Nobody sat you down and taught you to mask. It just switched on one day, quietly, without asking, and most of the time you don't even catch it happening. So what would it mean to actually get your hands on the switch?

In this episode, Dr. Regina McMenomy, Ph.D. and co-host Russ dig into intentional masking: the difference between the mask that flips on automatically, without your permission, and the one you choose to wear because you've read the room and done the math on what it will cost you.

The heart of the conversation is your capacity, and why it's a moving target. We reframe this as a masking budget: your high-cost events (the dentist, the family visit, the party you're dreading) get planned around, not powered through. Because unmasking was never meant to be all or nothing, and treating it that way is its own kind of trap.  ...