In this episode of The Myth of Knowing, I talk with Jen Andrew, who is finishing a two-year program in community herbalism and works in communications at a disability rights nonprofit. She has a background in philanthropy, public libraries, peer support, healthcare, and public school advocacy. Jen’s journey includes herbalism, chronic illness, grief work, sobriety, and neurodivergent living, giving her a unique perspective on how we relate to our bodies, health, and the process of healing.

We get curious about what heals, the both/and of natural and institutional medicine, healing as an ongoing process, curiosity as a healing tool, and talk about how the myth of knowing closes doors when it comes to ways of healing.

Jen and I challenge the idea that there is one “right” way to take care of ourselves. Healing can happen in many ways, including the unknown, the rhythms and practices we make our own, and the trust and curiosity we have with ourselves.

Links:

The Flexner Report

Terra Sylva School of Botanical Medicine

Umwelt

Sophie Strand

Staying with the Trouble by Donna Haraway

Rebelling website

Work with me

In this episode, I have a curiosity-led conversation with Melinda Staehling, a certified nutrition specialist and Menopause Society practitioner, to explore what it really means to “know” our bodies. Melinda, whose late-in-life AuDHD diagnosis inspired her podcast Departure Menopause, brings a neurodivergent-affirming, weight-inclusive perspective to conversations about health, food, and aging.

We discuss how social, cultural, and systemic rules shape our early experiences with food, body image, and health, often teaching us to distrust our own sense of what our bodies want and need. We challenge the idea that there is one “right” way to eat, sleep, or care for yourself, examining the pressures of diet culture, medical advice, and societal expectations.

Together, we highlight the importance of listening to our own rhythms, honoring bodily changes across a lifetime, and questioning the narratives around control, knowledge, and self-improvement. This is a conversation about reclaiming our own authority over body and health, without shame, pretending, judgment, or one-size-fits-all solutions.

Links:

Melinda's website

Departure Menopause Podcast

In this episode, the second in the series The Myth of Knowing, I talk with Dana Calder, a queer neurodivergent SVP in the fintech world, about what it means to “know” in the workplace. Work culture often treats knowing as currency—a sign of belonging, authority, and success. But what happens when certainty is a mask, and perfectionism becomes a survival strategy?

Dana shares her journey of discovering she’s autistic later in life, reflecting on years of over-preparing, masking, and striving to avoid mistakes. Together, we explore the hidden costs of “knowing at work,” the limits of binary thinking, and the different possibilities that come from leading, working, and living with curiosity instead of certainty.

We challenge the dominant narrative that equates competence with achievement, showing that curiosity, slowing the pace, and cultivating “other joy” is not just valid- it’s a radical act of self-knowledge and resistance in a system that claims to rewards overwork and perfectionism. This episode flips the idea of success from achievement and knowing to wonder, self-trust, and discovering joy in unexpected places.

Neuroqueering Addiction, Sobriety, and Recovery Class Info