The Tudor Dixon Podcast: Dating, Social Media, and Love After the Pandemic

Summary

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The Tudor Dixon Podcast: Dating, Social Media, and Love After the Pandemic

Guests: Tudor Dixon (host), Dr. Wendy Walsh (love and relationship expert)
Date: December 26, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the state of modern dating and romantic relationships among young people, with a special focus on the impacts of the pandemic, the influence of social media, changing gender roles, and practical advice for fostering real-life connections. Tudor Dixon brings in Dr. Wendy Walsh to discuss why many young adults are struggling to form connections and how both cultural and economic changes are reshaping expectations and relationship dynamics.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Changing Landscape of Young Love and Relationships

• Gen Z's Social Struggles Post-Pandemic

  • Gen Z experienced three crucial years of social isolation during the pandemic, leading to widespread social anxiety and challenges in face-to-face interactions.
    • "These are people who literally lost three years...they couldn't even look each other in the eye or talk to each other. They were just staring at their phones while in discussion groups." – Dr. Wendy Walsh (04:18)
  • Young people turned to dating apps for connection, but this created its own challenges:
    • Paradox of Choice: Too many options make commitment difficult.
    • Illusion of Access: Apps create the impression that anyone can access the most attractive "top 10%" of mates, exacerbating feelings of rejection and insecurity.
  • A new trend predicted for 2026 is a shift away from dating apps to in-real-life (IRL) meetings via clubs and community groups.

• Delayed Relationships Are Not a Crisis

  • The age of first marriage continues to rise (now roughly 30 for men in the U.S.), but research shows later marriages tend to be more stable and fulfilling.
    • "The research shows that the later you marry, the more developed your prefrontal cortex is for making decisions, and the happier, the more satisfied, the safer, the healthier your marriage will be." – Dr. Wendy Walsh (06:05)

• Economic Anxiety Shaping Dating Norms

  • Many young men feel financially insecure due to high cost of living and delayed economic independence, which affects dating dynamics.
  • "The guys who used to strut their money and pay for expensive dates just can't afford to do that...the smart guys are figuring out other ways to make a woman's life better." – Dr. Wendy Walsh (08:08)

Technology, Social Media, and Authenticity

• Impact of Digital Connections

  • The pandemic normalized virtual interactions, making in-person connection feel more anxiety-inducing, especially among adolescents who missed out on critical years of social development.
    • "I see with my kids...they connect on the phone, they connect through FaceTime, and they're not going out as much." – Tudor Dixon (06:42)
  • Young people sometimes lack practice in authentic communication, which leads to struggles with intimacy, ghosting, and fleeting "situationships."

• The "Shreking" Phenomenon

  • "Shreking" involves dating someone perceived as below one's value or attractiveness:
    • For women, it can create extra frustration if they lower their standards but still face rejection.
    • Dr. Walsh stresses the solution isn’t about changing standards, but rather learning skills for vulnerability and authentic connection.
    • "The problem isn't about standards or lowering. It's about young people not having the skills to fall in love and have an intimate connection to prevent ghosting, to prevent situationships." – Dr. Wendy Walsh (19:40)

• The Illusion of Perfection Online

  • Obsession with creating perfect, Instagram-worthy life events (e.g., bridal showers, gender reveals) can leave young adults unprepared for the realities of everyday partnership.
    • "I see...there's a focus on the show of everything and not the relationship. And I see that crushing people once they get into marriage." – Tudor Dixon (21:01)

Evolving Gender Roles & Social Class

• Feminization of Higher Education and Workplaces

  • More women are now graduating college and occupying the workforce than men, leading to changing social dynamics in relationships.
    • "I teach on one...for every guy that graduates college, there are two or three women in America. And this has been going on for 20 years." – Dr. Wendy Walsh (09:58)

• Appreciating Blue Collar Partners

  • Social media trends celebrate the virtues of blue-collar husbands—loyalty, parenting, practical skills—encouraging women not to see marrying outside their social class as “settling.”
    • "Your idea of a power man just might be a guy who can power a stroller." – Dr. Wendy Walsh (10:56)

• Challenging Traditional Gender Roles at Home

  • Dr. Walsh, speaking from her own experience, highlights the emotional and practical upsides to egalitarian partnerships where men contribute to housework:
    • "I found an amazing husband; he happens to make less money than me, but guess what? He loves laundry and dishes. Oh, and he can fix anything." – Dr. Wendy Walsh (12:21)
  • The conversation emphasizes that mutual support, not just economic earning, should define the modern partnership.

Practical Relationship Skills

• Communication Sandwich Technique

  • Dr. Walsh explains her method for giving constructive feedback:
    • Start with a positive, deliver the criticism, end with another positive.
    • Example:
      "Hey honey, one of the things I love about you is you're such an amazing provider...the kids have noticed you haven't been to their ballet recitals...but we want to show you off because we're proud of you!" – Dr. Wendy Walsh (22:29)

• Combatting Absolutism ("Always" and "Never")

  • Dixon notes how the language of political polarization (using words like "always" and "never") invades personal relationships and makes compromise harder.

• Fostering Positivity and Gratitude

  • Catch your partner being good, thank them for small things, and try to “overvalue” your partner to strengthen long-term commitment.
    • "Catch your partner being good all day long...it reminds your own brain of why you're there." – Dr. Wendy Walsh (26:48)
  • Affirmation isn’t just for women—men need it too.

Social Networks, Contagion, and Family Pressures

• Marriage and Divorce Are “Contagious”

  • Relationship outcomes spread through social networks, up to six degrees of separation.
    • "A couple you don't even know could impact your relationship." – Dr. Wendy Walsh (31:37)

• Navigating Family Expectations During the Holidays

  • Dr. Walsh shares that many women feel pressured for commitment, with 70% of singles stating they’d pay for their own engagement ring.
    • Her advice for family gatherings:
      • If you’re a family member: Don’t ask about relationship status.
      • If you’re single: Set healthy boundaries and don’t feel pressured.
    • "Remember what happens when you come back to your family of origin as an adult. Everybody becomes 12 years old again." – Dr. Wendy Walsh (34:26)
    • Focus on enjoying food, family, and festivities; save diet concerns and major decisions for later.

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Memorable Quotes

• "The later you marry, the more developed your prefrontal cortex is...and the happier, the more satisfied, the safer, the healthier your marriage will be."
  — Dr. Wendy Walsh (06:05)

• "The biggest danger of patriarchy was that it swims in women's head...And that's just not reality. It's not going to happen."
  — Dr. Wendy Walsh (13:13)

• "Love is an action word. It's a verb. It's the verb to give."
  — Dr. Wendy Walsh (25:30)

• "The thing that keeps long-term committed people together is they actually kind of overvalue each other."
  — Dr. Wendy Walsh (27:05)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 03:04 – Introduction of Dr. Wendy Walsh and setting up the episode’s theme
• 04:16–06:38 – Gen Z’s post-pandemic dating challenges and delayed relationships
• 09:19–10:53 – Gender roles, social class, and the value of blue-collar men
• 12:02–13:57 – How to dismantle traditional gender expectations
• 19:07–20:46 – The “shreking” trend and the need for vulnerability
• 22:00–26:37 – Developing communication and affirmation skills
• 31:32–33:36 – Contagion of marriage/divorce and the role of anger in online reviews
• 34:00–35:58 – Responding to family pressure and holiday gatherings
• 36:28–37:06 – Noting the trend of declining sexual activity among young people

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Takeaways & Final Thoughts

The conversation offers a nuanced, often humorous look at the evolving challenges of dating, connection, and partnership in a digital, post-pandemic world. Dr. Wendy Walsh invites listeners to let go of outdated social norms, focus on authenticity and vulnerability, and practice positive communication with partners. Both Walsh and Dixon emphasize the importance of real-life community and the benefits of patience in young people’s journey to love and connection.

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For more episodes, visit The Tudor Dixon Podcast at tudordixonpodcast.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

Transcript

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

This is an iHeart podcast guaranteed human did you know?

