
Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks to Dr. Phil McGraw about the value of unplugging from social media; why escaping the 24/7 news cycle helps preserve mental health; why America isn’t as divided as media portrays; how practicing gratitude...
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Dr. Phil McGraw
This is one of the most spectacular venues with all kinds of character and hospitality scenery. These people in this get a task valley they love when you come to see what they have to offer.
Dave Rubin
I'm J.J. harris, an Ellensburg rodeo clown, and I want to invite you to the rodeo. Come hang out with us in Ellensburg. Great rodeo, great time. Two performances on Saturday. One is the extreme bulls of the year event. Do not miss the Ellensburg Rodeo August 29th through September 1st. We'll see you there.
Dr. Phil McGraw
I talk about cultural issues and when I say I'm not political, I don't understand politics particularly well.
Dave Rubin
Right, but you understand, you understand humans. You understand humans.
Dr. Phil McGraw
I actually did get invited to speak to a Kamala Harris. They hit me up in the me and my staff was there and said, was he serious about that? You can contact us. We'll come, we'll get there at our own expense. All you gotta do is tell us when, tell us where. They said, okay, we'll be in touch. Ghosted us. Never heard another word. I probably made 100 requests to interview Biden and Harris and neither one of them would talk to me. And you know, the thing is, I would never disrespect the office of the president of the United States.
Dave Rubin
Are we doing okay in America right now?
Dr. Phil McGraw
You know, most young people in particular have less than one good friend. All they have are clicks and likes. You know what? I am proud of America and I get tired of people apologizing for this country. There is no question that 2020 be a real uptick year for this country.
Dave Rubin
All right, Dr. Phil, you're past the point of intro. You get no intro today other than you are Dr. Phil. Everyone knows you are Dr. Phil. You've done basically 4 billion things in television and entertainment and across a thousand verticals. Everyone also knows I'm off the grid right now. And I thought sitting down with you right now as we tape this end of July would be a good one, as I disappear, because you kind of offer the world, hey, get your crap together, and then also enjoy your life. And that's kind of what I'm trying to do with this August operation. What do you think about that?
Dr. Phil McGraw
You know, I have to wonder. People are listening to us right now, and you're gone, and I'm wondering right now where you are and what you're doing. And I bet it ain't much. And listen, I'm a pastor.
Dave Rubin
It is not much. I guarantee you.
Dr. Phil McGraw
You give me a couple of days off, I can be. I get as worthless as a lizard on a rock. So I can just imagine what you're doing right now while this is playing and you're here and you're present, but you're really not, because the miracles of electronics, you're there. We're here. But don't tell us where you're going because somebody will find you.
Dave Rubin
No, no, listen. They. They find me one way or another. I am not going to tell anyone. But. But what do you think about this crazy August thing that I'm doing? Because you have spent a career really telling people, in essence, to kind of get their stuff together, to figure out how they can triangulate towards something that'll be good for them and their families and all of that. I kind of did this nine years ago. This is my ninth year doing it. It was. It was sort of a joke at first, but now it's really become an important piece in keeping me refreshed and renewed to do the daily battle thing that you and I are both in now.
Dr. Phil McGraw
Well, you know, I think it's a great thing. Is it too long? Is it long enough for you? When you come back? Are you ready to come back? Do you get bored before you come back? Is it the right length of time?
Dave Rubin
You know, every year it changes a little bit. Last year was the first year that I was like, I could probably do this another week or so, you know, like, really, really fell. Yeah.
Dr. Phil McGraw
And.
Dave Rubin
And the irony is, I love what I do. It's not about. It's not about escaping this. I wake up with passion every day, working with great people, doing something I love, just like you do. But there's something about escaping the algorithms, escaping the. The hamster wheel of the news, and that. That for my mind, it's. It's one of the reasons I think I've been, if I can dare say so myself. I've remained sane in a lot of this political madness where we watch people Go off the deep end. So it's a month. I know it sounds crazy to people, but it's worthwhile.
Dr. Phil McGraw
Well, I find this fascinating. Do you get revelations when you do this, when you come back? Do you have a new perspective, a new point of view?
