Hold That Thought

Becca Havian and Taylor Lord

“Hold That Thought” is something you say when you don’t want the conversation to rush ahead but still want to see where the idea leads. This podcast lives in the pause: the space between reaction and reflection, focus and exploration, where ideas stretch and change. Blending research, storytelling, and reflection, each episode examines the forces that shape how we think, relate, and make meaning of ourselves and the world around us. Episodes are organized into mini-series that explore a concept from multiple angles, creating space for deeper and more connected conversation.

  1. 1d ago

    We Used to Be Terrified of the Beach

    Let’s go to the beach. Let’s go get away.  In this episode of Hold That Thought we explore ‘The Beach’ as a place of escape, relaxation, freedom and reinvention. But this modern conception wasn’t always the case. Early societies feared the shore, the ocean and what they represented. Later, it was a prescribed place, literally the doctor’s orders. When you start to track the evolving meaning of this liminal place over time, you notice the evolution of human society itself—our beliefs, our losses, our deepest fears and our dearest desires.  This is the second episode of The Geographic Cure, our new series built around one idea: our tendency to attach transformation to geography. Themes: Beach, history, popular culture, place, making meaning, self-expression Sources: The Beach Is a Popular Summer Destination, but for Ancient Greeks It Was a Different Story SeaChange: The Future of the Beach Inventing the Beach: The Unnatural History of a Natural Place The Cure for Anything Is Salt Water: Sweat, Tears, or the Sea The Beach: The History of Paradise on Earth The Remarkable Tale of the Bathing Machine Review of The Beach: The History of Paradise on Earth and Sea Shells Historic Brighton: Dr Richard Russell and the Miracle of Sea-Water Therapy When Going to the Beach Was Doctor's Orders Life and Work at the Beach The Million Dollar Mermaid Was Once Arrested For Indecency The World of California Golden These Illustrations Tell the Stories of 9 Pivotal Women in Surf History

  2. Oct 9

    The Cowboy Fantasy Isn’t Only About Freedom

    Cowboy hats, boots and belt buckles at bachelorette parties; ranch prices rising through the roof; Dude ranch vacations; The Yellowstone Effect. Why are we all suddenly obsessed with the Western aesthetic? Where does it come from and what does it show?   In this episode of Hold That Thought we sit down and talk about the myth, the romance, the promise, and the reality of the American West and ranch culture. We explore the origins of the American Western in our country’s psyche and its enduring impact on culture today. We chat through the Yellowstone Effect—the resurgence of Western fashion spurred by the hit TV show—reminisce on our own ranch experiences and ask ourselves what the allure of the ‘ranch’ life escape says about what we city people lack in our own lives.  This is the first episode of our miniseries on the promise of place: the psychological jobs we assign to ranches, the west, the beach, the mountains and more and what it means that we keep asking geography to change us.  Topics: Ranch, Nature, Fashion, Culture, American History, Western, Westernization, Mythology of the American West, Cowboys, Psychology, Meaning Marking, The Yellowstone Effect, Film, TV BIG NEWS! Signal Awards Listener’s Choice Award Hold That Thought is a finalist for 5 Signal Awards, one of the biggest awards in podcasting, founded by the team behind the Webby Awards. Now there's a public vote and that's where you come in. Voting closes October 15th.  HOW TO VOTE  Click on each of the links below and click the black "Vote" button next to Hold That Thought.Sign up or sign in (email or Google).IMPORTANT: If you're new, you'll get a confirmation email from the Signal Awards. Your vote doesn't count until you click "Make Your Voice Count" in that email. Check your spam folder! 1. Self-Improvement & Self-Help (Best Show) – our full show, the big one VOTE HERE 2. Mental Health (Episode) – "No Bad Parts: An Introduction to Internal Family Systems" VOTE HERE 3. Self-Improvement & Self-Help (Episode) – "Tell Me Who I Am: Personality Tests, Diagnoses and the Search for Self" VOTE HERE 4. Best Co-Host Team (Episode) – "The Sage: The Difference Between Wisdom and Intelligence" VOTE HERE 5. Solopreneur Podcast (Limited Series) – "Building a Home in Your Mind" VOTE HERE Sources:  The Rise of Cowboy-Core Travel A Brief History of the Rodeo How to Wear Workwear Right Now The Cowboy Clothing of Yellowstone October's Cover Star: Ranch Style—Here's How to Get the Look The New Western Gold Rush Westernization Ranch Luxury 2026 Ranch Prices Double as Luxury Buyers Embrace the Yellowstone Lifestyle The New Yorker, May 8, 1937 Emotional Transfer in Human–Horse Interaction: New Perspectives on Equine Assisted Interventions Significant Work Is About Self-Realization and Broader Purpose: Defining the Key Dimensions of Meaningful Work Choice Overload: A Conceptual Review and Meta-Analysis Big Smile, Small Self: Awe Walks Promote Prosocial Positive Emotions in Older Adults Attention Restoration Theory: A Systematic Review of the Attention Restoration Potential of Exposure to Natural Environments Experimental Evidence That Exerting Effort Increases Meaning The Design of Neighbourhood Open Spaces to Improve Mental Health: A Critical Review of Restorative Spatial Characteristics and Their Applicability in Design Practice

  3. Oct 4

    Why the Best Moments Hurt When They’re Over

    Welcome back to Season 2 of Hold That Thought! We kick off the season reflecting on Taylor’s wedding week: the highlights, the moments of learnings, and the post-wedding blues.  We discuss the aftermath of such a temporal moment and explore joy as something ephemeral, important, poignant and sometimes painful in its fleetingness.  Join us weekly as we explore the ideas and invisible forces shaping how people move through their lives and try to make meaning of ourselves and the world around us.  Topics: Wedding, Celebration, Life Moments, Ritual, Family, Spirituality, Joy, Buddhism Teachings    Sources: Ross Gay—On the Insistence of Joy: Krista Tippett’s On Being Tara Brach: Joy

  4. Sep 4

    Who Decided What a Wedding Looks Like?

    A white dress; groomsmen and bridesmaids; an exchange of rings; cutting of the cake; a first dance. All the micromoments we have come to recognize as part of a typical Western wedding.  But where did these traditions come from? And what does it mean that so many of us follow the same steps to celebrate a wedding?  This is Hold That Thought, and we're in the middle of our mini-series Reality, By Agreement, where we take something that feels like a fact and find the moment where society agreed to adhere to it.  In this episode, we travel back to uncover the surprisingly recent origins of some of our most familiar wedding traditions. We discuss how weddings today are evolving those traditions—especially in the face of the modern-day wedding industrial complex—explore customs from other cultures, and talk about the surprising staying power of ritual.  This episode is especially timely because Taylor is getting married in two weeks! It’s also our final episode before we take a break ahead of Season 2. Stay tuned for more Hold That Thought episodes coming soon, and thank you for being here!  Themes: Weddings, Culture, Ceremony, Ritual, History, Society, Traditions, Celebration, Wedding Planning, Wedding Industrial Complex Sources: Circular Ceremony Seating Marriage Ceremony Enhancements Everything Everywhere: Wedding Traditions The Journey of Jumping the Broom in Black American Weddings Why Do Grooms Break a Glass at Jewish Weddings? ‘The Price of I Do’: Where Weddings Cost a Fortune New Poll Says 90% of Adults Report Sacrificing Something in Their Daily Lives to Afford Attending a Friend's Wedding History of Weddings in America No Ceremony, a Quirky Cake, and Candles Over Flowers: The 8 Key Wedding Micro Trends of 2026 34 Best Courthouse Wedding Dresses and Sets for a Picture-Perfect Civil Ceremony Kindred Lubeck—Taylor Swift’s Engagement Ring Designer—Launches Artifex Bridal

  5. Aug 28

    Behind Closed Doors: The Invention of Privacy

    The search for privacy, alone time, a space of one’s own, is a human instinct. But it hasn’t always been a human reality (or even necessarily a priority).  In this episode of Hold That Thought we trace the evolution of privacy, from a fleeting, unattainable idea, marked by averted eyes within crowded, shared spaces, to something solid, created by doors, locks and walls and protected by law.  We unpack how privacy is something most of us can’t imagine living without, and the irony that the technology we use everyday is subliminally undermining that privacy, without us even knowing.  This episode is part of our mini-series Reality, By Agreement, where we take something that feels like a fact and find the moment where society agreed to adhere to uphold it.  Themes: privacy, sociology, psychology, human evolution, anthropology, community, society,  Sources:  Is Anyone in the Room? Language, Settings, and Networks for Early Modern Private Conversations Inexpressible Privacy: The Interior Life of Antebellum American Literature Books: Onion Theory Home: a Short History of an Idea Charles Katz, Petitioner v. UNITED STATES What Did Ancient Humans Do With No Privacy? Bioarchaeology of Neolithic Çatalhöyük reveals fundamental transitions in health, mobility, and lifestyle in early farmers The Hidden Privacy Cost of Wearable Tech The Birth and Death of Privacy: 30,000 Years of History Told Through 46 Images The Right to Privacy in American History The History of Privacy Timeline Americans and Privacy: Concerned, Confused and Feeling Lack of Control Over Their Personal Information Ring Superbowl Ad Shows Americans How Powerful Surveillance Systems Have Become, Freaks Them Out

  6. Aug 21

    How Birthdays Became About You

    Every human has one. A day of birth.  But the celebration of a birthday is a relatively recent custom.  In this episode of Hold That Thought, we continue our Reality, By Agreement mini-series where we take something that feels like a fact and find the moment we all decided it was so. Today, we discuss birthdays.  We explore the history of the birthday celebration as we know it today, the symbolic elements and their origins – the cake, the candles, the song – the societal and historical elements that made these celebrations possible, and different birthday customs from around the world, including a Dutch tradition where the birthday person brings the treats. Along the way, we share our earliest birthday memories and get personal in unpacking what makes a birthday feel both special and incredibly vulnerable, ripe for disappointment. Themes: Birthdays, history, rituals, celebration, temporality, customs, memory, culture, community, construction Resources: Why Do We Celebrate Birthdays YOU'RE ONLY AS OLD AS WE SAY YOU ARE The Long History of the 'Happy Birthday' Song—And Its Copyright “Happy Birthday to You” and the End of One of the Most Famous Copyrights in History Blowing our birthday candles is surprisingly ancient It is about time: Birthdays as modern rites of temporality The festive history of American birthdays Elodi’s Doljanchi: A Korean baby’s first birthday celebration The Dutch Birthday Circle: A Social Ritual Explained On being forgotten: Memory and forgetting serve as signals of interpersonal importance

  7. Aug 14

    When the Ranking Becomes Reality

    A tire company invented our understanding of global fine dining. One man changed the wine industry for good. But when you’re going to try a really nice new restaurant, who do you go to for a review? When you’re at the wine shop, do you know what’s behind the rating behind the bottle?  In this episode of “Hold That Thought” we talk about the world of ratings, rankings, the score, the star. We unpack who we trust with taste, why they became trusted in the first place and explore what happens when the rubric no longer tracks reality but instead influences the very things they were designed to test.  We’re in the middle of a series called Reality, By Agreement where we’re examining the things that feel like facts and tracking back to the moment they became true only because enough people agreed to them.  Topics: Ratings, Michelin Guide, Psychology, Human Behavior, Taste, 100-point wine scale, Culture, Taste-Making, Community  Resources: The hard work of having good taste How to Cultivate Taste in the Age of Algorithms How Reviews and Ratings Affect Clients' Buying Decisions Diner Recommendations Outside the Michelin Guide What does a tire company know about food?  Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History Investigates Columbia University College Rankings Scandal Project Dillard Lord of the Rankings

  8. Aug 8

    How a Piece of Paper Became the Most Powerful Object on Earth

    You probably rarely think about money as an invention — it feels more like just a fact of the world. But money as we know it is only about 5,000 years old. This is episode 2 of our mini-series Reality, By Agreement, where we look at the rules, systems, and social arrangements that feel inevitable but exist only because enough of us agree to live by them. This episode of Hold That Thought traces the history of money: where it came from, why economists still argue about its origins,  what a World War II prisoner-of-war camp revealed about how an entire economy can emerge from agreement, and how quickly our systems fail when we lose our trust in its value.  Because money isn’t a fact of nature. A piece of paper only “counts as” currency because enough of us agree to treat it that way.  Themes: History, money, society, behavioral evolution, currency, social contract, community Resources: Philosophy club: Money as a Collective Imaginative Construct To Know for a Fact: The Construction of Social Reality Slow Read Book Club: Chapter 2, The Myth of Barter, in Debt The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber The Myth of the Myth of Barter David McWilliams (on the history of money)  The History of Money A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Cryptocurrency The History of Money: A Story of Humanity, David McWilliams

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4.8
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

“Hold That Thought” is something you say when you don’t want the conversation to rush ahead but still want to see where the idea leads. This podcast lives in the pause: the space between reaction and reflection, focus and exploration, where ideas stretch and change. Blending research, storytelling, and reflection, each episode examines the forces that shape how we think, relate, and make meaning of ourselves and the world around us. Episodes are organized into mini-series that explore a concept from multiple angles, creating space for deeper and more connected conversation.

Information

  • Creator
    Becca Havian and Taylor Lord
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    37
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Becca Havian and Taylor Lord
  • Show Website
    Hold That Thought

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