Hi, happiness lab listeners, Dr. Laurie Santos here. I'm dropping into share with you a preview of

a new Pushkin show. It's called The Loudest Girl in the World. For years, journalist and producer

Lauren Ober wasn't all that jazzed about herself. She was always getting into trouble. She had a

lot of sensory issues, and her anxiety fell off the charts. And then, in her 40s, and right in the

middle of a global pandemic, she found out why. Lauren is autistic. Lauren's always been a big talker

and super social, so she might not be what you think of when you think of autism. And that's

the whole point, to try to get you to change your ideas about autism. As a scientist, I'm particularly

interested in how Lauren speaks about the medical industrial complexes treatment of autism,

the problematic history of autism evaluations, and the way gender comes into play when receiving

an autism diagnosis. And so, here's the preview. You can hear more from Lauren on The Loudest Girl

in the World, available wherever you get your podcasts. Hey there, my name is Lauren Ober,

and I'm a journalist and a podcast host. You might know me from some of my work, Lollip.

But I'm not just a worker. I'm also a loud talker, a dog owner, and a

pigsburger, among other descriptors that end in ER. Oh, and as of late 2020, I am also officially

autistic. Which came as a surprise, because I don't fit into a lot of the stereotypes about autism,

or what I thought I knew about autism before I found out I was autistic. But on my new show,

The Loudest Girl in the World, we leave the autistic tropes behind and experience neurodiversity

in a way it's never been portrayed before. And I know that because it's all about me.

I'm going to walk you through my own experience. From the time my sixth grade teacher put me in

a cardboard box to shut me up to the time I melt it down as an adult over a caper in my soup,

to my decision at 42 to finally get evaluated for autism. Since this show is all about the

journey of self-discovery, you're going to be right there with me. You'll tag along as I take

...