Dave Rubin
Yes, absolutely. So I'll tell you a couple. Somehow you're interviewing me somehow. That's all right. I'll tell you a couple cool things about it. A few things happen. So one thing that has happened every year is out of nowhere, about two weeks in, I'll suddenly start out of nowhere. I will remember somebody that I have not thought of in 30 years. Like out of nowhere, I'll be sitting there and then I'll remember the kid, Rich, who I sat next to in third grade and wonder where he. Where he is. Like his name will pop into my head. Or I'll remember what his house looked like or when we were playing Nintendo. The other thing is I suddenly can remember songs. I mean, full songs, every word of every song out of nowhere. And it'll just be playing in and then a whole bunch of other things just related to, you know, I run pretty cool. You know me like, I run pretty cool. But, you know, just my daily interactions. If I go, I still go out. So if I go to the store, I'll be a little more patient with the. With the cashier, just a little more present, you know, it's. It's about that more than anything else. Just. Just being as present as possible without the bs, that. That's it. And then, yes, I do come back with fresh eyes. Cause you realize that politics and culture, it goes on without you, and it's okay.
Dr. Phil McGraw
Yeah, I think that's great because that's what I get from traveling. I go places that I'm not every day. And if I don't, I don't care where it is, particularly if it's really different. I realize, you know what, this is going on every day that I'm where I'm usually am. If it's waves coming up on a beach somewhere or whatever, I realize, you know, what, this is going on every day that I'm doing what I do. And these people couldn't give a less about what I think is so important in my life. They get up every day, they're doing what they're doing, they're walking down this street. They don't care. They don't know. I am not the center of the universe. And it really puts things in perspective for me. I think it's great that you do it.
Dave Rubin
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Dr. Phil McGraw
You know, I think so. I don't think we're as nearly as divided as some of the media would lead us to believe. I think there's, they're kind of fear mongering. There's no question there's division. But I have to say I don't think we're as divided as we think we are. And as I move around and talk to people, I think there's still those kind of fringe groups that are beating the drum. But you know, I think as people get, you know, if you go to Maslow's hierarchy of needs and, you know, first thing is survival and then people want to start looking to see their quality of life and then whether or not they're doing things they want to do, it just seems to me like things are settling down and people are feeling better. I don't think that it's nearly as dire as some people want to make us think. And I think people are a little more optimistic than they've been in the past.
Dave Rubin
So I completely agree with that. And again, it's partly why I do the month off, because when I step away, you know, it used to be that social media was a mirror and somehow I think it's become a fun house mirror now where it does not reflect us properly, it reflects a very distorted version of us. But do you think that partly the reason people think it, do you think that is just a Function of modernity in some sense that we have it so good, say in America in 2025, that we're able to navel gaze to the point that we think all hell's about to break loose when we are really doing some incredible things. Before we even talk about any of the political stuff. I mean, just that humanity is in a very good spot, actually.
Dr. Phil McGraw
You know, it's easy to start taking things for granted, right? It's easy to get up, you turn on the faucet, water comes out, you flip the switch, electricity is there, you get in your car, it goes. And we get to taking things for granted that are really pretty amazing, particularly in America and most people have a reasonable quality of life. I'm not saying everybody, that's not true. There are still people below the poverty line. There are still people struggling. But you compare it to other parts of the world that wake up every day and survival is not guaranteed. You wake up even in first world countries, countries like Israel where there are missiles coming in every day, People live with that. They were asking me recently at a event I was attending how I thought Israelis deal with post traumatic stress disorder. I thought, there's nothing post about it. It's not behind them. It's current stress disorder that they live with every day. We don't live with that here. We have so many things that we have to be thankful for. And, you know, I am the incurable optimist, but I think we need to. I don't think it's just optimism. I think we do need to really take time to count our blessings. Because not everybody's in the same position in this country. But if you're healthy and you've got freedom and you've got options, I tell people all the time, I think at least once a week, not in a spiritual way. We need to really take time to count our blessings. And I mean out loud. Write it down. Do something where you think, you know, these are the things I should really be thankful for. Because we don't do that enough. We focus on our problems because, you know, pain gets your attention. If something's hurting and hurting in your life, hurting mentally, emotionally, physically, you pay attention to that. But we don't pay attention to the things that are working, the things that are comfortable. If you've got a tailwind, you got the wind at your back, you just kind of enjoy it, but you don't take time to give it your attention and say, hey, this is a good thing. And I think we need to do that more.
