the goop podcast

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