Sweaty feet, shaving rash: Sticky-summer advice from Toronto's viral hygiene expert Madame Sweat

'I tell people armpits are like rainforests — moist, dark and full of bacteria,' says Mary Futher, more famously known as Madame Sweat.
If you aren't already following her, you're missing out. Madame Sweat is the internet authority on hygiene and
personal care
etiquette, gross grooming truths and tricks for keeping your body and home germ-free, with 1.1 million followers on
Instagram
and 18.3 million likes on her
TikTok
posts. And she happens to be Canadian.
For Futher, there is no cleanliness conundrum too unpleasant to discuss, no
taboo body issue
that is off-limits: Recent screeds include 'The safe way to use cotton swabs,' 'The 3 filthiest everyday items,' and 'You're caring for your scab all wrong.'
Before she was the internet's grand dame of hygiene, Futher worked in product development at big beauty brands, including Revlon, Shoppers Drug Mart and YSL, where she learned how
active ingredient
s really work, and what consumers truly want from their personal care products.
Then, about a decade ago, she decided to start her own brand. Instead of pursuing
luxe lipsticks
or scented body lotions in pretty packaging, Futher's first launch was decidedly un-flashy: a deodorant. 'I've never been one for the sexy items, you'll notice, because I really like digging into things that nobody wants to talk about,' she says. At the time, everyone was on the hunt for a
natural deodorant
that actually worked, and her Kaia Naturals Charcoal Deodorant was a runaway hit. Its ensuing companion product, The Underarm Bar — for properly scrubbing away sweat before you apply a fresh layer of deodorant — remains her bestseller.
Mary Futher's brand Kaia Naturals' bestseller The Underarm Bar, $26,
kaianaturals.com
, which contains apple cider vinegar, sea salt and activated charcoal.
Madame Sweat's straightforward take on keeping things fresh is, well, refreshing. So we asked Futher to share her top hygiene tips for summer. If you've ever experienced stinky sneakers, wondered how often you need to wash your
swimsuit
or had your deodorant fail you on a hot day (honestly, haven't we all?), then keep reading for no-nonsense advice.
'You can't stop the sweating, but you can stop the smelling by washing your feet,' says Mary. But think beyond the shower gel you use on your arms, legs and torso. 'It's prudent to keep two different types of body cleansers in your shower,' she says. That's a gentle one for the areas that don't sweat much or get particularly dirty, and a second, more effective soap for your feet, underarms and skin folds. Futher points out that some on SkinTok recommend strong antibacterial cleansers, but those should be used with caution because they can be irritating; she says a soap containing tee tree oil or apple cider vinegar will do the job. If you're not someone who showers every day, at least wash just your feet in the bathtub or sink.
Madame Sweat trick:
Wash smelly areas like feet daily and scrub for a full 20 seconds using your hands or a soft silicone shower scrubber — but avoid loofahs and shower poufs because they harbour bacteria.
If you notice odour coming from under your breasts or your belly button, a yeast infection could be the culprit. 'I've had two DMs this week about smelly C-section scars,' says Futher. Our skin is host to a range of fungus and bacteria — all over the body, all the time — but under certain conditions, yeast or fungus could proliferate, causing an infection. For some, all it takes is a string of particularly steamy summer day and voila, a yeast infection springs up in a skin fold.
If you think you have a yeast infection on your body, talk to your doctor to verify; they may prescribe an antifungal cream or direct you to an over-the-counter option to clear it up.
Madame Sweat trick:
To reduce the chances of an overgrowth of yeast in skin folds anywhere on the body, clean the area daily with a mild cleanser, pat dry, then apply a moisture-absorbing powder or a barrier cream.
Impromptu beach days or pool trips when you realize you need to groom stat are to blame for most shaving mishaps. 'You get into trouble when you try to do it fast,' Futher says. Instead, she recommends shaving regularly, so the hairs aren't too long and the skin becomes accustomed to the process, and taking your time as you move through the following steps. First, apply a warm, damp cloth to the area to soften the skin and open the pores. Next, use a cleanser that's exfoliating and disinfecting. Rinse, pat dry, and apply a shave oil: Futher finds these to be more effective than foams or gels, and says moringa oil (a seed oil from the moringa plant) works best. Using a new blade, shave in the direction of the hair growth, rinsing frequently to prevent clogging. Then — and this step is key — wash the area with disinfecting cleanser again, to remove any trace of bacteria that could turn into angry, red bumps. Lastly, pat dry and moisturize.
Madame Sweat trick:
Friction and perspiration can make shaved areas between your thighs and in your armpits prone to ingrown hairs. Exfoliate every second day with a product containing salicylic acid to keep the hair follicles from filling up with bacteria and dead skin cells.
Whether you've spent a day at the beach, lounging at the lake, or doing laps in the gym pool, you need to wash your bathing suit after every use. 'Leaving it wet is the worst thing you can do,' says Futher, adding that just throwing it over a line or balcony fence to dry doesn't quite cut it, either. Laundering your swimwear removes sweat, sunscreen, chlorine, salt and debris from a dip in any kind of water. For best results, wash your suit by hand in the sink using a mild clothing detergent, rinse well, then hang to dry thoroughly. (Never put swimwear in the dryer, as this will degrade the fabric.)
Madame Sweat trick:
'The same goes for sports bras,' says Futher. 'If you are prepared to take the time to wash them out by hand and hang to dry every time, you will extend their life by 50 per cent.'
We shed some 30,000 skin cells every hour (!) so an old pillow could be up to 30 per cent dead skin cells, dust and dust mites, says Futher. Not only is this revolting, but sleeping on a pile of dust mites can trigger indoor allergies and symptoms like sneezing and itchy, watery eyes. Hypoallergenic pillows, which are made from synthetic materials that discourage mites from thriving, are the best option, but they are pricey. Futher has another recommendation: 'Better yet, buy the hypoallergenic covers that will protect your pillow inside.'
Madame Sweat trick:
Launder hypoallergenic pillow covers in hot water monthly, to kill mould and mites, and replace your pillows every two years.
Baths can be wonderfully relaxing and therapeutic for sore muscles, but they're not a time for getting clean. When you're in the mood for a soak, Futher recommends pre-gaming with a quick shower — otherwise, you're just sitting in your own filth. Wash all your smelly bits, including feet, armpits and scalp, then rinse out your tub before you fill it with warm water to chill in.
Madame Sweat trick:
'A shower is for hygiene; a bath is a treat.'

