Am I Normal? with Mona Chalabi TED Audio Collective
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- Society & Culture
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We all want to know if we’re normal—do I have enough friends? Should it take me this long to get over my ex? Should I move or stay where I am? Endlessly curious data journalist Mona Chalabi NEEDS to know, and she’s ready to dive into the numbers to get some answers. But studies and spreadsheets don’t tell the whole story, so she’s consulting experts, strangers, and even her mum to fill in the gaps. The answers might surprise you, and make you ask: does normal even exist? Am I Normal? with Mona Chalabi is produced in partnership with Transmitter Media.
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Together for 20 years — but living apart?
The binary category of single/married doesn't allow for much nuance. What if, say, you’re in a long term committed relationship like a marriage — but you live apart? In the last episode of this mini series, Saleem talks to a couple who’s been living apart together ("LAT") for years about what motivates them to be in a LAT relationship, and how the arrangement works for them.
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What it's like to find your birth parent
In Britain, one-fourth of people who were adopted make contact with their birth parents before they turn 18. In this episode, Saleem meets Amanda, a Dominican woman who was adopted by a white couple in Connecticut. Amanda always knew she was adopted and was curious about her birth parents. After a few years of dead ends, she finally finds her biological mother … in the last place she expected.
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Lessons from the happiest place in the world
For multiple years in a row, Gallup has named Finland the happiest country in the world. But can you actually measure happiness — and what do the Finns know that the rest of the world doesn’t? Before you move to Finland, we talk to a Finnish “happyologist” about how she defines happiness, what we can learn from even trying to quantify something so subjective, and why happiness might be less of an individual pursuit than you think.
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Should kids have more freedom?
Would you let your child run errands unaccompanied? Saleem investigates what this kind of early age autonomy can teach us about community, resilience, and family. Saleem talks to a Japanese mother who has lived in the U.S. & Japan about how she and her family navigate independence. Then he hears from one special on-the-ground expert about the value of doing things on one’s own.
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What it’s like to live at home with your parents as an adult
In the U.S. living with your parents can be seen as a “bad” thing. But across the world, living with your parents is common – and even preferable to living by yourself. In the first episode of a special series of Am I Normal, Saleem Reshamwala talks to a 28-year-old teacher from Hong Kong about what it’s like to be growing into adulthood in her childhood home.
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Introducing Body Electric
Am I Normal will be back this week! Until then, we’ve got a special 6-part series with an interactive twist coming your way: On Body Electric, TED Radio Hour host Manoush Zomorodi investigates the relationship between our bodies and our technology…and she has a challenge for YOU. Starts TOMORROW Tuesday, October 3rd.
Customer Reviews
New obsession
A thought provoking and engaging podcast that I am now obsessed with!
Relatable!
Want a podcast that makes you feel less alone? Want some solidarity on how that tricksy inner saboteur talks to you in the in between moments? Then this podcast is for you. It’s the podcast you didn’t know you needed - you do.
so relevant!
Get out of my brain Mona! Your numbers based approach to topics I have been grappling with lately has really given me a sense of solidarity. As someone who moved states in Australia just before the pandemic kicked off, the question of ‘who are my people’ has been so tough to work through when I’ve had to isolate from my friends. And about a year ago I made the huge decision to get braces as an adult (and we’re talkin’ old school style, not cheeky invisible ones) which I knew was a completely cosmetic decision, yet wound up with a lot of psychological baggage. That dentist episode was such an eye opener. I’m also 32 and thinking about that big question of having children, and the fact it has taken me close to 3 years to grieve my last love is not helping matters. Anyway I never leave essay length podcast reviews but basically each episode was exactly me so THANK YOU! And your mum is great. Keep it up gang.