Morning Person Podcast

It was a strange experience creating this video of my first week alone in the van. Two weeks have passed since I filmed them all and, on the one hand, it was as incredible as I remember. But I had forgotten how tender it was.

I really tried to capture the reality of what my week completely alone (and immediately post-breakup) felt like, and in watching i…

Throughout my twenties, I oscillated between being the girl who would eat anything, in protest of the pervasive diet culture in Los Angeles; and trying all things wellness culture, which was basically the same thing, but with cuter branding. In both iterations, I was completely cut-off from my body’s queues and often felt ill after meals. In my thirties, I’ve found a balance that celebrates my love of food in a way that also honors my body, and isn’t aiming to prove anything to anyone. My fridge and pantry are a direct reflection of that. Let’s me show you!

You can find the full companion post, with links and more here!

There are never any affiliate links or sponsors in Morning Person—just genuine recommendations! Subscribe via the link below for biweekly updates! x

morning person is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

The Sunday Edition is Tuesday’s little sister—off-the-cuff updates I’d bring up over a coffee catch-up with a friend.

As soon as I hit “publish” on last week’s post on being consumed by little to-dos, I noticed a similar sentiment everywhere . We are dying to slow down! (Susie | Talking Since Tuesday) We are tired! (Becca Freeman) We are finished optimizing! (Azora Zoe Paknad) We are over running on this endless treadmill! (sam baker) We’re exhausted from an inability to keep up that which, I’m sure many of us felt, was compounded by a broader sense of helplessness this week.

The site where I’m doing my clinical internship is a nonprofit funded largely by state grants, but many of our clients depend on federally funded programs to support their medical and housing needs. It’s been infuriating to watch some of the world’s richest men try to take away these basic rights from those who are most vulnerable, not to mention freeze global aid programs. How do we guard against compassion-fatigue and burnout, while living under an administration that’s taking a wrecking ball to humanitarian efforts??

This all brings me to my decision to publish an update on my own home when so many people are at risk of losing theirs.

This podcast episode is a companion to “Issue #177: Practical Tips for Staying Healthy Over Colder Months.”

Helen Spieth is an expert in acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine, and contains a wealth of information about women’s health and immunity. I’ve been seeing her since 2023, and she has a way of breaking down complex topics—like the immune system!—into understandable parts. Since working with her, I’ve gained an entirely new understanding of my immune system, which she likens to a castle, and ways in which we can strengthen it. Of course, this episode isn’t a replacement for your doctor’s recommendations, or meant to serve as any sort of miracle cure-all, but I do think you’ll find some of Helen’s wisdom helpful, as I have.

Thanks for listening! You can access the original issue here.

This podcast episode is a companion to “Issue #166: 36 Hours in Seoul and a Primer on Korean Beauty.”

When Elise Hu, host of TED Talks Daily and Forever 35 podcasts, moved from America to Seoul in 2015, as the Korea and Japan bureau chief for NPR, she experienced a similar “amplification” of her flaws. She documented her experience, as well as her research into the history and future of Korea’s beauty industry in her book, Flawless. In this episode, Hu and I talk about K-beauty’s geopolitical impact and the ways in which it serves as a window into the future—and how we see ourselves.

Thanks for listening! You can access the original issue here.

This podcast episode is a preview of “Issue #106: A Conversation with My Mom About Our Relationship and My Divorce.”

A couple weeks ago, when I was back home in Reno, I asked my mom, Tracy Fairhurst, if she would be open to sitting down to a recorded conversation. It was, on the surface, an interview for Morning Person, but it meant far more to both of us, given our history.

For years, my mom and I had a close, but tumultuous, relationship. When I was in high school, we fought endlessly and in my 20s, we went an entire year without talking. Even this year, we stopped speaking for several months. That most recent argument, which began in April and lasted until June, felt like a tipping point: We could go on this way forever, or we could change. Thankfully, we chose the latter and began to have openhearted conversations and be more aware of each others’ boundaries and sensitivities.

Mother-daughter relationships are some of the most complicated. I hope our honest conversation below provides you with some clarity toward your own or, at the very least, normalizes the fact that not every pair is Lorelai and Rory.

Thanks for listening! You can access the original issue here.

This podcast episode is a companion to “Issue #95: Why I'm Still (Mostly) Sober After a Year of Not Drinking.”

Sarah Levyis the author of bestselling memoir Drinking Games and the newsletterSeltzer Rocks, where she documents her experience since getting sober nearly six years ago. In a recent conversation, we talked about her own experience with AA, collecting “sober references,” and why it’s so much easier to write vulnerably than reach out to a friend. We also fully fell down a manifestation rabbit hole.

Thanks for listening! You can access the original issue here.

This podcast episode is a companion to “Issue #92: Healing Grief Through Food with Hetty McKinnon.”

Few people understand the healing qualities of food better than cookbook author Hetty McKinnon. All of her cookbooks are deeply personal and her latest, Tenderheart (out today), serves as an ode to her father, who she lost as a teenager, through vegetables.

When I spoke to her recently, she told me, “Food is the way I make sense of my life and the things I’ve experienced and seen and gone through.” Writing the recipes in this cookbook allowed her to consider the impact her father—who brought crates of fruits and vegetables home from his job—had on her, while celebrating his life and legacy. I spoke to Hetty about healing through food, the importance of chile oil, and how food can connect us to our cultures and each other.

Thanks for listening! This is one of my favorite issues ever and includes two of Hetty’s recipes—you can access the original here.

This podcast episode is a companion to “Issue #90: How to Ignite and Foster Creativity When You're Busy AF.”

Betsy has been designing for fifteen years, creating both custom work and standalone collections while running her successful (and expanding!) Portland-based company Betsy & Iya alongside her husband, Will. When I met Betsy at her shop over coffee and brioche from St. Honore, we chatted straight through the hour we’d scheduled with the ease of old friends. We picked back up a week later—this time hitting “record”—to chat about how to foster creativity, put it to work, and how we each define a creative life.

Thanks for listening! You can access the original issue here.

This podcast episode is a companion to “Issue #81: Should I Have Kids? Considering the Big Question.”

I recently spoke with Ruby Warrington, whose new book Women Without Kids explores the taboo, but increasingly popular, decision to not have children. With over 20 years of experience as a lifestyle journalist and editor, Ruby has a knack for being on the cusp of major societal shifts (she coined the term “sober curious” in 2018, which I covered here) and her latest book deftly explores the life-altering decision around becoming a mother—or not.

Thanks for listening! You can access the original issue here.