The goop Podcast

“The best way to get respect from people is through honesty and authenticity,” says Bob Iger, executive chairman of Disney (and one of GP’s idols). In this conversation, Iger and GP go back and forth about what makes a great leader. (After serving as the CEO of Disney for the past fifteen years and writing a memoir, The Ride of a Lifetime, Iger had some interesting insights.) Iger outlines the strategies that have driven his success and the principles and questions he always comes back to. For him, leadership is about being in a constant state of learning—and not being afraid to admit what you don’t know. It also involves speaking straight—listen in to hear how Iger and GP navigate the challenges of doing so. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

“Pay attention to your vulnerable feelings and lead with those,” says therapist Terry Real, who comes back on The goop Podcast to help us navigate sheltering in place with significant others. Real guides us on how to step up for our partners (and ourselves) in crisis. He dissuades us from falling back on losing strategies that make us feel disconnected and instead outlines a path toward a healthier, more pleasurable dynamic. (While reassuring us that a little “marital hatred” is still normal.) Real believes in what he calls “fierce intimacy.” It’s not always pretty but it allows us to repair our relationships and build trust—and it brings us closer together. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

“It’s the fuel of fear that keeps these patterns going,” says Craig Malkin, PhD. The Harvard Medical School psychologist joins Elise Loehnen to redefine narcissism. As he outlines in his book Rethinking Narcissism, Malkin believes that being a little narcissistic may help us—there’s a spectrum: “When we have that little bit of self-enhancement, that’s what gives us the protection against adversity in the world, and even loss,” says Malkin. In his work, he’s found that survival mechanisms and even genetics can be at the root of narcissistic behavior. He explains the differences between pride, self-esteem, and arrogance—and how not to conflate their meaning. He also guides Loehnen through a small but powerful breakthrough with her own fear-driven mechanisms. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

Host Elise Loehnen sits down with Pulitzer Prize–winning authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn to talk about their new book, Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope. It’s a story about our country that begins in rural Yamhill, Oregon—where Kristof grew up—and moves to the Dakotas and Oklahoma and New York and Virginia and everywhere in between. Through vivid personal reporting and the lives of real Americans, Kristof and WuDunn explore working-class America and the all ways our system has neglected and damaged these communities. They expose the mythology of personal responsibility, the tightrope that families have been forced to walk, and the devastating effect of one small slip when you have no safety net. They remind us that no community is “other,” and they show us that even issues as large and complex as addiction, homelessness, and incarceration are not unsolvable. We have the toolboxes; now we need the will. “There’s obviously no silver bullet,” says Kristof. “But we know how to make a big difference.” (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

“This is not outside us,” says Terry Tempest Williams. “This is alongside us.” Today, the conservationist, activist, and award-winning author offers a spiritual perspective on this planetary change, as she calls it. She shares moving stories from her newest book, Erosions, that show how our undoing may be our becoming. She urges us to redefine what we deem essential. To ask ourselves if we could accept that this is a part of us—not just happening to us. Could we allow ourselves to find refuge in change? And: How will we live when we come out the other side? We are being asked to walk bravely into the unknown—and Tempest Williams assures us that we can refuse to live in fear. “We have no idea of the collective power that we hold together,” she says. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

“Healing is always a surprise,” says Bill Bengston, PhD. Bengston, a sociology professor and researcher, sat down with host Elise Loehnen to talk about his wild, fascinating, unconventional research. A reformed skeptic, Bengston set out to disprove the effect of hands-on healing, only to be proven wrong himself. (“Don’t spend all your time defending beliefs,” says Bengston. “The world is more interesting than that.”) Throughout his career, Bengston has studied healing techniques on mice with cancer—and tried to make sense of what his findings could mean for the future of healing more broadly. In this conversation, Bengston also shares his rapid image cycling technique. For reasons he doesn’t completely understand—Bengston is hilariously clear about just how much he doesn’t know—he says this technique seems to enhance healing. It involves making a list of twenty things we want, and very quickly cycling through them in our minds. Another suggestion from Bengston: When we put our ego aside, we may find that the answers we are looking for are more simple than we think. (P.S. As always, check with your doctor before beginning any healing process.) (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

“There’s no secret sauce to parenting that parents need to know that kids shouldn’t be let in on,” says pediatrician Cara Natterson, MD. After GP read Natterson’s newest book, Decoding Boys, they sat down to talk about different ways to approach difficult and awkward conversations with our children—about, say, puberty. Natterson explains why puberty is occurring earlier and earlier in boys and girls and why it’s generally more common and easier for girls to talk about what they experience during puberty. She breaks down the chemistry of the limbic system to help us understand boys’ decision-making processes. She suggests ways that we can all address body image insecurities and social pressure. And: what to do if your son might be a late bloomer, how to talk about porn, how to empower our boys with healthy definitions of masculinity. These conversations are always going to feel uncomfortable for everyone, especially at first. But the most helpful thing we can do, says Natterson, is communicate directly, clearly—and repeatedly. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

