What does it mean to be “well-adjusted” in a society that might itself be profoundly unwell? And when we use therapy-speak to explain everything from bad relationships to bad politics, do we risk losing sight of moral responsibility for bad behavior altogether? Is self-knowledge even possible in a world built on historical and political denial?

Grab a drink, get comfortable, and join us for a little collective introspection — no copay required.

This week’s jukebox picks:

• Jen’s pick: “Burn the House Down” by AJR
• Bob’s pick: “ Therapy” by Louden Wainwright, III
• Leigh’s pick: “Happy” by Pherrell Williams

In this episode, we reference the following thinkers, ideas, texts, etc:

• On the recent popular uptake of Stoicism (See also our Season 7 conversation with Robin James on this topic in Episode 197: “How the Manosphere Killed Cool”)
• Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (167 C.E.)
• Sigmund Freud
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu
• “pop psychology”
• borderline personality disorder (DSM-5)
• Katy Waldman, “The Rise of Therapy Speak” (New York Times, 2021)
• Michel Foucault, Technologies of the Self (1988)
• Plato, Symposium
• Audre Lorde, A Burst of Light: Essays (1988)
• “group therapy”
• “self-care”
• Henry Kissinger: “Academic politics are so vicious because the stakes are so small.”
• Coping mechanisms
• National Philosophical Counseling Association (US)
• Samir Chopra (and Chopra’s conversation with Leigh on the Black Mirror Reflections podcast, Episode 13: “Be Right Back”)
• Depression 
• Hermeneutics