Solace and the City

I have been thinking a lot about how to use my platform to support the Black Lives Matter movement without taking up media real estate that could be put towards more effective educational resources. I think that I speak for many of my fellow white allies in that I really want to be having conversations to get a better understanding of the black perspective, but I also acknowledge that this relearn...

This week I am SO excited to share an episode with the youngest guest yet!  Caroline Bourke is an incredibly gifted actor, singer, and impressionist.  All of this talent has launched her into Tik Tok stardom, reigniting her passion for comedy and capturing the attention of The Today Show!  Caroline and I discuss the effect of social media on mental health and how, ironically, Tik To...

Happy Memorial Day everyone!  Today I am SO excited to share my conversation with Lindsey Boylan, a Democrat running against Jerrold Nadler for Congress in NY's 10th District.  Lindsey served as Deputy Secretary of Economic Development, appointed by Governor Cuomo. In that role, she oversaw The Office of Storm Recovery where she led disaster relief efforts for NewYork in Puerto Rico after Hurrican...

This week I have another bonus episode to share with Sam Eisenstadt, a former D1 Football player, the Defensive Coordinator for the Örebro Black Knights, and my friend from growing up!  Sam talks about his struggle with anxiety and how this affected him as a young high school football star.  In college, Sam made the difficult decision to leave the team his Junior year, and he opens up about the id...

This week I spoke with Chelsey Curtis, the co-host of What We Said podcast and certified health coach! Despite living on the other side of the country, Chelsey was sweet enough to record with me and talk about her journey to finding unconditional self love. We explore one of my favorite topics, the need to love yourself before getting into a relationship, and share our stories about toxic situatio...

Happy (belated) Mother's Day!  I have such a special episode to share with you all in honor of this holiday.  This week I spoke with Kate and Claudia who are the hosts of Stage 4 Clinger, a podcast about a "comedian and her Christian mother navigating their way through a Stage 4 Breast Cancer diagnosis with a healthy dose of humor."  We explore the complexities of mother-daughter relationships and...

I’m so excited to be sharing my first bonus episode of the month with Dylan Haines!! Dylan lives and breathes Texas, so in the first part of the episode we talked a lot about what it was like for him growing up in Austin and making his way to the UT football team. When I try to get Dylan to open up about his mental heath, we begin to butt heads a bit, as he doesnt immediately see the power of vuln...

This week I sat down with Damia December, a Master Reiki Practitioner, Registered Behavior Therapist, and Founder of healme.nyc!  We talk about Reiki as a healing practice and how one becomes an expert in this Japanese holistic technique.  Damia also talks about the struggles she went through in her life that lead her to find Reiki and how this practice has helped her heal from childhood...

This week I'm sharing my conversation with Celeste O'Connor, a Hopkins friend and incredibly talented young actor!  With the release of her first major film Selah and the Spades on our minds, we take a trip back to high school and talk about the obstacles we faced as young women to define and qccept our identities.  Celeste opens up about the pressure she felt to fit in at her homogenous, all-girl...

I have SUCH an exciting episode for you guys!  This week I spoke with Chris Roth, Brendan Rogers, and Ken Wright, the team behind the AWESOME direct-to-consumer CBD brand Highline Wellness!  In the episode, Chris discusses how he decided to leave the corporate world and pursue his dream of starting his own company.  As the CFO, Brendan explains why he had no hesitations believing in...

This week, I'm sharing a conversation I had a few weeks ago with my incredibly talented friend, Jesse Shuman!  As a fellow Johns Hopkins alum, Jesse  reflects on his own undergraduate experience and shares what it was like being an English major at a school known for medicine.  In New York, Jesse works as an Editorial Assistant for Penguin Random House and reads hundreds of submissions a week!  On...

This week I'm sharing an episode that's very close to my heart.  I spoke with Dr. Doreen Marshall, who is the Vice President of Programs for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.  She has also been engaged in local and national suicide prevention and postvention work for more than 15 years, which began after she herself lost someone close to suicide.  In this episode, Dr. Marshall explai...

