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The Curious Middle is hosted by two California moms. Uncomfortable questions, good laughs, and the occasional mind change.Come explore with us. 🎙️ Polina & Yelena
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Start here
New here? Start with one of these.
150+ episodes. Pick the one that makes you curious and go from there.
If you care about culture & media
- 🎙 Episode
Ashley Rindsberg — All the News That's Fit to Spin
How the New York Times shaped — and distorted — public opinion for a century.
- 🎙 Episode
Liza Libes — How Academia Turned Jane Austen Into a Colonizer
A literature scholar on how academic theory reframes the classics we love — and what gets lost in the process.
If you're dealing with a narcissist at home, at work, or anywhere in between
- 🎙 Episode
Dr. Ramani — Surviving a Divorce With a Narcissist
The episode our listeners share most. Clinical, honest, and genuinely useful.
- 🎙 Episode
Dr. Ramani — Dealing With Narcissism at Work
How to spot it, protect yourself, and stay sane in a workplace built around one.
- 🎙 Episode
Dr. Ramani — Dealing With the Narcissists in Your Life
A practical playbook for the family members, friends, and partners you can't simply walk away from.
If you care about Israel & Jewish identity
- 🎙 Episode
Adam Louis Klein — Why Antizionism Is a War on Jewish Existence
A practical framework for the conversations you're actually having right now.
- 🎙 Episode
Sarah Hurwitz — Chosen for Responsibility: Judaism, Israel, and the Battle Over Who Gets to Tell the Jewish Story
Obama's former White House speechwriter on what it means to be Jewish right now — and who gets to define it.
- 🎙 Episode
Izabella Tabarovsky — Soviet Anti-Zionist Propaganda and Its Echoes Today
How it was engineered — and why it's everywhere in today's discourse.
- 🎙 Episode
Yardena Schwartz — The 1929 Massacre in Hebron That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Award-winning journalist and Emmy-nominated producer on her book Ghosts of a Holy War — and the shocking parallels between 1929 and October 7.
If you care about how to live better
- 🎙 Episode
Rob Henderson — From Foster Care to Yale
On class, character, and the luxury beliefs the elite preach but never pay for.
- 🎙 Episode
Shigehiro Oishi — How to Live a Psychologically Rich Life
Beyond happiness and meaning — the case for a life filled with novelty, perspective, and surprise.
- 🎙 Episode
BJ Miller — Life, Following a Calling, and Reimagining How We Die
A palliative care physician who lost both legs in an accident and went on to change how America thinks about dying — and what that teaches us about living.
- 🎙 Episode
Tracy McCubbin — How to Declutter Your Home & Life
Not about tidying — about your relationship to stuff. Why we buy, why we can't let go, and the 7 emotional blocks that keep our homes (and heads) full.
If you are interested in stories about business
What it actually takes to build something.
- 🎙 Episode
Julie Smolyansky — The Queen of Kefir: CEO Guts, Courage & Stamina
How she took over her father's company, built Lifeway Foods into the company behind 95% of kefir sold in America, and what it actually takes to lead.
- 🎙 Episode
Susan Griffin-Black — EO Products Co-Founder: Building a Business You'd Actually Want to Work For
From Pittsburgh to pioneering the natural products industry — how she built EO Essential Oils on values, sustainability, and the belief that purpose and profit don't have to fight.
- 🎙 Episode
Rabbi Daniel Lapin — What Your Relationship with Money Says About Your Character
Why pursuing wealth isn't greedy — it's moral. Ancient wisdom on money, character, and what it actually means to serve others through business.
If you care about education
What's being taught to your kids — and why it matters.
- 🎙 Episode
Marissa Streit — When Education Turns Into One-Sided Activism
The CEO of PragerU on how ideology took over classrooms — and what parents can actually do about it.
- 🎙 Episode
Brandy Shufutinsky — The Marxist Roots of Ethnic Studies
How a framework built on grievance is reshaping K-12 schools and college campuses right now.
- 🎙 Episode
Sharon McMahon — One Semester of Civics
America's government teacher on the quiet threat to democracy you didn't see coming.
- 🎙 Episode
Monica Harris — Your School's Ethnic Studies Curriculum Might Be More Radical Than You Think
Why every American family should know what's actually being taught.
If you care about Defending the West
The warning signs everyone keeps ignoring.
- 🎙 Episode
Erin Molan — A Fearless Reporter on Covering Israel and Telling the Truth in Hostile Newsrooms
An Australian war correspondent on what humanity demands of journalists right now — and the cost of saying what others won't.
- 🎙 Episode
Benedict Beckeld — Why Successful Societies Turn Against Themselves
The pattern that played out in ancient Greece, Rome, and Enlightenment France — and is playing out in America today. The more successful a civilization becomes, the more its own people turn against it.
If you care about politics
- 🎙 Episode
Sophia Khalifa — A Bedouin Arab Woman, Engineer & Stanford MBA on Why She Became an Activist for Israel
Born Muslim in Israel, she dismantles the apartheid and genocide narratives from firsthand experience — and explains why the real threat is radical Islam, not Israel.
- 🎙 Episode
Jessica Tarlov — The Dissenting Voice on America's Most-Watched Cable Show
The lone liberal on Fox News's The Five on holding the line, hearing the other side, and the cost of being the only one in the room who disagrees.
Below: all the episodes. Not sure where to start? Email us and tell us what you're thinking about. We'll point you to the right episode.
The archive
All episodes
160 conversations and counting. Search by title or topic.
- 160
Historian Joseph Moore Wants You to Know It's Never Been Easier to Get Ahead in America
August 2, 202663 minDr. Joseph Moore i s a historian who spent a decade testing every financial strategy Americans have ever tried: he Airbnb'd every room in his house, bought land on the moon, founded a cryptocurrency, and invested in a startup that went to zero — to write How to Get Rich in American History: 300 Years of Financial Advice That Worked and Didn't. He started the project as a "lefty humanities professor" trying to prove the American Dream was a myth. Ten years of evidence later, he'd changed his mind completely. We're all about changing your mind when you know better.
Read episode - 159
They Are Training Teachers Not to Tell You - PragerU CEO Marissa Streit Joins us to Discuss the Fight For America
July 29, 202653 minMarissa Streit, CEO of PragerU , is back! Last time, she told us serving your country can mean enlisting as an educator, a line we still bring up constantly. We cover a lot of ground in this conversation: why personal responsibility beats collective grievance, how socialism and communism sell real problems with fake solutions, a teacher's union resolution instructing teachers not to tell parents when a student is transitioning, intersectionality as what Marissa calls "victim bingo," and why PragerU ended up on the Southern Poverty Law Center's hate map alongside Charlie Kirk.
Read episode - 158
Liza Libes Shares How Academia Turned Jane Austen Into a Colonizer (and Buried Tolstoy's Best Lessons)
July 11, 202670 minLiza Libes is defending literature like it's under siege, and after this conversation, you will understand why.
Read episode - 157
Oikophobia: Why Successful Societies Turn Against Themselves
June 15, 202658 minWhat if you could name the thing tearing America apart? Benedict Beckeld joined us to trace a pattern that has played out in every great civilization in history: ancient Greece, Rome, Enlightenment France, Britain, and now America. The more successful a society becomes, the more its own people turn against it. Wealth, safety, and open intellectual space create the exact conditions for a culture to start eating itself alive.
Read episode - 156
Why Antizionism Is a War on Jewish Existence
May 12, 202645 minAdam Louis Klein — PhD candidate in anthropology, McGill University. Founder, MAAZ Action.
Read episode - 155
What Your Relationship With Money Says About Your Character
April 28, 202657 minRabbi Daniel Lapin — Author, Thou Shall Prosper . Founder, American Alliance of Jews and Christians.
Read episode - 154
All the News That's Fit to Spin
March 18, 202664 minHow much power does The New York Times really have, and what happens when that power is used to shape narrative instead of pursue truth?
Read episode - 153
If Iran Breaks Free
January 21, 202625 minJonathan Harounoff — British-Iranian journalist. Author, Unveiled: Inside Iran's Woman, Life, Freedom Revolt .
Read episode - 152
When Education Turns Into One-Sided Activism with Marissa Streit CEO of PragerU
January 18, 202662 minWe speak with Marissa Streit , CEO of P ragerU a bout education, civics, and parenting in a time of cultural chaos. Marissa shares the moment that inspired her to “enlist” through education, explains why activism can show up even in math and literacy, and calls on parents to stop outsourcing values to institutions. Our discussion also explores he crisis facing young women today—marriage, meaning, dignity, and femininity—and why Marissa believes a new “revolution” is needed. Plus: practical ways to use PragerU at home in just 5–20 minutes a day.
