the goop podcast

Brian Muraresku—author of The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name—spent twelve years entrenched in connecting the dots between the use of mind-altering drugs and the foundation of Christianity as we know it today. Many of us are familiar with the holy wine present at ancient religious celebrations. But what was actually in that wine? Was it anything like the wine we drink today? Muraresku says the evidence suggests it was very different—that the wine was routinely mixed with other substances, from spices and perfumes to herbs, and fungi. For Muraresku, this begged the question: What was the intent of those who drank it? Today, he joins host Elise Loehnen to share the wild journey this question led him on and what he discovered along the way about faith, science, and the rise of the church—including long-suppressed evidence of just how fundamental women were to the origin and survival of Christianity. (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 Kate Hudson, and true to form, they cover a lot of ground. They talk about being girl moms, what it looks like to own your trauma, and how, at this stage in her life, Hudson creates sustaining relationships. “It’s not fun to work through the pain—it sucks. And it definitely feels like it’s easier to avoid it,” Hudson says. “But we know that the more you avoid it, the worse it festers.” They also chat about how she’s created authentic and successful brands (like Fabletics, and her new venture In Bloom), the best business advice she’s gotten, and why she bets on herself. And be sure to listen to the end to hear about Hudson’s best (and not-so-best) onscreen kisses. (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

“It’s the possibility of greater change that rejuvenates me,” says Michele Harper, MD. “That’s what makes it possible for me to keep going.” Harper is an emergency room physician who has worked as chief resident at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx and in the emergency department at the VA medical center in Philadelphia. She is also the author of The Beauty in Breaking. Today, she joins host Elise Loehnen to share how she manages the emotional strain of being witness to so much suffering, what she’s learned from her patients about healing, and why she sees her commitment to positive change as a form of meditation. “It is all so depleting—all of it,” she says. “But I’ve always turned my grief, my pain, my suffering into action.” (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

Author Toni Jensen joined us for the September edition of goop Book Club to talk about her first memoir, Carry, which traces her Métis roots, her childhood in rural Iowa, her closest relationships, and the classrooms she’s inhabited around the country as a student and a teacher. In this conversation with Elise Loehnen, Jensen talks about making peace with childhood trauma, her complex relationship with gun culture, the staggering injustices forced on Indigenous women, the stereotypes that prevail, and the subtle and lasting ways that language shapes each of us. (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

Laura Wasser is a family law expert, a divorce attorney, and the founder of It’s Over Easy, a platform that provides tools to help families navigating divorce. She joins host Elise Loehnen to talk about how people can prepare for the best and the worst in a relationship, whether or not she thinks prenups serve a partnership, if the years she’s spent in this field have changed her views on marriage, and how she’s remained family with her exes. Wasser also shares her tips on what to look for in an attorney, how to move on in the least expensive way (emotionally and financially), and topics to discuss with a partner when you’re just getting hitched. (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

David Sheff is a journalist and the author of the number one New York Times–bestselling book Beautiful Boy. Sheff joins us to talk about an incredible man and the subject of his latest book, The Buddhist on Death Row: Jarvis Jay Masters’s childhood was marred by severe trauma that sent him down a path of violence and into San Quentin. In 1990, while in prison, Masters was set up for the murder of a guard, which landed him on death row. On the recommendation of a criminal investigator working on his case, Masters began to explore meditation. He was skeptical, and his life didn’t change overnight. But it did eventually change—dramatically. Today, on death row, Masters is a remarkable Buddhist thinker, engaging with some of the most renowned practitioners in the world and changing the way people approach both suffering and healing.(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

