Let’s Try That Again

We’re obsessed with “wellness.” But are we actually well? In this episode, I sit down with Liz Bucar, author of the newly released “Beyond Wellness,” a book that challenges the modern wellness industry and the assumptions we make about self-care and so-called spiritual practices such yoga, mindfulness, sound-baths, cleansing diets, and more. Somewhere along the way, wellness became something we co...

What does it actually mean to “go green”? We often imagine a future powered by clean energy, electric cars, and renewable technologies. But beneath that hopeful vision lies a more complicated story—one that unfolds deep underground. In today’s episode, I’m speaking with Ernest Scheyder, author of The War Below, a book that takes us into the global race for the minerals that make our green future p...

A warm welcome to 2026! What better way to start off the new year than with busting some myths. A lot of us start off the year with making some resolutions - usually around self-improvement / self-optimizing, telling ourselves that this is the year we're going to finally do That Thing, reach that goal weight, get that raise, MAKE IT - and there's nothing inherently wrong with any of that. However,...

In this episode I have the pleasure of speaking with one of my favorite authors: Sarah Manguso. Her critically acclaimed 2024 novel, "Liars," was a finalist for the Carol Shields Prize and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. It's a novel that explores the collapse of a marriage from the perspective of Jane - a wife, mother, and an artist. We have a conversation about "Liars," particularly Sarah's views o...

In this episode I have the privilege of speaking with the brilliant writer, Vajra Chandrasekera, where we discuss his award-winning fantasy novel, "The Saint of Bright Doors." The story revolves around a boy named Fetter – who has certain gifts (he can see other worldly beings that are invisible to the rest of us, he doesn’t have a shadow, and he can defy gravity at times) - and is trained by his...

In this episode I have the privilege and JOY of speaking with Deesha Philyaw, the award winning author of "The Secret Lives of Church Ladies" – a short story collection revolving around "four generations of women who are grappling with who they want to be in the world, as they are caught between the church’s double standards and their own needs and passions." This book is …. a revelation, and if y...

There is so much information out there that we are constantly bombarded with – especially if you are a parent – around how, why, where, and how much we use and interact with digital technologies and, of course, it’s impact on our well being. Whether it is streaming something on YouTube or Netflix, playing video games, engaging with social media, or just being on your phone, the message is usually...

Here's a disturbing statistic: "with just 5% of the world’s population, the US accounts for close to 25% of the world's prison population." As my guest in today's episode, Lauren Kessler, argues in her book "Free," at any given moment millions of Americans are enmeshed in the American criminal just system. And while most are released back into society, within just three years almost three quarters...

For our first episode of the new year I wanted to share my conversation with one of the most delightful guests I've had the pleasure of speaking with: Lola Milholland, author of "Group living: and other recipes." It's part cook-book, part memoir, and wholly a manifesto for rethinking how we live. For as long as Lola can remember, her home was always brimming with people: from her parents' eccentri...

For this last episode of 2024 I had the great pleasure of sitting down with Marjan Kamali, the author of one of the best-selling novels of the year, "The Lion Women of Tehran." The novel, which spans three tumultuous and transformative decades of Iranian history, centers on the friendship between two women, Ellie and Homa, as they grow up, grow close, and then grow apart: "Together, the two young...

With the holiday season in full swing - and new year's just around the corner - people are feeling ALL the feels such as joy, excitement, comfort, gratitude, but also anxiety, grief, resentment, loneliness. However, the message we receive from everyone - and everything - around us is usually some version of "stay positive!" "brighten up!" "choose happiness!" which implies that we need to quickly f...

Just in time for American Thanksgiving, my conversation with Morgan Talty - the award-winning & best-selling author of "Night of the Living Rez." In today's episode we delve into Morgan's debut novel, "Fire Exit," which is inspired by and sheds light on the life-changing effects of Blood Quantum, a system of measurement that was historically crafted by colonial powers to determine the degree o...

I borrowed the title of this episode from a May '24 National Geographic article, which attempts to answer the question using science -- lab studies, brain scans, heart monitors, fMRI results, etc. The article also conflates meditation with Mindfulness, which is one of the most popular forms of meditation being practiced and taught today. In this episode, my guest, Professor David McMahan, and I do...

In this week's episode I sit down with Iris Chen, a peaceful parenting coach, unschooler, and founder of the Untigering movement. In her book, "Untigering: Peaceful Parenting for the Deconstructing Tiger Parent," Iris describes how she started out as a (stereo-) typical Asian tiger mom, whose goal was to raise obedient and high-achieving children. However, her attempts to control and mold her chil...

In this week's episode I sit down with Stephen Menendian, the Assistant Director and Director of Research at the Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. We discuss his latest book, co-authored with john powell, called "Belonging Without Othering: How We Save Ourselves and the World." Stephen starts us off with describing what "Othering" is, and how the framewo...

In today's episode I speak with Peggy O'Donnell Heffington, a professor of history at the University of Chicago, and author of "Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother." There has been a long history of women without children being stigmatized, pitied, reviled, envied, and ignored. Within today's political climate - especially with the upcoming Presidential Elections - we have als...

Our guest in today's episode is Alejandra Oliva, a Mexican American translator and immigrant justice activist. We discuss her stunning memoir, "Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith, and Migration," in which Alejandra delves into her family's history, her work as a translator, and the difficult journeys migrants must take to find a place to call home. We focus on Alejandra's work as an interp...

In this Episode I speak with Parini Shroff, author of "The Bandit Queens." The novel revolves around the life of Geeta, a woman in a tiny village in India whose husband disappeared a few years ago. Everyone in the village begins to think Geeta killed him, and some desperate housewives start approaching Geeta for help in getting rid of their own, no-good husbands. Geeta isn't sure she wants to get...

Our guest in today's episode is Soraya Chemaly, an award-winning author, journalist, and activist. We discuss Soraya's new book, "The Resilience Myth: New Thinking on Grit, Strength, and Growth after Trauma," in which she urges us to question and dismantle popular ideas around resiliency that prioritize the mind/body dichotomy, encourage a "tough-it-out" mentality, celebrates productivity, and res...

Dr. Mona Amin is a Board Certified General Pediatrician, a Parenting Coach, a Mom -- and a social media sensation. Through her brand @pedsdoctalk, her goal is to provide relatable and easy-to-digest education for the modern parent regarding the health, safety, and wellness of their child. In today's Episode, however, I invite Dr. Mona to put down her Doctor & Coaching hat for a moment and get...

In this Episode I speak with Elise Hu, author of "Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital." When Elise moved to Seoul in 2015 as the first-ever Korea and Japan bureau chief for the American broadcaster NPR, it dawned on her that she was in fact coming "face-to-face with the future of how we might live, look, and relate to one another." South Korea is one of the world's lar...

Is there much more we can say about love? Well, according to the late and brilliant bell hooks, as a society we seem simultaneously obsessed with love and yet find it very difficult to define. And that it's perhaps "our confusion about what we mean when we use the word 'love' that is the source of our difficulty in loving." In this episode we explore what hooks defines as the "original school of l...

This trailer introduces the Podcast, its themes, and the topics we will explore in upcoming episodes.