The Really Very Crunchy Podcast

A startup is proposing something that sounds like science fiction: putting giant mirrors in orbit to reflect sunlight back to Earth. The idea is to bounce sunlight onto solar farms after dark, potentially generating energy at night and extending daylight for certain locations. In this episode, Emily and Jason talk through the concept, the potential benefits, and the serious concerns scientists are...

Can you actually change your personality, or are you stuck the way you are forever? In this episode, Jason and Emily talk through the surprising science behind personality change. For decades psychologists believed personality was mostly fixed by adulthood. But new research suggests that with intention, specific habits, and enough time, people can shift major traits like extroversion, conscientiou...

Do other people’s kids completely unravel when they miss sleep, or is it just theirs? From overtired meltdowns to the logistics of family travel before a newborn arrives, it’s a conversation about expectations, exhaustion, and figuring out what actually makes sense for your family. Emily’s Book: Really Very Crunchy https://amzn.to/4cX9JmH Little Helper Big Imagination https://amzn.to/4lbNufe Learn...

In this episode, Emily and Jason sit down with Ryan Holiday’s “22 Rules for Reading” and put them to the test. As two people who genuinely love books but approach reading very differently, they talk through which rules they wholeheartedly agree with, which ones feel unrealistic for busy parents, and which ones might be a little too rigid for real life. Emily’s Book: Really Very Crunchy https://amz...

In this week’s bonus episode, we’re talking about one of the biggest parenting tensions no one really prepares you for: are we supposed to constantly build our kids up, or do go all in on intrinsic value? What actually forms a confident adult? With a new baby on the way, parenting suddenly feels different at this stage of life. We’re older. A little calmer. Maybe a little more tired. And we’re rai...

In this episode, Jason and Emily break down the famous 85-year Harvard Study on Adult Development, the one that followed people for decades to figure out what actually makes for a good life. It turns out it’s not just money or success, but relationships, purpose, stress, habits, and how you handle conflict over time. Naturally, instead of calmly reflecting on this like mature adults, they ranked t...

There’s a term floating around the internet called “man keeping.” The idea? That women often carry the mental and emotional load of maintaining friendships, family connections, holiday plans, thank-you notes, birthday texts, and basically the entire social ecosystem of a household. Meanwhile, many men… just don’t think about it. Or don’t care in the same way. In this episode, Emily and Jason talk...

What happens when generosity meets the internet? This week, Emily and Jason talk about GoFundMe campaigns, cheerful giving, and the awkward tension of watching someone you donated to book a beach vacation.  They unpack the heart behind giving, the expectations we attach to it, and why it’s harder than we think to truly let go. Also: the end of the world, and the presidential announcement that alie...

What happens when you scroll past a big creator’s video and realize… you’ve seen it before because … it was yours?  In this episode, Emily and Jason unpack the growing problem of content creators lifting ideas, formats, and even full concepts, then presenting them as original work. They explain the real difference between joining a trend and crossing the line into plagiarism, and why that distinct...

We’re sporty people, but we have a confession: we aren’t into sports. That means no favorite teams, no water cooler discussions about the game, no getting invited to Super Bowl parties. Anyone else out there like that? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you heard about Moltbook? Even when the AI agents aren't being sinister, there's just something icky about it. The next five years is going to be interesting... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jason and Emily wade into the Reddit comment swamp after Emily’s birth announcement goes mildly viral, unpacking why enjoying motherhood somehow earned them the labels “pro-natalist” and “ultra-conservative.” They talk through what was actually said, what people heard, and why the internet seems allergic to women liking their own lives. Along the way, they share a scary moment when one of their ki...

Emily and Jason sit down to discuss their current birth “plan”… which is really more of a loose collection of highly questionable options. There’s the hospital. There’s the shack. There’s the home birth. There’s the possibility of free-birthing on their way to Alaska.  No matter where it happens, one thing is non-negotiable: the birth must be Middle-earth themed. 00:00 Prepping for the Winter Stor...

We made it to 100 episodes, so we’re doing what felt right: answering your questions. No theme, no agenda, just a wide-ranging Q&A covering parenting, marriage, crunchy life choices, content creation, homeschooling, fears, habits, things we’ve changed our minds about, and things we probably never will. Thanks for listening, watching, sharing, and sticking with us for 100 episodes. We genuinely cou...

What actually makes a fear irrational—and who gets to decide? This week, Jason and Emily talk about the fears that don’t always make sense… and the ones that absolutely do. From being afraid of the dark to worrying about things that may never happen, they unpack where fear comes from, why some people carry more of it than others, and how much of it is instinct versus imagination. Learn more about...

In this episode, we talk about heroes in children’s fiction and whether kids actually need moral ambiguity or if that’s something adults project onto stories meant for younger minds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the final episode of the year, and we are going out exactly the way you’d expect. Emily admits she simply cannot handle getting a talking to, no matter how gentle or well intentioned it is, and Jason has thoughts about that. From there, the conversation turns reflective as we talk honestly about where we think we’ll be in five years and what we hope life, work, family, and the show might look...

It’s the most emotional time of the year. At least according to the internet. In this episode, Jason and Emily talk about why so many holiday videos right now feel designed to make you cry and whether that kind of sentiment actually connects or just feels forced. They discuss the pressure to manufacture meaningful moments, the difference between genuine nostalgia and emotional marketing, and why C...

This episode starts off festive and quickly turns into a surprisingly strong opinion about movies, including a few Christmas favorites you might not expect and a brief but passionate conversation about why some beloved actors just do not hit the same anymore. From there, things take a turn into the real holiday struggle: talking to other humans. We get into why Christmas parties feel so awkward, t...

Jason and Emily are in full holiday chaos mode and nothing is going according to the Hallmark script. Jason is trying (and failing) to figure out what to buy the woman who hates everything in the “Gifts for Her” section, while Emily has accidentally become the kind of person who takes Christmas parade floats a little too seriously. Somewhere between a live nativity that might just be in the wrong...

Jason has always been the rule breaker, Emily has always been the rule follower. In this episode, they talk about when it actually makes sense to bend or break the rules, and when it is a hard no. From childhood stories and school rules to parenting, speed limits, and “suggested” bedtimes, they explore how to respect authority, use common sense, and teach kids the difference between pointless rule...

Jason and Emily kick off Thanksgiving by sharing wild and fascinating facts you can use to wow (or mildly unsettle) your dinner guests, from why “Jingle Bells” was originally a Thanksgiving song to why Snuggies might have been the downfall of society. Along the way, Jason talks about his chaotic childhood Thanksgivings, they rant about why concerts are no longer fun, and things get just a little u...

Sponsors for this episode include: Voetberg Method Experience This month, use my code: CRUNCHY20 to get 20% off each month you’re subscribed. Get 20% off the  proprietary Voetberg Method Experience, where siblings can share lessons  and learn music in a way they’ll never forget, even when lessons stop. https://tinyurl.com/RVCNowThatWereFamily ——— Sweets Elderberry https://tinyurl.com/RVCSweetsElde...

Sponsors for this Episode Include: Voetberg Method Experience This month, use my code: CRUNCHY20 to get 20% off each month you’re subscribed. Get 20% off the  proprietary Voetberg Method Experience, where siblings can share lessons  and learn music in a way they’ll never forget, even when lessons stop. https://tinyurl.com/RVCNowThatWereFamily ——— Sweets Elderberry https://tinyurl.com/RVCSweetsElde...

Voetberg Method Experience This month, use my code: CRUNCHY20 to get 20% off each month you’re subscribed. Get 20% off the  proprietary Voetberg Method Experience, where siblings can share lessons  and learn music in a way they’ll never forget, even when lessons stop. https://tinyurl.com/RVCNowThatWereFamily Sweets Elderberry https://tinyurl.com/RVCSweetsElderberry Wayfair Cozify your space with W...