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Yahoo

3 hours ago

• Yahoo

10 best and worst deli meats you can buy at grocery stores in Canada, ranked by a nutrition coach: Turkey breast, ham, roast beef and other popular meats

Deli meats are a convenient go-to for lunches, charcuterie boards and grab-and-go snacks. Some are lean, protein-packed choices that make lunch a little easier. Others are heavy on sodium and saturated fat, with a side of added preservatives. For Canadians navigating the deli counter, it's worth learning the difference between a healthy pick and an ultra-processed one. Health Canada classified deli meats as highly processed foods, and for good reason. Many varieties are packed with salt and preservatives, which have been linked to increased risks of heart disease and colorectal cancer. That doesn't mean you have to give them up entirely, but it does make it important to choose wisely regarding which options deserve a regular spot in your rotation. This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Contact a qualified medical professional before engaging in any physical activity, or making any changes to your diet, medication or lifestyle. As a nutrition coach, I know consistently eating balanced meals sometimes means choosing convenience. Deli meats are a super quick source of protein that can help people create more nutritious meals when they're short on time. Here, I've ranked 10 of the most common deli meats found in Canadian grocery stores — like turkey breast, ham, roast beef and Canadian-style bacon — using nutritional breakdowns and official health recommendations to give you a clear picture of what you can safely add to your cart and what might be worth rethinking. Processed meat has been under scrutiny for years. In 2015, the World Health Organization classified processed meats (like bacon, ham and bologna) as Group 1 carcinogens, meaning there's sufficient evidence linking them to colorectal cancer. In response, the Canadian Cancer Society recommended limiting red and processed meat to three servings or fewer per week. But that doesn't mean you have to cut out deli meats completely. You can enjoy them occasionally as part of a balanced diet, especially if you choose leaner, lower-sodium options. The key is to read labels carefully and prioritize minimally processed sources of protein whenever possible. You should also keep an eye on portion sizes to limit your overall exposure to high sodium and fat in processed meats. Health Canada uses 56 g as the serving size for sliced meats like turkey, chicken, ham, and roast beef, which is about two slices of typically sized deli meats. Claims you see on the front of deli meat packaging like "natural," "nitrate-free" or "artisan" aren't regulated in Canada. Instead, check the Nutrition Facts table and ingredients list. Here's what to aim for: Protein: At least 8 to 10 g per 56 g serving Sodium: Preferably under 500 mg per serving (Canada's recommended sodium limit is 2,300 mg/day) Fat: Lean options will have 2 g or less per serving Ingredient list: Shorter is better. Look for real cuts of meat ("turkey breast" or "top round") over vague blends ("mechanically separated meats"). To create this list, I started with Canada's most common and popular deli-style meats — turkey, chicken, ham and roast beef — and added a few popular extras like prosciutto, back bacon and Montreal smoked meat. Each meat was ranked using: Nutrition per 56 g serving: Protein, fat and sodium Processing level: Is it oven-roasted, cured, smoked or ultra-processed? Health guidelines: from Health Canada, Heart & Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cancer Society Health Canada recommended limiting highly processed foods and keeping sodium intake under 2,300 mg per day. The Canadian Cancer Society also advised eating no more than three servings of red or processed meat per week. These guidelines shaped the cutoff points I used in this ranking. Per 56 g (about two slices): Calories: 56 Protein: 12 g Fat: 0.3 g (Saturated: 0.06 g) Sodium: 431 mg Carbohydrates: 1.1 g Turkey is a popular protein (Canadians spent about $466 million on turkey in 2024). It's lean, relatively low in fat and delivers a decent protein hit per serving. The ultra-lean turkey option from Schneider's is low in fat and sugar, high in protein and made with straightforward ingredients. Its sodium is moderate compared to most deli options. For health-conscious shoppers, this is a consistent front-runner. Per 56 g (about three slices): Calories: 56 Protein: 9 g Fat: 1.4 g (Saturated: 0.35 g) Sodium: 438 mg Carbohydrates: 0.9 g Chicken is the most popular meat in Canada by a landslide, but hasn't been a top choice as a deli meat until more recently. Chicken is a great deli option since it's more nutritionally balanced than other cuts. Olymel's version is nitrite-free, sans preservatives and contains solid lean protein, minimal fat and moderate sodium. It's a reliable choice if you want