Dave Rubin
So speaking of Good things. You had an incredible run on television for over two decades. Then a couple years ago you decided to jump in on the online thing. That's when we first connected. And I told you the first time that we spoke that you actually helped me out a lot when I was watching you on Oprah back in, gosh, it must be 2002 or something like that. Maybe even before then if I'm not mistaken. And what do you make of the transition? How is the transition from kind of corporate controlled media to freedom, running your own operation, doing whatever you want, getting out on the road as you just said. How has that changed? How's that been for you?
Dr. Phil McGraw
You know, it's really been good and I, I have nothing but positive things to say about the time I spent at cbs. Good people treated me well and I, I had a, a great time there and it was a difficult decision to make. You know, we, I came to a point where I either had to renew for three more years or, or go do something different and I just really wanted to go do something different and it was the right decision for me. I'm glad that I did. I like having the freedom to do the things I want to do, talk about everything I want to talk about, get to different platforms because you know, Dave, you know this as well as anybody because of the, the, the way you deliver your message. People are getting their information in such a different way now than they were. I, I've got grandkids that are 13 and 15. They don't even have televisions in their room. They don't even watch television. They, they get their information in smaller bytes and our attention span in America. I saw a research study the other day is 8. Lets map out this week's amazing destinations and travel tips.
Will
Honestly Will, I didn't plan any trips but I did switch to T Mobile with their new family Freedom offer.
Dr. Phil McGraw
That's not the itinerary we're following.
Will
Well, I'm departing from ATT and embarking on a new journey with T Mobile. They paid off my family's four phones up to $3200 and gave us four new phones on the house.
Dave Rubin
Bon voyage.
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Dr. Phil McGraw
Eight seconds. It's eight seconds. And if, and if you don't get somebody's attention really strong in eight seconds, you're going to lose them and then their ability to stay with something. If you do get their attention, the length of time's about eight minutes. And then you better change subjects and get onto something fresh that'll hang them on, hang onto them a little bit longer. So the time of somebody sitting passively and watching something for an hour that you're going to choose and feed to them without them having any inputs really gone.
Dave Rubin
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Dr. Phil McGraw
It really has. And if, if you have commonality with somebody, which is really rare. You know, most young people in particular have less than one good friend. On average, less than one good friend. And that means a whole lot of them have none. All they have are clicks and likes, but they're actual relationships where they get up and go somewhere and share an experience with somebody, or they have somebody they can call if they need to move their couch downstairs or they need a ride to the airport or something. That's just simply not part of people's existence anymore. And it's sad that we don't have that kind of connectivity, because the number one need in all people is acceptance or belongingness. And when we don't have that personal connection, that's a big void in people's lives. And the number one group that's lonely in this country are young people. And number two are old people, the elderly. And it's a terrible thing to experience if you have a chronic disease. The mortality rate for elderly people with a chronic disease is 40% higher if they're lonely. That's how profound loneliness is. And we're seeing that in young people and in elderly people. It's terrible that we don't have connectivity. So we need these common bonds. We need things that pull people together. Yeah.
Dave Rubin
Is that the weird position we're in right now? We don't, as a society, know what those common bonds are because of the phones and the way we've atomized everything. So in some sense, the only thing that seems to bring us together is when something terrible happens. So if there's some sort of tragedy, a shooting or whatever, and even that doesn't hold us together for very long anymore.
Dr. Phil McGraw
No, it doesn't. Because the next headline comes along and we move on to something else, and we've got to find a way. And you said it so well when you said tragedy brings us together. One of the series of shows that I did last year was around Hurricane Helene that came through western North Carolina. They don't get hurricanes in North Carolina, but nothing like this. And I went there and I had some Blackhawk helicopter, Blackhawk helicopters. And we were able to go into some of these mountain communities that were completely cut off. You couldn't get there by road or rail, and they were completely cut off. And we went in and took in Starlinks so people could have connectivity and took them food and water and this sort of thing. And I have to tell you, I saw America at its best because this was a time when people, they didn't care if their neighbor or Their friends or who was coming in to help were Democratic, Republican. They. Nobody asked, nobody cared. These were just neighbors helping neighbors. People shoveling mud out of basements, people that were helping those that were flooded out had nowhere to stay. They were just. I tell you, it was America at its best. People that may have been living three or four doors down from each other and never met were all of a sudden sleeping on the floor next to each other, sharing food, sharing water, helping each other, and it was tragedy that brought them together. You hate that it took that. But it was so great to see these people really coming together and helping one another. We need more of that. I just hate that it's tragedy that brings it out.
