The goop Podcast

“Nobody changes until they change their energy—and when you change your energy, you change your life,” says researcher and author Joe Dispenza, DC. Dispenza’s work explores neuroscience, epigenetics, quantum physics, and consciousness. He’s become known for helping people heal in miraculous ways. (His latest book is called Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon.) In this episode, he explains what at first appears to be magic, where science and mysticism intersect. It’s possible, Dispenza believes, to change the way you think, the way you act, the way you feel; to change your mind and body. The hardest part: not making the same choices you did the day before, choosing not to live by the emotions that keep you anchored to the past. “People wait their whole lives for something outside of them to change how they feel inside,” Dispenza says. But priming your brain to be a map to a new future—that’s an energetic job in his book. (For more, see hub.)

GP caught up with Dax Shepard at his studio and they covered a lot of ground: They talked about the roots of shame and fear, the things that they find triggering, and trying to figure out how to be intentional. They talked about what erodes self-esteem, what is erroneous to self-esteem, and what builds it. They swapped stories: relationship challenges, second chances at intimacy, navigating parenthood and fame. And they kept coming back to vulnerability—how to approach it, how to get comfortable with it, and what they’ve learned in the process. (P.S. On this episode, you’ll also hear a bit from Shepard’s right hand, Monica Padman. And as always, you can see more on   hub.)

Boston-based clinical psychologist Ellen Hendriksen has become known for helping people through anxiety, which is something she has struggled with, too. Hendriksen wrote a book about it called How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety. Our chief content officer, Elise Loehnen, asked Hendriksen to share the strategies she’s learned and tested to cope with social anxiety and move from fear and doubt toward authenticity and a genuine comfort with the person you are in the world. (For more, see   hub.)

“Dads saved the human race,” says Anna Machin, evolutionary anthropologist and author of The Life of Dad . In this conversation with goop CCO Elise Loehnen, Machin calls us to reimagine the role of the modern father, think differently about sex and gender as they relate to parenthood, and explore what it means to be a family, to be social, to form long-lasting relationships. Machin’s research on the anthropological roots of fatherhood and how fathers evolved to be parent figures has an equally extraordinary impact on men, women, and children—and the potential to change what our communities look like well into the future. (For more, see   hub.)

“I never thought you had to be any one way to be a person and to be kind and to learn,” says Erin Brockovich, who continues to redefine what it means to be an activist. The tough news, Brockovich tells us, is that Superman is not coming to save the environment, to clean up our water, to kick harmful chemicals out of our neighborhoods. But here’s why Brockovich is optimistic: We’ve had the power all along to rescue ourselves. We do not need to wait for oversight that does not exist. We simply have to believe that we can, that we should, that we have every right to speak up and speak out. And then we can start small, we can start local, and we can make the kind of big, life-altering changes that Brockovich has helped inspire all over the world. (For more, see   hub.)