How to Open a Closed Mind

For this episode of Bewildered, we’re bringing back something we haven’t done in ages—the BeWild Files! This time we’re answering an excellent question from listener Jaison about whether true discernment is possible when our amygdalas are running the show. Spoiler: probably not. But being out in na…

The Good Faith Footprint

On this episode of Bewildered, what starts as Ro's confession about late-night online shopping soon spirals into a story about our panicked late-night rescue mission for a box of creatures that weren't what we thought they were. In telling this story, we explore why panic and despair are the worst …

You Can't Waste Time

Have you ever mastered something...and then felt the urge to throw it all away and start fresh? In this episode of Bewildered, we explore the rhythm of growth and why change is not failure—it’s our true nature. We talk about the sunk cost fallacy, the cultural pressure to never lose your spot at th…

Going Off-Brand

When you hear “branding,” do you think of burning a hot iron into the side of a cow? Probably not, but that’s what a brand originally was. And metaphorically, it still is. A brand is a mark that defines where you belong, and our culture says it's never supposed to change. On this Bewildered, we sta…

The End of the Hustle

What if you’re not burned out…you just don’t want to hustle anymore? In this episode of Bewildered, we talk about how hustle culture strives to make our lives sterile and abstract: from fluorescent lighting and spreadsheets to profit-and-loss statements and KPIs. We explore what gets lost in that w…

Rewrite the Rules

Have you noticed how there seem to be “cheat codes” (as they’re called in video game world) that let certain people ignore reality and get away with outrageous things? What if we could use our own cheat codes to quietly change the world for good? In this episode of Bewildered, we look at how truth …

Nature, Take the Wheel

When life as you know it crumbles—lost jobs, shaken identities, houses (literal or figurative) in rubble—what if you’re not meant to rebuild the old structure at all? In this episode of Bewildered, we're exploring our deep attachment to “putting it back how it was,” how culture teaches us to fear i…

End Times and Errands

How do you continue doing ordinary human-life things while the world feels like it’s collapsing in real time? That's what we're trying to figure out on this episode of Bewildered. We talk about ping‑ponging between school runs, summer camp registration, doctor's appointments, and breaking-news not…

Surrender to the Season

How are you weathering the season you’re in? In this episode of Bewildered, we talk about what it really means to surrender to the season, whether it’s an upstate New York winter, perimenopause, a busy parenting era, or the “my foot hurts and I think my gums are receding” phase of life. We talk ab…

Trusting Your Spider Senses

Have you ever felt something was “off” about a situation or person...but then ignored that instinct to please others? In this episode, we explore how culture teaches us to override our body's internal signals in order to stay socially appropriate and “normal.” We talk about the difference between a…