Some ideas don’t spread because they’re true.
They spread because they’re repeated.

This One-Minute What looks at cultural brainworms and why they’re not accidental. How simple ideas, repeated often enough, start to feel like facts. Not because they’re proven, but because they’re familiar.

Brands don’t need to convince you. They just need to remind you. Again and again. Until belief feels obvious.

So if something feels self-evident but you can’t remember where it came from, it might not be truth.
It might just be well distributed.

And that’s your One-Minute What.

Ever notice how “Mercury in Retrograde” is the only astronomical event that makes everyone panic?

Before you decide you’re just “off” today, this episode looks at how astrology became one of the most effective belief systems in modern marketing.

We trace astrology back more than 4,000 years to Babylonia, where tracking the stars wasn’t about personality traits or compatibility. It was a high-stakes survival tool used by kings to anticipate famine, war, and political collapse. Over time, that complex system was simplified, personalized, and repackaged.

By the 20th century, astrology had been transformed into something scalable. Sun signs replaced planetary charts. Horoscopes shifted from nations to individuals. Media learned that identity sells better than prediction, and astrology became a brand.

We explore how zodiac signs turned into personality shorthand, why retrogrades offer emotional cover when life feels chaotic, and how ancient meaning was reshaped into modern reassurance.

This episode isn’t about whether astrology is real.
It’s about how belief is built, simplified, and sold.

Welcome to Lies We Bought.
They sold it. We bought it. Now we’re unpacking it.

Follow the show for future episodes.

Work-life balance isn’t a personal failure. It’s a system problem.

In this One-Minute What, we’re unpacking why burnout isn’t caused by bad boundaries, poor time management, or not trying hard enough. Research shows burnout comes from chronic workload, lack of control, unclear expectations, and workplace stress, not individual weakness.

So how did work-life balance become your responsibility instead of your employer’s? Marketing, wellness culture, and productivity hacks quietly shifted the blame.

If you’re exhausted, you’re probably not doing life wrong. You’re operating inside a system that was never designed to be balanced.

And that’s your One-Minute What.

Diamonds feel ancient. Inevitable. Like they’ve always been part of love.
They haven’t.

In this episode of Lies We Bought, we dig into the marketing history behind diamonds and how one of the most successful advertising campaigns of all time turned a plentiful gemstone into a symbol of forever.

We explore how De Beers controlled supply, reshaped social expectations, and tied diamonds to love, sacrifice, and seriousness through repetition and psychology rather than tradition. From the invention of the Four Cs to the myth of the salary rule, this episode breaks down how diamonds became mandatory, why they still feel emotionally charged today, and what happens as lab-grown diamonds begin pulling at the threads of that story.

This is a cultural and marketing history of diamonds, not a judgment on personal choice. Understanding the story doesn’t mean rejecting it. It just means finally seeing it.

Welcome to Lies We Bought.
They sold it. We bought it. Now we’re unpacking it.

Follow the show for future episodes.

Does “treat yourself” actually work?

I love a good treat. Truly. But some fascinating research made me pause.

Studies show that while buying yourself something feels good in the moment, acts of kindness toward others tend to create deeper, longer-lasting happiness. Helping someone else does more for our well-being than another self-focused reward.

Marketing noticed this gap. For years, self-care has been sold as consumption. You deserve this. Buy this. Reward yourself. And sometimes that’s great. But the science suggests the real emotional payoff often comes from connection, not just consumption.

So maybe “treat yourself” doesn’t always mean buying something.
Maybe sometimes it means showing up for someone else.

I still love a good treat. I just see it a little differently now.

And that’s your One-Minute What.

At some point, food quietly stopped being food.

A label on the package. A higher price. A feeling that one choice says something better about you than the other.

In this episode, I unpack how organic food became a moral signal rather than just a farming method. What started as early 20th-century fears around chemicals and industrialization evolved into a multi-billion-dollar industry built on purity, identity, and responsibility.

I trace the origins of the organic movement, from early food safety scares and biodynamic farming to Whole Foods, the USDA organic seal, and the rise of fear-based grocery marketing. We look at what science actually says about nutrition, pesticides, and health, and why the organic label feels so personal even when the evidence is far more nuanced.

This is not about telling you what to buy.
It is about understanding how a label became a moral benchmark.

Welcome to Lies We Bought.
They sold it. We bought it. Now we’re unpacking it.

If this episode resonates, follow the show and leave a review. It helps new listeners find the podcast and supports independent storytelling.

Welcome to my new bonus series, One-Minute What?

Where I talk about something for one minute that makes you stop and go… what?

Is multitasking actually productive, or does it just feel that way?

Multitasking didn’t become popular because it works. It became popular because it sounds productive. It fits perfectly into hustle culture. Do more. Faster. At the same time.

The problem is, multitasking doesn’t make us more efficient. It makes us feel efficient. And feeling productive is much easier to sell than actually being productive.

That’s why companies love it. Productivity tools love it. And why “must be able to multitask” keeps showing up in job descriptions.

So the next time you see that phrase, just know what they’re really asking for.

And that’s your One-Minute What.

At some point, a daily walk quietly turned into a performance review.

A buzz on your wrist. A glowing ring. A number that decides whether today “counts.”

This episode unpacks how ten thousand steps became the world’s most accepted fitness goal, despite never being rooted in science. What began as a 1960s marketing idea evolved into a global wellness rule that now lives on smartwatches, corporate challenges, insurance incentives, and personal guilt.

We trace the origin of the ten-thousand-step myth, what research actually says about walking and health, and why round numbers are so effective at shaping behavior.

This episode is not about walking less.
It is about understanding how a marketing idea became a moral benchmark.

Welcome to Lies We Bought.
They sold it. We bought it. Now we’re unpacking it.

Follow the show for future episodes.