Fight the New Drug Ad: This month marks 13 years since Fight the New Drug has been a nonprofit organization! What started in 2009 as a group of college friends who shared a passion for positively impacting the world has grown into a global movement of millions.

We’re grateful for our supporters whose generous contributions have helped us create educational resources like our documentary series, conversation guide, presentation program, and even this podcast!

If you have the means to do so, we invite you to consider supporting our efforts to educate individuals on the harms of pornography by making a one-time or monthly recurring donation. Whether you can give $1, $10 or $100, your donation makes a difference.

Help us fight for love for 13 more years—give now at ftnd.org/donate.
That’s ftnd.org/donate.

Garrett Jonsson:

My name is Garrett Jonsson, and you’re listening to Consider Before Consuming, a podcast by Fight the New Drug.

And in case you’re new here, Fight the New Drug is a non-religious and non-legislative organization that exists to provide individuals the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding pornography by raising awareness on its harmful effects using only science, facts, and personal accounts.

We want these conversations to be educational, uplifting, and hopeful. As we sit down with experts, influencers, activists, and people with personal accounts, we cover a wide variety of topics that may be triggering to some, you can refer to the episode notes for a specific trigger warning- listener discretion is advised.

FTND’s Executive Director, Natale, co-hosted today’s episode to celebrate Fight the New Drug’s 13th anniversary. To celebrate we took a trip down memory lane, reflecting on 13 years of education, awareness, and impact; during this conversation we highlight FTND’s resources, and significant milestones that have occurred during the past 13 years.

With that being said, let’s jump into the conversation, we hope you enjoy this episode of Consider Before Consuming.

Natale: Hey, Garrett,

Garrett Jonsson: What’s up, Nat?

Natale: How are ya?

Garrett Jonsson: Doing great. How are you?

Natale: I’m so good.

Garrett Jonsson: We’re excited to have you as a co-host today on the podcast, it’s going to be fun.

Natale: Thank you. It’s a pleasure.

Garrett Jonsson: But I don’t think a lot of our listeners are familiar, who is Natale? And so I do want to introduce you, Natale, uh, is the Executive Director of Fight the New Drug. And I think that if you were to describe Natale, if I was to describe Natale, I would say there are two things that define Natale, um…

Natale: I’m nervous.

Garrett Jonsson: Her love for Dalmatians.

Natale: Absolutely yes.

Garrett Jonsson: And her love for Mrs. Doubtfire.

Natale: Absolutely. Also, yes.

Garrett Jonsson: And also I’m just joking, cuz that definitely doesn’t define who you are. You definitely have more depth than those two things.

Natale: [laughter] That’s a pretty good, pretty good descriptor.

Garrett Jonsson: Yeah.
Natale: Yes.

Garrett Jonsson: You also love coffee.

Natale: Absolutely yes.

Garrett Jonsson: But yeah, going back to like, who you are…

Natale: That’s all our listeners need to know really…

Garrett Jonsson: That’s true.

Natale: … to know who they’re listening to. [laughter]

Garrett Jonsson: But in reality.

Natale: Yes.

Garrett Jonsson: To give you a compliment, Natale, if I had to sum up like your character, I would say you’re a person who cares, and you take action on that sentiment. So we are lucky to have you as an Executive Director. And I’m excited to co-host this episode with you.

Natale: Thank you, Garrett.

Garrett Jonsson: Because I know that you’re fueled by coffee.

Natale: Absolutely.

Garrett Jonsson: But also like maybe motivation?

Natale: Yes. A little bit.

Garrett Jonsson: Like what motivates you, Natale?

Natale: Well, coffee, but also, [laughter] um, I think you, I mean, I do appreciate that compliment, but I think to just be able to expand that, I think it’s really easy to care about people and this movement when it’s full of people who care about other people and who care about this movement and who care about this cause. And um, it’s part of why I’m so excited to get to hang out with you today and talk to our listen is about Fight the New Drug and about, you know, our 13th anniversary because, um, we really get to reflect on all of the things that our Fighters have made possible. And you know, obviously we all would prefer that this movement, you know, didn’t have to exist in the first place.

Garrett Jonsson: Right.

Natale: We would love a world free from exploitation.

Garrett Jonsson: Right.

Natale: Um, and hope that someday that is the case.

But with the world that we live in currently, um, this movement is needed. And because of that, um, you know, it’s, it’s not ideal, but it is something that, um, I can only speak for myself, but I know many people in this movement and I’m sure you feel similarly, um, feel really honored to be able to work alongside of all, all of the incredible people, and organizations, and survivors, and allies, um, and supporters, that we get to do this work with and that we get to, um, see the impact that it makes.

Garrett Jonsson: Yeah.

Natale: Um, and I’m really excited to talk today about that impact because I think that sometimes we spend so much time focusing on the harms of pornography. Um, sometimes we kind of forget to stop and take a look at at the impact that we’re making at the impact that education and awareness, um, and all of the other efforts in this movement are really making toward that end goal. That world free from exploitation. So…

Garrett Jonsson: Right.

I’ve been a part of this movement for, you know, about how long is it been five or six years and the people that I’ve been able to meet who are part of this movement? Uh, my heart’s full of gratitude for all those involved.

Natale: Yeah. And I, I think that’s a good point. I mean, thinking of our Fighters, thinking of the people listening to this episode right now, like these are all people who have chosen to actively participate in a movement for love in a movement that is, we’re lovers and Fighters, right? We’re here to support each other. We’re here to, um, break down stigmas that can make these issues difficult to talk about.

Garrett Jonsson: Right.

Natale: Um, we’re here to provide, you know, resources and tools in a shame-free way, and, um, it, it really is a privilege to be able to be part of something so great. And by that, I mean so much bigger than us.

Garrett Jonsson: Right.

Natale: Um, so significant, uh, and to be able to take some time like we’re doing today and reflect on how much of an impact really can be made over, you know, a decade or more than a decade, 13 years in our case.

Garrett Jonsson: Right. Yeah, we’re gonna take a walk down memory lane during this episode and discuss some of the things that have been accomplished, uh, as an organization. But again, it’s not, it’s not we, the organization like we, the organization wouldn’t exist without the Fighters.

Natale: Yeah, absolutely.

Garrett Jonsson: So I guess the first thing we should do is talk about who we are, in case there’s listeners out there who are just arriving at this podcast, like “What is Considered Before Consuming? What is Fight the New Drug?” So Fight the New Drug is a non-religious and non legislative organization that exists to provide individuals the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding pornography, by raising awareness on its harmful effects, using only science, facts, and personal accounts. That’s it. Science, facts, and personal accounts, Nat.

Natale: So that’s Fight the New Drug’s mission statement for anyone who, um, hasn’t heard that before, or isn’t aware where that, that specifically is our mission statement. Um, you know, we’re, we’re going down memory lane, we’re talking about our kind of history and this impact, but we have to look at where we started. Right?

Garrett Jonsson: Right.

Natale: And, and where Fight the New Drug even came from in the first place for our listeners who don’t know this in 2009, um, a group of college friends who shared a passion for positively impacting the world. Um, long story short, they got together. And they said, “What if we, um, had a social kind of campaign to educate on some of the impacts of pornography?” And the reason they came up with that is because they were teenagers growing up in the digital age, they saw how pornography was uniquely affecting people in their lives, around them, um, and affecting their generation uniquely, um, as opposed to previous generations because of the ubiquity of the internet, and smartphones.

And so they wanted to kind of figure out, you know, what does, what does this mean? And they realized there was a lot of research out there. Um, noting that internet pornography especially was having an impact on individuals, relationships, and society. And so they wanted to bring attention to this. You know, people don’t know what they don’t know. And so they wanted to help mobilize some of this information to educate other people. And, um, one of our Co-Founders, Clay Olsen, talks about kind of that founding story, a bit more in his consider before consuming episode it, if any of our listeners wanna check that out, it’s episode number one.

Garrett Jonsson: Yep.

Natale: Just scroll back to the beginning of time. Um, but it’s a really interesting kind of look at really what motivated all of this initially, right?

Garrett Jonsson: Yeah. Like they were part of the first generation ever in the history of the world to have to do with the harmful effects of pornography to this level of intensity.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: And they did something about it and they, they took the first step, which one of the very first steps was registering us as a nonprofit.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: Can you talk to that a little bit, Natale?

Natale: Yeah. So for anybody who doesn’t know, um, or any of our listeners outside of the United States, uh, what we’re celebrating today is the anniversary of the day that Fight the New Drug received our 501( c)(3) nonprofit status. Um, and that basically in the United States is a designation for charitable organizations. So it means that everything we do, um, has to work toward the fulfillment of our mission of that statement that you mentioned earlier, um, all of our resources are, are designated to help us fulfill our mission. Um, and that’s why, you know, as a nonprofit organization, we, uh, receive donations and rely on donations. And all of the things we’re gonna talk about today have been made possible because of these generous contributions from Fighters, and supporters, and Fighter Club members and, you know, donors and, and our listeners even, um, to kind of support and sustain the efforts to educate and raise awareness and help us fulfill our mission. So, that’s really what we’re celebrating is the day we got that certificate that approved our nonprofit status and we could kind of move forward from there.

Garrett Jonsson: Yeah.

And you mentioned one of the Co-Founders, Clay Olsen, and Clay, I’ve heard him use this phrase several times, which is “that’s nothing to sneeze at.”

Natale: Sure. Yeah. [laughter]

Garrett Jonsson: Right? I’ve heard him say that. And so I wanna gonna give, you know, Clay a little plug here and use that phrase like, 13 years. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: And I’m not petting ourselves on the back. I think if you, the listener are currently listening to this, like you should be proud.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: Because you are part of this movement and it is a, it’s a big deal for a 501( c)(3) to make it 13 years.

Natale: Absolutely.

