DJ Hesta Prynn's Music is Therapy

What if your phone is having an affair with you?

In this episode of Music Is Therapy, DJ Hesta Prynn sits down with Mark Groves — human connection specialist, founder of Create The Love, and host of the top-ranked Mark Groves Podcast (19M+ downloads) — to talk about why we’re all feeling so far apart, even when we’re physically together.

Fresh off sobbing through Hadestown — where Orpheus writes a song so beautiful it melts walls and reminds people they’re capable of love — Hesta asks:

Where is that song in 2026?

Why does everyone — including her — feel emotionally distant from the people they love?

Mark doesn’t sugarcoat it.

He breaks down exactly how social media mirrors abusive relationship dynamics, why healing can’t happen in isolation, and why the best thing you can do on a date might be leaving your phone at home.

This conversation is about presence. Choice. Attention. And what it actually means to show up — not once, but daily.

 

In this episode, we dive into:

• Social Media as Abusive Partner: How Instagram mirrors unhealthy relationship dynamics — nothing is ever enough, the algorithm is mysterious, and intermittent rewards keep you hooked
• The Phone as the Third Person: Why Mark leaves his phone at home on dates and takes one day a week using a Light Phone
• Instagram Sabbatical: Mark’s six-month break after asking, “I’m not an anxious person — so why do I have anxiety?”
• “Everything Must Be Healed in Relationship”: Why you can’t fix yourself alone and then bring perfection into partnership
• Insert Choice Where You Think There Is None: Mark’s challenging reframe on feeling stuck, resentful, or disconnected
• The Manipulation of Hooks: Why both of us refuse to build platforms on “Here are 5 things you NEED to know” urgency
• The Return to Analog: Vinyl, dumb phones, tactile experiences — and what they say about our craving for real presence
• Music as State-Shifter: From China by Tori Amos* to You've Got the Love by Florence and the Machine*, how the right song pulls you back into being human

 

This Episode Is For You If:

You’ve checked your phone instead of looking at your partner

You feel like you’re living parallel lives with someone you love

You’ve asked, “When did we stop being present?”

You suspect your anxiety might not be your personality

Monthly Playlist

The Love and Happiness Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/07iyBQcQJtSw3PXw7i6S7t?si=a40a5a28e15c42ff 

Featured Songs:

"You've Got the Love" – Florence + The Machine: The song Hesta plays coming out of the subway to remember she's alive:  https://open.spotify.com/track/6u9RqxALwkjJ1ukB1y8vuP?si=f419c15c78264f8e 

"China" – Tori Amos: The teenage anthem about distance that still resonates 30 years later: https://open.spotify.com/track/08OXkYqqvhE7vjTzA9fVKk?si=705963cd1fac4a9b 

"Hope" - NF: https://open.spotify.com/track/12cZWGf5ZgLcKubEW9mx5q?si=61e2a1eb2c944973 

 

Connect with Mark Groves

• Instagram: @itsmarkgroves
• Podcast: Mark Groves Podcast
• Website: MarkGroves.com
• Book: Liberated Love (co-authored with Kylie McBeath)

Connect with Hesta

• Instagram: @HestaPrynnMusic
• Substack: hestaprynn.substack.com 
• Music Connection Therapy Course: mct.hestaprynn.com 
• Have a question you want DJ Hesta Prynn to answer? 📩 [email protected] 

 

Got the song that melts walls in 2026? Send it to Hesta — maybe we can build it together.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shift your state first. Then go find the person.

This episode is for anyone who’s swiping, spiraling, or wondering why dating feels so fucking hard right now.

Dating is usually discussed in terms of apps, algorithms, and luck. But we rarely talk about the state you’re in before you even start swiping—and how that state determines everything that comes next.

 

In this episode of Music Is Therapy, DJ Hesta Prynn sits down with dating expert Damona Hoffman to explore why dating has actually gotten worse (it’s not just you), and what to do about it. From pre-date playlists to the "three must-haves and one deal breaker" rule, Damona breaks down the strategies that actually work—including the one thing most people get wrong: looking for someone else to fix their mood instead of fixing it themselves first.

This conversation is practical, honest, and full of actual tools you can use today. It’s a reminder that dating isn't fate—it’s strategy, intention, and showing up in the right state.

If you’ve ever opened Hinge while feeling like shit and wondered why nothing worked out, this episode is for you.

In this episode, we dive into:

• The State Before the Swipe: Why swiping for a confidence hit is like grocery shopping while starving—you’re going to make bad choices.
• Pre-Date Playlists: Why you need a "hype track" and why Olivia Rodrigo is officially banned from your pre-game.
• The "Thank You" vs. "Dazed and Confused" Test: Are you looking for the soulmate or are you just stuck in the cycle?
• Three Must-Haves + One Deal Breaker: How to get clear on what you actually want (not what your mom or your friends want).
• Your Dates Are Too Long: Why 60–90 minutes is the sweet spot. No dinners, no marathons.
• Stop the Endless Texting: How to actually get from the app to IRL without losing the spark.
• Damona's Song: "Have It All" by Jason Mraz—and why healthy love sounds like wanting your partner to have everything.
• The Real Work: Why "F the Fairy Tale" means taking accountability for your own playlist.

