# Magical Overthinking, Misinformation, and the Cultishness of Wellness Culture with Amanda Montell (Best Of)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/rethinking-wellness-6159414/magical-overthinking-misinformation-and-the-cultishness-of-wellness-culture-with-amanda-montell-best-of
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/rethinking-wellness-6159414/magical-overthinking-misinformation-and-the-cultishness-of-wellness-culture-with-amanda-montell-best-of.md
Podcast: [Rethinking Wellness](https://stenobird.com/podcast/rethinking-wellness-6159414)
Published: 2026-05-11T09:01:00+00:00
Episode link: https://rethinkingwellness.substack.com/p/magical-overthinking-misinformation-a1d
Audio file: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/195606543/84915d42009a33d4ab25fa5995fc4c4d.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/rethinking-wellness-6159414/episodes/magical-overthinking-misinformation-and-the-cultishness-of-wellness-culture-with-amanda-montell-best-of
Duration seconds: 2846

## Resource

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com Writer and linguist Amanda Montell joins us to discuss “magical overthinking” and the cognitive biases that make us vulnerable to misinformation, celebrity culture and its intersections with wellness culture, how to deal with panic headlines, cultish language to watch out for in wellness spaces, and more. Paid subscribers can hear the full interview, and the first part is available to all listeners. To upgrade to paid, go to rethinkingwellness.substack.com . Amanda Montell is a writer and linguist from Baltimore. She is the author of the acclaimed books Wordslut , Cultish , and The Age of Magical Overthinking (Bookshop affiliate links). Along with hosting the podcast Sounds Like a Cult, her writing has also appeared in The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar, and more. She holds a degree in linguistics from NYU and lives in Los Angeles with her partner, plants, and pets. Find her on Instagram @Amanda_Montell . If you like this conversation, subscribe to hear lots more like it! Support the podcast by becoming a paid subscriber, and unlock great perks like extended interviews, subscriber-only Q&As, full access to our archives, commenting privileges and subscriber threads where you can connect with other listeners, and more. Learn more and sign up at rethinkingwellness.substack.com . Christy's second book, The Wellness Trap , is available wherever books are sold! Order it here , or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore. If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, come check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course .

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/rethinking-wellness-6159414/episodes/magical-overthinking-misinformation-and-the-cultishness-of-wellness-culture-with-amanda-montell-best-of/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/rethinking-wellness-6159414/magical-overthinking-misinformation-and-the-cultishness-of-wellness-culture-with-amanda-montell-best-of.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.