
• 22:19 – Hepatitis B vaccine: history, risk vs. benefit, and real statistics
• 30:34 – Immune system complexity in children versus adults
• 37:47 – Shift from personalized to algorithmic medicine
• 46:54 – Hormone replacement therapy, politics, and the Women’s Health Initiative
• 53:22 – Newsom’s veto, Halle Berry’s reaction, and political fallout
• 58:22 – The “homeless industrial complex” and the treatment of addiction
• 67:13 – Legal consequences hampering addiction intervention
• 72:07 – Housing costs and the economic incentive to perpetuate homelessness
• 74:19 – Dr. Drew’s experience with media misrepresentation
• 77:20 – Final thoughts on agency and patient empowerment

Closing Thoughts

Dr. Drew and Jillian urge listeners to stay curious, empower themselves with information, and fight for nuance and rationality in debates around health, politics, and society. From flawed public health policies to systemic corruption and the decay of individualized care, their message is clear: take agency, vet your sources, and be relentless in the pursuit of truth and effective action.

Where to Find Dr. Drew

Dr. Drew’s live streaming show:

• Tuesdays & Thursdays, 2 PM PT | Wednesdays, 4 PM PT
• Interviews with controversial and forward-thinking medical experts
• Social: DrDrew.com, YouTube, Instagram, and podcast platforms

“In an era of irrational certitude, we need radical critical thinking and humility. And patient agency is our only defense.”
—Paraphrased from Dr. Drew Pinsky