to avoid preservatives, and its flavour is neutral enough to include in sandwiches or wraps. Per 56 g (about eight to nine slices): Calories: 58 Protein: 12 g Fat: 1.1 g (Saturated: 0.6 g) Sodium: 464 mg Carbohydrates: 1.1 g Red meat has a bad rap, and while it's best to limit your overall intake, lean cuts will give you a hefty serving of protein with minimal fat, plus iron and vitamin B12. A grocery store staple, Maple Leaf's Natural Selections Roast Beef, is gluten- and nitrite-free, made from natural ingredients and has a clean, lean protein profile. With about 12 grams of protein and just over 1 gram of fat per serving, it'll help keep you full with moderate sodium. Per 56 g (about four slices): Calories: 56 Protein: 11g Fat: 2g (Saturated: 0.6g) Sodium: 481mg Carbohydrates: 0g Pork-based deli meats like ham and salami are the most popular type in Canada, but they can also be higher in fat and sodium. One exception is lean ham, including Olymel's smoked black forest version, which is nitrite-free, gluten-free and made with natural ingredients. At just 2 g of fat and 11 g of protein per serving, it's leaner than many traditional ham products, but sodium is moderate at around 20 per cent of the daily value. Keep in mind, even lean ham varieties can add up in sodium, so limit servings to once per week or swap in turkey to stretch your intake. Per 56 g (about three to four slices): Calories: 47 Protein: 9 g Fat: 0.6 g (Saturated: 0 g) Sodium: 455 mg Carbohydrates: 1.2 g (Sugars: 1.2 g) Ziggy's, which is a Loblaw brand, makes a smoked turkey that is extra lean and decently high in protein. It would make a killer sandwich paired with veggies and honey mustard on high-fibre bread. But sodium is still an issue at 20 per cent of your daily recommended amount in a 56 g serving. Choose this for extra flavour once in a while, but for more frequent bites, substitute lower-sodium cooked turkey. Per 56 g: Calories: 59 Protein: 8 g Fat: 2 g (Saturated: 0.66 g) Sodium: 421mmg Carbohydrates: 2 g (Sugars: 1 g) Peameal bacon — what non-Canadians ironically call Canadian bacon — is a leaner alternative to traditional bacon, and Lou's version holds up relatively well. It's low in fat and calories, but sodium still climbs to nearly 30 per cent of the daily limit in a single serving, which is 85 g (two slices), according to the package. Stick closer to a 56 g serving, or go with a single slice to limit your sodium intake. Per 56 g (about two slices): Calories: 61 Protein: 8 g Fat: 3 g (Saturated: 1 g) Sodium: 479 mg Carbohydrates: 1 g No Canadian deli meat list would be complete without Montreal-style smoked meat, used to make the classic sandwich on whole grain rye with mustard or paired with sauerkraut and Swiss cheese in a Reuben. M&M Food Market Montreal Smoked Meat gets high praise from customers for its tenderness and authentic flavour. Although it's not overly salty and less processed than salami and many cured meats, it's still moderately high in fat and sodium. It has a decent amount of protein from lean brisket, but its preparation means it's best positioned midway in the list as an occasional protein swap for sandwiches or charcuterie. Per 56 g: Calories: 78 Protein: 10 g Fat: 4 g (Saturated: 2 g) Sodium: 493 mg Carbohydrates: 0.6 g (Sugars: 0.6 g) Traditional kolbassa can be pretty fatty, but this European-style lean ham version from Piller's is higher in protein with moderate fat. The sodium content is respectable for a ham product, but it nearly hits 20 per cent of the daily limit with just 493 g in a 56 g serving (the package serving suggestion is 100 g with 880 mg sodium). The ingredient list is traditional, though it includes nitrates. Try pairing a small portion with extra veggies to balance sodium intake. Per 56 g (about three to four slices): Calories: 134 Protein: 16 g Fat: 8 g (Saturated: 3 g) Sodium: 986 mg Carbohydrates: 1 g (Sugars: 0 g) San Daniele is a brand owned by Ontario-based company Sofina Foods, which makes a range of authentic Italian charcuterie meats. This juniper-scented smoked prosciutto is rich in flavour, blending Italian salt-curing with Central European smoking. It's high in sodium, though — nearly 1,000 mg per 56 g serving — and moderately fatty. A little goes a long way, making it better suited to charcuterie boards in small portions (the package suggests 30 g) with fresh fruit, greens or whole grains to balance the saltiness. Per 56 g (about 10 to 11 slices): Calories: 224 Protein: 15 g Fat: 17 g (Saturated: 6.5 g) Sodium: 653 mg Carbohydrates 1.9 g (Sugars: 0 g) For a deli salami, this German-style option from Schneider's edges out other brands with its higher protein and slightly less sodium content than other brands. Still, it's high in fat and saturated fat, which places it near the bottom of the health rankings. Enjoy this one occasionally or pair it in small amounts (the suggested serving size is 30 g) with high-fiber, low-sodium ingredients like whole grain crackers or crisp vegetables.

