[video available on spotify] when i was about 12 years old, i read a quote by john lennon that said “when i went to school, they asked me what i wanted to be when i grew up. i wrote down happy. they told me i didn't understand the assignment, and i told them they didn't understand life.” from that point forward, anytime anyone would ask me, emma, what do you wanna be when you grow up? i would answer happy. and so today i thought we would investigate happiness because it's a word that we use so often, but we rarely take a minute to step back and ask ourselves, what actually is this? how do we truly acquire this feeling? so let's investigate it together today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] here i go again, analyzing another corny quote. on today's agenda, we have a quote that is beloved on social media right now: i don't chase, i attract. we all have a tendency to chase, especially in romantic relationships. i think the concept applies in career as well, but it really hits home for romantic relationships. so today i want to deep dive on this quote specifically within the context of romantic relationships, because i think that’s where it’s the most impactful. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] is it just me, or is it starting to feel like romantic love is an illusion? i'm starting to question the concept of romantic love and what that experience is for us as humans because of my own life experiences, but also because the statistics are pretty damning. according to the american psychological association, approximately 40 to 50% of first marriages end in divorce. it's so fascinating to me that something so fundamental to human life seems destined to fail. as i'm maturing and facing these realities, i can't help but ask the question, why? and my brain immediately goes to, well, romantic love must just be an illusion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] yesterday wasn't a great day for me. it all started when i showed up to my morning workout class and i realized that i had been booked on the 13th treadmill. i walked into the class and saw the treadmill with a big number 13 on it and i was like, this is bad luck. then on the way home, i saw a dead black cat on the side of the road. by then i was really freaking out because black cats are supposed to be bad luck and a dead black cat must be really bad luck. i was having all this anxiety about these bad omens, and i don't even know where i got those ideas from. do i even believe that those things are bad luck deeply to my core? no. but i realized yesterday that i am very superstitious and i hadn’t ever acknowledged it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] today i'm going to be speaking with ricky kalmon, a hypnotist. my curiosity around hypnosis has been growing recently because i've been going through this journey trying to quit nicotine, and one of the options I read about online to help me quit was hypnosis. i want to understand how and why it works, and honestly, what it even is in the first place. ricky is a hypnotist and a mindset expert. he speaks on how our mindset can be the greatest tool in achievement, reducing stress, and increasing productivity and potential. so i present to you, ricky kalmon. i can't wait. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

i had an epiphany recently that for my entire life thus far, i’ve been trying to grow up way too fast. in middle school and high school i wanted to find a boyfriend, have my first kiss, and lose my virginity. i wanted to do all of these things that i knew deep down i wasn't ready for, but my peers would praise me if i did. in my early twenties, i wanted to be more like a real adult: retire nightlife and start focusing on settling down and finding my future husband. but i had this sort of epiphany recently where i was like, hold on a minute. i'm 22 years old and I'm trying to live like 40 year old. why am i not giving myself the space and room to be young? so today we're going to be discussing the natural, self-inflicted desire to grow up too fast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

throughout my life, i've gone through phases of low self-esteem. this is normal, we all experience this. i'm not super excited to admit this, but for as long as i can remember, phases of low self-esteem have caused me to fixate on one person that i believe is better than me, and compare myself to them. their appearance, their relationship or lack thereof, their friend group, their job, their family situation… everything. i chose to admit this today because i'm talking about comparison. it’s a pretty normal human instinct, and it's important that we have the ability to compare, but when it comes to comparing ourselves, it gets a little bit more complicated. so let's figure out why we compare ourselves to others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] since high school, i've been cycling between two phases: wow, this girl is productive, and wow, this girl can't get anything done. when i'm in a productive phase, working comes easily to me. and when i'm in an unproductive phase, it's the complete opposite. during these unproductive times, i take a step back and analyze what's happening. and what i'm trying to figure out is am i being lazy, or am i burnt out? so today, i want to talk about the difference between laziness and burnout because they are kind of hard to distinguish, but understanding where you’re at helps you get back on track.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] today i present to you, amanda montell: a writer, linguist, and fellow podcast host. amanda has written three books. one of them, the age of magical overthinking, is about to come out. today i want to zoom in on one of our many common interests. she wrote an entire book about cults, the language used in cults, and cult-like behavior, and i'm excited to discuss how we participate in cult-like behavior on a day-to-day basis without even realizing it. she's really investigated the line between what is a cult and what is just cult-like behavior. and this is something I am curious to explore because I think it's a little bit more relevant than we even realize. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] about a month ago, i posted a casual selfie, and i saw comments saying “wow, she looks tired,” and “she looks kind of sick.” i was like, wait a minute. i’m well rested and healthy… what's everyone going on about? and then it clicks. i'm not wearing makeup in that selfie. at first it was sort of disturbing to me that i was getting so many comments about how tired or sick i looked just because i wasn't wearing makeup. but then i had an epiphany. so that's what we're going to be talking about today: how makeup impacts the way that we perceive natural appearance.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] it's 2016. i'm 15 years old, and for the first time i'm realizing that life is challenging. i'm becoming obsessed with inspirational quotes. i think i’m having a philosophical awakening. now imagine during this time someone comes up to me and says, hey emma, what's your favorite quote? well, my answer would've been - everything happens for a reason. during that time, that quote answered all the questions that i needed answered, because my challenges were painfully simple. i thought i would get that tattooed on my body somewhere as a teenager, and i thank my lucky stars every day that i didn’t because i'll tell you, inspirational quotes look really good on the surface, but when you start to analyze them, they usually have some holes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

today i'm going to be giving you unsolicited fashion advice. you might be thinking, hold on a minute, i need to hear this girl's credentials before i take fashion advice from her. well, i have some bad news. i don't have a lot of credentials or sit front row at every fashion show, and i'm not a full-time fashion designer. i'm not the most fashionable girl in the world either, but I do have one thing and that's a passion for fashion. and hopefully for some of you, that's enough. fashion is very personal and what works for me might not work for you, but it also very well might. so take what applies to you and your sense of style and ditch what doesn't. let's just have a good time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] the concept of soulmates can be a relief to people, a nightmare, complete bullshit, or somewhere in between all of those things. everyone has their own unique perspective on the concept, and it's pretty rare to find two people who see it exactly the same. humanity as a whole has believed in soulmates for a very long time. though it's a very old concept, it has evolved to fit our current time. this isn't some sort of niche spiritual idea. this is very mainstream and even has sort of a trendy feel in some ways. so today we're going to talk about the concept of soulmates.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] we're all constantly waiting on our favorite creatives to put out their next project. and the reason for that is because art takes a long time to create. i think a lot of us know this, but we forget this. i see a lot of fans online saying things to their favorite creatives like, hello, where's the next project? did you forget about us? are you being fucking lazy? it's very easy to believe that for artists, being creative is just automatic. and if they're not coming out with stuff left and right, it's because they don't want to. but that's very far from the truth. so today i want to talk about why good art takes time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] i rarely discuss the business side of my life. and i think that's for two reasons: number one, i fear it's boring, and number two, I feel like it doesn't align with how people see me. but today i'm finally going to let the business-minded side of myself speak. a few years ago i started my coffee company, chamberlain coffee. i had this rare opportunity to start a business with little to no experience because my career on the internet gave me the resources to reach out to people who knew how to make a business vision come to life. and throughout this experience, i've not only learned a lot, but have also grown an appreciation for the process itself. so today i'm going to list 10 of the challenges that i've faced running a business, and talk about what those 10 challenges taught me. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

approximately three months ago i decided to embark on the journey to quit nicotine for good, and today's episode is going to be focusing on my experience thus far trying to quit. it's been incredibly hard. the reason why i feel the need to say how hard it is, is because people underestimate how severe nicotine addiction can be. i will say, it depends on the person and the level of addiction. but whether you or someone else in your life is addicted to nicotine and trying to quit, it's important to remember that it's not that easy. i was addicted to the vape specifically. that was my kryptonite. so with that in mind, i want to describe to you all of the different ways i’ve tried to get off the vape, and where i'm at in my process today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] today we're talking about being rejected. the thing about rejection is that we’ve all experienced it before, and we're all going to continue to experience rejection. it's just one of those things that we can't avoid. we can do everything right, and we're still at risk of being rejected. and i truly believe that when something's inevitable in life, it's much better to focus on finding a healthy way to handle it, than trying to avoid it at all costs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] we are all constantly receiving advice whether we asked for advice or not. we can receive advice from people that we know, like our family, friends, teachers, or bosses. we can also receive advice from less intimate sources, like random people on the internet, like me, or authors of books or writers of movies. we're constantly being thrown advice from all angles, and as a result, we're constantly sorting through advice deciding what the fuck to do with it. and a lot of that happens subconsciously because the giving and receiving of advice is such an automatic part of interacting as a human being. there are a lot of variables when it comes to this type of social interaction, but today i wanna zoom in on a specific type of advice interaction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] i'm gonna be honest, i'm kind of falling apart over here. i lost my voice. i think it's because i've been singing in the car more than usual. i'm also on my period and i'm in a lot of pain. i'm really cramping up. yeah, i'm falling apart but i'm happy to be hanging out with you today, and turns out, despite all that i'm going through, i'm ready to use my brain. not my entire brain, but i'm in the mood to use seventy-five percent of my brain. i decided i wanted to play a little game of would you rather. a lot of times would you rather questions are like, “would you rather eat an eyeball or all of your fingernails?” that's fun, but i wanted to play would you rather in a way that really uses that seventy-five percent of my brain. so i went online and i found some vaguely philosophical would you rather questions. i think we're gonna have fun today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] for the last few months, i've been on a journey. now that's not saying much because i'm always on some sort of journey. my particular journey as of recent has been rebuilding my social life. i didn't have a social life for a really long time because i didn't want one. for the past few years, all i've talked about is the importance of independence. but arriving to this point of independence, weirdly made me crave friendship. all of a sudden, after years of not really prioritizing friendship, my subconscious knew when i had arrived at a good place, that it was time to make friends again. it was like my subconscious told me, okay, it's time. it's time for you to go back out into the world and you need to put effort into your social life again.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] today i'm going to be interviewing one of my favorite, if not my favorite designers. she is the founder of her brand bode. maybe by definition bode is a men's wear brand, but bode is very much more than that. bode is a luxury brand with this sort of casual, vintage, eclectic edge. her brand is truly the epitome of vintage-inspired clothing, like she fucking nails it. bode makes it feel like you plucked it out of a store in the fifties. the brand really is helping to preserve the magical, beautiful craftsmanship of the past that's kind of slowly dwindling out of our day-to-day life. and bode is really one of one. i present to you emily adams bode aujla. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] in life we're presented with a lot of questions that don't have concrete answers, and there are two ways that we can solve these problems. we can go with our gut instinct, which is our brain and body just automatically choosing the answer without thinking consciously. or we can come to a conclusion by really consciously analyzing the problem or question at hand; what are the pros and cons of taking each action, et cetera? i'm personally someone who tends to go with my intuition. that's not to say that i don't ever come to a conclusion based on heavy analysis, because i definitely do. but i would say four times out of five, i'm trusting my instincts. so what i'm here to talk about today is the value of your intuition.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] today we're going to be talking about us, because today's topic, parasocial relationships, addresses the type of relationship we have. parasocial relationships are one-sided relationships where one person extends emotional energy, interest and time, and the other party (the persona) is completely unaware of the other's existence. i've experienced both sides of a parasocial relationship, and as with all things, it can be a little toxic on both sides. but it can also be incredibly positive and healthy. i think my goal with this conversation is to just instill self-awareness and mindfulness around this topic so that both of us can have it in the back of our minds that we have to keep our parasocial relationships under control so that they can be a positive and healthy thing.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] we all know stylish people, and it's easy to decide whether or not someone's stylish just by looking at them. it's pretty obvious. but it's much harder to describe what makes somebody stylish, or why somebody is stylish. so today i want to discuss what truly makes someone stylish. but here's something i want to discuss before we even get into it; not everybody wants to be stylish or looks at clothes as a way to express themselves. and that's okay too. but if you're into fashion and expressing yourself in that way, it can be an incredible hobby. but it’s just not mandatory, and it's not for everyone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] today we're going to be talking to dr. lori gottlieb. she’s a psychotherapist, author of the new york times bestselling book “maybe you should talk to someone,” and co-host of the “dear therapists” podcast. she’s an expert on all things therapy, mental health, psychology, you name it. i wanna specifically talk to her about romantic relationships. there's a lot of challenges that come with dating in the age of technology, and i'm curious to talk to a psychotherapist about the challenges of dating in our modern world, while also just talking about relationships in general. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] i have a feeling that the parents are gonna love this episode. certain topics just make me fall into mom mode, where all of a sudden i'm saying that the internet is poison and that marijuana is the devil's lettuce. i'll tell you to go outside and touch grass, and i have a feeling that today's topic will send me straight into mom mode. i've recently noticed quite a few trends online that are really toxic and really unhealthy and really bad for society overall, in my opinion. and they've just been sitting in my mind, rotting, growing mold, growing fungus, and i just wanna discuss them today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] recently i watched a movie that was pretty good, and one of the last scenes provided a quote that has been stuck in my brain ever since. the main character writes down in the margins of a book, “happiness is only real when shared.” now i rarely see a quote and think to myself, i've actually never thought that before. but this quote blew my mind. i know we're gonna be fighting against cringe this whole episode because it is a little corny to talk about a quote to the length that i'm about to talk about a quote. but there's just so much truth here and unfortunately for you, i just have to. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] about two months ago i was kind of going through it, and around that time i had a trip coming up. without realizing, i sort of put off dealing with the challenges that i was being faced with in my life. subconsciously i thought this trip was going to just erase my problems. and i very quickly realized that problems follow you everywhere. i was on this trip dealing with all these unresolved issues because simply being in another country wasn't going to fix anything. reality hit me hard, and there was no ignoring it. this experience made me hyper aware of how damaging it can be to run away from your problems. so, all that to say, today we're gonna be discussing running away from our problems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] today we're going to be talking to michael bess. michael bess is chancellor's professor of history at vanderbilt university, where he has been teaching for the past 34 years. he's the author of five books, and a specialist in 20th and 21st century europe with a particular interest in the interactions between social and cultural processes and technological change. today i want to discuss with him how technology has impacted our quality of life over the past few centuries. i also want to discuss the ways that we might romanticize the past. and last but not least, i want to discuss how the internet impacts our perception of our current times, and how that's possibly very damaging. just sit back, relax, and enjoy my conversation with the incredible michael bess. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] i think i'm finally at a place now where i can look back at my high school memories and i can laugh. and it's such a relief because prior to now, anytime i'd remember an embarrassing high school memory, it was still too cringe to me. but i'm finally at a place now where i think i'm ready to share some of these memories, and what a beautiful thing that is. because cringey moments can haunt you. but eventually you get to a point where they become fun, funny, and somewhat a source of joy. so all of that to say, today i'm going to be telling some of my embarrassing high school stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] i got the idea for this episode because i was quite literally procrastinating writing an outline for a podcast episode. i didn't have an idea for a topic, or the mental energy to sit down and brainstorm. and i realized, everyone struggles with this. at times the human condition can feel like this constant fight against procrastination. we always have things that we need to do, and simultaneously we have so many things that we'd rather be doing that are more fun, lighthearted, and enjoyable. and the thing about procrastination is that not only does it cause stress, but it can also impact our self-esteem. it’s something that a lot of us only vaguely understand. we know we do it, but we don't fully understand why we do it or how we can stop doing it. so let’s talk about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

this is a topic that i have avoided forever, because i never wanted to have to admit to my own addiction publicly. but here i am today admitting to you that i have a very severe nicotine addiction. not a day has gone by in the last five years where i haven't consumed nicotine in some form. but recently, i decided that i want to try to quit. and because i'm at a place in my life where i'm trying to quit, i feel morally okay about discussing the topic. i was never proud of my nicotine addiction. in fact, i was always kind of ashamed of it. but two weeks ago, i decided i was done. and now this is a topic i feel comfortable discussing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] when i sit and analyze the most fulfilling times of my life, i notice a lot of patterns. one thing that stands out is that during fulfilling times, i tend to have a healthy amount of self-discipline that helps create stability and joy in my life. in my own words, i think having discipline is striving towards an ultimate goal that feels worthy to you, and striving to be the best person you can be. but if discipline were as easy to master as just forcing yourself to do what's right and forcing yourself to take the steps to reach your ultimate goal, then we would have nothing more to talk about. discipline is complicated because not only is it challenging to cultivate in the first place, but just as much as we need to have discipline, we also need to treat ourselves gently and with compassion. and finding that balance is a challenge in and of itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] today we're going to be talking to one of my best friends, owen thiele. i am so excited to be interviewing a friend today because i just think it's gonna be a total hoot. owen and i have a lot in common: we're both only children, we have anxiety about the same things, we tend to like the same people… i absolutely adore him. owen is an incredible comedian and an incredible actor, and if you want to see owen in a movie, mark your calendar for july 14th and go see theater camp. okay, now we can welcome owen thiele to the stage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] when i woke up this morning, i decided i'm not going to think very hard today. i opened my eyes and said, today's going to be a simple day. so in honor of that, i decided i'd share with you some simple things that i like a lot. that's it. just some things that are bringing me joy in this current moment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

when i experience art, i can almost immediately determine whether or not i think it's good. but i rarely ask myself why it's good. and recently i decided to do that. what's complicated about art is that it’s subjective, and everybody connects to art differently. so good art to one person is bad art to the next person. but i do think that there is an answer to the question, what is good art? so that's what we're going to discuss today. and listen, a conversation about art can very quickly turn pretentious and cringe. but i am going to do everything in my power today to make this not pretentious and cringe.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on Spotify] i feel like the automatic response to a problem or conflict is to blame everyone and everything other than ourselves. it's not very automatic to run into a problem and immediately ask, did this problem arise or did this conflict happen because i did something wrong? for the last two years, i've been working on asking myself if there’s any chance that maybe i'm the problem, and reflecting on whether or not i actually did do something wrong when conflict arises. it’s a lot easier to start pointing fingers and blaming everything on everyone else. it makes us feel like we're in the power position. it allows us to play the victim in a way, which can be a much more comfortable place to be. but i truly believe that life gets better when we get into the habit of asking ourselves if we are the problem. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

to romanticize is by definition to deal with or describe in an idealized or unrealistic fashion; to make something seem better or more appealing than it really is. today we're talking about making a deliberate, conscious choice to romanticize life. romanticizing life became sort of a social media trend about turning mundane daily moments into magical moments. i think a lot of us feel really disconnected from the simple pleasures of life due to the sort of fast-paced, highly technological reality we live in today. we get into a routine, and certain daily activities and tasks turn into meaningless chunks of our day. romanticizing life won’t solve all of your problems, but i think this philosophy paired with a level of mindfulness and awareness can help those mundane moments in life become a lot more enjoyable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on Spotify] today i'm going to be discussing some fashion trends that i believe are underrated. it's not that these fashion trends never get worn and never get discussed, but in my opinion, they don't get enough airtime. so today i'm going to sit here and give them the airtime that they deserve. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on Spotify] today i have a very special guest. someone who actually shifted my music taste in a big way. today we have mac demarco. when i was like 15 i found his music on vine, and i've been such a big fan ever since. i think what's so special about mac’s music is the way it always sounds like him. whether it's kind of funky, deep and sentimental, or just an instrumental, it always feels like him. his last album having almost 200 songs and being like nine hours long is so intriguing to me. he's going the complete opposite direction of the industry, and i must know more. so i present to you, mac demarco. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on Spotify] there have been many times in my life where i've found myself feeling really unhappy and not knowing what the issue was. and i've often realized that in those moments, i was feeling unhappy because i was not living life for me. i was living life for everyone and everything else. i wasn't listening to my own opinions. i wasn't making decisions for me. and what's really interesting about falling into a phase like this is that you don't always notice it. it happens slowly and is not obvious. and so today i want to talk about living life for you. i want to discuss some of the sneaky ways that you can find yourself in a routine where you're not living for you, discuss what it can look like, and how to get out of it. because when you're living life truly for you, it's so freeing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

when i think about it, i actually dislike a lot of people. i wouldn't say i hate a lot of people, but i definitely dislike a lot of people. now, to me, there's a big difference between dislike and hate. for the sake of today's conversation, let's look at dislike as a subtle feeling that can be much more easily controlled. i've found myself wondering recently if i'm the problem. is it wrong to dislike people? i never act upon my dislike. i never treat people that i don't like badly. i keep most of those feelings inside. so in theory, it's kind of harmless because the people that we dislike often don't really know that we dislike them. but i still feel sort of guilty about it. so let’s get into it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on Spotify] i think all of us can look at the concept of outfit repeating and say, why is this even a topic of conversation? but what's wild to me is how common it is for people to be concerned about repeating the same outfit more than once. not only have i experienced this pressure to not repeat outfits, but i've also seen it in the world. when you go through any influencer's page on instagram, you will probably not see them wear the same thing twice. and then there are lots of people who can't be concerned with the concept of outfit repeating because they don't have that luxury. outfit repeating is absolutely a luxury. and i sort of don't even want to talk about it because by talking about it, i'm giving it more legitimacy than it deserves. but at the same time, i do want to discuss it because i think it's something a lot of people experience, whether they're fortunate enough to actually take it seriously as a concern, or if they wish that they could think of it as a concern. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on Spotify] today i want to discuss the ethics of photo editing on social media. i'm not talking about upping the brightness or turning down the contrast on the photo a little bit. i'm talking about going in and changing the image completely. smoothing out your skin, making your waist a little smaller or your jaw line a little sharper. you used to have to know how to use professional photo editing software like photoshop to edit photos, and it wasn’t easy. but photo editing apps are incredibly accessible now and easy to use. it's so tempting to want to go in and tweak little things about an image so that you love it. and i think the most dangerous part about photo editing these days is that it can be impossible to spot. social media in general has had catastrophic effects on people's mental health, and that's ignoring the retouching side of things. so i'm facing a sort of moral dilemma. what I'm trying to figure out is, is it ever okay to alter your appearance in imagery? because when i look at this dilemma at face value, i think we should probably avoid this at all costs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on Spotify] i recently found myself in an unusual state of terror and fear. i've always been very afraid of bad things happening to my loved ones. but weirdly, i've never really been that afraid of bad things happening to me. in retrospect, i look at the things that i used to do when i was a teenager that were sort of careless, and it's hard for me to even comprehend now. i felt like nothing bad would happen to me. but recently, i have completely gone the opposite direction, where now i'm terrified of the world around me and how it might hurt me. and that's not healthy either, because when you're living in that state of mind, you sort of stop living your life. there's risk in everything. and you have to have a healthy understanding of what risks are worth taking and which are not. and i've sort of gone on this journey the last few months trying to find a healthy and happy medium. i'm not 100% there yet, but i'm getting much closer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on Spotify] today i'm doing my very first interview. we're getting into serious podcast territory. i'm bringing dr. lembke on the show today because i've been obsessed with the sneaky addictions of our modern day. you know, the addictions that our grandparents and parents are warning us about: social media, food delivery, porn, gaming… all of the addictions that we're sort of in denial of. she describes the time that we're living in now as the age of indulgence, and i've never heard this time be characterized better. it really is this age of indulgence where everything is at our fingertips, and at face value it seems incredible. but there are a lot of scary downsides. i'm going to be discussing all of this and more with dr. lembke. link to dr. lembke’s book, dopamine nation: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/624957/dopamine-nation-by-anna-lembke-md/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

about a week ago, i had the realization that i had fallen into some bad habits. i'd been scrolling on social media a little bit too much, online shopping a little bit too much, ordering food delivery a little bit too much, and more. my brain felt cloudy. i felt anxious. i felt kind of depressed. i didn't feel as creative or as focused as i knew i could be. and i really make an effort in my life to have a healthy balance with modern convenience and entertainment, because i know how addictive these things are and how toxic they can be. but when i had this realization a week ago, i had the desire to take drastic measures. i decided i was going to do a dopamine detox. if you haven't heard of a dopamine detox, i'll explain it. and i will say this challenge, as minor as it may seem, was really eye-opening for me. it was challenging, but it was very rewarding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

today we're going to be discussing minimalism in fashion. fast fashion is the business model of replicating recent high fashion design trends, mass producing them at low cost, and bringing them to retail stores quickly while demand is at its highest. trend cycles are insanely fast nowadays, and fast fashion is thriving because a lot of people want to participate in the trends as they happen. but i think a lot of people are sick of this. number one, it's exhausting and expensive to keep up with all the trends when they're constantly changing overnight. but also, people are starting to realize the impact that being a maximalist consumer is having on the environment and even their wellbeing. i think a lot of people are ready to dial it back and return to a simpler fashion experience. so let's dig a little deeper on what minimalism is in fashion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices