What could be more ripe for thought spirals than the concept of tiny, invisible poisons secretly lurking in our food, clothes, and the air we breathe? With such mystery, misinformation, and conspiracy surrounding "toxins"—everything from forever chemicals in our sparkling water to carcinogens in our skincare—it's impossible not to overthink about them. To help soothe our noxious spiraling on the subject, we're pleased to welcome a very special guest Dr. Denise Montell, a cancer researcher at the University of California Santa Barbara and host Amanda's (@amanda_montell) very own mother. Mother Montell joins the pod to answer a plethora of unfiltered, listener-submitted questions on the relationship between our bodies and the environment, and what we can do to limit our "toxic" exposure while protecting our precious mental health.

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Big question: Is life in the ever-disembodied digital era changing our attitudes toward death? Already, Americans' relationship to mortality is terribly distant—but how do phenomena like social media, the brandification of the apocalypse, and technology-assisted modes of "cheating death" further widen that divide? Just in time for Halloween, host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) is joined by a personal idol of hers, Sloane Crosley, New York Times-bestselling author of several books including the recent memoir Grief Is for People, for the ultimate magical overthinker's discussion of death in the Information Age.  

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/MAGICAL and get on your way to being your best self.

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Is it just us, or do thought spirals about the forthcoming American presidential election seem to hum in the background of nearly every quotidien conversation these days? When asked to submit their overthinkiest thoughts on the matter, listeners had lots to say: Is it wrong to feel hope? Is it wrong to feel fatalistic? Would a Kamala Harris win provoke civil war? Why are we still tolerating the two-party system? How can we communicate with our family members who plan to vote differently or not at all? Are we screwed either way? Do we need to move to Canada? To help dial down the temperature on our election-centric magical overthinking, host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) is joined by former Obama speechwriter, Crooked Media co-founder, and host of the podcasts Pod Save America and Offline, Jon Favreau (@jfavs). Further Reading: How Trump Could Ban Abortion 

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- Pick up a hard copy of Amanda's book The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, or listen to the audiobook.

To watch the podcast on YouTube: https://bit.ly/MagicalOverthinkersYouTube ; Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast for free wherever you're listening

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At the opening assembly of host Amanda Montell's Baltimore public arts high school, whose student body featured a wide range of socioeconomic and racial backgrounds, the vice principal gave an address that encouraged everyone listening to "have grit." No matter what you're going through at school or at home, in the face of adversity, keep your nose down and your chin up. Be resilient. This always stuck out as a complicated piece of one-size-fits-all advice. In our ever-complicating society, as we increasingly center critiques of systemic injustice and legitimize mental health discourse, how is our relationship to "resilience" changing? Journalist Soraya Chemaly (@sorayachemaly), author of The Resilience Myth, joins Amanda (@amanda_montell) to help us better understand the concepts of grit, optimism, and the not-infrequent desire to just give up all "resilience" and break down.

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/MAGICAL and get on your way to being your best self.

- Join the "Magical Overthinkers Club" by following the pod on Instagram @magicaloverthinkers.

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- Pick up a hard copy of Amanda's book The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, or listen to the audiobook.

To watch the podcast on YouTube: https://bit.ly/MagicalOverthinkersYouTube ; Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast for free wherever you're listening

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It's more than side parts, skinny jeans, and the way you make a heart symbol with your hands—"millennial cringe" is the breed of shame exclusive to a generation that had about .0001 seconds of glory in between their status as entitled babies and out-of-touch olds. But is the cross-generational roast of adults who suck at #adulting, those born roughly between 1982 and 1997, just garden-variety ageism, or is the millennial plight more profound than that? Host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) is joined by the brilliant high priestess of millennial culture, Kate Kennedy (@katekennedy)—host of the Be There In Five podcast and author of "One in a Millennial"—to unpack these Lisa Frank-tinted thought spirals. 

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This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/MAGICAL and get on your way to being your best self.

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- Pick up a hard copy of Amanda's book The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, or listen to the audiobook.

To watch the podcast on YouTube: https://bit.ly/MagicalOverthinkersYouTube ; Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast for free wherever you're listening

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When life here on earth feels painful, we often look to the sky for comfort, answers, and escapism. Thinking about what’s out there can inspire so many forms of magical overthinking: awe, fantasy, paranoia, religiosity, even UFO conspiracy theories. This week’s thought spirals take us away from our planet’s problems and into outer space. There, we’re joined by astrophysicist and folklorist, Dr. Moiya McTier (@goastromo), who’s indulging host Amanda Montell’s (@amanda_montell) overthinkiest questions about aliens, deep space, science fiction, and how pondering the cosmos might actually be a cure for some of the digital age’s most frustrating irrationalities.

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To watch the podcast on YouTube: https://bit.ly/MagicalOverthinkersYouTube ; Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast for free wherever you're listening

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Before the internet, getting lost in a spiral of romantic, obsessive feelings for someone was already an all-consuming experience… but now? With algorithmic dating apps and the ability to overanalyze everyone watching your Instagram Stories, crushes in the digital age are ripe for delulu. In some cases, they might even pose a threat to IRL human connection. This week on the pod, OCD specialist Alegra Kastens (@alegrakastens) joins host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) for an open-hearted, all-too-relatable discussion of limerence, neurodivergence, and how crushes have combined with the social media era to produce a perfectly chaotic cocktail of magical overthinking.

- Join the "Magical Overthinkers Club" by following the pod on Instagram @magicaloverthinkers.

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- Pick up a hard copy of Amanda's book The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, or listen to the audiobook.