Garrett Jonsson: Well, as we’re thinking about the early days of Fight the New Drug, we have to think back to like, what was, what were some of the milestones that were first accomplished.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: And one of them is live presentations.

Natale: Absolutely.

Garrett Jonsson: We give presentations to junior highs, high schools and colleges and community events. And in January of 2011 was the first time we gave a live presentation.

Natale: Yeah. And, uh, that was, uh, our Co-Founders at the time said, you know, “We wanna start educating people in person.”, put together a presentation to, uh, that’s digestible and, and to help, you know, youth and adults better understand the harms of pornography. And, um, you know, we’ve learned so much since then we’ve presented in thousands of events. And at this point our presentation program has reached over 1 million people.

Garrett Jonsson: That’s really cool.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: Really, really cool. Yeah, and as a presenter, I can speak to the impact that the presentations do have.

Natale: Absolutely.

Garrett Jonsson: And one of the cool things is that we, we have done surveys on those that we have presented to, to determine like we’re trying to decide and like differentiate between perceived knowledge and actual knowledge.

Natale: Yeah. And I mean, just to give a little bit of context for those of you who haven’t attended a presentee, what we do is we send a survey to whether it’s a school, the presentation attendees take that survey before the, the event and then after. And so we’re able to gauge from this, that audience of people kind of what information they went into the presentation knowing, um, and what information they knew after the presentation.

Garrett Jonsson: And what we, I mean, going back to our mission statement is to help people make an educated decision. Like it all comes down to competence, and these surveys show that people are more competent to make an educated decision after the presentation. So that’s really cool.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: And in regards to like, looking back over my time as a presenter, you know, there’s been really cool opportunities. Um, we went to Guatemala as a team, which was a really big, uh, you know, it’s a, it’s a big, it was a highlight for me.

Natale: Yeah, absolutely. And some of you listening, um, we had amazing Fighters who joined us there, um, to help mobilize this movement. So shout it to you if you’re listening.

Garrett Jonsson: Yeah. For sure. It was a fun time, but not only was it fun, it was meaningful. And again, it helped us fulfill the mission statement.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: And while we were there, we certified a presenter there locally in Guatemala, so he can continue to have presentations.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: Which was really cool. And I guess now is kind of a cool opportunity to talk about the fact that we are always looking to mobilize this movement. Not only in English, but also in other languages.

Natale: Yeah. That is a great point, Garrett. So we actually just revamped our entire presentation program. And one of the things we prioritized when we were revamped it, was to make sure that we could easily maintain, um, a Spanish version of the presentation as well. Our goal is to make presentations as accessible as possible all over the world. Right? So, um, we were able to certify a presenter in Guatemala. We have other, uh, presenters certifying in English, and Spanish in other parts of the world. Um, and we have additional Spanish resources that we were able to create. Again, taking that walk down memory lane because of our Fighters, you know, if there’s a demand for exploitation, there is also a demand for education about the harms of pornography and this exploitation. And that’s not limited dependent on your language. Right? So we really, um, have worked to partner with Fighters in different communities to translate this material, um, and to have resources available to people. You know, we want this information to be as easily accessible as possible.

Garrett Jonsson: Right. So for those listeners that do speak Spanish, you should definitely check out our resources in Spanish.

Natale: Yes.

Garrett Jonsson: And we’ll include a link in the episode notes for you to check those out.

Natale: Absolutely.

Garrett Jonsson: Well, fast forwarding down this timeline in November of 2014, it was our first #NoPornovember.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: Can you talk to what is #NoPornovember, Nat?

Natale: Yeah.

So our largest campaign every year is our #NoPornovember campaign. And it is where we focus on all of the basics to educate people on the impacts of pornography on individuals, relationships, and society. But really it’s a way for Fighters to come together and to represent this movement together.

Garrett Jonsson: It’s really inspiring to see people from around the world, all sorts of different backgrounds, participating in this challenge.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: But it’s currently not November at the time of this recording.

Natale: Very true. It is March at the time of this recording.

Garrett Jonsson: Yes. It’s Fight’s birthday/ anniversary.

Natale: Yes.

Garrett Jonsson: It is March. So we currently don’t have the #NoPornovember challenge, but we do have…

Natale: Unless you’re listening to this in November.

Garrett Jonsson: Then it is November.

Natale: [laughter]

Garrett Jonsson: [laughter] Just so you know, But we do want to throw out a challenge for those listeners…

Natale: Absolutely. We love a challenge.

Garrett Jonsson: And the challenge is the following. We want to challenge the listeners today, starting right now, immediately, 13 days porn free.

Natale: That’s right.

Garrett Jonsson: And this challenge is for those people who have, who currently have unwanted porn consumption and, you know, have wanted to address it, but haven’t been able to, or have addressed it, but then have, you know, gone back to it.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: This is a challenge for you.

Natale: Absolutely.

And, um, just if I can ask you Garrett people maybe don’t know the reason we would encourage, um, a, a break from pornography for someone who’s feeling like maybe they’re experiencing the harmful effects of pornography in their own life. Um, and given your personal account, can you, you know, kind of share why someone might consider trying that?

