Magical Overthinkers

What does “thinking critically” actually mean and why is everyone so convinced they’re already good at it? This week, Amanda is joined by psychologist and author of Radical Thinking, Peter Lamont to explore how all of our beliefs are shaped by a limited slice of what we notice and how we interpret it, which means disagreement is inevitable. Peter reframes critical thinking as something quieter and more uncomfortable: recognizing the limits of your own perspective and being willing to engage with people who see the world differently. From the role of the internet and social media to why curiosity might matter more than certainty, this episode is a grounded spiral about attention, interpretation, and learning to question your own thinking before anyone else’s. Further Reading: Radical Thinking: How to See the Bigger Picture by Peter Lamont - Join the "Magical Overthinkers Club" by following the pod on Instagram @magicaloverthinkers. - To access early, ad-free episodes and more, subscribe to the Magical Overthinkers Substack. - Pick up Amanda's book The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, or listen to the audiobook. Thanks to our Sponsors: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today at https://SHOPIFY.COM/magical If your glasses are overdue for a refresh, now is the time. Use code PODCAST15 for 15% off your first order at bit.ly/3OdtU5X Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amanda is joined by wellness educator and founder of The Being Method MJ Renshaw (@beingmethodbreathwork) to gently spiral about crying: the science, the stigma, and the quiet relief that comes after the tears. - Join the "Magical Overthinkers Club" by following the pod on Instagram @magicaloverthinkers. - To access early, ad-free episodes and more, subscribe to the Magical Overthinkers Substack. - Pick up a hard copy of Amanda's book The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, or listen to the audiobook. Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to https://Zocdoc.com/MAGICAL to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re all “holding space,” “setting boundaries,” and “doing the work”, but when does the language of healing start to feel like another script we’re performing? This week, host Amanda Montell is joined by writer and therapist Joe Nucci (@joenuccitherapy) to overthink therapy speak, the vocabulary of mental health that’s seeped into everyday life and the internet alike. Together, they explore how this language can empower us to name our needs, but also how it can flatten complex emotions, mask avoidance as self care, and turn genuine vulnerability into content. A soft spiral about self-awareness, semantics, and the messy truth hiding underneath all those polished words for pain.Further Reading: Psychobabble: Viral Mental Health Myths & the Truths to Set You Free by Joe Nucci, LPC - Join the "Magical Overthinkers Club" by following the pod on Instagram @magicaloverthinkers.- To access early, ad-free episodes and more, subscribe to the Magical Overthinkers Substack.- Pick up a hard copy of Amanda's book The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, or listen to the audiobook. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://SHOPIFY.COM/magical Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Revenge is one of our oldest fantasies. It's sharp, seductive, but rarely as satisfying as it promises to be. This week, host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) is joined by lawyer, author, and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, James Kimmel Jr. to overthink our obsession with revenge: why it feels so good in theory, why it rarely delivers in practice, and what it reveals about our deepest wounds and longings. Together, they explore how the brain processes revenge almost like an addictive substance - flooding us with momentary relief, then keeping us hooked in a cycle of suffering. From the neuroscience of vengeance to the quiet, radical possibility of letting go, this conversation opens up a gentler path through pain. A soft spiral into anger, control, and the sacred art of breaking the cycle. Further Reading: The Science of Revenge by James Kimmel Jr. - Join the "Magical Overthinkers Club" by following the pod on Instagram @magicaloverthinkers.- To access early, ad-free episodes and more, subscribe to the Magical Overthinkers Substack.- Pick up a hard copy of Amanda's book The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, or listen to the audiobook. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at⁠ ⁠⁠https://SHOPIFY.COM/magical⁠ Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to ⁠https://Zocdoc.com/MAGICAL⁠ to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can you be trained by a gaslighter to gaslight yourself? This week, Amanda (@amanda_montell) is joined by Harvard historian and sociologist Rebecca Lemov (@rebeccalemov) to overthink gaslighting, a word that’s become part of our everyday vocabulary, but whose origins and implications run deeper than we realize. Together, they trace gaslighting’s roots in psychology, politics, and culture, and explore how this slow erosion of truth can shape our relationships, our self-trust, and our collective understanding of reality.A quiet spiral about doubt, distortion, and the radical act of believing yourself. Further Reading: The Instability of Truth: Brainwashing, Mind Control, and Hyper-Persuasion by Rebecca Lemov - Join the "Magical Overthinkers Club" by following the pod on Instagram @magicaloverthinkers.