Monocycle with Leandra Medine
By Monocycle
Monocycle with Leandra MedineMar 10, 2017
Dispatch from Quarantine #9
Leandra presents her weekly dispatch from quarantine, in which she shares short form streams of consciousness from her time in self-isolation. Dispatch #9 celebrates a communal anticipation of summer, buoyed by better times ahead.
Dispatch from Quarantine #8
Leandra presents her weekly dispatch from quarantine, in which she shares short form streams of consciousness from her time in self-isolation. Dispatch #8 examines approaching an equilibrium in your daily routine that allows for your multitudes.
Dispatch from Quarantine #7
Leandra presents her weekly dispatch from quarantine, in which she shares short form streams of consciousness from her time in self-isolation. Dispatch #7 follows an incident with Laura that summoned Leandra to map out her parenthood.
Dispatch from Quarantine #6
Leandra presents her weekly dispatch from quarantine, in which she shares short form streams of consciousness from her time in self-isolation. Dispatch #6 ponders spring’s bestowal of new blooms, reminding us current times will also pass.
Dispatch from Quarantine #5
Leandra presents her weekly dispatch from quarantine, in which she shares short form streams of consciousness from her time in self-isolation. Dispatch #5 navigates internal feelings of stress and anxiety while remaining conscious of your co-quarantiners.
Dispatch from Quarantine #4
Leandra presents her weekly dispatch from quarantine, in which she shares short form streams of consciousness from her time in self-isolation. Dispatch #4 explores getting yourself unstuck from the quarantine hamster wheel.
Dispatch from Quarantine #3
Leandra presents her weekly dispatch from quarantine, in which she shares short form streams of consciousness from her time in self-isolation. Dispatch #3 welcomes wholly embracing whatever feels right for you right now.
Dispatch from Quarantine #2
Leandra presents her weekly dispatch from quarantine, in which she shares short form streams of consciousness from her time in self-isolation. Dispatch #2 enters a new quarantine phase that probes the question of who you are versus who you want to be.
Dispatch from Quarantine #1
Leandra presents her weekly dispatch from quarantine, in which she shares short form streams of consciousness from her time in self-isolation. Dispatch #1 grapples with finding balance while adjusting to a new pace.
Episode 65: I Am What My Mind Tells Me I Am
Ep 64: Monocycle Is Back! And It Smells So Gucci
Ep 63: Self-Esteem
We're only running six minutes and 40 seconds long this week, so enjoy this episode while you take a coffee break, or sit on the toilet, or braid your pubic hair. HAPPY FRIDAY! T-minus 10...
Ep 62: A Conversation With Bozoma Saint John
But there's more to Bozoma Saint John than the impressive way in which she carries herself, the seemingly effortless confidence that she holds and espouses, the degree to which she believes in herself and wants to be the best, do the best and perpetuate the best: She is also incredibly empathetic. You almost get the sense that she's lived multiple lives, and this is why, for whatever reason, when she speaks to you, it is almost like she is speaking directly to your soul.
Please enjoy a very candid conversation in this week's episode of Monocycle. There's a bit of everything: advice for the grieving, a sound way to reconcile hardship, how she has become such an unflinching cheerleader for herself (and how, too, we can learn from this), and a little something about the persistence, reliance and beauty in the way the sun rises, day in and out. Just like, you know, we do.
Ep 61: An Interview With Karla Welch
Enjoy a listen and should you feel so inclined, do too, buy a t-shirt from her remarkably successful collaboration with Hanes. Amelia gushed about them earlier this fall. I’m just going to say co-sign.
Ep 60: A Conversation With Lena Dunham
I very much hope you enjoy the structure as we plan to continue rolling out various interviews over the course of the next couple of months.
As always, any and all feedback is welcome, so sock it to me in the comment depository below.
Happy birthday, btw!!! (What? It could be...)
Ep 59: Cut Your Mom Some Slack!
Our theme of the month announcement was met with some very intelligent content recommendations from you (the community!), which ran a gamut from the lighthearted and farfetched to the convoluted and deep-seated but one particular remark regarding a reader's relationship with her mother and wanting to, essentially, emancipate herself/make sure not to become her really stuck with me: I've been at that rodeo for the greater half of at least the past two years.
I've written about it at length. And spoken a Monocycle episode that touched upon it. Hell, we even dedicated an entire month's theme to it.