Garrett Jonsson: Well, I think it comes down to, we all want to become the best version of ourself. We all want to enjoy life. And for someone who is experiencing unwanted porn consumption, they’ve identified that that’s a problem for them. Like it’s, it’s interrupting, it’s disrupting their ability to become the best version of themselves, or it’s disrupting their ability to have clarity of mind. It’s negatively impacting them somehow.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: So if you’re wanting to experience something different, then you have to do something different. Right?

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: It goes back to like the definition of insanity, kind of thing.

Natale: Yeah.

And I think for some people, you know, you might not really fully understand what those negative impacts are until you have a break and then you can see maybe what positive impacts there are from not consuming.

Garrett Jonsson: Totally. And we don’t want to just throw this challenge out and not provide any help or other resources. So Nat, can you talk to some of the resources that we have that can help these people accomplish the 13 day challenge?

Natale: Yeah, so two resources come to mind that can be really helpful for someone wanting to take a no-porn challenge. The first is called, Let’s Talk About Porn, and it’s essentially an interactive, um, blueprint so you can select who you are and what your relationship is to the person you’re talking to. And then it will guide you through a healthy conversation with tips that we, you know consulted with clinical professionals on ways to have healthy and productive conversations, for both people involved in the conversation.

And another resource that comes to mind is called Fortify, um, so if you identify that you need some more help as you navigate you know a 13 day or 30 day challenge. Um, you can check out Fortify at FTND.org/fortify, and we’ll link that in the show notes as well.

They do have some free options available, and other options that provide access to clinical professionals right through an app, but it’s basically designed to help people overcome a challenge with pornography.

Garrett Jonsson: Yeah, it facilitates healing, in a way.

Natale: Yes.

Garrett Jonsson: Because it is going to help you increase your self-awareness, it’s going to help you identify triggers, it’s going to, again, like you said, allow you to interact with professionals. And also, not only professionals, but also other people who have this same challenge. So it can be very very beneficial.

Natale: Yeah, and one great thing about Fortify, um, is that it really helps to remind someone who might be struggling, uh, to overcome a challenge with pornography that setbacks don’t automatically mean failures. Right?

Garrett Jonsson: Right.

Natale: Sometimes it can be really discouraging to experience a setback, you know, on the road to healing. Um, but that is something that can happen, and so it’s important for people to know that that doesn’t automatically mean failure. And we actually have an article about that on our site, we’ll link that in the show notes as well if you want to check that out. Because that can be a helpful tool in understanding, if you experience a setback how to move forward.

Garrett Jonsson: Yeah, like how we perceive setbacks is really really important. So, we’ll make sure to link that in the episode notes.

Natale: Awesome.

Garrett Jonsson: And so again, we proposed this 13 day challenge, we provided you with a couple of resources, Let’s Talk About Porn- the Conversation Blueprint, Fortify, this article. So again, if you’re doing this challenge, the 13 day challenge, or if you’re listening to this in November and it’s #NoPornovember…

Natale: Yeah, or it’s a random Tuesday and you…

Garrett Jonsson: And it’s a random taco Tuesday…

Natale: [laughter] Yeah, and you want to start a no-porn challenge, you know, definitely try it out and see what you discover about yourself. And if you’re listening to this, and thinking “I don’t have a compulsive, or pornography habit.”, maybe consider a challenge to learn more about these issues, and see what you can do to help educate and raise awareness on the impacts of pornography.

Garrett Jonsson: Yeah, these tools can help with continued-learning whether you personally have a challenge with pornography or not.

And the next milestone that I wanna talk about is, it happened in November of 2015, and it does a great job highlighting, like how many conversations are being had.

Natale: Sure.

Garrett Jonsson: Because at that point in November of 2015, we reached one million likes on Facebook, which was a big deal.

Natale: Yeah. And you know, this wasn’t like TikTok is today where one video can get, you know, millions of views in, in a few minutes, you know, to have at that time in 2015, um, it was a huge deal…

Garrett Jonsson: Yeah.

Natale: … to be able to have a million people supporting an anti-pornography, you know, educational effort that was being mobilized through social media when social media was still kind of newly a part of, uh, a lot of different conversations.

Garrett Jonsson: Right.

It was like a, for me it was evidence that there was a shift occurring in the attitude toward pornography.

Natale: Absolutely. And I think it also speaks to, um, it wasn’t just a shift in the United States, where Fight the New Drug is based, it was a, a global shift, right?

Garrett Jonsson: Yeah.

Natale: Like we reached a million supporters globally.

Garrett Jonsson: Right.

Natale: And that’s only continued to grow since then.

Garrett Jonsson: Can you talk to, you know, any other ways that you noticed there is a shift occurring in society’s attitude toward porn?

Natale: Yeah. So much has happened even since 2015, you Nicholas Kristof’s, uh, article recently in the New York Times, uh, calling out PornHub from profiting from non-consensual content.

Garrett Jonsson: Right. That was a big deal.

Natale: Yeah. And, uh, for anyone who wants to know more about that, uh, Nicholas Kristof spoke about that on Consider Before Consuming in his episodes. You can go check that out. Um, but other example of that as well, I mean, well known mainstream porn producers have been convicted of sex trafficking, former porn performers, and current porn performers have spoken out about harm within the industry. You know, very well known former porn performers have been in very prominent, you know, media outlets.

Garrett Jonsson: Yeah. You’re right. Like, another example showing that a shift has occurred and is currently occurring is the amount of research.

Natale: Yeah, that’s a great point. Actually, when we started, you know, there were already decades of research acknowledging, um, the impacts of pornography, but just in the last few years alone, uh, so much more research has come out about the impacts of so many things relating to technology. I mean, we’re having conversations about the impacts of social media and, and other things as a society, but right alongside that, um, some people might not be as aware of that research, but there is an abundance of research looking at the impacts of pornography on individuals, on relationships, and on our society as a whole.

Garrett Jonsson: Right. And we Fight the New Drug, we act as a research aggregate. And in September, 2016, we developed what is now referred to as Truth About Porn.

Natale: Yeah. But the amount of research can be a little bit overwhelming. Right? And so…

Garrett Jonsson: Research in general can be overwhelming.

Natale: Yes. Um, but when we created this resource, we wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to access all of, you know, this research through different journals and to be able to sort depending on what, what they’re looking for specifically. And so that’s really the goal of Truth About Porn is to kind of act as a research, you know, database. Um, we want this information to be accessible. Um, do you wanna just give an example of what you would find on Truth About Porn?

Garrett Jonsson: As I prepared for this conversation, I looked up, um, some research that resonated with me and I found, uh, very powerful. The, this particular study will include the link in the episode notes. It was performed in 2021. It was published in the Communications Monographs. And the Communication Monographs is a quarterly peer reviewed academic journal, um, covering research on human communication.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: And in this particular study, there were 595 youths aged 14 to 18, and they participated in a population based probability survey and a couple key takeaways from this research. It said that adolescents who are dependent on pornography for sexual learning are more likely to enact sexual scripts that they have observed in pornography at an unusually early age. Another key takeaway is the adolescents who had viewed pornography were more likely to hold erroneous sexual beliefs compared to adolescents who had not viewed pornography.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: So it, again, if people, if kids are turning two pornography as a form of sex education, this research is showing that’s that’s harmful.

Natale: Yeah. And I mean, that’s, what’s so interesting about this is, you know, it could be really easy to be intimidated by research, but it’s so easy to pull up this resource and to have this information right there with these key findings.

Garrett Jonsson: Yep.

Natale: And if you wanna then go find the study from there, it will have a link for you to, to go right to that next study.

Garrett Jonsson: Right. You don’t need to enroll in a college course on stats.

Natale: Exactly. No need.

Garrett Jonsson: We’ve done the work for you. These professionals have done the work for you.

Natale: Yes. They’ve done the work, and we’ve made it easy to find.

Garrett Jonsson: They did the research, and we’re presenting it.

Natale: That’s right. Um, and just one other example, because I think it’s, they so much research that’s so interesting, but, um, just to speak to another recent study, uh, in the Addictive Behaviors, uh, monthly peer reviewed scientific journal, uh, it’s called Are Sexual Functioning Problems Associated With Frequent Pornography Use, results from a large community survey, including males and females. Um, a key takeaway from that was the study found that problematic pornography consumption was associated with sexual dysfunction for both men and women. And that’s something that so many have experienced that we’ve heard lots of personal accounts about. Um, but it’s really interesting to then look at these, at this research to look at these facts, you know, back to our mission science facts and personal accounts. Um, there’s so much interesting information there.

Garrett Jonsson: One of the things that we encourage our Fighters from around the world and just people generally speaking to do is to be open-minded.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: And as you look at some of this research, it really can be eye-opening. And if, yeah, going back to the personal accounts thing, like not only do we have the research that has been performed and you can find that at truthaboutporn.org, but also we have like the podcast acts as, um, it allows people to tell personal accounts.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: And there’s two episodes in particular that come to mind when we’re talking about how problematic porn consumption can lead to, um, some type of sexual dysfunction.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: And so for those listeners who wanna learn more about that, uh, the two episodes that come to mind are Gabe Deem, which is episode 32 and Sabrina Parr, which is episode nine. So you can go learn more about how it negatively impacted them in that way.

Natale: Yeah. And research can sometimes be difficult to digest. Right? So, um, it can be great to supplement that research or reinforce that research with personal accounts. You know, Gabe Deem’s podcast, as you mentioned, does a great job at helping to humanize these issues. And reinforce what the research is saying. And that’s the case for a lot of true stories. And so if people haven’t seen Brain Heart World yet, we have a three-part documentary series. It’s called Brain Heart World, and it walks through how porn can impact individuals, relationships and society. Um, by, you know, displaying research in a way that is digestible, and reinforcing it with personal accounts from some really incredible people who trusted us to share their stories. So that is something that is available for free at brainheartworld.org. We will also link that in the show notes. Um, and one great thing is that we’ve heard from so many Fighters that have said they want to start conversations about this with their families and they weren’t exactly sure the best way to do that. And so this just watched this together as a family, and it just naturally an ongoing conversation about pornography and the harms of pornography. And that’s exactly what we want, right? To be talking about this within our families, in a way that is healthy and productive.

Garrett Jonsson: Yep. So make some popcorn, and press play. That’s it.

Natale: That’s right.

Garrett Jonsson: If I had to describe the documentary in two words, it would be informative and up-lifting.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: And I, wasn’t a part of the documentary, like I had nothing to do with it, so I can rag a little bit about it. Like it’s really, really good.

Natale: [laughter] And I should add, um, sometimes when we are talking on the podcast, especially our demographics are a little different here than in a, you know, middle school or high school presentation. Right? Um, but some of this research can be so heavy and some of these personal accounts can, can be so heavy. And one thing I personally love about the documentary series is, um, it is youth oriented. So it’s made to be accessible for young people, uh, which means that, you know, anyone can learn from it, but it very tactfully in my opinion, kind of infuses, um, appropriate humor.

Garrett Jonsson: Right.

Natale: And, um, also is full of hope. So, even though we’re addressing the harms of pornography, we’re also really taking a look at the hopeful side of this movement, which is the impact we can make when we all come together to make a difference. So…

Garrett Jonsson: Right.

Well, one of the questions that we get a ton, like as people write in via social media or email is “How can I get involved?”

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: And Brain, Heart, World, the documentary, is a great way.

Natale: Yeah. That’s a really good point. I didn’t mention this, but we have, uh, public screening licenses available. So, um, you can host a documentary screening. Uh, there are really affordable licenses available online, and then once you purchase out license, uh, we’ve tried to make it as easy as possible for you to host that screening. So there are discussion guides to help you navigate a conversation with attendees at your public screening. Um, we have resources and tools that you can pass up to other people, uh, and you can also direct people to us if they have questions after, you know, we are happy to help and provide resources as well. But that’s a really great way to, uh, come together with your local community and, um, you know, really make an impact. Sometimes we talk about this being a global movement because we’re so honored to be, you know, part of something with Fighters all over the world. But the biggest impact we can make, um, is individual impact, community impact. You know, focusing on our own individual spheres of influence.

Garrett Jonsson: Our own little circles.

Natale: That really does make a bigger difference than some people might think. So that’s a really good way to engage your community in healthy and productive, um, action, uh, to educate and raise awareness on the harms of pornography.

Garrett Jonsson: Right. Well, moving along in this timeline, fast forwarded to July of 2019, and we launched this podcast called Consider Before Consuming. I dunno if you’ve ever heard of it?

Natale: [laughter] It’s a great podcast. It’s my favorite podcast.

Garrett Jonsson: It’s a solid podcast. [laughter]

Natale: [laughter] Five stars.

Garrett Jonsson: Five star, no, just joking.

Natale: Um, but just in case anyone, I don’t know, found this episode through, you know, our website or our social media or something, and maybe isn’t as familiar with the Consider Before Consuming podcast. Can you give, since you are the official host, can you give just like a brief, quick summary of kind of what people could expect from other episodes?

Garrett Jonsson: Right. Well, I think we took a similar approach to like what we did with the Brain Heart World documentary. Like we wanted it to be informative, and also uplifting, and hopeful.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: And so with the podcast, we sit down with experts, influencers, activists, and people with personal accounts. And we talk to them about the harmful effects of pornography.

Natale: Yeah.

It’s just another way to kind of help humanize this issue. Learn about the research in a way that’s digestible. Um, it’s a 10 out of 10.

Garrett Jonsson: Can I share a story with you now?

Natale: Yes, please.

Garrett Jonsson: So I don’t think I’ve ever told you this story. Maybe I have, I don’t think that I have those. So when I was like in junior high, probably 13 years old, my friend and I were walk and by the way, this relates back to the podcast.

Natale: [laughter] Okay.

Garrett Jonsson: So I’m not just going into story time for no reason here. [laughter]

Natale: [laughter] Okay.

Garrett Jonsson: So we were walking home from school and we see this speed trap. And so there was this hill and at the bottom of the hill, there were cops and they were just, you know, getting people for speeding. And so we had this brilliant idea that we were going to help, generously help the drivers by notifying them of the speed trap.

Natale: Love this.

Garrett Jonsson: We went home, we got some cardboard and we made big signs that said like “speed trap ahead!”

Natale: [laughter] You’ve always been so innovative.

Garrett Jonsson: Exactly.

So then we went to the top of the hill, like just beyond the police’s vision and we were holding these signs up, and like people were getting so pumped, you know, like, can you imagine you’re getting warned about this ticket? You’re about to have the, your day’s about to turn into like a bad day because of this ticket. And then you have these two 13 year olds just being super altruistic.

Natale: [laughter]

Garrett Jonsson: And so like, people are like rolling down their window and like, like giving us fist bumps, like “Yeah, thank you!” And slowing down. And, uh, the, the way that I relate that story to the podcast is like we were giving, like we were helping them be safer and we were giving them a warning…

Natale: yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: … of this thing. And I think that’s like the goal of the podcast is to act as some type of warning for people.

Natale: Yes, absolutely. Wow. What a great analogy, Garrett, and also for legal purposes, we don’t condone speeding.

Garrett Jonsson: No. Or texting and driving.

Natale: Safety first; consider before speeding.

Garrett Jonsson: Yep. Check your blind spots.

Natale: But also, check your blind spots for those kids, with signs to tell you about the speech trap.

Garrett Jonsson: [laughter] For sure.

Natale: But that’s a really perfect way to describe that. I think Consider Before Consuming, uh, is the kids with the signs.

Garrett Jonsson: Yeah. And speaking of the podcast, we’ve published over 60 episodes now, which is great.

Natale: And I do just wanna add the I’m giving you props as our host, but same thing with all of our stories. Obviously the 60 episodes exist because of our incredible, you know, partners, and these experts, and survivors and, uh, people who have been vulnerable with us and been willing to share their stories, to help. To help give that warning to other people so they can, can consider before consuming.

Garrett Jonsson: Right. And if you’re new to the podcast, we did a year in review recently, it’s episode 59.

Natale: It’s great.

Garrett Jonsson: So you can get a, kind of a, a taste for a lot of different episodes.

Natale: Yes. If you haven’t listened to the year interview, definitely go do that. It’s great. Um, so
we’ve talked about a lot of great resources, all of which have been made possible by our amazing Fighters. Um, but there is one that that I want Fighters to know if you’re listening and thinking you want to support the movement but you don’t want to be on a podcast, or in a documentary, uh, if you have social media of your own, that can be a great way to spread education and awareness about these topics to your own circle of influence. Um, and if you do, please tag us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter,…

Garrett Jonsson: Or like Tik Tok. We are now on Tik Tok.

Natale: That’s right. For those of you who don’t know, a couple years ago we joined Tik Tok- just like the rest of the world.

Garrett Jonsson: Yep. We got caught in the TikTok vortex.

Natale: That’s right.

Garrett Jonsson: Just like everyone else.

Natale: That’s right. We did just like everybody else. And, uh, it’s a great way again, to just start natural conversations about pornography. Right?

Garrett Jonsson: The cool thing about TikTok is that it’s our target audience too.

Natale: Absolutely.

Garrett Jonsson: That’s where they are.

Natale: That’s where they are.

Garrett Jonsson: And speaking of our target audience, another place they are at is YouTube. Right?

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: And a cool milestone is that we recently got a YouTube play button.

Natale: Yes.

Garrett Jonsson: Which is a big deal.

Natale: It’s a huge.

Garrett Jonsson: “It’s nothing to sneeze at.”

Natale: [laughter] If you don’t know what that means. Um, I didn’t before we got it. So it’s okay if you didn’t, but it it’s one less than 1%, I think, of, um, accounts on YouTube, get this award. And, uh, we got it for having over 100,000 subscribers.

Garrett Jonsson: So good job, subscribers.

Natale: Yes. If you are one of those, thank you.

Garrett Jonsson: We have your play button.

Natale: We have your play button. [laughter]

Garrett Jonsson: [laughter]

Natale: And if you’re not one of those subscribers, uh, go check out our YouTube because we have so many educational videos there that if you wanna learn more or you wanna share it with someone else, um, those can be really helpful resources.

Garrett Jonsson: Right.

Natale: Um, and so many of the stories… we just have the best partners. And so many of these stories are so incredible. And I want you all to see them.

Garrett Jonsson: Some amazing collaborations, for sure.

Natale: Yes.

Garrett Jonsson: And as I prepared for this conversation, I went and looked to see how many subscribers we currently have. And we currently have 132,000.

Natale: Oh wow.

Garrett Jonsson: And to get the next play button, we need a million subscribers. So calling all people…

Natale: That’s right.

Garrett Jonsson: We need 868,000 people to subscribe. [laughter]

Natale: Tell your friends, tell your friends’ friends. [laughter]

Garrett Jonsson: Go subscribe. Like and subscribe.

Natale: That’s right. Today, preferably.

Garrett Jonsson: Yep.

We’re joking, but in reality, like all of these resources, the goal is to stop the demand. Right?

Natale: That’s right.

Stop the demand for exploitation. Stop the demand for content that normalizes problematic things, sexual abuse, sexual violence, um, stop the demand for things that are taking away and distracting from, you know, real relationships and real intimacy and, um, you know, real connection with other people.

Garrett Jonsson: Right. And you’ve kind of talked to this already, Nat. you’ve mentioned how like, no, no matter where you’re at, whether it’s Facebook, or Instagram, or TikTok, or Twitter, or YouTube, like no matter what social media platform you’re on, you know, that’s a place where you have a platform.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: That you can share something. And I just want to give a shout out to our blog.

Natale: Oh yeah. Absolutely.

Garrett Jonsson: The articles that we have are very, very informative. Very, very uplifting.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: And that’s such a simple way to spread the movement. Like if it’s in your heart to help spread this movement, that’s a simple way.

Natale: Yeah. That’s a great point, Garrett. And if you don’t have social media, if you’re listening to this podcast saying, “How can I use my platform?” Like you, you still have a voice, right? You can share what you learn in conversations. It’s such a good way to connect with people and you can go directly to our website. We have hundreds of articles on there. Some have been guest written by experts. Uh, some of them break down the research. A lot of them talk about, uh, current events, as things are happening. So if you’re seeing other things in your newsfeed, um, that are about, you know, related topics about sexual exploitation, about sex trafficking, sexual violence, um, you can go directly to our website and search whatever topic you want. And if we have an article about it, um, you’ll be able to find that there. So…

Garrett Jonsson: Right. Yeah. The blog is one of my favorite tools for continued learning on this topic.

Natale: Yeah.

Garrett Jonsson: Well, we’ve made it all the way to the point of the present. Like we are currently here, you and I are talking…

Natale: We are here, and you are here.

Garrett Jonsson: And what’s next?

Natale: What’s next. I’m so glad you asked if you made it to this moment in the podcast, we wanna thank you by giving you a discount code to shop in the Fight the New Drug store ftnd.org/shop, or go to our website and click on ‘shop’. And, uh, you can and get some conversations starting merch. I promise you it’s a super easy way to start conversations and rep the movement. Um, and if you wanna support, Fight the New Drug, you know, all of the proceeds from, uh, those merchandise purchases support our efforts to fulfill our mission, educating and raising awareness on porn’s harms. Um, so if that’s something that interests you, only the listeners who are here right now, get this discount code, um, and it is equal to the discount percentage we give to our amazing Fighter Club members. So if you’re a Fighter Club member, thank you.

Garrett Jonsson: Yeah. Thank you.

Natale: Uh, if you’re not go check out what that is and um, if you wanna shop, use the code Fight13, F-I-G-H-T-1-3, and that will give you 30% off for the entire month of March. So if you’re listening to this after March, still go check out the store. I’m sure a thing will pop up and you have to give us your email, but you can also get a discount code. It won’t be 30% though. So if you’re listening in March, go celebrate yourself and the work you’ve done in the movement and Fight’s birthday and grab, uh, your favorite tee.

Garrett Jonsson: Right? The cool thing about our merch is that we have some that are like really bold.

Natale: Yes.

Garrett Jonsson: And then we have some that are a little bit more subtle.

Natale: Yes. There is something for everyone.

Garrett Jonsson: Yep.

Natale: That was such a fun trip down memory lane, Garrett.

Garrett Jonsson: For sure. It really was.

Natale: I loved that. And, you know, thank you to our Fighters. And as we move forward in this movement, we have lots of resources and partnerships and exciting things coming up to help educate about the impacts of pornography. But we also wanna hear from you, um, as our Fighters and we wanna know what resources, you know, you need that you’re not seeing that you can’t find, um, what ideas you have of how to spread the movement. So reach out to us, follow us on social media. You can contact us on our website. Um, we would love to hear from you and to see, uh, what you would love to see in the future.

Garrett Jonsson: Right. That’s it.

Natale: That’s it.

Garrett Jonsson: Well, Nat, thank you.

Natale: Thank you.

Garrett Jonsson: Thanks for joining us today.

Natale: Thank you to our listeners for joining us, and our Fighters for joining us on this journey for the past 13 years.

Garrett Jonsson: Right. Cheers to another 13.

Natale: Cheers.

Fight the New Drug Ad: This month marks 13 years since Fight the New Drug has been a nonprofit organization! What started in 2009 as a group of college friends who shared a passion for positively impacting the world has grown into a worldwide movement of millions.

We’re grateful for our supporters whose generous contributions have helped us create educational resources like our documentary series, conversation guide, presentation program, and this podcast!

If you have the means to do so, we invite you to consider supporting our efforts to educate individuals on the harms of pornography by making a one-time or monthly recurring donation. Whether you can give $1, $10 or $100, your donation makes a difference.

Help us fight for love for 13 more years—give now at ftnd.org/donate.
That’s ftnd.org/donate.

Garrett Jonsson: Thanks for joining us on this episode of Consider Before Consuming.

Consider Before Consuming is brought to you by Fight the New Drug.

Fight the New Drug is a non-religious and non-legislative organization that exists to provide individuals the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding pornography by raising awareness on its harmful effects using only science, facts, and personal accounts.

If you’d like to learn more about today’s guest and the conversation we had, you can check out the links included with this episode.

Again, big thanks to you for listening to this conversation. As you go about your day, we invite you to increase your self-awareness, look both ways, check your blind spots, and consider before consuming.