We Have A Problem

What does America look like through the eyes of someone who wasn’t born here—but desperately wanted to live here?

In this episode of We Have A Problem, Kaylyn sits down with her friend Anneke to talk about her journey from South Africa to the United States—and why living in America has given her a very different perspective on the country many Americans take for granted.

Anneke shares what it was like growing up in South Africa, from experiencing violence and concerns about safety to the everyday differences Americans may never think twice about—from the availability of restaurants and services to the ability to build the kind of life you want.

Then we talk about America.

What does the American Dream look like to someone who actually immigrated here in search of it? Does the idea that you can work hard and create a better life still exist? What opportunities do Americans have that can be easy to overlook simply because we've always had them?

Anneke shares why she believes America offers greater opportunity, why she feels safer here, and what it means to live somewhere where she can vote, volunteer, access healthcare and actively participate in the community around her.

We also have an honest conversation about the opportunities she felt were limited in South Africa, what she misses about the country she came from, and what Americans misunderstand about life there.

And perhaps most importantly, we ask a question we don't hear very often:

What do immigrants who chose America wish Americans appreciated about their own country?

IN THIS EPISODE:

• What it was like growing up in South Africa

• Anneke's experiences with violence and safety

• Why she dreamed of living in America

• The everyday conveniences Americans rarely think about

• Why opportunity feels different in the United States

• What the American Dream looks like from an immigrant's perspective

• Whether hard work can still change your life in America

• The ability to vote and participate in your community

• Safety and quality of life

• Healthcare in America versus Anneke's experience in South Africa

• Why volunteering and community involvement stood out to her

• What she believes Americans take for granted

• What she loves and misses about South Africa

• The opportunities she believes she gained by moving to the United States

• Whether the American Dream is still alive

America isn't perfect. But sometimes it takes someone who had to fight to get here to remind us what we have.

We Have A Problem... So, let's talk about it.

What if some of the things affecting your health aren't in your diet, your medicine cabinet, or your workout routine—but inside your house?

We spend much of our lives indoors, surrounded by mattresses, furniture, paint, plastics, artificial lighting, fragrances, cleaning products, and the air we breathe and water we drink. But how often do we actually think about what those environments are doing to us?

In this episode of We Have A Problem, Kaylyn sits down with Carrie Denning Jackson, founder of Place as Medicine, to explore the overlooked relationship between our homes, our neighborhoods, and our health.

Carrie has spent her career thinking about the places where people live and work—and how the materials, design, air, water, light, nature, and even people around us can influence our well-being.

And creating a healthier home doesn't necessarily mean ripping everything out and starting over.

Carrie walks through the everyday things worth paying attention to—from the mattress you sleep on and the paint on your walls to indoor air quality, drinking water, plastics, candles, fragrance, lighting, and the materials we bring into our homes.

But this conversation goes beyond toxins.

We also explore why access to nature matters, why knowing your neighbors may be more important to your health than you realize, and why creating a healthy home is about more than simply removing things—it's about creating an environment that helps the people inside it thrive.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• What your home may be exposing you to every day

• Why indoor air quality matters

• What to consider when buying a mattress

• What may be hiding in furniture, fabrics, and household materials

• Why water quality deserves more attention

• Plastics in the home—and realistic ways to reduce them

• What to know about candles, fragrance, and scented products

• Why the type of paint and building materials we use matters

• How artificial lighting can affect the body's natural rhythms

• Why opening your windows and getting outside still matters

• How to prioritize changes if you can't afford to overhaul your home

• Why healthier homes shouldn't only be accessible to wealthy people

• How our neighborhoods influence our health

• Why knowing your neighbors and having real community matters

• How nature, movement, and social connection fit into the idea of "Place as Medicine"

We spend enormous amounts of time thinking about what we put into our bodies.

Maybe it's time we start paying attention to what we're putting our bodies into.

We Have A Problem... So, let's talk about it.

