When The Pressure’s Just Too Much

By Greta Johnsen
Naomi Osaka, of Japan, serves to Leylah Fernandez, of Canada, during the third round of the US Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021, in New York.
As far as we're concerned, Naomi Osaka is still the reigning champ of the U.S. Open. Photo: AP Photo/John Minchillo
Naomi Osaka, of Japan, serves to Leylah Fernandez, of Canada, during the third round of the US Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021, in New York.
As far as we're concerned, Naomi Osaka is still the reigning champ of the U.S. Open. Photo: AP Photo/John Minchillo

When The Pressure’s Just Too Much

By Greta Johnsen
WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

It’s kinda-sorta fall! (We know, we know, there’s technically two weeks of summer left.)

First, we link up with WBEZ education reporter Susie An and Axios Today host Niala Boodhoo to talk about #FreeBritney, why that Blue’s Clues video is hitting a soft spot, and how Naomi Osaka is paving the way for all of us.

Speaking of whack expectations: Author Lauren Groff joins us to talk about all the reasons women could have been sent away to a convent in the Middle Ages. (Spoiler alert! There’re LOTS, because patriarchy.) That’s also the premise of her latest novel, the wonderfully weird and surprisingly escapist Matrix.

Then, feeling run down by the stressors in your own life? We chat with Dr. Wendy Suzuki, a neuroscience professor at NYU who just wrote a book called Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion.