Everything is “toxic” now from your job, your friendships, even your group chat. But is toxicity a real cultural crisis, or have we turned it into a catch-all buzzword for anything uncomfortable? In this episode of She Knows Best, we unpack where the word came from, why it’s everywhere, and what actually makes a workplace or relationship toxic.

We dive into the realities of unhealthy work environments in Uganda and across Africa, from the “we’re a family” manipulation, to cliquey offices, to chaotic job descriptions that expect you to be a one-person department. We also explore how social media has turned “toxic” into shorthand for conflict, avoidance, and calling out everything except ourselves.

Most importantly, we talk about solutions: what healthy culture looks like, how workplaces can actually support employees, and how friendships and communities can build boundaries without guilt or shame.

If you’ve ever wondered why toxicity thrives, and how to break the cycle, this episode is exactly for you!

It’s not therapy, but it might help.

This week, we’re switching things up with a special collaboration between She Knows Best and Can We Talk 256, the card game designed to spark meaningful conversations and deepen connection.

With over 20 years of friendship between hosts Afsa and Liz, this episode dives into the heart of friendship: what it means to grow together, evolve apart, and still find home in each other. From identity and life goals to career paths and heartbreaks, this is a candid, funny, and vulnerable conversation you don’t want to miss.

About Can We Talk 256:

Can We Talk 256 creates tools that make connection easier, helping people build stronger relationships, one conversation at a time. Their cards are designed to help anyone, regardless of social skills or background, start meaningful dialogue and combat loneliness. Through conversation starters, social clubs, and community experiences, Can We Talk reminds us that connection is not a luxury, it’s a human need.

Check them out on all socials @canwetalk256

It’s not therapy, but it might help.

Uganda and Africa today are full of paradoxes: millions of young people are unemployed or underemployed, while others are cushioned by family names, networks, inheritance, or access to global opportunities. Globally, Millennials face shrinking opportunities even as the largest wealth transfer in history is underway. Privilege is layered, sometimes it’s money, but it’s also gender, skin color, the school you attended, or the freedom to make life choices without survival anxiety. In today’s episode, we explore privilege at the intersection of wealth, gender, race, and networks, asking: what does it mean, who benefits, and how can we use it responsibly?

It's not therapy but it might help.

Everyone says “follow your passion”, but what if your passion doesn’t pay the bills? In this episode, we explore the realities of work and survival in Uganda, where youth unemployment stands at 16.1% and only 3% of young people have formal jobs.From the myth of passion to the privilege of stability, we unpack blue-collar vs white-collar mindsets, office politics, burnout, and the balance between ambition and survival. Whether you’re in corporate, self-employed, or hustling between gigs, this episode gets real about what career success means in 2025.It’s Not Therapy, but It Might Help.

Parenting remains one of the most personal, yet most publicly debated, decisions in our lives. Across much of Africa, it’s not viewed as a choice but a social obligation, a milestone of adulthood, and proof of legacy. But as millennial women begin to question inherited expectations, we’re asking: What if motherhood isn’t the only path to meaning, legacy, or love?

In this episode, we unpack the layered politics of parenthood in Uganda and beyond, from the pressure to have children to the joy of choosing a child-free life. We explore how cultural and religious norms tie womanhood to fertility, how workplaces penalize mothers through pay gaps and unrealistic demands, and how men often escape the same scrutiny.

The conversation digs into the emotional and financial weight of care work, the stigma around fertility treatments and adoption, and the privilege of choice in a world where motherhood is often treated as a duty rather than a decision.

Who are you without the labels? Are we truly choosing our identities, or are they chosen for us by society, culture, and history?

In this episode, we unpack the weight of identity in an African context, from job titles and income classes to marital status, gender, and race. We ask how much of who we are is self-defined, and how much is shaped by expectation, surveillance, and power.Subscribe & follow us:Instagram:⁠ @sheknowsbestpod⁠TikTok: @sheknowsbestpod

The dysfunction is real. But so is the love.

Kampala is equal parts thrilling and exhausting. It’s where the hustle never sleeps, but neither do the traffic jams. A city where entrepreneurship thrives despite weak systems, garbage piles up alongside our dreams, and the air itself can choke you. And yet… we can’t imagine living anywhere else.

In this episode, we break down the wild contradictions of our city: from the boda boda lifeline to the GDP we’re losing in traffic, from air that’s 7x dirtier than it should be to a nightlife that never dies. It’s messy, it’s maddening, and it’s magic, and we’re asking if Kampala is organized chaos or just… chaos.

Subscribe & follow us:Instagram:⁠ @sheknowsbestpod⁠TikTok: @sheknowsbestpod

We grow up in cultures that tell us: be respectful, get educated, keep your head down, stay “in the right lane,” and everything will fall into place. But what happens when you do all of that, and the life you were promised still doesn’t come to fruition?

In this episode, we unpack the Good Girl Syndrome in the Ugandan and African context: the grief of a life that never came to pass, the shame and respectability politics that keep women stuck, and the exhaustion of being “the dependable one.”

From chronic people-pleasing to cultural expectations of sacrifice, we ask, how do you reclaim your life when you’ve lived it for everyone else? And what does healing look like in a society that’s still watching, still judging?

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Instagram:⁠ @sheknowsbestpod⁠

TikTok: @sheknowsbestpod

Friendships shape us in ways romance never can. For many women, friends are the therapist, cheerleader, co-parent, and financial backup all rolled into one. But what happens when these bonds shift, fade, or break apart?In this episode, we dive into the unspoken truths of adult female friendships, from the joy of chosen family to the heartbreak of friendship breakups. We ask why losing a best friend can feel more devastating than losing a partner, and how adulthood, careers, motherhood, and money reshape the way we connect.It’s not therapy, but it might help.👉🏾 Subscribe & follow us:Instagram:⁠ @sheknowsbestpod⁠TikTok: @sheknowsbestpod

Dating in Kampala feels less like romance and more like a survival strategy dressed up in aesthetics. From influencers selling soft life and pseudo-trad wife dreams, to toxic red-pill content flooding TikTok and WhatsApp groups, the landscape of modern love has never been messier.In this episode, we unpack:The rise of trad-wife culture and influencer “stay-at-home girlfriend” vibes.The 50/50 debate — love vs. economics, and how pay gaps reshape relationships.Talking stages, situationships, and the death of “courtship.”Is marriage an achievement — or just added labour for women? (the care gap).Identity in relationships and love dilemmas unique to Kampala’s messy eco-system.We dig into the scandals, the culture shifts, and the real-life contradictions shaping how we date, love, and survive today.It’s not therapy, but it might help.👉🏾 Subscribe & follow us:Instagram:⁠ @sheknowsbestpod⁠TikTok: @sheknowsbestpod