This might shock you (or maybe it won’t) but 75 percent of Americans don’t get the federally recommended weekly minimum of 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise (or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise), let alone the recommended two days of full body strength training. When we think about getting healthier, we often think about nutrition, as we should—but exercise is a critical part of the equation, too. Our guest today, Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, puts forth in her new book Forever Strong: A New Science Based Strategy for Aging Well that, instead of focusing so closely on decreasing fat on and in our bodies, we should focus instead on increasing muscle. Muscles, Dr. Lyon says, are the key to aging well; she even calls muscles the fountain of youth, says healthy muscle is imperative to a body’s function, and writes that muscle is the organ of longevity. She is a practitioner of muscle-centric medicine, and after listening to this episode, you might be, too.

Forever Strong: A New Science Based Strategy for Aging Well by Dr. Gabrielle Lyon

As our January Wellness Series continues, today we are speaking to the dynamic Neal Allen about taming our inner critic. We all have one, and it’s called the superego; the superego was developed in our respective childhoods as a survival mechanism, but as adults, we no longer need it for protection—but for so many of us, its presence in our lives is cumbersome at best and extremely damaging at its worst. The good news? Our inner critic can be quieted, allowing us to live our best lives. Neal teaches us how through his book and this conversation, finally examining a critical aspect of the human psyche—the superego—that often gets ignored. Listeners, you also might be interested to know that Neal is married to the writer Anne Lamott, and often refers to himself as Mr. Anne Lamott (which I love him for).

Better Days: Tame Your Inner Critic by Neal Allen

What if I told you that it was possible to control anxiety, ADHD, OCD, depression, and more by what you eat (or don’t eat)? That it was completely possible to calm your mind with food? That’s what today’s episode is all about, and we’re talking to Harvard nutritional psychiatrist Dr. Uma Naidoo about the “powerful medicine of food,” looking at a groundbreaking, full-body approach to mental health, how we can enhance our overall mental wellbeing through what we eat, and how our daily food choices can help treat and prevent a wide range of cognitive and psychological health issues. So fascinating—and proof that we have more control over our health than maybe we even realized heretofore.

Calm Your Mind with Food: A Revolutionary Guide to Controlling Your Anxiety by Dr. Uma Naidoo

For today’s January Wellness Series conversation, we’re back to mental and emotional wellness, specifically this relatable topic: caring too much about what others think of you. Our guest today, Dr. Michael Gervais, calls caring too much about other people’s opinions “the single greatest constrictor of human potential,” and introduces the concept of “FOPO” (fear of other people’s opinions), assessing that it is a human epidemic in our society. (I know it has impacted my life personally in spades over the years.) We all have a basic human need to belong, but it’s when we let others’ opinions of us control our lives that we know we need to make a change—and I hope for all of us that 2024 is the year we begin to or continue to live our authentic lives, not chained to what others think of us. Michael has taught companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and AT&T to perform to the highest level, as well as Olympians, Fortune 100 leaders and teams, and world renowned artists and musicians—and now it’s our turn for a one on-one coaching session. There is a huge connection between the mind and human performance, and we’re delving into it today.

The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worrying About What Other People Think of You by Dr. Michael Gervais

As our January Wellness Series rolls on, today we switch from mental and emotional wellness to physical wellness. Aging is a good thing—hey, it certainly beats the alternative, right?—but I’d venture to guess that all of us want to continue to grow older without looking or feeling older. Today’s guest, Dr. Anthony Youn, teaches us how to do just that, looking at environmental and lifestyle factors to turn back and freeze the clock. What we eat, how much we sleep, and our skincare routines allow us to have an ample amount of control on aging, and we cover the gamut in today’s episode—this might be one of the most jam-packed informational episodes we’ve ever done on the show and I know you’ll walk away having learned so much about how to look and feel younger as we enter 2024 and, interestingly, though Dr. Youn is one of the most well-known plastic surgeons in the country (his social media following tops 14 million!), we don’t mention plastic surgery at all in this episode—it’s all natural methods to staying, as he puts it, “younger for life.”

Younger for Life: Feel Great and Look Your Best with the New Science of Autojuvenation by Dr. Anthony Youn

Welcome to 2024, and welcome to our January Wellness Series! We are alternating episodes about mental and emotional wellness (like this one) and physical wellness, and I am thrilled to kickstart this series with perhaps my favorite book of 2023: How to Be the Love You Seek: Break Cycles, Find Peace, and Heal Your Relationships by Dr. Nicole LePera. In the book, Dr. LePera gives the simple but profound advice “You already are the love you seek.” Before we go seeking love (many of us in all the wrong places), let’s begin this year by realizing we already have an abundance of love within us, and, once we harness our self-love and self-worth, we will truly be able to attract what we have deserved all along. This is truly one of the most revelatory, powerful books I have ever read.

How to Be the Love You Seek: Break Cycles, Find Peace, and Heal Your Relationships by Dr. Nicole LePera

My annual best books episode with the dynamic Carla Jean Whitley never disappoints! Below are her picks, in order. Happy reading!

The Best Books She’s Read This Year:

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai (Fiction) 

Arrangements in Blue: Notes on Loving and Living Alone by Amy Key (Nonfiction) 

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (Fiction)

The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth by Elizabeth Rush (Nonfiction, and her No. 1 pick of 2023!)

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (Fiction)

Happily: A Personal History—With Fairy Tales by Sabrina Orah Mark (Nonfiction) 

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (Fiction) 

You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith (Nonfiction) 

The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl (Nonfiction) 

The Best Books She’s Reread This Year:

Frindle by Andrew Clements (Fiction)

The Giver by Lois Lowry (Fiction)

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (Nonfiction)

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett (Nonfiction) 

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub (Fiction)

Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro (Fiction)

The Books She Is Anticipating for 2024:

Sandwich by Catherine Newman (Fiction)

After Annie by Anna Quindlen (Fiction)

Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley (Nonfiction)

The Last Fire Season by Manjula Martin (Nonfiction)

Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story by Leslie Jamison (Nonfiction)

If You Can't Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury by Geraldine DeRuiter (Nonfiction)

Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of Our Future by Daniel Lewis (Nonfiction)

Anita De Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez (Fiction)

The Books I Am Anticipating for 2024:

The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin (Fiction)

Closer Together: Knowing Ourselves, Loving Each Other by Sophie Grégoire Trudeau (Nonfiction)

Today on the show we have a career retrospective episode with journalist Nancy Jo Sales, who walks us through her career writing for the likes of Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and more. Nancy Jo is a New York Times bestselling author, and we also discuss her three books: The Bling Ring: How a Gang of Fame-Obsessed Teens Ripped Off Hollywood and Shocked the World (which was made into a movie directed by Sofia Coppola), American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers, and Nothing Personal: My Secret Life in the Dating App Inferno; she is also behind a documentary film called Swiped: Hooking Up in the Digital Age, which aired on HBO. I know you’ll find Nancy Jo real and raw and transparent, and her career as a journalist has long inspired my own.

Books by Nancy Jo Sales:

The Bling Ring: How a Gang of Fame-Obsessed Teens Ripped Off Hollywood and Shocked the World

American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers

Nothing Personal: My Secret Life in the Dating App Inferno

Her HBO Documentary:

Swiped: Hooking Up in the Digital Age

Other Works Mentioned:

“The Suspects Wore Louboutins” by Nancy Jo Sales for Vanity Fair

Picture by Lillian Ross

Air Mail

Simply put? Today’s guest, Aurora James, is a force. I have no idea what hidden stash of hours she has to do all that she does in a day, a week, a month, a year—but she is changing the world. One of my favorite books of 2023 was her memoir, Wildflower, and I’m not alone—it was praised globally for its vulnerability and candidness. Aurora contains multitudes: in addition to being an author, she is the founder and designer behind Brother Vellies, a Black-owned and female-led lifestyle and accessories brand that is, in its own words, redefining luxury. Beyoncé, Solange Knowles, Elaine Welteroth, and Nicki Minaj have worn her items, and in 2015 Aurora made history as the first Black designer to win the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund prize; in 2020, she was on the cover of the September issue of Vogue. Also in 2020, after the senseless murder of George Floyd, Aurora founded the 15 Percent Pledge, a nonprofit that urges major retailers to commit 15 percent of shelf space to Black-owned businesses. Within two weeks of Aurora announcing the pledge on May 29, 2020, Sephora signed the pledge; companies like Macy’s, Rent the Runway, Yelp, and West Elm have followed. This is an impressive person who has left her mark in so many spaces, and I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed this conversation.

Wildflower by Aurora James

The one, the only Candace Bushnell is on the show today! *insert fangirl screaming here* As Sex and the City is my favorite show of all time—and Candace, you know, created the whole franchise back in 1994—this is a dream come true. I actually met Candace in person in 2019, when she was on her book tour for Is There Still Sex and the City?, and I found her to be as lovely as I hoped she would be. Most people probably know Candace best from penning The New York Observer column “Sex and the City” from 1994 to 1996, which later became an anthology of the same name in 1996 and, of course, an HBO show of the same name in 1998. But actually, Candace is one of those unicorn writers that can tackle both fiction and nonfiction writing and do both well. My favorite works from Candace are actually her novels, of which there are many: 4 Blondes, Trading Up, Lipstick Jungle (also made into a television show), One Fifth Avenue, and Killing Monica. She’s also written young adult fiction like The Carrie Diaries (also made into a television show), Summer and the City, and Rules for Being a Girl. Candace continues to evolve and pivot, and is now on tour with her one-woman show, “True Tales of Sex, Success, and Sex and the City” (go to candacebushnell.com for more information!) and is also helming a reality dating show for women over 50 that is generating tons of buzz. It was an honor to do this career retrospective with not just a talented writer, but a really cool person.

Sex and the City (1996)

4 Blondes (2000)

Trading Up (2003)

Lipstick Jungle (2005)

One Fifth Avenue (2008)

The Carrie Diaries (2010)

Summer and the City (2011)

Killing Monica (2015)

Is There Still Sex and the City? (2019)

Rules for Being a Girl (2020)