Those 2AM Talks: Recent Episodes
Alessandra Smith & Mikalah Thomas
Those 2AM Talks, hosted by Alessandra (the A) and Mikalah (the M), is a space where we explore being twenty-somethings navigating life, relationships, and faith with thoughtful and engaging conversation.
We are dedicated to bringing you engaging, open, honest, vulnerable conversation, about real things, people in their twenties constantly have to deal with.
You’ve listened to us laugh, cry, and be our most authentic selves. We’ve officially reached the eleventh episode and will be wrapping up this season of Those 2AM Talks with our Season Finale: The Tell All ☕️🤩
We’ll be spilling all the secrets of what went on behind the scenes of putting on the podcast, what our favorite episodes were, what we liked, and what we didn’t like, etc.” please ignore lol just sending this to myself
Nothing beats some good ole life advice from your mom so we decided to ask our moms what are some things they knew in their twenties. Alessandra and Mikalah each ask their mom for 5 tips for young adults in their 20s, in this episode, we’ll be sharing and discussing our thoughts on their advice.
In this episode of Those 2 AM Talks, Alessandra and Mikalah talk about the culture shift and dynamic that comes in the summertime. From “hot girl” to "healing girl" summer, they give their take on how this phrase arose, and what it means for us twenty-somethings as we enter into one of the most exciting seasons of the year.
Often people shy away from talking about taboos because they lead to having difficult conversations, which lead to division, confusion, or frustration. In this episode, Alessandra and Mikalah talk specifically about taboos about being a Christian in and outside of the Christian community, through reflecting on their personal experience and discussing how taboos affect the community.
What is “girl code”? Some might call it the unwritten rules of female friendships. Many of us might know that a big part of it is the “unwritten” part. However, this can sometimes cause confusion in friendships given that some of us might have different rules surrounding this “code”.
On this episode of Those 2 AM Talks, Alessandra, Mikalah, and guest host Bijeé Jackson discuss “girl code”, what it means to them, and its role in their relationships with other women.
It may only take a few seconds for one person to look at another and think….” wow they are so attractive ”. But as young adults, some might consider it petty to decide that someone is appealing based on a few glimpses.
Attraction goes far beyond what you can see with your eyes. As some of us probably know, so many other qualities shape how we feel, relate, and interact with others.
In this episode of Those 2 AM Talks Alessandra and Mikalah talk about the different types of attraction, how they shape their relationships and how they see themselves in the world of dating and relationships
Time Stamps:
- 1.35 Different Types of Attraction
- 6.20 The “Spark”
- 7.40 What Attraction Looks Like to Us?
- 13.34 How Attraction Plays a Role in Friendships
- 15.00. Attraction Based on Aesthetics
- 18.50 What Do We Find Attractive?
- 26.40 Lacking Attraction to Others
- 28.40 What Do We Find Attractive About Ourselves?
- 34.07 Why is This Important?
Weeks, months, years….the journey to address and heal from trauma will likely differ for all of us. However, we can be comforted in knowing that while it is an individual process, none of us are alone in our pursuit of embarking on that journey.
As many of us navigate our twenties, we’re exploring and circling back to past traumas that we might have ignored, forgotten, or didn’t know existed.
On this episode of Those 2 AM Talks, Alessandra, Mikalah, and guest host Alyssa Horace delve into the topic of trauma, answer questions about our individual processes for identifying and healing from trauma, and touch on the importance of extending grace and establishing emotional boundaries.
Time Stamps:
- 2.03 - What Does Healing From Trauma Mean to You?
- 4.58 - When Were You First Introduced to “Trauma” and “Healing”?
- 11.03 - Talking About Triggers
- 15.50 - Setting Up Boundaries and Being Aware
- 18.40 - Putting In the “Work” to Heal
- 21.52 - Therapy Isn’t an End All Be All
- 25.23 - You Can’t Fix Anyone
- 28.10 - You Choose What You Tolerate
- 30.30 - Self Compassion and Accountability
- 32.42 - Being an Empath or Being Hypervigilant
- 38.08 - Being Present But Not Internalizing
- 40.10 - Sometimes You’re the Problem
- 48.08 - We Are All Worthy of Love
- 49.36 - Why is This Important?
I’m sure most of us have had some type of internal dialogue about our bodies with ourselves at least once in our lifetime. With social media being such a prominent part of so many of our lives it’s hard not to be consistently thinking about what our bodies look like and if they’re up to par with society’s standards of “beauty” and “attractiveness”.
In this episode, Alessandra and Mikalah discuss their separate experiences around body image and reflect on the impact that it’s had on their self-esteem.
Time Stamps:
- 1.14 What does body image mean to us?
- 2.56 Earliest memories pertaining to body image
- 5.37 Family influence
- 8.24 Influence of peers
- 9.49 Struggles & Appreciation with our bodies
- 15.39 Social Media Influence
- 22.02 Finding clothes that fit
- 24.34 What will it take to achieve a healthy body image?
- 29.52 Why is this an important topic?
If we’re being honest with ourselves, some friendships are simply temporary and some friendships have the potential to go the distance. However, there can be an unmistakable level of pain, frustration, and sadness that can come from falling out or losing touch with a close friend.
But what happens when you realize you actually want that to rebuild a friendship?
In this episode, Alessandra and Mikalah discuss the year-long break they took from their friendship and why they decided to reconnect again.
- 1:26 Our friendship history
- 2:28 Why our friendship ended
- 14:00 What we could’ve done better and our communication weaknesses
- 17:50 What our personal responsibilities were in solving the issue
- 18:30 Letting friends go
- 19:23 Cutting people off
- 23:55 Why did we decide to reconnect?
- 32:55 Why is this important?
For some, dating can be a space for building connections, an avenue for exploration of self, or even a means of escape. However, for others, dating can be a distraction, a source of confusion, and even hurt.
Many struggle with realizing and accepting whether they should be single. So the question is, do you think you should be single right now?
Alessandra, Mikalah, and Josslyn discuss what they personally consider important before dating, getting into a relationship, and then ask themselves the critical question “do you think you should be single right now?
Time Stamps:
- Josslyn's intro - 1:05
- Do you think you’re meant to be single? - 2:05
- Josslyn’s date - 4:37
- Making the first move and rejection- 7:00
- Second date 16:50
- “The DM Slide” and social media 19:00
- Friends expressing interest in you - 22:33
- Knowing your non-negotiables - 24:42
- How do you define “single”? - 26:20
- Dating apps - 31:30
- "Spinning the block" - 33:40
- Feeling lonely - 36:40
- Meeting People - 37:40
- Defining the talking stage - 45:45
- Why is it important to ask “are you meant to be single right now?” - 50:00
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In this podcast episode, Alessandra and Mikalah share their thoughts and experiences around their struggles and successes with confidentially owning who they are as multidimensional individuals
Mikalah dives into how she experiences different sides of herself and how it impacts starting and maintaining her relationships. While Alessandra explores how she lives in her definition of womanhood and the dynamic of her faith and sexuality.
Show Notes Time Stamps:
Getting Into Multiple Personalities - 1.20
Do You Think you Know Who You Are - 6.18
Getting Into Clashing Identities - 8.40
Bringing the Bible Into It- 12.35
Agreeing to Disagree - 15.15
Respecting that People Can Be Multi-Dimensional - 16.48
Exploring What We Were Taught vs. What We Know Now -22.53
Getting Comfortable w/Cuurent Selves and Looking at Past Selves-30.00’
Plug 4 Therapy - 33.48
Why is any of this important - 35.08
Mikalah and Alessandra’s Takeaways - 36.31