- Sources:

What causes a crush to develop? - bit.ly/3Z0G4SC

Is it a crush or have you fallen into limerence? - nyti.ms/3WS2KSB

Why your internet crush can be stronger than your in-person feelings - bit.ly/3WWRIv9

Office crushes can be fun and excruciating - bit.ly/4dUhvvc

Why crushes are so common, and healthy, at all ages - bit.ly/3Xc1fzT

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From Taylor Swift's "Lavendergate" scandal to One Direction conspiracy theories colonizing adolescents' personalities, celebrity fandom appears more hallucinatory and brutal now than ever before... or are we overthinking it? A few stats about celebrity worship have been confirmed: In 2019, a Japanese study found that ~30 percent of adolescents aspired to emulate a media figure, as opposed to an IRL role model. A 2021 study measured that celebrity worship had increased dramatically since two decades prior. During times of both global and personal crisis, our culture has increasingly looked to celebrities not only to entertain us, but to save us, and as social media brings us "closer" to our favs than ever, performative online personas exacerbate the illusion of "mother" status. But cycles of celebrity worship and dethronement have grown hostile, and when the stakes of these obsessions range from Dolly Parton to Donald Trump, from Jane Fonda to Ronald Reagan, we have to ask: Is it healthy to elevate entertainers to such pedestals? Why have our expectations of pop stars gotten so high? And even though the dehumanization side of fame seems downright miserable, why do so many fans still crave a taste of it for themselves? New York Times opinion columnist Jessica Grose joins for a sparkling discussion of celebrity worship.

- Join the "Magical Overthinkers Club" by following the pod on Instagram @magicaloverthinkers.

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- Sources:

Celebrity admiration vs. obsession: New study sheds light on stalking behaviors: https://bit.ly/4ftx0f7

When did we start taking famous people seriously?: https://nyti.ms/4dehd25

More sources in the end notes of The Age of Magical Overthinking, Chapter 1: "Are You My Mother Taylor Swift"

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When the work-specific euphemism "layoff" was first coined in the 19th century, it indicated "respite" or "relaxation." But layoffs in 2024 are anything but. It's almost impossible not to spiral after getting "let go," "phased out," "reduced in force." In a culture that makes hiring and company culture extremely personal, being laid off out of nowhere can feel like getting dumped by the love of your life... except the love of your life happens to be both your income source and, as it turns out, an entity that never actually cared about you that way. Doomy layoff vibes seem to pervade contemporary job discourse, but are layoffs as much of a crisis as they seem? How's a person to know the career path they chose wasn't one big mistake? And after getting laid off, how can one manage to drum up a sense of motivation ever again?? To help us wrap our heads around this overwhelm, host Amanda (amanda_montell) is joined by emotional investigative journalist, NPR layoff survivor, and host of the Proxy podcast, Yowei Shaw (@yoweishaw).

- Catch Amanda on book tour! July 29, 7pm: Seattle, WA — The Age of Magical Overthinking talk and signing at Elliott Bay Book Company (free, no RSVP needed)- Join the "Magical Overthinkers Club" by following the pod on Instagram @magicaloverthinkers.

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- Pick up a hard copy of Amanda's book The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, or listen to the audiobook.

To watch the podcast on YouTube: https://bit.ly/MagicalOverthinkersYouTube ; Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast for free wherever you're listening

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You log onto Instagram and within five seconds of scrolling, your algorithm has your self-esteem in a death grip. It serves you: 1) an old classmate's engagement announcement, 2) another carousel of glamorous vacation pics, 3) a random influencer looking flawless on a rooftop... and now, you feel like garbage. These people have NOTHING to do with your life, and yet social media has forced them into your brain space. What's worse? Their beauty, wealth, and success seem to be directly depleting yours. What causes us to irrationally compare-despair on platforms like Instagram and TikTok? Is there an evolutionary explanation? And how can we feel better? Joining host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) are two special guests, here to help soothe our thought spirals surrounding social media comparison: Jemma Sbeg (@jemmasbeg), host of The Psychology of Your 20s podcast, and Britt Frank (@britt_frank), neuropsychotherapist and author of The Science of Stuck.

- Join the "Magical Overthinkers Club" by following the pod on Instagram @magicaloverthinkers

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- Pick up a hard copy of Amanda's book The Age of Magical Overthinking, or listen to the audiobook.

- Sources: 

Zero-Sum Bias: Perceived Competition Despite Unlimited Resources - bit.ly/4drkHhQ

Gendered Influence of Downward Social Comparisons on Current and Possible Selves - bit.ly/3XavUh9

Shine Theory: Why Powerful Women Make the Greatest Friends - bit.ly/3Xak9XU

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Chronically stressed? Emotionally exhausted? Depleted to the point of physical suffering, dissociation, and paranoia that things will never improve?? Welcome to today's woefully relatable topic, burnout, which is not just fatigue or boredom but rather what happens when our bodies fail to complete the "stress response cycle." That's according to our brilliant and delightful guest, Amelia Nagoksi, co-author of the bestselling book Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. With wisdom and charisma, Amelia joins host Amanda (@amanda_montell) to soothe our thought spirals about how American capitalist society is fundamentally clashing with the human spirit... and what we can do to quell burnout's negative effects. 

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- Pick up a hard copy of Amanda's book The Age of Magical Overthinking, or listen to the audiobook.

- Sources: 

Burnout: The secret to unlocking the stress cycle - bit.ly/4czkdoO

You might be part of 'The Great Exhaustion' - bit.ly/3AAbghF

It’s not a contest: Bragging about your work stress - bit.ly/3AAbmpx

Cold-Water Immersion Facilitates Positive Affect - bit.ly/46Wmd9i

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