Plastic surgery is a profession that seems to be almost inextricably linked with certain ideas about physical beauty in popular culture. Yet, l have often wondered whether working in the field might not give plastic surgeons a more nuanced understanding of beauty than we tend to give them credit for.

In this episode of This is Beauty Podcast, I talk to Plastic Surgeon and Researcher Dr. Michael Reilly, a double-board certified facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC, about the subject of beauty and the role it plays in his profession and his practices, both as a cosmetic and reconstructive surgeon. How does the concept of beauty inform his work and how has his work influenced, or been influenced by, his personal philosophy of beauty?

While I have always had lots of questions on the subject, plastic surgery is a topic that I’ve always skirted on the show until now — not because it doesn’t have a place here, but because I really wanted to avoid the kind of skin-deep only conversations that can erupt when people mention beauty and plastic surgery in the same breath. In Michael, I found not only an expert on the subject of cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, but someone who has clearly given the concept of beauty and its relationship to his work serious thought.

In this conversation, we discuss Michael’s work with both his cosmetic and reconstructive surgery patients and how beauty takes on different meanings depending upon the objectives of the procedure and more!

Enjoy!

• When perfection matters 
• Social media’s influence on the field of plastic surgery
• How mental health and self-esteem influence patient outcomes
• Dr. DeSilva on the Golden Ratio and the most world's most beautiful women
• Definitions of beauty 
• Bell’s Palsy and Facial Paralysis 
• Who benefits most from plastic surgery
• Why men seek plastic surgery
• Standards of physical beauty: men vs. women
• Age as a factor in procedures
• Why people elect plastic surgery

Mentioned in this episode:

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital  

The Most Beautiful Women in the World - Dr. Julian DeSilva

Bell’s Palsy and Mental Health

Psychology Today Blog: Dissecting Plastic Surgery

Social Media Drives Interest in Plastic Surgery Procedures

Plastic Surgery Can Make You More Likeable

About Today’s Guest:

Doctor Michael Reilly is a Professor of Otolaryngology--Head & Neck Surgery at Georgetown University Medical Center and a double-board certified facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. His areas of expertise include both facial cosmetic surgery, including the full spectrum of minimally invasive treatments, and facial reconstructive surgery, with particular interests in the areas of nerve paralysis and microvascular reconstructive and melanoma...

Lisa Samuels Show Notes

In today’s episode of This is Beauty Podcast, transnational author, poet, theorist and filmmaker Lisa Samuels talks to me about the problematic relationship between concepts of beauty and the tool of language, and about how this dynamic shapes our understanding and experience of beauty, even as it limits our ability to fully ever know it. 

What is beauty’s relationship to knowledge and understanding in poetry, literature and art, and how has this relationship been shaped by beauty’s own intellectual history? Can beauty itself ever be considered a form of knowledge and, if so, then what is its role in helping the artist imagine the unknown? 

If you enjoy deep dives and fascinating discussions, then this episode for you. This one, in particular, is long-walk friendly :). So, grab your favorite cuppa and hit the trails for an episode that is sure to get the wheels of your mind turning as you learn how to perceive beauty in entirely new ways.

Also covered in this interview:

• Readings from the artist’s own work 
• Beauty as power and commodity
• The relationship between beauty and poetry 
• Aesthetics 
• Plato on beauty
• The poet Shelly on beauty

About Today’s Guest

Lisa Samuels is a transnational (US and New Zealand) poet, novelist, memoirist, editor, and theorist. She earned her PhD from the University of Virginia and currently teaches literature, theory, and creative writing at The University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Her work focuses on transformance and identity, how humans become signs and how language speaks the human and non-human world. Her critical essays engage with power and the body, transnationalism and displacement, and ‘imagining what we don’t know’ in theories such as membranism and distributed centrality.

Her many books include Tomorrowland, Symphony for Human Transport, The Long White Cloud of Unknowing and Breach, a response to the Covid lockdown. Her critical essays engage with power and the body, transnationalism and displacement, and ‘imagining what we don’t know’.

Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Something beautiful to share? Email me at Nina@ThisIsBeautyPodcast.com. 

Find More on Lisa & Her Work Here:

Electronic Poetry Center

Pennsound

Tomorrowland

Breach

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In this episode:

In this episode of This is Beauty Podcast we sit down with writer and editor Kevin Kelly, to talk about his new book, Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier. We discuss the inspiration behind the book and explore how Kevin's love for proverbs and wisdom led him to share this advice with his children and ultimately, the world. Join us for this lively conversation as we hit some of the book’s highlights, touching on everything from optimism and imagination to beauty, art, YouTube, hot dogs and the future of A.I. 

Kevin Kelly:

Kevin Kelly (@Kevin2Kelly) is a distinguished figure in the world of technology and journalism and holds the esteemed position of Senior Maverick at Wired magazine. As a co-founder of Wired in 1993, he served as its Executive Editor during the publication's formative years, guiding the magazine to its current prominence.

Kelly's most recent work, Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier, offers a thoughtful compilation of 450 modern proverbs for a life of mindfulness and fulfillment. In addition to his literary accomplishments, he serves as co-chair of The Long Now Foundation, a membership organization dedicated to fostering long-term thinking and responsible stewardship for future generations.

Show notes:

On "Being the Only":

"Don't aim to be the best. Aim to be the only, to do something that only you can do, to have a job that's hard to describe to your mom." (00:03:23)

On Mortality:

"Attend as many funerals as you can bear and listen to what people say about the departed...they mostly talk about what kind of person that person was, their character, while they were achieving." (00:05:07)

On Parenting and Discipline: 

“Let your children choose their punishments; they'll often be tougher on themselves than you would be. “(00:08:39).

On Remaining Youthful: 

The chief prevention against getting old is to remain astonished.(00:11:07)

On the Power of YouTube:

The quantity, quality, and accessibility of information on YouTube is transformative. (Examples include brain surgeons learning new techniques from their colleagues and people learning how to fix things. (00:11:57)

On Waiting in Line for Experiences (00:15:14)

On Imagination and Fear: 

Fear is fueled by a lack of imagination. (00:16:58)

On The Evolution of Humanity:

 Humanity is evolving physically and biologically faster than ever before. (00:20:50)

On The Future of AI: 

There will be no singularity. Humans are not the center of the galaxy but and edge case. Our type of thinking is specific to this planet, and other artificially created alien species will have specific minds suited to specific tasks. (00:24:52)

On Exploration vs. Optimization: Do you optimize...

Hey everybody! Welcome back to This is Beauty and welcome to the New Year, Here's a quick overview of what's coming up for 2023 and some of the new things you can expect to hear from us coming up in Season 2. Enjoy!

 “There’s always hope,” or so the saying goes. 🌈🌈🌈

But what if we’re not feeling especially hopeful right now? What if life has lost some of its luster and its beauty because we feel hopeless about our situation, circumstances or future? What then? How can we reclaim and re-connect with hope to re-ignite the flame of life’s beauty?

In today’s episode, hope expert Lindsay Recknell (ExpertinHope.com) answers these questions, plus many others as she takes us on a journey into the nature of hope, and the science behind it. 

In this interview, Lindsay helps us understand why hope is vital to living a successful life and explains how we can activate the cognitive processes behind hope to improve almost any situation or circumstance in lives, be they our health, our career, or our relationships. 

We also talk about activating hope to fuel our dreams, achieve our goals and improve our overall well-being. The data says that people who are hopeful do better in life, and the beauty of hope, Lindsay says, is that it’s actionable!

In this episode of the podcast, we find out how to put hope to work for us to make things happen!! 

🌸Covered in this episode of This is Beauty Podcast:

• What hope really is (as opposed to what we think it is) and why understanding the difference between a hope and a wish is crucial if we want to make hope work for us. 
• How hope works in the brain. 
• The science behind hope. 
• The connections between hope and Beauty. 
• How to learn your Hope Score.
• Why anyone can experience hope.

• ✴Subscribe, rate and review here. 
• ✴Share episodes with friends
• ✴Post on social media: #ThisIsBeautyPodcast and tag@ThisisBeautyPodcast

Hear Nina’s recent interview on Beauty and Hope on the Hope Meets Action Podcast: 

 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/hope-motivates-action/id1479920913

 Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9fVkNXQ1FmbA

 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3CRFYiCjKbMY3Ese1IgrTK

 Amazon: https://music.amazon.ca/podcasts/0692bb5a-de8e-4e41-9f8d-0813eb986393/hope-motivates-action

As the president & CEO of Paradigm Corporate Wellness Inc, Lindsay Recknell closes the skill gap for professionals, upleveling their careers by teaching them the mental health skills they need to know to feel knowledgeable and confident about mental health at work. 

A CMHA-Certified Psychological Health & Safety Advisor, Lindsay works with Leaders & HR Professionals to give them the language to know what to say about mental health at work, how to help while considering the moral, ethical and legal considerations and how to make mental health-related decisions in the best interest of the company, their individual teams and, most importantly, themselves.

She also has a bachelor’s degree in Entrepreneurial Leadership and has started and grown four entrepreneurial businesses in the last 12 years. With 15+ years of experience in facilitation, speaking, leadership development, podcasting, and...

If Queen Elizabeth II's recent passing tells us anything, it’s that our continuing fascination with the mystique of British royalty isn’t going away anytime soon, particularly when it comes to the subject of titled women and female rulers. 

Even now, our preoccupation with the first Elizabeth , a queen who died over four-hundred years ago, shows no signs of abating.

What is it about this particular queen that continues to capture our imagination? 

Why does her mystique remain so strong? Was it her unique abilities as a ruler, her legendary Beauty and charisma, the enormous success of her reign, her position of absolute power in an age of men, or the undeniable power of her persona? 

Who was the woman behind the crown? What drove her? What did she really care about and what were the factors and circumstances that shaped her philosophy, her personality and her times? What did she really care about and how did her rule impact women’s perceptions of themselves and their abilities or help to usher in a new, more modern era? 

In this episode guided by This is Beauty guest, historian, author and scholar Dr. Carole Levin, we examine the life and times of Queen Elizabeth and the relative importance of both female honor and Beauty in a time dominated by men and misogyny. 

Fascinating moments in this episode include:

• The role of Beauty in an age of men
• Elizabeth I: her childhood, reign, and character,
• Queen Elizabeth’s extraordinary gifts, persona, private life and passions
• The role of women in middle England, the use of makeup 
• Women and Honor 
• How Elizabeth’s reign and person influenced women AND the work of Shakespeare
• Elizabeth’s artifacts; hair, makeup, clothing, jewelry and more
• The first modern toilet in England
• Shakespeare’s real identity

This episode’s beautiful experience! 

Descriptions of Elizabeth’s artifacts; hair, clothing, jewelry, makeup, mirrors and more…

About our Guest, Carole Levin

Carole Levin is Willa Cather Emerita Professor of History at the University of Nebraska. She specializes in early modern English women's and cultural history. Her books include Shakespeare's Foreign Worlds: National and Transnational Identities in the Elizabethan Age, co-authored with John Watkins (Cornell, 2009); Dreaming the English Renaissance: Politics and Desire in Court and Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008); The Reign of Elizabeth I (Palgrave Macmillan, 2002); and The Heart and Stomach of a King: Elizabeth I and the Politics of Sex and Power (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994). She is the former president of the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women, the co-founder and president of the Queen Elizabeth I Society, and is Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.  

To learn more about Carole, her books, and her work visit: QueensandDreams.com, or the author’s bio page at www.thisisbeautypodcast.com

For more This is Beauty Podcast and other Episodes:

This is Beauty Podcast, or our website at https://www.thisisbeautypodcast.com

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What, if anything, can poetry teach our children about the concept of Beauty, and how can it be used to help them better understand and express their feelings?  

To answer these and other questions, we turned to award-winning children's author, and poet, Marilyn Singer, a former school teacher who has authored more than 100 books of poetry and fiction, plus many other genres for both children and young adults. 

In this episode of the podcast, we get to talk about:

• poetry’s value as a teaching tool
• Marilyn’s work as a teacher, poet and author
• what poetry teaches children about Beauty
• using poetry to help instill children with a love of words and language
• why so many adults seem to lose touch with their imagination and sense of wonder about the world
• how poetry can help children learn to better express their feelings
• recommended children’s authors, poets and poems

This episode’s beautiful experience! 

We also get to hear Marilyn read from her work, including several Reversos, plus a Shakespeare sonnet on Beauty.

About our Guest

Marilyn Singer’s work has been widely recognized by both critics and educators for its innovative ideas and creative use of language, and has appeared in multiple best-of booklists, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Times Magazine and Publisher's Weekly to name just a few. Marilyn is also widely credited with inventing an entirely new form of poetry called the “Reverso”. To learn more about Marilyn, her books, and her work visit MarilynSinger.net, or the author’s bio page at www.thisisbeautypodcast.com

To learn more about the authors, poets and poems listed in this podcast, see the episode page at www.thisisbeautypodcast.com, or simply click the links below. 

Poets

https://jacquelinewoodson.com/

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/marilyn-nelson

https://poets.org/poet/naomi-shihab-nye

http://margaritaengle.com/

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/86334-

obituary-arnold-adoff.html

https://libguides.ashland.edu/c.php?g=68054&p=439773

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/books/take-two-by-j-patrick-lewis-and-jane-yolen.html

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/gerard-manley-hopkins

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikki_Grimes

Sometimes you have to go in search of Beauty and sometimes you find it in the most unexpected of places...

This episode of This is Beauty Podcast marks the halfway point of our first season. We have some important announcements to make about the upcoming schedule and we answer a question or two about the Podcast itself. Thank you for your support of the show and don't forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook @ThisIsBeautyPodcast, or visit us at www.ThisisBeautyPodcast.com and send us a message through the contact page. We'd love to hear your thoughts on the show, answer any questions you might have or hear your suggestions for future episodes. We'll be back on Thursday, October 27 for the second half of the season.