Best Curing Boredom Podcasts (2026)

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EP307: How to leverage your dopamine so you actually don't want to drink (so much) 36:10

Play Pause

3d ago36:10

36:10

You know what you need to do. So why can't you get yourself to do it? Because you've been waiting for motivation to show up—like it's some mysterious force that either finds you or it doesn't. But motivation isn't magic. It's dopamine. And dopamine follows rules. In this episode, I'm breaking down exactly how dopamine works in your brain, why your …

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Revisited: The Beautiful Brilliance of Boredom with Creative Polymath Elle Cordova 1:03:10

3d ago1:03:10

1:03:10

Team Simon is revisiting some of the episodes you helped make our favorites of the year until A Bit of Optimism returns on January 27, 2026, with brand-new episodes. We’re rewinding back to August, when talented polymath Elle Cordova joined the show and unpacked how we’re all wired to chase the next spark. We scroll, swipe, refresh, and repeat—but …

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EP306 Minisode: When You Don't Want To Drink, But Your Mouth Orders A Chardonnay 23:47

7d ago23:47

23:47

In this episode, Colleen breaks down a moment almost every woman in this work has experienced: when your body makes a decision before your conscious mind even knows what happened. A glass of wine ordered on autopilot. No craving. No plan. Just habit taking the wheel. Using a real travel story, she explains why this isn't a moral failure, a hidden s…

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EP305 Are you drinking to cope with a job you hate? (And how to change that) with Career Coach Michelle Schafer 35:20

10d ago35:20

35:20

If you've been stuck in a job that's slowly draining you—and using wine to cope with the Sunday scaries—this episode is your permission slip to start thinking about what's next. Career coach Michelle Schafer has been through two major career reinventions herself, and she's spent the last decade helping people figure out what they actually want and …

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Revisited: Your Unhappy Brain Needs Some Assistance with Happiness Expert Mo Gawdat 1:30:38

10d ago1:30:38

1:30:38

Team Simon here! Thank you for being part of such an incredible year—and for helping us grow the podcast through your support, sharing it with others, and showing up week after week. We love seeing your comments and hearing what resonates with you. A Bit of Optimism returns on January 27, 2026, with brand-new episodes we think you’re really going t…

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A Bit of Optimism Will Return in the New Year 2:37

10d ago2:37

2:37

Team Simon here! As the year comes to a close, A Bit of Optimism is pressing pause for a short winter break. The show will return on January 27, 2026 and we can’t wait to be back with you. But before we go, we want to say thank you. Truly. This show exists because of you—the listeners who show up every week, share episodes and clips, leave thoughtf…

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EP304 Minisode: T'is The Season To Break The Rules 22:31

14d ago22:31

22:31

Why do we buy gifts we can't afford for people who don't need them and over-schedule ourselves to the point where we only have the energy to drink and complain about how stressed we are? This episode is dedicated to your inner rebel—the part of you that wants to pour a drink, flip the bird, and Thelma-and-Louise yourself out of the insanity. Becaus…

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EP303 "Why trying to quit made me drink even more" with Katie Herzog (Drink your way sober with naltrexone) 43:41

17d ago43:41

43:41

Katie Herzog spent 15 years trying everything: AA, therapy, CBT, SMART Recovery, moderation management, swapping booze for weed. Nothing stuck. And in the back of her mind, she always knew she'd start drinking again. It was just a question of when. Then she found the Sinclair Method—a protocol where you take a medication called naltrexone, wait an …

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Prepare for the Life You’re Meant to Live With Chaplain John Fox 1:07:31

17d ago1:07:31

1:07:31

Often the biggest transformations we undergo don’t arrive as lightning bolts, but as quiet shifts we’ve been preparing for all along. For John Fox, the transformation from a 25-year career in high finance to becoming a chaplain wasn’t sudden at all. It was a slow burn—shaped by loss, reflection, community, and a deep desire to live a more meaningfu…

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EP302 Minisode: How To Make An Emotionally Sober "To-Do List" (For Type A Thinkers) 21:56