Boston Globe

3 hours ago

• Boston Globe

Introducing ‘Endless Thread'

Follow 'Endless Thread' wherever you get your podcasts. The following is a lightly edited transcript of the June 19 episode of the 'Endless Thread' podcast. Shirley Leung: Hi, this is Shirley Leung, host of the 'Say More' podcast. I want to share something special with you this week. It's an episode of the podcast 'Endless Thread,' from our friends at WBUR. In this episode, you'll hear the story of Brooke Eby. She was 33 years old when she was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative condition commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. As ALS progresses, you lose the ability to walk, chew, and eventually breathe. Patients are usually given two to five years to live, although younger patients often live for longer. Brooke has been documenting the progression of her disease on TikTok, often with laugh-out-loud humor. Ok, here's the show: Ben Brock Johnson: Brooke. Thank you so much for hanging out with us. Amory Sivertson: This is all prerecorded, so you may hear us stumble over things, questions that we wanna ask you, in which case we'll just do them again. Feel free to do the same if you start an answer and you want to say it differently. Johnson: And you're allowed to swear because it's a podcast. Brooke Eby: Noted. Sivertson: If that's your jam. Eby: It's actually like my New Year's resolution to do it less. So I'm trying not to. But like, I feel like that's such a cliche New Year's resolution that never really sticks, you know? Sivertson: No, I don't know anyone who's trying to swear less. I think in these times people are swearing more. Eby: Yeah, it's the inverse, perhaps. I'm Brooke Eby. I'm currently in Florida. I'm here for the winter, so right now it's like 80 degrees, which sorry if you guys are in the Northeast. I'm in Maryland for the summer, so I used to be in Maryland year round, and now that I live with my parents, I get to just mooch off of their snowbird lifestyle. Sivertson: Brooke Eby is 36 years old. Until recently she was living alone with her dog, Dr. Draymond Green, named for the basketball player Johnson: Last fall, Brooke and Dray moved in with Brooke's parents who mostly live in Maryland, but make like geese in the winter and head south. Brooke did not take the decision, to use her word 'mooch off' her parents, lightly. First, she consulted her over 200,000 followers on TikTok. Eby (clip from TikTok video): I need advice, people. Johnson: In this TikTok video from last summer. Brooke is outside. She's talking into her phone, which is positioned below her face. It has that look of an impromptu FaceTime call from a friend. Eby: I just need reassurance. Maybe I just need someone cheering me on that this is the right thing to do. Or like stories and pep talks of moving back in with your parents at the age of 35 is okay. This is a big regression feeling, so I don't know. I need reinforcement. Help me. Johnson: Brooke sent this message out to her nearly 200,000 followers at the time, more than 1,700 people commented. Sivertson: There was nary a negative response in the bunch. They were all like, 'It's a reconfiguration, not regression, and save money.' Johnson: Brooke has a lot of followers, thanks in no small part to her humor, which can be pretty edgy. Here's her doing a standup set for a crowd. She's joking about people who have Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as ALS. Eby (clip from comedy show): I wanna be clear, Stephen Hawking is an absolute legend, but did he make ALS cool? Johnson: Brooke's standup was a sit down affair because Brooke's in a wheelchair. For the past three years, Brooke has been living with a terminal diagnosis. And through almost all of it, she's been posting on TikTok. Eby (clip from TikTok video): What if I could walk and move again and I just became like an insufferable dance TikToker? My top is Old Navy. My pants are Amazon. My headband is Lily and my Life Alert Necklace is Sky Angels I've been on the exposing-people-faking-diseases-for-attention side of TikTok lately. I gotta say I'm a little offended that no one has accused me yet. Johnson: I'm Ben Brock Johnson. Sivertson: I'm Amory Siverston and you're listening to 'Endless Thread.' Coming to you from WBUR, Boston's NPR. Johnson: And today we talked to Brooke about making jokes through hard times. Brooke was not a naturally inclined social media star. What was your relationship with social media during your twenties? Eby: At the beginning of my twenties, Instagram was much more like, do you remember those extra-filtered pictures that we were all putting up? With the borders? That's what Instagram was. No one had stories. It wasn't very oversharing. And then I think it got more and more advanced later in my twenties, but I was normal on it. I was private just to my family and friends Johnson: After graduating from Lehigh University, Brooke worked in tech. She spent most of a decade bopping between coasts. Eby: And then when I turned 29, I was moving back to New York from San Francisco. And when I was in San Francisco, I started feeling tightness in my calf. But I thought it was like– when you're 29, you're so oblivious and naive– 'Oh, I just did too much Pilates. I'm that in-shape that my calf hurts.' Johnson: That symptom became harder to ignore on the streets of Manhattan. Eby: Pretty quickly you're walking slower in New York City because people are just bulldozing you. And I'm like, 'This feels funny.' But again, I just didn't pay attention to it. I ignored it really until some of my colleagues started pointing out that I was limping. Johnson: At first, Brooke talked to her sister, who's a doctor, to see if she had any idea of what was going on. Her sister thought maybe Brooke had a pinched nerve. Doctors outside of the family were just as flummoxed. Eby: We were all sort of delusional that I was perfectly healthy at 29, but that kind of kicked off like the whirlwind of the four year diagnosis process. Johnson: In 2022, Brooke started losing her balance more often, so she went back to the doctor. The weakness that had started in her left leg had moved to her, right. That was enough to confirm a diagnosis: ALS, neurodegenerative disease, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease After the Yankee's first baseman who was diagnosed with ALS at the peak of his sports career in 1939. (Lou Gehrig baseball clip): A fatal disease attacked baseball's iron man. 