Podbit · Smosh Reads Reddit Stories
When you tell a child a hard truth, you're not just being honest — you're signalling that you respect them enough to handle reality. Amanda argues this is the foundation of real parent-child trust.
Where this was said
At 9:08 · chapter starts 2:17
Shayne reads a 2020 Reddit TIFU post about a mother who discovered ASMR through Bob Ross's 'The Joy of Painting' and built a nightly bedtime ritual around his 403 episodes for her two daughters [1] — Shayne Topp "A 4-year-old who had watched Bob Ross every night since before she was born was told he died. She sobbed for 20 minutes, punching herself i…" 06:25 . When her 4-year-old says she'd love to visit Bob Ross one day, the mother decides to be honest: Bob Ross died a long time ago. The child sobs for 20 minutes, punching herself in the chest in raw grief [1] — Shayne Topp "A 4-year-old who had watched Bob Ross every night since before she was born was told he died. She sobbed for 20 minutes, punching herself i…" 06:25 . Amanda gets visibly emotional during the reading, surprising even herself. The post is warm and well-written, and the update reveals the daughter's verdict on her dad questioning the decision: 'You shouldn't lie to children.' The hosts dig into why honesty — even painful honesty about death — builds more trust with children than protection does, and why the husband's shouted criticism from downstairs makes him the real villain of the story.
A 4-year-old who had watched Bob Ross every night since before she was born was told he died. She sobbed for 20 minutes, punching herself in the chest. The hosts agree: telling kids hard truths builds trust, not trauma.
After being told Bob Ross had died, the 4-year-old daughter cried for a solid 20 minutes, punching herself in the chest and thighs.
The Joy of Painting has 403 total episodes, all of which the Reddit OP's family had watched multiple times as a nightly bedtime ritual.
Before the soft voice and the happy little trees, Bob Ross spent 20 years as a drill sergeant in the US Air Force. He vowed never to yell at anyone again after leaving — which explains everything.
Bob Ross served 20 years as a drill sergeant in the US Air Force before becoming a painter, a fact that surprised the hosts.
Erin Brockovich describes data center expansion as 'a full-on assault' hitting communities across water, electricity, noise, air pollution, and land loss. She calls it the biggest bipartisan conversation she's seen in her 30-year career — and warns that tech companies didn't see the coming backlash.
Demanding an emergency fund balance on a first date is the wrong approach. What you're really looking for is someone with character, maturity, and a direction — not a perfect financial snapshot. You can build a budget in 20 minutes; you can't build character that fast.
The fear of not being financially ready to have children is almost always a failure to run the real budget. On $110K a year, you can afford a child. What you can't afford is the fantasy nursery, the bigger car, and staying home on one income without a plan.
You've already said enough. The enabling, the financial dysfunction, the fear it'll land in your lap — if you can't say yes with full confidence, the answer is no. Tell Mom to rent a cheap one-bedroom, sell her house, and buy a condo near the grandkids instead.
Bobby watching a father hold his baby triggered an existential moment: he and Andrew might be missing fatherhood. They priced out adoption ($40K–$70K private, $0–$2K foster care) and briefly considered adopting a child to timeshare like a condo.
In 1950, 60% of the world lived in extreme poverty. Today it's roughly 1 in 10. Capitalism and economic growth did that — nothing else has ever worked at scale. The challenge now isn't generating enough wealth; it's building the political will to distribute it.
The manosphere begins with genuinely useful advice — get fit, be ambitious, find a partner. But it rapidly devolves into dominance, misogyny, and crypto university grifts. The most famous manosphere figures are running $50-a-month Ponzi schemes, exploiting the very loneliness they pretend to cure.
Throughout human history, only 40% of men have ever reproduced. Romantic success has never been guaranteed — it has always required effort, self-development, and resilience. The incel movement's core lie is telling men they're owed something that no man has ever been owed.
The most common word Scott Galloway has heard in his life is no. That's not a failure — it's the mechanism through which great yeses are earned. For shy young men, the path forward is simple: approach people, accept rejection, repeat. Resilience to discomfort is the only real competitive advantage.
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