So here we are, back again, talking about our moms because one relationship that will never not be interesting to dissect as it evolves at the wildly rapid pace it does is the one between girl and woman, woman and woman, daughter and mother.
Ep 58: Finding Your Purpose
Ep 57: Do We Ever Really Change?
Ep 56: Back With a Vengeance
If you are wondering whether I have lost it, the jig is up, I probably have. But I'm digressing. Man, I feel like a kid of 21, blogging into a computer with reckless abandon. Will THEY edit me? Will they not? It's been like, three days since I hit my finger tips to this keyboard and let the words flow out of my brain. It's also been like, days, since the words flowing out of my brain have sounded like anything more than BLOO BLEEP BLA BLING KRING TING LING SHANTI. (In case you didn't pick up on that, those words don't actually mean anything, at least not in my native Language of the Hidden Temple.)
What?
Nothing. Never mind. Let's stop beating around the bush -- the point is that Monocycle is back and so long as I don't accidentally fuck up my life or it doesn't accidentally fuck me up (see: December 2016), my anticipation is that we (Monocycle, Malcolm Gladwell and me) are back for the long haul. The long haul! So sit back, relax, grab a coffee and enjoy the next 11 minutes.
Ep 55: What It's Like to Work With Your BFF
Glad that's out of the way! Now that we are engaged to be married, let me continue on topic: this week's episode of Monocycle is part of the theme of the month in that it's about what it's like to work with your best pal. When you think best pal, often you think of the women (or men!) you've known since they were girls (or boys!). The people you grew up with, or who you met in a social environment. While Amelia and I met in a work setting (we were interns together at the same start up in 2009), we became fast, personal friends. This process of burgeoning friendship was accelerated when she creepily booked a ticket to Paris and came to visit me when I was abroad just two months after we met, but you can hear more about that act of a true serial killer in the episode. Between then and the time she started at Man Repeller, there were about 4 years of unadulterated friendship colored by love and heartbreak and pillow talk and one very strange blog idea (it was called Pony Tales and Broken Nails) which frankly, made me want to work with her more. A lot of people warned us about what could happen to a friendship when soiled by the transactional nature of a business partnership, but so far, we're doing okay.
Ep 54: The End of the Personal Essay
This week on Monocycle, our editorial director, Leslie Price and I talk about the personal essay boom. Is it over? Perhaps. What does that mean for properties who thrive on it, who believe their best content is personal. Good content, of course, can't ever be "over." So what makes it good? How are we serving it? Are there ways we can do it better. Listen in and share a thought and if you're curious...
This episode of Monocycle is edited by Nicholas "Quazzy" Herd. Logo illustration by Kelly Shami. Photo by Mel Finkelstein/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images.
Ep 53: Outgrowing Your Identity
I don’t know either! A lot of what I argue in the episode pertaining to the question of whether you can outgrow your identity has to do with clothes because I imbue so much of who I am into what I wear (I wrote a piece last week that dealt with some of this). I have insofar not come to any eye-opening conclusions; the best I have done is suggest that I just hang in. Don’t make any crazy changes — cut my hair, cancel people from my life, completely eliminate the contents of my closet from my wardrobe, etc. If you’re in an emotional flux that is similar, maybe we can not do anything together.
This episode of Monocycle is edited by Nicholas “Quazzy” Herd. Logo illustration by Kelly Shami.
Ep 52: An Extra-Special Monocycle with Drew Barrymore
Have a listen and then nod in agreement as I say: We are all Josie Grossie.
This episode of Monocycle was edited by Samara Breger. Logo illustration by Kelly Shami.
Ep 51: Feeling Stuck
Or something like that.
So this episode is about why I've been quiet, but I guess it's also about letting yourself feel how you feel and be how you are (isn't it always?) and not getting so frustrated when you're not where you thought you would be (see what I mean about the one-note thinking?).
Pls say you understand!
Related Stories:
The Thought Process of Being Negative
I Tried Hypnosis to Get Out of My Own Head
I Tried a Mood-Lifting Food Diet
The Baby I Lost, the Person I’m Finding
Welcome to Laugh it the Fuck Off Month
Monocycle is edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander. Logo illustration by Kelly Shami; Photo by BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Ep 50: Be Delicate with Yourself
This has nothing to do with the episode, by the way, which was recorded while I sat nearly-naked on a marble bathroom floor in Paris earlier this week. I was feeling SO BLUE and I'm not sure why (though honestly, my life has felt more like its on hold in a deep blue vacuum than anything else since pregnancy-gate 2016), so I called my husband, but he didn't pick up, and instead turned on my recorder and pretended that I was talking to frankly anyone who would listen and the result is episode 50. Lmk if it's extremely convoluted.