'I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for.' Johnson: As ALS progresses, you lose the ability to make most voluntary movements like walking, chewing, swallowing, food, and eventually breathing. Patients are usually given a life expectancy of two to five years, although younger patients often live for longer. Sivertson: What was your knowledge of ALS before this, or what was your exposure to it? What did you know about it? Eby: I clearly knew nothing about it because I thought in my mind it was a genetic, mostly genetic, disease that affected older men and was super rare. Like those were the three things that I was pretty sure of going into it. And then I also was told it moved so fast that you know, in a matter of months you're like paralyzed, if not dead. And I'm like, 'Well, I've been dealing with this for four years, so I just don't get it.' I'm like a young woman with no genetic markers, like they even tested my genes and they came back clear. So I just was so wrong about everything. It turns out like 90 percent of cases are not genetic, so it didn't rule anything out there. It's not nearly as rare as I thought it was, and it affects anyone at any age, like it truly does not discriminate. So everything I thought I knew about it, was wrong. I remember the ice bucket challenge, but mostly because I didn't get nominated and I felt really unpopular. Sivertson: Remember the ice bucket challenge of 2014, Ben? Johnson: I remember the viral dump-a-bucket-of-ice-water-on-yourself-after-someone-nominates-you part, but I completely forgot that this was about raising money to cure ALS maybe because nobody tagged me. Sivertson: Well, nobody tagged Brooke either. Eby: I'm like, 'Man, I'm in no one's top three.' Gimme a break. Johnson: The initial few months after the diagnosis were rough. Eby: All I had been doing was like lying in bed and eating M&M's every day. It was a dark time, reading a lot of books. I think I was reading like a book a day to escape. I know my Goodreads was fire that year. It will never be that high again. Johnson: In between tearing through books, Brooke had to tell everyone she knew that she was dying, which made people uncomfortable Eby: Because no one knows what to say. Like I remember we were at the doctor, at the neurologist, and they were like, 'Well, with ALS you really need to focus on gaining weight. So like, eat whatever you want, eat as much as you want.' And my sister goes, 'You're so lucky.' I just remember immediately pulling out my phone and being like, 'We're gonna remember that one.' My poor sister, I use it all the time. She's the kindest one of our family, and I'm always throwing her under the bus with that story. Sivertson: Brooke started keeping a little note on her phone with some of the funny moments related to her diagnosis. Johnson: But she wasn't sure anyone else would see the humor in a situation that was also pretty bleak. So she kept the note private until a wedding where she was supposed to be a bridesmaid. Eby: I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me.' The bridesmaid dress barely fit me, because, again, the M&M's. Then I showed up with a walker. And as soon as I walked in, the bride's grandma showed up with the exact same walker. I looked down and I was like, 'Oh, she has tennis balls, too.' So we were kind of like, 'Heyyyy.' I turned to my friend and I was like, 'We're out of here. There's no way I'm going to walk down the aisle with this walker as a bridesmaid, no chance.' My friend, not the bride, I told her that in secret and she was like, 'It could be really embarrassing or we could just try to make it really fun, like you're gonna get a good story out of it. Just go for it.' We made it through the ceremony and then by the reception, I don't know if my embarrassment had worn off or if I just kind of forgot about it, but we had the best time on the dance floor. The bride was doing the limbo under my walker. People were hopping on for walker rides and I was like, 'Okay, everyone's laughing.' I'm way more comfortable because the prior two months I had just been having like tearful conversations telling people about my diagnosis and being like, 'All right, go. I ruined your day. Like, go enjoy.' And so this was the first time I'm like, 'All right, people aren't even asking me what's going on. They're just trying to have fun.' Johnson: When Brooke got home, she started going through the note on her phone, detailing all the funny moments since her diagnosis. The next day she had brunch with the same friend who cheered her up at the wedding, Jackie. Brooke showed Jackie the note on her phone. Eby: She was like, 'Brooke, you need to do something with this. This can't just live here.' I forced her to be in my first video because I'm like, 'If we are gonna be embarrassed, you're going down with me.' Johnson: The very first video is of Brooke and Jackie on a couch, pantomiming the conversation where Brooke discloses that she has a rare terminal illness. Brooke's head is in her hands. She's pretending to cry, but Jackie is smiling wide with deep dimples. The videos that follow are very vintage 2022 TikToks. Heavy on popular sounds like this one with the footage from the wedding that started it all. (TikTok clip from Eby's account): Don't be suspicious. Don't be suspicious. Don't be suspicious. Don't be suspicious. Johnson: That's played after a caption of Brooke saying she 'doesn't want to draw attention to her diagnosis,' while you see Brooke and her walker absolutely being the main characters on the dance floor. Sivertson: Brooke's terminal illness and her willingness to laugh about it were immediately the cornerstone of her shtick. She uploaded the videos under the handle @limpbroozkit. Johnson: Fred Durst, anyone? Limp Bizkit? No. Amory? No? Sivertson: I get it. Brooke had no idea if anyone would find her videos funny. Maybe they would just find them sad. Eby: That's why in my first couple of videos, I was always kind of nervous because I'm like, 'Should I be joking at a time like this? I don't know.' Johnson: That all makes total sense to me. And I also think humor has always been this way of dealing with darkness. Right? Eby: I agree. I think especially with COVID. During and post COVID life, the whole concept of meme culture, like we can make a joke out of absolutely anything. Like we're quick now. People just need humor, I think to process things. Johnson: Can you talk a little bit about when you started to realize that you were really gaining traction with the stuff that you were putting on the internet? Eby: When I first started seeing my follower count go up and all of that. It was probably my dating videos, early days when I was using a cane. Johnson: These