20d ago21:56

21:56

In this episode, Colleen speaks directly to the women who live and die by the checklist, the ones who can run circles around everyone else at work, keep ten plates spinning at home, and still collapse into bed wondering why they feel exhausted, behind, and overwhelmed. If you're a high-achiever who secretly depends on stress chemistry to function, …

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EP301 Minisode: To Drink OR Not To Drink On The Plane 20:33

22d ago20:33

20:33

In this episode, Colleen shares a real moment from her life a few weeks ago. The kind of moment everybody encounters but rarely names. On a Thursday flight, she felt calm, grounded, and uninterested in drinking at all. Forty-eight hours later, on the way out of New York, she couldn't wait for the flight attendant to serve her Chardonnay. Nothing "m…

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EP300 When burnout drives your drinking: how to interrupt the cycle with Cait Donovan 50:31

24d ago50:31

50:31

I recently hit a wall. Not the kind where you're tired—the kind where you wake up and genuinely don't care anymore. About your business. About your goals. About any of it. And here's what scared me: I saw it coming. I knew I was running on fumes. I just didn't stop. In this conversation, burnout expert Cait Donovan helps me understand why. And it's…

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How Losing Everything Taught Her to Help Everyone: Joan Howard’s Story 51:08

24d ago51:08

51:08

Life can change in an instant. One day you’re shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue, and the next you’re sitting in your car with everything you own, and everyone you love, wondering what happens now. Joan Howard grew up in Beverly Hills with every advantage until a series of crises left her homeless and living in her car with her mother and three dogs. Wh…

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EP299 Minisode: Why hasn't my drinking changed? 25:51

27d ago25:51

25:51

In this episode, Colleen unpacks one of the most common and misunderstood experiences women face in this work: the moment you look up, take inventory, and think, "My drinking hasn't changed." Instead of treating that as evidence of failure, she reframes it as a signal from your nervous system, a window into your thinking habits, and an invitation t…

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EP298 Minisode: The importance of completing the stress response 24:39

29d ago24:39

24:39

In this episode, Colleen shares a simple moment from her morning — a single unexpected email — that shows exactly how the nervous system can hijack your day before you even know what happened. What could've turned into urgency, frustration, and spiraling worst-case scenarios instead became a real-time example of emotional sobriety: noticing the sta…

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EP297 What human design reveals about your drinking with Hope Pedraza 43:02

1M ago43:02

43:02

As middle aged women, we all know what it's like to be exhausted. Not the kind of exhausted where you need a nap—the kind where you've been running on fumes for so long you forgot what actual energy feels like. You're already doing everything you can to eat well, exercise, get better sleep and cut back on the wine. You've probably got rows of suppl…

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A Rebel With a Cause (and a Cone) with Jeni’s Ice Cream Founder Jeni Britton 53:19

1M ago53:19

53:19

What if a great business was built like a handmade mixtape? A lovingly crafted experience that is as much a love letter from its founder as it is custom-tailored to its audience. Before Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams became a household name, Jeni Britton was a 22-year-old art school dropout scooping her ice cream creations at a farmers market in Ohio. …

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EP296 Minisode: Embracing Overwhelm 23:04

1M ago23:04

23:04

In this episode, Colleen pulls the curtain back on overwhelm and names it for what it really is: a trauma response living in your nervous system, not a personal failing or lack of willpower. She walks through the five stages your body moves through when the demands on you exceed your capacity, and why trying to "push through" that wall only drives …

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EP295 Minisode: Where real motivation comes from 26:59

1M ago26:59

26:59

In this episode, Colleen gets brutally honest about something most "high-functioning" women never admit out loud: what happens when your old motivation system collapses. Divorce, sobriety, and building a business forced her to drop the over-functioning, over-exercising version of herself and face a hard truth: she'd been using fitness to run on str…

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EP294 Why you're mind won't stop spinning when you're triggered 27:14

1M ago27:14

27:14

You've done the therapy. Read the books. Listened to the podcasts. You understand your trauma responses intellectually. But when you get triggered, your mind still spins out of control—and you can't make it stop. Here's what you need to know: Your spinning mind isn't something to fix or control. It's communication from a wounded part of you that ne…

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The Culture That Converts Even the Biggest Cynics with former WD-40 CEO Garry Ridge 56:55

1M ago56:55

56:55

Who would’ve guessed that one of the world’s best company cultures was hiding behind a can of WD-40? Of all the places to find a leadership masterclass, the blue-and-yellow can in your garage probably wasn’t on your list - but it’s time to put it there. Garry Ridge - an Australian who brought his charm and curiosity across the Pacific - joined WD-4…

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EP293 Minisode: What it means when you feel like you HAVE to do something 22:57

1M ago22:57

22:57

In this episode, Colleen shares a real-life story about her daughter's college move-in that reveals one of the most important skills in emotional sobriety: knowing the difference between a grounded choice and a nervous system hijack. What started as a harmless whiff of pot in the entryway spiraled into panic, urgency, and the impulse to move apartm…

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EP292 Minisode: How to connect with your Higher Self 27:29

1M ago27:29

27:29

In this episode, Colleen breaks down one of the most foundational teachings of emotional sobriety: your higher self isn't a future version of you — she's a frequency you can access right now. Drawing from quantum physics, nervous system science, and the emotional practices at the core of this work, Colleen explains why clarity, intuition, creativit…

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EP291: Why you drink too much when you're alone (and what to do about it) 28:00

1M ago28:00

28:00

What if the reason you're still drinking too much when you're alone has nothing to do with willpower—and everything to do with how you think about being alone? You've made so much progress. You're no longer drinking every day. You can go to social events and drink like a normal person without going overboard. You're doing the work, listening to pod…

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Choose Your Seven Humans Wisely with author Fredrik Backman 58:07

1M ago58:07

58:07

What if great friendships aren’t found by luck but built through effort? Bestselling novelist Fredrik Backman, the mind behind A Man Called Ove (adapted into the Tom Hanks film A Man Called Otto), Anxious People, and the beloved Beartown series, has spent his career writing about the quiet power of ordinary people. But in his real life, he learned …

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EP290 Minisode: You need a vision for WHO you are becoming 19:32

2M ago19:32

19:32

In this episode, Colleen walks us through a coaching moment that captures what emotional sobriety really means: shifting from self-criticism and control into vision and alignment. When one client arrived overwhelmed and focused on what her partner wasn't doing, the breakthrough came when she identified who she wanted to be — positive and powerful. …

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EP289 Minisode: Don't Let the Slip Become a Slide 24:51

2M ago24:51

24:51

In this deeply personal reflection, Colleen opens up about her own history with bulimia and the years she spent trying to control her body to manage her emotions. Inspired by Jennette McCurdy's memoir I'm Glad My Mom Died, she explores how disordered eating, drinking, and perfectionism all share the same root: unprocessed emotion and the desperate …

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EP288 Understanding "Reentry Syndrome:" Why excessive drinking is a trauma response (and how to stop) 40:20

2M ago40:20

40:20

You know that feeling when you're thinking about drinking later and your stomach drops because you're already worried about overdoing it? Or when you come home from vacation and you're genuinely afraid you won't be able to stop with the daily drinking? That's reentry syndrome. And it's not what you think it is. Most people think if they could just …

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The Smartest Way To Be Stupid with comedian Matthew Broussard 1:04:53

2M ago1:04:53

1:04:53

If you feel stupid while learning something new, you’re doing it right. But if you keep doing the same thing over and over hoping it’ll suddenly make sense - that’s on you. The trick isn’t to push harder; it’s to find a new teacher, a new explanation, a new way in. That’s exactly how Matthew Broussard approaches comedy - and everything else. A stan…

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EP287 Minisode: Are you available to Be. Here. Now? 25:21

2M ago25:21

25:21

In this reflective episode, Colleen shares how a single morning meditation changed the trajectory of her entire day — and became a living practice for emotional sobriety. Waking early with her mind already spinning, she found herself caught in the familiar loop of pressure, striving, and self-imposed urgency. Instead of chasing a better plan, she c…

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EP286 Minisode: You Can't Have The Money, Honey. 22:36

2M ago22:36

22:36

In this reflective episode, Colleen shares a deeply personal moment—learning she couldn't qualify to assume the mortgage on her own home—and how that realization became a masterclass in emotional sobriety, choice, and self-trust. What begins as a financial obstacle unfolds into a powerful teaching on energetic alignment and cognitive reframing. Whe…

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EP285 Why a toxic coparent makes you want to drink (and what to do instead) with Divorce Coach Amy Armstrong 47:34

2M ago47:34

47:34

What if the biggest problem in your high-conflict relationship isn't your ex—it's that you keep handing them your power? In this conversation, Amy Armstrong breaks down why conflict is a skill deficit, not a character flaw, and how focusing on what you're willing to do (instead of what the other person is doing wrong) changes everything. In this ep…

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The Man Who Proved Me Right with CEO Bob Chapman and the Barry-Wehmiller Team 1:12:07

2M ago1:12:07

1:12:07

I’ve long imagined a world where people wake each morning inspired, feel safe wherever they work, and return home fulfilled by what they’ve created. That vision once felt like a dream - until I met Bob Chapman, CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, who quietly built it into reality. Over five decades, Bob has grown a humble Midwestern manufacturing company into …

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EP284 Minisode: Try my favorite tool: Full Body Reset 14:46

2M ago14:46

14:46

In this episode, Colleen revisits a recording in which she introduces a powerful tool that continues to help women interrupt autopilot and reconnect with their bodies — The Full Body Reset. She originally shared it on a morning when she didn't use it — a reminder that growth isn't about perfection, it's about awareness, compassion, and reconnection…

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EP283 Minisode: Why you need small group support 18:43

2M ago18:43

18:43

The truth is, you can't out-think a thinking problem. And yet, that's what so many women try to do—reading, journaling, "working on themselves"—all while staying quietly trapped inside their own minds. In this episode, Colleen reveals why the real work of emotional sobriety doesn't happen in isolation. It happens in connection. Through years of obs…

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EP282 How to eat to change how you drink, with Dr. Brooke Scheller 51:11

2M ago51:11

51:11

Here's what nobody tells you when you're trying to change your drinking: Your alcohol cravings at happy hour are not just about needing a break after a hard day. And they're definitely not about how much you "just love wine." In reality, you haven't eaten since noon and your blood sugar is in the basement. This is about what you ate for lunch–or mo…

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EP281 Minisode: Primal versus Power states 18:23

2M ago18:23

18:23

In this minisode, Colleen distills emotional sobriety into its simplest form: learning to recognize when you're operating from your primal state versus your power state. Most of us spend our lives reacting to the world from old programming—patterns shaped by fear, pain, or the need for control—without realizing that we can pause, interrupt, and ret…

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EP280 Minisode: Are you more worried about how you look than how you feel? 7:35

2M ago7:35

7:35

In this minisode, Colleen unpacks the hidden link between insecurity and control — and how most of us try to manage our anxiety by managing other people's opinions. Through a grounded, body-based perspective, she reframes confidence not as something you "earn," but as something you practice by returning to yourself again and again. She challenges t…

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EP279: The Consistency Code: How to stop self-sabotaging your health with Courtney Townley 50:48

2M ago50:48

50:48

When I was in my 30s and 40s, I thought health was something you earned with discipline. I ate clean, drank tons of water, ran marathons and swallowed whatever supplements were trending. And even though I appeared to be doing everything right, my stress was through the roof and my body constantly ached. I was always looking for the next thing to fi…

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EP278 Minisode: Future Casting 8:27

3M ago8:27

8:27

In this episode, Colleen introduces "future casting" — a mindset tool that helps you move from emotional reactivity into grounded awareness. She reframes every "problem" as an emotional one, reminding us that what keeps us stuck isn't the circumstance itself, but the stress response and beliefs we attach to it. Through this lens, future casting bec…

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EP277 Minisode: Are You A Princess? 8:50

3M ago8:50

8:50

In this minisode, Colleen reflects on the stories we grew up with — the ones where the lost princess or overlooked heroine is finally discovered and restored to her rightful place. These stories shaped how many of us learned to wait: for validation, timing, permission, or rescue. She'll reframe that pattern through the lens of emotional sobriety. T…

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EP276 How to Rewire Your Brain to Drink Less: 8 Core Principles of Self-Directed Neuroplasticity 54:57

3M ago54:57

54:57

You don't have a willpower problem. You have a nervous system problem. In this episode, I'm breaking down the eight principles of self-directed neuroplasticity—how to actually rewire your brain so drinking less stops being a battle and starts becoming automatic. Here's what most people don't understand: You can't change your drinking habits while y…

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EP275 Minisode: What's Really Holding You Back? 11:36

3M ago11:36

11:36

In this episode, Colleen explores how hidden beliefs quietly shape our choices, limit our vision, and create the illusion of safety at the expense of growth. Most of the obstacles we face aren't outside of us — they're thoughts we've stopped questioning. Through the lens of her own experience, she illustrates how well-intentioned reasoning can hard…

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EP274 Minisode: Who are you NOT to be powerful? 8:50

3M ago8:50

8:50

In this episode, Colleen traces a quiet, familiar fear that surfaces whenever we step into new territory — the fear of becoming "too much." What begins as a loving message to stay safe or small can become an inherited boundary that keeps us from expansion. Through her own reflection, she reveals how deeply patterned beliefs about worth, service, an…

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EP273 Why midlife breakdown is inevitable and what comes next 48:42

3M ago48:42

48:42

Today I'm sharing a powerful conversation from The Period Whisperer podcast with host Bria Gadd. We talk about the hidden link between hormones, stress, and drinking—why so many high-achieving women end up using alcohol as a coping mechanism. You'll hear the truth about emotional sobriety, how the toxic cultural pressure to be "productive" leads to…

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EP272 Minisode: Whatever. I Don't Care. 12:06

3M ago12:06

12:06

In this episode, Colleen exposes one of the most dangerous lies we tell ourselves: "Whatever. I don't care." It's the phrase that sneaks in at the very moment you're about to follow through on what matters, pulling you back into autopilot. Habits feel easy not because they're better, but because they're familiar—and this thought is the detour sign …

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EP271 Minisode: Your Power Is In The Pause 9:51

3M ago9:51

9:51

Your nervous system dictates how you think, feel, and act. The problem? The moments you most need perspective are the very moments your biology shuts it down. A racing mind, tense muscles, and cortisol surges aren't proof you're broken—they're proof your survival system thinks you're facing a predator, when in reality it's just an email, a bill, or…

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EP270: The science of drinking less: dopamine, cortisol and the real reason willpower fails 35:18

3M ago35:18

35:18

Today I'm back with Sunnyside podcast host Mike Hardenbrook for a conversation that pops the hood on why willpower isn't enough to change your drinking habits. We talk about what's really happening in your brain and nervous system when you reach for a drink, why your desire to drink has nothing to do with alcohol. Your body craves relief from stres…

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EP269 Minisode: WARNING- Today's Success May Cause Tomorrow's Failure 15:19

3M ago15:19

15:19

In this episode, Colleen draws from Keira Bobinet's Unstoppable Brain to unpack how perfectionism wires the brain for shame and shutdown. The real shift isn't about tallying wins and losses—it's about adopting an iterative mindset, where results are just feedback and every moment is a new chance to adjust. When you stop chasing the highs to avoid t…

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EP268 Minisode: Country Roads Take Me Home (5): A new angel earns her wings 16:38

3M ago16:38

16:38

In this final chapter of her West Virginia series, Colleen shares a mysterious story about her daughter Anna—and what felt like a sign from Laura, reminding them both that their needs matter. Whether coincidence or something more, it revealed a deeper truth: your voice is your lifeline back to yourself. Choosing to name what you need is not selfish…