This episode is sponsored by you not wasting another six months on someone who violates your deal breaker.

 

Monthly Playlist

The Love and Happiness Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/07iyBQcQJtSw3PXw7i6S7t?si=5323d4367303405e

Featured Song: "Thank You" – Led Zeppelin Howard Stern called it the most romantic song of all time. "If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you." The kind of love we’re all looking for.

Connect with Damona

• Website: damonahoffman.com
• Instagram: @damonahoffman
• Podcast: Dates & Mates (available everywhere)
• Book: F the Fairy Tale: Rewrite the Dating Myths and Live Your Own Love Story

Connect with Hesta

• Instagram: @hestaprynnmusic
• Substack: hestaprynn.substack.com
• Course: Music Connection Therapy

Have a question for the show? [email protected]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I interviewed my husband about our relationship.

Am I insane? Probably. But we’ve been married twelve years, and I had questions.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever loved someone and thought, Why is this still so hard?

 

Marriage is usually discussed in terms of compatibility, communication, and compromise. But we rarely talk about what happens when two people who love each other realize they have no idea what they’re actually building together.

 

In this episode of Music Is Therapy, DJ Hesta Prynn does something unprecedented: she interviews her own husband, filmmaker Randy Scott Slavin, for raw couples therapy on tape.

 

What starts as a sweet story about how they met through music turns into something deeper — and more uncomfortable. They fight all the time. She doesn’t know why. And when she finally asks the hard questions — Why do we fight so much? What are we building? Do you still want to choose this? — the answers crack something open.

 

This conversation is messy, vulnerable, and uncomfortably real. It’s a reminder that loving someone and knowing how to build a life with them are two different things — and that sometimes you have to admit you forgot to dream together.

 

If you’ve ever had a fight in the car on the way to a rave, this episode is for you.

In this episode, we dive into:

• The Magic Man Shift: How one song helps Hesta choose consciousness over autopilot in her marriage
• How They Met Through Music: A breakup song, 13,000 stop-motion photos, and “Pictures of You” as their wedding song
• Why They Fight: The tension between artistic life (Fred again.. weekends) and regular life (Monday responsibilities)
• The Big Reveal: Two people married for 12 years realizing they have no shared vision for their relationship
• When the Therapist Is Lost Too: What happens when the expert doesn’t have the answers at home
• Want vs. Need: Why looking for someone to fill the hole destroys love
• The Hard Question: Asking “do you even love me?” — and sitting with the answer
• What They Each Need: Space to create vs. presence when spiraling
• The Commitment: Learning how to dream together when you forgot how

Monthly Playlist

The February Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/07iyBQcQJtSw3PXw7i6S7t?si=f460e6034e6f4769

Featured Song: “Magic Man” – Heart The song that shifts Hesta’s state and brings her back to why she chose him.

Connect with Randy

Randy’s Website: https://www.randyscottslavin.com 

NYC Drone Film Festival: https://www.instagram.com/nycdroneff 

Can We Go Wrong Music Video: https://youtu.be/XreeB1Ljeew?si=929Ou8XZu7WNgz8v

Connect with Hesta

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hestaprynnmusic 

Substack: https://hestaprynn.substack.com/ 

Music Connection Therapy Course: https://mct.hestaprynn.com/

 

Have a question you want DJ Hesta Prynn to answer? [email protected]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Billionaires all seem to have one thing in common.

It’s not what you think. 

In this episode of Music Is Therapy, Hesta Prynn sits down with New York Times journalist and author David Gelles — who has spent years inside boardrooms and private rooms with billionaires, CEOs, and cultural power players — to explore what actually drives wealth, success, and influence.

From Bernie Madoff to Jack Welch to Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, David has seen radically different expressions of power and money up close. What connects them isn’t strategy, manifestation, or obsession with money — it’s confidence. And what that confidence is attached to turns out to matter far more than the money itself.

This conversation challenges hustle culture, money mythology, and the idea that wealth automatically delivers worth. It asks a quieter, more unsettling question: what are we really hoping money will fix?

In this episode, we explore:

• The Common Factor: What billionaires actually share — and why it’s morally neutral.
• Money vs. Worth: Does wealth doesn’t create self-worth, or does it reveal where you already place it.
• The Patagonia Paradox: How Yvon Chouinard built a billion-dollar company without chasing money — and then gave it away.
• The Cashmere Prison: Why extreme wealth often creates fragility, not safety.
• Music as Identity Training: How sound helps confidence move from concept into the body.
• The Real Fear: Why the deepest anxiety isn’t having less — it’s ending up wrong.

This episode is for anyone who wants more — but doesn’t want to lose themselves getting there.

Monthly Playlist:

• The Money Month Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7tOSp6IBYBVFYDD7zEOkpG?si=7535fa44c3ba4aae 
• Featured Song: "Mo Money Mo Problems" – The Notorious BIG: The song that gives David confidence

Connect with David:

• David’s Website: https://davidgelles.com/ 

Connect with Hesta:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hestaprynnmusic
• Substack: https://hestaprynn.substack.com/
• Music Connection Therapy Course: https://mct.hestaprynn.com/sales-page
• Hesta Prynn x Dirtbag Billionaire: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1gHxvwSEgIoDRTeP0kwB2O?si=400fa7975d314a1f   

 

Have a question you want DJ Hesta Prynn to answer? Email us: 

[email protected] 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 Money is usually discussed in terms of numbers, strategy, and spreadsheets. But we rarely talk about what money actually feels like in the body.

In this episode of Music Is Therapy, Hesta Prynn sits down with Kate Northrup, best-selling author and creator of Relaxed Money, to explore why money is a nervous system experience rather than a math problem.

Recording from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland—surrounded by world leaders and billionaires—Hesta shares a raw, personal look at her own relationship with wealth. From the "Rick Ross" Porsche strategy to the yacht fantasies that mask deep-seated insecurities, this episode pulls back the curtain on why high-achieving people continue to feel anxious, even when they're winning on paper.

This conversation reframes abundance as a state you practice internally, proving that you can't buy your way into feeling safe—you have to regulate your way there.

In this episode, we dive into:

• The Nervous System of Wealth: Why your body doesn’t understand your bank balance—it only understands safety.
• The Porsche Paradox: Hesta’s candid story about trying to outrun financial anxiety in a luxury SUV.
• The Responsibility Trap: Why worrying feels like "productive work" while it’s actually keeping you financially stuck.
• Childhood Blueprints: How early conditioning and survival responses are still making your adult money decisions.
• The Magnetism of Calm: Why pressure, urgency, and the "hustle" often repel the very abundance you’re chasing.
• Safety First: Practical ways to signal safety to your body so you can think clearly and act from power, not fear.

This episode is for anyone who has ever wondered why more money hasn’t led to more calm—and what to do instead.

Monthly Playlist:

• The Money Month Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7tOSp6IBYBVFYDD7zEOkpG?si=7535fa44c3ba4aae 
• Featured Song: "The Devil Is a Lie" – Rick Ross ft. Jay-Z: The anthem for rejecting limitation and claiming power (and the song that inspired Hesta’s Porsche).

Connect with Kate:

• Kate’s Podcast: https://katenorthrup.com/plenty/ 
• Kate’s Nervous System Tools: https://katenorthrup.com/7-steps-for-aligning-with-your-nervous-system-as-you-reimagine-the-way-you-work/ 

Connect with Hesta:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hestaprynnmusic
• Substack: https://hestaprynn.substack.com/
• Music Connection Therapy Course: https://mct.hestaprynn.com/ 

 

Have a question you want DJ Hesta Prynn to answer? Email us: 

[email protected] 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How can understanding a “money identity” unlock your real financial confidence?

 

Financial expert Jean Chatzky joins DJ and therapist Hesta Prynn to explore how childhood experiences shape our money behaviors and why understanding your "money identity" is the key to financial confidence. Through personal stories and practical strategies, they discuss overcoming scarcity mindsets, taking smart risks, and building wealth with integrity—plus Jean reveals why tracking your spending for just one month can transform your relationship with money.

 

 

Have a question you want DJ Hesta Prynn to answer? Email us at [email protected] 

 

Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/hestaprynnmusic/

 

Course Link: https://mct.hestaprynn.com/sales-page 

Money Month Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7tOSp6IBYBVFYDD7zEOkpG?si=7535fa44c3ba4aae

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How did a Jay-Z lyric change DJ Hesta Prynn's net worth?

Licensed therapist and DJ Heta Prynn shares how a Jay-Z lyric about credit and property ownership transformed her relationship with money, inspiring her to buy her first New York City apartment. In the premiere of Music as Therapy, she introduces a method that uses music to bypass mental resistance and unlock new identities, launching with Money Month—a series on rewiring financial beliefs through song.

 

Have a question you want DJ Hesta Prynn to answer? Email us at [email protected] 

Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/hestaprynnmusic/

Course Link: https://mct.hestaprynn.com/sales-page Money Month Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7tOSp6IBYBVFYDD7zEOkpG?si=7535fa44c3ba4aae

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

DJ Hesta Prynn’s Music Is Therapy is a podcast about identity - and how music shapes the way we see ourselves, make decisions, and move through the world.

Hosted by Hesta Prynn, an NYC-based DJ and licensed therapist, each month focuses on one area of life - money, love, self-worth, relationships, career - using music not as entertainment, but as a tool.

Through personal storytelling, conversations with experts, and Hesta’s Music Connection Therapy method, the show explores how the songs you love can help you shift how you show up in your life.

This is not just a podcast. 

It's unconventional therapy for your entire life. 

Music is Therapy - your session starts now.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.