Monocycle with Leandra Medine

We're heading into Thanksgiving!!!! Kind of, at the end of next week, and I've never needed some fucking time off more. But I'm also getting kind of anxious about the family time that awaits -- not because I don't love spending time with my family, those people are my people, but because lately, I have been arguing so much with my mom and I can't quite shake the resentment I am starting to feel.

Intellectually, I recognize what I need to do the cut the tension that frankly, I am instigating, but emotionally, it's like I've become a six-year-old with a vengeance all over. This makes sense in my head because she is my mom and as such I often feel like I have carte blanche to act like an asshole/baby around her, but guess what? She's a person too! I didn't realize that until recently, but I get it now. The thing is, I'm caught at the intersection of don't care and don't want to believe it. So I've been thinking a ton about a) how selfish I am, b) how incredibly complex the relationship between a mother and her daughter gets as said daughter gets older and c) how even though this exact tension is pretty much the reason so many therapists are employed in this country, such a conflict can feel so...unique to me. Why do I feel so alone?

If you can sympathize with any of the above, hit play and then open a bag of popcorn (Buddha Bowl is my recommendation) and commiserate in the comments.

Related Stories:

Moms: A Moot Point

Quotes from the Moms of Man Repeller

MR Money Diaries: Laura Medine, Leandra’s Mom, Chronicled Her Spending for a Week

Monocycle: Episode 3, Thankful

In partnership with TNT

Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/

Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander

Hi ppl. I'm either sorry or really happy to acknowledge the lack of consistency with Monocycle lately (the apology or gratuity depends on entirely on how you feel about this podcast), but given the events of the past several weeks and the singular event that preceded the past several weeks, I have both been a fire breathing dragon and a severely sad human incapable of stringing together a sentence with my mouth (no problem with a keyboard, though!), but here we are. Back. Talking on the telephone only it's not actually a phone, it's an audio recording that you listen to and maybe speak back to even though I can't hear you (unless you comment, in which case, I totally can).

This week's episode is a sort of check in. It's been two weeks since my pregnancy termination procedure and I have been having a lot of conversations with myself, least not being the ones about:

+Interrupting self-deprecation

+Actually learning how to let go

+Self-compassion

+How to handle grief (I don't know, I just talk about it)

+How to acknowledge how lucky you are if you don't have an arsenal of weapons to handle grief by the age of 27 (means life has been pretty good to you)

+The fragility and consequent miracle of life

+How it is possible that by episode 44, I am *still* not Malcolm Gladwell

Hope you enjoy. It's okay if you don't, and happy Friday before the big fat holidays. What a wonderful time to be alive.

In partnership with THINX. Follow THINX on Instagram @shethinx and get $5 off your order with the code MANREPELLER at checkout!

Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/

Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander

In this week's episode of Monocycle, Malcolm Gladwell tackles the notion of consumption in 2016 -- how we eat, how we engage with our Internet tendencies and whether or not, in spite of statistics that suggest millennials are acquiring less, we are addicted to material gain. I'm just kidding, Malcolm Gladwell is not in the building. It's just me, Leandra, talking into her tiny booth about consumption.

I do break up the topic into the three aforementioned categories: food, shopping and Internet but probably also go on to diminish any credibility tagged to my points given the sweeping statements that are subsequently posited about our generation, and how we're different (for better or worse) because. Of. How. Much. We. Consume. All. The. Time. For a while, it sounds kind of cynical, but then I reel it back in with a dose of diet cherry coke and optimism because frankly, if you only learn one thing from Man Repeller/Monocycle/me, I hope that it is this: cynicism is much easier than optimism, so do the right thing, which is always the hard thing and force yourself to see the world through rose-colored glasses.

Related Stories:

Welcome to Consumption Month on Man Repeller

I Hate Being On My Phone All the Time

Is Technology Eating Our Feelings?

MR Round Table: That Elusive Work/Life Balance

In Defense of Slow Fashion

In partnership with TheRealReal

Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/

Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander

Before Breast Cancer Awareness month ends, here is one more point of awareness in the form of a Monocycle podcast interview with Fashionista.com's executive editor, who was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer when she was 21. Given the overwhelming financial resources that have been allocated towards research, we are uniquely positioned at this juncture to feel less helpless at the hand of breast cancer. As mentioned in a round table that ran earlier this month, though, it is precisely these resources that have taken us this far, and will continue to move us towards the goal of a world free of breast cancer. So, if you would like to donate, please click here.

If you can't, that's okay, just be there when your people need you -- and have the courage to reach out when you need your people.

Related Stories

Breast Cancer Awareness: The Man Repeller Round Table

Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/

Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander

In case you have missed tuning into the monologues that occur inside the (membrane) walls that define my head, welcome back! Here we are! With a fresh new episode of Monocycle that outlines a recent question mark I've been shopping around -- how different are comfort and complacency? Can they be regarded as one and the same? It is such a unique and profound luxury, but more and more I have been wondering whether I am adjusting appropriately to this newfangled time. Have I become more comfortable? Absolutely. But is that comfort bringing on this curious sense that I might be complacent -- that is, uncritically satisfied with myself?

Or is this just, like any other adjustment would require, a time of transition?

LISTEN UP, PEOPLE! TO THIS AND MORE.

Related Stories:

I Hate Being On My Phone All the Time

Monocycle: Episode 35, Learning to be Content As Your Own Boss

5 Things Running Man Repeller Taught Me

6 Things I’ve Learned About How to Manage People

In partnership with Squarespace

Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/

Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander

Paris Fashion Week ended on Wednesday. I'm not entirely sure if the season felt quieter or less exciting than usual because I wasn't there, but watching it unfold on social media and through the lens of the some of the critics who I most admire made me think about a lot of stuff. Stuff like...what actually comes first? A good collection or a good review (meaning, do the writers inform how we will feel about certain clothes, or can they speak for themselves?)

When the clothes are good enough to speak for themselves, do you ever feel that sense of just not...caring? What is that? Why do we feel that? What differentiates the designers who move the needle and inform the zeitgeist and those who just make really nice-looking clothes?

Or are we experiencing fashion fatigue? If we are, what should we do to combat it? We are definitely undergoing some version of a revolution in fashion, so maybe we just need a more positive perspective to lead the charge. It's too soon to be so cynical, isn't it?

Amelia makes a cameo in this episode and we definitely over intellectualize the whole damn thing (it's what we do!) only to arrive at the simplest question of all: Did I just not feel it because I wasn't there?

Find out by listening.

Related Stories:

The Mind-Boggling Consistency of Chanel

Sunday Paris Dispatch: Balenciaga and Céline

Dispatch from Paris: Dior’s Overt Feminist Message, Saint Laurent’s Yves Is Back (But That’s About It)

Fashion Bloggers Aren’t the Problem

In partnership with TheRealReal.

Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/

Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander

Not to beat a horse that has been killed multiple times already but in this week's episode of Monocycle, we reopen the conversation around the dreadlocks at the Marc Jacobs Spring 2017 runway show. It's not to throw more shade, or say anything that hasn't already been said, but rather, to talk about two larger problems.

The first is, of course, cultural appropriation and the overarching blindspot of the privilege that occurs outside of a minority. It's a huge coup that this is becoming less tolerable and acceptable as our society evolves, but I wonder, as the outrage machine continues firing up, when we've constructively added to the conversation vs. just made noise.

Designers, artists -- all creatives, really -- build their collections on reference. There is no art, at least as we know it, without the act of riffing, but the solution isn't pulling ideas from the sky, shutting ourselves off to the incredibly rich cultures of both yore and now. On the contrary, it's proper accreditation and more importantly, the second step towards becoming better people, it's doing something (not just saying something!) to give back to the culture from which you're borrowing. So here, I speak with our new editorial director, Leslie Price, who wrote the original Man Repeller story on the Marc Jacobs show on what we're doing, and stuff like that.

As always, this podcast is only as valuable as the feedback you provide, so...

Related Stories:

On Cultural Appropriation, Racism and Fashion’s Blind Spots

Let’s Talk About It: Diversity in Fashion

MR Round Table: We Need to Talk About Race

A Letter from Leandra: We’ve Updated Our Mission Statement

In partnership with Squarespace.

Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/

Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander

Have you ever felt that terrible, nauseating pit in your stomach? It makes doing anything other than focusing on the pit feel impossible. I used to get it every time I found out my ex-boyfriend was dating someone new. Recently, I started getting it every time I found out that someone is pregnant. I never knew how to process the pit as anything other than heartbreak but I'm starting to realize that it's more than that -- it's envy, so in this week's episode, we unpack that like it's a carry-on suitcase full of grenades.

Related Stories:

A Pregnant Pause

Monocycle: Episode 26, Not Pregnant

Thinking About Babies? Pregnant? Just Gave Birth? How to Exercise in 10 Gifs

In partnership with Squarespace.

Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/

Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander

Sometimes I feel like my brain is a variety show and your cable network is out of whack, which is to say that you only catch slivers of each section. The fact of the matter is, I'm only delivering slivers of each section, so I'm sorry I just blamed your network. Self-deprecation aside, this episode is all about real world re-entry following a lazy, delightful summer. When you work in fashion, the week that follows Labor Day has this unique ability to make you feel as though you are practically starting your first day of high school, which we talk about a little as a starter thought to open up a larger conversation about fashion week. Note that this episode was recorded BEFORE fashion week started and requires feedback. So, take it away!

Related Stories:

Back to School: Welcome to New Beginnings Month on Man Repeller

Do You Read Fashion Week Reviews?

The Strange State of Social Media Etiquette at Fashion Week

Fashion Week Is Here And The Clothes Are Easy

WATCH: Leandra Introduces Herself To Our New Nolita Neighbors

Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/

Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander

In this week's episode of Monocycle, Leandra discusses how to be content as one's own boss and the importance of leaving home life at home and work life at work.

This podcast is sponsored by Squarespace, the easiest way to create a blog or website. Use the offer code MONOCYCLE at check out for 10% off your first purchase.

Related Stories:

5 Things Running Man Repeller Taught Me

Monocycle: Episode 4, Self-Sabotage

Are You Happy?

Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/

Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander