In this podcast episode of Goddess of Technology, we’re exploring one of the most misunderstood and damaging social behaviours that can hide in plain sight across groups, from schools to fraternities, workplaces to military units. We’re unpacking how a practice originally framed as ‘bonding’ or tradition can transform into a psychological and physical threat, ripping apart lives and communities when norms spiral into abuse and ritualised harm.

You’ll hear about extraordinarily heartbreaking cases that reveal the darkest extremes of hazing, including the tragic death of Sanda Dia — a 20-year-old Belgian student whose aspirational quest for community ended in fatal ritual humiliation at a fraternity event, where forced intake of alcohol and fish sauce led to critical harm and death amidst degrading conditions.

Building on that, I’m taking you into the legal aftermath with Matt’s Law — a California statute that broadened felony accountability for hazing when serious harm results, reshaping how societies think about liability and duty.

We’re further examining how hazing manifests in work settings — from psychologically abusive ‘initiation’ tasks to hostile environments that mirror hazing dynamics — grounded in real workplace harassment cases and settlement discussions that show how law, organisational culture and accountability intersect.

By the end of this episode, we’ll understand why workplace bullying and hazing aren’t just a humourous and entertaining rite of passage, but a deep social and psychological phenomenon with tangible, sometimes devastating consequences — and what you can do to interrupt it if you encounter it yourself or witness it in your community. I invite you to reflect on your own experiences and to share your insights and stories through the contact form linked in our podcast description — your voice matters, Goddess.

REFERENCES

• Employee Hazing Harassment Lawsuits — Examples of Workplace Hazing. AtkersonLaw.com.
• Workplace Harassment Lawsuit Settlements: 8 Real-Life Examples. eTactics.com.

In this podcast episode, we’re examining bullfighting as a cultural institution, an economic system, and a business model – while critically exploring its ethical, psychological, and societal implications in Spain and Latin America.

This episode is focusing on how bullfighting is historically framed as ‘culture’, ‘history’, ‘identity’, ‘sports’ and ‘art’ – while operating as a commercial industry that systematically inflicts suffering on animals for entertainment and profit.

I’m unpacking the origins of bullfighting, the power structures that sustain it, the financial incentives behind its preservation, and the growing resistance movements that are challenging its legitimacy on moral, legal, and economic grounds.

You’re invited to reflect on how traditions are protected, how violence is normalized through language and spectacle, and how business interests influence public narratives about culture and identity.

This episode is not about condemnation for its own sake; it’s about developing ethical literacy, critical thinking, and socially responsible decision-making in business and beyond.

Goddess, what do you to ensure that your actions are socially responsible?

I’m warmly inviting you to share your valuable insights them through the contact form linked in the general podcast description.

REFERENCES

• Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (n.d.) Bullfighting. Encyclopaedia Britannica.
• Humane World for Animals (n.d.) Bullfighting: A Long, Cruel Death.
• LC Animal Advocates (n.d.) Bullfighting.
• Music: ‘Bummin on Tremelo’ by Kevin MacLeod – CC BY 3.0 (incompetech.com)
• PETA (n.d.) Bullfighting: Tradition or Tragedy?

This Valentine’s Day special episode is intentionally released two days prior to Valentine’s Day on February 14th, while honoring Sant Jordi, which is traditionally celebrated every year on April 23rd, a distinct and separate date in the Catalan cultural calendar.

We’re exploring Sant Jordi, Catalonia’s singular celebration of love and literature, by tracing how a medieval legend evolves into one of Europe’s most intellectually charged cultural rituals. We’re examining how roses and books become symbolic instruments of identity, how public space transforms into a literary agora, and how Sant Jordi operates as a civic expression of emotional intelligence, cultural resistance, and relational values. By connecting myth, history, publishing economics, and social psychology, this episode is unpacking why Sant Jordi continues shaping Catalan society far beyond symbolism, influencing literacy, gender dynamics, urban culture, and Spain’s broader cultural landscape. Stay with me, Goddess, because each layer reveals how culture survives not through force, but through beauty, meaning, and shared ritual.

I warmly invite you, beautiful, to share your reflections and, if applicable, your personal experiences with Sant Jordi via the contact form linked in the general podcast description. Your voice nourishes this community just as stories nourish culture.

REFERENCES

• Amades, J. (1950). Costumari Català: El curs de l’any. Barcelona: Salvat Editores.
• Ascenso Akademie (n.d.). Sant Jordi – Einer der beliebtesten Festtage Kataloniens.
• Barcelona City Council (n.d.). Sant Jordi. Institut de Cultura de Barcelona.
• Generalitat de Catalunya (n.d.). La Diada de Sant Jordi. Departament de Cultura.
• Music: ‘Bummin on Tremelo’ by Kevin MacLeod – CC BY 3.0 (incompetech.com)
• Unexpected Catalonia (n.d.). Sant Jordi: The Festival of Books and Roses.
• UNESCO (2012). World Book and Copyright Day: Origins and Cultural Impact.

In this podcast episode, we’re examining the Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, Guangxi, China, through the lenses of history, ethics, psychology, cultural identity, and global responsibility. I’m unpacking how this festival emerges, why it becomes internationally controversial, and how narratives surrounding it are frequently simplified, sensationalized, or misunderstood. We’re exploring what the festival represents locally, how animal welfare concerns are raised by veterinarians, NGOs, and legal experts, and why the global response reveals as much about Western moral frameworks as it does about Chinese society.

This episode invites you, goddess, to sit with complexity rather than rushing to judgment. We’re holding space for compassion without cultural arrogance, for advocacy without dehumanization, and for informed action without performative outrage. If you’ve ever felt torn between protecting animals and respecting cultural diversity, this episode is designed for you.

I’m warmly inviting you to share your perspective and, if applicable, your personal experience with cultural ethical conflicts or animal protection through the contact form linked in the general podcast description. Your voice contributes to a more thoughtful and humane global dialogue.

REFERENCES

• BBC News. (2016). China’s Yulin dog meat festival: What you need to know.
• Humane World for Animals. (n.d.). China’s Yulin dog meat festival.
• MacLeod, K. Music: ‘Bummin on Tremelo’ – CC BY 3.0 (incompetech.com).
• Reuters. (2016). Dog meat festival in China.
• Singer, P. (1975). Animal Liberation. New York: HarperCollins.
• World Animal Protection. (n.d.). Statement on Yulin dog meat festival.
• Wikipedia. (n.d.). Dog Meat Festival.

In this podcast episode, I’m guiding you through the rich tapestry that is Lunar New Year — the festival central to millions of people’s cultural identity and annual rhythm. We are exploring how the celebration is defined, where it originates, and why the Year of the Horse in 2026 begins on February 17th, 2026 and lasts until the Lantern Festival on on March 3rd, 2026.

You will learn that this holiday is rooted in an ancient lunisolar calendar — a system that predates modern western datekeeping — and that it synchronizes communal celebration with cycles of moon and season.

This festival is not limited to one nation or one tradition. It has been adopted and adapted across Asia and in diaspora communities worldwide, including in places as varied as Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia, and even major cities in Europe and North America.

I’m taking you through the symbolic meaning of the Horse — a figure associated with strength, movement, independence, and forward motion — and connect these symbols to tangible ways you can activate your own goals, relationships, and creative impulses in alignment with the spirit of this year.

Goddess, I’m inviting you to reflect and share your own experiences and traditions around Lunar New Year via the contact form in the general podcast description, because every tradition holds lessons that shape our collective human story.

REFERENCES

• Britannica, Chinese New Year: Summary, History, Traditions, & Facts.
• Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) 2026: Calendar & Horoscope, chinesenewyear.net.
• Do Only Chinese Celebrate Chinese New Year?, Alibaba Party.
• How Lunar New Year Celebrations Vary Across Countries, SBS News.

• Music: Bummin on Tremelo by Kevin MacLeod – CC BY 3.0 (incompetech.com).

We’re exploring the profound significance of Celebration of Life Day, which takes place annually on January 22nd, which is today.

Let’s examine the historical origins of the day, defining what it means to ‘celebrate life’ in a world that frequently feels rushed, standardized.

I’m walking your through 5 practical and simple daily habits we can adopt to honor life with intention and depth—habits that are grounded in psychological and sociological research.

Beautiful, how are you spending Celebration of Life Day today? I’m inviting you to share your ideas with your fellow-goddesses through the contact form linked in the general podcast description.

REFERENCES

• Fromm, E. (1956). The Art of Loving. Harper & Row.
• Frankl, V. E. (1959). Man’s Search for Meaning. Beacon Press.
• Music: ‘Bummin on Tremelo’ by Kevin MacLeod – CC BY 3.0 (incompetech.com).
• Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being. Free Press.
• Smith, Y. (2003, January 24th). ‘Celebrating Life Beyond Survival’. The New York Times.
• Tutu, D. (1999). No Future Without Forgiveness. Image Books.
• White, C. (2015). ‘The Cultural Anthropology of Life Rituals’. Journal of Cultural Studies, 22(3), pp. 201–218.

There’s a world you’ve felt before — in flashes, in tingles, in the quiet moments where your body knew something your mind hadn’t named yet. A world where pleasure is not a reward but a compass. Where your senses hold the intelligence you’ve been taught to ignore. Where joy becomes the most powerful, sustainable form of discipline.

In this episode of the Goddess of Technology podcast, we’re stepping directly into that world.

Let’s explore how pleasure sharpens your intuition, restructures your motivation, and turns consistency into something effortless. We’re talking about the kind of productivity that doesn’t drain you, doesn’t hollow you out, and doesn’t require you to trade pieces of yourself for performance. We’re all about the version of you that leads, creates, and decides from desire — not depletion.

This isn’t self-care. This isn’t indulgence. This is strategy encoded in sensation.

What about you, goddess? What are your own rituals to experience pleasure in your every day life? Please share them with your fellow-goddesses and myself through the contact form linked in the general podcast description.

REFERENCES

Music: ‘Bummin on Tremelo’ by Kevin MacLeod – CC BY 3.0 (incompetech.com).

This special anniversary episode explores five powerful misconceptions shaping today’s technology landscape.

Instead of repeating industry clichés, we examine the psychological narratives that quietly influence professionals’ mental health, wellbeing and careers, entire teams, and the future of work.

Some myths come from fear.

Some from past traumatic experiences.

Some from outdated thinking.

But all of them deserve to be challenged.

As for yourself, Goddess, what myths in the technology industry would you like to demystify based on your personal experience?

I’m inviting you to share your feedback through the contact form linked in the general podcast description.

REFERENCES

Music: ‘Bummin on Tremelo’ by Kevin MacLeod – CC BY 3.0 (incompetech.com).