Update

For the past three months I’ve been going through some health problems...

Hi everyone,

For the past three months I’ve been going through some health problems. It’s been debilitating, and I’ve been getting extremely upset, which further makes it a vicious cycle. It’s insomnia. This is something I’ve dealt with on and off in the past, but this is the longest flare‑up I’ve ever had. It’s frustrating because I feel so much pressure to work on the podcast, put out great content, write here on Substack, work on the CORE contest (for graduate explainer videos), and I have a book I’m writing with Penguin Press. I ordinarily can handle, but the past couple months in particular have taken their toll.

FYI, this is not a huge channel. It’s just myself, my video editor, and my wife, who is considerably lovely, of course, and she’s helping me manage all of this, alongside my doctor. That’s three people.

Anyone who’s battled insomnia knows how damn depleting virtually every aspect of it can be. In case you’re wondering, yes, nutrition, workouts, CBT, sleep hygiene, meditation, etc., everything is on point, fortunately, but unfortunately it’s not enough. It’s extremely excruciating. I have some tests coming up to help diagnose wtf is going on.

In the meantime, your prayers, patience, kindness, and support in any form are appreciated while I take a step back from content creation over the next month.

TOE’s small, support genuinely keeps it alive, so I’ll be direct: if the show has meant something to you, here are a few ways to help.

1. Watch something on the channel / recommend: (browse here as there’s so much new content)

2. PayPal one‑time donation

3. Crypto one‑time donation

4. Join on paid-Substack here (if you’re not already)

Watching content helps feed the algorithm and thus helps feed TOE. Whatever you do—even reading all the way until the end here—is fantastic. None of it is expected. And I thank you dearly.

—Curt