logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2024
10m 33s

Is Your Media Consumption Making You Sic...

Meghan Daum
About this episode

As you make your new year’s resolutions or plan for Dry January, returning guest Ruby Warrington has another idea for better living in 2025: go on a “content diet.” In this conversation, Ruby describes the overwhelming nature of content consumption and its impact on mental health and wellbeing. She draws parallels between the “sober curious” movement, which she spearheaded, and the need for conscious content consumption, emphasizing the importance of awareness in our media engagement. We also talk about the pressures of content creation, the role of intimacy in communication, the rise of AI-generated content in the digital landscape, and the important of reading novels and listening to music. 

GUEST BIO

Ruby Warrington is the author of Women Without Kids: The Revolutionary Rise of an Unsung Sisterhood and is the creator of the term “sober curious." Author of the 2018 book Sober Curious and million-download podcast of the same title, her work has spearheaded a global movement to reevaluate our relationship to alcohol. Other works include Material Girl, Mystical World (2017), The Numinous Astro Deck  (2019), and The Sober Curious Reset (2020). With 20+ years’ experience as a lifestyle journalist and editor, Ruby is also the founder of the self-publishing incubator Numinous Books. 

 
Get her book here: https://bit.ly/4gLN3oV.

Want to hear the whole conversation? Upgrade your subscription here.

HOUSEKEEPING

Visit The Unspeakable on YouTube!

Unspeakeasy 2025 retreats. We’re going to Texas, Los Angeles, upstate NY  and beyond. See where we'll be!

Join The Unspeakeasy, my “women’s shelter for the politically homeless.”

Up next
Oct 8
How To Quit Drinking Without Quitting Drinking
Katie Herzog, co-host of the Blocked and Reported podcast (BarPod), is best known as an anthropologist of, as she puts it, “internet bullshit.” But she’s swerved far out of her lane for her latest project. In her brand new book, Drink Your Way Sober, Katie combines personal histo ... Show More
1h 14m
Oct 1
Street Protesters: Who Are They, Really? with Jeremy Lee Quinn
Photojournalist Jeremy Lee Quinn has spent years documenting protests, rallies, and moments of public unrest that often look very different on the ground than they do on the evening news. In this conversation, he talks with Meghan about what really happens when a “mostly peaceful ... Show More
1h 23m
Sep 25
Can Democrats Admit They Were Wrong On Gender? with Lisa Selin Davis
After years of institutional groupthink and policy whiplash, what have we actually learned—and what are we still not allowed to ask? Lisa Selin Davis returns to discuss the evidence (and non-evidence) around youth gender medicine, talk about the ongoing taboo and confusion around ... Show More
1h 13m
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2024
How Are Eating Disorders Embedded In Our Culture?
If you’ve ever seen a “What I Eat In A Day” video, glanced at a tabloid in the checkout lane, or even turned on the TV, you’re likely familiar with the problematic and often toxic messaging about food and our relationship with it. JVN and Emmeline Clein delve into the complexitie ... Show More
59m 2s
Dec 2024
How to Know if You’re in a Cult with Tia Levings (Pt. 2)
370. How to Know if You’re in a Cult with Tia Levings (Pt. 2) Glennon, Amanda, and Abby welcome back Tia Levings for part two of this amazing conversation on her experience leaving a high control Christian Fundamentalist cult. Tia shares her experience leaving the church and her ... Show More
1 h
Sep 13
Weekend Woman’s Hour: Davina McCall, Papua New Guinea, Jung Chang, Fawning, Sophie Ellis Bextor
Davina McCall, one of TV’s most popular presenters has a new book out, Birthing, co-written with the midwife, Marley Henry. Davina joined Anita Rani to talk about her stellar career so far, including hosting Big Brother for 10 years, campaigning for better menopause care and buil ... Show More
55m 13s
Jul 9
The Best of Strong Women: The Joy and Wonder of Male and Female with Abigail Favale
We’re taking a small break this summer to gear up for season six of the Strong Women podcast. During this break, we’ll be re-airing episodes we think you’ll enjoy! Our world is so confused about what it means to be male or female. Some speak as if men and women are interchangeabl ... Show More
45m 22s
Jun 2025
#955 - Girls Gone Bible - Is Church The New Counterculture?
Angela Halili and Arielle Reitsma are the hosts of the Girls Gone Bible podcast. Why is religion making a comeback? In a world where so many feel lost, faith is finding new ground. But this isn't your parents' religion. It's different, and rising through voices like the hosts fro ... Show More
1h 39m
Dec 2024
Trad Wife Cults: How Tia Levings Escaped (Pt 1)
369. Trad Wife Cults: How Tia Levings Escaped (Pt 1) Glennon, Amanda, and Abby sit down with Tia Levings, NYT bestselling author, to discuss her experience in a high control Christian Fundamentalist cult: her journey from indoctrination to freedom to healing from religious trauma ... Show More
51m 51s
Sep 2024
The Trap of the Trad Wife
This summer, scrutiny of the figure of the “trad wife” hit a fever pitch. These influencers’ accounts feature kempt, feminine women embracing hyper-traditional roles in marriage and home-making—and, in doing so, garnering millions of followers. On this episode of Critics at Large ... Show More
43m 36s
Aug 31
Sunday Pick: How to stop devoting yourself to your job (w/ Sarah Jaffe) | How to Be a Better Human
Sarah Jaffe is the author of Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keep Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone. She and Chris discuss the emotional toll of modern work culture and the importance of community. They also dive into Sarah’s newest book, From the Ashes: Grief ... Show More
41m 24s