The Mythology of Personal Responsibility
In partnership with our friends at Sakara
Published on:
Host Elise Loehnen sits down with Pulitzer Prize–winning authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn to talk about their new book, Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope. It’s a story about our country that begins in rural Yamhill, Oregon—where Kristof grew up—and moves to the Dakotas and Oklahoma and New York and Virginia and everywhere in between. Through vivid personal reporting and the lives of real Americans, Kristof and WuDunn explore working-class America and the all ways our system has neglected and damaged these communities. They expose the mythology of personal responsibility, the tightrope that families have been forced to walk, and the devastating effect of one small slip when you have no safety net. They remind us that no community is “other,” and they show us that even issues as large and complex as addiction, homelessness, and incarceration are not unsolvable. We have the toolboxes; now we need the will. “There’s obviously no silver bullet,” says Kristof. “But we know how to make a big difference.”
Emily Hickey
Emily Hickey and Gwyneth explore esoteric systems like astrology, tarot, and Human Design—and share how they've used them for personal growth.
Trae Stephens
Gwyneth sits down with Trae Stephens, the co-founder of the AI defense company Anduril, for a wide ranging conversation about how Trae reconciles his Christian faith with an industry built around weapons and warfare.
Abbie Schiller
Author and goal coach Abbie Schiller guest-hosts this episode to talk about one of the lesser-known forms of grieving: identity grief. Whether you are a mother whose child just went off to college or someone switching careers, if you have ever felt unmoored after a major life change, this episode is for you. Schiller explains how identity grief shows up across an entire lifetime, not just midlife, why it hits some of us harder than others, and gives a framework for moving through it, not just around it.
Kara Swisher
Gwyneth sits down with longtime tech journalist Kara Swisher to talk about the past and present state of Silicon Valley.
Judith Enck
How dangerous are microplastics for us really? And how can we avoid them in our own lives while also working to remove them from our community? Gwyneth sits down with environmental advocate and president of Beyond Plastics Dr. Judith Enck to talk about the ways we have been misinformed about microplastics and their true effect on our bodies and the environment.