videos feature screenshots of the texts she got from potential suitors. Sivertson: Things like, 'Can I borrow your cane? I feel myself falling.' Johnson: Or 'Okay, I see you Abraham Limping.' Sivertson: Next, Brooke started making videos about this medicine she was taking as part of a trial Johnson: Medicine that tasted really bad. Eby: So I did a taste testing series so people could suggest how to chase it or how to deal with it. Eby (clip from TikTok video): Pickle juice, shot glass. Oh, stench. Let's just do it. Let's just do it. It's no big deal. Eby: I think after those two, that was when I started seeing, 'Okay, people are remembering that they've seen me before and they were saying like, Brooke, blah, blah blah.' They remembered who I was, as opposed to it just being another swipe away video. But it is hard, I think, to still understand any sort of impact you make if it's just on the internet, because, I don't know, sometimes it feels like I'm playing The Sims. I see the number of people watching and I see all the comments, but it's strange because ultimately I'm talking to my phone and then I'm clicking a button and then I'm seeing little internet sims pop up as comments. I'm like, 'How is any of this real?' It's strange because everyone's like, 'You're so brave.' I'm actually just talking to myself in my room. Sivertson: Do you identify as an influencer? Do you think of yourself as an influencer? What's your relationship to that term? Eby: No. I don't really have one. The stuff that I influence on is much more niche. If you need adaptive clothing, I've got a recommendation, but it's not like everyone's going to go out and sell that out because it's not a need for most people. Johnson: That's what I was gonna ask, what are the products that you would influence on? Eby: Yeah, you should see the partnerships that reach out to me. I always crack up picturing my manager versus a normal person's manager, because she gets calls from the National Funeral Directors Association and I'm like, 'Sure, sure, sure. That's a perfect fit.' It's a very weird space to be in. Sivertson: So Brooke is definitely not a full-time influencer. She still works a nine to five job in tech with only the occasional funeral sponsored content. Eby (clip from TikTok video): Funeral directors help with every step of the end of life plan. They can document your wishes and understand the logistics. So if I wanna play Kesha's 'Die Young,' noted. Johnson: Unlike other viral creators, Brooke doesn't get a lot of hate online, but she does get comments that are pretty weird. Eby: Someone wrote me a message. This poor person because I don't even know who it was. It was some stranger, but she was like, 'Sometimes I feel like I have a death sentence because I've been single for so long.' Sivertson: Oh. Johnson: Wow. Eby: It's just like, in her heart, she's not trying to be mean to me. Johnson: Mm-hmm, right. There's also this layer of pity or sort of people being like, 'Oh, you make me feel thankful for every day because your life is so terrible, right?' Eby: Yeah. Johnson: What does that feel like for you to receive? Because you seem very open and non-judgmental in some ways, but also you can see the humor and ridiculousness of the way people act towards you. That's what I was trying to ask about, if that makes sense. Eby: Yeah, I actually had not even thought about that. Then someone messaged me once and they're like, 'Do you ever get sick of being the reason people want to be a better person?' And I'd never really thought about it, but once she said it, now I'm like, I do. It kind of is in the back of my head sometimes when I get comments like that, but they have to be phrased in a very specific way for it to be a little obnoxious. Most of the time, if someone's like, 'I wanna appreciate every day.' To me, that's a great comment. I'm like, good. If someone were to say, 'I should feel lucky because my life isn't as shitty as yours,' I don't think I would like that phrasing. But I don't know that people phrase it like that. I don't remember seeing that. At least I would say feedback is a gift. The feedback that I got, especially at the beginning was, 'You're making light of this' or 'You seem too happy.' And I think honestly, most of the people who are making those comments are probably ones who had a first row seat to someone living with this and are still feeling angry at the disease. At least that's the backstory I've given them because otherwise, what do they care? I think in my mind, I'm not reframing it. I just wasn't that progressed. It wasn't that hard at that point. And now that it's gotten worse, there's not going to be as many videos of me being like, 'Hey, this is no big deal.' It's just the nature of progression. So I'm just like 'Stay along for the ride and if you wanna see things get worse, you will with this disease. So stick around.' Johnson: Watching all of Brooke's videos in one day is kind of like reading a flip book of how ALS progresses. In the early videos, Brooke doesn't look that far off from, say, one of the famous beauty influencers like Alix Earle. She does her makeup and get-ready-with-me videos. Her shampoo-commercial hair always looks like she's just had a blowout. She lives alone in a cool apartment. Now she needs around the clock care, thus the difficult decision to move home. Sivertson: How would you describe your mobility right now? Eby: Like a ragdoll? Nothing really works. I can raise my hands, but they're claws now. I'm really not into the way they look. I can still type, especially on my phone. I can still type on the keyboard, a lot more typos these days. I can move my head and talk, but below the screen, it's a mess. Johnson: Before the TikTok band briefly went into effect in January, Brooke made a video about how it felt to go back and watch her own content from the beginning. Eby (clip from TikTok video): It's so surreal the amount that we've had to adapt. Three years ago, I was walking and now I can't do anything. I don't even feel emotions because it doesn't feel real. It feels like I'm playing a role in a movie and then someone's gonna finally yell, 'cut,' and I'm gonna just pop up outta my chair and go be normal again.' Eby: Day to day, I think it's easy for me to just rely on humor and staying busy to cope. But then in that video, I just looked back at all these videos from a year before, two years before, five years before. And I was like, 'Oh my God.' I did not realize, I knew how much it changed, but I don't know, seeing myself just a year ago versus today was startling. I don't think our brains