The Curious Introvert

Kym Wootton was a 42-year-old C-suite executive, running 3 departments & making a six-figure income in Boulder, CO when she wondered if life could look different. In January of 2023, she began an adult gap year – a hard reset, leaving her company of 13 years. In this episode, she shares about tolerable levels of unhappiness, the stigma on those who work from home, & downshifting from the g...

Dr. Michael P Masters is a professor of biological anthropology at Montana Tech University. Part of his research draws on anthropology, astronomy, physics & astrobiology to investigate UFO phenomena, specifically the premise that aliens may be our human descendants, returning from the future to visit & study their own hominin evolutionary past. We discuss why thinking about this is more th...

To celebrate our 200th episode, I’m answering listener questions & sharing three life lessons podcasting has taught me & how they can help you too. Episodes mentioned in this episode: Ep. 131 | Active or Passive Curiosity? Cultivating Confidence, Adventure & Reward Hormones Ep. 128 | Is a 4-Day Work Week Coming? Recalibrating Balance (PART 1) Ep. 36 | Paid to Adventure: Travel Show Hos...

Hope Kelaher is a licensed clinical social worker, friend therapist & the author of Here to Make Friends: How to Make Friends as an Adult . She believes that meaningful friendships should be staples, not accessories. In this episode, you’ll hear the three types of friendship & how to make new friends after a job change, a family change (like divorce) & retirement. She also covers human...

Casey McGuire Davidson was an ambitious corporate achiever who always had a full schedule & anxious energy. She felt wine was the glue holding her life together until she realized it wasn’t. She later found serenity in sobriety, but it wasn’t without some social hiccups. In this episode, she uses her expertise as a certified life & sobriety coach to show us how to keep our friends in the t...

Russ Jones is an ADHD coach & ADDer himself who helps adults with ADHD get their shit together & have a better life through his 1 on 1 coaching, online course & forum & his podcast, ADHD Big Brother.  We thought a forthcoming discussion about our ADHD epic fails might encourage you that you’re not alone & our can’t live without hacks & tools might help you, so we made a swa...

David Grusch was an intelligence officer in the UAP task force established to investigate sighting reports of what most still call UFOs. In June 2023, he has now become a whistleblower against the task force saying they illegally withheld information from Congress about retrieved intact & partially intact crafts & pilots of non-human origin. In this episode, I talk with retired United Stat...

Scott Stern is a scholar, author & public interest lawyer who was launched into a 7-year investigation into the buried history of The American Plan, the mass incarceration of women during the First World War deemed “suspicious” all for the sake of containing venereal disease. And the laws that permitted the round-up….still exist today. You’ll hear why no one has ever heard of this, how women w...

Marina Chapman is a Colombian-born British woman who at age 4, was abandoned in the jungle after a kidnapping gone wrong. She’s going to share how she survived in the jungle for 5 years with a family of monkeys, how getting out of the jungle nearly killed her & what life is like now. If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 48: FORCED MARRIAGE IN AMERICA? Guest: https://www.instagram...

Dr. Kevin Fontaine hopes to find sustainable solutions for both cancer treatment & prevention through his over 30 years of experience in conducting obesity-related lifestyle modification trials. He’s a Professor & Chair of the Dept of Health Behavior in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama Birmingham & the author of over 150 scientific articles. In this episode, he...

Dr. Kyler Shumway is a licensed psychologist, TEDx speaker the President and Chief Clinical Officer at one of the largest mental health practices in Texas. He has been featured by Forbes, The New York Times & CNN for his work in combatting the loneliness epidemic. In this episode, we discuss how to improve your adult friendships by being a better friend. Tyler shares 7 red flags that you might...

Catherine Quiring is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who specializes in helping ex-evangelicals overcome religious trauma. In this episode, she shares what that looked like for her, how to know if you have limiting thoughts leftover from controlling doctrine, how to keep your faith while you separate from systems of control & how to find your own thoughts in a sea of “shoulds.” If you like...

Bri Snellgrove was a successful PR agency owner in a small town when she realized what she had worked hard for (& publicly promoted) wasn’t what she wanted. After making another very public announcement that she was open for hire & finding a job, she was fired. In this episode, we talk about navigating the emotional rollercoaster of a career change, shadow guilt, remorse of time wasted, un...

Jane Boroski is the only known survivor of the Connecticut River Valley Killer. The killer (never caught) is thought to have killed 7 women between 1978 & 1988 along a stretch of Interstate 91 between the border of New Hampshire & Vermont. In this episode, she shares her story, how she’s created her own closure & what she’s doing to help other cold case survivors. If you like this epis...

Hilda Labrada Gore is a certified health coach with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition & the podcast host & producer for the Weston A Price podcast, Wise Traditions, an interview podcast for those seeking optimal health based on ancient wisdom. In this episode, she shares how she went from typical health habits to globe-trotting biohacker, the free health hack everyone can do to sleep...

Dr. Ali Mattu was so socially anxious as a child, that he had selective mutism. Since then, he’s become a clinical psychologist specializing in treating anxiety disorders. Wanting to create more accessible mental health education, he created a YouTube channel with over 8.5 million views that helps viewers live a more compassionate, courageous, and connected life. He was the co-host of PBS’s Emmy N...

Nina Keneally recognized saw a need when she moved to an area where almost no one seemed to be over 35. Realizing that she was the oldest person in cafes & restaurants, she knew there was a need for young people to have someone to talk to who is mom-like, but not their mom. She decided to combine her experience as a drug and alcohol abuse counselor, a businesswoman, and a Broadway director/pro...

In these 5 episode clips, you’ll hear from addiction researcher, Dr. Josh Grubbs on the legitimacy of sex addiction, Intimate Care Service owner, Trish St John on why we resist thinking of people with disabilities as sexual, Author Joshua Harris on the pressure of purity culture vs modern dating, sexologist & antique vibrator curator Dr. Carol Queen on the strange history of vibrators in the U...

Sara Mercier is a Registered Dental Hygienist, Certified Myofunctional Airway Specialist, and Orofacial Myologist. She also coordinates multi-faceted care to help patients regain full function in the areas of sleep, stress, hormones, TMJ & oral health. In this episode, she explains the connection between oral & whole-body health, a quick fix to improve your sleep quality & the truth ab...

Adam Coutts has meditated daily for 34 years, lived in monasteries in the USA & Asia for 4 years & even meditated once for 4 hours straight … all with ADHD. Now he teaches meditation & mindfulness to the public, including specialized sessions for those with ADHD. In this episode, you’ll hear his first (overwhelming) experience meditation, impulsivity & brashness, meditation techniq...

Tim Anderson is a physician’s assistant who spent the first 10 years of his practice holding traditional appointments. If the patient's hormones were in range, he didn't recommend any interventions even if they didn't feel good. He’s since shifted with working with patients instead of the system, helping men & women navigate to optimum health & vitality. In this episode, he...

Dr. Carder Stout went from partying with celebrities in his NYC penthouse to being homeless on the beach in Venice, California. He was trapped in a cycle of addiction to crack cocaine, selling everything he owned to get more, begging on street corners & eventually accepting a job as a driver for a high-ranking member of the crips in exchange for free drugs & money. It was this arrangement...

Duana Welch is a professor turned researcher who has contributed to NPR, PBS & Psychology Today. Her specialty is the science of romance & helping people find their person using data. In this episode, she shares about the 3 attachment styles that could be major influencers in your relationship, the difference between being secure & being co-dependent, mini marriages & how to upgrad...

In these 4 episode clips, you’ll hear Steve Friedman talk about the chemical differences between introvert & extrovert brains, you’ll hear me give practical tips on managing energy & social obligations as an outgoing introvert & how to hate networking less & Rob Baedecker on mastering small talk including political discourse.   If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 97...

Brendon Marotta is a filmmaker whose feature-length documentary, American Circumcision, won multiple awards & can be found on Amazon & YouTube. In this episode, we talk about the surprising history of circumcision, the practice today, parental consent & why this is so hard to talk about, but female circumcision isn’t. If you liked this episode, you’ll also like episode 48: FORCED MARRI...