The goop Podcast

For three decades, Rick Doblin, PhD, has been working in human connection. Doblin is the founder and executive director of the legendary Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). And he’s known for pushing forward critical research to explore the therapeutic potential of psychedelic experiences. But that’s only a piece of it. In this conversation with Elise, Doblin shares his profound perspective on our potential to heal ourselves and on the different pathways that we can open up to process traumas and wrongs done to us—and by us. He explains the significance of changing our relationship to our memories, getting in touch with our unconscious, and learning to forgive ourselves when it’s hardest. (For more, check out The goop Podcast hub.)

For Three Women, her first (highly anticipated) book, journalist Lisa Taddeo immersed herself in the lives of three American women, in different parts of the country, for the better part of ten years. The result is an absorbing true story about sex and desire, trauma and longing, power and vulnerability, and the invisible forces that shape our sexuality. In this conversation with Elise from In goop Health Los Angeles, Taddeo takes us behind her extraordinary reporting. But we fell for Taddeo because of what’s ordinary about Three Women, because we saw ourselves in these women, and because we were reminded that of course we’re all normal. (For more, check out The goop Podcast hub.)

Uma Naidoo is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and professional chef. And she’s married the two: Naidoo practices nutritional and integrative psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and in her private practice. In other words, she’s curious about which foods impact our mood and how. Today, Elise asks her about the ingredients that can trigger anxiety and panic and how we can better steer clear of them. They talk about the foods that can support our mental health. How we can make (or keep) cooking, eating, and gathering around the kitchen table fun. And how we can help our children develop their own healthy relationship to food. Naidoo’s most important takeaway might be this: Start small. (For more, check out The goop Podcast hub.)

Psychiatrist Steven Levine was drawn into his profession because he loves the human story. But as a doctor, he found himself dissatisfied with the options being offered to patients struggling with depression and other forms of mental dis-ease. “People aren’t just a big bag of chemicals,” he says. And there could not be a successful one-size-fits-all approach. He spent a long time looking for innovative treatments for his patients. And he found something unlikely: a drug—ketamine—that’s historically been used as an anesthetic and that seemed to have antidepressant effects. Levine, who now runs clinics (called Actify) that offer ketamine infusions (and other support), is quick to point out that ketamine is not a cure. But for a growing number of people it could be a tool that allows them to break through what has previously felt like impenetrable darkness. Beyond ketamine, Levine believes we are on the cusp of more major frontiers that will change the way we think of and address depression. His work and perspective carry much-deserved hope for us all. (For more, check out The goop Podcast hub.)

Across the board, people tend to be terrible at answering the question “What do I want to do with my life?” Dave Evans, a coauthor of Designing Your Life, is one of the two masterminds behind the popular Stanford program that teaches students how to figure this out. With Bill Burnett, he’s created a playbook that anyone can follow to design a life that’s meaningful to them. Evans reminds us that there isn’t one best version of our life—there are a lot of good versions. He shows us how to prototype and pick from these different realities, and he convinces us not to bother with predictions. He tells us why the current career model is broken, why we sometimes get stuck in jobs we don’t like, and how we can more effectively navigate the hiring process. Get curious, talk to people, try stuff, tell your story, Evans says. And whatever you do: Start where you are. (For more, check out The goop Podcast hub.)

An award-winning writer and activist for LGBTQ rights, mental health, and the arts, Andrew Solomon is adept at reframing misconceptions about what it means to be human. In this moving conversation, Solomon and goop chief content officer Elise Loehnen talk about why we crave exceptionalism and cling to sameness. Why we confuse the average with the ideal. Why we waste time hiding our shortcomings and strengthening our strengths. Why we’re threatened by difference. Why we misunderstand the experience of having a disability or being a prodigy. They talk about the difference between love and acceptance, expanding the definition of family,and the ways our lives can be enriched by the diversity of the world. And how we can encourage ourselves and our children to use the challenges we’re faced with to live a remarkable life. (For more, check out The goop Podcast hub.)

Have you ever wondered what a psychotherapist would think about you? Or what goes on in your therapist’s life outside of office hours? Lori Gottlieb, the author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, is demystifying what she calls the rich human experience between therapist and patient—and she’s seen it from both ends of the couch. In this honest chat, Gottlieb talks with goop’s chief content officer, Elise Loehnen, about the difference between pain and suffering, why we sometimes muck around in our hurt feelings, how to move forward—and the best thing to do when a friend has stalled. Gottlieb’s toolbox isn’t typical: She believes that we should use envy to help us define and go after what we want. And above all, that we should feel our feelings. (For more, check out The goop Podcast hub.)

