Decoding Social Life is a weekly podcast hosted by Henry Fitzhugh and Sumir Srivastava covering social life, networking, relationships, health, and personal growth through honest conversations, humor, and real-life experiences.
DSL features long-form interviews and discussions with creators, entrepreneurs, actors, athletes, professionals, and guests from a wide range of industries.
Decoding Social Life Podcast
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Business Inquiries: DECODINGSOCIALIFE@GMAIL.COM
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**Trigger Warning: This content has explicit references that may be sensitive to certain audiences
In this episode of Decoding Social Life, we sit down with Dr. Jessica Borelli, a psychologist, researcher, and professor at UC Irvine, to unpack the growing challenges of anxiety, insecurity, parenting, and relationships in today's world.
Whether you're navigating anxiety, building healthier relationships, raising children, or simply trying to better understand yourself, this conversation offers practical insights backed by decades of psychological research.
Chapters:
1:00 Welcome Dr. Jessica Borelli
2:10 How Dr. Borelli Met Her Husband
4:00 What Is Relational Savoring?
9:00 Understanding Attachment Relationships
13:00 Different Relationship Pathways
26:00 High-Energy vs. Low-Energy People
30:00 Smartphones, Social Media & Modern Dilemmas
42:00 Funny College Stories
50:00 Overcoming Insecurity
1:02:00 The "Cloud Trick"
1:04:00 Why Anxiety Grows When We Avoid It
1:11:00 Final Thoughts & Wrap-Up
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who could benefit from the conversation.
Connect with Dr. Borelli: https://www.drjessicaborelli.com
Connect with us:
@DECODINGSOCIALIFEPODCAST
@EVENTSBYDSL
@SUMIRSRIVASTAVA
@HENRY.FITZHUGH
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/decoding-social-life--6139708/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/decoding-social-life--6139708/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss).
24 Apr 2026
Are People Becoming Socially Awkward? S6E5
Today's Topic: Are people becoming more socially awkward… or are we just interacting differently? In this episode, we break down what’s really happening with social behavior in today’s generation. As two guys who naturally put themselves out there, we’ve started to notice a shift—people are more hesitant, more reserved, and often unsure how to engage in real-world conversations. While we bring this up now, it's important to recognize this is not EVERYONE.
We get into the small moments that reveal a bigger trend: starting conversations, buying someone a drink, reading social cues, and even the fear of being looked at in public. We also debate where people are actually socializing today. Bars, clubs, gyms, curated events, and whether structured environments are replacing organic interaction.
We touch on why sports have become a safe space for connection, how networking is evolving, and how lifestyle habits (and even technology) may be shaping social confidence. From awkward encounters to deeper cultural shifts, this episode is all about decoding what it means to be social in 2026.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro & Today’s Topic
02:00 First Moves: How Conversations Actually Start
3:30 Are People Becoming More Socially Awkward?
05:00 Breaking Out of Your Shell 06:15 Just Try It: Building Social Reps
08:00 Why It Feels Like Everyone’s “Running”
08:55 Are Gyms Actually Social Anymore?
10:00 Why Networking Still Matters
11:20 Changing Goals, Standards & Social Priorities
13:00 Awkward Interactions We’ve Experienced
18:50 The “Going Out” Debate (Bars vs Staying In)
22:00 Curated Events vs Public Spaces (Partiful vs Bars)
24:00 Cultural Shifts in Social Behavior
26:55 The “iPad Kid” Effect
28:00 Final Thoughts
BECOME A SUPPORTER OF DECODING SOCIAL LIFE: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/decoding-social-life--6139708/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss
Connect with us: @DECODINGSOCIALIFEPODCAST @EventsByDSL
Previous: https://youtu.be/ASxj2dWuZ3g?si=pCubF82W2gQTa6_C
Come to our next Event: https://partiful.com/e/pV39H1TETb5H2GRwcrI0?c=lSeqASn5
#social #events #socialevents #networking #podcast #meetingnewpeople #communication #community #genz #conversations #society #culture #DSL
17 Apr 2026
2 Years of This Podcast: What We Learned | S6E4
In this episode, we take a step back and reflect on what two years of building this podcast has actually taught us. From recording on a $15 mini mic to producing inside a professional studio, this is a real conversation about growth, consistency, and what it takes to build something from nothing. We break down the early days in San Francisco, the first moments of traction, and how small wins turned into long-term momentum. Along the way, we talk about the realities of editing, content strategy, quantity vs. quality, and why we made the decision to never stop — even when things weren’t moving as fast as we wanted.
This episode goes beyond podcasting. We get into networking, interviewing, business decisions, working with guests, and navigating the production side of things. We also open up about lessons learned from the people we’ve met, the mistakes we’ve made, and how our mindset has evolved over time. If you’re building something, creating content, or trying to figure out your own path, this episode gives you a real look at what that journey actually feels like two years in.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
2:51 Today’s Topic
3:30 Backstory — 2 Years On Air
4:30 Mini Mic Days 5:30 SF Origins
5:51 First 10K Views
6:30 Riverside Days
7:30 Editing Process
8:10 Quantity vs. Quality
9:05 We Never Stop
9:23 Keeping the Business Afloat
9:57 In-House Production
11:00 The Networking Side
12:10 Interviewing & Meeting People
15:00 Casting Continued
16:00 Content Strategy
17:00 Create Your Own Path
20:00 Podcasting with Guests
21:30 Looking Back 2 Years Ago
28:15 Favorite Guests
29:30 Life Lessons
31:00 What is “Decoding”?
35:00 Nightmare Agents & Managers
37:50 Production Side
40:00 YouTube & Strategy
47:00 Final Thoughts
BECOME A SUPPORTER OF DECODING SOCIAL LIFE: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/decoding-social-life--6139708/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss
Connect with us: @DECODINGSOCIALIFEPODCAST @EventsByDSL
Who has been a guest on Decoding Social Life Podcast
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Sanjeev Sarin
Kyle Wong
Kerttu Karon
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
438,474
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
10 ratings
Spotify
4.8 / 5
12 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 63 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
68
Social presence
0
YouTube
82
Engagement
60
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