All About The Joy
All About The Joy is a weekly hang-out with friends in the neighborhood! We share insight, advice, funny-isms and we choose to always try and find the positive, the silver lining, the "light" in all of it. AATJ comes from the simple concept that at the end of the day we all want to have more JOY than not. So, this is a cool place to unwind, have a laugh and share some time with friends!
Watch the livestream version of the show on YouTube at @CarmenLezeth.
Episodes
275 episodes
The Learning Hack That Changed My Life
In this Carmen Talk, I share the learning strategy that has shaped my entire life — one I used as a kid, hid for years, and now fully embrace. It started with a children’s chess book and grew into a method that helps me understand anything from...
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Sure, We Believe Tucker Carlson
In this episode, Carmen and Andrea unpack a week of political absurdity — from Tucker Carlson’s sudden “regrets,” to the conservative scramble to distance themselves from Trump, to the fantasy that any of these media figures are preparing to “s...
How I Know the World Is Leaving the U.S. Behind
In this episode, Carmen explores a quiet but unmistakable cultural shift — one you don’t see in headlines, but you feel in the stories we tell and the ones we’ve stopped telling. What begins with a Canadian TV show becomes a wider examination o...
From Journalism to Justice: Nicole Knox on Criminal Defense and Constitutional Rights
In this Private Lounge conversation, Carmen sits down with Dallas criminal defense attorney Nicole Knox, known for her federal trial work, rare full acquittals, and more than 60 not‑guilty verdicts. Nicole talks about why the 14th Amendment mat...
When Power Has No Consequences: The Pope, Trump, and the Swalwell Fallout
In this episode of Culture & Consequence, Carmen and Andrea dive into a wide‑ranging, unfiltered conversation about power, accountability, and the public figures shaping today’s headlines. From the Pope’s viral social‑media statements to th...
Being Wrong: Why Knowing Your Lane Is Your Real Superpower
In this final installment of the Know Thyself series, Carmen digs into one of the most uncomfortable but essential parts of being human: being wrong. Why do we double down? Why is it so hard to say “I don’t know”? And how does k...
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Taking A Day Off Culture and Consquence
We will be back next week! In the meantime if you need a little dose of C&C - please know you can always check out the past episodes at any time on YouTube. 😊 Culture & Consequence Episodes: https://buff.ly/L3M9q...
Know Thyself: Books That Changed Me
In this Know Thyself installment, Carmen explores the books that have shaped her inner life - not to recommend or sell them, but to show how rereading meaningful works can reveal identity, perspective, and joy. She reflects on the intimacy of p...
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Birthright Citizenship, Supreme Court Tensions, and the Politics of Hypocrisy
In this episode, we start with a little travel fatigue and crowd overload before diving straight into the Supreme Court’s latest hearing on birthright citizenship. We break down the 14th Amendment’s language, the history behind “subject to the ...
What I Learned When I Finally Understood My Brain: Living With Aphantasia
In this episode of the Carmen Talk: Know Thyself series, I share something I’ve never talked about publicly: I have aphantasia — a cognitive variation where the mind doesn’t create visual images. I discovered this in 2016, and it completely cha...
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The Week Everyone Lost Their Damn Minds
This week felt like a masterclass in incompetence, and Andrea and I have… thoughts. From Tulsi Gabbard insisting her literal job isn’t her job, to RFK Jr. resurrecting a food pyramid no one has used in 15 years, to Speaker Mike Johnson inventin...
Stop Looking for the Five Steps - Start Looking at Yourself
In this Carmen Talk, I get honest about why the self‑help industry keeps selling “five easy steps” while real life keeps proving there are none. Love, joy, relationships, purpose — none of it comes from a formula. It comes from knowing yourself...
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War Crimes, Chávez Allegations, Cuba Fallout, and the Student Loan Rage Cycle
Viewer Feedback, War Headlines, César Chávez Allegations, and Student Loan AngerCarmen and Andrea open the episode by talking through viewer reactions to last week’s history‑heavy conversation with Kenny Morris — what worked, what...
Re‑Air: Frederick Douglass - Legacy, Truth, and Liberation with Kenneth Morris
In this episode of the Private Lounge, we are re-airing an episode of our latest show, Culture & Consequence. We don't normally have interviews in C&C, but this week was a special circumstance. So, for our Private Lounge viewers -...
Frederick Douglass: Legacy, Truth, and Liberation - A Conversation with Kenneth B. Morris Jr.
In this episode of Culture & Consequence, Carmen and Andrea sit down with Kenneth B. Morris Jr., a direct descendant of Frederick Douglass, for a powerful conversation about legacy, truth, and the ongoing fight for liberation. Morris shares...
Know Thyself: The Three Truths That Change Everything
“Love yourself” is everywhere — but most people don’t actually know what it means. In this Carmen Talk, I break down why the real work isn’t about loving yourself first… it’s about knowing yourself. Because when you truly know who you are, the ...
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Military Action, Moral Outrage, and the Texas Primary
This week, Carmen and Andrea dig into a chaotic stretch of news: U.S. military action in Iran and Ecuador, the limits of the 25th Amendment, and the growing sense that the country is being run by people wildly unprepared for the power they hold...
Why Joel Lava Is Running for Congress: Accountability, Community, and Real Leadership
In this Private Lounge conversation, Carmen sits down with Joel Lava, who is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in California’s 30th District. Joel talks openly about why he decided to run, what pushed him from activism into a congre...
Billionaires, Broken Politics, and the SOTU We Couldn’t Watch
Carmen and guest co‑host Billy take the State of the Union as a starting point to examine the deeper fractures in American politics. They dig into the outsized influence of billionaires, the fallout of Citizens United, Fox News distortion, medi...
The Lost Art of Manners: Dignity, Decency, and Why It Still Matters
In this episode, Carmen explores what manners truly represent — not as rigid rules or performative politeness, but as everyday acts of dignity, awareness, and human connection. Through personal stories and real‑world examples, she reflects on h...
The Truths We Weren’t Taught
On this episode of Culture and Consequence, Andrea and I sit down for a wide‑open conversation about the state of American life — from healthcare and wealth to history, race, and the stories we were never taught. What starts with a sim...
Kelly Quinn on Craft, Courage, and Building a Life in Acting
In this episode of The Private Lounge, Carmen sits down with actor Kelly Quinn for a candid, funny, and deeply honest conversation about the realities of building an acting career outside of Hollywood. Kelly opens up about her unexpected path f...
Bad Bunny, Pam Bondi and the Fight for the Real America
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show wasn’t just entertainment; it was a cultural shift. We break down why a Spanish‑language performance with Afro‑Latino dancers and Charm La’Donna’s choreography felt like a love letter to the real America — a...
When the World Tells You How to Feel — Choose Your Own Story
What if the loudest voices in your feed don’t get to tell you how to feel? Carmen opens up about growing up without a father, losing her mother young, and refusing the tidy TV script that says a missing parent means a missing self. Instead of i...
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Bad Bunny, Belonging, and the American Story We Keep Forgetting
A sore back, a sleepless night, and a headline you can’t unsee - sometimes that’s all it takes to reveal what we’re really wrestling with. We open by talking honestly about pain and rest, then follow that thread into how exhaustion shapes our e...