According to Lacy Phillips, a manifestation advisor—she’ll explain what that means—manifesting isn’t about positivity. And you don’t get what you want by visualizing until you’re blue in the face. Your ability to manifest—love, money, career—comes from your self-worth, says Phillips. And to align with what you desire, she believes you need to mine and curate your subconscious. Repair old wounds and patterns. Find the “expanders” who can help you along the way. Phillips thinks of manifestation as a trust muscle—and now you can strengthen yours. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

“Why are we coming together, what do we care about, and how do we focus the light on that?” Priya Parker, author of The Art of Gathering, asks this before dinner parties, school conferences, office meetings, and weddings. Her day job is working with groups on conflict resolution, but she’s become known for her insight into designing gatherings of all kinds that create meaning, trust, and emotional bonds between people. Being a good host does not mean fancy invitations, the right flatware, or a gift bag. And forget about trying to be a “chill host.” The key to any gathering, Parker says, is building in opportunities for connection. And if we can shift from gatherings focused on things to gatherings focused on people, Parker believes we can transform the way we relate to one another on a much larger scale. (For more, check out The goop Podcast hub.) 

“We are light beings,” says chiropractor John Amaral. To which body-alignment specialist Lauren Roxburgh adds, “And that light gets compressed when we are stuck.” These two incredibly intuitive and talented healers came together at In goop Health Los Angeles to chat with Elise about: how energy moves through the body, where and why it gets blocked, and how we can release stored stress, pain, and trauma. In the process, Roxburgh explains why the fascia and pelvic floor matter (read her new book, The Power Source,for more). And Amaral outlines the simple (really) ways that we can reconnect to our bodies and feel most alive. (For more, check out The goop Podcast hub.) 

In partnership with our friends at Ketel One Botanical There’s a lot we misunderstand about empathy, says Jamil Zaki, a professor of psychology at Stanford University and the author of The War for Kindness. Which is good.In this episode, he’s talking with Elise about empathetic distress—why empathy doesn’t always mean taking on the pain or struggle of someone else, and why being empathic can be a joyous experience. He explains what keeps us from this kind of empathy and connection: often shame. And he teaches us about finding a language for our feelings: “The people who can name their emotions are also most effective at working with them.” His take-home point? Empathy isn’t something we are born with; it’s something we build. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

Elizabeth Gilbert—beloved author of City of Girls; Eat, Pray, Love;and Big Magic—opened up In goop Health Los Angeles with GP. We cried. We laughed. They talked about creativity, spirituality, grief, and mothering. “I think of creativity as a relationship—not between self and self but between self and mystery,” says Gilbert. For Gilbert, the simplest way for us to connect with a force greater than ourselves is through creativity with a little c. (To be clear: This does not mean you need to be a writer or a self-described creative. There are a lot of ways to create in the world, which they get into.) Gilbert said one profound thing after another, but her perspective on the relationship between creativity and grief will stick with us forever. Creativity, Gilbert teaches, can get us through some hard moments. It can be a path to learning how to love, care, and mother ourselves. And it can help us find those strange jewels that the universe has buried within us. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

What drives people to change, to heal, to reinvent themselves? On goopfellas, two friends who have become familiar with unlikely personal transformations have raw conversations with people who have experienced profound shifts in perspective and well-being.  Together, functional medicine practitioner Will Cole, DC, and chef Seamus Mullen get at the catalysts that bring people out of their dark night and into their purpose.  Each of their goopfellas guests- from athletes to actors to authors- is different.  But you'll likely see pieces of yourself in all their conversations, reflected in every one of their challenges.  New episodes every Wednesday.  Subscribe now and never miss an episode.

“What you appreciate, appreciates,” says Lynne Twist, global activist and author of The Soul of Money. What she means: When we let go of what we don’t really need, we find the freedom to turn our attention toward what we already have. Twist joined our chief content officer Elise Loehnen at our last In goop Health in Los Angeles for a conversation about our money culture—how it was created, why we buy into, the ways its failing to serve us, and how we can change it. Most of us, Twist finds, regardless of how much wealth we’ve amassed, have a strained relationship with money—which, often isn’t really about money. She tells us about the three toxic myths of scarcity and redefines our sense of prosperity and abundance. Having “enough” is not an amount, Twist says, but a state of being. She’s helping us all get there. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)

GP walked into one of Eddie Stern’s Ashtanga yoga classes in the village twenty years ago, and he changed her life forever. Since then, they’ve become good friends (Stern officiated GP’s wedding last year). In this intimate chat, they talk about those early days—when yoga was weird, when celebrities were sweating it out together at his school, when the consciousness in the culture shifted. They talk about Stern’s brilliant new book, One Simple Thing; the science behind yoga and breath; how emotions express themselves through the body; freeing ourselves (from ourselves); and building in a pause when we’re prone to freak out. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub and The Breathing App.)