Bubbles of Love: Your Burnout Treatment, with Emily Nagoski

Episode 252

16th March 2026

She literally wrote the book on burnout and says it’s real, it’s dangerous, and you can fight it

Episode notes

When Emily’s twin, Amelia, ended up in the hospital twice, she knew that stress wasn’t something to be dismissed as “all in your head”. First of all, the head is connected to the body (by the neck), so stress is a physical issue that you can feel and be hurt by in all sorts of ways. Too much stress, at work, at home, in life, and you can run up against a real burnout situation. And it can wreak havoc on you mental health and physical health. The Nagoski twins are the authors of Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle and Emily joins us to talk about how our stress response instincts aren’t that different than a zebra’s when faced with a lion. The difference? A zebra knows how to complete a stress cycle and return to normal, whereas we’re likely to hold on to work worries, relationship concerns, or other stresses around the clock, pursued by the lion constantly. Emily has advice on how to complete those cycles, get to a better place, and fight burnout. A big part of that is what she calls “bubbles of love”. Not a sex thing.

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In this episode...

Guests

  • Emily Nagoski

About the show

Join host John Moe (The Hilarious World of Depression) for honest, relatable, and, yes, sometimes funny conversations about mental health. Hear from comedians, musicians, authors, actors, and other top names in entertainment and the arts about living with depression, anxiety, and many other common disorders. Find out what they’ve done to address it, what worked, and what didn’t. Depresh Mode with John Moe also features useful insights on mental health issues with experts in the field. It’s honest talk from people who have been there and know their stuff. No shame, no stigma, and maybe a few laughs.

Like this podcast? Then you’ll love John’s book, The Hilarious World of Depression.

Logo by Clarissa Hernandez.

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