The Gadfly Talks

This episode is a little different. I share a personal reflection on crossing invisible thresholds, tapering Zoloft, and learning to meet existential dread not as breakdown, but as initiation. Through memories of fear, medication, spiritual seeking, and the slow return of raw aliveness, this episode explores what it means to stand at the edge of the void and listen for what it has to say. I cover:...

This episode features Tracey Walker , a death doula, educator, and funeral professional with a background in both human and animal medicine. She shares her journey from working as a paramedic and veterinary technician to finding her calling in holistic death care. Tracey discusses the cultural taboos surrounding death, the parallels between birth and dying, and how preparing for the end of life ca...

This episode features Kristen Ulmer , a former world-famous extreme skier once celebrated as the "most fearless woman" in her sport. She shares how her perceived fearlessness was actually an unconscious, high-risk "love affair with fear." After retiring, she reflected on what her career taught her, leading her to coach others on how to embrace their fear rather than resist it. About Kristen Ulmer:...

Dr. Eric Goodman is a clinical psychologist specializing in anxiety disorders, OCD, and phobias. He shares his own history with two major phobias (public speaking and flying) he later treated using exposure principles. We dive into what fear and anxiety really are, why they so often feel irrational, and how we can relate to them more skillfully instead of trying to get rid of them. Instead of chas...

In 4th century Athens, a man was put to death for “corrupting the youth.” What made Socrates so dangerous wasn’t radical sermons or manifestos. It was something much simpler: he asked questions. He almost never offered his own answers. Instead, he asked the kind of childlike questions that seem innocent at first, then slowly unravel what we think is obvious. The more people tried to defend their b...