Navigating Holiday Gatherings With Family

Let’s talk about something pleasant. Emily and Amelia discuss the books, videos and what have you that are making them happy this year. It’s time to get ventral.Links:Libby app (borrow library books and audiobooks)Brandon SandersonTHE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVEThursday Murder Club seriesAlexis Hall10 Things That Never HappenedBoyfriend MaterialParis Daillencourt Is About To CrumbleThe Affair of the Mysterious LetterNicholas Boulton (the world's best audiobook narrator)Come As You Are: Revised and Updated (audiobook)This is the one Nicholas Boulton is inLaura KinsaleFlowers from the StormAudiobook narrated by Nicholas BoultonAlexis HallA Lady for a DukeKJ CharlesWill Darling AdventuresThe Charm of Magpies seriesGreat audiobook narrators:Steven CrossleyJulia Whelan (also an author!)Mary Jane WellsAbby JiminezYours TrulyKimberly LemmingThat Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a WerewolfMisha PoppPies Before Guys Mystery SeriesHelena GreerSeasons of LoveAlyssa ColeReluctant Royals seriesCourtney MilanThe Turner SeriesThe Duke Who Didn’tThe Devil Comes CourtingCat SebastianNon-romance books:Maggie O’Farrell I Am, I Am, I AmRebecca HardimanGood EggsEmily St. JamesWoodworkingSarah Rees BrennanLong Live EvilAli WongDear GirlsYahtzee CroshawThings That Aren’t BooksDrGluon (Youtube)Jessica Kellgren-FozardThe Dogs Were Good (Again) PodcastDropoutGame ChangerDimension 20 (A Starstruck Odyssey)Critical RoleCampaign IVDropoutDimension 20 (Escape From the Bloodkeep)BritboxSister Boniface MysteriesAnd back to books for a moment:Alexis HallGlitterlandJohn ScalziBen AaronovitchRivers of London

The holidays are coming. What do you do if you have family whose politics you abhor? Turns out it depends. Stick around to the end for Amelia’s highly specific take on The Grinch.Links:Knitting Cult Lady:YoutubeInstagramUncultured (book)The Culting of America (pre-order!)Thought-terminating clichéGreen Dot program bystander interventions:• Direct• Delegate• DistractLindsay Ellis: The Unforgivable Sin of Ms Rachel (Youtube)Kaelynn Partlow (Youtube)FSP S01 E08: The MonitorPodcastYoutubeCharlemagne (Holy Roman Emperor)

Turns out Emily actually does have a Shadow. And she’s a half-orc wizard.Links:The Science of Saving Your Sex LifeTo Maximize Your Potential, Maximize PleasureSign up for Emily’s mailing listHow AIDS Remained an Unspoken—But Deadly—Epidemic for YearsBrennan Lee MulliganAabria IyengarEmily & Amelia Nagoski, Burnout - XOXO Festival (2019)Vivian Gussin PaleyThis American Life - Dolls

Do you have a bubble of love? Do you know how to build one? Emily and Amelia discuss how they managed to do it, and how Frozen is more than just a kiddie movie.Links:BurnoutFSP 2020 episode 11: The Bubble of LoveThe Burnout Workbook, by AmeliaDo You Want to Build a Snowman? (Youtube)FSP 2020 S2 E27: Diving into the Shadow: An Introduction

The days are getting shorter. It’s going to be colder soon. It’s time to get cozy. It’s time to get… hygge. Candles and pumpkins and cheese, oh my!Links:Books by Tricia Hersey:Rest Is ResistanceWe Will Rest!Nothing Much Happens podcastNeuromaVermont Creamery CremontTasting History on real eggnog (Youtube)

Amelia had a painfully costly month. Emily bought Crocs that look like Big Bird’s feet. But in the end, they find the true meaning of No Buy / Low Buy.Links:Danger zone (food safety)Innocence (Opera composed by Kaija Saariaho)Dyslexie FontThe Big Short (film)

For every personality trait, there is a shadow. Emily and Amelia discuss Shadow Work and do just a touch of dream analysis.Links:Carl JungJungian archetypesMapping Your Emotional Floor Plan:A comic by Erika Moen based on Come TogetherJaak Panksepp 7 Primary Process Emotions⁠ (interview)Monica's Secret Closet | FriendsFSP Season 2, Episode 22: The Magic Trick of TranscendenceLocus of controlStepmomming Made Easy (preorder)No Bad Parts by Richard SchwartzWeRateDogsRebecca Dupas - HOW TO SLAY A DRAGON (youtube)(this is the poem at the end of the episode.)

Emily confesses to a migraine induced mullet. Amelia discusses Hidradenitis Suppurativa and effective strategies for going to a medical provider with a hypothesis and being taken seriously.(Much like the dizziness episode, we’d love to hear from you if learning about HS helps you understand something that is affecting you)Links:Hidradenitis suppurativaMast cell activation syndromeBringing HS (Hidradenitis Suppurativa) Out Of The Dark | Jackson Gillies | TEDxSantaBarbaraFSP Season 2, Episode 14: Introduction to Food and Body AwarenessFSP Season 2, Episode 18: Introduction to Food (and Body Acceptance)Season 2, Episode 20: Food Again. This Time, It’s Personal?Hidradenitis SuppuraDIVAS - Podcast (Apple Podcasts)FSP Season 1, Episode 18: The New HotnessTwins (1988 film)FSP Season 2, Episode 4: Polyvagal 101Piloerection

Emily’s been confronting just how dizzy she is all the time. Emily and Amelia discuss brain stems, car accidents, and disability. If you experience some of the same issues as Emily, please drop us a line at [email protected]:Dizziness Handicap Inventory (PDF)Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)FSP 2025: The Car Accident ExperienceIntermittent claudicationLindy HopVestibular MigraineOrthostatic intoleranceMinnie VanBurnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress CycleFSP 2025 contact form

Amelia has thoughts about the costs (and benefits) masking, as well as being a vestigial toe.Links:Unmasking for Life by Devon Price (Recommended)InteroceptionAlexithymiaThe Autistic Burnout Workbook by Megan Anna Neff (Recommended)Extraordinary Attorney WooJaak Panksepp 7 Primary Process Emotions (interview)A rad comic about emotional floor plans by Erika Moen(Based on Emily's book, Come Together.)A Black Lady Sketch Show: No Makeup (Youtube)Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle (By Emily and Vestigial Toe)FSP Episode 34: The Madwoman