Seriously, asking for a friend, because we constantly tell each other to “trust the process” but when you’re going through that process it can be frustrating, infuriating, anxiety-inducing and just generally not all that enjoyable. Yes, that’s where e grow. Yes, it’s good to be uncomfortable sometimes. And OF COURSE we know we can’t just expect success and everything we want overnight, but that isn’t to say it isn’t sometimes kinda lonely. We’re sharing how we navigate these in-between phases, the reminders that keep us sane and how you can be a bit gentler on yourself when you’re in limbo.

If you liked the sound of the bonus episode reacting to this episode of A Bit Fruity and all of our thoughts on Gwen Stefani’s transformation/return then you can sign up to be a paid member of our substack right here.

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What Is Analog Wellness by The Good Trade:

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Most of us complain about getting older but between the two of us, we so often talk about how ageing is the ultimate privilege. That’s not to say ageing is easy and it certainly comes with its challenges, but ageing is a privilege that not everyone gets to experience and we live in a society, particularly as women, where we’re sold anti-wrinkle creams, wellness is commercialised and we praise people who look younger than their years. So why are we all striving for longevity, but we’re all still running away from what ageing actually looks like?

Did someone say Substack?

Click here to subscribe to our ✨brand new✨ Substack (we’ve got a free and a paid version so everyone can join!). Come for newsletters, rec wraps, more thoughts on the big topics, bonus podcast content and an insight into our (somewhat chaotic) conversations.

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Oh we’re getting deep into it this week discussing success, is there such a thing as *too much* success and is it greedy to ask for more when you already have so much? We live in an always-on society where striving for more seems to be the default. Where we always want to seek more the next big thing, but in doing so, are we being a bit greedy? Should we just be happy with what we have?

Did someone say Substack?

Click here to subscribe to our ✨brand new✨ Substack (we’ve got a free and a paid version so everyone can join!). Come for newsletters, rec wraps, more thoughts on the big topics, bonus podcast content and an insight into our (somewhat chaotic) conversations.

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Charlotte has a new heated blanket and is getting ready to go to Stockholm, Helli is in the depths of house hunting and apologies for her muffled audio, her mic plug broke right before recording… We’ve got a juicy chat at the start of the episode about the dangers of what you share about your life online and how trends are mimicking history and the problems with idolising a part of history that you weren’t part of.

And of course we recognise the irony of our topic this week… but as two humanities students who love to analyse (and over-analyse!), however have we as a society gone too far with trying to find a deeper meaning in everything? Social media has made it easy to over-intellectualise everything from politics to pop culture and while the skills of analysis and being able to vocalise our opinions are important, maybe “being deep” has become performative because of that. Things are allowed to be fun, silly and entertaining, there is value in lightheartedness and maybe we just don’t need to have an opinion on absolutely everything.

Let us know your thoughts on this topic – we’d love to chat more about it (head over to our Substack to join the chat!)

Did someone say Substack?

Click here to subscribe to our ✨brand new✨ Substack (we’ve got a free and a paid version so everyone can join!). Come for newsletters, rec wraps, more thoughts on the big topics, bonus podcast content and an insight into our (somewhat chaotic) conversations.

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Helli’s been ill for the third time this year (thanks, 2025) and Charlotte has thrown her back out, BUT we’re here! This week we’re wondering, why are we obsessed with labelling people are role models and policing how people behave because we think they’re a role model? Really, anyone can be a role model online these days, so is being a role model even an accolade anymore? Or are we holding people to an impossible standard?

Did someone say Substack?

Click here to subscribe to our ✨brand new✨ Substack (we’ve got a free and a paid version so everyone can join!). Come for newsletters, rec wraps, more thoughts on the big topics, bonus podcast content and an insight into our (somewhat chaotic) conversations.

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No. Stones. Left unturned. In this episode we have not one, but two honeymoon recaps, a first glance at the reading lists we managed to get through on said honeymoons, a must-read Substack (that isn’t our own) and a documentary we can’t stop thinking about. And then we’re asking the big question of WHY are the bad things so noisy while the good things happen so quietly? Is it actually a bad thing that we give more air time to the bad? Or is there already enough negativity out there? 

Did someone say Substack?

Click here to subscribe to our ✨brand new✨ Substack (we’ve got a free and a paid version so everyone can join!). Come for newsletters, rec wraps, more thoughts on the big topics, bonus podcast content and an insight into our (somewhat chaotic) conversations.

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Helli is a sickly Victorian child this week and Charlotte has her life together with new nails. Prepare yourself for a very in depth chat about Charlotte’s stringent Goodreads rating process and Helli’s meta take on reviewing books throughout life.

It’s February, maybe you’re struggling with your New Year goals or maybe you never made any, either way we feel like setting some creative goals rather than metrics-based goals is a great way to find more joy and authenticity in your life and to redefine what an achievement is. Yes, hitting sales targets or income goals is great, but not every goal has to be so black or white or come with so much stress/pressure. Trying something new, getting outside your comfort zone, making something imperfectly, enjoying yourself even if you’re not perfect at something, doing something in your community, these are all achievements, maybe it’s time we re-defined what goals and achievements look like.

Did someone say Substack?

Click here to subscribe to our ✨brand new✨ Substack (we’ve got a free and a paid version so everyone can join!). Come for newsletters, rec wraps, more thoughts on the big topics, bonus podcast content and an insight into our (somewhat chaotic) conversations.

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Charlotte reveals which celebrities she gets mixed up and we’re both surprised to learn how literal the direct translation of the names are in Lion King… Plus who is the internet obsessed with right now.

So all this feels very fitting that we’re talking about brain rot content. Oxford English Dictionary named “brain rot” their word of the year for 2024, but what does it mean? What is brain rot content? How do we classify it and is it different for everyone? Is it fundamentally bad? And how much does our intention behind our content consumption decide whether or not it’s brain rot? Sometimes we find the low quality content or easy-to-consume content entertaining and it serves as escapism, but if that’s the dominant content we consume, how healthy is that for us?

Did someone say Substack?

Click here to subscribe to our ✨brand new✨ Substack (we’ve got a free and a paid version so everyone can join!). Come for newsletters, rec wraps, more thoughts on the big topics, bonus podcast content and an insight into our (somewhat chaotic) conversations.

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A discussion about ice hockey was not on our 2025 podcast bingo card, but we like to keep you (and ourselves) guessing!

This week we’re chatting about the phrase “you’re not like other girls”. This phrase feels like it was normalised in 90s rom-coms and was always the “ultimate compliment” from a guy. We both get a big ick from this phrase for many reasons, why shouldn’t we be like other girls? and how does this backhanded compliment double as a patriarchal means of controlling women? Also, why do you never hear “you’re not like other boys”? We’re dissecting it all and we’d love to hear your thoughts too.

Did someone say Substack?

Click here to subscribe to our ✨brand new✨ Substack (we’ve got a free and a paid version so everyone can join!). Come for newsletters, rec wraps, more thoughts on the big topics, bonus podcast content and an insight into our (somewhat chaotic) conversations.

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The Finch app – available on App Store and Play Store

Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action on Netflix

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