Listen to your gut

What you eat changes your gut, and your gut affects your metabolism. Host Cristina Quinn talks to researcher Karen Corbin about how your gut and metabolism work together to process certain foods, all while managing your body’s energy. Karen Corbin, a nutrition and metabolism researcher at AdventHealth Translational Research Institute, walks us through her latest research on how our gut and metabolism respond to whole vs. ultraprocessed foods. Foods that optimize this gut-and-metabolism relationship allow your body to create and use up energy. To read Corbin’s study, click here. For more on her work, go to her page on AdventHealth Translational Research Institute here. Now “Try This” has a newsletter! Think of it as a supplemental guide and sign up here.Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

What’s really going on inside your gut, and why should you care? In this episode, host Cristina Quinn explores the inner workings of the gut microbiome with Trisha Pasricha, a gastroenterologist and instructor at Harvard Medical School. Together, they break down what the microbiome is, where it lives, and how it influences everything from digestion to disease.Pasricha explains how the gut microbiome acts as a key player in our overall health and why fiber may be one of the most underrated tools in supporting it. She also offers insight into what science currently understands about gut function and what’s still being uncovered.Read more of Pasricha’s work, including 8 tips to improve gut health and why probiotics can be a waste of money. For more advice, follow her on Instagram. Now “Try This” has a newsletter! Think of it as a supplemental guide and sign up here.Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

Want to be a better conversationalist, listener, and all-around great company? In this special episode, host Cristina Quinn talks with Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist and author Charles Duhigg ("Supercommunicators" and "The Power of Habit") about the science of effective communication.Duhigg breaks down why some conversations feel effortless while others leave us frustrated — and how simple skills like asking deeper questions, practicing active listening, and matching emotional tones can make a difference.They discuss the concept of “neural entrainment” — how our brains sync up during great conversations — and why feeling understood is more important than agreeing.You’ll walk away with three easy tips to practice right away, plus a new mindset that could transform how you connect with friends, colleagues, and even strangers.Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

It’s not only about digital boundaries. Washington Post tech columnist Geoffrey Fowler, in conversation with host Cristina Quinn, shares insights on physical and social boundaries we need to put in place to reclaim our focus. He offers tips like setting expectations at work and designating screen-free hours with family. And addiction psychiatrist Anna Lembke reminds us why breaking free from digital distractions isn’t just an individual effort, but a collective one.By the end of this episode, you’ll have a full tool kit of strategies to reclaim your focus, build healthier habits and create a more intentional relationship with your devices.Geoff recommends using Common Sense Media as a source guide for creating rules and boundaries around phone use for kids. They also offer a handy family contract which you can access right here.Watch the full conversation between Geoffrey and Cristina on YouTube. Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

If you're ready to take back control of your attention, here’s where to start. Host Cristina Quinn chats with Washington Post tech columnist Geoffrey Fowler about self-binding — creating intentional boundaries with your devices to reduce distractions and reclaim your focus.Geoffrey shares his own experiments and practical strategies, such as reorganizing a home screen and resetting algorithms. They also grapple with why traditional time limits on apps often backfire and how something as simple as moving an app off your home screen can shift your relationship with your phone.Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

Many of us are caught in a loop of instant gratification, driven by the brain’s reward system. In this episode, host Cristina Quinn talks with psychiatrist and addiction expert Anna Lembke about how to break free from compulsive digital habits and reset our dopamine levels.Anna explains how our brains become desensitized to pleasure over time, making us crave more and more stimulation. The good news? A 30-day “abstinence trial” can help reset our baseline and bring our dopamine levels back into balance. But quitting isn’t easy — temporary withdrawal symptoms like anxiety, irritability and boredom often surface before things improve.Through her own experience overcoming an unexpected addiction, Anna shares strategies to resist temptation, set up barriers to consumption and replace addictive behaviors with more fulfilling activities.Reclaiming our attention isn’t just about cutting back — it’s about learning to be present, engage with the world around us and rediscover what truly brings us joy.Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

Ever wonder why you can’t stop scrolling, even when you know you should? It probably comes down to dopamine, a key neurotransmitter that drives pleasure and motivation. In this episode, host Cristina Quinn talks to psychiatrist Anna Lembke, author of “Dopamine Nation,” about the neuroscience behind digital addiction.Anna explains how our devices keep us hooked by triggering dopamine surges — and why, over time, this actually leaves us feeling worse. She breaks down the “plenty paradox,” the idea that having unlimited access to pleasure might be making us more anxious and less happy.But the good news? We can reset our dopamine levels and regain control of our attention. This episode lays the groundwork for understanding the science behind our tech habits — so we can start making intentional changes.Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

In the third and final episode of our three-part course on cultivating joy, host Cristina Quinn dives into the connection between spreading kindness and experiencing happiness. Steven Petrow, author of “The Joy You Make,” shares compelling research on the “helper’s high” and how you can bring joy to others and yourself — whether it’s through volunteering, helping a neighbor or even sharing a simple moment with a stranger.Steven also challenges listeners to reconnect with lost traditions, such as handwriting letters, and shows how something as simple as picking up the phone can deepen relationships and spread joy.For more on spreading joy, read about “kindness contagion” and how to build connections in adult life. Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

In this second class in our course on finding joy, host Cristina Quinn explores practical exercises to help you embrace joy in everyday life. Steven Petrow, author of “The Joy You Make” and a contributing columnist for The Post, shares how things like wandering without a destination and rediscovering play can open the door to more joy, even during life’s toughest moments.Steven helps you learn how to cultivate joy through presence and curiosity, the transformative power of “getting lost” to create unexpected moments of connection, and how to embrace play — without the pressure to win.For more of Steven’s work on joy, read about how he found joy during the most difficult times in his life and how he learned to build play into his life. Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.

Happiness, it turns out, comes down to a science — even though what makes each of us happy can vary pretty widely. Host Cristina Quinn talks to happiness scientist Emiliana Simon-Thomas, science director at UC-Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, about exactly what makes us happy and how much of our sense of joy is within our control. Drawing from the science of happiness, Emiliana explains that happiness isn’t about chasing fleeting positive emotions, but rather it’s about fostering an overarching sense of contentment, belonging and resilience. She also lays out how much of happiness is influenced by genetics, external circumstances and the choices we make.This course reminds us that happiness isn’t out of reach — it’s something we can cultivate every day. Emiliana and her colleagues at the Greater Good Science Center have been collecting data on happiness through the Big Joy Project, a seven-day online study where participants are assigned a micro-act of joy every day. Learn more about the project here. For some extra happiness tips, read about trying new things for joy and embracing “joy snacks.”Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.