Is it selfish to carry on enjoying life while others suffer? In the midst of heartache and news of war, have things like music, art, and fashion become excessive, wasteful, or even absurd?

As mentioned in the episode:

• "Balenciaga's latest show" on CNN Style
• "I decided I can no longer sacrifice parts of me to that senseless, heartless war of ego." -Demna
• "‘Fashion doesn’t matter now’: Balenciaga pays tribute to Ukraine’s refugees" in The Guardian

You can follow Anna Frymire on Instagram @frylikefrenchfry. Or reach out to her through her website: annafrymire.com

Pain is something we generally avoid because it generally sucks. But what if pain is information? What if it's a data point and indicator versus a problem we should avoid at all costs? Inspired by a pinky toe stub to end all pinky toe stubs and a painful insight from Jerry Seinfeld, this episode is all about pain: why it matters, why it works, and how we can use it to our advantage.

As mentioned in the episode:

• "Pain is knowledge rushing in to fill a gap. When you stub your toe on the foot of the bed, that was a gap in knowledge. And the pain is a lot of information really quick. That's what pain is." (Jerry Seinfeld in Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Season 6, Episode 5)
• Huberman Lab quotes and information about discomfort
• "The Hazards of Growing Up Painlessly" by Justin Heckert for The New York Times
• "Meet the Child Who Feels No Pain" by Gillian Mohney on ABC News

You can follow Anna Frymire on Instagram @frylikefrenchfry. Or reach out to her through her website: annafrymire.com

There's a dozen reasons to get out of bed in the morning, but very few of those reasons feel genuinely important or motivating on a bad day. Unless, of course, one of those reasons is a barking dog or a hungry cat or a rabbit about to chew a tunnel through the living room wall. This episode is an ode to pets— the smelly ones, the slobbery ones, the loud ones, the ones that get us out of bed when life hardly feels like living.

As mentioned in the episode:

• "After Life" season one, episode one

You can find Anna on Instagram @frylikefrenchfry
Or reach out on her website annafrymire.com  

Are victims telling the truth or just adding to their stories as they go along? If they are telling the truth, why are their stories fragmented and why didn't they say something sooner? This episode discusses traumatic memories, the brain's survival mechanisms, and why abuse survivors describe events that are fragmented, confusing, and seemingly unbelievable.

As mentioned in the episode:

• “You’re not a victim for sharing your story. You are a survivor setting the world on fire with your truth. And you never know who needs your light, your warmth,  and raging courage.” -Alex Elle
• “The Keepers” on Netflix, directed and produced by Ryan White
• From Pain to Power: Overcoming Sexual Trauma and Reclaiming Your True Identity by Mary Ellen Mann
• The Wounded Heart: Help for Adult Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse by Dan Allender
• Shame Interrupted by Edward T. Welch
• “Til it Happens to You” by Lady Gaga, written and performed for the documentary “The Hunting Ground”
• GRACE: Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment

You can find Anna Frymire on Instagram @frylikefrenchfry  or reach out at annafrymire.com

Season 2 starts Thursday, February 3rd, bright and early in the morning (7:00 a.m. EST)! Thanks for listening.

You can find Anna Frymire on Instagram @frylikefrenchfry
Or reach out at annafrymire.com

If 2020 was the year I learned to go out and find help, then 2021 was the year I learned just how much that mattered. Facing our pain, trauma, and grief is like thawing out: deeply painful, but so much better than a lifetime of numbness.

As mentioned in the episode:

• "Sometimes the circumstances at hand force us to be braver than we actually are, and so we knock on doors and ask for assistance. Sometimes not having any idea where we’re going works out better than we could possibly have imagined." -Ann Patchett

*This is the final episode of season one. Season two starts February 3, 2022.

As the holiday season rises and falls, so does our anticipation, happiness, and disappointment. This can be a simultaneously beautiful and lonely time of year. Inspired by Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory", this episode is a simple reflection on peace and joy in the absence of luxury and the midst of hardship.

Anticipating fun— from life's big events to small joys—  decreases our stress, increases our happiness, and improves our resilience. But is getting excited over upcoming events even worth it in a time of constant cancellations? This episode explores the science behind anticipation and why making plans is still totally worth it.

As mentioned in the episode:

• "The impact of anticipating positive events on responses to stress" by Samuel S. Monfort, Hannah E. Stroup, and Christian E. Waugh

What if you could say exactly how you feel, no holds barred, without the risk of repercussions? This is the episode about truth, how we repress it, why we repackage it, and what we can do to finally set our hurt, anger, and grief free.

This is the episode all about social anxiety: what it is, what it isn't, and how to manage it. Maybe you're a "shy-loud" person who shines on the stage, but avoids intimate dinners. Perhaps you're a CEO who loves work meetings, but dreads the parties. Maybe family and friends are the one place you let down-- or the one place you feel like a failure. At least 40 million Americans report that they experience social anxiety. It has nothing to do with being an introvert versus an extrovert. Want to know what actually triggers social anxiety? This episode's just for you.

As mentioned in the episode:

• Living With High Functioning Anxiety with Jordan Raskopoulos