Books, Looks, and Lobotomies

Latest Episodes:

Bisexuality 101 with Haley Jakobson Aug 27, 2025

Show notes

Bisexuals, this is for you! For us! Your resident bicon Haley Jakobson, whose debut novel OLD ENOUGH was described by Vogue as being "full of winsome bisexual chaos," joins Books, Looks, and Lobotomies to talk all things bisexuality: what it is and isn't.

This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens⁠

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The Neurobiology of OCD with Neuroscientist Uma Chatterjee Apr 30, 2025

Show notes

Neuroscientist Uma Chaterjee joins us to discuss OCD and the brain! If you are wanting to know more about your brain and body as they relate to mental health symptoms, this is the episode for you.

This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at ⁠https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens⁠

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Episodes edited by ⁠Donny Hadfield

Your Unconscious Is Showing with Dr. Courtney Tracy Apr 23, 2025

Show notes

Did you know that your unconscious accounts for 95% of your behaviors, thoughts, and emotions? That our consciousness accounts for 5%? In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Courtney Tracy teaches us how to better consciously manage the unconscious through her three-part unconscious model and 12 steps of consciousness.

Every single human could benefit from this book!

Run, don’t walk, to get it. Purchase here!

This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at ⁠https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens⁠

Follow Alegra on ⁠Instagram⁠ and TikTok!

Episodes edited by ⁠Donny Hadfield

The Right Relationship is Inevitable w/ Lily Womble Apr 04, 2025

Show notes

Lily Womble, an intersectional feminist dating coach and former top matchmaker, talks her revolutionary book Thank You, More Please: A Feminist Guide To Breaking Dumb Dating Rules and Finding Love. Lily addresses the impact of the patriarchy on dating while teaching you how to joyfully attract the relationship of your dreams. 10/10, no notes!

This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at ⁠https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens⁠

Follow Alegra on ⁠Instagram⁠ and TikTok!

Episodes edited by ⁠Donny Hadfield

OCD and Substance Use Disorders (w/ Dr. Patrick B. McGrath) Mar 21, 2025

Show notes

Dr. Patrick B. McGrath, a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with over 20 years of OCD treatment experience, joins Alegra to talk about the intersection of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Substance Use Disorders (SUD). It’s an important conversation and one that is not had enough given the prevalence of these co-occurring conditions. Studies have shown that about 25% of people with OCD also live with a substance use disorder.

Dr. Patrick McGrath discusses the relationship between OCD and substance use disorders, treating both conditions concurrently, barriers people with co-occurring OCD & SUD face, and more.

This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at ⁠https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens⁠

Follow Alegra on ⁠Instagram⁠ and TikTok!

Episodes edited by ⁠Donny Hadfield

Chelsea Bieker's "Madwoman" Mar 14, 2025

Show notes

Trigger warning: domestic violence

Chelsea Bieker joins Books, Looks, and Lobotomies to discuss her national bestselling novel, Madwoman, a Book of the Month club pick the New York Times calls “brilliant in its depiction of the long shadows cast by domestic violence.” Chelsea talks the realities of domestic violence, motherhood, intergenerational trauma, survival, motherloss, and her flourishing creative life as an author of three books (she’s writing a fourth!).

Additional works include Chelsea’s first novel, Godshot, which was longlisted for The Center For Fiction’s First Novel Prize and named a Barnes & Noble Pick of the Month, and her story collection, Heartbroke won the California Book Award and was a New York Times “Best California Book of 2022.”

She is the co-creator of The Fountain and writes about creative practice at her bestselling substack, Make Up Your Life.

This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at ⁠https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens⁠

Follow Alegra on ⁠Instagram⁠ and TikTok!

Episodes edited by ⁠Donny Hadfield

The Intersection of OCD and Eating Disorders Feb 28, 2025

Show notes

OCD can look a lot like an eating disorder, making it difficult for clinicians to make a differential diagnosis. In this episode, Alegra shares her lived and clinical experience with OCD and Eating Disorders to debunk myths, discuss the intersection of this co-morbidity, and more.

This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at ⁠https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens⁠

Follow Alegra on ⁠Instagram⁠ and TikTok!

Episodes edited by ⁠Donny Hadfield

Breaking Book Tok with Emma Noyes Feb 14, 2025

Show notes

Emma Noyes talks How To Hide In Plain Sight, the first mainstream fiction book to cover POCD (!!!), breaking Book Tok, self-publishing, and finding her real life Manuel who loves her not despite her OCD but because of her beautiful mind. Emma’s works have been published in over a dozen languages and include Guy’s Girl, How to Hide in Plain Sight, The Sunken City series, and The Soul of Shadow series. She was named a 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30.

This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at ⁠https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens⁠

Follow Alegra on ⁠Instagram⁠!

Episodes edited by ⁠Donny Hadfield

OCD Is An Earthquake In The Brain with Stephen Smith Aug 16, 2024

Show notes

Stephen Smith, co-founder of the teletherapy platform NOCD, joins us to share his lived experience with OCD (sexual obsessions, relationship obsessions, and more) that fueled him to create a a virtual therapy platform specializing in the treatment of OCD. Like many, Stephen did months of general talk therapy with a therapist who didn’t understand OCD, which made his OCD worse. It wasn’t until he found effective treatment, Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP) therapy, that he started to feel better. Stephan compares OCD to an earthquake in the brain, talks the loss of identity that comes from OCD attacking one’s identity, being homebound when his OCD was at its worse, and more.

This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at ⁠https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens⁠

Follow Alegra on ⁠Instagram⁠!

Episodes edited by ⁠Donny Hadfield

Healing from CPTSD with Stephanie Foo Aug 07, 2024

Show notes

Stephanie Foo, author of the New York Times bestseller What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma, brought CPTSD to the forefront of mental health care. She joins us to talk about her healing journey, what CPTSD recovery means to her, emotional flashbacks, the painstaking search for a therapist, “the dread”, and more. This podcast is made possible by NOCD. NOCD offers effective, affordable, and convenient OCD therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute call today at⁠ ⁠https://learn.nocd.com/alegrakastens⁠⁠

Follow Alegra on⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠⁠!

Episodes edited by⁠ ⁠Donny Hadfield⁠

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