PODCAST · society
Magical Overthinkers
by Amanda Montell & Studio71
Are you an overthinker? Prone to thought spirals? Do you wonder why, despite living in the "Information Age," life only seems to be making less sense? From extreme celebrity worshippers to people with master’s degrees basing their real-life choices on Mercury’s whereabouts, there seems to be a lot of delulu out there these days. More than ever, in fact. Enter: This relatable, thought-provoking podcast for curious overthinkers. Every other week, tune in as host Amanda Montell, author of the New York Times bestselling book The Age of Magical Overthinking and host of the Sounds Like A Cult podcast, interviews a brilliant expert guest about a buzzy, confounding, anxiety-provoking topic. Think: narcissism, nostalgia, polyamory, social media comparison, "millennial cringe." Complete with heart-on-their-sleeve personal stories, thought-provoking conversations, and actionable takeaways for how chronically online listeners can get out of their own heads, this podcast is her
Episodes
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Overthinking About Guilt
Why do we feel guilty when we haven’t actually done anything wrong? This week, Amanda overthinks guilt with psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Reid (@jenreidmd) , author of Guilt-Free: Reclaiming Your Life From Unreasonable Expectations. They unpack the difference between guilt that helps us repair...
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Overthinking About Trauma
If your trauma helped shape who you are, what happens to you when you start healing it? This week, Amanda is joined by complex trauma expert, therapist, and NYU adjunct professor Dr. Gillian O’Shea Brown, LCSW (@dr.gillianosheabrown), author of Psyche’s Awakening, to untangle some of the…
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Overthinking About AI Boyfriends
Would you ever date an AI boyfriend? Before you say absolutely fucking not, consider this: plenty of people who swear they’d never have an “AI relationship” are already turning to chatbots for reassurance, emotional processing, difficult conversations, or the occasional late-night spiral. This...
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Overthinking About Dream Jobs
What if you actually get your dream job... and then realize you're not living the dream you thought you would? This week, Amanda is joined by Cherie Brooke (@cherie.brooke) and Jean (@_jeanluo), hosts of the Tiger Sisters podcast (@tigersisterspodcast), who both left impressive corporate careers...
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Overthinking About Human Connection
We say we want more human connection, so why can texting “want to hang?” feel weirdly like begging? This week, Amanda is joined by ICU nurse, New York Times bestselling author, and Stories from a Stranger host Hunter Prosper (@hunter_prosper), whose work interviewing strangers has taught him that...
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Overthinking About Ambition
Are you ambitious... or just exhausted? This week, Amanda is joined by award winning journalist and author of The Ambition Penalty, Stefanie O'Connell (@stefanieoconnell), to unpack one of the most misunderstood words in our vocabulary, ambition. They explore why ambition isn't a fixed…
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Overthinking About Starting Over
This week, Amanda is joined by entrepreneur, former supreme court attorney and professional poker player, and author of You Can Just Do Things, Cate Hall, to unpack why starting over feels so terrifying and why it might be the very thing that leads us toward a more authentic life. Together, they...
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Overthinking About Aging
Why are we so afraid of getting older? Is it really about wrinkles... or are we actually afraid of losing our purpose, our identity, and the people we love? This week, Amanda is joined by oncologist, bioethicist, and Eat Your Ice Creamauthor Dr. Ezekiel "Zeke" Emanuel (@drezekielemanuel) to…
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Overthinking About Failure
Why does failure feel so much bigger than it actually is? This week, Amanda is joined by entrepreneur, author, and leadership coach Jane Marie Chen (@janemarie.chen) to spiral about failure: why we're so terrified of it, why we avoid it at all costs, and why it often hurts so much more than the...
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Overthinking About Mommy Issues
No matter how old we get, there’s a decent chance a small part of us is still trying to impress, understand, forgive, rebel against, or be comforted by our mothers. This week, Amanda is joined by writer and editor Ashley Oerman (@ashleyoerman), author of Motherf*cked, to spiral about one of the...