- To access early, ad-free episodes and more, subscribe to the Magical Overthinkers Substack.- Pick up a hard copy of Amanda's book The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, or listen to the audiobook. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://SHOPIFY.COM/magical Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to https://Zocdoc.com/MAGICAL to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. Get this new customer offer and your 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at https://MINTMOBILE.com/magical Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the digital age, the people we feel closest to sometimes don’t even know we exist. This week, host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) is joined by Jessica Zier and Lizzie Li, PhD students at Northwestern University who study parasocial relationships, to spiral about the emotional life of one-sided intimacy. Together, they explore how digital closeness blurs the line between connection and projection, and why it makes perfect sense that we feel so seen by people who’ve never met us. A soft spiral into loneliness, identity, and the very human instinct to reach for connection, even through a screen. - Join the "Magical Overthinkers Club" by following the pod on Instagram @magicaloverthinkers.- To access early, ad-free episodes and more, subscribe to the Magical Overthinkers Substack.- Pick up a hard copy of Amanda's book The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, or listen to the audiobook. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://SHOPIFY.COM/magical Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to https://Zocdoc.com/Magical to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens when the future is something you have to build, but others get to inherit? This week, host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) is joined by journalists Wailin Wong and Stacey Vanek Smith (@svaneksmith) to overthink the emotional, historical, and spiritual weight of generational wealth: what it gives, what it withholds, and who it was never designed for. Listen as they explore the systems that have kept generational wealth out of reach for so many marginalized communities, the guilt of those who inherit it and do care, and the quiet alienation of watching others take it for granted.A layered spiral into privilege, precarity, and what it means to want stability in a world that’s never been fair.Further Listening: The Indicator from Planet MoneyFurther Reading: Machiavelli For Women by Stacey Vanek Smith - Join the "Magical Overthinkers Club" by following the pod on Instagram @magicaloverthinkers.- To access early, ad-free episodes and more, subscribe to the Magical Overthinkers Substack.- Pick up a hard copy of Amanda's book The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, or listen to the audiobook. Head to https://Greenchef.com/50MAGICAL and use code 50MAGICAL to get 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months with free shipping. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://SHOPIFY.COM/magical Go to https://Quince.com/magical for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How much of who you are is really you—and how much is habit, circumstance, or a story you started telling yourself a long time ago? This week, host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) is joined by journalist and author Olga Khazan (@olganator) to explore the strange, sticky concept of personality: where it comes from, why it feels so permanent, and whether we can actually change it. We touch on the appeal of personality frameworks like Myers-Briggs and the Enneagram, but zoom out to ask deeper questions: Do people ever really change, or do we just learn how to act differently? What happens when we no longer feel like the person we’re known to be? A quiet spiral about identity, adaptability, and the mysterious choreography of who we become.Further Reading: Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change by Olga Khazan - Join the "Magical Overthinkers Club" by following the pod on Instagram @magicaloverthinkers.- To access early, ad-free episodes and more, subscribe to the Magical Overthinkers Substack.- Pick up a hard copy of Amanda's book The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, or listen to the audiobook. Head to https://Greenchef.com/50MAGICAL and use code 50MAGICAL to get fifty percent off your first month, then twenty percent off for two months with free shipping. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://SHOPIFY.COM/magical⁠⁠⁠ Check out the Fits Everybody Collection at ⁠⁠https://www.skims.com/magical⁠⁠ #skimspartner Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to⁠⁠⁠ https://Zocdoc.com/MAGICAL⁠⁠⁠ to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices