Revealing the taboos of women's health and womanhood - menopause, mental health, postpartum, motherhood - because when we KNOW better we DO better. Your host, Micah Larsen, asks experts the questions we might not know we need to ask. Welcome to the women's bathroom of the internet. <br/><br/><a href="https://micahlarsen.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast">micahlarsen.substack.com</a>
Modern Hysteria
Claim This Podcastby Micah Larsen
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42 episodes
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Podcast Overview
Revealing the taboos of women's health and womanhood - menopause, mental health, postpartum, motherhood - because when we KNOW better we DO better. Your host, Micah Larsen, asks experts the questions we might not know we need to ask. Welcome to the *women's bathroom* of the internet. <br/><br/><a href="https://micahlarsen.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast">micahlarsen.substack.com</a>
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Publishing Since
11/13/2024
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Recent Episodes
December 3, 2025
S2E15 Declining Birth Rates x Ruining the Workplace x Béyoncé x Push Presents with Dr. Cyntia Brown
<p>Hi. It’s Micah from Modern Hysteria, your podcast and newsletter revealing the taboos of women’s brains and bodies (listen on <a target="_blank" href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/2TMXs7UAofljcu4BIGPvsn?si=e2b2cc4bde734cc0">Spotify</a> or <a target="_blank" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/modern-hysteria/id1781764805?i=1000691414161">Apple Podcasts)</a>.</p><p>This week, we’re talking about the real reasons the US birth rate is in decline.</p><p>THE TABOO</p><p>Why people aren’t having kids… Not because they don’t want them, but because society makes parenthood feel economically, emotionally, and structurally impossible.</p><p></p><p>LINKS + RESOURCES </p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.marketplace.org/story/2025/11/18/nycs-mamdani-wants-cityowned-grocery-stores-how-do-they-work">Municipal grocery stores</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://nypost.com/2017/02/18/having-a-baby-isnt-a-miracle-and-doesnt-make-you-a-goddess/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_medium=SocialFlow&sr_share=twitter">Beyonce article</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/gift-ideas/g66092319/push-present-ideas/">Good Housekeeping push presents</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Mommit/comments/1bico77/did_you_receive_a_push_present/">Mommit push presents</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.neimanmarcus.com/p/chloe-balloon-patchwork-leather-suede-tote-bag-prod284880096?pimId=401271801431&utm_source=google_shopping&site_refer=CSE_GGLPLA%3AHandbags%3AChloe%3A&country=US&currency=USD&CSE_CID=NMO_G_PLA_Handbags_SMW%3ANMO_G_PLA_Handbags_SMW%3EHandbags&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23019581205&gbraid=0AAAAADuOtTd8alMd4vly8zo-eixauQbQ6&gclid=CjwKCAiA_dDIBhB6EiwAvzc1cOTrp2ARj1NG9Yg_wgectATDjUq1XqYNz4XFy2k78q7FoZyOPcbcBRoCr5kQAvD_BwE">The Chloe Balloon Patchwork Leather and Suede Tote Bag</a> 👜</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gucci.com/us/en/pr/women/handbags/tote-bags-for-women/gucci-diana-medium-tote-bag-p-702721U3ZDT9244?utm_source=google&utm_source_platform=SA360&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=US%7CEN%7CSHP%7CAll%7CMulti%7CAll%7CNORAM+Catch+All&utm_id=16650807045&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=16650807045&gbraid=0AAAAADurYgwfIavAqlOA0WLigw5WTR9N4&gclid=CjwKCAiA_dDIBhB6EiwAvzc1cF800JbykCxFCvYmhC5b8ePWI_xSVVxP6YTIGSyqubcMWeNE0UqyvhoCBDwQAvD_BwE">The Gucci Diana bag</a> 👜</p><p></p><p>THE GUEST EXPERT</p><p>Cyntia Onuoha Brown is a doctor of pharmacy and clinical pharmacologist now working in the women’s health sector.</p><p>📧 support@kopelahealth.com</p><p></p><p>KEY TAKEAWAYS</p><p>The declining birth rate isn’t a referendum on women’s choices or values.</p><p>It’s a mirror reflecting the systems we live inside—systems that make parenthood financially precarious, emotionally taxing, and logistically unsupported.</p><p>People still want families.</p><p>What they need are the conditions to build them: affordable housing, job stability, paid leave, accessible reproductive healthcare, and a culture that doesn’t treat caregiving as a women-only burden.</p><p></p><p>TIME STAMPS</p><p>* 02:15 | Fertility rate x birth rate</p><p>* 5:01 | How we treat pregnant people and mothers</p><p>* 9:59 | Invisible labor</p><p>* 11:25 | Deadbeat moms</p><p>* 13:40 | Cost of living x job insecurity</p><p>* 14:41 | Male fertility</p><p>* 20:08 | Aside: Béyoncé</p><p>* 22:08 | Selfish women</p><p>* 23:48 | Aside: Push presents</p><p>* 29:40 | Aside: Baby bonuses</p><p>* 32:03 | Barriers to becoming parents</p><p>* 33:07 | Aside: Mamdani groceries</p><p>* 35:13 | What do we want from policymakers?</p><p>* 40:52 | What are you crazy about right now?</p><p>What do you think?</p><p>Should the government give people push presents?</p><p>Is the decline in birth rate a crisis?</p><p>Should women be more selfish?</p><p>Tell me in the comments (I read every single one!)</p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Modern Hysteria at <a href="https://micahlarsen.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4">micahlarsen.substack.com/subscribe</a>
November 26, 2025
S2E14 Menopause x Mythology x Midlife Crises with Andrea Slominski, PhD
<p>Hi. It’s Micah from Modern Hysteria, your podcast and newsletter revealing the taboos of women’s brains and bodies (listen on <a target="_blank" href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/2TMXs7UAofljcu4BIGPvsn?si=e2b2cc4bde734cc0">Spotify</a> or <a target="_blank" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/modern-hysteria/id1781764805?i=1000691414161">Apple Podcasts)</a>.</p><p>This week, we’re talking about menopause, mythology, and midlife crises.</p><p><strong>THE TABOO</strong></p><p>Women’s midlife and menopause are not a decline, a disappearance, or a dried-up ending—but a powerful rebirth.</p><p><strong>LINKS + RESOURCES</strong></p><p>* Sharon Blackie’s <a target="_blank" href="https://hagitude.org/">Hagitude: Reimagining the Second Half of Life</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/47111/women-who-run-with-the-wolves-by-clarissa-pinkola-estes-phd/">Women Who Run With The Wolves</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://ggyuwbioqra.typeform.com/to/S4P4qnCM">Goddess quiz</a></p><p>* The tale of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240320-bluebeard-why-the-grimmest-of-fairytales-is-still-all-too-relevant">Bluebeard</a></p><p><strong>THE GUEST EXPERT</strong></p><p>Andrea M. Slominski, PhD — AKA Dr. A. — is a therapeutic women’s midlife and menopause coach, speaker, and author. During her dissertation research and study, she discovered a new life stage has emerged in the past 100 years, for women.</p><p>Naming this new stage, from ages 45-70, “Regency”, Dr. A. has spoken at conferences, published articles, and coached women to make the most of their emerging power years. Dr. A. guides women 45+ through the often tumultuous transformations that occur during perimenopause, midlife, and menopause using creativity, story, mythology, imagination, ceremony, and ritual.</p><p>She has created a methodology that helps women navigate these powerful years. Her work is rooted in depth psychology, showing Regent women how to reclaim their passions, develop their purpose, and rediscover their “True North.”</p><p></p><p><strong>TIME STAMPS</strong></p><p>* 4:54 | Aside: the archetypal feminine</p><p>* 8:48 | What are the markers of regency?</p><p>* 12:04 | The triple transformation</p><p>* 13:51 | Aside: Maiden-mother-crone</p><p>* 16:34 | How to find a menopause-supportive provider</p><p>* 17:41 | Caring for your body in midlife</p><p>* 21:40 | Aside: Demeter and Persephone</p><p>* 26:27 | Characters from mythology, fairy tales, folktales</p><p>* 26:45 | Aside: Ariadne</p><p>* 30:33 | Aside: Bluebeard</p><p>* 36:11 | Listener questions</p><p>* 38:12 | Seven realms of change</p><p>* 39:26 | Metaphor for midlife</p><p>* 41:33 | Why am I so angry?</p><p>* 44:49 | Aside: Christiane Northrup</p><p>* 45:40 | Mythology as inspiration</p><p>* 47:18 | Questions to ask yourself</p><p>* 48:40 | The heroine’s journey</p><p>* 53:29 | What’s in your bag?</p><p></p><p>Does this resonate? Tell me in the comments (I read every single one)</p><p>Still to come in Season 2:</p><p>* embodied boundaries and sex</p><p>* ADHD x nutrition</p><p>* myths of motherhood</p><p>… and more!</p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Modern Hysteria at <a href="https://micahlarsen.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4">micahlarsen.substack.com/subscribe</a>
November 17, 2025
S2E13 MAHA x Wellness Conspiracy Theories with Sadie Chanlett-Avery
<p>Hi. It’s Micah from Modern Hysteria, your podcast and newsletter revealing the taboos of women’s brains and bodies (listen on <a target="_blank" href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/2TMXs7UAofljcu4BIGPvsn?si=e2b2cc4bde734cc0">Spotify</a> or <a target="_blank" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/modern-hysteria/id1781764805?i=1000691414161">Apple Podcasts)</a>.</p><p>This week, we’re talking with <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/55241913-sadie-chanlett-avery">Sadie Chanlett-Avery</a> about the world of <strong>wellness</strong> and <strong>Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) </strong>and how it intersects with the <strong>alt-right, conspiracy thinking, pseudoscience,</strong> and more.</p><p><strong>The Taboo</strong></p><p>The main taboo explored in this episode is:</p><p>Wellness is not inherently good or moral.</p><p></p><p><strong>Links + Resources</strong></p><p>🗞️ <a target="_blank" href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/04/02/rfk-jr-s-maha-movement-has-a-fatal-flaw-00263926">Opinion | How MAHA Is Helping Poison Americans While Claiming to Save Them</a></p><p>📱 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/yogisadie/?hl=en">yogisadie | </a><a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/55241913-sadie-chanlett-avery">Sadie Chanlett-Avery</a><a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/yogisadie/?hl=en"> on Instagram</a></p><p>👩🏼💻 <a target="_blank" href="https://sassafrasrevival.com/">Sassafras Revival</a></p><p><strong>The Guest Expert</strong></p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/55241913-sadie-chanlett-avery">Sadie Chanlett-Avery</a> is the founder of Sassafras Revival, an Asheville, North Carolina, USA-based company offering movement medicine classes, mouth-watering international retreats, and Tarot for the Soulful and Skeptical: a workout for the intuition. She is a Movement Medicine innovator, a Wellness Retreat creator, and a writer wrestling with the question: how do we sustain ourselves right now? With over 22 years of experience in holistic health, her work blends exercise, mysticism, and practical tools for modern resilience.</p><p><strong>Key Takeaways</strong></p><p>1. Wellness culture isn’t inherently healing—it can be a gateway to control, elitism, and even extremism.</p><p>The episode breaks open the assumption that “natural” or “alternative” equals safe or progressive. Sadie explains how wellness spaces—especially those dominated by white women—have become vulnerable to conspiracy thinking, moral purity narratives, and the wellness-to-alt-right pipeline. Wellness can easily slip into fear-based dogma disguised as empowerment.</p><p>2. Health is not a personal achievement; it’s a collective responsibility.</p><p>Sadie underscores that illness is not a moral failure and that no one can “future-proof” themselves through perfection, purity, or biohacking. Real health requires <strong>public health systems</strong>, community infrastructure, environmental protections, and collective care—not individual optimization or self-blame.</p><p>3. Movement and community offer grounded, accessible counterpoints to wellness culture’s excesses.</p><p>Instead of treating movement as punishment, aesthetics, or moral performance, Sadie frames it as “movement medicine”—a way to regulate emotions, process anxiety, and reconnect with ourselves and others. Communal movement spaces, belonging, and ritual are the antidotes to the isolating, hyper-individualized wellness grind.</p><p><strong>✅ Action Items</strong></p><p>* Avoid getting hangry</p><p>* Connect with community</p><p>* Move your body in a way that is not exhausting</p><p>* Get the best rest and sleep possible</p><p>* When someone asks you how you’re doing, answer them honestly</p><p>* Practice relaxation techniques</p><p>* Exercising agency; movement is free</p><p><strong>Time Stamps</strong></p><p>* 4:02 | Where MAHA went off course</p><p>* 6:42 | Growing up in a commune</p><p>* 8:55 | Wellness conspiracy theories</p><p>* 11:53 | Biohacking and the health meritocracy</p><p>* 16:45 | Spiritual practice that sustains us</p><p>* 17:12 | Aside: SNAP benefits</p><p>* 19:47 | Movement x wellness x moralism</p><p>* 20:57 | Aside: RED-S</p><p>* 25:22 | Finding identity in rigid wellness routines</p><p>* 27:56 | Aside: Abigail Spanberger</p><p>* 35:01 | Wellness x the alt-right</p><p>* 39:59 | What’s in your bag?</p><p></p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Modern Hysteria at <a href="https://micahlarsen.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4">micahlarsen.substack.com/subscribe</a>
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