Ambassador Susan Rice has had an impressive career in service and government as a diplomat, policy advisor, and public official. She served throughout the Clinton administration, becoming one of the nation’s youngest secretaries of state, and later, became one of President Obama’s most trusted advisors. After years of speaking on behalf of presidents and the country, Rice finally shares her incredible story, in her own words, in her book Tough Love—and today, in her conversation with GP. One of the most interesting parts of their chat is about managing division and learning to listen and understand others, starting at the dinner table (Rice’s son is deeply conservative). The pair also talk about why there’s a tendency to view women with a binary and reductive lens, the scaffolding that’s informed Rice’s diplomacy and negotiation skills, and the single through line that’s helped her grow. (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 people find it difficult to exercise self-compassion, in part because we fear that being tender with ourselves will make us lose our edge. But Kristin Neff, PhD—who wrote Self-Compassion and The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook and is steeped in the field’s research—says that couldn’t be further from the truth: “Here’s the thing with self-compassion—our goals are just as high. But when we fail to meet our goals, we’re more likely to pick ourselves up and try again.” Today, Neff explains the differences between self-esteem, self-love, and self-compassion and the distinctive ways these practices effect our daily lives. (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

“Each of us, in our own infinite precious particularity, will be led to what’s to be done next in our own time and space,” says Cynthia Bourgeault. The modern-day mystic and Episcopal priest is the author of several brilliant books, including Eye of the Heart: A Spiritual Journey into the Imaginal Realm. Today, she joins us to discuss a question that comes forth for many of us at some point: Are we all just irrelevant specs? Does our life actually have meaning? According to Bourgeault, while humans are not the center of everything, our actions have profound influence on the well-being of the planet (and a system that extends beyond it). She says that a lack of consciousness has led to much of the mess we’re currently in, and she explains how we all play a particular role in amending the damage. She talks through how our fear of dying is problematic (and what a different approach to death could look like), what it truly means to live virtuously, and whether or not she’s hopeful for the future. (Spoiler: Mostly, she is.) (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

Jay Shetty, author of the new book Think Like a Monk, is in part known as a former monk. Now, he serves as a coach, helping people identify and live out their purpose. He joined GP to talk about why many of us have never really spent time by ourselves, with ourselves—and what can happen when we do. Shetty has a different way of thinking about compassion for self and compassion for others; and it involves not devaluing or belittling pain. He also has a clarifying way of looking at the fine line between compassion and victimhood (so that we don’t get stuck in victim consciousness) and distinguishing feelings (which can be fleeting and misleading) from emotions. (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 grew up with this intense fear of failure,” says Cathy Park Hong. “And in retrospect, I can understand why my parents instilled that in me—because for them, there was no safety net.” Hong is a writer, a professor at Rutgers-Newark University, and the author of Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning. It’s a book about family, identity, culture, and self-worth. Hong joins us today to talk about the parts of the Asian American experience that are often left out of the mainstream. She talks about how becoming a parent forced her to reckon with her own upbringing and the complicated nature of assimilation—both what it afforded her and what it stole from her. She asks: How do we go about the messy process of deciding which parts of our culture to pull forward to keep in our lives and which to put down? (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 is so much hurt that doesn’t have to remain unhealed,” says Molly Howes, PhD. “A good apology can go the distance to lessen that pain.” Howes is a Harvard-trained clinical psychologist and the author of A Good Apology: Four Steps to Make Things Right. Many of us are bad at apologizing, which according to Howes, is not for lack of care, but because we may have a misunderstanding of what it takes to make both parties feel whole. Howes says a good apology requires listening rather than justifying, which is often easier said than done. Today, Howes walks us through the four steps of a good apology and explains how we can apply these steps personally in our own homes and more widely in our communities. (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

“Most of the diseases that we experience are not inevitable,” says Bruce Lanphear, MD. “They’re preventable.” Lanphear is a clinician scientist at the Child & Family Research Institute, BC Children’s Hospital, and a professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. He’s spent the majority of his career exploring how environmental factors like toxic chemicals, pollutants, and contaminants can impact our health. Today, he explains the challenges of proving causation, the ways industries dodge responsibility, and why health care policy and research funding often don’t reflect the needs and priorities of doctors and patients. (While there’s plenty of evidence showing that most diseases are preventable, the US spends only 4 percent of funding on upstream preventive measures.) Lanphear breaks down where we’re most vulnerable and what we can 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

We often view moments of serendipity, or happy accidents, as situations that we play no part in and can't control or influence. But author Christian Busch, PhD, believes that luck may not always be circumstantial—and that by training ourselves to see something in the unexpected, we can make those accidents more meaningful. Which is the subject of his book, The Serendipity Mindset: The Art and Science of Creating Good Luck. Busch is the director of the Global Economy Program at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs and also teaches at the London School of Economics. Today, he joins host Elise Loehnen to discuss how we can best exercise our serendipity muscle and whether or not extroverts have a leg up in the game. (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

You’ve probably been fed the myth that your life will generally follow a linear path, with maybe a midlife crisis and a few other upheavals thrown in along the way. But in reality, you’ve probably experienced more big transitions, or “lifequakes,” as author Bruce Feiler calls them. For his book Life Is in the Transitions, Feiler spent a year exploring how people move through these moments. What he learned is that although the changes can be unpredictable, there are patterns to be found in how we cope with them. And with the right tools, we can navigate these transitions with meaning, purpose, and skill. Feiler joins host Elise Loehnen to talk through his different strategies for surviving a massive life change and making the most of opportunities to grow. (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

Gordon Neufeld is a developmental psychologist and the author of Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers. In his forty-plus years studying child development, a few common threads have emerged. According to Neufeld, parents tend to be hyperfocused on socializing their children in order for them to be well liked and have plenty of friends. This good intention can cause children to become peer-attached—meaning they look to their peers instead of the adults in their lives for guidance, care, and stability. Having close peers is important, but the peer relationship shouldn’t be the most important one, says Neufeld. His work helps parents and caretakers maintain and strengthen relationships with their children, recognize when kids are pulling away, and reverse damage that’s already been done to the bond. His approach does not require us to do everything “right”—but it could shift the way we raise and relate to children for the better. (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 talks with her friend Cameron Diaz about the best part of turning forty, what affects our capacity to be intimate, taking responsibility for who you are, and the launch of Avaline, Diaz’s organic wine line. Diaz explains why she pivoted away from her acting career, what happened after she decided to start over, and how she learned a surprising amount about herself in the early days of her relationship with her husband. “In my forties, I realized I need to be quicker to identify the things I shouldn’t be holding on to, and cut them loose,” says Diaz. The tail end of the conversation is about motherhood—and what Diaz most wants for her daughter. (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 the medical community, miraculous recoveries are typically dismissed as flukes and outliers. Because they can’t be explained within the constructs of typical modern care, they end up in the dustbin. But some doctors, like today’s guest Jeffrey Rediger, MD, believe that this is a grave mistake and that our insistence on clinging to old systems and beliefs leaves much lifesaving science out. Rediger, who is on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and is the director of McLean Hospital SE, has spent the past two decades studying verified cases of spontaneous remission, looking for unifying threads that might be repeatable for others with the same diagnosis. In his book, Cured: The Life Changing Science of Spontaneous Healing, he shares his beautiful insights and discoveries. He joins host Elise Loehnen to discuss the root cause of illness, how our environment sets the stage for healing, and the pillars associated with recovery and overall well-being—including nutrition, the immune system, stress responses, and the health of our identities. (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

Tom Philpott is a veteran journalist, a former farmer, and the current food and agriculture correspondent for Mother Jones. Philpott has spent years researching how and why American agriculture has gone so disastrously wrong and all the ways our political and economic infrastructure exacerbated its downfall. But as grim as the situation is now, Philpott believes there is much to be hopeful about—including the many farmers and communities who are paving the way for change and laying the groundwork to avoid disaster. Philpott is the author of a new book called Perilous Bounty: The Looming Collapse of American Farming and How We Can Prevent It. He joins host Elise Loehnen today to talk about how this all got out of control and what we can do to begin to mend the damage. (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

Dolly Chugh is a psychologist and professor at the Stern School of Business at NYU. She studies how—and why—most of us, however well-intended, are still prone to race and gender bias, as well as what she calls “bounded ethicality,” which are the systemic, unethical behaviors we engage in without awareness. For example, Chugh believes that being an ally isn’t about being a “good” person—and that our singular focus on goodness is a big part of the problem. Instead, she says, we should be constantly striving to be good-ish, i.e. someone who is always growing—that involves messing up, owning the mistake, learning from it, and trying again. Chugh brilliantly tackles this topic in her book The Person You Were Meant to Be. Today, she explains to host Elise Loehnen what we can and must 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

Mark Wolynn is the director of the Family Constellation Institute in San Francisco. The focus of his work is healing trauma. Wolynn believes that the traumas of our parents, grandparents, and even great grandparents can live on in us—particularly if they are unresolved. If you’re triggered by something and can’t figure out why, Wolynn says the answer might lie in your family history. He wrote a book about it, called It Didn’t Start with You. Today, Wolynn talks with host Elise Loehnen about the tools he uses to help people get to the root of difficult or bewildering issues and his strategies for freeing yourself from harmful patterns. (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

David Wallace-Wells is a lifelong New Yorker. He is not a lifelong environmentalist—“at all,” he says. He came of age in the ’90s, drank a lot of “that development, globalization, neoliberal Kool-Aid and really felt the world was getting better and richer.” But learning more about climate change scrambled a lot of his assumptions about the world and our place in it. Today, Wallace-Wells is a columnist and deputy editor at New York magazine and the author of the critically acclaimed number one New York Times bestseller, The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming. In this conversation with Elise Loehnen, he explains what lies ahead, what policies should be changed, what possible solutions and technologies give him reason to feel optimistic, and what we need to learn from COVID-19 in order to equip ourselves to respond to pandemics of varying natures. (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

“That taboo dark energy around our sexuality can be a place of great expansion,” says somatic sexologist andeducator Jaiya, who has spent the last two decades studying what turns people on. Jaiya developed something called the Erotic Blueprint, an arousal map that reveals your specific erotic language—sensual, sexual, kinky, energetic, or shapeshifter. She explains how we can discover our own language, better understand a partner’s language, and use this road map to embrace and fulfill our desires. (Take Jaiya's Erotic Blueprint quiz here.) 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 push people to be colorblind, not only are you pushing them to not see color; you’re pushing them to not see the harm that comes from color,” says Jennifer Eberhardt, PhD. Eberhardt is a social psychologist, a Stanford professor, and the author of Biased, a thoroughly researched, compelling, and comprehensive book on uncovering prejudice and addressing it. Everyone is affected by racial bias, says Eberhardt, but you can learn to override it. Today, she shares critical facts, tools, and strategies that anyone can (and should) use to be part of a meaningful solution. (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 urge to absolve oneself is a kind of low-level thing where we’re trying to get away from our own complicity,” says psychiatrist Mark Epstein, MD. Epstein is the author of Advice Not Given, and his work lies at the intersection of Buddhism and psychotherapy. Today, he’s teaching us about what motivates people and what happens when we let guilt guide our decision-making. He also teaches us about coping with feelings of isolation, confronting complicity, working our way back to the present when our mind wanders, and transmuting anger and rage into compassion. (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

