Episodes: 2020

Morgan Jerkins spent many months piecing together the patchwork of her own family history, and many weeks literally wandering in the lands they had been rooted to so many years before. Hers is a story about the privilege of documentation, the search for self and what it means to redefine yourself through your ancestors.

Good vibes only? Not on this podcast, and not when Susan David is in the room. For years, Susan has been leading the conversation about the value of *all our feelings* and how no emotion is bad or good. Here is the antidote to Toxic Positivity.

This episode features conversations with people doing the best they can in difficult circumstances. Like Dr. Lucy Kalanithi, whose husband Dr. Paul Kalanithi was a notable and rising brain surgeon who wrote When Breath Becomes Air, a bestselling memoir about his fatal battle with cancer. And comedian Amber Tozer, who tells a funny and poignant story about walking in on her mother’s wedding… on Christmas Day. We will also talk with some of the women of the Hot Young Widows Club on their hopes and dreams for the upcoming year. Plus, stories of people’s worst Holidays ever. 

We all have to find our way to our adult selves. As an author, filmmaker and co-founder of a mass movement --  the Women’s March -- Paola’s adult self is … very impressive! But even the most impressive among us can struggle with belonging, especially in the systems that are set up to reject us. 

Ten years ago, Rebecca Black was a 13-year-old girl who made a music video with her friends honoring everyone's favorite day of the week (you know the one). The music video wasn't great. But it also wasn’t great that the video quickly went viral on YouTube — and that being cruel to a teenage girl suddenly became a professional sport. A decade after the release of "Friday," Rebecca Black is back to remind everyone that her story doesn't boil down to just one thing she did when she was a teen.

Something to get your mind off of the craziness of this 2020 Election Day, featuring friend of the pod Kate Kennedy, host of “Be There in Five.”

In 2012, Rosie became the first Black woman to win the Miss North Dakota pageant. She got to do what she loves most — play music and perform! — and she won scholarship money to pay down her student loab debt. It was thrilling. It was exciting! But winning Miss North Dakota means more than just wearing a gorgeous gown on a stage in front of a bunch of people. For the next year, Rosie represents the state like a sort of ambassador, touring the region and sharing her diversity platform with folks … in North Dakota, a state that’s 90% white.

We know that romantic and familial relationships are work, and we respect the time it takes to maintain healthy relationships with our partners and families. But in a culture that prizes romantic love above all else, how do we make sure to maintain and protect our friendships? Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman *literally* wrote the book about friendship and give us an assist with this episode. (Thanks, pals.)

How do we talk about addiction in more productive ways? How do we hold empathy and boundaries together? What does it mean to "recover"? Nora has no idea, so Dr. Nzinga Harrison is here to educate, comfort and reassure all of us.

A typical arc for stories on this podcast is that things are bad, very bad. And then, they’re ... not great, but are at least a little better. For author and comedian Samantha Irby, life is all good and all bad all at the same time. Because there are SO MANY things to laugh about when life is awful and your body is turning on you. There are also things to complain about when you’re deeply in love with a person who treats you like an angel.

In May 2020, a viral video filmed by two young men pushed them to the top of everyone’s news feed. Suddenly, it seemed the whole world knew what had happened to Abdi and Salman while they were working out in the gym of the Minneapolis office building they leased for their growing business. In this episode, we get past the story of what happened to Abdi and Salman and dive into the bigger story: who they are.

Jennell's home life was difficult growing up, and the Pentecostal church she attended was the only place she truly felt safe. A talented vocalist, Jennell quickly became the church's rising star. When a church leader 15 years her senior takes advantage of teenage Jennell's mental health issues and begins a sexual relationship with her, she initially feels loved and cared for. Eventually, the relationship is revealed to the rest of the church. And when Jennell is cast as the villain in the story, she faces losing her faith for good.

Leslie is a Black widow. No, not the spider — a Black human woman whose husband died. Because eventually, when she least expected it, she DID finally find a guy (whom she had already found once before). This episode is about that guy. His name is Scott. But it’s also about another guy: a baby boy named Brooks.

Drayden is a Black boy with Autism Spectrum Disorder. His mother, Dana, has been consistently fighting and pushing to get him the diagnosis and services he deserves (and needs!) since he was just a few months old. This episode is one about racism within the medical field. It's about a mother who must protect her son from the people who are supposed to protect him in a world where innocent, sweet, adorable Black boys grow up to be perceived by many as dangerous Black men.

Lyndsey and her mother have a shared love of horses. They both compete in dressage (Google it). They ride together after their daily farm chores are finished. But Lyndsey is more naturally gifted in the saddle than her mother, and this creates tension and envy. After a riding accident leaves her mother with severe physical injuries, Lyndsey isn't sure her mom will ever ride again. As her mom's body slowly heals, and as Lyndsey reteaches her mother how to ride, the two begin mending their relationship.

Here's the thing: We do not like describing grief as a "journey." But when your grief involves a literal road trip across the country, what other choice do we have? And when your friend loses his wife and decides to go on that road trip to clear his mind, what do you do? If you're David's friend, you fly out to meet him, open up the maps app on your phone and buckle up.

When we left Britt, she finally had a good relationship with her biological dad for the first time in 33 years. She has her own solid family unit with her husband, Sonny. Her mom's health has improved, and so has Britt’s relationship with her. Things are good. They’re really, really good! And because this podcast isn't called, "Really, Really Good, Glad You Asked!” that means it's time for Britt's world to start unraveling.

Sometimes our parental relationships are a little tangly. We’re wrapped up in big, old knots from strings that were already jumbled up before we were even born. This is a story about the knotted threads of one family, as seen through the eyes of a girl named Brittany, who is busy grieving the recent death of her dad when she learns that he ... wasn’t actually her dad.