Cult thinking. Groupthink. Black and white thinking. “Loud, vocal thinkers’ and how extreme sound bites dominate the modern media landscape thanks to algorithms, painting a ‘majority picture’ when most people are not living out those extremes in day-to-day lives.

It’s quite a time to be alive, and also a time when it’s very easy to let the fear of something cloud our ability to judge the reality of a situation fully. Is “Apatheism” a new way forward? I’ve always been fascinated by people we turn into our saviours and gurus, as well as charismatic authoritarians who sweep in and seduce us in our personal or collective vulnerable times.. That moment we start rationalising and making excuses for a cult leader, where perhaps a couple of years ago, we’d have been dead against that very thing/person we now defend.

On Monday, I explore the murky waters of freedom, autonomy, cults and social systems with Professor of Political Science and Constitutional Law, Adam Scott Kunz, who specialises in cults and political philosophy and has worked alongside the famed Dr Janja Lalich, considered a global authority on cults, until her recent retirement.

This show is NOT an attack on anyone, your beliefs, your religion, the diet you feel healthiest on or other held views, but a show to see how we can ensure we are “critical thinking” and not just believing we are, and how we can balance beliefs with values with freedom and come together on common overlaps that benefit us all and how we all struggle with freedom and belonging and ‘others’. One thing I know for sure after this conversation is that the best thing is to know we don’t know anything for sure. So there you go!

I hope you tune into this fascinating exploration… Alexx x

Want to learn more about this week’s guest?

Website: www.adamkunz.com

Thank you to this month’s show partners for joining us to help you make your low tox swaps!

@ausclimate is our major partner giving you 10% off their range for 2025, with Winix Air Purifiers, Dehumidifiers and their new energy-efficient heating, air-circulating and cooling range. code LOWTOXLIFE (also works over and above their sales - pro tip!) https://bit.ly/ShopAusclimate

@ediblebeautyau has put together a generous offer for us - 30% off for the month of May with code: LOWTOXLIFE. Seriously. Why not indulge yourself in the ultimate low tox facial, for some self-pampering this month?!

Be sure to join me on Instagram @lowtoxlife and tag me with your shares and AHAs.

Want to support the Low Tox Life podcast?

Free option: Leave a 5 star review wherever you listen to Low Tox Life - thanks SO much!

Paid + Member PERKS: Join the Low Tox Club - monthly practitioner live masterclasses, a suite of low tox store discounts from around the world and the most supportive and lovely chat group on all low tox topics on the internet: Check it out and join here for just the price of a coffee per month!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can one podcast hour cover how eating carbs before bed likely puts you in progesterone deficiency and explain the many reasons that play into a female “turning out to be them/do what they do” in life?

Yep. @leahhectman and I start with ‘what happens from the moment you have the extra X chromosome and are defined as female, and go where the exploration took us: It’s quite a ride.

You were never meant to be like ‘every other female’. What a relief. This week we unpack this science - there’s so much more that makes you, you and I hope, even for all humans, it makes you feel empowered to know how much plays into ‘you-ness’, whatever your sex or gender.

This week with Dr Leah Hechtman, we learn the many things that make us our unique selves when we have the XX chromosome:

• Hormone receptors + qty of them for different hormones, unique to you!
• Types of hormones,
• Metabolic type
• Genes
• Life stages and transitions
• Environmental inputs laid over the top of these…

You were never meant to be like every other female. There is a reason you’re you and, as you might have guessed, it’s due to many things. The rising awareness of the perimenopause/menopause experience adds the need to ensure we feel ‘true to ourselves’ on that journey into a new life chapter, however we choose to navigate that.

Enjoy the show. Tell your friends - it’s knowledge and understanding everyone should have.

Alexx Stuart,

Your Host.

Connect with Leah:

Instagram— @drleahhechtman

Website— drleahhechtman.com

Thank you to this month’s show partners for joining us to help you make your low tox swaps!

@ausclimate is our major partner giving you 10% off their range for the whole of 2025, with brilliant Winix Air Purifiers, the best Dehumidifiers I’ve ever used and their new energy-efficient heating, air-circulating and cooling range. code LOWTOXLIFE (also works over and above their sales - pro tip!) https://bit.ly/ShopAusclimate

@ediblebeautyau has put together a generous offer for us - 30% off for the month of May with code: LOWTOXLIFE. Seriously. Why not indulge yourself in the ultimate low tox facial, for some self-pampering this month?! Enjoy Alexx x

Be sure to join me on Instagram @lowtoxlife and tag me with your shares and AHAs if something resonated! I love to see your thoughts, genuinely!

Want to support the Low Tox Life podcast?

Free option: Leave a 5 star review wherever you listen to Low Tox Life - thanks SO much!

Paid + Member PERKS: Join the Low Tox Club - monthly practitioner live masterclasses, a suite of low tox store discounts from around the world and the most supportive and lovely chat group on all low tox topics on the internet: Check it out and join here for just the price of a coffee per month!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you use a sauna? A specific type of favourite sauna or temperature or frequency? Never tried it but sauna curious?

Dr Joy Hussain was a practising physician for many years before realising there was something very special about the sauna. She had Reynaud’s syndrome, which affects circulation, and noticed that using a sauna while living in Alaska improved her Reynaud’s. Moving to a warm climate next, she assumed that this would be the solution to Reynaud’s but a funny thing happened: It intensified. She reintroduced sauna, and just like that, it was better. This personal experience led her to doing a PhD studying them and here we are years later to discuss:

• Different sauna types and how the effects vary
• What we know about resilience, immune systems and detoxification when it comes to sauna
• The difference in women’s age stage and cycle timing
• Temperature relevance in sauna therapy, depending on climate ‘norm’
• Health conditions improved with sauna in the research so far
• You can be part of sauna research: Answer this quick sauna survey to support Joy’s work

Want to learn more about Joy?

Sauna Science - FB/Meta public group

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joy-Hussain

https://healthwithjoy.com.au/research

Thank you to this month’s show partners for joining us to help you make your low tox swaps!

@weledaaustralia - global leader in natural science and beauty gives you a massive 20% off sitewide. Code LOWTOXLIFE. Stock up on favourites or make your swaps and experience the power of nature for your skin (our faves are the shower bars, rose face care range, arnica EVERYTHING, rosemary hair tonic, deep cleansing gel - Oh, and Calendula range for the bubs!)

@ausclimate is our major partner giving you 10% off their range for the whole of 2025, with brilliant Winix Air Purifiers, the best Dehumidifiers I’ve ever used and their new energy-efficient heating, air-circulating and cooling range. code LOWTOXLIFE (also works over and above their sales - pro tip!) https://bit.ly/ShopAusclimate

Be sure to join me on Instagram @lowtoxlife and tag me with your shares and AHAs if something resonated!

Want to support the Low Tox Life podcast?

Free option: Leave a 5 star review wherever you listen to Low Tox Life - thanks SO much!

Paid + Member PERKS: Join the Low Tox Club - monthly practitioner live masterclasses, a suite of low tox store discounts from around the world and the most supportive and lovely chat group on all low tox topics on the internet: Check it out and join here for just the price of a coffee per month!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.