“Whatever is emerging, we want to help people explore it and experience it,” says Rick Doblin. GP interviewed the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) about the impact MDMA-assisted psychotherapy may have on PTSD, eating disorders, alcoholism, and other forms of trauma. Doblin explains the landscape of psychedelic research, how it’s changed, and how close we may be to making MDMA-assisted psychotherapy a legal prescription treatment for PTSD. They also talk about what happens during an MDMA therapy session; how people store, process, and release memories; and what connects one person to another and to the world. Go to MAPS to learn more and to join GP in donating to a fund that supports BIPOC PTSD patients going through treatment and BIPOC therapists going through MAPS training. (And a PSA in case you’re new here: The legal status of psychedelics depends on where you use them. In the US, recreational use is illegal. If psychedelics are taken without careful attention to dose, set [mindset], and setting [environment], it’s possible for things to go wrong. As always, consult your doctor before beginning any protocol.) 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 more logical you are in your approach to your sleep, the more you’re going to screw it up,” says sleep specialist Rafael Pelayo, MD. Pelayo is a clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine and the author of the forthcoming book How to Sleep, which will be published in December 2020. Today, Pelayo answers our most pressing sleep questions: What’s really happening when we’re dreaming? Why do we sleep? Can we catch up on sleep? How much sleep do kids need? What causes sleep to become dysfunctional or disordered? How much are you affected by the way your partner sleeps? What can we do to feel rested when we wake up? (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

“If you get to some of the fundamental issues that are causing the unrest, you don’t need these Band-Aids,” says Julie Holland, a psychiatrist who specializes in psychopharmacology. Holland is the author of Weekends at Bellevue, Moody Bitches, and most recently, Good Chemistry. Today, she’s explaining the science of connection—with self, with partners, with family, with the cosmos. Holland has researched and studied what good chemistry looks like in the body and how someone can develop it using tools beyond prescription medications. She shares techniques and practices that support the production of oxytocin (a neurotransmitter and hormone that’s key for connection) and allow us to operate from the parasympathetic state, which is conducive to healing and connecting. And she breaks down profound lessons from psychedelic experiences and research that can inform and potentially revolutionize the way we relate to one another. (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 have all these mini minds that interact all the time,” says Richard Schwartz, PhD, the founder of the Internal Family Systems Institute. Schwartz believes that different subpersonalities—which he calls parts—make up the capital-S Self. In his audiobook Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts, Schwartz explains how traumas (minor or major) can cause certain parts to deviate from their natural state. He also explains why people cast different parts of themselves into certain roles, which he identifies as managers, firefighters, and exiles. For example, a manager might be the inner critic that is trying to keep you safe. An impulsive, reactive firefighter comes in to distract you from the flames of emotion. And the exile is shrouded in shame. The bulk of Schwartz’s work focuses on integrating these disparate parts and healing them—on an individual and a collective level. (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 like a lot of different topics, and I like to be around a lot of different types of people,” says Arlan Hamilton. “And that keeps me flexible.” Hamilton is the author of It’s About Damn Time and the founder of Backstage Capital, a venture capital seed fund that invests in underrepresented founders. She built the company from the ground up—while experiencing homelessness. In this conversation with host Elise Loehnen, Hamilton shares some incredible lessons from her personal and professional lives. She talks about the nuances of identity, the importance of learning to adapt (sometimes midsentence), and how power, influence, capital, and resources are being restructured—and what the future might look 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

“Failure can be the best teacher if you know how to approach it properly,” says Ozan Varol, a former rocket scientist turned law professor. In his book Think Like a Rocket Scientist, Varol shows the benefit of approaching problems with a beginner’s mindset. He explains why it’s dangerous to conflate beliefs with identity and why it’s incredibly productive to ask yourself: What are my assumptions? His work is an unexpected and compelling road map for challenging the status quo, cultivating curiosity (which people lose over time), solving problems, and creating change. (For more, subscribe to Varol’s weekly newsletter. He is also offering bonus content to listeners who purchase a copy of his book.) 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

“Conventional medicine failed me. It is my mission to not have it fail other people as well,” says Amy Myers, MD. The New York Times–bestselling author of The Autoimmune Solution and The Thyroid Connection sat down with Elise Loehnen to talk about autoimmunity. Seventy-five percent of people with autoimmunity are women, explains Myers, and she believes that autoimmunity is spiking in children. She suggests manageable ways to look at and adjust diets to meet your personal health needs and food sensitivities. And she shares her own health journey—including a mold scare—and many tools for cleaning up home environments and removing potentially toxic or harmful factors (like mold) that could impact your health. Myers empowers us to take back our health and encourages us to be aggressive advocates for our own healing: “Do not give up.” (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

“You’re never fully cooked,” says Chelsea Handler. GP catches up with her friend about her approach to activism, comedy, and self-discovery—which she writes about her in latest New York Times–bestselling book, Life Will Be the Death of Me. They start by talking about White privilege and why and how Handler set out to first dismantle it in her life. “How do you get okay with making yourself feel uncomfortable?” asks Handler. How do you allow your perspective to shift consistently, avoid getting stuck in your opinions, resist binary thinking? How do we have conversations without getting angry? In this vulnerable and still hilarious conversation, Handler reframes self-awareness—the greater purpose of becoming more self-aware is a collective benefit, not individual. (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

Ibram X. Kendi—the number one New York Times–bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist, Stamped from the Beginning, and Antiracist Baby—is a historian of change. This summer, he’s moving to a new academic post at Boston University, where he’ll become the founding director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research. In this conversation with Elise Loehnen, Kendi talks through the historical myths, misconceptions, and dangerous oversimplifications that have contributed to current racist policies and systems. He debunks (with historical proof) the idea that we can’t create systemic change without overwhelming personal change. He reframes the differences between segregationist, assimilationist, and anti-racist thinking: Ensuring that there is resource equity across different spaces and that spaces are not segregated does not mean that spaces should be homogenized. In a country that is roughly 60 percent White people, Kendi pinpoints why it’s critical that we reject standardization and make room for more culture. (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 is a system that is a sustainable new business model in which health becomes the determinant,” says Jeffrey Bland, PhD. “Not just production per unit acre.” Bland, who is known as the father of functional medicine, joins host Elise Loehnen for a wide-ranging conversation on how long-defended systems (in medicine and elsewhere) have failed and how we can make them work and make them just. He also explains why we’re not hardwired and how our environment influences the way our genes are expressed. He talks about the importance of regenerative agriculture (and an interesting plant, named Himalayan Tartary buckwheat). Bland calls himself an optimist; he reminds us that we have the power to throw out old models and create new, better ones: “Miracles are out there, and they can be duplicated if we ask the right questions.” (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

“You can’t grow up Black in America and not feel outraged by the terrible health disparities that are still going on every day,” says Nadine Burke Harris, MD, the first surgeon general of California. GP got on a video call with Harris, who is an expert on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Her book, The Deepest Well, explores the connection between adversity, trauma, and toxic stress in childhood and health outcomes later in life. Much of her work focuses on interventions that can mitigate and heal the long-term effects of childhood adversity. (For example, Harris explains that a child’s DNA can change when their adverse experiences are combatted with safety, stability, and nurturing relationships.) She talks about bringing trauma-informed care into the medical field through the ACEs Aware initiative. And what it looks like to heal oneself and break the transgenerational cycle of passing trauma onto our children. (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

“Life is not just the beginning and the end,” says Nora McInerny. “It is all of these tiny things in the middle.” McInerny hosts the podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking and is the author of It’s Okay to Laugh, The Hot Young Widows Club, and No Happy Endings. She’s hilarious. This episode is her very honest conversation with Elise Loehnen about grief and loss. Which also manages to be funny. McInerny tells her love stories. Some of them are about her first husband, who died of brain cancer. Some are about how she’s never really “moved on,” and why that is okay. Some are about grappling with grief and guilt and wondering what a “good” griever looks like. And some are about her relationship with her second husband today. And how, when she stopped trying to avoid grief, she felt it all—loss and love—most deeply. Emotions are never tidy, explains McInerny. And most of what makes life beautiful is the messiness of it all. (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 often think the best negotiator is the toughest person in the room. Bring Yourself author Mori Taheripour explains why this is not true: “Our superpower is our ability to have emotional intelligence in a conversation.” Taheripour teaches negotiation and dispute resolution at Wharton, and focuses on the human side of negotiating. Her method isn’t prescriptive. She helps people get out of their heads, let go of self-judgement, and get comfortable with stillness. “When you start talking too much, you’re negotiating against yourself,” says Taheripour. She also coaches people to lead conversations with an open mind, and figure out what feels right—and enough—for 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

