When cancer treatment ends, many people expect life to return to normal. But for patients and families, the journey often continues in ways that aren’t always visible.

Matti is joined by clinical health psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Kacel to discuss the emotional and psychological challenges that can follow a cancer diagnosis, including uncertainty, anxiety, identity shifts, relationships, and rebuilding a sense of stability. Drawing on years of experience supporting cancer patients, Dr. Kacel offers insight into how people adapt, grow, and continue living meaningful lives after diagnosis.

This episode is dedicated in loving memory of Alayna Magnan.

About Dr. Elizabeth Kacel:

Dr. Elizabeth Kacel is a licensed clinical psychologist and the founder of PEAR Health Psychology, PLLC (http://www.pearhealthpsychology.com), cultivating Purpose, Empowerment, Acceptance, and Resilience among people facing cancer and other medical conditions. Dr. Kacel uses evidence-based psychological treatment approaches to help patients to cope effectively and live meaningfully across all phases of cancer from new diagnosis through survivorship. She has worked with individuals and families with cancer and other medical conditions for more than 15 years. She completed her PhD in clinical health psychology at the University of Florida and a postdoctoral fellowship in psychosocial oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. She has worked in top academic health centers and hospitals, contributed to 20+ peer-reviewed journal articles, and participated in numerous local and national conferences focused on cancer psychology. Dr. Kacel is a native Chicagoan and enjoys living in the city with her husband and two cats. She is an avid traveler, nature lover, yoga practitioner, and amateur photographer. 

This week, Cindy returns to help Matti tackle a question that seems to be everywhere right now: when something new comes along, why do we immediately assume it’s replacing everything?

From AI in healthcare to creator-made movies and Hollywood trends, they explore what changes, what stays the same, and why every new thing doesn’t have to be a revolution.

Plus: can someone please help us pronounce "Moldova?"

This week, three stories from the worlds of government, policy, and technology lead to some core human questions:

Why are we so quick to connect dots and create explanations when events seem related? How do we know when it’s worth trying something again—and when it’s time to let go? And who should be responsible for putting guardrails around powerful new technologies?

Along the way, we explore pattern recognition, randomness, second chances, AI, and our search for certainty in a complicated world.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

01:22 - Connecting the Dots

05:00 - Pattern Recognition

06:23 - Why We Hate Randomness

09:12 - Second Chances

16:18- Try Again or Move On?

24:01 - AI Safety

29:53 - The Search for Certainty

Referenced in the Episode:

Anthropic proposing pause in AI development (WSJ):

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-urges-global-pause-in-ai-development-flags-self-improvement-risk-99cefb73

In our “Off the Record” episode, we explored what is happening to us in a world where privacy seems to be non-existent. 

This episode asks a different question:

How are we adapting to that reality?

From wealth flaunting and cosmetic procedures to social media, celebrities, influencers, and the strange pressure of living visibly, it feels like something has shifted culturally. We’ve spent years encouraging authenticity and self-expression—but have we crossed into something else entirely?

In this episode, we explore what happens to human behavior when life starts feeling public all the time, why performance seems to be everywhere, and whether what we’re experiencing is simply a reaction to a rapidly changing world.

And because there’s always room for dessert, we’ll take a surprisingly fun detour through The Devil Wears Prada 2 to talk about inflation, luxury, and why Miranda Priestly’s worlddoesn’t feel quite as far away as it once did.

Timestamps:

00:00 — Intro

02:25 — The Focus on Authenticity

03:43 — Authenticity, or Performance?

06:55 — The Optimization Era

10:11 — Gwyneth’s Arugula Moment

11:14 — The Flaunting Economy

16:28— The K-Shaped Economy

18:06 — Constant Documentation

21:35 — Inflation Through The Devil Wears Prada

26:03 — Adapting to a Changing World

Referenced in this episode:

The Devil Wears Prada Inflation:

https://www.thecut.com/article/how-much-would-the-devil-wears-pradas-fashion-cost-today.html?utm_medium=s1&utm_campaign=nym&utm

Follow/Contact the show:

Instagram: @itsgonnabefine_pod

Email: [email protected]

Adrien Brody, Acting, and Authenticity — This week: Adrien Brody isolates himself for a Broadway role in The Fear of 13, we unpack the complicated debate around authenticity and casting in Hollywood, and Matti attempts to understand why the internet keeps inventing increasingly unhinged forms of “maxxing.”

Along the way: thoughts on method acting, representation, lived experience, creative process, and why the best conversations usually live somewhere in the gray area.

Timestamps:

00:00 — Intro

01:10 — JP Morgan lawsuit update + countersuit

03:28 — Adrien Brody’s Broadway role and method acting

06:41 — My failed acting career (sort of)

10:53 — What acting is actually supposed to be

12:45 — Disability representation and lived experience in casting

17:45 — The return of “maxxing” discourse

19:52 — Yes, “ballmaxxing” is apparently a thing

Referenced in this episode:

Reuters coverage of the JP Morgan countersuit:https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/jpmorgan-banker-countersues-accuser-says-sexual-assault-lies-ruined-her-life-2026-05-20/

Adrien Brody on The Fear of 13 (Interview Magazine):https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/adrien-brody-fear-of-13-tessa-thompson-broadway

Adrien Brody’s routine while preparing for The Fear of 13 (Wall Street Journal):https://www.wsj.com/style/adrien-brody-the-fear-of-13-routine-564eb19a

Follow/Contact the show:

Instagram: @itsgonnabefine_pod
Email: [email protected]

Some topics just need a second conversation. This week, we revisit looksmaxxing culture, weirdness inside elite financial institutions, and Spotify's 20th birthday festivities exposing how many days of my life I’ve spent listening to Kygo. So naturally, we had to discuss all of it.

Why do we spend so much time criticizing certain things… while also giving them enormous amounts of attention?

In this episode, Matti explores the strange contradiction behind the way humans participate in culture. We roll our eyes at celebrity events, mock award shows, question trends, and hear endless horror stories about cruises… and yet we still don't avoid them.

Together, we unpack some of the psychology behind outrage, spectacle, social participation, and the very human need to feel connected to the conversation happening around us.

And along the way, maybe we gain a little more understanding — not just about culture, but about each other.

We tried to keep this one light… and then it absolutely wasn’t.

Matti and Cindy start with TV (IMDb’s top shows, comfort comedies, and what’s actually worth watching), but things quickly evolve into much bigger territory—like whether expert witnesses should be getting paid to testify, why social media addiction isn’t just a “kids problem” anymore, and what’s going on with massive healthcare shortages.

Somehow we go from streaming recommendations to the justice system to the future of medicine… and still end up asking the most important question:

Is it gonna be fine?

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy 20th birthday dear… Spotify??

Reeling from the fact that Spotify has been around since 2006, Matti goes down a music memory lane—from CDs and iTunes, to Pandora, and now Spotify running everything. Because music isn’t just something we listen to—it’s how we remember parts of our lives.

Check out Spotify's top 20 lists: https://www.today.com/popculture/music/spotify-most-streamed-songs-artists-albums-all-time-rcna341267

Teenage looksmaxxing and leaders behaving badly: two clear signs we’ve lost the plot. Plus, are social media companies finally facing accountability? And when it comes to AI, Matti gives credit where credit is due.