# The perils of perfectionism Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/harvard-thinking-6767250/the-perils-of-perfectionism Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/harvard-thinking-6767250/the-perils-of-perfectionism.md Podcast: [Harvard Thinking](https://stenobird.com/podcast/harvard-thinking-6767250) Published: 2025-12-17T17:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://harvard-thinking.simplecast.com/episodes/perfectionism-oqq7eIei Audio file: https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/ac2b9968-4d64-42e6-b97f-e96f88f429fb/episodes/77e50bed-6c6f-4b90-a270-d04f49577e27/audio/248e7e63-a410-47b9-b718-5e719629372b/default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=tyge_lYM Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/harvard-thinking-6767250/episodes/the-perils-of-perfectionism Duration seconds: 1743 ## Resource Many people hold themselves to extremely high standards, but when the scales tip to the pursuit of perfection, it can result in anxiety, depression, and other serious mental health issues. In this episode, host Samantha Laine Perfas talks with journalist Jennifer Breheny Wallace, psychologist Ellen Hendriksen, and public health expert Michaela Kerrissey about when we’ve gone too far in trying to achieve our best. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/harvard-thinking-6767250/episodes/the-perils-of-perfectionism/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/harvard-thinking-6767250/the-perils-of-perfectionism.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.