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Overthinking About Burnout
When we first aired this episode in 2024, burnout felt like the defining emotional state of modern life. Two years later… honestly, not much has improved. If anything, burnout has shape-shifted. The girlboss hustle era may be less aspirational than it once was, but it’s been replaced by new…
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Overthinking About Critical Thinking
What does “thinking critically” actually mean and why is everyone so convinced they’re already good at it? This week, Amanda is joined by psychologist and author of Radical Thinking, Peter Lamont to explore how all of our beliefs are shaped by a limited slice of what we notice and how we…
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Overthinking About "Healthy" Relationships
What does a healthy relationship actually look like, and who gets to decide? This week, Amanda is joined by relationship expert Dr. Sara Nasserzadeh (@dr.saranasserzadeh) to overthink "healthy" relationships. Together, they unpack why “healthy” can feel impossible to define, and why a more useful...
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Overthinking About Insecurity
What if the antidote to insecurity isn’t looking inward, but reaching outward? This week, Amanda is joined by psychiatrist and attachment expert Dr. Amir Levine to overthink insecurity; where it comes from, why it can feel so consuming, and how it shapes the way we love. Together, they explore…
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Overthinking About Doing Your Own Research
“Do your own research.” It sounds empowering… so why does it so often lead us straight into confusion, conspiracy, or complete information overload? This week, Amanda is joined by pharmacist and science communicator Dr. Harini Bhat (@tilscience) to overthink what it really means to “do your own...
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Overthinking About Flirting
Why does flirting feel so natural for some people and completely impossible for the rest of us? This week, Amanda is joined by dating coach and relationship expert Francesca Hogi (@dearfranny) to overthink the art and anxiety of flirting. Together they unpack why flirting often gets misunderstood...
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Overthinking About Feeling Doomed
This week, host Amanda Montell takes the mic solo to overthink the creeping sense of doom that seems to hum beneath modern life. Drawing from her Esquire essay on “doomslang,” she unpacks the language we use to joke about collapse, catastrophe, and existential dread... and what those jokes might…
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Overthinking About Workaholism
This week, Amanda is joined by psychologist and bestselling author Guy Winch (@guywinch) to overthink workaholism. Why being “busy” feels virtuous, why burnout can masquerade as success, and how overworking often hides deeper emotional needs. Together, they unpack the psychology behind overwork…
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Overthinking About Being A Flake
When did canceling plans become a personality trait... and at what cost? This week, Amanda is joined by writer and internet culture expert Kate Lindsay (@kathrynfiona) to overthink being a flake... not as a quirky coping mechanism, but as a habit that can quietly shrink our lives. Together, they...
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Overthinking About Confrontation
Why does speaking up feel so terrifying even when we know we’re right? This week, host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) is joined by happiness researcher and psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky (@sonjalyubomirsky) to overthink confrontation: why we avoid it, why we rehearse it endlessly in our heads,...
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Overthinking About Horniness
Welcome to 2026, overthinkers! A question to start off the new year: Are you weirded out by your relationship to your own horniness? This week, Amanda is joined by sex educator, author, and cultural translator Shan Boodram to unpack how physical desire gets shaped by culture, social media…
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Overthinking About Nostalgia
Why does looking back feel so sweet, so painful, and so irresistible this time of year? In this special short episode, Amanda takes a moment to reflect on the year of Magical Overthinkers from the fan favorite episodes to the conversations that changed us. Then she reads her Los Angeles Times…
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Overthinking About Ragebait
Why does it feel like every time we open our phones, something is begging us to get angry? This week, just in time for Thanksgiving, host Amanda is joined by theologian, ethics professor, and No Small Endeavor host Lee C. Camp (@leeccamp) to overthink about ragebait; the outrage optimized content...
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Overthinking About Crying
Amanda is joined by wellness educator and founder of The Being Method MJ Renshaw (@beingmethodbreathwork) to gently spiral about crying: the science, the stigma, and the quiet relief that comes after the tears. - Join the "Magical Overthinkers Club" by following the pod on Instagram...
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Overthinking About The Algorithm
If the algorithm knows what we want before we do… who’s really in charge? This week, host Amanda Montell(@amanda_montell) is joined by linguist, creator, and internet culture observer Adam Aleksic (@etymologynerd) to spiral deep into the invisible yet all powerful force shaping our attention,...
