We Can Do Hard Things

Author and artist, Jenny Odell, discusses how to break from the attention economy long enough to feel fully alive in a culture obsessed with productivity. She shares stories of her encounters with nature, how to be creative instead of productive, how to be less useful in order to survive, and the real reason for art and rest. This is a deep dive about how to stay human in a world that wants us to become machines. About Jenny: Jenny Odell is a multidisciplinary artist and the New York Times bestselling author of How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy and Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, Sierra magazine, and other publications. She lives in Oakland, California. TW: @the_jennitaur IG: @jennitaur To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Glennon, Abby, Amanda and the Pod Squad share their most brutiful and hilarious holiday stories. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Author and cultural observer, Roxane Gay, examines the landscape of the internet and our relationship with it. We discuss the line between constructive criticism and online toxicity; how to decide when to speak up and when to stay quiet; and how to stay human and allow redemption in an online world that demands perfection. Plus, a breakdown of our shared unguilty pleasure: Naked Attraction. About Roxane: Roxane Gay is the author of several books, including Ayiti, An Untamed State, New York Times bestsellers Bad Feminist and Hunger; and the national bestseller Difficult Women. Her writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories, Best American Short Stories, Best Sex Writing, A Public Space, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. She also has a newsletter, “The Audacity” – and once had a podcast, The Roxane Gay Agenda. Her latest book, Opinions, is available now. TW: @rgay IG: @roxanegay74 To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How do we bring our full selves into our relationships without fear of rejection? Today, Abby shares more about what’s been happening in her life since she’s stopped “bright siding” including powerful truth-telling she’s unleashed in business and her family of origin. Glennon shares how Abby embracing her full emotions has led to deeper intimacy and connection, and a feeling of “un-loneliness” in their partnership – the opposite of what Abby feared might happen. Plus, we discuss how toxic positivity and polarized dynamics in relationships can lead to emotional disconnection and loneliness. For the first part of our conversation, check out 258. Abby Asks, “Why Can’t I Love Myself?” To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Abby opens up about starting therapy and the work she’s been doing to unearth and express uncomfortable emotions like anger and sadness. She shares her long-held fear that if she feels and expresses her full self, people will leave her. In a profound moment, Abby shares a deep longing to truly love herself. She explains that this love has been clouded by messages she’s received since childhood which have led to difficulty trusting others, equating anger with not being okay, and a feeling like something is “wrong” with her. For the episode Abby mentions with Suzanne Stabile, check out Fix Your Most Important Relationships with the Enneagram: Suzanne Stabile To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Where does all our suffering come from and how can we free ourselves? Pastor, author, and speaker, Nadia Bolz-Weber, discusses how she finally became healed and whole enough to choose romantic love from freedom instead of desperation. With her characteristic raw honesty, Nadia shares that the secret to her healing has been “honestly, a lot of pain.” Plus, Nadia leads Abby to a heartbreaking, cathartic moment of clarity – and shares a blessing that she wrote for Abby and all queer people. About Nadia: Nadia Bolz-Weber is an ordained Lutheran Pastor; founder of House for All Sinners & Saints in Denver; host of The Confessional podcast; and author of three NYT bestselling memoirs: Pastrix, Accidental Saints, and SHAMELESS. Nadia writes and speaks about personal failings, recovery, grace, faith, and really whatever the hell else she wants to. She always sits in the corner with the other weirdos, and she can be found a couple days a week inside the Denver women’s prison where she is a volunteer chaplain. https://thecorners.substack.com/ IG: @sarcasticlutheran To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Priya Parker is here to discuss what Glennon called “the most important thing in the world” – connection – and how to make our time with other people have more of it. She teaches us: How – whether it’s a wedding or a retirement party – you can create new gathering rituals that forge truer, deeper relationships; Why the outcome of every gathering is decided before anyone steps in the room; and Why so many of us hate parties – and what to do about it. For the The Art of Gathering online course giveaway go to priyaparker.com/hardthings About Priya: Priya Parker is a conflict facilitator, strategic advisor, international speaker, and acclaimed author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters and host of the podcast TOGETHER APART. She is the creator and host of The Art of Gathering digital course, about how to make meaning with and for our people. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and two children. TW: @priyaparker IG: @priyaparker To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Glennon tells three stories that reveal how recovery from anorexia has changed who she is and how she experiences the world. Together in G’s home, recording for the first time, Abby and Amanda respond with their reflections and the impacts that G’s recovery work has had on the entire family. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this special episode, Glennon, Abby, and Amanda sit down with icon Dolly Parton for a heartfelt conversation about how to start something new at 77, how she mothers the world, and how she broke her own heart when Elvis asked to record her hit song. Plus, the advice Dolly would give to Glennon and Abby’s daughter, Tish, as she enters the music business. About Dolly: Dolly Parton is the most honored and revered female country singer-songwriter of all time and was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Achieving 27 RIAA-certified gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards, she has had 26 songs reach #1 on the Billboard country charts, a record for a female artist. Parton became the first country artist honored as Grammy MusiCares Person of the Year. She has 48 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and 110 career-charted singles over the past 50+ years. On October 17th she is releasing her second coffee table book in a trilogy called “Behind The Seams: My Life in Rhinestones” and on November 17th her highly anticipated 30-song rock album, “Rockstar.” To date, Parton has donated over 213 million books to children around the world with her Imagination Library. Her children's book, Coat of Many Colors, was dedicated to the Library of Congress to honor the Imagination Library's 100 millionth book donation. TW: @DollyParton IG: @dollyparton To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brilliant life coach, Martha Beck, works her magic for our Pod Squad. In this treasure trove of profound insight and practical guidance, Martha teaches us how to find purpose in midlife, how to use our longing as a map, and how to know for sure if what we have is real love. If you’d like to go back and listen to the episodes mentioned in today’s conversation, check out episodes: 252. Martha Beck Helps Amanda Let Go 238. How to De-Stress: Relaxation Intervention for Amanda (and You)! 121. Martha Beck & Rowan Mangan: Polyamory & Throuple Life 67. How to Get More Joy with Martha Beck 66. How to Come Home to Yourself with Martha Beck About Martha: Dr. Martha Beck is a bestselling author, life coach, and speaker – offering powerful, practical, and entertaining teachings that help people improve every aspect of their lives. She is known for her unique combination of science, humor, and spirituality. For over two decades she has been, in the words of NPR and USA Today, “the best-known life coach in America.” Her published works include several self-help books and memoirs, including New York Times and international bestsellers Finding Your Own North Star, The Joy Diet, and Expecting Adam. Martha’s most recent book, The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self, was an instant New York Times Best Seller. TW: @TheMarthaBeck IG: @themarthabeck To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this incredibly raw episode, Martha Beck coaches Amanda through a transformative, therapeutic session to help heal her overfunctioning, resentment, and burnout. Martha uncovers the different parts of Amanda that have existed inside her since childhood – and invites them to speak and then finally rest into peace, joy, and enoughness. If you’d like to go back and listen to episodes referenced in today’s conversation, check out: 238. How to De-Stress: Relaxation Intervention for Amanda (and You)!. 170. The Most Radical Way to Heal: Internal Family Systems with Dr. Becky Kennedy 67. How to Get More Joy with Martha Beck 66. How to Come Home to Yourself with Martha Beck About Martha: Dr. Martha Beck is a bestselling author, life coach, and speaker – offering powerful, practical, and entertaining teachings that help people improve every aspect of their lives. She is known for her unique combination of science, humor, and spirituality. For over two decades she has been, in the words of NPR and USA Today, “the best-known life coach in America.” Her published works include several self-help books and memoirs, including New York Times and international bestsellers Finding Your Own North Star, and Expecting Adam. Martha’s most recent book, The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self, was an instant New York Times Best Seller. TW: @TheMarthaBeck IG: @themarthabeck To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Allison Russell, shares her incredible life story and teaches us how she healed from abuse through music, sisterhood, and returning to her body. This hour is a soul-stirring reminder of the life-saving, cycle-breaking power of truth telling, art, and love. About Allison: Allison Russell has spent her career in multiple bands, including Po’ Girl, Our Native Daughters and Birds of Chicago. After a career spent as a gifted multi-instrumentalist, backing numerous other artists, she finally dared to release her solo project in 2021. She made her Opry debut and appeared at the Country Music Hall of Fame and performed at the 2022 GRAMMY’s Premiere Ceremony. In addition to her four GRAMMY nominations, she has earned three 2022 Americana Award nominations and a win for Album of the Year, two International Folk Music Award wins, a 2022 Juno nomination for ‘Songwriter of the Year,’ and her first-ever Juno Award win for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year. Russell received two 2021 Americana Awards nominations, won three Canadian Folk Music Awards, two UK Americana Music Awards, and more. She was recently nominated for Song of the Year and Artist of the Year for the 2023 Americana Awards. TW: @outsidechild13 IG: @allisonrussellmusic To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, Angela Chen teaches us how understanding asexuality helps us understand ourselves and the true meaning of sex. Angela describes: The misconception that blocks us from fully understanding our own sexuality; Why your sexuality is a relationship between YOU and YOU; How there are MANY reasons people have sex. (Glennon says sexual attraction only accounts for 5% of her sexual experiences.); and The shame underlying compulsory sexuality – and how to stop apologizing for not wanting sex. And a question for anyone seeing themselves in asexuality: What would this label free you from? About Angela: Angela Chen is a journalist and editor. She is the author of Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex, which was named one of the best books of 2020 by NPR, Electric Literature, and Them. Her reporting and essays have also appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The Guardian, National Geographic, Paris Review, and more. TW: @chengela IG: @angelaetcetera To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who do we go to for advice? And do we really even WANT advice — or just a good listener? Glennon, Abby, and Amanda tell us who they each go to when they don’t know what to do next — and offer their best advice to Pod Squaders dealing with loneliness and the unexpected jealousy of their partner's affection for a pet. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amanda shares the one proven way to get the truth from someone – plus: Why Glennon calls her lying style “The Puppeteer” – and why you’ll never know what Amanda’s really feeling. Amanda defends our right to lie, and debunks myths about how we can tell if someone is lying. What’s the difference between lying and controlling, manipulating, and filtering the truth? Glennon’s fear of judgment from the next generation, and How to foster real connection in a world where lying is normal. For the first part of our conversation, check out 242. We’re All Liars: What’s Your Lying Style?. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kerry Washington shares the deeply personal story of what happened when her parents finally told her the truth about a long-held and shocking family secret: How uncovering the truth – as painful as it was – led Kerry to reclaim her self trust; How the revelation made her the lead character of her own life for the first time; Walking the line between protection and deception; Breaking the cycle of gaslighting within families; and How defying her father freed both of them. About Kerry: Kerry Washington is an Emmy-winning, SAG, and Golden Globe-nominated actor, director, producer, and activist. Washington received widespread recognition for her role as Olivia Pope in the hit drama Scandal. In 2016, Washington launched her production company Simpson Street, whose projects include Confirmation, “American Son”, Emmy award-winning, “Live in Front of a Studio Audience”, The Fight, and Little Fires Everywhere. Washington is a lifelong activist and founder of Influence Change (IC21), an initiative that partners with nonprofits to increase voter turnout. For her efforts, Washington has been honored as one of TIME Magazine’s 2022 Women of The Year. Washington released her first memoir, Thicker Than Water, which is on sale now! TW: @kerrywashington IG: @kerrywashington To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Calling all Caregivers! Today is a tribute to the everyday efforts of all caregivers who are holding up the sky for everyone else. Ai-jen Poo is here shining a light on why caregivers are exhausted, unsupported, and