Thanks For Asking

Parenting is terrifying. The moment your child comes into the world, you become painfully aware of all the dangers lurking around every corner. As parents, all we want is to keep them safe, wrapped up in our arms, warm and happy and never in pain. But, as all parents know, that’s not the way things go. And when your child is hurting, you hurt with them. Their pain is yours. And you can’t help but...

Nora McInerny welcomes poet David Gate for a lively conversation about finding “okay” in the everyday. They talk about unexpected moments of connection, new hope in Alzheimer’s research, the joy of Costco, family life, and why politicians should be held to their promises. Along the way: billionaires, hot dogs, Kelly Clarkson, and the small comforts that make a difficult world feel a little more ma...

No one prepares you for the moment that you lose your person. We will never compare one loss to another. We will never say that there is a loss that is worse, because grief is simply The Worst. But there is something uniquely horrible about losing a sibling. Siblings are our tethers to every moment of our lives — from childhood to teenagehood to adulthood — and are, most likely, the only people th...

Something is in the air, because Nora has been contemplating getting bangs again. Oh, and the meaning of life, passage of time, etc. etc. Whatever you’re having multiple small crises about, one thing is for sure: everyone is on the brink right now. It would be amazing if there was one thing to point fingers at and blame, but in truth, the things that are pushing everyone to the brink are just as n...

These days, daily life can feel unpredictable. Every moment, many of us are bracing for impact or expecting to be pushed back into the pit of despair – but there is always a bright spot of OK. Today, Nora’s finding that for you and encouraging you to lower the bar. The thing that can make you realize that it’s going to be OK can be small, mundane, or ordinary. That doesn’t make them any less spect...

 Losing someone you love is never easy – but there’s something uniquely painful and incredibly misunderstood about losing someone to opioid addiction and overdose. Today, friend of the pod, host, and author Steph Wittels Wachs is back to talk about her newest book, Last Day, and share how she turned her grief into purpose.  She’s here on the podcast today to talk about opioid use disorde...

It’s rare to find someone who you can talk to about grief. Even rarer when someone can understand the dropping feeling in your stomach when you hear the word “glioblastoma” while sitting in a doctor’s office, watching someone who has been a constant in her life be robbed of their future – and watching yourself be robbed of time with them. On today’s episode of Thanks for Asking, Nora is joined by...

On today’s episode of IGTBO, Nora is joined by host of ⁠Nuance Needed⁠ podcast and friend Amanda White to give you your weekly dose of OK. This week, Nora and Amanda discuss the surprising human connections that can be made when you need to call AAA, talking yourself down from a spiral, the best ways to turn your brain off, and, of course, celebrating the post office. If you didn’t know, this is a...

Do you believe it when other people say, “You’re worthy just because you exist,” or do you simply grimace, pretend you agree, and move forward? It can be difficult to have a real sense of self-worth. Not the kind that we advertise on social media with our highlight reels, but the genuine sense of self-worth: the way you treat yourself and, in turn, how you treat others. If you’re a member of our c...

25 years ago, the United States was rocked by the tragedy of 9/11. American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 struck the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon. United Airlines Flight 93 went down in a field in Pennsylvania after its passengers fought back against the hijackers. Almost 3,000 people died tha...

Some things are just a little too perfect to be random – and this is coined by Nora and guest Caroline Moss as “the portal opening.” In today’s episode of IGTBO, Nora and Caroline talk about the small moments of magic and stars aligning: Nora’s daughter’s new boyfriend’s invisible string through their lives, signs from Caroline’s grandmother, and a puppy finally learning how to ask to go outside a...

Ayane Lage is the author of Missing Me: A memoir of post-partum psychosis and the long road back, her own first-hand account of an often-misunderstood and currently very hot topic, as we sat down to record this on the same week as the internet and major news outlets are tirelessly reporting and speculating on the case of Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts mother who strangled her three young children...

 If we’re lucky, we’ll all be old someday. America is gradually getting older. According to the US government, since 2001, the national median age has risen from 35.6 to 39.4. And yes, while we complain about boomers, it has to be said that attempting to retire in an economy where gas is close to $5 a gallon and a 12-pack of Diet Coke is $12 (highway robbery). According to a study by Allianz,...

If you’re on the brink right now, you aren’t alone. As the Summer of Surrender comes to an end, Nora wanted to bring you an episode that was made to distract you from the weight of the world. Today, she’s joined by friend of the pod and Be There in Five host Kate Kennedy to reconnect with the small things that bring them joy: in parenting, in their homes, in trinkets, and, of course, in amazing TV...

Most friendships start because you have something in common: work, hobbies, fashion, books, sense of humor. But not all friendships are formed because of something wholesome in common. Sometimes, you share an experience so life-changing that you are drawn to each other. That is how, nine years ago, Nora and Steph Wittels Wachs became friends. Steph lost her brother, Harris, to an opioid overdose....

People tend to tiptoe around anything to do with widowhood. We know that people are clumsy with their words and their actions, and often, they don’t want to say the wrong thing or ask the wrong questions. Oftentimes, widows don’t even want to ask these questions to fellow widows. So, our inbox fills with the questions people are too scared to ask – about dating widows, about grief’s permanence, ab...

Our lives are shaped by our families. Not just our habits, family recipes, and noses – our stories, too. You probably know stories about your great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, or, if you’re really into Ancestry.com, as far back as five hundred years ago. You might know the names, professions, quirks, and life stories of people who could have literally never imagined your existence, and...

On today’s episode, Nora is joined by Elizabeth Kott to renew your hope in humanity and give you your much-needed dose of OK. If you continue to forget the days of the week (Tuesday shouldn’t exist and we are prepared to cut them out of our calendars), find joy in having and using multiple notebooks while constantly on the quest to find the most PERFECT notebook, and love gossiping about the Summe...

People are clumsy when it comes to widows – we’ve made a handful of episodes about just how clumsy we can be. But we don’t often talk about how widows can be clumsy with others, too. In today’s episode, we meet caller Alex, who met her dream man on Hinge. He was emotionally available, kind, and very interested in her. He made her feel safe and valued and important, which made Alex feel like she wa...

Some days, OK things are all around us and naming them is a breeze. On other days, it feels like you have never, EVER been OK in your entire life. Whatever day you’re having, Nora and special guest and friend of the pod Jo Piazza are bringing you a message: to join them in their version of a 90s summer of surrender. They talk about lowering expectations, enjoying the whimsical little things (think...

When you’re a planner and life throws you a big, rusty wrench, how do you live in the aftermath? If you’re anything like us, you desire control. A perfect, beautiful calendar with everything already on it – no surprises! Maggie Smith was one of those people, too. Being ruled by predictability worked for a lot of her life – through school, marriage, children, her career – but then everything implod...

Drinking is a really acceptable thing in the US. Most towns have liquor stores on every few corners. Every home decor store has products with some variation of the same, tongue-in-cheek humor: “Mommy’s Go-Go Juice,” “I’m not whining, I’m wine-ing,” or “It’s WINE O’CLOCK!” More often than not, explaining that you’re sober can be more awkward than explaining that you binge drink every other weekend....

What’s okay with Laura McKowen right now? After we talk about the weather (and who doesn’t love to talk about the weather?) we go on a journey through prestige and lowbrow television, briefcases, baked goods and a poem that will bring you the soul hug you need.  Laura McKowens books: We Are The Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life (Bookshop | Amazon) Push Off From Here: 9 Essential Truth...

There is no shame in giving up, despite the fact that the #Girlboss from the 2010s in us all might be rolling over in her metaphorical grave at the thought. But if you’re anything like Nora, you’ve felt the pressure from… well, everywhere to have a plan for the summer. To make it the most magical summer for your kids. To juggle work and hobbies and friends and your health with ease even as we’re h...

Adoption is often viewed as a happy ending, and sometimes it is! But for Thenedra, her experiences as a child in the foster care system and later as a trans-racial adoptee were — and still are — much more complicated than that. This is an episode about what can happen when trans-racial foster and adoptive parents are not just unprepared to raise traumatized children, but also unprepared to raise B...