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Overthinking About Therapy-Speak
We’re all “holding space,” “setting boundaries,” and “doing the work”, but when does the language of healing start to feel like another script we’re performing? This week, host Amanda Montell is joined by writer and therapist Joe Nucci (@joenuccitherapy) to overthink therapy speak, the vocabulary...
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Overthinking About Social Awkwardness
Why does walking into a room, saying the wrong thing, or laughing too loud feel like the end of the world? This week, host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) is joined by journalist and audio producer Alex Sujong Laughlin (@alexlaughs) to spiral about social awkwardness and the tiny stumbles and...
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Overthinking About Revenge
Revenge is one of our oldest fantasies. It's sharp, seductive, but rarely as satisfying as it promises to be. This week, host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) is joined by lawyer, author, and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, James Kimmel Jr. to overthink...
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Overthinking About Ditziness
“Ditz.” It’s a word that sounds harmless, silly, soft-edged, even cute. But underneath it is a long, messy history of gendered judgment. This week, host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) is joined by journalist and author Koa Beck (@koabeck) to gently spiral about the cultural construction of...
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Overthinking About Gaslighting
Can you be trained by a gaslighter to gaslight yourself? This week, Amanda (@amanda_montell) is joined by Harvard historian and sociologist Rebecca Lemov (@rebeccalemov) to overthink gaslighting, a word that’s become part of our everyday vocabulary, but whose origins and implications run deeper...
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Overthinking About Indecision
Should I move or stay where I am? Take the job or turn it down? Text back or disappear into the ocean? This week, host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) is joined by Vicki Tan (@vickiheart), a digital product designer and author, to gently spiral about indecision: why it’s so hard to choose…
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Overthinking About Parasocial Relationships
In the digital age, the people we feel closest to sometimes don’t even know we exist. This week, host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) is joined by Jessica Zier and Lizzie Li, PhD students at Northwestern University who study parasocial relationships, to spiral about the emotional life of…
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Amanda and the Nonstop Narrator
The case of Amanda, a writer whose internal monologue won't stop narrating her life, instead of just letting her live it. Listen to Proxy with Yowei Shaw Follow Yowei on Instagram @yoweishaw Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Overthinking About Generational Wealth
What happens when the future is something you have to build, but others get to inherit? This week, host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) is joined by journalists Wailin Wong and Stacey Vanek Smith (@svaneksmith) to overthink the emotional, historical, and spiritual weight of generational wealth:...
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Overthinking About Opinion Overload
In an age where everyone has to have a hot take, how does this shape our inner voice? This week, host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) is joined by journalist Fortesa Latifi (@hifortesa) to unpack the emotional weight of opinion overload: the pressure to react, post, and declare where we stand...
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Overthinking About Personality
How much of who you are is really you—and how much is habit, circumstance, or a story you started telling yourself a long time ago? This week, host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) is joined by journalist and author Olga Khazan (@olganator) to explore the strange, sticky concept of personality:...
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Overthinking About Billionaire Worship
Why do we, against all logic, evidence, and bank account balances, still kind of believe that billionaires earned it? This week on Magical Overthinkers, host Amanda Montell (@amanda_montell) sits down with writer and cultural critic Dasia Sade (@dasiadoesit) to unravel the glittery, gaslight-y...
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Overthinking About Laziness
What even is laziness? A moral failing? A personality flaw? Or just capitalism talking? In a culture obsessed with productivity and grindset mentality, the fear of being perceived as “lazy” runs deep—and it’s often weaponized against people who are overwhelmed, burnt out, or simply existing…
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Overthinking About Intuition
Is intuition just a fancy word for guesswork, or is it a real, reliable tool we can actually trust? And if it is real, how do we tell the difference between genuine gut feelings and anxiety disguised as instinct? For a phenomenon that’s supposed to be effortless, intuition can spark a lot of...
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Overthinking About Going "No Contact"
The decision to cut someone out of your life—whether a parent, a sibling, or a once-close friend—can feel both deeply necessary and impossibly fraught. But why does going no contact inspire so much shame, confusion, and second-guessing, especially when it’s often a tool for self-preservation?…
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Overthinking About Misinformation
We live in an era where misinformation spreads faster than ever—shaping our beliefs, fueling our anxieties, and making it nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction. Why are our brains so susceptible to false narratives even when we know better? How do we resist falling for this stuff? And...
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Overthinking About The World Burning
Climate anxiety is nothing new, but lately, it feels like the volume has been cranked all the way up. Between record-breaking heat waves, apocalyptic air quality, and the general sense that our leaders are doing basically nothing to stop it, it’s hard not to spiral about the future of our planet....
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Overthinking About Weddings
Weddings! They’re supposed to be the "happiest day of your life"... so why do they inspire so much stress, scrutiny, and existential dread? From the absurd cost to the vague standards of "tradition" to the social politics and not-so-subtly gendered pressure to make every detail deeply personal…
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Overthinking About Social Media Activism
According to 2023 Pew Research, nearly half of social media users have been politically active on their platforms of choice in the last year. In an era when Instagram, TikTok, and the app formerly known as Twitter aren't just venues for brunch pics and cat memes but have turned into sites for...
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Overthinking About Gossip
Is gossip just a petty pastime, or a tool to empower the marginalized? Or both? From ancient hearsay to celebrity blind items to the group chat’s hottest tea, gossip has always been a part of how humans connect, but why does it carry such a negative (gendered) reputation? Host Amanda Montell...
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Introducing: "Your Mama's Kitchen"!
Sharing another podcast we can’t get enough of: Your Mama’s Kitchen. It’s a show about cuisine and culture, ingredients and identities, and the meals and memories that make us who we are. Host Michele Norris talks to Michelle Obama, Glennon Doyle, José Andrés and so many other guests about the...
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Overthinking About Fertility
Delicate does not even begin to describe this week's topic, and we're so thankful for the vulnerable thought spirals listeners submitted for discussion. The concept of fertility is often surrounded by an overwhelming mix of mystery, pressure, shame, fear, and misinformation—and, if you're…
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Overthinking About People Pleasing
Why do some of us feel the overwhelming urge to say yes, smooth things over, and keep everyone around us happy—even at our own expense? And why does it sometimes feel... kind of manipulative? Is people pleasing just kindness in overdrive, or is there something deeper (or even darker) at work?…
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Overthinking About Career Jealousy
Have you ever scrolled through LinkedIn or Instagram, and someone you know—a peer, an ex-coworker, a high school nemesis—just landed a dream job, got a promotion, or launched a project. And with one post, which objectively has little to do with you, that sinking sour feeling of career jealousy...
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Overthinking About Adult Friendships
Making friends as an adult can be confusing, awkward, and—let's be real—embarrassingly hard. Why is it that something that came so naturally on the playground feels like pulling teeth now? Is it just a symptom of getting older and more curmudgeonly, or does it reveal something deeper about our...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Are you an overthinker? Prone to thought spirals? Do you wonder why, despite living in the "Information Age," life only seems to be making less sense? From extreme celebrity worshippers to people with master’s degrees basing their real-life choices on Mercury’s whereabouts, there seems to be a lot of delulu out there these days. More than ever, in fact. Enter: This relatable, thought-provoking podcast for curious overthinkers. Every other week, tune in as host Amanda Montell, author of the New York Times bestselling book The Age of Magical Overthinking and host of the Sounds Like A Cult podcast, interviews a brilliant expert guest about a buzzy, confounding, anxiety-provoking topic. Think: narcissism, nostalgia, polyamory, social media comparison, "millennial cringe." Complete with heart-on-their-sleeve personal stories, thought-provoking conversations, and actionable takeaways for how chronically online listeners can get out of their own heads, this podcast is her
HOSTED BY
Amanda Montell & Studio71
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Magical Overthinkers have?
Magical Overthinkers currently has 65 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Magical Overthinkers about?
Are you an overthinker? Prone to thought spirals? Do you wonder why, despite living in the "Information Age," life only seems to be making less sense? From extreme celebrity worshippers to people with master’s degrees basing their real-life choices on Mercury’s whereabouts, there seems to be a lot...
How often does Magical Overthinkers release new episodes?
Magical Overthinkers has 65 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Magical Overthinkers?
You can listen to Magical Overthinkers on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Magical Overthinkers?
Magical Overthinkers is created and hosted by Amanda Montell & Studio71.
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