anything goes with emma chamberlain

[video available on spotify] today we're going to be talking to michael bess. michael bess is chancellor's professor of history at vanderbilt university, where he has been teaching for the past 34 years. he's the author of five books, and a specialist in 20th and 21st century europe with a particular interest in the interactions between social and cultural processes and technological change. today i want to discuss with him how technology has impacted our quality of life over the past few centuries. i also want to discuss the ways that we might romanticize the past. and last but not least, i want to discuss how the internet impacts our perception of our current times, and how that's possibly very damaging. just sit back, relax, and enjoy my conversation with the incredible michael bess. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] i think i'm finally at a place now where i can look back at my high school memories and i can laugh. and it's such a relief because prior to now, anytime i'd remember an embarrassing high school memory, it was still too cringe to me. but i'm finally at a place now where i think i'm ready to share some of these memories, and what a beautiful thing that is. because cringey moments can haunt you. but eventually you get to a point where they become fun, funny, and somewhat a source of joy. so all of that to say, today i'm going to be telling some of my embarrassing high school stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] i got the idea for this episode because i was quite literally procrastinating writing an outline for a podcast episode. i didn't have an idea for a topic, or the mental energy to sit down and brainstorm. and i realized, everyone struggles with this. at times the human condition can feel like this constant fight against procrastination. we always have things that we need to do, and simultaneously we have so many things that we'd rather be doing that are more fun, lighthearted, and enjoyable. and the thing about procrastination is that not only does it cause stress, but it can also impact our self-esteem. it’s something that a lot of us only vaguely understand. we know we do it, but we don't fully understand why we do it or how we can stop doing it. so let’s talk about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

this is a topic that i have avoided forever, because i never wanted to have to admit to my own addiction publicly. but here i am today admitting to you that i have a very severe nicotine addiction. not a day has gone by in the last five years where i haven't consumed nicotine in some form. but recently, i decided that i want to try to quit. and because i'm at a place in my life where i'm trying to quit, i feel morally okay about discussing the topic. i was never proud of my nicotine addiction. in fact, i was always kind of ashamed of it. but two weeks ago, i decided i was done. and now this is a topic i feel comfortable discussing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] when i sit and analyze the most fulfilling times of my life, i notice a lot of patterns. one thing that stands out is thatduring fulfilling times, i tend to have a healthy amount of self-discipline that helps create stability and joy in my life. in my own words, i think having discipline is striving towards an ultimate goal that feels worthy to you, and striving to be the best person you can be. but if discipline were as easy to master as just forcing yourself to do what's right and forcing yourself to take the steps to reach your ultimate goal, then we would have nothing more to talk about. discipline is complicated because not only is it challenging to cultivate in the first place, but just as much as we need to have discipline, we also need to treat ourselves gently and with compassion. and finding that balance is a challenge in and of itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] today we're going to be talking to one of my best friends, owen thiele. i am so excited to be interviewing a friend today because i just think it's gonna be a total hoot. owen and i have a lot in common: we're both only children, we have anxiety about the same things, we tend to like the same people… i absolutely adore him. owen is an incredible comedian and an incredible actor, and if you want to see owen in a movie, mark your calendar for july 14th and go see theater camp. okay, now we can welcome owen thiele to the stage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on spotify] when i woke up this morning, i decided i'm not going to think very hard today. i opened my eyes and said, today's going to be a simple day. so in honor of that, i decided i'd share with you some simple things that i like a lot. that's it. just some things that are bringing me joy in this current moment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

when i experience art, i can almost immediately determine whether or not i think it's good. but i rarely ask myself why it's good. and recently i decided to do that. what's complicated about art is that it’s subjective, and everybody connects to art differently. so good art to one person is bad art to the next person. but i do think that there is an answer to the question, what is good art? so that's what we're going to discuss today. and listen, a conversation about art can very quickly turn pretentious and cringe. but i am going to do everything in my power today to make this not pretentious and cringe.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

[video available on Spotify] i feel like the automatic response to a problem or conflict is to blame everyone and everything other than ourselves. it's not very automatic to run into a problem and immediately ask, did this problem arise or did this conflict happen because i did something wrong? for the last two years, i've been working on asking myself if there’s any chance that maybe i'm the problem, and reflecting on whether or not i actually did do something wrong when conflict arises. it’s a lot easier to start pointing fingers and blaming everything on everyone else. it makes us feel like we're in the power position. it allows us to play the victim in a way, which can be a much more comfortable place to be. but i truly believe that life gets better when we get into the habit of asking ourselves if we are the problem. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

to romanticize is by definition to deal with or describe in an idealized or unrealistic fashion; to make something seem better or more appealing than it really is. today we're talking about making a deliberate, conscious choice to romanticize life. romanticizing life became sort of a social media trend about turning mundane daily moments into magical moments. i think a lot of us feel really disconnected from the simple pleasures of life due to the sort of fast-paced, highly technological reality we live in today. we get into a routine, and certain daily activities and tasks turn into meaningless chunks of our day. romanticizing life won’t solve all of your problems, but i think this philosophy paired with a level of mindfulness and awareness can help those mundane moments in life become a lot more enjoyable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices