POP THERAPY: This week I am joined by return guest and one of my favourite podcasters of all time, Ryan Bailey. You know him from So Bad It’s Good with Ryan Bailey, wherehe does a deep exploration of pop culture, with episodes around the clock.

We were lucky enough to have him back on the podcast thisweek, to dive right into the evolution of reality tv, how these shows are made and what’s missing from the secret sauce.

We covered everything from our Bravo faves RHONY, Southern Hospitality, Southern Charm and RHOSLC, to Elvis and the Menendez brothers! Spoiler alert – Ryan does not have high hopes for their release. Yikes.

This is a high energy conversation about all of the pop culture and reality tv we love (and hate watch) and exactly why that is.

Follow Ryan on socials at @sobaditsgoodwithryanbailey, listen to his podcast, watch him on YouTube and become a “Baddie” by subscribing to his Patreon!

You can find me at @jana.firestone on socials and if youenjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and review on iTunes, share it with friends and tag us on socials!

Thank you as always, to our brilliant sound engineer and production legend, Sam Talbot.

Nadia Mahjouri is a counsellor and group facilitator specialising in maternal mental health, with a professional background in research, focussed on ethics and feminist philosophy. She also has a fascinating backstory, that lit up the pages of her first novel, Half Truth.

Her debut novel tells a somewhat fictionalised version of her own journey to find her family.

Nadia grew up as a dark skinned child in 80’s Tasmania,with a white mother who never talked about her Moroccan father. She had no contact and very little information about him or his family.

When she was 21, she had a baby and just four months later packed him up, hopped on a plane and landed in Morocco. She felt pulled to connect with the side of her heritage and her identity that she had known nothing about.

There, she started to unravel the many mysteries of her life and the discover all of the untold stories that lived within her DNA, in ways she could never have imagined.

And of course, I wanted to hear all about it.

Nadia’s story is inspiring, moving and exciting. We covered so much ground, from the importance of identity and belonging, to the complexities of families and straddling cultures.

This is a story about self-discovery, connection to roots and that age old question around nature vs nurture.

You can connect with Nadia on socials at@nadiamahjouri.

Listen to her podcastThe Whole Truth: Motherhood and the Writing Life with Nadia Mahjouri

Or find her atwww.nadiamahjouri.com or at ww.theholdingspacecounselling.com

Please leave a rating and review on iTunes sothis and other stories can find their way into new listener’s ears!

You’ll find me at@jana.firestone or atwww.thecuriouslife.net

Thank you as always to The Curious Life team –legendary sound engineer Sam Talbot and the wonderful Julie Reynolds of@audiolemonade .ww.audiolemonade.com

Welcome to the first official POP THERAPY episode of The Curious Life! As you may already know, I am a therapist with 18 years’ experience in the field of human behaviour. But my therapy is reality tv and pop culture.

On these Pop Therapy episodes, I will be inviting a guest from the pop culture world to join me in dissecting the shows we are hooked on, and unpacking the human behaviour behind the storylines and the headlines that have us all talking.

This week I'm chatting with The Bravo Investigator, Dana Regan and we did a huge Bravo deep dive. We recorded this before the final episode of RHONY, so we don't get into that darkness, but we do share our thoughts on that franchise in general, as well as our current fave Southern Hospitality, the new season of Southern Charm, RHOC, RHOSLC, VPR and The Valley.

Dana reminded me just why as Bravo fans, we might need to put down pitchforks and embrace some of the more unlikable characters on some of our favourite shows. A novel concept!

We went all over the Bravo-verse in this one, so if you’re a Bravo fan, strap in and enjoy the ride!

You can find Dana on Instagram at @thebravoinvestigator and her brilliant podcast has just had a rebrand and is now The Bravo Investigator Podcast (formerly, I Take Bravo Very Seriously)

You can find me at @jana.firestone or at thecuriouslife.net

If you liked this episode please leave us a rating or review on iTunes and hit up the DM’s to share your thoughts!

Thank you to my wonderful sound engineer Sam Talbot, for putting this show together so seamlessly.

We are back with the first episode of 2025! Kicking off Season 7 – we have returning guest, author, podcaster and astrologer Jordanna Levin, to talk all things astrology and her new book All Signs Point To You. Jordanna shared her forecasts for 2025 and you'll need to buckle up, because it sounds like we are in for a bumpy ride this year.

But as you’ll hear, these enormous shifts and challenging times are actually all about renewal and reflection. So don't be alarmed by all of these Mars and Mercury Retrogrades - in this ep you'll discover how to empower yourself with knowledge instead.

Thinking about starting a business or getting married this year? Then you won't want to miss what Jordanna thinks about those plans!

It's the perfect way to kick off the new year, with some insights into the year ahead so take a deep breath, get your notes app ready and take note!

Find Jordanna at @jordannalevin and listen to her podcast @lunar__lover wherever you get your pods.

Connect with the show at @jana.firestone or at www.thecuriouslife.net.

Thank you to the dream team Sam Talbot (audio engineer) and Julie Reynolds of Audio Lemonade.

Don't forget to leave us a rating or review on iTunes to bump us up in 2025!

Leonie Akhidenor is property developer, a relationship coach and the host of the Parenthood Podcast, which was a finalist in the 2024 Australian Podcast Awards. Leonie is also a mother to two young boys and although she spends her time interviewing couples about their parenting experiences, she's not one to shy away from sharing her own, either.

In this episode, Leonie delved into her own experiences with mental health, from anxiety to pre-natal depression and how she managed to move herself through some of those difficult days.

We talked about the impact that family dynamics and background can have on our own parenting, and Leonie shared how the vast contrast between her father's upbringing in a village in Africa to her children's experience of relative privilege, growing up in Australia, informs her own choices in parenthood.

There is so much in this episode, from taming that achiever mindset, the many shifts in identity as a parent and ways to balance our own needs and mental health with the demands of parenting.

You can find Leonie on socials at @parenthoodpod and you can listen to the podcast wherever you get your pods.

You'll notice that we've had a little identity change over here at The Curious Life, and you can find me on socials now at @jana.firestone. Same page, new handle!

If you enjoyed this ep, please leave us a rating and review on iTunes and Spotify.

Thank you as always to the team - Sam Talbot our brilliant sound engineer and Julie Reynolds from @audiolemonade. www.audiolemonade.com

Dr Billy Garvey is a renowned developmental paediatrician and one of the hosts of the brilliant ⁠⁠ Pop Culture Parenting⁠⁠ podcast. His new book Ten Things I Wish You Knew About Your Child's Mental Health is out now.

If you have kids or work with young people in any capacity - THIS IS THE BOOK TO READ.

Have you ever wondered how we build self-esteem in kids? Or what the long-term ramifications of shame might be? Do you know where anxiety comes from and how early it can start? Did you know that there is one thing you need to do before you can help improve your child’s mental health?

In this episode, we drilled down into all of these questions – and so much more – and thanks to Billy’s invaluable insight and professional expertise, you will finish this episode with evidence-based answers and strategies that you can start implementing immediately.

Billy is passionate about creating accessible resources for all families, to ensure better outcomes for our children and young people. To learn more, head to Guiding Growing Minds, a social enterprise founded by Billy, dedicated to changing the future of our kids.

You can access all of the ⁠Pop Culture Parenting⁠ videos and podcast content (for free!) on ⁠Youtube here.⁠

You can find Billy on socials at ⁠@drbillygarvey⁠ and at ⁠@popcultureparenting⁠

To connect with Jana, head to ⁠@thecuriouslifepodcast⁠ or send an email via ⁠thecuriouslifepodcast@gmail.com⁠.

Thank you to The Curious Life Team – Sam Talbot for his super speedy audio engineering, and to Julie Reynolds of ⁠Audio Lemonade⁠ for her wonders with VO!

Please leave us a rating and review on iTunes so that this episode and the show can be found by new listeners too.

Dr Nick Fuller is a leading obesity researcher and internationally recognised health expert, who is committed to helping families get the best start in life. He joins us for the second time to talk about his new book, Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids: Six Steps to Total Family Wellness.

In this chat, Dr Nick shares exactly how we can transform our habits and behaviours, to give our kids (and ourselves) the gift of good health and longevity. Is there any greater gift?

And it's amazingly simple, really! No fads here, just clinical evidence that teaches us what our bodies need, with a clear guide to the changes we can implement from today, how to feed our fussy kids and the importance of the messaging we give to our kids around movement and health.

To find out more, go straight to the source for resources, recipes and cooking demonstrations for your own family, by heading to Feeding Fussy Kids.

There is more on Youtube at: @FeedingFussyKidsbyDrNickFuller

And to learn more about Dr Nick's work and research in the adult realm, head to Interval Weight Loss.

You can connect with Dr Nick on socials at @intervalweightloss

Come and say hello at @thecuriouslifepodcast or send us an email at thecuriouslifepodcast@gmail.com

A big thank you to Sam Talbot for jumping in so expertly on the audio engineering tools! And as always a big thanks to our lovely Julie Reynolds of Audio Lemonade.

Heidi Anderson is a bubbly ball of brilliant energy, who has pivoted from a life in the reality and radio spotlight, to PR and confidence hype queen.

But she's not all sequins and sass, Heidi has had to do the heavy lifting to overcome significant challenges in her own life. From body image and self-esteem, to her new normal of balancing a busy work and media life, with her role as a doting mum to her beautiful young son and partner to her loving hubby. To manage this, Heidi is constantly evolving and doing the work in a meaningful way.

In this conversation, we dug down into some of Heidi's most vulnerable spots. From grieving former identities and the path through a very difficult family choice, to a harrowing parental diagnosis that has brought Heidi and her family closer together than ever before.

This one has laughter and tears but through it all, I hope it inspires you to ask yourself the hard questions, to talk to the people you love about the scary things and as Heidi says - to shed your shit!

You can work directly with Heidi through her VIP PR Champagne Confidence Club – offering a personalised PR plan, pitch templates, access to Heidi and her media expert besties and so much more. So, if you’re ready to make a splash – contact Heidi today on socials at @_heidianderson.

While you’re at it, grab a copy of her book “Drunk on Confidence” and why not grab a copy of my new book, PLOT TWIST, while you’re there!

If you have any questions for Heidi or for me – send us a DM on socials or send me an email, at thecuriouslifepodcast@gmail.com⁠.

You can catch me at @thecuriouslifepodcast and I would be so grateful if you could leave a rating and review on iTunes.

This episode was sound engineered by the brilliant Sam Blacker of @thepodcastbutler and delightful voice over work by the lovely Julie Reynolds at @audiolemonade.

You can work with either or both of these legends at:

www.thepodcastbutler.com and www.audiolemonade.com