PODCAST · society

Otherwise Unbearable with Heather Smith

by A psychoanalytic lens on culture, identity, and defense.

Hosted by therapist Heather Smith (they/she), Otherwise Unbearable explores how outrage cycles, viral backlash, aesthetic trends, even political rhetoric, often reflect something deeper: unconscious fear, emotional defense, and the parts of ourselves we’ve been taught to reject.Each episode traces the emotional life beneath public life. Not to moralize or diagnose, but to understand what becomes unbearable to feel—and what we do instead. Because what shows up in culture is rarely random. It’s repetition, it’s projection, it’s a survival strategy. And, sometimes, it’s a plea for connection. otherwiseunbearable.substack.com