We exist first, we're thrown into the world, and then it's up to us to create our essence.

And authenticity through this lens is a process of creating your essence in ways that you choose.

Hello and welcome to the Psychology Podcast.

Today we welcome Philosopher Sky Cleary to the show.

Sky is a lecturer at Columbia University and the City College of New York.

She's the author of existentialism and romantic love and co-editor of How to Live a Good Life.

Her writing has appeared in the Paris Review, Business Insider,

Ted Ed and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among other outlets.

In 2021 she was a McDowell Fellow and in 2017 she won the new Philosopher Writer's Award.

Her latest book, which is the topic of our chat today, is called How to Be Authentic.

In this episode I talk to Cleary about Simone de Beauvoir's life,

and how it has informed her existentialist philosophy.

As a feminist during the 40s, Simone was passionate about freedom of choice.

It's not a surprise then that her definition of authenticity also revolves around self-determination.

Authenticity is not about finding a true self, but rather a process of creating who we want to be.

The sky and I also touch on the topics of gender, power, social justice, narcissism, and fulfillment.

This is a really rich conversation with a dear friend of mine.

I just think the world of sky and actually thinks she's the modern day Simone de Beauvoir.

So without further ado, I bring you sky, Cleary.

Sky Cleary, wow, so good to see you.

So good to see you too, Scott. Thanks for having me.

It's been ages.

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