overwhelmed – all while doing the work that makes everything else possible. We talk about how to give the people we love the care they deserve without neglecting our own needs, and what can be done to right the systemic failures that leave caregivers fending for themselves. Plus, we hear a heartfelt message from a Pod Squader who represents so many of us in the sandwich (or “panini”) generation. About Ai-jen: Ai-jen Poo is an award-winning organizer, author, and a leading voice in the women’s movement. She is the President of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Executive Director of Caring Across Generations, Senior Advisor to Care in Action, Co-Founder of SuperMajority, and a Trustee of the Ford Foundation. Ai-jen is a nationally recognized expert on caregiving, the future of work, and what’s at stake for women of color. She is the author of the celebrated book, The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America. TW: @aijenpoo IG: @aijenp To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Andrea Gibson returns with their partner, Megan Falley, for a gorgeous, hilarious double date with Glennon and Abby: An Andrea health update and what each has learned since Andrea’s cancer diagnosis; How their chemistry ignited with Andrea’s questionable move on a sweaty dance floor – and the text moment Andrea knew Megan was the one; How each of their relationships with their bodies has been transformed by Andrea’s illness; Navigating a relationship where one partner worries constantly and the other doesn’t know how to worry; and Why love looks like peeing your pants, and how they keep putting themselves in the way of miracles. For our previous conversation with Andrea Gibson, check out: Ep 215 The Bravest Conversation We’ve Had: Andrea Gibson. About Andrea: Andrea Gibson is one of the most celebrated and influential spoken word artists of our time. Best known for their live performances, Andrea has changed the landscape of what it means to attend a “poetry show”. Andrea’s poems center around LGBTQ issues, spirituality, feminism, mental health, and the dismantling of oppressive social systems. Andrea is the author of seven books, most recently “You Better Be Lightning”. TW: @andreagibson IG: @andreagibson About Megan: Megan Falley is a queer femme writer and a full-time touring spoken word poet, author, and teaching artist. Her works include “Drive Here and Devastate Me”; “How Poetry Can Change Your Heart”; and the chapbook “Bad Girls, Honey: Poems About Lana Del Rey.” In addition to other accolades, Falley’s essays have been shortlisted for The Disquiet International Prize in 2021 and the Malahat Review Open Season Awards in 2022. TW: @megan_falley IG: @meganfalley To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Where do you go to escape the pain of reality? Today, author Chloé Cooper Jones shares: The survival strategy many of us use to retreat from our lives and how to become more present; How she grapples with the world dehumanizing her disabled body; Why desire and disgust are so connected – and what they teach us; and The thing Chloé wants most – to be seen as inherently whole – and how to get it. About Chloé: Chloé Cooper Jones is a professor, journalist, and the author of the memoir Easy Beauty, which was named a best book of 2022 by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, TIME Magazine, and was a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Memoir. She was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Feature Writing in 2020. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. TW: @CCooperJones IG: @chloecooperjones To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the world of feelings, there are winners and losers, and somebody has to be the judge. World-renowned, self-proclaimed couples therapist Dr? Sheila invites you to sit in on her private sessions with clients. (For legal reasons, Dr? must be said in the form of a question.) Each week, a new couple…and a new puzzle to crack. You’ll get to hear, and benefit from, many of her famous techniques as she counsels patients on overcoming disagreements, dealing with an overstepping mother-in-law, navigating open relationships, and much more. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show, because the best way to feel better about yourself is to compare your problems to the problems of others. “Say More” features guests including Kate Berlant, Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, Ilana Glazer, Abbi Jacobson, Maya Rudolph, Ike Barinholtz, Jessica St. Clair, Lennon Parham, Paula Pell, Janine Brito, Jason Mantzoukas, Peter Grosz, Jean Villepique, Stephnie Weir, John Lutz, Fred Armisen, Rachel Dratch, Chris Parnell and Ana Gasteyer, and stars Amy Poehler as Dr? Sheila. Say More with Dr? Sheila premieres Thursday, September 21, 2023. Listen to and follow Say More with Dr? Sheila, an Audacy production, on the Audacy app or wherever you get your podcasts. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices