the goop podcast

Alua Arthur is a death doula and the founder of Going with Grace, an end-of-life planning and death doula training organization. Arthur, who was previously an attorney, has helped thousands of people explore and move through the end-of-life process. Today, she joins cohost Erica Chidi to talk about the beauty and satisfaction that comes with making space for both grief and joy. They discuss the differences between a good and ideal death, getting comfortable with what’s dying and dead in our daily life, practical ways to prepare for death (which Arthur manages to make exciting), natural burials, and celebrating our most human experiences. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tracy Clark-Flory is a senior staff writer at Jezebel and author of Want Me: A Sex Writer’s Journey Into the Heart of Desire. Her book explores the messages we receive from society about sex, intimacy, and pleasure and how this shapes our sexual lives and identities. She explains how sexual empowerment has been watered down and twisted into an individualistic approach and why it’s critical to think of the larger cultural and collective context. Today, she also talks about orgasms, porn, reckoning feminist values with sexual fantasies, and how sharing our experiences can be transformational and help us broaden the conversation around sex and our bodies. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“What’s great about great players is their mind,” says Venus Williams. GP chatted with Williams, who was in Paris on the heels of the French Open. They talk about Williams’ perspective on competition, where her drive comes from, and what drew her to her many ventures (which include an interior design firm, lifestyle and activewear brand, personal care products, and a plant-based protein company). Williams also shares stories about her childhood, what it was like growing up with four sisters, and the values that her parents instilled in her at a young age. The tail end of the conversation is about what Williams hopes to do now—and next. “I’ve always just been a person who’s happy where I am,” says Williams. “Even when you’re looking forward to the future, what about enjoying your now?” To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“I find it so confounding when leaders are uninterested in having their people’s experiences in the work—because how boring is that?” asks Bozoma Saint John, global chief marketing officer at Netflix. In this conversation with GP, Saint John shares some of her own extraordinary life story, why she believes that everyone has a powerful story within them, and how you can recognize the value of yours. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cohost Erica Chidi is joined by Tara Brach, a clinical psychologist, spiritual meditation teacher, and author. Brach’s new book, Trusting the Gold: Uncovering Your Natural Goodness, explores the fundamental value of connection and how to recognize the value in ourselves. Today, they discuss how to deepen our sense of compassion as we move through difficult times. They talk about interconnectedness, how to cultivate a sustainable meditation practice, and why seeing the good in others doesn’t mean ignoring the reality of our lived experiences. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Taz Bhatia, MD, is a board-certified integrative medicine physician, author, and the founder of the functional medicine practice, CentreSpringMD. She helps patients navigate their health journey by drawing from different systems of medicine, including Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine. Today, she joins GP to talk about perimenopause and menopause. They talk through what happens when our body begins perimenopause, the factors that influence our hormones, and what we can do to support our body while navigating—and enjoying—these stages of life. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cohost Erica Chidi is joined by the coauthors of Data Feminism: Catherine D’Ignazio (an assistant professor of urban science and planning at MIT) and Lauren F. Klein (an associate professor of English and quantitative theory and methods at Emory University). They explore the limits and uses of data, how data can reinforce and challenge systems of power, and how bad or missing data can hurt women. “We need to be assuming that these structural forces of oppression are going to show up in our data and our databases in the same ways that they show up in our policies and our institutions,” says D’Ignazio. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Emeran Mayer, MD, PhD, is a gastroenterologist, a neuroscientist, and an author. At UCLA, he serves as the executive director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience and as the codirector of the Digestive Diseases Research Center. He has spent over forty years studying the interactions between the brain and the gut and the rest of the body. Today, he shares the most significant research and actionable tips from his new book, The Gut-Immune Connection. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Social inequity is probably the biggest driver of health,” says Lindo Bacon, PhD, author of Health at Every Size, Body Respect, and Radical Belonging. “And if we don’t address the social determinants of health, then we end up blaming the individuals and putting the onus on them when that’s so false and it’s shaming of people.” Bacon is a nutritionist, researcher, and an intersectional body liberation advocate. Today, Bacon joins co-host Erica Chidi to examine the relationship between health and weight, how healthcare practitioners can move beyond weight loss as a solution, and why radical belonging, equity, and connection are matters of personal and public health. “Self-love is a beautiful thing, but no matter how much you love yourself, when you go into a culture that doesn’t treat you well, it’s going to be hard to feel good about yourself,” says Lindo. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Carl Hart, PhD, is the psychology department chair at Columbia University and the author of Drug Use for Grown-Ups. In his book, Hart makes the case for the legalization and regulation of all drugs, drawing on decades of scientific research, history, and his own experiences. Today, he joins co-host Erica Chidi to share his approach—which may surprise and challenge you. They discuss the narratives that have shaped public thinking and why it’s difficult to talk about drug use. Hart also shares how his own perspective shifted when he was studying the effects of drug use on the brain and why he believes decriminalization is only the first step toward a more hospitable society. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Psychologist and bestselling author Edith Eger’s book, The Gift: 12 Lessons to Save Your Life, explores the power of self-renewal and how to free yourself from thoughts and behaviors that might be imprisoning you. Today, she shares her own story of surviving the Holocaust and finding a path toward healing and forgiveness. GP and Eger discuss how to acknowledge and process anger, build resilience, and fall in love with yourself. Eger also describes her approach to revisiting the past and how she remains hopeful in the present. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Astrology can be a practical tool, says Chani Nicholas, astrologer and author of You Were Born for This. “Most of our spiritual life is lived out through very practical actions.” In this conversation, Nicholas explores the birth chart of our new cohost, Erica Chidi, CEO and cofounder of LOOM. And more broadly, Nicholas shares advice for anyone navigating a challenging transit period or in need of patience during a long cycle. Nicholas also explains why social justice and activism is important to her work: “How could I talk about a system of wisdom or knowledge that talks about humans and our experience here on earth without also addressing systemic inequalities?” To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GP is joined by her friend Erica Chidi, CEO and cofounder of LOOM, and probably one of the first subscribers to goop back in 2008. They talk about the ways they’ve intersected and aligned over the years, how Chidi’s work as a doula has evolved, and the next iteration of her digital education platform. They talk about racism in healthcare, how to move forward through discomfort, the beauty to be found in liminal spaces, and why care and education are necessary components of health. Plus, they reveal a secret they’ve been keeping for a while. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“The cure for burnout is not self-care,” says Emily Nagoski. “It’s simply care. It’s all of us caring for each other. That means that when you think you need more grit, what you need is more help. When you think you need more discipline, you need more kindness.” In this special episode, we’re taking a break from our typical interview format to share an audio workshop led by Emily and her sister Amelia Nagoski. Their book, Burnout, explores how women experience stress and outlines strategies for freeing yourself from the stress cycle. For more from Emily Nagoski, check out the updated edition of her bestselling book Come As You Are—the audiobook is particularly great—and stay tuned for her new podcast, which will also cover sex and sexuality. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“I don’t wake up and say, ‘I hope this is a great day, and I’m not going to get triggered,’” says psychotherapist Barry Michels, coauthor of Coming Alive and The Tools. “I say, ‘I’m going to get triggered. There’s no question.’” Last year, GP had a conversation with Michels that we keep returning to. In it, Michels shares his three-point plan for coping with negativity. He has tools for regulating your thoughts, preparing to get triggered, and processing your emotional wounds. He also has a way of helping people to find unexpected sources of inspiration and opportunities to be of service. Plus, you’ll get to meet GP’s shadow if you listen until the end. For more, head to The goop Podcast hub. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GP catches up with her longtime friend Laura Dern. They chat about being raised by double-artist parents and how their childhoods informed their acting careers, creative lives, and parenting styles. They talk about how they try to create space for their children to be vulnerable and explore their sense of self. And Dern shares why living in the gray—and finding comfort in the messy middle—has become so important to her. “That is life,” says Dern. “And there's something incredibly tender, celebratory, and vital about living in the gray.” (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Many of us romanticize our past selves, says actress, producer, and activist Gabrielle Union. “If you don't do an excavation of how you got to where you are, you will continue to live in the romanticized version of who you were and you won't be able to let go.” In this conversation, GP and Union explore past and future selves, parenting within blended families, healing from deep wounds, menopause misconceptions, and small pleasures. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GP is joined by Harvard-trained sociologist and bestselling author Martha Beck. Beck’s new book, The Way of Integrity, explores what happens when we’re living in alignment with our true nature and how we become disconnected from it. She and GP talk about the ways we sublimate our own truths to be accepted by our circles—the little lies we tell to keep the peace or when we smile through discomfort—and why society is often threatened by people living in integrity. They also discuss how we can begin to access to our inner truth and why Beck decided to try not lying for an entire year. (By the way, she is now going on five years.) After you listen, preorder Beck’s extraordinary book, which comes out April 13.(For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GP catches up with model, actress, entrepreneur, and activist Cara Delevingne. They start with Delevingne’s experience working in a high-pressure industry at young age and how she learned to break free from other people’s expectations. “You're put in a box or told to be a certain way,” Delevingne says. “And I hated it because it wasn’t a shape that I fit into.” They talk about how Delevingne approaches imposter syndrome, being a role model in the LGBTQIA community, and her hopes for anyone following in her footsteps. She also gives a preview of the five-day workout series she’s kicking off on goop’s YouTube channel and the scoop on Lora DiCarlo, the sex-tech brand she co-owns and is shaping as creative advisor. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“The smarter you are, often the worse you are at rethinking because you can use your intelligence to contort the truth into what you want to hear and what you want to believe,” says organizational psychologist and beloved Wharton professor Adam Grant. After reading his new book, Think Again, GP spoke with Grant about applying his research and wisdom to nearly every facet of life, from our careers to our most intimate relationships. Why do people generally fear being wrong? Grant says that we live in a world that celebrates certainty and mistakes confidence for competence. He explains the trap of letting our ideas become our identities, and how we can find common ground with one another while navigating charged topics. You’ll also find out why Grant is a recovering logic bully. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GP is joined today by an actress, producer, and director whose work she’s admired for many years, Robin Wright. Wright has just released her feature directorial debut, Land (which she also stars in), about a woman suffering immeasurable loss who retreats to an abandoned cabin in the Rockies to find a new way to heal. Today, they talk about making career pivots, executing an artistic vision, and betting on yourself. They also discuss how we heal from trauma and why Wright felt called to make a movie about human kindness. “When you are faced with adversity,” says Wright, “it’s other humans that help pull us through and give us faith to live.” (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GP catches up with her friend and functional medicine practitioner Will Cole, DC. Cole is the author of the new book Intuitive Fasting: The Flexible Four-Week Intermittent Fasting Plan to Recharge Your Metabolism and Renew Your Health. GP has been following Cole’s protocol this past month, and he joins her today to talk about her experience and how she’s been feeling since she started (spoiler: never better). They also talk through the tenets of intermittent fasting, what it means to be metabolically inflexible, and how quickly a damaged gut can rebound.(For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“When something bad is happening, we tend to focus on that problem really narrowly,” says psychologist Ethan Kross. “But if you lose the ability to step back and see the bigger picture, that's when it can become problematic.” Kross explains how negative chatter can impact our lives and how our ability to introspect can better serve us. He also walks GP through his tools to soothe our inner voice when we find ourselves ruminating. “Negative emotions like anger, sadness, anxiety—they're good for us in small doses,” says Kross. “When they become bad is when we bathe in them.” (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Sometimes the greatest strength comes from holding course when there aren’t answers, when there isn’t the best outcome around the corner,” says Kristine Gedroic, MD. Gedroic is a Harvard graduate, a fellow of the American Board of Family Medicine, and the author of A Nation of Unwell: What Went Wrong?. She’s spent the past decade helping thousands of patients heal from chronic illnesses. She’s the kind of doctor people turn to when they feel like they’ve already tried everything. She joins host Gwyneth Paltrow today to talk about her journey to integrative medicine (which began with her own health scare), how to optimize our body’s own detoxification pathways, and the key foods and herbal remedies that she regularly leans on. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“There’s no such thing as a perfect harmony with nature,” says John Chester, the farmer and filmmaker behind The Biggest Little Farm. “There’s a comfortable level of disharmony. There is purposefulness in this disharmony.” Chester and his wife, Molly, founded a regenerative biodynamic farm (Apricot Lane Farm) that became famous through their stunning documentary. He joins GP today to talk about what he’s learned over the last decade being in deep relationship with the ecosystem of his land and how he and Molly have reframed their many roadblocks into opportunities (and found patience when their end goal was nowhere in sight). He and GP also talk about how soil health impacts the quality of our diets, things to look for on a food label, and his hopes for the future of American farming. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“When you have someone in your life who is experiencing illness, especially as a young person, it can be so impossible to bear witness to that,” says author Katherine E. Standefer. “Because then you are confronted with your own lack of control.” Standefer’s debut memoir, Lightning Flowers: My Journey to Uncover the Cost of Saving a Life, is stunning. Today, she joins host Elise Loehnen to tell the story of the rare diagnosis that led her on a mission deep into our fractured medical system. She shares what it was like to sit with vulnerability, what she learned from the avoidant tendencies of many of her doctors, and how she began to make sense of her complicated relationship with the medical advancements that were meant to save her. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“When people ask me about the biggest issues in mental health, I say: Stigma is problems one, two, and three,” says psychiatrist Nina Vasan, MD. In addition to seeing patients in her private practice, Vasan is the chief medical officer at the mental health company Real and the executive director of the Stanford Lab for Mental Health Innovation. She joins GP today to talk about the long-tail mental health impacts of disasters and how trauma sometimes strengthens one’s resiliency. They talk about why addressing mental health can—and should—be part of our daily life. And Vasan shares coping strategies for different and persistent stressors, including ways that managers can be more mindful of their employees’ needs. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Daniel Lieberman is a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University and the author of the new book Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding. Today, he joins host Elise Loehnen to break down the history and science behind why so many of us have trouble exercising even though we know it’s healthy for us. For one thing, Lieberman says, the pull to not exercise is a basic human instinct, which, if you ask us, is validating. They also chat through why there is no universal prescription when it comes to workout routines. But, he says, a good first step is taking stock of what you’re trying to achieve and then figuring out what you enjoy doing. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re kicking off 2021 with a different kind of episode. Today, instead of being joined by a guest, GP is doing a lightning round of AMA, where she answers a handful of listener-submitted questions. True to form, your questions ran the gamut: what her perfect night in looks like, which wellness habit never caught on for her, advice for moms launching new businesses, and more. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Celeste Headlee’s book—Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving—she examines our fractured relationships to work. Why do we use productivity as a measure of self-worth? Where does our obsession with efficiency come from? In this episode, she shares strategies for maintaining healthy boundaries around work and play and for developing more transparency between managers and employees. She also sells us on taking time off: “When someone takes all their vacation days, they actually end up being more productive, more effective, less error-prone, and more creative than someone who doesn’t.” (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Resmaa Menakem is a trauma specialist and the New York Times–bestselling author of My Grandmother’s Hands, which examines how racial trauma is deeply embedded in the body. He joins Elise Loehnen today to discuss his work as a somatic healer, what he believes will happen nine generations from now, and why it’s not possible to “think” your way out of White supremacy. “To develop an individual response to a communal horror is inadequate,” he says. “Niceness is inadequate.” (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Otto Yang, MD, an infectious disease researcher at UCLA, is leading a global clinical trial on COVID-19 sponsored by the NIH. GP, who had COVID-19 in early March, is a part of the study and has gotten to know Yang’s work over the past several months. Today, they talk about the long-tail symptoms of the virus, what scientists have learned about antibodies and immunity, and what is still unknown. Yang answers questions about the vaccine and what we can expect to happen next year. He also shares, from the perspective of a scientist, how he processes fear around this virus. His biggest learning in the last year? It involves the surprising resilience of the human spirit. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“I didn’t want to just write about loss,” says religion scholar Elaine Pagels. “I wanted to write about coming back from it and finding you can still have joy and a wonderful life. Because for me, that was a surprise.” Pagels is a bestselling author and the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University. Today, she joins host Elise Loehnen to discuss her books Why Religion? and The Gnostic Gospels and the journey that led her to writing them. They talk about how religious traditions can shape how we understand ourselves, whether Pagels thinks there’s such a thing as sin, and why she considers herself more of an explorer than a believer. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GP catches up with her friend Pharrell Williams and, no surprise, the multihyphenate artist has a lot of ground to cover. They talk about his parenting philosophy and how its shifted during the pandemic. They talk about his creative process and being a pluralist in a world that wants everyone to pick a lane. They discuss the Black Lives Matter movement and his dreams for the future: “I love my nation because of its progression, but I’m really in love with its untapped potential,” he says. And he shares the story behind the accelerator he’s just launched, Black Ambition, which invests in Black and Latinx students and entrepreneurs, providing not only capital to get their ideas off the ground but hands-on mentorship, as well. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“They could have gone in one of two directions,” says author Lacy Crawford. “Either start asking real questions and listening for honest answers and face the reckoning of what these boys had done to me. Or go the other direction and bury the girl. And that’s what they did: They buried the girl.” In Crawford’s memoir, Notes on a Silencing, she shares the story of the assault she suffered at boarding school when she was fifteen years old and the subsequent attempts to silence her. Today she joins host Elise Loehnen to talk about misplaced shame, our perception of bravery, addressing a destructive culture, and how her definition of healing has shifted with time. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mellody Hayes, MD, is an anesthesiologist, a healer, a spiritual teacher, and a powerful voice in the psychedelic movement. Though Hayes has worked in traditional medicine for her whole career, she says her spiritual life greatly informs how she approaches human healing—and she keeps up with medical journals and Pema Chödrön in equal measure. Today, she joins host Elise Loehnen to talk about the societal stresses that contribute to illness, how psychedelic medicine could help heal intergenerational trauma, and why love is at the center of everything she does. “When you try and shame someone into correction, you get obedience, but you haven’t won their participation,” she says. “How do we shift people? Believe it or not: We love them more; we love them harder.” (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Katherine May’s newest book, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, she explores how we relate to the painful periods in our lives—and what we can gain from normalizing the need to rest and tend to our wounds. In her conversation with host Elise Loehnen, May says that one reason many of us feel ashamed about our dark periods is because we’re taught to look down on other people’s misfortunes. This in turn makes it difficult to respect our own pain. May shares what changed for her when she allowed herself to see sadness as a need and not something to run from. For example, it helped her stop feeling addicted to productivity and busyness and begin to let go of the need to control everything. “We have got to stop feeling responsible for controlling our lives because that attempt is devastating us,” she says. “And it’s a lie—we just cannot do it.” (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GP is joined by Ed Catmull, cofounder of Pixar, former president of Walt Disney Animation Studios, and author of the New York Times–bestselling book Creativity, Inc. They talk about what it takes to establish the kind of company culture Catmull is revered for. The first step, he says, is creating a space where people feel free to speak candidly, to be vulnerable, and to take risks. They talk about what can lead a team to feel disconnected from their creativity and how to help people cultivate inspiration again. And he shares some of his insights on effective leadership: “One of the rules for the powerful people is they’re supposed to shut the hell up for the first ten or fifteen minutes,” says Catmull. “If a powerful person speaks, they set the tone for the meeting. And you’re much more effective if you enter a discussion rather than set the tone.” (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kevin Weinfurt, PhD, is the vice chair for research in the Department of Population Health Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine. His work measures sexual function and satisfaction and how sexual well-being can be impacted by illness and other changes in health throughout our lives. Weinfurt talks about why he believes doctors tend to avoid the subject of sex and how he and his colleagues hope to change this. He also talks about the role that intimacy plays in sexual wellness—i.e., holding hands, making eye contact, and simply touching. And he explains some of the psychology around our relationship to our sex lives, like why sex can be so important to some people but not to others. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“The Northern Cheyenne people have a saying: A nation is not defeated until the hearts of its women are on the ground,” says Lucy Rain Simpson, executive director of the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center. “And that was a primary tactic. If you want to break a nation down, you purposefully try to make women no longer respected.” In her role, Simpson works to safeguard Native women and children. Today, she unpacks much of what is misunderstood about the rampant sexual violence on Native land, including that over 90 percent of the perpetrators are non-Indian. She explains the impact of federal mismanagement and complacency around these crimes and why assaults against women are particularly corrosive in Native culture. And she shares ways that we can begin to break the cycle of violence, as well as a vision of what justice would look like. “If we can come back to a place where women are sacred, that gives us the foundation for building everything else up,” she says. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“The core of leadership should be care,” says psychiatrist Gianpiero Petriglieri, MD. “And then performance is a result of a system in which there is enough care.” Petriglieri is an associate professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD and an expert on leadership and learning in the workplace. Today, he joins host Elise Loehnen to talk about what is lost when we prize productivity above all else, why it’s important to give your team space to ask questions and be imaginative, why he thinks having vision isn’t an important quality in a good leader, and our growing tendency to intertwine our sense of self-worth with our performance at work: “Once you start working this way, where work becomes very personal, everything is existential. If you succeed, you are a success. If you fail, you see yourself as a failure.” He also shares insights about what the pandemic could teach us about productivity and how that could shape the way we do business in the future.(For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Isabel Wilkerson is a Pulitzer Prize–winning, number one New York Times–bestselling author. Her most recent book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, links the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany. She examines how a caste system has shaped American history and the ways our lives are still defined by man-made hierarchies. In this conversation with host Elise Loehnen, Wilkerson explains the essential difference between racism and casteism and why these hierarchies negatively affect all groups. “We are, as a society, harmed by the inequities that may seem to be trained primarily on one group,” says Wilkerson. “But then these inequities spread and leach out beyond the boundaries of that seat.” The ripple effects, Wilkerson explains, include misguided policies that often impact everyone. And she shares what it takes to move beyond these artificial divisions. The first step is having a deep understanding of the history that shapes us: “If you don’t know the history, if you don’t know where you’ve been, then it’s hard to know how you got to where you are and how you can move forward.” (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our guest today is James Nestor, journalist and author of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, which explores the often overlooked and undervalued function of breathing and all the ways that breath is at the center of health—and potentially illness. Nestor spent a decade studying ancestral breathing techniques and New Age technology and diving deep into studies that have brought surprising information to light. For example, Nestor tells us about the Framingham Study, which has been going on for seventy years: “They found that the most accurate marker of health and longevity wasn’t genes or even cardiovascular health. It was lung capacity and respiratory health.” Nestor shares all that he’s learned about proper technique (breathing through your nose is key) and his advice for shifting your habits. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GP is joined by two-time Olympic gold medalist, FIFA World Cup Champion, and New York Times–bestselling author Abby Wambach. Since retiring from her record-breaking soccer career, Wambach has become known for her work around equality and inclusion alongside her wife, activist and author Glennon Doyle. She’s also just published a young readers edition of her book Wolfpack, urging young people to break old rules and create their own path. Today, Wambach chats with GP about how to build a strong team, how to allow yourself to feel disappointed, how to get comfortable with competition and seeing others succeed, and how her son’s coming out helped Wambach heal some of her own childhood trauma. “My mom had fear for me, but I thought she was afraid of me,” says Wambach. “Those are very different things.” It’s clear why Wambach was captain of the Women’s National team for so many years—you get fired up listening to her speak. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The former CNN White House correspondent has become known as an independent news source and appreciated by followers for her cogent, insightful approach and for allowing people to draw their own conclusions—without all the added drama. For this special episode, Yellin joined Elise Loehnen on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 4, and talked through how she believes the next few weeks will play out. They also discuss why Yellin has never trusted exit polls, the state of TV news in this country, and our path forward as we reckon with how divided our nation remains. (For more, follow @JessicaYellin on Instagram. And see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Eli Finkel, PhD, is a psychology professor at Northwestern University and the author of the fascinating book The All-or-Nothing Marriage, which explores the surprising things that make marriages fulfilling and what can put them on the rocks. Today, he joins host Elise Loehnen to chat about how the definition of an ideal marriage has shifted over time, what he thinks of nonmonogamy, why he argues that there are some things you should not ask of your relationship, and whether it’s possible to maintain a happy union while also trying to become a fuller, more authentic version of yourself. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Journalist Rebecca Traister has written three books, including her most recent New York Times bestseller, Good and Mad, which explores how women’s anger has provoked political and social change over centuries. Traister joined host Elise Loehnen to talk through all she’s uncovered in her research and why our society continues to consider anger to be acceptable only for White men. “This is one of the strategic functions of discouraging the expression of anger in women and other people in the margins,” says Traister. “Because the communication of dissatisfaction is the building block for potential future organizing.” Her advice? Stay angry. Stay awake. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Writer and attorney Christie Tate had big reservations when a therapist first suggested she pursue group therapy. The idea of voluntarily sharing her secrets and vulnerabilities with a group of strangers was not appealing. It was terrifying. But she went. Now she’s been in group therapy for 19 years—and probably will be for the rest of her life. Tate wrote a book about her experience called Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life. In her chat with Elise Loehnen, they talk about Tate’s struggle with disordered eating, how her husband and children deal with having their private lives exposed, and how the process of healing and understanding ourselves typically takes a lifetime. “The more people tell true stories about the jagged line of recovery, that it’s not just a straight arrow shooting upward to nirvana,” says Tate, “the better understanding we can have of what healing looks like.” (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Hope isn’t an optimism that one day it will be okay,” says Austin Channing Brown. “Hope is what we owe to one another as human beings.” Brown is a media producer, a speaker, and the author of the New York Times bestseller I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness. In her racial justice and leadership work, Brown doesn’t chase hope; she lives it. Brown joined host Elise Loehnen to talk about how she anchors herself amid the stress and emotional toll of her work, and why for many Black women, the missteps of White women, in particular, can sting more. She also explains why it’s more helpful to be brave than it is to be nice—and how to show up with this in mind. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“The work that I do helping people exit these groups, it isn’t about persuading them to leave,” says mental health counselor Steven Hassan. “It’s teaching them how the mind works, teaching them about social psychology and hypnosis, which helps them see whether or not they have been co-opted.” Hassan is a leading expert on mind control and hypnosis and the author of The Cult of Trump. For the past forty years, he’s drawn on his own experience as a former Moonie to help people step out of controlling groups, relationships, and cults. Today, he explains how well-adjusted people get wrapped up in authoritarian cults, why we’re all subject to mind control every day, and how mind control has shaped the current state of politics in the US. And he shares his insights on what to do about it. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices