After six seasons of letting the productivity ball get bigger than the creativity ball, Erin's shaking up the format — starting with an unscripted, wheel-spun review of Just Watch Me by Lior Torenberg, built with a little help from Claude.

What's covered:

• Why Erin's stepping back from "better, faster, stronger" podcasting and testing a looser, funnier format
• The exact AI prompt Erin used to build a 28-question "book club wheel" for spontaneous, unscripted reviews — full transparency on the goal/context prompt structure
• A deep, spoiler-flagged review of Just Watch Me, the story of Dell Danvers, a newly-unemployed 24-hour live streamer spiralling through a week of viral chaos, spicy-pepper stunts, and unprocessed grief
• Why the book's central "twist" (her sister Daisy's fate) reframes the entire story as a book about avoidance and grief, not just internet culture
• The uncomfortable, rarely-said-out-loud truth about wanting to be watched — and what it's like to feel both euphoria and dread from an audience
• A comp-title pairing with Margot's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe, and how the two books differ in how much agency their heroines hold onto at rock bottom

Key framework: Erin's 70/30 rule for when AI is worth using — the tool brings structure, you bring discernment. (Full breakdown in Episode 174.)

Books mentioned:

• Just Watch Me — Lior Torenberg
• Margot's Got Money Troubles — Rufi Thorpe
• All Fours - Miranda July

Related listening:

• Episode 142 — Welcome to the Summer of REAL Rest
• Episode 174 — My 70/30 Rule: How I Decide When AI Is Worth It

This month's self-care capsule comes out of a real, lived week — five days of wildfire smoke from the Northern Ontario fires reaching southwestern Ontario, and a crash course in AQI and climate anxiety Erin didn't see coming. She shares a hope-forward book pack, a three-part mental reframe for climate anxiety, and a playful "treehouse mindset" for reducing consumption without falling into restriction or scarcity thinking.

What's covered:

• Living through the wildfire smoke from the Northern Ontario fires (including the community of Collins) and what it revealed about her own, previously unrecognized, climate anxiety
• Why climate fiction wasn't the right read for this particular week, and choosing hope-forward books instead
• The August book pack: Becky Chambers' Monk & Robot series, Ursula K. Le Guin's speculative fiction, and a new nonfiction release
• A three-part mental reframe for climate anxiety: reduce consumption playfully in the next 24 hours, connect outward with community, care inward for your body in the next hour
• The "Treehouse Mindset" play prompt — reframing reduced consumption as an imaginative game rather than restriction
• The 100 Days of Gratitude challenge on Instagram (Day 28) and a call to support wildfire-affected communities

Key framework: "Well-regulated, well-rested, well-fed, well-supported communities are what save the world — not individual hypervigilance."

Books mentioned:

• A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy — Becky Chambers (Monk & Robot series)
• Ursula K. Le Guin — exploring her wider body of speculative and utopian fiction; specific title to follow once chosen (will share on Instagram)
• Leave the Lights On: How Joyful Decisions Can Save Our Species — Elizabeth Dunn & Jiaying Zhao

Join in: 100 Days of Gratitude, Instagram @medium.lady

Support: Donate to the Anishinabek Nation 7th Generation Charity — CRA-registered, supporting Anishinabek Nation communities affected by the wildfires.

Episode Summary

Erin is back at the mic with a confession: she's been taking the podcast a little too seriously. In this honest, unpolished episode, she unpacks the ambivalence she's been carrying as a creator — the quiet pressure, the almost-quits, and the moment a listener named Kate said she just wanted more fun and Erin felt relief instead of defensiveness. From a trail walk with her friend Amy to a summer gratitude challenge already seven days in, this episode is an invitation to skip the optimization and notice what actually feels good right now.

In This Episode

• The honest confession: running the podcast like it has a performance review coming
• Why Erin hasn't quit even when she's wanted to — and what that reveals about protected time and identity
• The trail walk conversation with a friend that surfaced the scary thing out loud
• What one listener's feedback unlocked: permission to receive instead of always deliver
• What fun actually looks like this summer — reading outside, the 100 Days of Gratitude Challenge, and noticing when you're in a nothing-burger moment
• The simple question: what would make this more fun right now?
• A new idea Erin's sitting with: why knowing the right way to live doesn't mean you can read your own life
• Why this summer is going to feel a little different around here

Mentioned in This Episode

• Amy C. Willis, sobriety coach —https://www.holandwell.com/
• Medium Lady Talks on Instagram: @medium.lady
• 100 Days of Gratitude Challenge — follow along on Instagram

Connect

If this episode landed for you, DM Erin on Instagram at @medium.lady — she genuinely wants to know what you're doing this summer just because it's fun.