are meant to compute the speed of change that comes with this disease. I made that video and I was thinking, 'This is not a relatable feeling at all.' I just feel like I'm an actress playing a role right now. This doesn't feel real. And people are like, 'No, that's called dissociation. That's very much a psychological term that most people go through.' And I was like, oh, okay. You can tell I'm not actively in therapy all the time. Sivertson: In your videos, you've been documenting all along the way, the progression of the disease and how it's changing your life day by day, implement by implementation that you're adding into your routine. But there will come a time when you can't verbalize anymore, when you can't use your voice and use your humor in the way that you use it now. Do you think you'll still be making videos? Have you thought about what the content creation process might be then? Eby: Yeah, there are some people who go the full progression while still having a voice, and I'm still delusional enough to think I'm gonna be one of them. Even though my voice is clearly getting weaker, I'm still not slurring, which makes me happy because I'm like, people can still understand me. But that said, I have voice banked. I do have my voice saved so I can use it in some sort of text-to-talk thing. That's a big thing in the ALS community. As soon as you get diagnosed, they start saving your voice. But, I think my intention is to keep going really as far as I can. I think the way it looks might be a little different. Rather than me talking a ton, it might be like my parents helping to talk or filming stuff. Or maybe it's just, not talking and I'm just putting music over something I'm doing. I think there's options. My goal is really to show everything, just because that's what I wish someone had done. I would love to see someone who's more progressed than I am, get into bed or stay asleep. Like how the hell do you stay asleep when you can't move and you get uncomfortable or something falls asleep? Those are the things that I don't want to watch a whole sad documentary just to glean insights of how to do things when I could just make a two minute video. It might not work next week, but it's working right now, so that's the goal. Man plans, God laughs. I think people say, but that's the plan for now. Sivertson: Brooke doesn't know exactly how much time she has. Maybe she has five years, maybe she has 10 years. Johnson: What she does know is that curing ALS, it's going to take more resources. Sivertson: Social media, whether it's the Ice Bucket Challenge or a TikTok or raising awareness, can build community around ALS, but it's not going to cure the disease. That takes research, which has a price tag. Eby (clip from TikTok video): Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers. Now, have you considered money? Sivertson: Right now ALS researchers are facing proposed funding cuts by the Trump administration that could drastically slow down their efforts. So if you're a billionaire, says Brooke, maybe forget about rockets and Mars and take up funding ALS research as your cause. Eby: I feel like the other planets have already made it here, and we just haven't been told about it. So I'm like, why don't we just ask them what it's like before we go waste all our money going there. Johnson: On TikTok, Brooke is a one woman ice bucket challenge, raising awareness of ALS and what it's like to live with it. But going viral prompted her to start another online community, one that's more specific. Eby: So if you think about my last two and a half years after being diagnosed, I put myself in front of an audience, and because of that, I have access to so many more resources because I have 200,000 people willing to answer a question I have. If I were to post, 'I really need advice on the best toothbrush for weekends.' I could get a thousand messages back. Whereas someone who's not a psycho putting her life online, like a normal person living with this disease, they could go to their support group, and I don't know how fast they'll get a response. There's just not as immediate of answers as I've been able to get. So I kept thinking about that: How do I make it so everyone has this level of access and this level of immediacy? And then I flashed back to when I first got diagnosed, they give you this godforsaken packet, it's like an encyclopedia size, and it's just pamphlet after pamphlet of resources. You've just gotten diagnosed, they tell you you have two to five years, it could be less than that and you're gonna lose every ability until that point. You go home and your brain is just scrambled and you're also like, am I gonna be paralyzed tomorrow? Like you just start thinking in terms of speed, everything moves so fast, and yet the resources they give you are in a folder with paper that none of us has used since elementary school. I'm like, if this disease moves fast, like why are we still treating it like we're in the nineties? We gotta do better than this. Johnson: Brooke's day job is at the tech company, Salesforce. She worked with some of her colleagues there to create a channel on the professional group messaging app Slack. It is specifically for ALS patients and their caregivers, and it's called Brooke says it's really special to her because it's a rare space where people are going through similar challenges. Eby: Even when I'm talking to my best friends in the world, who I've known since we were four years old, I could tell her anything, but right now, she's about to have her second baby at the same time where I'm learning how to use a ceiling lift to get me into the shower. Like we lead two very different lives. I think it's probably the same way that moms feel after they have a baby, where they're like, 'I could complain to my friends, but unless they have a newborn too, they don't get it.' That's probably how everyone feels about something in their life. It's just good to see other people, whether they live near you or look like you going through the same thing. Because you're like, 'Okay, I'm normal in this group.' Johnson: If you have an untold history, an unsolved mystery, or other wild story from the internet that you want us to tell, hit us up at endlessthread@ Leung: Thanks for listening to this episode of 'Endless Thread.' If you want to hear more, follow 'Endless Thread' on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. And make sure you're following 'Say More' while you're at it. Kara Mihm of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Shirley Leung is a Business columnist. She can be reached at