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[Tudor Dixon]

U N D welcome to the Tudor Dixon Podcast. We have a treat today. We've been talking so much about young people and how there's been a challenge with young people connecting and we don't see as many romantic relationships. So we thought we'd bring on an expert to talk about it. And we have an expert from iHeartRadio. She is on iHeartRadio's KF or KFiam 6:40 in Los Angeles. It is the love and relationship expert, Dr. Wendy Walsh.

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

Hi, how are you?

[Tudor Dixon]

I'm great. How are you?

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

Good, good, good. Always happy around this time of year to be talking about love because so many people are expecting engagement rings.

[Tudor Dixon]

Oh, I never even thought about that, but I guess that's true. And I think actually I feel like I'm at the point now where I have a lot of my friends who are expecting their children to be getting engaged around. But, but they also I've heard from so many moms of young men in our area. I'm in the Midwest and moms of young men who say they are struggling to figure out how to connect to women. So what are your best suggestions for love people or Love love, relationships connection in young people today?

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

Well, let's set the stage for what's happening culturally, especially around Gen Z. Right. So this is a group of people, young people who literally lost three years of during the pandemic when we came back to the college classroom, I'm a psychology professor. I would put students into discussion groups and they couldn't even look each other in the eye or talk to each other. They were just staring at their phones while in discussion groups. So I see, and I have young adult daughters. I see the stress and the fear and the widespread social anxiety. So they go to the apps. Right? Because that's what they know. They're digital natives. But the apps do something else to their brains. It creates, first of all, paradox of choice. So we know one thing about the Human brain. The more choice we have, the harder it is to make a choice. And dating apps keep fall, keep feeding you with this endless supply of potential mates. Secondly, they unfairly take the people with the, I would call the top mate value. Different for men and women. So younger, hotter, whatever, and women and men, maybe more money or deeper voices are tall. And they get the illusion that anybody can have access to this small 10% of the population. And it leaves this other population feeling mostly rejected on dating apps. So the biggest trend that's happening though with Gen Z is they're going off dating apps in 2026. We're gonna see more and more IRL in real life meetings. And that means they're joining clubs, they're joining churches, they're finding ways to meet young people in the real world. But for parents who are worried about their kids, you know, coupling up, it's gonna be delayed in this group. It's already we've seen a trend of many generations where people aren't marrying. And I think the average age of first time marriage for men has gone up to 30 now. Okay, wow. Whereas it used to be 22, 24. Right. And we may even see it move further. But here's the good news. The research shows that the later you marry, the more developed your prefrontal cortex is for making decision. And the happier, the more satisfied, the safer, the healthier your marriage will be. So parents need to not stress. These guys are going to figure it out.

[Tudor Dixon]

Well, and certainly I think my friends are like, I don't want to push my kid. I don't want to. I feel like there is an anxiety there. But I guess we haven't really identified that that anxiety might just be that in person connection. Because that is something that I think we have kind of not necessarily acknowledge the fact that there was this period of no connection. And it was encouraged. No connection. It was encouraged to have a digital connection with your grandparents, with your friends. You could only connect. And I see this with my kids. I have four girls. I see them, they connect on the phone, they connect through FaceTime, and they're not going out as much. When I was a kid, we drove and we all hung out together. We wanted to see each other. Now we'll all get together and play a game on an app.

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

Yeah, they're very, very isolated. And we have to remember that those three important years were crucial developmental years for social development. What adolescents and young adults do developmentally is they're separating from their family of origin. They're taking with them some of the great lessons from their family of origin. But they're starting to create sort of a new family of peer groups as they self individuate as they become, as they figure out what their identity is going to be. So they missed three crucial years of development and it's going to be a while before they catch up. It's also important for guys to realize and, well, guys and girls to realize that it is not dorky, it is not weird to get on the phone and have a conversation with somebody. I've been actually coaching some young adult women in New York City who are ready to get married. They're 30 years old, they got great careers, and I'm like, don't waste your time getting all dressed up on a date to go on a date with a stranger. Like your time is way too valuable for that. Get on the phone, have a little conversation, you can know. And they're like, that's so weird. But what's interesting is as they match with guys on the apps and they do suggest a phone call, the guys are so happy because they don't have to spend any money on this. Remember, we're also talking about a generation who economically feel very insecure. The price of housing, the gig economy, the fact that they're delaying the onset of their economic independence means that the guys who used to strut their money and pay for expensive dates just can't afford to do that. So the smart guys are figuring out other ways to make a woman's life better. Whether it's fixing something on her car, walking her dog for her, doing whatever. They're showing that they can sacrifice time and talent for her. And that's kind of the new way for this generation.

[Tudor Dixon]

It's interesting. I wonder if it is. As women become more competitive in the workplace and they are getting more of those CEO or executive level jobs. Jobs and maybe men. We're hearing that men are staying even out of universities. Not they're not as much going to universities, they're getting more of the blue collar jobs and they're working their way up through the manufacturing sector. Is that intimidating? And is that making it harder for those men to connect with a woman if they feel like, oh, she's, she's more successful than I am, or she's on a different track than I am?

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

Yeah, that's a really great question to talk about social class here. So we've seen the feminization of college campuses for the last few decades. I teach on one, trust me, for every guy that graduates college, there are Two or three women in America.

[Tudor Dixon]

Really?

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

Yeah. And this has been going on for 20 years. So, yes, women are moving up. Women actually make up the majority of the American workforce now. Now, we're not in enough boardrooms. We don't own enough capital, but there are more female employees than there are male employees. There is this wonderful trend on social media that I love seeing where blue collar wives are touting the wonderful virtues of their blue collar husbands. It's great. You should ch it out, search it online. But they're saying, you know, blue collar men are loyal, they love to parent, they can fix anything. At the zombie apocalypse comes, they've got enough duct tape in their truck, trust me. I mean, they are just like touting the protective side of masculinity versus the resource side. Although we know that electricians and plumbers make a ton of money.

[Tudor Dixon]

Right? Yeah.

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

Just need to convince those college educated women that it's certainly not settling. It's certainly not a step down. In fact, ladies, your idea of a power man just might be a guy who can power a stroller. All right, so it's really important that we start to create, sort of get rid of all our discrimination based on social class and men. Don't be intimidated by these women.

[Tudor Dixon]

How do you do that, though? I mean, because there has been such. There's always pressure. We were talking about this the other day about. We had someone on that was talking about Ozempic and they were like, you know, it is crazy because the people that I've talked to that have lost weight say they are treated so differently. And I think it's similar to this. If you are wearing a suit or if you have a blue jacket with your name on it, people are looking at those two people differently. You know, if you're in the overalls and the coveralls and you're going to the shop every day, or if you're wearing the suit and tie, there is just a, I guess a preconceived notion of whether or not you're successful, and that's not right. But how do you change that?

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

Yeah, Tudor, you are all over my soapbox. Trust me, I am standing on it every day on social media telling women this message. I actually, I was a single mother for 20 years, dated a lot of bad boys, went off the market for a very decades because I didn't want to expose my daughters to a potential bad mistake I would make romantically. So when I dipped back into the mating marketplace once my girls were in high school, I found an amazing husband he happens to make less money than me, but guess what? He loves laundry and dishes. Oh, and he can fix anything. And all of a sudden, I went from having these two other humans living in my house who did nothing around the house to a guy who carries his weight and then some. So I am just. I've been. I've never been so happy as I am.

[Tudor Dixon]

Well, and. And I think that's a message that we don't talk about. And women in general, I'm glad you are talking about it, because I think that women who tried to have it all have found that if you don't have that at home, if you don't have that person that is sharing. Because we have now started to share the income. Women and men are both bringing home the bacon. They're both trying to contribute to the economic status of the household. But it seems like women are still falling into the category that everything else at home is your responsibility too. How do we. How do we start talking to women about it's okay to want somebody that will help you? How do we start talking to men about your woman needs. Needs help? I was just talking to someone else about. I read this and. And my audience will say, you just talked about this, but I read this, and it really hit home with me that a man put on. On social media, my wife said she was concerned about Christmas, and I said, don't worry, it'll come together. And I kept telling her that, and she was getting more and more stressed. And on Christmas Eve, I went down and found her wrapping the gifts. And it struck me, it's only going to come together because my wife is Christmas and I'm not helping.

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

Mm, exactly. So now we're having a conversation about gender roles. And I really think that young men, if they try to not showcase themselves as being such a traditional male, that, like, woman saying, how is he gonna be helpful to me? If they can actually show a greater diversity of what it is to be masculine, we don't need to put men in a man box, and young men don't wanna be put in a man box. And I will say this about women. The biggest danger of patriarchy was that it swims in women's head. Women have this idea that they're going to get educated, they're going to have a big career, and then they're going to come home and have a prince in a castle who makes more money than they do. And that's just not reality. It's not going to happen. So I think, you know, my favorite example is My daughter did her semester abroad in Stockholm and I went to visit her there and they have a really interesting childcare policy in Stockholm. A family gets 18 months of paid leave when a baby comes, but one parent's not allowed to take it all. You have to split it in some form. So what's risen because men are being legislated as parents, actually happy to have the time off work and parent is you see these roving bands in Stockholm of muscled, tattooed, bearded guys wearing babies, showing up in groups at the coffee shops, changing diapers together and I'm just like, wow, this is, this is where we're headed when we can all just be human beings and understand there's work that needs to be done in the house and out the house and we just need to talk to each other about what we like to do best. For instance, I mentioned those non traditional gender roles in my own marriage, but yet I just hate taking out the trash and my husband is fine with that. So there's a traditional gender role we're fine with, right? You just have to talk about everything.

[Tudor Dixon]

Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on the Tudor Dixon Podcast.

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[Tudor Dixon]

U n D I saw a video recently that you did about shreking. I don't know what you're talking about. You said you're like Shreking is not about what is shreking.

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

So shreking is twofold. One, it is this idea that you're dating someone less than you. In this case, maybe not as physically attractive where I women to just open up their world. But secondly, there's another meaning to it with a young generation. When a woman has been shrek, it means that she has in her mind dated below her Value a guy who didn't make as much money or wasn't as good looking and he still dumped her. There was still no commitment there, right. And so she goes, I was Shrek, right? Like I, I lowered my standards and still. Right. But I think the problem isn't about standards or lowering. It's about young people not having the skills to fall in love and have an intimate connection to prevent ghosting, to prevent situationships. It will happen. I mean, that will happen. Preventing that when people learn to be open, honest and vulnerable. From the beginning. In fact, at my very first coffee date with my now husband, because I know these things, I said to him, hey, you know, instead of us starting off telling each other just how great we are, why don't we each start by telling a story about why we think we're completely undateable? And he went, oh, okay, you go first. So I told a story that was very intimate and then he shared a story about himself. So we started out with honesty and authenticity.

[Tudor Dixon]

Hmm. That is something that I think young people are struggling with because you can create a Persona online. And I see this with, well, I see more with young women, but probably because I follow young women more than I follow young men. But especially with the whole like, this is my bridal shower and this is my wedding and there's a focus on the show of everything and not the relationship. And I see, I see that crushing people once they get into marriage and they realize, you know, it's all about the, I have this, the perfect dress, I've had the perfect day, I have the perfect venue, I'm having a baby. I have the perfect gender reveal. And the days aren't perfect. I mean, the reality of every mother we know, we go home and you are pulling your hair out, trying to stay up past the kids and get them food and get them washed and get everything ready for them. Life is actually really, it's not social media. So when these women get past these moments where they get through these beautiful social media events and then they actually get to life, are you seeing that they're, they weren't prepared for what a relationship is?

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

Well, many people, yes. I mean, they don't have relationship skills, as I said, because they lost three years of development. Secondly, they come from a generation of divorce where the parents way of solving conflict was to simply separate instead of learning how to work through conflict. So this is their lesson. Right. And I think that. But I want to remind everybody that relationship skills can be learned. You may have an anxious attachment style or an Ambivalent attachment style from early childhood style. But you can change and you can learn how to behave. And that's a lot of what I think, what I teach, both on my radio show in the classroom and on my social media, basic communication skills. Here's a quick one for you. So whenever you want to tell your partner something, maybe a little bit critical, maybe a little bit negative, you always begin with a communication sandwich, which begins with a layer of love, followed by a layer of something a little hard to chew on, backed up by another layer of love. So it goes like this. Hey, honey, one of the things I love about you is you're such an amazing provider. And it's so great that I have the security and confidence seeing how hard you work, and I love to see how hard you work. But the kids have been noticing that you haven't been able to make their baseball games or their ballet recitals. And we would love to see more of you there because you know what? We're super proud of you and we want to show you off at those spaces too. Hear that communication sandwich. How can he complain about that criticism instead of, you're never there. I'm always there alone. You don't show up at his things. Right.

[Tudor Dixon]

Well, and that's something that a lot of people, we've gotten to a point of absolute words are used way too often. This is the, the. The you are always or you are never. And we see that always every day in the political world. And the political world has infiltrated culture like never before because of social media. And so I think that that's a whole nother issue in relationships. But I think that we are taking a cue from what we see on the infotainment. You know, it's, it's not news anymore. It's a 24 hours of information entertainment. And we see people fighting like it's, it's always this or it's never that that is coming into our homes. And it seems like it's becoming a really dangerous place because there is no gray area. There's no compromise, there's no discussion, there's no compliments anymore.

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

And I think you're absolutely right. It comes from the top down. It's a cultural issue. But we as a bottom grassroots people need to learn to be kind again, learn to be understanding. You know, one of. I'm going to give everybody a little tip. I follow a social media channel on Instagram called Global Positive News. They post probably 10 times a day. So in my feed of all the negativity and all the awfulness. There are these amazing, heartwarming stories of people who literally risked their lives for others or recovered from something or changed something positively global positive news keeps your brain in a place of people are mostly good. Yesterday I noticed they posted about a guy who walked 27 countries. No, he walked for 27 years, something like 81 countries, and refused to take any wheeled transportation unless he literally had to take a boat or couldn't get across something. And he said that he found that when he ran out of money or inability to move, that 99.9% of human beings were kind and helpful all the way around the world. And that's our natural state to be a good person. And in our relationships. What is a romantic relationship? It's an exchange of care. And we have to think of all the ways that we can give. I believe that love is an action word. It's a verb. It's the verb to give.

[Tudor Dixon]

So I've read that men are very responsive to what you just said, that, that sandwich conversation. And I don't know, I haven't seen as much about how women respond to it. I would imagine we respond very similarly, but for women, it's sometimes. We are sometimes used to getting bogged down and we forget to go to our husbands and say, hey, you really helped me today. Hey, I appreciate this about you. Or even just say, you look really great in that outfit. We get to the point where we forget that they need affirmation as well. So how do we remind women the relationship when it comes to affirmations? I think we're used to being the ones that are like, come on, pour it on us. But we have to dish them out too, right?

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

Exactly. I think all humans should thrive when they get positive encouragement. In fact, relationship trick number two, you want to transform your relationship. Catch your partner being good. Catch them being good all day long when you catch them being good. And especially for the little things. Hey, hon, thanks. Thanks for passing the salt or thanks for doing that. That's so sweet of you. Besides the fact that it's a positive reward system for them, so they start to do more good things because they like the reward system. Besides that, it reminds your own brain of why you're there so you continue to value your partner. If you spend your life looking at your partner thinking, what have you done for me lately? You are on a road to a breakup or divorce. The thing that keeps long term committed people together is they actually kind of overvalue each other. They believe that they've got a catch and they keep focusing on the fact that they have a high value mate and that that is a wonderful brain trick that we can all do. Hmm.

[Tudor Dixon]

It's. That's a. I think that's an interesting thought. Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on the Tudor Dixon Podcast.

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[Tudor Dixon]

D In a world where we seem like we focus on on becoming a victim, and I was recently talking about this from a political standpoint on both sides, there's been this push for this is why you should be angry. This is why you deserve to be angry. And I do think that that becomes a part of our culture in relationships too. And I've seen too many it's kind of like a social contagion too, in relationships. If my friend is unhappy, I can find reasons to be unhappy. I don't know that this happens so much with men, but I certainly see it with women where you can your friend wants a divorce and then you get there and then everybody kind of is unhappy and it sort of like goes through the community like a storm.

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

Yeah, I mean, you've got good intuition, but let me tell you, there's data to back you up. Both marriage and divorce. So weddings and divorces are highly contagious among social communities, up to 6 degrees of separation, meaning that a couple you don't even know could impact your relationship. But going back to politics and the negativity and the anger, I want to remind you that anger is an activating feeling. It makes people vote, makes people go to the polls. Right. So I always tell my students when they send out those, you know, student ratings of teachers where they're supposed to rate their professor, and every school does it. And part of our salary is based on that and our job security is based on that. I always tell the students, remember the small percentage of students, and this is just not about my ratings, but all your professors, the small percentage of students who are unhappy and angry about the quality of education they received in that class are going to rush to their keyboard because anger's an awful place to keep. It's an awful thing to keep inside. We want to get it out of us. And so they rush to keyboards to get it out of their bodies. So I said, if you had a great time in this class, you're going to sit back and go, yeah, that was pretty good, and not do anything about it. It's like a restaurant Yelp review. If you come out of a restaurant and have bad service, you're going to run to Yelp. If you come out satisfied and feel good, you don't run to Yelp. So it's really important that the people who have good feelings make those feelings be known online in surveys and at the ballot box when they're voting.

[Tudor Dixon]

That's how I always judge my Amazon purchase. I'm like, okay, I gotta look at the reviews and see what. What people say. And then I've got to drop the few that are just total psychos that clearly had something that made them not nuts exactly.

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

You know, on. I think it's either Yelp. I think it's Yelp or Google reviews. You can actually click on the reviewer and see all their past reviews. Oh, really? And if they're all negative, I'm like, forget it. This person only complains. So that's why in my case, what I leave a lot of Google reviews. I try to balance positive and negative. So when people go to look at my profile, they'll be like, oh, I trust her. She's giving.

[Tudor Dixon]

You are. That's so funny, because you're so right. I never. If I'm happy, I never. I'm not a big review lever, regardless. But I wouldn't go to just be like, this was wonderful. I love these jeans. You know, that just doesn't strike me. So maybe I should up my review system so that I can help people out before I let you go. We are. This is the holiday season.

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

We.

[Tudor Dixon]

Have everybody seen family? There are going to be those people who are going to be asked, when are you going to meet someone? Or when are you getting married? What's the next step? Or when are you having kids? How do you handle all those questions from family members?

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

So one of the clients I work with is a website called datingadvice.com where I provide a lot of expertise for them. And they just ran a survey about who's, you know, who's thinking they're going to get engaged, how long they've been together, et cetera. I was particularly shocked to learn, and this was a third survey of 1000 single men and women that 70% of single women said they would pay for their own engagement ring if they could get it this Christmas. Christmas. This is how badly women want a commitment, okay? And that men are not signing up for commitment A because they feel they haven't launched and can't afford a relationship or marriage, et cetera. Also because there's a high supply of sex in the economy. You used to have to. Guys used to have to get married to have sex. Not anymore. And so. So my advice, though, regarding family and Christmas is if you are an older adult, please don't ask that question. Just don't ask it of any single person. That's a good thing. But secondly, if you, a single person or anybody coming back to family, remember what happens when you come back to your family of origin as an adult. Everybody becomes 12 years old again. That old family system from way back when gets activated in your brain. So it's okay to limit your time, limit the kinds of conversations. Decide, you know, my husband and I are going to get a hotel instead of staying at your house, mom, don't worry. So that you can create safe boundaries around yourself, especially if you've come from a childhood where there's been a lot of pain and trauma. Right. You don't need to completely throw yourself back into that.

[Tudor Dixon]

But mostly try to enjoy.

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

Try to enjoy. Eat the food. Don't think about dieting right now. There's Ozempic in January.

[Tudor Dixon]

That is, yes, hilarious. That's. That's what I'm like.

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

Oh, my gosh.

[Tudor Dixon]

This is that time. It is that time of year when you think all about all of the things I'm going to eat and all the things I'm going to regret that I did eat. But yes, just enjoy. This is the. It's the. It is sometimes the happiest time of the year. It can be the most stressful. Try to make it the happiest. Enjoy your friends, enjoy your family, and try to find love.

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

That's right. It's coming. Everybody deserves love. Everybody.

[Tudor Dixon]

I agree. Absolutely. And one other thing I wanted to say. You were saying that sex comes easy. Also, we're hearing that young people aren't even having sex now, that this is like, this.

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

The.

[Tudor Dixon]

The youngest generation. They have no interest in that intimacy. And I kind of wonder if that is also because they have been disconnected from one another. If they, like, physical touch is not connecting the way it used to. But I guess that's a whole nother podcast.

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

But we need to talk about the high supply sexual economy. We need to talk about how technology and pornography have become a surrogate relationship in some ways. So that's a whole nother the pod.

[Tudor Dixon]

Gosh, I didn't think about that. Maybe that is why these young people are like, I don't need it. I don't even know what it is. That's yes, a whole nother podcast. Dr. Wendy Walsh, thank you so much for being on today.

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

Good to see you.

[Tudor Dixon]

Good to see you too. And thank you all for joining the Tutor Dixon Podcast. You can get this episode and others at the tutor dixon podcast.com or the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts or where you can watch it on YouTube and rumbleutardixon. Make sure you join us next time and have a blessed day.

[LG Gram Laptop Advertiser]

Did you know Microsoft has officially ended Support for Windows 10? Upgrade to Windows 11 with an LG Gram laptop voted PCMag's Reader's Choice Top Laptop Brand for 2025. Thin and ultra lightweight, the LG Gram keeps you productive anywhere and Windows 11 gives you access to free security updates and updates ongoing feature upgrades. Visit lgusa.com iheart for great seasonal savings on LG Gram laptops with Windows 11. PCMag reader's choice used with permission. All rights reserved.

[Unrivaled Basketball Sponsor]

Season 2 of unrivaled basketball is here and the talent is unreal. Paige Beckers, Nafiza Collier, Kelsey Plumb, Brianna Stewart and more are back to redefine the game. Unrivaled basketball season two, sponsored by Samsung Galaxy, tips off January 5 on TNT, TruTVA and HBO Max.

[Public Investing Sponsor]

Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to it. Screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like EFTs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member finra, SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures [e-mail] Disclosures A new year.

[Washington Post Sponsor]

Is on the horizon and your 2026 savings start here. Right now you can access the Washington post for just $2 every four weeks. Head into the new year with six months of savings at the special intro rate. After that, it'll cost $12 every four weeks. Four weeks. Cancel anytime. You'll get unlimited access to trusted journalism that helps you understand the year ahead and the world around you. Now's the perfect time to subscribe because great habits and great savings start together. Go to washingtonpost.com iheart that's washingtonpost.com iheart and start your year informed with the Post.

[Whimsound Speaker Sponsor]

Bring incredible sound into every corner of your home this holiday with the new Whimsound Smart speaker. Get high resolution Audio with a 1.8-inch touch screen screen, smart control and modern design in one powerful speaker for just $299. From Quiet Mornings to lively holiday gatherings, Windsound makes every moment sound better and feel better too. Get the gift of the season for the music enthusiast in your life or for yourself. Whim Sound Beautifully designed, effortlessly connected. Shop now at Amazon and search whim sound. That's Wiimsound.

[Dr. Wendy Walsh]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.