Dave Rubin
So I got one. Let me. Let me float this to you, see what you think. We are rolling into our 250th anniversary in America, and I do have a feeling that with some of the good things that Donald Trump has done and then rolling into 250, that 2026 is gonna be a very positive year. Yes, there will always be the tragedies, there's always gonna be the bad things, but I think there's gonna shift. I think people really want it. And maybe the 250 gives us an excuse to be proud of the country again and maybe get to knowing our neighbors again and putting aside some of that. Am I. Am I being Pollyannish, or are you going to come with me on this crazy ride? What do you think?
Dr. Phil McGraw
No, I don't think you're being Pollyannish. I do think we need rally points. And I think a 250th anniversary is maybe going to give people permission to say, you know what? I am proud of America. And I get tired of people apologizing for this country. And maybe this will give people permission to say, hey, this is a watershed event. This is country's 250 years old, and we seem to be doing pretty well. And if people will give themselves permission to not feel guilty about not being perfect, to not feel guilty about being successful when not everybody is at the same level, to be proud of the good things that we're doing as international citizens and to be proud of what we're achieving domestically, there is no question that 2026 can be a real uptick year for this country. And that's so important, because when you have a positive mindset, not being Pollyannish, but actually a positive mindset, we function at a higher cognitive level, we function at a higher physical level, we're more productive. Everything goes better. When you have a positive mindset. Your brain changes, your brain chemistry changes, your physical chemistry. Everything changes when you have a positive mindset. And that's true individually and collectively. So I think we are going to have a good year in 2026, and I think if people will give themselves permission to celebrate, it'll be great.
Dave Rubin
Yeah, I hope so. It's one of the reasons I try to focus as much as possible on the good news that's out there, which there is good news. Everyone focuses on the negative, but there is good stuff happening. So I hope you're right about that. Speaking of that, when I saw you speak at the MSG rally, you said something that really I thought was interesting, which was that you got up there and you said something to the effect of, I'm not particularly political. I would have gone to a Kamala Harris rally, too, but I didn't get invited. And you got applause for that. And I know you were telling the truth. And obviously they did not invite you. And we don't have to do a postmortem on what they did there. But what do you make of the fact that because you talk to both sides, because you're helping people, all the other things that you're going to these places where they need other help and things of that nature, that that pushes the lens to be a little bit more on the right side of things politically, even though I actually don't know all of your politics and I don't know that you share them fully, but that just by the nature of talking to people, it's been pushed in that direction.
Dr. Phil McGraw
Let's map out this week's amazing destinations and travel tips.
Will
Honestly, Will, I didn't plan any trips, but I did switch to T Mobile with their new Family Freedom offer.
Dr. Phil McGraw
That's not the itinerary we're following.
Will
Well, I'm departing from AT&T and embarking on a new journey with T Mobile. They paid off my family's four phones up to $3200 and gave us four new phones on the house.
Dave Rubin
Bon voyage.
T-Mobile Representative
Introducing Family Freedom. Our lowest cost will switch our biggest family savings all on America's largest 5G network. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com familyfreedom up to $800 per line via virtual prepaid card typically takes 15 days. Free phones via 24 monthly bill credits with finance agreement eg Apple iPhone 16128 gigabyte $829.99 Eligible trade in eg IPH for well qualified credits end and Balance due if you pay off early or cancel contact T mobile.
Dr. Phil McGraw
Well, it has been pushed in that direction. And look, I'm, when I say I'm not political, I, I mean I'm, I talk about cultural issues and when I say I'm not political, I don't understand politics particularly well. I'm not. And that's not a, I'm not trying to be self effacing about it. I mean, I really don't understand the political system. What I do understand about it I don't like. But you know.
Dave Rubin
Right, but you understand, you understand humans. You understand humans.
Dr. Phil McGraw
That's right. And I've watched the after school special, like how a bill becomes a law and the little bill walks along. I get, I get it at that level, but I really don't understand all the ins and outs of it and I don't think I need to, I don't need to understand that. I do understand culture, I do understand the collective consciousness of America and I think I do understand human nature. And I think politicians talk a lot about culture, of course, because they've got constituents and they understand that they have to answer the call when people have issues. And so I think they talk about my area more than I talk about theirs. And, and listen, I, I want to own the debate, Lane. I, I'm willing to talk to both sides and sometimes there's four sides, five sides on something and I, I want to platform responsible people. I'm not going to put the KKK on, but if there are responsible sides to an issue, I want to platform and give him a voice and discuss it. But, and I actually did get invited to speak to a Kamala Harris event right after Madison Square Garden. They hit me up in the me and my, my staff was there in the lobby of the Peninsula Hotel and said, was he serious about that? And my stand right there? My staff said, yes. They said, well, we've got one coming up and here's the information that you can con. We said, here's our information. You can contact us, we'll come, we'll get there at our own expense. All you got to do is tell us when, tell us where. They said, okay, we'll be in touch. Ghosted us, never heard another word. They actually didn't want me to come at all. I think maybe that person got back and said, hey, I talked to Dr. Phil. They said, are you nuts? Because they actually didn't want me there, but I damn sure would have gone. And I probably made a hundred requests from people inside the party, inside the inner circle to interview Biden and Harris, and neither one of them would talk to me. And, you know, the thing is, I would never have disrespected either. I wasn't a Biden fan, but I would never disrespect the office of the President of the United States. What a bad look that is. You just don't do that. I wouldn't do that. I would have treated him with the dignity and respect that someone in that office deserves. I would have asked questions, of course, but I would never disrespect the president of the United States. And I said very clearly, had Kamala Harris been elected president, she would have been my president and I would have supported her as my president. I made that very clear. And I said, if Donald Trump's elected, he will be my president and I will support him as my president. I've always said that.
Dave Rubin
Today's show is brought to you by Rumble Premium, the home of free speech and exclusive content from the Voices that Matter. With Rumble Premium, you get ad free viewing, access to exclusive shows and premium features across the platform. We're talking about Crowder's Mug Club, Tim Pool's Tim Cast, Russell Brand's raw commentary, and much more. Whether it's breaking news, real talk, or the content that challenges narratives, Rumble Premium puts you into the front row. Support creators who actually say what they mean and mean what they say. Go to rumble.com premium rubin to join today. That's rumble.com premium/rubin, because truth shouldn't come with a filter. Well, you know, they were paying a lot of the celebrities a lot of money to be on stage with her. Maybe they couldn't afford the Dr. Phil fee. Maybe your honorarium's a little. You got too many zeros in there, my friend.
Dr. Phil McGraw
Yeah, I didn't get paid doodly squat for showing up at Madison Square Garden, I tell you for sure.
Dave Rubin
Let me ask you one other thing. And then why don't we pick this up? You know, I'm gone for August. Why don't we pick this up? Beginning of September, when my brain has fully reset and you can see what you can kind of squeeze out of the orange there. But let me ask you one thing, just on the personal side, because you don't talk that much about your personal life. I'm wondering how has it been for you couple decades now of public life, of fame, of money, of all of the stuff that everybody kind of wants? In some weird way, you got all that stuff, and how does that relate to the guy that you used to be, I suppose.
Dr. Phil McGraw
Well, you know, let's map out this week's amazing destinations and travel tips.
Will
Honestly, Will, I didn't plan any trips, but I did switch to T Mobile with their new Family Freedom offer.
Dr. Phil McGraw
That's not the itinerary we're following.
Will
Well, I'm departing from ATT and embarking on a new journey with T Mobile. They paid off my family's four phones up to $3200 and gave us four new phones on the house.
Dave Rubin
Bon voyage.