USA Today

4 hours ago

• USA Today

Woman ‘holds death in her hand,' lives to tell about it

A woman in Japan unknowingly put her life at risk when she bent over and picked up a shell while exploring tide pools. Beckylee Rawls, 29, who lives with her husband in Okinawa, collects shells, and on this day she was videotaping the various creatures in the pools for a TikTok video when she came across a 'beautiful shell.' 'Honestly, the only thing going through my head was, 'That's a pretty shell, let me take a closer look,'' Rawls told People. She held it for about 30 seconds before noticing something inside: a live cone snail. Taken aback, Rawls replaced the shell in the water. She posted a few TikTok videos showing her misstep. As she was leaving, Rawls did an online search for that shell. 'That's when I learned I might have just made the biggest mistake of my life,' she told People. The cone snail is among the most venomous creatures on Earth. The shell isn't dangerous, it's what's inside the shell. Cone snail venom can cause paralysis, respiratory failure and cardiovascular collapse. A sting can be fatal. Also on FTW Outdoors: 'Ghost elephant' seen for first time in years; is it a lone survivor? FOX8 reported that Rawls 'went to the beach and held death in her hand.' Fortunately, she wasn't stung, but the thought that she might have been stung persisted and 'terrified' her. 'My brain kept convincing me that I had been stung and just didn't realize it,' she told People. 'By the fourth day of panic, my husband was sick of reassuring me I was indeed going to live. There is no anti-venom—that's the craziest part. It's a hope-and-pray situation.' It should be noted that humans have survived stings from cone snails, but prompt medical care is crucial. "It's even nicknamed the 'Cigarette Snail' because, according to urban legend, if it stings you, you won't live long enough to finish a final cigarette," Rawls told People. "That chilling reputation really put things into perspective." Photo courtesy of Beckylee Rawls.