How To Stop Giving 110%
How To! with Mike Pesca
Peach Fish Projects
4.3 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 8 July 2025
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kate is juggling a lot: work, kids, caregiving for an elder, a dance troupe, the PTA, community organizing. Oh, and she runs a '90s-themed DJ night, too. On this episode of How To!, Courtney Martin brings on Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks and Meditations for Mortals, to talk with Kate about how to stop doing everything all the time.
If you liked this episode check out: How To Manage Your Precious Time
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi everyone, I'm Susie Weiss, and I've noticed there's just simply not enough podcasts in the world. So I'm launching my own. Let's go. Let's go, baby. Second Thought is a weekly show about pop culture. The stuff everyone's been binging, arguing about, obsessing over. Here's the thing about heated rivalry. I mean, even the most devoted swifties, I think we can agree, not our best work. We'll be hosting thoughtful conversations with culture's most important figures. Talk about genius. |
| 0:22.6 | Talk about generational talent. |
| 0:23.7 | Coming to headphones near you |
| 0:24.8 | on April 17th with a first guest you won't want to miss. Available wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:34.0 | Welcome to how to. I'm Courtney Martin. I'm sure all of you listeners out there have a busy friend, right? You know the type. They seemingly have three jobs, a full family life, a ton of responsibilities. And yet, every time you check on them, they're going on these amazing side quests. They've learned a new instrument, |
| 0:55.1 | or just run an ultra, or restored an old coffee table. And I mean, it is impressive, |
| 1:02.9 | but you got to wonder, how do they find the time? Well, I have a dear friend like this, |
| 1:10.1 | and I want you to meet her. My name is Kate Levitt. I have a dear friend like this, and I want you to meet her. |
| 1:12.6 | My name is Kate Levitt. |
| 1:13.6 | I am a working parent in San Francisco, California. |
| 1:18.6 | I am an education and nonprofit leader. |
| 1:24.6 | I also have three kids. |
| 1:26.6 | I'm like solidly middle-aged to turning 45 in just a few weeks, |
| 1:31.6 | but feeling very much that sort of lovely middle of life having done a lot and still very excited |
| 1:38.9 | about everything there is to do. I'm a DJ. I'm a community organizer. I'm a caregiver. Many things. I have self-proclaimed |
| 1:47.9 | maximalist here. I love this introduction, but honestly, Kate is being a little modest. She's |
| 1:56.9 | one of the most interesting people I know. She's civically engaged, the one hosting the block parties and running the PTA to make sure it's more equitable. |
| 2:05.8 | She's intellectually engaged, the one who always has tickets to the coolest lectures coming to town. |
| 2:11.2 | But she's not just a nerd. She's legitimately cool, too. |
| 2:15.2 | She's a DJ, for God's sake, and a dancer who hasn't missed Carnival in |
| 2:19.5 | years. She loves Halloween and always does the most elaborate costumes and she's an incredible |
| 2:25.6 | cook, always showing up to the potluck with a heaping pile of homemade grape leaves or an incredible |
... |
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