Wanna connect? You can text or leave a voicemail for us here!

A note before you listen: This episode includes a personal and emotional conversation about grief, the loss of a sibling, and surviving a near-death experience. We're grateful for the vulnerability our friends brought to this table.

If you're struggling right now, please reach out.
988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988 (free, 24/7)
Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741

You don't have to carry it alone.

Changing your mind sounds simple until you price out the real cost: relationships, identity, belonging, safety, and the stories you used to survive. We sit down as the Curious Crew to answer one question with many voices: 

What have we changed our minds about, and what did it cost us or give us?

Rhys opens with a raw look at being transmasc and how shifting gender presentation can change everything from social acceptance to feeling desirable. From there, we dig into masculinity, validation, and why so many of us were trained to measure our worth by what we produce instead of who we are. The conversation gets practical too, with a healthier model of connection that does not demand one partner or one friend fill every need.

Morgan shares the decision to be childfree, the grief and guilt that followed, and the freedom that comes with choosing the truth anyway. We talk about the cultural pressure to defend not having kids, what legacy can look like beyond biology, and how therapy and honest self-inquiry can keep you from living someone else’s plan.

Then Colette brings the room to a hush with an honest story about grief, moral injury, and slowly believing their brother’s death was not their fault. If you are carrying something heavy, please take care of yourself. You can call or text 988 anytime, and we include more resources in the show notes.

What’s something you’ve changed your mind about, and what did it give and/or cost you?  You can text us HERE to share!

If this sparked something for you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review or text us through the link above with the question you want us to explore next.

Want to meet the Curious Krewe in person?  Here is your formal INVITATION.

Curious about all-things Curious Krewe?  All roads converge HERE.

Want to learn how to start a gathering in your city? You can text us HERE.

Until then, Stay Curious!

Wanna connect? You can text or leave a voicemail for us here!

If your “dream life” feels more like a checklist you’re trying to pass, we’ve been there and we’re not letting that script run the show unchecked. We sit down with the Crew to ask a deceptively simple question: 

"How much of your idea for a'perfect life is actually yours? How much is just a script you inherited?

How much of your idea of a perfect life is actually yours, and how much is an inherited script from family, religion, heteronormativity, and the Western success machine? From coming out experiences and family grief to the quiet power of representation, we talk through what changes when the list of “cants” gets shorter, and what still stays hard even when you’re supported. We also get real about gender expression, the relief of being seen as normal, and the complicated emotions that show up when the next generation has it easier and you’re still mourning what you didn’t get.

Then we follow the script into work and caregiving. We unpack performance culture, workaholism, burnout, and the brutal question that can land in the silence: do I even matter without the job, the praise, or the productivity? We trade practical self-care ideas that actually work on hard days, and we challenge the myth that caregivers and healers must suffer. We close with disability, chronic illness, and a grounding reframe we keep coming back to: capacity vs capability.

If this conversation sparks something in you, subscribe, share it with a friend, leave a review, and tell us what script you’re rewriting right now?

If this sparked something for you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review or text us through the link above with the question you want us to explore next.

Want to meet the Curious Krewe in person?  Here is your formal INVITATION.

Curious about all-things Curious Krewe?  All roads converge HERE.

Want to learn how to start a gathering in your city? You can text us HERE.

Until then, Stay Curious!

Wanna connect? You can text or leave a voicemail for us here!

We handed the table a deceptively simple prompt this month... if you could ask the whole world one question to help people grow, what would it be? Turns out that's a bit like asking someone to pick one food to eat for the rest of their life, which, yes, we also did, and yes, someone did try to switch their answer from leafy greens to Oreos mid sentence.

Sam kicks it off with a question a mentor once ambushed him with... what's it like to be on the other side of me? The table promptly puts it on trial. Too pointed? A setup? A journal prompt in disguise? Somewhere in the friendly cross examination, something honest shakes loose about how we come across versus how we hope to.

Then Rhys asks what brings you peace, not happiness, and the whole conversation tilts. Are peace and happiness two different things, or two sides of the same coin? Is peace the boulder in the river or the reed that bends with it? Khadeja offers a line that stopped us cold... peace is static, happiness is dynamic... and then admitted she'd figured that out about four seconds earlier, live, at the table. And Khadeja closes with a question that has teeth... can you even measure kindness, and are you sure you want to know what it says about you if you try?

It is warm, it is a little nosy in the best way, and it wanders exactly where good conversations wander. Come for the almond butter evangelism, stay for a genuinely moving turn on speech, teasing, and learning to be kind to people who were not kind to you first.

Grab a pen. You'll want to gather some good of your own.

Press play... and stay curious.

If this sparked something for you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review or text us through the link above with the question you want us to explore next.

Want to meet the Curious Krewe in person?  Here is your formal INVITATION.

Curious about all-things Curious Krewe?  All roads converge HERE.

Want to learn how to start a gathering in your city? You can text us HERE.

Until then, Stay Curious!

Wanna connect? You can text or leave a voicemail for us here!

What do you want people to say about you when you’re gone and what are you doing today that backs it up? We sit down with the Curious Krewe to answer a question that sounds simple but gets personal fast: what do you most want to be remembered for, and how are you living toward that right now. 

We talk about legacy through the lens of grief, love, and real relationships, including the difference between kindness vs niceness. For us, kindness is not people-pleasing or fake politeness. It’s boundaries, responsibility, and sometimes saying the hard thing while staying invested in the person across from you. We also get honest about the shadow side: cruelty as self-protection, resentment when giving becomes transactional, and what it takes to stay soft in a world that rewards armor. 

The conversation stretches into self-awareness, calling, and meaning. We share stories from chaplaincy, crisis response, and healthcare about how safety and support can change trauma outcomes, plus what post-traumatic growth might look like for an entire society after events like COVID. We also explore big-picture responsibility, including a long-horizon “500-year vision,” questions about AI and creativity, and why values can be a steadier compass than goals. 

If something in you sparks while listening, subscribe, share the episode with a friend who loves deep questions, and leave a review so more curious humans can find the crew. What do you want to be remembered for?

If this sparked something for you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review or text us through the link above with the question you want us to explore next.

Want to meet the Curious Krewe in person?  Here is your formal INVITATION.

Curious about all-things Curious Krewe?  All roads converge HERE.

Want to learn how to start a gathering in your city? You can text us HERE.

Until then, Stay Curious!

Wanna connect? You can text or leave a voicemail for us here!

You can feel the moment a conversation stops performing and starts telling the truth. This one starts where they all do... at the table, laughing about childhood candy. And then the question lands: what are you learning right now about life, people, or yourself?

What follows is the kind of talk most of us only wish we had access to. Nic on building a life with room for all of who you are, so no single job or person has to carry everything. Rhys on grieving the version of yourself that needed everyone's approval. Sarah on deciding, young, what safety would look like... and then becoming it. Colette on the long road from surviving to actually living. And somewhere in there, a question about grief opens a door nobody expected to walk through.

We go to some tender places in this one, including mental health and thoughts of suicide. We went there because the table felt safe enough to. If you're carrying something heavy, you don't have to carry it alone... call or text 988 anytime, and you'll find more in the show notes.

We close with the newest part of our Curious Code... Gathering the Good, where each of us names what curiosity gave us. Perspective. Permission. Love. More people in our corner than we knew we had.

If this one stirred something in you, we want to hear it. There's a link in the show notes to share it, to send us the question you want the Krewe to sit with next, and to pull up a chair in person.

Come be curious with us.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Gathering the Good... Things Worth Carrying Home
The good stuff doesn't have to stay at the table. A few of the books, ideas, and practices that came up, in case you want to wander into any of them yourself...

Reading

• Gullstruck Island (published as The Lost Conspiracy in the US) by Frances Hardinge
• Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge... yes, the one with the goose
• More about the author: franceshardinge.com

Ideas and frameworks worth a search

• Moral injury
• Foreboding joy (a concept explored by Brené Brown)
• The "grief glitter" metaphor... how grief never fully disappears, but you find less of it over time
• Saturn return
• Queer theory as a way of being in the world
• Freud's "death drive"
• Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in schools

Practices and therapies

• EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
• Somatic therapy... noticing what the body holds
• Inner child and reparenting work
• The Marie Kondo practice of offering gratitude before letting something go

Also referenced

• Viola Davis, on the long road to "becoming somebody"

If today's conversation brought up something heavy

• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline... call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org
• Crisis Text Line... text HOME to 741741

You are not alone.

If this sparked something for you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review or text us through the link above with the question you want us to explore next.

Want to meet the Curious Krewe in person?  Here is your formal INVITATION.

Curious about all-things Curious Krewe?  All roads converge HERE.

Want to learn how to start a gathering in your city? You can text us HERE.

Until then, Stay Curious!

Wanna connect? You can text or leave a voicemail for us here!

Love gets marketed as a feeling you fall into, but our real lives keep asking for something sturdier. We wrestle with the question “How do you know when you love someone?” and end up talking about the moments that don’t fit on a greeting card: missing someone in the middle of an ordinary day, making space for them in your future, and choosing connection even when it costs time, energy, or pride. If you’ve ever wondered whether what you’re building is love or just attachment, this conversation gives you language that’s practical and honest. 

We dig into what love looks like in action: respect over being right, boundaries instead of rules, and freedom instead of control. We also talk about the trap of self-sacrifice and hyper-independence, and how learning interdependence can feel scary if you grew up carrying too much. From chronic illness to grief to everyday care, we explore why receiving help is not weakness, and why refusing support can accidentally make you feel unreachable to the people who want to love you well. 

Then we zoom out with a definition that sticks: love as an act of kindness with full presence. Not automatic giving, not emotional manipulation, not a perfect 50-50 split, but a steady commitment to show up as a whole person and to let other people do the same. We even get into self-love as honesty, journaling, slowing down, and returning to the things that regulate us, like music, after burnout. 

If you want more conversations about relationships, emotional intimacy, boundaries, and what real love looks like, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more curious people can find the table. What’s one action that makes you feel loved?

Special thanks to Rhys Lombardo for the audio engineering and Bruce France for production of the podcast audio.

Oh...and be sure to give a listen to the "On Being" episode with Rabbi Shia Held (On Love, and Judaism) Rhys mentioned!

If this sparked something for you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review or text us through the link above with the question you want us to explore next.

Want to meet the Curious Krewe in person?  Here is your formal INVITATION.

Curious about all-things Curious Krewe?  All roads converge HERE.

Want to learn how to start a gathering in your city? You can text us HERE.

Until then, Stay Curious!

Wanna connect? You can text or leave a voicemail for us here!

In this episode, we talk about a deceptively simple question: when you’re stressed, what helps you come back to yourself, and how did you learn it? What starts with a few inner-monologue catchphrases quickly turns into a practical, honest conversation about stress relief, anxiety, and the everyday skills nobody really teaches us. 

We are joined by our usual Curious Co-Hosts, Colette and Sam, and our Curious Guests (and CK vets), Maureen (Mo) and Kevin.  (Surprise appearance by Morgan, one of the original CK founders).  Audio Wizardry by Bruce France Studios.  You can find out more about everyone by checking out our 'Contributors' page

We dig into the difference between being consumed by stress and creating distance from it, including how therapy, perspective shifts, and clear boundaries can stop someone else’s panic from becoming your emergency. We also explore how stress shows up in the body: tight jaws, shaky hands, chest tension, and that feeling of getting hijacked by your lizard brain. From walking and workouts to hammocks and standing desks, we keep coming back to one idea: movement and embodiment are not optional for many of us; they’re the fastest path back to clarity. 

