The Little Extra Hug (And Other Things My Brain Needs)

You're Not Too Much · Feb 18, 2026 · 22m · transcript

I didn’t plan to talk about George Carlin.

Or mascara.

Or why I apparently cannot send a calendar invite without causing structural damage.

But here we are.

Hi, I’m Lauren Howard. You can call me L2. Like other people do.

In this episode of Different, Not Broken, I talk about why I can speak into a microphone for 100,000 strangers… and feel deeply uncomfortable when someone I actually know tells me they listened.

I unpack the idea of the “little extra hug” you can only get from strangers. Why performing publicly can feel easier than being known privately. Why validation from the internet…