T-Mobile Representative
Introducing Family Freedom. Our lowest cost will switch our biggest family savings all on America's largest 5G network. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com familyfreedom. Up to $800 per line via virtual prepaid card. Typically takes 15 days. Free phones via 24 monthly bill credits with finance agreement eg Apple iPhone 16, 128 gigabyte $829.99 eligible. Trade in eg iPhone 11 Pro for well qualified credits end and balance due. If you pay off earlier. Cancel contact T Mobile.
Dr. Phil McGraw
Oh, Dave, I, I grew up really poor and I, I've, I've never been afraid of poor because I know how to do it. I've had a lot of practice at it, honestly. I've, I've been where I didn't have a house at all and I've been. I remember I started high school in an apartment with just my dad and we had a one bedroom apartment we shared and we were glad to have it because they didn't have anything before that and we had an apartment but we didn't have any utilities. It was in Kansas City and let me tell you, it got cold, it got dark at 4:30 and we didn't have any lights, we didn't have any heat and it was that way until January and it gets pretty cold up there and we didn't have hardly any food to eat and I've, I've just, I've been in that situation and I, I feel very fortunate and very blessed to have enjoyed some success and you know, being recognizable when you got a head like this, you're pretty recognizable.
Dave Rubin
And you're tall, man. We met for the first time, what, a year ago at Mar? A Lago? I, I knew you were tall, but you're tall. What do you, you got to be six, five at least, right?
Dr. Phil McGraw
Yeah. Well, you're no minnow.
Dave Rubin
I mean, I'm okay, but. I know, but you're tall. You're tall.
Dr. Phil McGraw
And so that's why I stick out. And so, and then When I talk, people go, oh, yeah, I recognize that voice. Yeah. But, you know, I appreciate that. I, I, I don't think I've ever said no to somebody that wanted to take a picture or get an autograph or whatever. Fans are hard to come by, so you better take care of them once you have them. And I appreciate people that take time to say, hey, you know, I've been watching you for a long time. You helped me with this, you helped me with that, and I really appreciate that. And I appreciate people taking time to say hello. And I'm fortunate that Robin and I have two boys that are now grown and have their own families. I got four grandchildren, the 15 and 13 year old I mentioned, and a three year old and a two year old. Well, now they're almost four and three. They grow so fast and everybody's healthy and everybody's happy and, you know, those are the things that really matter. And I really appreciate that. And I love what I do. I've got one of those get to jobs, not one of those got to jobs. I look at it as a job I get to do, not a job I've got to do. And that's a, and that's a pretty good deal. I know you feel the same way because we've talked about it, and these are things that, you know, not every day's the same. Not every day is fun. Some days you wish you could stay home, stay in bed or whatever. But most of the time I'm really excited to get to go do what I do. And that's, you know, this deep into it. That's a pretty good deal.
Dave Rubin
On that note, I'm disappearing for a month. That means there's about 5% extra that you got to keep America sane while I'm gone. And we'll pick this up in the fall.
Dr. Phil McGraw
All right? Now, when I see you in September. It was a song. When I see you yeah, yeah, yeah. See you in September. I expect some real clarity out of you. I expect you to really bring us something back that we can use, some real clarity.
Dave Rubin
All right? That's the challenge. I will bring back some deep insight into the nature of humanity when I return with Dr. Phil. It was good to see you, my.
Dr. Phil McGraw
Friend, and I'm going to use it. I'm going to use it. So I'm looking forward to it. Have a great August. I'll talk to you in September. Thanks, doc.
Will
From the Cascades to PDX to your kitchen.
Dave Rubin
We recycle like we live here. That's why governments, brands and recycling companies are all joining together to bring change to make recycling better. As in trusting that your recyclables end up in the right places to be made into new things and having brands help fund the cost of recycling. You can find the Latest updates at recycleon.org Oregon From Mount Hood to the.
Will
Bin under your desk, together we can do this.
T-Mobile Representative
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Summary of "Blown Off by Kamala, the New Crisis No One Is Talking About & More | Dr. Phil McGraw"
Published on August 9, 2025, on "The Rubin Report," hosted by Dave Rubin, this episode features an in-depth conversation with renowned television personality Dr. Phil McGraw. The discussion navigates through cultural issues, the current state of American society, the impact of technology on human connections, and optimism for America's future.
