In this episode, we push back hard against New Year’s resolutions and unpack why they so often leave us feeling guilty, frustrated, and stuck. Instead, we talk through the idea of yearly themes—a gentler, more flexible way to guide growth without the pressure of pass/fail goals. We reflect on our past themes, share what worked (and what didn’t), and introduce our themes for 2026: a year of peace and the year of gentle refinement. Along the way, we dig into anxiety, sleep, routines, and why progress is never linear—and that’s actually the point.

Show Notes

• We open by talking about being together in person over the holidays, unseasonably warm winter weather, and how strange it feels to see green grass in December.
• We reflect on how climate shifts, lack of snowpack, and wildfire smoke have become an unsettling “new normal.”
• As the year wraps up, we explain why we are firmly opposed to traditional New Year’s resolutions.
  • They tend to be overly ambitious.
  • They focus on failure and guilt rather than growth.
  • They encourage all-or-nothing thinking.
• We talk about how resolutions often repeat year after year, reinforcing a cycle of disappointment instead of progress.
• We introduce the idea of yearly themes, inspired by the Cortex podcast’s approach.
  • Themes guide decisions instead of dictating outcomes.
  • You can’t “fail” a theme.
  • Themes allow for flexibility, reassessment, and course-altering without shame.
• We discuss how progress actually works:
  • Growth isn’t linear.
  • Life looks more like a sine wave than a straight upward line.
  • The goal is to slowly shift the baseline over time.
• Aubrey reflects on last year’s theme—essentially survival—and why graduating, moving, and starting a new life counts as success.
• Peter shares past themes:
  • The Year of Growth (too broad)
  • The Year of Conscious Action (more effective and grounded)
• Aubrey introduces her 2026 theme: A Year of Peace
  • Focused on managing anxiety rather than “fixing” it.
  • Centered on inner calm, not external control.
  • Anchored in sleep, movement, mindfulness, and basic needs.
• We talk about anxiety as something often self-generated through imagined scenarios—and how peace is about changing our response.
• Peter introduces his 2026 theme: The Year of Gentle Refinement
  • A rejection of “optimization” as a harsh, weaponized concept.
  • Focused on small, monthly refinements rather than big overhauls.
  • Closely aligned with learning, workflows, and creative projects.
• We discuss embracing failure as information, not judgment.
• Sleep becomes a major focus:
  • Refining nighttime routines.
  • Consistent wake times.
  • Circadian rhythm basics.
• Aubrey shares practical strategies for anxiety management:
  • Walking meditations.
  • Getting sunlight early in the day.
  • Her “first aid kit for anxiety” (drink water, eat, go to the bathroom).
• We close by emphasizing that themes only need to work for you—there’s no universal right answer.

In this episode, we wrap up the year by looking back at everything we read in 2025 — the books we loved, the ones that surprised us, and the ones that completely missed the mark. We dig deep into our shared love (and growing concerns) around Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere, celebrate standout reads like Project Hail Mary and Murderbot, and unpack why some wildly popular fantasy series just didn’t work for us. Along the way, we talk rereads, audiobooks, nonfiction that actually changed how we think, and the frustration of realizing — a little too late — that a book you just finished maybe… wasn’t very good after all.

Episode Notes

• We kick things off with winter check-ins, comparing Wisconsin’s full-on frozen wonderland to Peter’s suspiciously warm, snow-light winter.
• End-of-year busyness hits hard, especially when holidays collide with work schedules and stolen OR days.
• Our main topic: books we read in 2025, including highlights, rereads, surprises, and disappointments.
• Aubrey walks through reading all of Brandon Sanderson’s Secret Projects, with Tress of the Emerald Sea standing out as a near-perfect recommendation for new readers.
• We both revisit Mistborn — rereading the original trilogy reveals new layers, but also highlights lingering concerns about prose and late-series direction.
• The Sunlit Man sparks mixed feelings, especially around Sigzil’s characterization and its disconnect from Wind and Truth.
• Peter rereads the entire Mistborn saga through The Lost Metal, praising Wax and Wayne but expressing disappointment with the finale, escalating Cosmere gods, and Kelsier’s trajectory.
• Both of us admit growing unease after The Lost Metal and Wind and Truth, worrying about where the Cosmere is headed.
• Aubrey shares thoughts on Isles of the Emberdark, Sixth of the Dusk, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and White Sand — including a strong dislike for Graphic Audio adaptations.
• Peter gushes about The Murderbot Diaries, praising their exploration of personhood, AI, free will, and identity — and recommends the Apple TV+ adaptation.
• We discuss The Three-Body Problem, including its hard sci-fi roots and the famous astrophysics concept behind the title.
• One of Peter’s standout reads: Murder Your Employer, a darkly funny, sharp, and satisfying novel that became his favorite fiction read of the year.
• Aubrey highlights Project Hail Mary as a clear top-tier read, praising both the story and the audiobook experience.
• We talk Hunger Games prequels, with Sunrise on the Reaping delivering emotional devastation and deeper insight into Haymitch.
• Aubrey runs through major fantasy misses, including Fourth Wing, From Blood and Ash, and An Ember in the Ashes, calling out weak prose, flat characters, and formula fatigue.
• Nonfiction roundup from Peter includes Atomic Habits, Save the Cat Writes a Novel, and Tiny Experiments, which had a genuinely life-changing impact.
• Aubrey shares a strong nonfiction miss with The Anatomy of Anxiety, ultimately abandoning it over pseudoscience and diet fear-mongering.
• The episode closes with Peter starting Gödel, Escher, Bach, setting up a serious, slow-burn intellectual challenge for the year ahead.

This week we settle in for a post-Thanksgiving catch-up, sharing how wildly different our holidays looked — from Peter’s early family feast and multiple pie rounds to Aubrey’s first snowy Wisconsin Thanksgiving with a marathon dog show in the background. We recap Aubrey and Hayden’s dream honeymoon in Punta Cana (complete with a personal butler, swim-up suite, and unexpectedly eye-opening moments outside the resort), reflect on the realities of tourism, talk about the new food-pantry project Aubrey is helping with, and rant lovingly about overconsumption and skipped-over Thanksgiving vibes. It’s a cozy, thoughtful, everything-we’ve-been-up-to episode.

Thanksgiving Recap
We compare how our Thanksgivings looked this year:

• Peter had family in town, ate early because Alex worked, and enjoyed the luxury of being done with dinner by 1:30pm — which meant pie three separate times throughout the day.
• Aubrey and Hayden had their first Wisconsin Thanksgiving together: quiet, cozy, just the two of them… and a national dog show that somehow ran for nine hours.
• Hayden cooked the full spread — turkey, stuffing, rolls, mashed potatoes — while Aubrey happily avoided the kitchen.
• The Costco pumpkin pie reigned supreme.
• Wisconsin immediately greeted them with bitter cold and a looming winter storm warning.

Honeymoon in Punta Cana

• Aubrey and Hayden finally took their honeymoon: a full week in the Dominican Republic at an adults-only all-inclusive.
• Thanks to deep research and a weird price quirk, they booked a VIP swim-up suite that was:
• Perfect weather the whole trip: 85° highs, 78° lows, light rain only at night.
• The butler sent daily WhatsApp newsletters with weather, restaurant schedules, and events.
• Resort activities
  • Parasailing
  • Muddy ATV/buggy tour
  • Swimming in a water cave
  • Tasting Dominican hot chocolate, coffee, and tea
  • Exploring local beaches
• Aubrey would like to return and never come home again.

The Realities of Tourism

• They learned resort employees often earn around $450/month, even in high-demand roles.
• Staff often work 12 days on, 2 days off, with housing just across the street.
• Resort guests are encouraged to leave TripAdvisor reviews for staff because bonuses and days off depend on it.
• Aubrey and Hayden tipped generously and left detailed positive reviews.
• We talk about how tourism helps but also doesn’t necessarily feed the real local economy.

What’s New at Home

• Aubrey is settling back into Wisconsin winter and starting her new job.
• Peter’s work has been the usual year-end chaos: med students, residents, OR days, and holiday-season busyness.
• He looks forward to January even though January hasn’t really slowed down in recent years.

Aubrey’s New Unpaid Job

• Aubrey is now the social media manager for her best friend’s mobile food pantry in Salt Lake.
• The pantry serves communities that can’t easily get to traditional food banks.
• Winter increases needs dramatically.
• Aubrey’s been making Canva graphics, Reels/TikToks, and growing the project’s presence.
• Shameless plug: Instagram → freefoodtruck.slc

Rethinking Consumption & the Holidays

• Aubrey has been reflecting on:
  • Volunteering
  • Spending money intentionally
  • Avoiding overconsumption culture — especially around the holidays
  • Donating or supporting causes rather than buying random gifts
• She shares love for:
  • The Hank & John Green–run Good Store
  • Awesome Socks Club subscriptions that funnel profits into maternal health in Sierra Leone
  • Coffee/tea subscriptions funding TB research

Peter’s Mini-Rant on Thanksgiving

• We revisit the idea (from Middle of Culture) that Thanksgiving has meaning but gets ignored since it can’t be easily commercialized.
• Halloween and Christmas dominate because they’re more profitable.
• Black Friday is a shadow of itself — 30% off is now considered a “deal.”

Wrapping Up

• We’re both getting back into routines after travel.
• Aubrey is preparing for a long winter of hibernation.
• Peter encourages light exposure (even artificial) to survive seasonal darkness.