Then we follow the thread into sound and emotion regulation. We talk about playlists that help you cry on purpose, binaural beats, ocean waves, and why singing bowls and sound baths can calm the nervous system so quickly.  If you’re looking for grounded coping mechanisms for stress, burnout, ADHD, anxiety, and grief, pull up a chair. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s carrying a lot right now, and leave us a review with the one practice that reliably brings you back to yourself.

If this sparked something for you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review or text us through the link above with the question you want us to explore next.

Want to meet the Curious Krewe in person?  Here is your formal INVITATION.

Curious about all-things Curious Krewe?  All roads converge HERE.

Want to learn how to start a gathering in your city? You can text us HERE.

Until then, Stay Curious!

Wanna connect? You can text or leave a voicemail for us here!

What makes a relationship healthy...romantic, family, friendship, all of it? And why do so many of us end up learning the most important parts the hard way?

In this episode, Sam and Colette are joined by Nic and Craig for a curious conversation that starts with a surprisingly deep warm-up (“one word that describes how you recharge”) and then dives into the real stuff: giving and receiving, speaking your needs, the vulnerability of being seen, and how our family-of-origin habits follow us into grown-up relationships like uninvited guests.

Along the way, we talk about hyper-independence (and why it’s not always the flex we think it is), why “communication” is more than just talking, how change feels weird before it feels right, and why healthy relationships require a willingness to risk discomfort...and even pain...if we want real connection. There’s also some honest reflection on anger, boundaries, and what to do when someone’s “real self” includes a side you don’t know how to hold.

As always, we follow The Curious Code: respect beats being right, listen up, keep an open mind, respond with curiosity, and make this a safe space for everyone—every time.

Pull up a chair. This one’s tender, funny, and very human.

If this sparked something for you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review or text us through the link above with the question you want us to explore next.

Want to meet the Curious Krewe in person?  Here is your formal INVITATION.

Curious about all-things Curious Krewe?  All roads converge HERE.

Want to learn how to start a gathering in your city? You can text us HERE.

Until then, Stay Curious!

Wanna connect? You can text or leave a voicemail for us here!

Looking for a habit that actually changes how you feel, think, and create? We take one community-voted question...what small habit has made a big difference...and follow it into surprising places: meditation that doesn’t feel like punishment, an accidental breakup with caffeine, acupuncture that clears the fog, and the underrated power of protecting your creative time like it’s oxygen.

If you’re ready to try one shift this week—swap a cup of coffee for water, set a phone curfew, book acupuncture, sketch before breakfast, or sit with that inner light—this conversation offers practical starting points and real stories of change. 

Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a review with the one habit you’re committing to next. What small move will you try tomorrow?

Special thanks to Rhys Lombardo and Bruce France for making this sound sooooooo good!

If this sparked something for you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review or text us through the link above with the question you want us to explore next.

Want to meet the Curious Krewe in person?  Here is your formal INVITATION.

Curious about all-things Curious Krewe?  All roads converge HERE.

Want to learn how to start a gathering in your city? You can text us HERE.

Until then, Stay Curious!

Wanna connect? You can text or leave a voicemail for us here!

In this origin-story deep dive, we share how a small idea in New Orleans grew into the Curious Krewe: a monthly gathering where one honest question invites many voices, and respect consistently beats being right.

We talk through the experiments that didn’t fit, the simple choices that did, and the unexpected momentum that followed.  Along the way, we ask bigger questions: Is curiosity a teachable skill? How does it spark empathy? What makes it contagious?

We also unpack practical tools for anyone wanting to start their own Krewe, and look ahead to curious future possibilities.

If this story stirs something in you, pull up a chair. Subscribe, share this episode with a curious friend, and leave a review telling us the one question you’d put on the table next.

If this sparked something for you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review or text us through the link above with the question you want us to explore next.

Want to meet the Curious Krewe in person?  Here is your formal INVITATION.

Curious about all-things Curious Krewe?  All roads converge HERE.

Want to learn how to start a gathering in your city? You can text us HERE.

Until then, Stay Curious!