“Historically in the US, progress has meant exploitation of someone, and usually people of color,” says Rhiana Gunn-Wright, director of climate policy at Roosevelt Institute. Gunn-Wright met with host Elise Loehnen to talk about her work in developing the Green New Deal, a proposal of ideas to address climate change. At its core, Gunn-Wright says this work is about justice and equity. “It’s really easy to talk about decarbonization and not talk about environmental racism.” But that would be missing the point and leave us without a meaningful solution. “If you say no one is expendable, no person is expendable, no community is expendable: that changes how you solve problems,” says Gunn-Wright. Also poignant: her personal experience with “survivor’s guilt” and perspective on why we need to see structural, systemic issues rather than falling for the American mythology of exceptionalism and individualism. (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

Functional medicine psychiatrist Jeffrey Becker, MD, takes an uncommon approach to depression, anxiety, and mental health. Becker, who is also a cofounder of Bexson Biomedical, examines the genome, the gut, and micronutrient levels before prescribing drugs to a patient. He was an early advocate of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for treating depression. “We are absolutely the nexus of body, mind, and spirit,” says Becker. Today, he talks about the chemical, biological, emotional, and spiritual components of mental health. And he gets into a deeper conversation with host Elise Loehnen about consciousness. “There’s a lot of programming that has reduced our consciousness to a level that allows us to survive,” Becker says. When we honor the layers of our existence, he believes we can remove some of the limits we often struggle with in everyday 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

“The cause of all suffering is what we’re thinking and believing,” says Byron Katie. Katie is a legendary spiritual teacher, the author of Loving What Is, and the creator of a self-inquiry method that she calls “the Work.” Today, Katie guides Elise Loehnen through the Work in her life. The process involves asking four basic questions that can turn a negative belief on its head. Katie reminds us that emotions are emotions—not enemies. She invites us to do deeper within and ask ourselves this question: Who would we be without our stories? (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

“It’s not really science,” says David Michaels, PhD. “It’s public relations disguised as science.” Today, the epidemiologist and author of The Triumph of Doubt explains how frequently science is manipulated across industries—from tobacco to personal-care products to football. During his tenure as the assistant secretary of labor at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Michaels uncovered shocking truths about the way major industries distort scientific studies and withhold information at the expense of consumer safety. To resolve this, Michaels believes we need to restructure the way research is conducted and how we consume it. He offers a few key solutions for creating change at the consumer level and beyond (like voting, banning attorney-funded studies, and consulting unbiased scientists to analyze data). Ultimately, this is work that will protect the integrity of science and keep us all safe. (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 votes with our fork, our votes with our wallet, make a difference,” says Mark Hyman, MD. He sat down with GP to talk about his latest book, Food Fix, and what led him on his own personal path into functional medicine. As a physician, Hyman looks for the root causes of chronic health issues—and the factors that contribute to optimal health. He says a lot of it boils down to food and our agriculture system. Hyman explains that disease is correlated with the way food is produced in our country (and around the world). The future, as he outlines it, is more hopeful than you might think, though: Big food companies are realizing they need to make changes. Farmers are being supported to increase regenerative agriculture and increase water conservation. And there’s a lot we can do now, today, on a personal level—and some of it is simple. “Just eat real food,” says Hyman. (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 think about loneliness as a stereotype of the person sitting alone in a corner at a party,” says former surgeon general of the United States Vivek Murthy, MD. “But loneliness doesn’t usually look like that.” The author of Together joins host Elise Loehnen to explain the downward spiral of loneliness: When we don’t feel comfortable showing up as who we are, we tend to try to be somebody we’re not. And when we become focused on seeking validation from others, we feel even more isolated. Today, Murthy shares strategies for easing loneliness, building connection, embracing our vulnerability, and moving toward a people-centered 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