“What I know is that we’ve always recovered,” says Sallie Krawcheck, CEO and cofounder of Ellevest. The Wall Street legend and personal finance expert returns to The goop Podcast to demystify what’s happening right now in the fluctuating market and explain why she foresees it rebounding and what we can do in the meantime for our financial health. She suggests different ways to think about money during this crisis, whether you’re considering making an investment or trying to navigate some of the economic relief policies being set by the government. “We’ve been socialized as women that we’re not good with money,” says Krawcheck. But today, she’s helping us move away from this stigma, unlearn our scarcity mentality, and make empowered choices around the way we invest. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

“It’s really important to draw attention to not only the physical but also the mental consequences of a rampant environmental poisoning,” says medical ethicist Harriet A. Washington. In her book A Terrible Thing to Waste, Washington outlines the staggering, extensive impact of environmental racism. She examines how marginalized communities—and particularly the infants and children in these communities—are disproportionately affected by lead poisoning, atmospheric pollution, infectious disease, and industrial waste. In this conversation, she also takes on the IQ debate and the flawed science behind it. IQ, Washington reveals, is a misused metric that has had devastating effects on our country. And now, we have a critical opportunity to remedy many of these toxic effects. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

We celebrate the heroes who save the day, but what about all the people who keep the day from needing to be saved? In his new book, Upstream, New York Times–bestselling author Dan Heath teaches us ways to prevent and fix problems before they become problems. And in this conversation with Elise Loehnen, he tells us about times when upstream thinking has solved issues ranging from homelessness to poor graduation rates to mundane marital arguments. They examine how little tweaks in a big system can create massive change and why personalizing a systemic problem can make it more manageable. “We adapt to things so easily that we often adapt to problems that we never had to endure in the first place,” says Heath. But with more upstream thinking, we can save our endurance. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

Psychiatrist Judson Brewer, MD, describes anxiety as a form of uncertainty. How do we bring some certainty to our lives when our world feels out of control? Brewer says that becoming aware of our physiological needs—are we hungry, thirsty, tired?—can help us feel more secure. Being conscious about how we consume news can also help. Grounding techniques—try focusing your feet—can ease panic. Going for a walk is good, but instead of making it mindless, Brewer suggests changing your pace to match what your body needs. Host Elise Loehnen also asks Brewer how we can support friends in distress during the COVID-19 pandemic without becoming more distressed ourselves. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

“Climate change is a justice issue,” says journalist Tatiana Schlossberg, author of Inconspicuous Consumption. At In goop Health, Schlossberg sat down with Elise Loehnen to talk about how we can let go of individual guilt around climate change and move toward collective responsibility and meaningful change. She begins by taking some pressure off of consumers and illuminating the role companies do, should, and could play (for example, looking at just how much water is used to make a single pair of jeans). Schlossberg points out the brands and policies already making a positive difference and the large-scale shifts she still wants to see, such as stopping fossil fuel subsidies, the deforestation of Alaska, and drilling for oil and gas on public lands. On a more personal level, Schlossberg outlines ways to vote, advocate, shop, and eat that allow us to be part of the solution—without needing to be perfect. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

“The reality is challenging, and then, of course, our fears about what might happen magnify immensely the actual situation,” says psychiatrist James Gordon, MD, author of The Transformation. Gordon returns to The goop Podcast to offer strategies that can help us during periods of prolonged stress: We learn how the amygdala and vagus nerve react to anxiety and how to ease it. Because stress can impact our digestive system, Gordon outlines mindful eating habits. He recommends certain supplements (like daily probiotics, vitamin D3, and omega-3 fatty acids) to help us maintain balance. He takes us through soft-belly breathing and a short meditation, and he explains other ways to release deep emotional tension through movement (shaking, dancing, chanting). Also helpful: laughter. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

Family counselor, school consultant, and educator Kim John Payne shares tips, guidelines, and resources to help parents and children adjust to this new normal. Kids feel safe, says Payne, when they sense their parents are in charge—even, and perhaps especially, in uncertain moments. Start smallish, suggests Payne: Declutter your home. Remove obvious triggers. Creating a calming environment can reduce feelings of disorientation, says Payne, which he believes are at the root of so-called misbehavior. For kids who are currently out of school, Payne says, it’s important to set up rhythms and rituals at home that mimic the structure they’re used to. But also: Be easy on yourself. Embrace boredom. It’s a doorway to deep creativity. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

“We need people who are willing to turn within and see: How am I part of the problem?” says global activist Layla Saad. The New York Times–bestselling author of Me and White Supremacy has become known for helping people examine—and talk about—the ways we unconsciously uphold racism. White supremacy may not be something you’ve chosen, says Saad, but it’s in the water, and it’s conditioned all of us in myriad ways. The critical inner work that Saad inspires can be difficult and messy, but it is so necessary. “The payoff is that you get to live out your values,” says Saad. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)