Episodes

What if love isn’t just a feeling, but a form of data from a higher dimension? In this season finale, I invite Jeanne Mayell back to the podcast to pick up where we left off in Episode #4. Jeanne is an intuitive counselor and author who gives private life readings and helps people develop their intuitive abilities. In our first conversation, we explored how intuition works. But Jeanne felt we hadn’t fully addressed the most important question: What is the mechanism behind intuition? Her answer: ...

In this episode, I sit down with Samantha Cooke, author of Love Always, Bailey, a young adult novel that hit #1 in New Releases for YA Mental Health within hours of its November 2023 launch. The book climbed into the top 10 YA bestsellers—just below John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars—and dominated the top three spots across paperback, eBook, and hardcover formats simultaneously. Love Always, Bailey follows Morgan, who hasn’t heard from her best friend Bailey in seven months, not sin...

What do you do when you realize life has no inherent meaning? You invent your own. In this episode, I’m doing something different: I’m reading a short story from my book, The Healing Book, which published in 2023. The story is called “Searching for Meaning in the Stars,” and it follows a theoretical physicist who writes a memoir about overcoming an existential crisis in his cabin on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. During the pandemic, I found myself in my late thirties, trapped at hom...

Can a conversation with an “ordinary” person be as compelling as one with an expert or a well-known figure? I decided to find out. In this episode, I abandon my usual format—no research, no preparation, no predetermined topic—and sit down with Bob Smith (not his real name), a 73-year-old man from Massachusetts who has never been on TV, written a book, or held any position of power. He’s not an expert on anything in particular. He’s just... Bob. But here’s the thing: Bob is hilarious, kind,...

Can you really make a living as an artist in 2025? After publishing six books, I’ve learned the hard way: the answer is more complicated, and bleaker, than most people realize. In this episode, I sit down with William Deresiewicz, award-winning essayist, cultural critic, and author of The Death of the Artist: How Creators Are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech. After interviewing 140 artists—novelists, filmmakers, visual artists, musicians—Deresiewicz uncovered a tr...

What does it take to create music that transcends genres and builds a devoted following? Leo Son and Claire Davis of Bermuda Search Party (formerly The Q-Tip Bandits) have cracked the code—blending soulful melodies, cool lyrics, and joyous energy into a sound that’s taken the New England music scene by storm. After meeting at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Leo and Claire joined forces with bandmates Dakota Maykrantz on drums, Maclin Tucker on trumpet, and Hoyt Parquet on trombone. ...

Can being kinder to yourself actually reduce physical pain? Lower anxiety and depression? Improve your relationships? Dr. Chris Germer, a clinical psychologist and world-leading authority on self-compassion, has spent decades proving the answer is yes. Dr. Germer is a licensed psychotherapist, lecturer on Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and founding faculty member of both the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy and the Center for Mindfulness and Compassion. Since the mid-1990s, h...

Could we actually resurrect dinosaurs like in Jurassic Park? Design our children’s traits like in Gattaca? Merge human consciousness with machines like in Ghost in the Shell? Dr. Nisha Iyer teaches biomedical engineering students at Tufts University by exploring the real science behind sci-fi movies—and the ethical questions they raise. Dr. Iyer holds a PhD in biomedical research and serves as an assistant professor at Tufts University. She’s created a groundbreaking course called “Applicatio...

Can a Harvard-educated policy analyst also be one of America’s most gifted psychics? Jeanne Mayell has lived two extraordinary lives. She spent years as the Massachusetts Medicaid Director and policy administrator for New York City’s Office of Management & Budget. She holds Master’s Degrees from Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Graduate School of Education, plus an MA in Counseling Psychology. She’s published in The Atlantic and co-authored books on health and welfare policy. But J...

Why do some artists stay independent even when success tempts them toward the mainstream? In this episode of Curiously, I talk with Clay Walker—photographer, filmmaker, educator, and lifelong creative—whose 28-year career has helped shaped the landscape of independent film. Clay has produced, directed, photographed, edited, and programmed across a wide range of projects, including documentaries, music videos, and interactive media. In our conversation, we discuss his acclaimed PBS documentary...

Why did tuberculosis patients call their time at a remote Adirondack sanatorium “the best time of their lives”? In this episode of Curiously, I talk with Ellen Damsky, PhD—real estate agent, psychic, folklorist, and my most interesting neighbor—to explore her doctoral research on the Adirondack Cottage Sanatorium. Founded by Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau in the late 1880s, this New York State institution pioneered the “fresh air cure” for tuberculosis. Despite being chronically ill, exhausted...

What is therapy really like? What are the biggest misconceptions? Can it work for everyone? In the first episode of Curiously, I sit down with my former therapist, John Grillo, LCSW, to explore these questions and more. Inspired by Jonah Hill’s 2022 documentary Stutz, I decided to have an open conversation with the therapist I worked with for years. John is a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist, and we’ve always had great rapport, which made this an insightful and honest dialo...