By far and away the biggest highlight of my week was recording with comedian, Bravo TV star, and podcast legend, Hannah Berner (@beingbernz)!  For those of you who don't know (but you seriously should), Hannah is a multi-talented idol of mine.  When she's not living it up in the Hamptons to record Bravo's popular show Summer House, she is running a podcast called Berning in Hell where she talks to...

Three weeks before social distancing, I sat down with Liz Gunner and Laura Farrell, who are hosts of a new podcast called The Real Dietitians of New York City!  (They also happen to be Enna Selmanovic's super awesome roommates!)  Liz and Laura break down differences between dietitians and nutritionists, the myths of fad diets, and the psychology behind eating disorders.  They also explain how they...

This week, I took a 45 minute break from social distancing to sit down with my incredibly smart, kind, and beautiful friend Rienna Russo!  In addition to sharing my Johns Hopkins social experience, Rienna studied Public Health and Cognitive Science and got her Masters Degree in Infectious Diseases.  It's safe to say that now is a very crazy time for her!  I wanted to bring Rienna on...

This week on the most dramatic episode ever of Solace and the City, I sat down with Lacey Mark @laceymmark from Bachelor Nation!  As a longtime fan of the Bachelor franchise, I was so excited to get the inside scoop of what it's like being in the world of Chris Harrison.  Lacey goes through her whole experience, which started out as a joke application with her friends and turned into a tumultuous...

This week I had the pleasure of sitting down with Brandon Berman, the host of the popular New York City dating show UpDating!  He explains what UpDating is, the qualities he looks for in guests, and some crazy first date stories that were witnessed by live audiences!  As Brandon is also a stand-up comedian, we also explore the relationship between mental health and comedy and talk about...

This week I sat down with the incredibly talented singer and songwriter, Noah Kahan!  Not only does Noah have the voice of an absolute angel (queue Hurt Somebody on Spotify) but he also had myself and @ali.puccio in hysteric bits of laughter for the entire hour of recording.  Noah walked through his rise to stardom, from emo talent shows as an eight year old to LA record deals with Drake...

I was nerding out this week when I sat down with Dr. Jennifer Blaze to discuss the biological reasons behind our battles with mental health!  Dr. Blaze is currently a   Postdoctorate Fellow at Mount Sinai studying epigenitcs and teaching a seminar on this neuroscience field at Columbia University.  If you don't know what epigenetics is, don't worry.  Dr. Blaze explains breaks down all of the scien...

I cannot believe this is real life right now, because I was lucky enough to have Lindsey Metselaar as my guest on Solace and the City this week!  Not only is she a millennial dating expert, but Lindsey is also the host of the first podcast that got me hooked, We Met At Acme.  I was able to ask her all of the burning questions I had about the creation of her podcast, her support for menta...

This week I was able to sit down with film writer and director Jonah Feingold!   A lover of "Harry Met Sally" types of movies, Jonah creates romantic comedies that depict the millennial dating culture.    In addition to learning more about the inspiration behind some of Jonah's films, we talk about the effect that modern romance has on mental health and why the person who...

This week I sat down with comedian and fellow podcaster Dylan Palladino!  Although Dylan was a bit short on time, we were able to touch on a variety of topics including the struggle of being tall and good-looking, the anxiety that comes with being hyper-aware, and the keys to having a successful meditation practice.  (I'm still working on incorporating his suggestions for my own daily pr...

I feel incredibly honored this week to be sharing my conversation with Brandon Doman, the man behind The Strangers Project. For those who aren’t familiar with his work, Brandon has been giving people the opportunity to share their story anonymously for the past eleven years and has received more than 50,000 hand-written answers. Whether about love or loss, joy or fear, what they all have in common...

This week I had the great pleasure of sitting down and catching up with my friend Ramsey from high school!  We first talked about the ways in which going to a boarding school impacted our teen years and gave some funny anecdotes from our individual experiences in high school.  Ramsey then opened up about her year at a treatment center in Colorado and the lessons she took away from this mentally an...

This week I had the privilege of talking to the co-founder of Evryman, Dan Doty!  We discussed the unique life events that led Dan to starting a men's emotional leadership group, including being a wilderness guide and a teacher in the Bronx.  From North Dakota to New York, from Colorado to California, Dan had the opportunity to speak with hundreds of men and boys.  He made sure to emphasize that o...