Arianna's Recent LinkedIn Posts

Now that #tradwife has entered the collective chat, what does it mean? According to Sheryl Sandberg, writing in the most recent edition of Lean In’s great newsletter “The Lead,” the trend is actually being driven by a much older phenomenon women have to deal with: guilt. The majority of women work outside the home and the #tradwife movement is a subtle signal that to be a good wife/mother/partner you shouldn’t. With working mothers it feels like they take the baby out and they put the guilt in. But as Sandberg notes, working outside the home doesn’t diminish your other roles. “Let’s keep the past where it belongs—in the past,” she writes. “Instead, let’s focus on a future where each woman has the chance to pursue the life she wants, develop the talents she has . . . and achieve the goals that matter most to her.”

Dr. Tommy Wood's new book “The Stimulated Mind” is out today, and it gives people a practical toolkit to improve their cognitive function on a day-to-day basis while decreasing their long-term risk of dementia. “Every one of us has the ability to dramatically improve our brain health and cognitive function today by doing things that are simple and enjoyable,” he writes. “And most importantly, it’s never too late to start.” And the book provides plenty of Microsteps to guide us. Brain health is at the heart of the zeitgeist. And with small changes in our daily behaviors, we all have the power to make it our own personal moonshot.

Revisionist history has gone too far! As part of a “Popular Science” series on little-known science stories, Andrew Coletti concludes that the Oracle of Delphi “was just high on gas fumes.” As a Greek immigrant, and thus a devotee of ancient Greek wisdom, those are fighting words. On the other hand, Coletti seems to have the goods on the Greek priestess. Plutarch’s reports about the Oracle noted that the priestess would sit on a stool near a natural spring that produced a sweet-smelling gas, or “pneuma.” Years ago, in a hunt for what that gas could be, researchers John Hale and Jelle Zeilinga de Boer examined a fault underneath the temple. Samples of the bedrock tested positive for ethylene, a gas that was used as an anesthetic in the past. What does it do at lower doses? “People under the influence of ethylene remain lucid and responsive, but may speak or behave strangely,” writes Coletti. Which is why Hale pronounced ethylene a “perfect match” for pneuma. As Wordsworth wrote, “Let Nature be your teacher.” Though maybe not if you’re sitting near a plume of ethylene.

Do you check your phone 144 times a day? If so, you’re in line with the average American (according to a survey by DemandSage). Not only that, but nearly 90% of us reach for our phones within 10 minutes of waking up, and more than half of us say we’re addicted. But maybe the tide is turning. Kate Lindsay recently wrote on her Substack newsletter Embedded that being chronically online is no longer cool and that “our lack of screen time is a new social indicator.”

Love these tips for using movement to help improve our brain health. My favorite is the last one: adding movement activities like racket sports or dancing that also involve connection or additional cognitive stimulus. My way to do that is hiking with friends. What are some ways you get exercise that also involve connection?

Should restaurants and bars ban phones? Does the phenomenon of everybody checking their phones dozens of times long before the check comes bother you? For InsideHook, Kathleen Willcox makes the case. As she notes, the rise in phones was accompanied by a rise in loneliness. Willcox cites the fact that the portion of Americans dining alone is at a record high, with people sharing an average of only 7.9 meals with others per week. And Americans are spending less time with other people than at any time going back to 1965, when the data started being collected. As one restaurateur put it, “You can be in a room full of people and still feel like no one’s really there because everyone is half on their phone. Screens cut through the natural rhythm of a space — the generosity, the spontaneity, that shared pulse that makes hospitality feel special. After so many years in this industry, you really see the difference when guests stay present. The whole room changes. The experience becomes real again.”

Happy, happy birthday to my darling sister and best friend, Agapi! There’s nothing like basking in our sisterly love while walking (or boating) through this life together — what a gift it is being on this journey with you! 💜

The iPod is making a comeback. Though in my house, it never left! As Sami Sparber reports for Axios, people are buying iPods again. And it’s not just the oldsters. As one Gen Z fan said, "The act of playing my music, with the sole purpose of listening to music — no ads, no apps, no distractions — makes my brain feel brand-new again.” I couldn’t agree more. I love my iPod and use it for music during the day and sleep meditations (with no doomscrolling possible) at night.

"How might a home shape the health of its inhabitants over decades?" This is the question Diana Budds and the Architectural Digest team asked for their latest piece on designing homes for longer, healthier lives. Here is how I have integrated certain things into my home that have an impact on my health: a treadmill, a bike and an elliptical. Because I have an addictive personality, habit stacking is a way to use that to my advantage! So I only allow myself to binge watch my favorite shows on one of these three! So I’m currently sweating my way through The Pitt! And my Thrive Global Phone Bed Charging Station has been game-changing — it allows me to tuck in my phone outside my bedroom and reunite with my phone in the morning, when my phone and I are both fully recharged! And yes, the bed includes a mini blanket! https://lnkd.in/dhj7x-S6