Read episode - 151
Foster Care to Yale: The Truth About Luxury Beliefs with Rob Henderson
December 20, 202582 minRob Henderson , known for coining the term “luxury beliefs,” joins us to discuss his memoir Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class . Rob shares his extraordinary path—from homelessness and the LA foster care system, to adoption in rural Northern California, to enlisting in the Air Force at 17, and eventually studying at Yale and Cambridge .
Read episode - 150
Chosen for Responsibility: Judaism, Israel, and the Battle Over the Jewish Story
December 7, 202566 minFormer Michelle Obama speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz joins us to explore the world of Jewish wisdom she discovered beyond ethnic jokes, bagels, and a vague sense of guilt. She shares how her culturally Jewish upbringing transformed into a deeply learned, joyful identity—and why real Jewish study is essential if we want to withstand modern antisemitism.
Read episode - 149
Your School’s Ethnic Studies Curriculum Might Be More Radical Than You Think - Monica Harris Explains Why
November 22, 202549 minMonica Harris is the Executive Director of FAIR For All , a Harvard Law graduate, former Hollywood executive, and author of The Illusion of Division .
Read episode - 148
From “America Is Evil” to American Exceptionalism: Lucy Biggers’ Turnaround
November 18, 202547 minIn this episode, we speak with Lucy Biggers, head of social media at The Free Press a nd a former climate activist who has completely rethought the story she was telling the world and herself. Lucy shares how she went from a left-wing digital newsroom steeped in oppressor–oppressed ideology and climate doomsday content to slowly “re-educating” herself, especially after COVID lockdowns made her question what the climate movement was really asking of ordinary people.
Read episode - 147
What Love Makes Possible: Leland Vittert on His Father, Autism & a Lucky Life
November 14, 202546 minLeland Vittert , NewsNation’s chief Washington anchor and author of the memoir Born Lucky , joins us to talk about his childhood, his career, and all the unexpected ways he truly was born lucky.
Read episode - 146
Undercover Billionaire Elaine Culotti is Taking on California’s Toughest Problems
October 5, 202549 minWhat happens when a no-nonsense entrepreneur decides she’s had enough of California’s chaos? Elaine Culotti has ideas politicians won’t touch.
Read episode - 145
The Queen of Kefir: Julie Smolyansky on CEO Guts, Courage & Stamina
September 29, 202549 minOur guest is Julie Smolyansky , CEO of Lifeway Food s, the company that pioneered the kefir market in America and today produces 95% of the kefir sold in the U.S.
Read episode - 144
Brandy Shufutinsky on the Marxist Roots of Ethnic Studies in K-12 Schools and College Campuses
August 1, 202548 minBrandy Shufutinsky is the newly appointed Director of the Education and National Security Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. In this important conversation, we disciuss how today’s ethnic studies curriculum, originally intended to promote understanding among diverse communities, i s instead fueling division, promoting an oppressor-vs-oppressed worldview, and teaching students that capitalism is synonymous with white supremacy and exploitation.
Read episode - 143
Stella Escobedo on Honesty in Journalism
July 26, 202551 minStella Escobedo is an Emmy award winning news anchor-reporter with nearly 20 years experience, a fearless journalist and an advocate who immigrated to the U.S. from Uzbekistan. Stella is currently a news anchor for One American News (OAN). In this conversation, Stella shares how her upbringing shaped her values, her global perspective, and the causes of her disillusionment with mainstream media.
Read episode - 142
Justice, Forgiveness, and One Remarkable Friendship
July 7, 202560 minKaren McKinney was a prosecutor working in the gang unit when her path first crossed with Joseph Herrera, a man she would go on to prosecute for murder. Twenty years later, Karen faced Joseph when he was up for parole. Not exactly your classic “how we met” story. What no one could have predicted is that years later, the two would form an extraordinary friendship that would transform both of their lives.
Read episode - 141
Still chasing the 'retire early' fantasy? This conversation with David Bahnsen might just change your mind.
June 12, 202539 minIn this episode, we talk about the value of work with David Bahnsen, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of The Bahnsen Group, a wealth management firm based in Newport Beach, California overseeing $4 billion in client's assets, David is also a thought leader, and author of Full-Time: Work and the Meaning of Life. David wants to challenge one of society’s most accepted myths: that success means eventually not working.
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