The episode begins with a brief introduction of Dr. Phil McGraw, highlighting his extensive career in television and his shift towards online media. Dave Rubin emphasizes the importance of their conversation, especially as he prepares to take a month-long hiatus to "disappear," a practice aimed at resetting and gaining new perspectives.
Dr. Phil clarifies his stance on politics, stating, "I talk about cultural issues and when I say I'm not political, I don't understand politics particularly well" (00:59). He emphasizes his focus on understanding human nature over the complexities of the political system. When pressed about seeking interviews with political figures like Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, Dr. Phil shares his experiences of being ignored, remarking, "They ghosted us. Never heard another word. I probably made 100 requests to interview Biden and Harris and neither one of them would talk to me" (01:09).
Dave Rubin questions whether America is faring well, to which Dr. Phil responds optimistically: "I am proud of America and I get tired of people apologizing for this country. There is no question that 2026 is gonna be a very positive year for this country" (01:43). They discuss the societal divisions, especially among the younger population, noting the loneliness epidemic where "most young people in particular have less than one good friend" and rely heavily on virtual connections (17:22).
Both hosts delve into how modern technology and social media have altered human interactions. Dr. Phil highlights the lack of genuine friendships, stating, "They have less than one good friend. All they have are clicks and likes" (17:22). This shift has led to increased loneliness, especially among the youth and the elderly, with Dr. Phil sharing alarming statistics: "The mortality rate for elderly people with a chronic disease is 40% higher if they're lonely" (17:22).
Dave Rubin shares his personal practice of taking a month off social media and the pace of daily news to rejuvenate his mental health. Dr. Phil commends this approach, stating, "It's a worthwhile... it's beneficial in keeping me refreshed and renewed" (03:58). Rubin elaborates on the benefits, including increased patience, presence, and unexpected memories that surface during his hiatus (05:06).
Looking forward, Dave Rubin introduces the idea of America's 250th anniversary in 2026 as a potential unifying event. Dr. Phil agrees, suggesting that such a milestone could foster national pride and a positive mindset: "I think if people will give themselves permission to celebrate, it'll be great. Your brain changes, your brain chemistry changes, your physical chemistry. Everything changes" (22:03). This optimism is rooted in the belief that celebrating achievements can elevate both individual and collective well-being.
Dr. Phil recounts his move from corporate-controlled media (CBS) to independent online platforms. He reflects positively on his time at CBS but emphasizes the freedom to discuss diverse topics without restrictions: "I like having the freedom to do the things I want to do, talk about everything I want to talk about, get to different platforms" (12:51). This transition aligns with Rubin's own shift towards creating spaces that prioritize free speech and genuine conversations.
Towards the end of the episode, Dr. Phil shares personal anecdotes about his upbringing, highlighting his resilience and gratitude: "I grew up really poor... I've been where I didn't have a house at all" (32:07). He underscores the importance of family, health, and the profound impact of genuine human connections. Dr. Phil's reflections serve as a reminder of the fundamental values that sustain individuals amidst societal changes.
As the episode wraps up, Dave Rubin reiterates his upcoming break and expresses anticipation for future discussions: "When I see you in September... I expect you to really bring us something back that we can use, some real clarity" (35:32). Dr. Phil reciprocates the sentiment, wishing Rubin a great August and looking forward to their next conversation.
Notable Quotes:
On America's Positivity: "I am proud of America and I get tired of people apologizing for this country." (01:43)
On Loneliness Epidemic: "Most young people in particular have less than one good friend. All they have are clicks and likes." (17:22)
On Stepping Away from Social Media: "It's about being as present as possible without the bs." (05:06)
On Optimism for 250th Anniversary: "Your brain changes, your brain chemistry changes, your physical chemistry. Everything changes when you have a positive mindset." (22:03)
On Personal Resilience: "I've been where I didn't have a house at all and I've been..." (32:07)
Conclusion
This episode of "The Rubin Report" offers a candid and insightful dialogue between Dave Rubin and Dr. Phil McGraw. They explore the intricacies of modern American society, the profound effects of technology on human relationships, and the pathways to personal and national well-being. Emphasizing optimism, gratitude, and the importance of genuine connections, the conversation provides listeners with valuable perspectives on navigating contemporary challenges.