Bewildered

Hosted by Martha Beck and Rowan Mangan

Entrepreneurship Education

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Episodes

129

Latest episode

Jun 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

What if we stopped listening to the controlling voice of the culture around us, and instead learned to reconnect with our own true nature? Sometimes we aren’t even sure why we feel so bewildered… and discontented… and even downright miserable. Often it’s because we have let the forces of society replace our own instinctive knowledge of what is right for us. Now, it’s time for us to find that voice again—before it’s too late. For Martha and Rowan, Job One is to live according to our deepest truths, making the commitment to feeling good even when it means looking weird. We believe that this is how we will reinvent our world—from the inside out— to create a society that’s kinder, more equitable, and more ecologically sustainable than the one we see around us right now. This is the vision that we laugh and stumble and chat and feel our way towards here on this podcast. Did we mention LAUGH? We want no part of personal and global transformation if it isn’t fun! So if you struggle to find a place where people who are as idealistic and brokenhearted, as silly and deeply sincere, as bewildered as you are—you might have just arrived. Welcome!

Listen to episodes

60 recent

June 17, 20261 hr 22 min

How to Open a Closed Mind

For this episode of Bewildered, we’re bringing back something we haven’t done in ages—the BeWild Files! This time we’re answering an excellent question from listener Jaison about whether true discernment is possible when our amygdalas are running the show. Spoiler: probably not. But being out in nature really helps, as does shared endeavor in community (and the occasional luxury retreat in Costa Rica). If you want to learn ways to calm your mind and find common ground with others, this one’s for you. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Bewildered Show Notes Follow Ro on Instagram Follow Bewildered on Instagram CREDITSWandering The Path by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deckMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported LicenseSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

June 3, 202655 min

The Good Faith Footprint

On this episode of Bewildered, what starts as Ro's confession about late-night online shopping soon spirals into a story about our panicked late-night rescue mission for a box of creatures that weren't what we thought they were. In telling this story, we explore why panic and despair are the worst tools we have for saving the planet, and why good intentions are the most powerful footprint you can leave. Join us for the full conversation to find out more (and to learn how bees factor into the equation). CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Bewildered Show Notes Follow Ro on Instagram Follow Bewildered on Instagram CREDITSWandering The Path by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deckMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported LicenseSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 20, 202652 min

You Can't Waste Time

Have you ever mastered something...and then felt the urge to throw it all away and start fresh? In this episode of Bewildered, we explore the rhythm of growth and why change is not failure—it’s our true nature. We talk about the sunk cost fallacy, the cultural pressure to never lose your spot at the top of the pyramid, and the radical idea that it’s actually impossible to waste time or money. If you’re feeling the itch to shed your skin and grow into something new, this episode is for you. Join us! CONNECT WITH US • Follow Martha on Instagram • The Bewildered Show Notes • Follow Ro on Instagram • Follow Bewildered on Instagram   CREDITSWandering The Path by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deckMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported LicenseSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 6, 20261 hr 3 min

Going Off-Brand

When you hear “branding,” do you think of burning a hot iron into the side of a cow? Probably not, but that’s what a brand originally was. And metaphorically, it still is. A brand is a mark that defines where you belong, and our culture says it's never supposed to change. On this Bewildered, we start out in the world of branding culture and end up in the deep waters of impermanence and identity. We explore how the less you grip your brand, the more you find out who you actually are. Join us! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Bewildered Show Notes Follow Ro on Instagram Follow Bewildered on Instagram CREDITSWandering The Path by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deckMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported LicenseSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

April 22, 20261 hr 2 min

The End of the Hustle

What if you’re not burned out…you just don’t want to hustle anymore? In this episode of Bewildered, we talk about how hustle culture strives to make our lives sterile and abstract: from fluorescent lighting and spreadsheets to profit-and-loss statements and KPIs. We explore what gets lost in that way of life and how to reclaim our wild human power from a world that keeps turning us into pixels. If you're curious what life could look like beyond the endless grind, this episode is for you. Join us! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Bewildered Show Notes Follow Ro on Instagram Follow Bewildered on Instagram   CREDITSWandering The Path by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deckMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported LicenseSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

April 8, 202651 min

Rewrite the Rules

Have you noticed how there seem to be “cheat codes” (as they’re called in video game world) that let certain people ignore reality and get away with outrageous things? What if we could use our own cheat codes to quietly change the world for good? In this episode of Bewildered, we look at how truth gets twisted, why consensus is shattering, and how we might discover new cheat codes by trusting our senses, our weirder ways of knowing, and the invisible web connecting us beneath the chaos. Join us! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Bewildered Show Notes Follow Ro on Instagram Follow Bewildered on Instagram CREDITSWandering The Path by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deckMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported LicenseSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

March 25, 20261 hr 4 min

Nature, Take the Wheel

When life as you know it crumbles—lost jobs, shaken identities, houses (literal or figurative) in rubble—what if you’re not meant to rebuild the old structure at all? In this episode of Bewildered, we're exploring our deep attachment to “putting it back how it was,” how culture teaches us to fear impermanence, and what becomes possible when we let Nature “take the wheel” to allow something entirely new to emerge. Tune in to grieve, rethink, and reimagine what the next chapter of your life could be. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Bewildered Show Notes Follow Ro on Instagram Follow Bewildered on Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

March 11, 20261 hr 16 min

End Times and Errands

How do you continue doing ordinary human-life things while the world feels like it’s collapsing in real time? That's what we're trying to figure out on this episode of Bewildered. We talk about ping‑ponging between school runs, summer camp registration, doctor's appointments, and breaking-news notifications that feel like the apocalypse is upon us. If you've been feeling caught in this same unnerving and exhausting back-and-forth, this episode is for you. Tune in and we'll come to our senses together. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Bewildered Show Notes Follow Ro on Instagram Follow Bewildered on Instagram CREDITSWandering The Path by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deckMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported LicenseSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

February 25, 202659 min

Surrender to the Season

How are you weathering the season you’re in? In this episode of Bewildered, we talk about what it really means to surrender to the season, whether it’s an upstate New York winter, perimenopause, a busy parenting era, or the “my foot hurts and I think my gums are receding” phase of life. We talk about how culture tries to flatten all seasons into one endless, brightly lit, 69-degrees-and-productive-all-the-time moment, and why our bodies, souls, and sanity refuse to go along with that plan. Join us! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Bewildered Show Notes Follow Ro on Instagram Follow Bewildered on Instagram CREDITSWandering The Path by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deckMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported LicenseSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

February 11, 20261 hr 6 min

Trusting Your Spider Senses

Have you ever felt something was “off” about a situation or person...but then ignored that instinct to please others? In this episode, we explore how culture teaches us to override our body's internal signals in order to stay socially appropriate and “normal.” We talk about the difference between anxiety and intuitive warning, why our “social self” silences our “essential self,” and how trusting your body’s wisdom can keep you safe, possibly even psychic... Join us for this episode and find out how! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Bewildered Show Notes Follow Ro on Instagram Follow Bewildered on Instagram CREDITSWandering The Path by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deckMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported LicenseSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.