“We are all meant to feel alive and to feel powerful,” says Peter A. Levine, PhD. “That’s what being a human is.” The psychologist and author of Trauma and Memory joins Elise Loehnen to talk about how trauma lives in the body and how it can work its way out. We learn some of Levine’s favorite strategies for energetic movement, like skipping and chanting. He says the key to moving trauma out of the body is “bringing the energy up and then letting the energy settle.” He teaches us a sound exercise that helps move energy through the body and ease stress. Levine explains the difference between memory and traumatic memory, and how recovering—and processing—traumatic memories might help us heal. “All trauma shuts down our vital force,” says Levine. But when we begin to understand how to process our pain, we can free ourselves from shame and disembodiment—and find our way back to empowerment. (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’ve attached importance and status to busyness,” says Brigid Schulte. The director of the Better Life Lab at New America and the New York Times–bestselling author of Overwhelmed joins Elise Loehnen to dispel the busyness myth. She also breaks down the varied ways our home and work systems make it particularly difficult for women to just get to the end of the day. She suggests solutions for changing this structure and easing the enormous pressures many women feel around balancing career, childcare, and running a household. They also talk about gender roles at the office and in parenting (and how we can encourage men to take on different roles as fathers). And Schulte shares some of her strategies for building a better work-life balance. One of her tips: Start asking yourself what one thing you need to get done each day to feel less overwhelmed and still accomplished. (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

Today, Daniel Pink teaches us how crack the code of “perfect timing.” The New York Times–bestselling author of When and Drive explains that much of our lives is episodic: We tend to think of projects, days, and life events in reference to beginning, middle, and end. And Pink explains that our brain and our mood function differently over the course of the day. Becoming aware of these patterns allows us to hack productivity. Pink shares fascinating studies about the best time of day to make a critical decision and when not to have a medical procedure—and also why the “nappuccino” (drinking a coffee before a fifteen-minute nap) might be the best secret he knows. We also learn about why kids benefit from slightly later school start times and why taking breaks is essential for higher performance for everyone. (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

“You’re desperate to find causality even where there is none,” says Kate Bowler. She’s a historian at Duke Divinity School and the author of a memoir called Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved. And she makes us laugh, even when she’s talking about death, dying, and grief. In this episode, Bowler tells Elise Loehnen about what happened after she was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer in her mid-thirties. She shares the moments she stopped feeling like a person, the pressure she felt to be “the best” cancer patient, to find explanations, to treat everything as a lesson that she needed to learn. She talks about how her beliefs eventually shifted. And how, perhaps the biggest lesson is that it’s not always on us to figure it all out. “I was never a problem to be solved,” says Bowler. “I was just a person to be loved.” (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 got on a video call with Peter Attia, MD, data-focused physician, longevity specialist, and host of The Peter Attia Drive podcast. She asked Attia about the research and science evolving around the COVID-19 pandemic and what’s known (and not) about how viruses function—and how our bodies respond to them. Attia provides helpful updates on antibody testing, along with his thoughts on what might come next. He also speaks more broadly about health span and the factors that support our immune function; sleep, unsurprisingly, is perhaps the most important, he says. And Attia shares the toolbox he uses to manage stress: mindfulness meditation, journaling, and steady-state aerobic exercise. Attia believes that the more information you have, the better—and we felt a little more peace of mind after listening to his perspective. (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 try to create the illusion of simplicity because life’s too complicated,” says Eileen Fisher. Today, the founder and clothing designer joins Elise Loehnen to talk about her appreciation for simplicity (which Loehnen shares). Fisher reveals that her own discomfort inspired her career—she could never understand why women were so willing to suffer to look good. Beyond creating a simplified system for style, Fisher shows us a different way to define and run a company: She doesn’t see herself as the sole leader. She thinks of her brand as more of a big collective, and the company is partially owned by its employees. But Fisher is probably most proud that her company is in the process of becoming fully sustainable—and it’s a fascinating, hopeful process for all of us to get a glimpse into. (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