Whether it’s food, beauty products, or the state of our home, describing something as ‘clean’ also implies there is ‘dirty’, an idea that carries a lot of guilt and shame. In this week’s episode, Brooke and Ben dig into a new duality by looking at food, home, green-cleaning and more.

Ben talks about the brosphere — specifically the rise of ‘clean eating’ and its impact on boys and young men — and Brooke talks about her conflicted feelings on individual responsibility versus industry accountability. Ben also shares his honest take on Brooke’s hardcore green-cleaning and no-shampoo hippie eras, the tidiness of their house as a barometer of mental well-being, and why the internet will never agree on how often to clean the walls.

They also talk about:

• dropping their standards
• why kids can be a balancing influence on all-or-nothing thinking
• using righteous anger to fuel our enoughness
• making small changes in the face of systemic problems
• quality versus quantity and how a bit of fussiness isn’t a bad thing
• the painful gap between the why and how of things
• knowing when a fight is worthwhile and when it’s not
• the importance of language around food and health and why men and women experience it differently
• what it means to be ‘houseproud’
• QUIZ: how often do you need to clean a ____?

Thanks for listening!

Links:

• Find everything mentioned in today’s show at brookemcalary.substack.com 
• Become a paying supporter of ttath and get double the episodes! Weekly shows delivered straight to your inbox for just $8AUD/month or $80AUD/yr.
• If video is your jam, subscribe to our YouTube channel @thetortoiseandthehare
• Access the full, human-made transcript here

Credits:

• the tortoise & the hare is a McAlary Media production.
• Produced and hosted by Brooke McAlary and Ben McAlary
• Edited by Ben McAlary
• Studio equipment supplied by shot.studio
• Theme music is Edgar Allan Poe by Modern Aquatic