And if you're unfamiliar with Monocycle, or just simply want to take a stroll down memory lane, here are some of my favorite episodes to date:
Episode 1 -- On experiencing (and hopefully recovering from) burnout.
Episode 6 -- About why I chose to take my husband's last name.
Episode 14 -- About the thought process of getting dressed.
Episode 38 -- A response to a response about cultural appropriation at Marc Jacobs' Spring 2017 show (the one that happened last September).
Monocycle is edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander. Logo illustration by Kelly Shami; Photo by BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images.
Ep 49: Shopping Can Trap You
Evidently, more is not more; it can emotionally trap you in its abundance. I felt curiously liberated from my stuff and like I was better at tapping into what I already have and therefore no longer in pursuit of anything new (this became a metaphor for thinking) and...and...and...listen and we can continue this conversation.
Welcome back to regular programming!
Sincerely yours,
Malcolm Gladwell
Related Stories:
The Things You Learn When You Stop Shopping for a Month
I Clean My Closet Once a Month: Does that Make Me Compulsive?
Monocycle is edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander. Logo illustration by Kelly Shami; photo by Carlo Bavagnoli via Getty Images.
Ep 48: Commit to Not Committing
This week's episode reinforces the inauguration of Commitment Month on Man Repeller, a theme we take neither lightly nor literally. What you'll find once you tune in is a mangled narrative that extrapolates a couple key points from the "welcome" post that went live on Wednesday. The welcome posts are essentially our version of an Editor Letter, but the podcast episodes that often follow tend to delve a bit further into those letters.
What can you can expect includes asking the following questions: Does Valentine's Day on Instagram make you feel alone? How far is too far to go with mindfulness? Is self-care (the worst term on earth!) truly for our betterment if we find ourselves overwhelmed by all THE THINGS we have to do? Can't we just live -- roll out of bed, maybe brush our teeth and get on with our days?
There's more, but won't it be more rewarding to hear it for yourself? Chin chin and congratulations, people. We made it through January!
Monocycle is edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander. Logo illustration by Kelly Shami; photo by Carlo Bavagnoli via Getty Images.
Ep 47: The Pursuit of More Than Cool
And that's that.
Happy fourth Friday of 2017!!!!
Related Stories:
Show Me Your Swag
Cool vs. Effortless
How to Fake Cool
Why I Stopped Caring About Being Cool
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 46: Change
Is that an unfounded excuse? Absolutely.
Will I stop asking questions only to answer them immediately? Maybe.
The bottom line is this: our theme of the month is Ch-Ch-Changes, but it's not a Man Repeller theme without a dash of irreverence (I can't believe I just wrote that in women's interest glossy type, but I'm not going to delete it because, you know, it happens to the best of us) so when we resolved we'd change, what we meant was exactly by staying the same. The point of this isn't to stump growth or improvement, to make you feel less like a good version of yourself. On the contrary, it's to cut yourself some slack! Just be, with a B. Let loose in that incredible mental way that doesn't require ordering an extra glass of wine. Tell yourself setbacks are okay, give yourself a high-ass fucking five when you do something you're proud of. Etc, etc.
Or something like that.
Just listen!
Then meet me back here, I am literally waiting (I get comment alerts) and the last time I said that, I sat frozen for hours, EVEN DAYS!, waiting for you. So...
Related Stories:
Welcome to Ch-Ch-Changes Month on Man Repeller
Monocycle: Episode 45, Resolutions
Monocycle: Episode 37, Uterus Envy
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 45: Resolutions
Things covered in the episode include:
+The fact that this was recorded while I was sitting in the passenger seat of a rental car in Los Angeles
+Why following a somewhat tumultuous but overall subservient relationship with resolutions, I don't want to make them anymore
+The one time I kept a resolution (hold on to the same Metrocard for one whole year), how it made me feel (fine), and see previous bullet point
+My control issues (I'm so vain)
+Grief (which is seemingly the only thing I can talk about these days)
+Letting go (another theme you might be tired of hearing about)
+Abie
+How relieving and gratifying it feels to say to yourself, "I think I was an okay human in 2016, so I'm just going to continue on that path in 2017."
Take a listen, let me know what you think, and down here by the ~*~girltalk~*~ station that is our comment feed, tell me if you're making a resolution. What is it? If you're not, why not?
For what it's worth, you were an okay human in 2016, so if you decide that you're just going to continue to maintain the status quo in 2017, that's completely and utterly fine by me. Self-improvement is great, but being proud of who you are right now -- flaws, hang ups, curious tendencies and all -- that's fucking awesome.
Related Stories:
We Asked People to Draw Their Goals for 2016
Why Do We Make Resolutions?
I Refuse to Feel Bad About My Phone
In partnership with TheRealReal; shop today and get a 20% discount with code: ManRepeller. In January only, new and repeat consignors will earn a $100 site credit when they consign 20 or more items across men’s and women’s fashion, fine jewelry and watches, home and art, and kids -- visit The RealReal to learn more.
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 43: Love Your Mom
Intellectually, I recognize what I need to do the cut the tension that frankly, I am instigating, but emotionally, it's like I've become a six-year-old with a vengeance all over. This makes sense in my head because she is my mom and as such I often feel like I have carte blanche to act like an asshole/baby around her, but guess what? She's a person too! I didn't realize that until recently, but I get it now. The thing is, I'm caught at the intersection of don't care and don't want to believe it. So I've been thinking a ton about a) how selfish I am, b) how incredibly complex the relationship between a mother and her daughter gets as said daughter gets older and c) how even though this exact tension is pretty much the reason so many therapists are employed in this country, such a conflict can feel so...unique to me. Why do I feel so alone?
If you can sympathize with any of the above, hit play and then open a bag of popcorn (Buddha Bowl is my recommendation) and commiserate in the comments.
Related Stories:
Moms: A Moot Point
Quotes from the Moms of Man Repeller
MR Money Diaries: Laura Medine, Leandra’s Mom, Chronicled Her Spending for a Week
Monocycle: Episode 3, Thankful
In partnership with TNT
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 44: Hi Again
This week's episode is a sort of check in. It's been two weeks since my pregnancy termination procedure and I have been having a lot of conversations with myself, least not being the ones about:
+Interrupting self-deprecation
+Actually learning how to let go
+Self-compassion
+How to handle grief (I don't know, I just talk about it)
+How to acknowledge how lucky you are if you don't have an arsenal of weapons to handle grief by the age of 27 (means life has been pretty good to you)
+The fragility and consequent miracle of life
+How it is possible that by episode 44, I am *still* not Malcolm Gladwell
Hope you enjoy. It's okay if you don't, and happy Friday before the big fat holidays. What a wonderful time to be alive.
In partnership with THINX. Follow THINX on Instagram @shethinx and get $5 off your order with the code MANREPELLER at checkout!
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 42: Consumption
I do break up the topic into the three aforementioned categories: food, shopping and Internet but probably also go on to diminish any credibility tagged to my points given the sweeping statements that are subsequently posited about our generation, and how we're different (for better or worse) because. Of. How. Much. We. Consume. All. The. Time. For a while, it sounds kind of cynical, but then I reel it back in with a dose of diet cherry coke and optimism because frankly, if you only learn one thing from Man Repeller/Monocycle/me, I hope that it is this: cynicism is much easier than optimism, so do the right thing, which is always the hard thing and force yourself to see the world through rose-colored glasses.
Related Stories:
Welcome to Consumption Month on Man Repeller
I Hate Being On My Phone All the Time
Is Technology Eating Our Feelings?
MR Round Table: That Elusive Work/Life Balance
In Defense of Slow Fashion
In partnership with TheRealReal
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 41: Surviving Cancer in Your Twenties
If you can't, that's okay, just be there when your people need you -- and have the courage to reach out when you need your people.
Related Stories
Breast Cancer Awareness: The Man Repeller Round Table
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 40: Am I Comfortable or Complacent?
Or is this just, like any other adjustment would require, a time of transition?
LISTEN UP, PEOPLE! TO THIS AND MORE.
Related Stories:
I Hate Being On My Phone All the Time
Monocycle: Episode 35, Learning to be Content As Your Own Boss
5 Things Running Man Repeller Taught Me
6 Things I’ve Learned About How to Manage People
In partnership with Squarespace
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 39: Doldrums at Paris Fashion Week
When the clothes are good enough to speak for themselves, do you ever feel that sense of just not...caring? What is that? Why do we feel that? What differentiates the designers who move the needle and inform the zeitgeist and those who just make really nice-looking clothes?