ABOUT CARRIE DENNING JACKSON

Carrie Denning Jackson is the founder of Place as Medicine, an organization focused on understanding and improving how the places where we live, work, and learn affect human health.

Her career has spanned urban innovation, real estate, sustainability, and the built environment, including work with IBM Smarter Cities, Sidewalk Labs, Google's urban innovation company, and Jamestown. She holds bachelor's, master's, and MBA degrees from Stanford University.

CONNECT WITH CARRIE & PLACE AS MEDICINE

Website: PlaceAsMedicine.com

Instagram: @placeasmedicine

Why can anxiety make you feel like something is terribly wrong—even when you know you're safe? And why do some people panic while others completely shut down?

Your nervous system is designed to protect you. But when it becomes chronically dysregulated, that protective system can leave you feeling anxious, overwhelmed, disconnected, frozen or stuck in survival mode.

In this episode of We Have A Problem, Kaylyn sits down with Logan Barone to unpack what nervous-system dysregulation actually is, why our bodies respond the way they do, and what it takes to move out of chronic patterns of anxiety and shutdown.

Rather than simply trying to eliminate uncomfortable feelings, Logan explains why avoidance can keep us trapped in the very patterns we're trying to escape—and why getting to the root of what's happening may require learning how to experience discomfort differently.

They talk about what the nervous system was actually designed to do, how it learns what is safe and what is threatening, and how we can begin changing the patterns that keep our bodies sounding the alarm.

In this episode:

• What nervous-system dysregulation actually means
• Why the nervous system creates anxiety in the first place
• Fight, flight, freeze and shutdown—and why different people respond differently
• What it feels like when your body gets stuck in survival mode
• Why trying to avoid anxiety can sometimes reinforce it
• The difference between managing symptoms and addressing what's underneath them
• How past experiences can shape what your nervous system perceives as threatening
• What to do when you feel yourself beginning to shut down
• How to work with anxiety instead of constantly fighting it
• How the nervous system learns safety
• What healing and regulation can actually look like
• Why the goal isn't to never feel anxious again

Your nervous system isn't designed to make you comfortable all the time. It's designed to keep you alive.

The question is what happens when that alarm system starts going off when you're no longer in danger—and how do you teach it something new?

• Instagram: @loganbarone7
• TikTok: @loganbarone
• YouTube: @LoganBarone
• Website: loganbarone.com

Logan helps people address subconscious identity patterns involving fear and limitation, and he offers a Nervous System Freedom course focused on nervous-system regulation and conditioning.

We Have A Problem... So, let's talk about it.

…until the pain gets bad enough.

What if the voice running your life isn’t actually yours?

From childhood, we are conditioned on who we’re supposed to be, what makes us worthy, what we should fear, and what we need to do to be loved. Over time, those messages can become the voices in our heads—and eventually, we let those voices run our lives... often without knowing it.

In this episode of We Have A Problem, Kaylyn sits down with counselor and best-selling author Sven Erlandson for a candid conversation about why so many people remain unhappy, even when, from the outside, their lives seem perfectly fine.

Sven believes unresolved pain doesn’t simply disappear. We carry old wounds, shame, anger, fear, and conditioning forward—and they quietly influence our relationships, choices, self-worth, and the stories we tell ourselves.

But he also rejects the idea that healing needs to become a lifelong project.

Sven explains his approach to getting the old “crud” out, why brutally honest journaling can expose what’s actually happening beneath the surface, and why he believes people can make profound changes much faster than they think.

They also tackle one of Sven’s more uncomfortable ideas: sometimes the pain has to become bad enough before we’re finally willing to change.

• Why people stay unhappy—even when life looks good on paper
• How childhood conditioning becomes the voice in your head
• Why old wounds continue influencing adult relationships and choices
• The point when emotional pain finally becomes enough to force change
• Why we resist confronting the things we know are hurting us
• Sven’s approach to brutally honest journaling
• How to get the anger, shame, fear, and old “crud” out
• Why healing doesn’t necessarily need to take years
• The difference between healing and making healing your identity
• How to stop endlessly analyzing your past and start living your life

Why do we cling to patterns that make us miserable? How do you distinguish your own voice from the conditioning you’ve accumulated since childhood? Do we need to endlessly analyze our wounds—or can we actually deal with them and move forward?

And what happens when you finally stop running from the things you don’t want to feel?

This isn’t about spending the rest of your life “working on yourself.”

It’s about understanding what’s running your life, dealing with what needs to be dealt with—and getting on with living.

Sven Erlandson has spent more than three decades counseling people through relationships, emotional pain, personal growth, and major life change. He is a bestselling author, podcast host and the founder of Badass Counseling.

Known for his direct, results-driven approach, Sven challenges the idea that meaningful personal transformation has to take years. Through counseling, courses, books, his podcast, and more than 2,000 free videos across social media, his work focuses on helping people confront what’s actually holding them back and move forward.

Website: www.badasscounseling.com

TikTok: @BadassCounseling

Instagram: @BadassCounseling

You Don’t Want to Heal | Sven Erlandson

For generations, endless orange groves stretched across the state, Florida supplied much of America’s citrus, and a glass of orange juice was as much a symbol of the Sunshine State as beaches and palm trees.

Today, much of that industry has disappeared.

In this episode of We Have A Problem, Kaylyn sits down with filmmaker and Park Vibes host Dan Fletcher to uncover what happened to one of Florida’s most iconic industries.

Dan recently traveled through Central Florida for his mini-documentary How One Bug Ended Florida Citrus, documenting abandoned groves, struggling growers and the researchers racing to save what remains of Florida citrus.

At the center of the collapse is HLB—better known as citrus greening—an incurable disease spread by a tiny insect called the Asian citrus psyllid. Since the disease arrived in Florida, citrus production has plummeted, groves that once dominated the landscape have disappeared, and land that once grew oranges has increasingly given way to something very different.

So how did one tiny bug help bring an agricultural powerhouse to its knees?

Kaylyn and Dan talk about the rise and fall of Florida citrus, why HLB has been so difficult to stop, what happened to the growers caught in the middle, the role hurricanes and development have played, what scientists are trying now—and whether Florida orange juice can actually make a comeback.

They also explore a bigger question behind Dan’s work: what happens when something so deeply connected to a place quietly disappears before most of us realize we’re losing it?

Florida hasn’t completely lost its orange juice.

But the Florida citrus industry Americans grew up with is almost unrecognizable.

So, let’s talk about it.

Dan Fletcher is the host and creator behind Park Vibes, a documentary series exploring the hidden stories behind America’s parks, wildlife, public lands and natural places. Through on-location reporting and storytelling, Park Vibes examines how history, science, conservation and human decisions have shaped some of the places and landscapes Americans often take for granted.

YouTube: Park Vibes

Website: ParkVibes.com

Watch Dan’s original mini-documentary: How One Bug Ended Florida Citrus

• How Florida became an American citrus powerhouse

• What happened to Florida’s orange groves

• What HLB, or citrus greening, actually is

• How the Asian citrus psyllid spreads the disease

• Why scientists haven’t been able to stop it

• What Dan discovered while filming in Florida

• The farmers and communities affected by the citrus collapse

• Hurricanes, development and disappearing groves

• Why Florida orange production has fallen so dramatically

• The research underway to save citrus

• Whether Florida’s orange industry can recover

• What the disappearance of citrus tells us about the future of American agriculture

Relationship coach Jake Maddock thinks so.

In this episode of We Have A Problem, Kaylyn sits down with Jake for a candid conversation about modern dating, attraction, relationships, and the ways men and women may be unintentionally sabotaging their own love lives.

From masculine and feminine energy to communication, courtship, attraction and intimacy, Jake has built his coaching philosophy around what he calls a “10/10 relationship.” And some of his opinions about what men and women actually want from each other might challenge the way you think about dating.

We get into what men misunderstand about women, what women misunderstand about men, why dating has become so complicated, the behaviors that kill attraction, and what actually changes when you stop approaching relationships like a battle between the sexes.

We also challenge Jake on some of his more controversial takes—because relationships are complicated, people are different, and there probably isn’t one formula that works for everyone.

Are modern dating habits helping us find better relationships—or are we getting in our own way?

So, let’s talk about it.

Jake Maddock is an Australian relationship and dating coach and the founder of Maddock Coaching. His work focuses on helping singles and couples create what he calls a “10/10 relationship,” built around five core areas: masculine and feminine energy, attraction, intimacy, courtship and communication. He is also the author of How To Achieve A 10/10 Relationship and shares relationship and dating advice with a large online audience.

Instagram: @jake.maddock

TikTok: @coachjakemaddock

YouTube: @JakeMaddockCoaching

Website: Maddock Coaching

• Why modern dating feels so difficult

• What men and women misunderstand about each other

• Masculine vs. feminine energy

• Attraction—and what kills it

• Dating expectations and courtship

• Communication between men and women

• Intimacy and long-term relationships

• Why good relationships sometimes go wrong

• Jake’s “10/10 relationship” philosophy

• Whether there really is a formula for finding lasting love

What happens when the policies designed to help people struggling with addiction and homelessness actually make it harder for them to recover?

Tom Wolf knows this crisis from both sides.

After a surgery and a prescription for opioid pain medication, Tom developed an addiction that eventually cost him his job, his home, and nearly his life. His addiction progressed from prescription opioids to heroin and fentanyl, ultimately leaving him homeless on the streets of San Francisco’s Tenderloin and cycling through the criminal justice system.

Today, Tom is eight years into recovery and has become a leading advocate for changing the way California—and the country—responds to addiction and homelessness.

In this episode of We Have A Problem, Kaylyn sits down with Tom for a candid conversation about what he believes we’re getting wrong.

Together we discuss:

How a legitimate opioid prescription after surgery led Tom into addiction

Why Tom believes housing alone isn’t enough to solve homelessness when severe addiction is involved

How California’s assistance and harm-reduction policies can unintentionally enable continued drug use

Why America’s response to the fentanyl and overdose crisis is failing so many people

The debate over permanent supportive housing vs. recovery-oriented and drug-free housing

Why accountability—and even Tom’s own arrests—played a pivotal role in getting him off the streets

Why Tom believes compassion should mean helping someone move toward recovery, not simply making active addiction safer

The complicated debate surrounding harm reduction, treatment, personal autonomy, involuntary intervention, and recovery

What San Francisco’s experience can teach the rest of America about homelessness and addiction policy

Tom’s perspective isn’t theoretical. He’s lived the very system he’s now fighting to change.

His argument is simple but controversial: keeping someone alive is essential—but the ultimate goal should be helping them get their life back.

So where is the line between compassion and enablement? Does providing housing without requiring recovery actually solve homelessness? And what should society do when someone suffering from severe addiction is no longer capable of choosing recovery for themselves?

This is a conversation about addiction, homelessness, fentanyl, public policy—and what it really means to help someone.

So, let’s talk about it.

We Have A Problem with Kaylyn Easton

Subscribe for new conversations about the problems shaping modern life.

Follow Tom on X @twolfrecovery

There was a time when going to the movies felt like an event.

Hollywood gave us unforgettable romantic comedies, original blockbusters, quotable comedies, and stories that became part of our culture. Today, many moviegoers feel like they're watching an endless cycle of sequels, reboots, remakes, and franchise films. Original stories seem harder to find, streaming has transformed how we consume entertainment, and artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape the creative process itself.

So… what happened to Hollywood?

In this episode of We Have A Problem, Kaylyn sits down with professional screenwriter and content creator Julia Yorks to explore why so many people believe modern movies have lost their magic.

Together, they unpack the creative, technological, and economic forces changing the film industry—from the decline of the classic romantic comedy to the rise of streaming platforms, the financial realities driving studio decisions, and whether artificial intelligence will fundamentally change storytelling.

Rather than simply criticizing modern movies, this conversation asks a bigger question:

Have audience expectations changed, or has Hollywood changed?

Whether you're a lifelong movie fan, an aspiring filmmaker, or someone who misses the days of original storytelling, this episode offers an inside look at one of the biggest cultural shifts happening in entertainment today.

• Why Hollywood isn't producing as many original films
• What happened to the romantic comedy?
• The rise of sequels, remakes, and franchise filmmaking
• How streaming services changed the economics of Hollywood
• Why audiences feel modern movies have lost their magic
• Can artificial intelligence replace writers, actors, or creativity?
• The future of filmmaking in an AI-driven world
• Whether Hollywood can rediscover the stories audiences truly want

Julia Yorks is a professional screenwriter based in New York City and a content creator who shares insightful commentary on screenwriting, filmmaking, Hollywood, and storytelling across social media. Through her work, she helps audiences better understand how the entertainment industry operates plus shares her own starting over advetnure - she is great!

Follow Julia:

• YouTube: @JuliaYorksWriter
• Instagram: @juliayorks
• TikTok: @juliayorks

The conversation explores several questions shaping the future of entertainment:

• Why original movies are becoming increasingly rare
• Whether streaming permanently changed Hollywood's business model
• Why so many people feel nostalgic for the movies of the '90s and early 2000s
• The role AI may play in writing, acting, and filmmaking
• What audiences really want from modern cinema

At one point, the American Dream felt attainable. Work hard, save your money, buy a home, and build a better life for the next generation. Today, for millions of Americans, that dream feels increasingly out of reach.

Housing prices continue to climb. Rent consumes larger portions of paychecks. Inflation has stretched household budgets, while wages have struggled to keep pace. Many people are asking the same question:

How did life become so unaffordable?

In this episode of We Have A Problem, Kaylyn sits down with Zachary Foust to explore one of the defining economic challenges of our time: the rising cost of living in America.

Together, they discuss why homeownership has become increasingly difficult, whether corporate greed is contributing to higher prices, how stagnant wages have affected the middle class, and whether the American Dream is slipping away for younger generations.

Rather than reducing the conversation to politics or headlines, this episode examines the broader economic forces shaping everyday life—and what those changes mean for families, communities, and the future of opportunity in America.

Whether you're trying to buy your first home, wondering why your paycheck doesn't stretch as far as it once did, or simply looking to better understand today's economy, this conversation offers thoughtful insight into one of the biggest issues facing Americans today.

• Why housing has become so expensive
• The growing gap between wages and the cost of living
• Inflation and its impact on everyday Americans
• Is corporate greed driving higher prices?
• Why homeownership feels out of reach
• The shrinking middle class
• Is the American Dream still achievable?
• What the future of housing and affordability may look like

Zachary Foust joins We Have A Problem to discuss the economic realities affecting millions of Americans. From housing affordability and wage stagnation to the broader forces reshaping the middle class, Zachary offers thoughtful perspectives on the Federal Reserve, Real Estate, and Economics. Follow him at @zachary.loft on IG and @zachary_foust on TT or his YouTube Channel @ZachFoustShow

Millions of people have mailed off their DNA hoping to learn where they came from. But what happens when those results reveal a family secret no one was supposed to know? Hidden siblings. Affairs. Donor conception. And what genetic genealogists call a "non-parent event." Today's guest found out at 60 years old that the man who she called "dad"... wasn't really her biological father.

Show Notes:

23&Me Blog - Kayla's Story: https://www.23andme.org/blog/articles/an-only-childs-dna-surprise/?srsltid=AfmBOorqablZj7594yozdpayG2dtG0oWEEF9IrQTA2mXBtRjlo7-JDlM

Non-Parent Event Facebook Group 9.5K Members: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NPEGateway