Or are we experiencing fashion fatigue? If we are, what should we do to combat it? We are definitely undergoing some version of a revolution in fashion, so maybe we just need a more positive perspective to lead the charge. It's too soon to be so cynical, isn't it?
Amelia makes a cameo in this episode and we definitely over intellectualize the whole damn thing (it's what we do!) only to arrive at the simplest question of all: Did I just not feel it because I wasn't there?
Find out by listening.
Related Stories:
The Mind-Boggling Consistency of Chanel
Sunday Paris Dispatch: Balenciaga and Céline
Dispatch from Paris: Dior’s Overt Feminist Message, Saint Laurent’s Yves Is Back (But That’s About It)
Fashion Bloggers Aren’t the Problem
In partnership with TheRealReal.
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 38: Cultural Appropriation
The first is, of course, cultural appropriation and the overarching blindspot of the privilege that occurs outside of a minority. It's a huge coup that this is becoming less tolerable and acceptable as our society evolves, but I wonder, as the outrage machine continues firing up, when we've constructively added to the conversation vs. just made noise.
Designers, artists -- all creatives, really -- build their collections on reference. There is no art, at least as we know it, without the act of riffing, but the solution isn't pulling ideas from the sky, shutting ourselves off to the incredibly rich cultures of both yore and now. On the contrary, it's proper accreditation and more importantly, the second step towards becoming better people, it's doing something (not just saying something!) to give back to the culture from which you're borrowing. So here, I speak with our new editorial director, Leslie Price, who wrote the original Man Repeller story on the Marc Jacobs show on what we're doing, and stuff like that.
As always, this podcast is only as valuable as the feedback you provide, so...
Related Stories:
On Cultural Appropriation, Racism and Fashion’s Blind Spots
Let’s Talk About It: Diversity in Fashion
MR Round Table: We Need to Talk About Race
A Letter from Leandra: We’ve Updated Our Mission Statement
In partnership with Squarespace.
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 37: Uterus Envy
Related Stories:
A Pregnant Pause
Monocycle: Episode 26, Not Pregnant
Thinking About Babies? Pregnant? Just Gave Birth? How to Exercise in 10 Gifs
In partnership with Squarespace.
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 36: Back to School
Related Stories:
Back to School: Welcome to New Beginnings Month on Man Repeller
Do You Read Fashion Week Reviews?
The Strange State of Social Media Etiquette at Fashion Week
Fashion Week Is Here And The Clothes Are Easy
WATCH: Leandra Introduces Herself To Our New Nolita Neighbors
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 35: Learning to be Content As Your Own Boss
This podcast is sponsored by Squarespace, the easiest way to create a blog or website. Use the offer code MONOCYCLE at check out for 10% off your first purchase.
Related Stories:
5 Things Running Man Repeller Taught Me
Monocycle: Episode 4, Self-Sabotage
Are You Happy?
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 34: Endless Summer
Related Stories:
Welcome to Endless Summer Month on Man Repeller
Ask a French Girl in London About August
Summer is a State of Mind
The Only Three Hats You Need This Summer !Plus! Man Repeller’s Baseball Cap
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 33: Body Image
Related Stories:
MR Round Table: Plus Size Women in Fashion
How to Talk Yourself Down From a Self-Esteem Spiral
Women Come in All Shapes and Sizes
The “Fat Talk” Diet
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 32: The Editorial Process
More questions? Comments? Ideas? Recommendations? Hit us up below. You know we’re always in there waiting 4 U.
Related stories:
6 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Working
10 Women on Success As They Know It
Kitchen for Dummies: 10 Things You Need in Your Pantry According to Leandra’s Mom
For Men, Leg Abs Are Very Big This Summer
3 New Ways To Wear Your Button Down Shirt
In partnership with Newsette
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 31: Let Loose, Dispatch 3
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 30: Let Loose, Dispatch 2
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 29: Let Loose
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 28: Relationships
Free naps on us after this episode, okay? Enjoy!
In partnership with Zola.
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 27: One Week Later
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 26: Not Pregnant
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander
Ep 25: Does a Good Week Ruin Our Weekend?
Remember Saturdays in bed with a bowl of cereal and Nickelodeon? How important were those breaks for our formative, young minds?
Logo by Kelly Shami - legsny.com/
Edited by Nicholas Quazzy Alexander