The Connection Code with Rachel and Jeana

What’s the worst that could happen? For Rob Katz and Kevin Boehm, a four-hour conversation over coffee turned that question into the beginning of Boka Restaurant Group. This week, Rachel and Jeana welcome restaurateur Rob Katz for his first podcast interview—and a candid, funny conversation about taking chances, building trust, and making people feel seen. From arriving in Chicago with $1,200 to d...

A diploma doesn’t come with instructions for making friends, navigating workplace expectations, or walking into a room full of strangers. So where do we learn those things? This week, Rachel and Jeana welcome Heather Redisch, creator of Adulting 101 Masterclass, for a conversation about building confidence and connection through the everyday experiences that stretch us. Heather shares what she’s l...

What’s the difference between collecting contacts and building real relationships? Award-winning communications executive—and lifelong super-connector—Jon Harris joins us to share what more than three decades of bringing people together has taught him about curiosity, generosity and the relationships that remain long after jobs and titles change. Jon opens up about the difficult childhood that sha...

What does it mean to love a place deeply and know when it’s time to leave? New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Xochitl Gonzalez joins Jeana and Rachel for an expansive conversation about the places that make us, the people who remember our earlier selves, and the courage it takes to enter a new chapter. Xochitl reflects on Brooklyn as both a hometown and a living archive....

People-pleasing can look like kindness—but is it actually bringing us closer to one another? In this episode, Rachel and Jeana examine how people-pleasing shows up at work, in friendships, in romantic relationships and even in hospitality. Inspired by Adam Grant’s writing on the subject, they explore the fear of disappointing others, why saying no can feel so loaded and how trying to earn someone’...

What if the goal of a disagreement wasn’t to win, but to make the next conversation possible? Rachel and Jeana talk with Harvard professor Julia Minson, author of How to Disagree Better , about what happens when we assume we already understand the other person. Julia shares a late-night disagreement with her daughter that went sideways, why curiosity needs to be spoken aloud, and a simple “curiosi...

What happens when kids put down their phones and have the freedom to simply be kids? Rachel and Jeana sit down with Tommy Hoffman, executive director of Herzl Camp, to explore why summer camp remains one of the rare places where young people can practice the art of conversation, navigate conflict, develop independence, and form meaningful friendships through repeated, real-life experiences. Tommy...

We’re back for Season 3—and after 50 episodes of talking about friendship, connection and the relationships that make life better, we’ve learned a few things. In this season opener, Rachel and Jeana look back at the conversations from Season 2 that have stayed with them, changed their behavior and even sparked new friendships in real life. They talk about why friendship can feel harder in adulthoo...

What happens when you stop waiting to feel ready? This week, we're joined by Peloton instructor, author, and all-around force of nature Kirsten Ferguson for one of our favorite conversations of the season. Kirsten shares the winding path that led her from the NFL to Peloton—including heartbreak, infertility, divorce, reinvention, and learning to embrace a dream she never saw coming. Along the way,...

What happens when your dream job ends? For fashion expert, media personality, and entrepreneur Lilliana Vazquez, it became the beginning of something even bigger. In this conversation, Rachel sits down with Lilliana to explore the connections that have shaped her remarkable career—from cold-calling a television station and becoming the first Latina host of E! News to reinventing herself as one of...

Rachel and Jeana welcome back their very first reconnection guest: Mo News founder and journalist Mosh Oinounou. Since his first appearance on The Connection Code, Mosh's world has grown in every direction. Mo News has expanded, he's preparing to welcome his second child, and he's spending more time thinking about what it means to stay connected—not just to the headlines, but to the pe...

This week, it's just Rachel and Jeana. No guest. No expert. Just two friends asking each other the friendship and connection questions they've always wanted to explore. Why do some friendships feel effortless while others require more work? How do you handle jealousy when a friend gets something you want? What do you do when judgment sneaks into a relationship? And how many friendships do...

Friendship isn't hard because you're doing it wrong. It's hard because adulthood changes everything. This week, Rachel and Jeana unpack why friendships drift, why they break, and what actually keeps them alive. Together, they explore the realities of friendship drift, life stage changes, geographic distance, busy schedules, and the small misunderstandings that can quietly erode even meaningful rel...

This episode of The Connection Code is one of our most personal and eye-opening yet. Rachel and Jeana sit down with Rachel’s 12-year-old niece, Lily Engelbret, to talk about what it’s been like to learn she’s autistic. Lily shares how that has shaped the way she experiences friendship, school, masking, and connection. With incredible honesty, humor, and wisdom beyond her years, Lily shares what au...

Sara Haines spends her days connecting with millions of viewers on The View, but in this episode of The Connection Code, she joins us for a much more personal conversation about friendship, vulnerability, homesickness, motherhood, and the people who make us feel truly seen. We talk about: why curiosity matters more than networking the emotional power of female friendships what Sara has learned fro...

This week on The Connection Code, Jeana and Rachel are diving into the friendship stories, trends, and hot takes taking over the internet right now. From the rise of “doorbell friends” and apps designed to match you with new friends, to whether we should stop doing catch-up dinners entirely, this episode is a real-time conversation about how connection is changing — and what we may be gaining (or...

What if just four minutes a day could change the way you make decisions, navigate relationships, and understand yourself? In this episode, we talk with Laura L. Rubin about the transformative power of journaling ... not as a “nice-to-have,” but as a tool for clarity, confidence, and connection. From processing conflict to making life’s biggest decisions, Laura shares how putting pen to paper helps...

What if oversharing isn’t something to fix, but something to use ? This week on The Connection Code , we’re joined by Leslie John. She's a behavioral scientist, Harvard Business School professor, and author of Revealing: The Underrated Power of Oversharing Together, we unpack one of the biggest myths about connection: that saying “too much” is a social mistake. Leslie explains why what we call ove...

What happens when you take 16 strangers, sit them down at one table, and design every moment for connection? This week on The Connection Code , we sit down with Shreena Amin and Chef Nicolai Mlodinow , the founders of Class Act Dining—a Chicago-based, 16-seat communal dining experience built to bring people together through food, storytelling, and intentional design. What started as a scrappy, pos...

Friendship expert Danielle Bayard Jackson joins us for one of our favorite conversations yet, breaking down the real work behind meaningful friendships. From why adult friendships feel harder than they used to, to the role of conflict, effort, and emotional support, Danielle shares the research-backed truths most of us were never taught. We talk about: Why friendship isn’t as “natural” as we think...

What if social media actually made us better friends… instead of just better at watching each other live? Social media connects us, keeps us in the loop, and sometimes… makes us feel like we’re missing out on everything. In this episode of The Connection Code , Jeana Anderson Cohen and Rachel Gillman Rischall dive into the complicated role social media plays in our friendships, from the early days...

What if finding your purpose wasn’t about reinvention, but about alignment? This week on The Connection Code , we’re joined by Suzy Welch, NYU Stern professor, researcher, and New York Times bestselling author of Becoming You . Suzy has built a powerful, data-driven framework to help people uncover their purpose by looking at three key inputs: → your values → your aptitudes → and what the world wi...

What if confidence isn’t something you have, but something you can borrow? This week on The Connection Code , we’re joined by executive coach and managing partner of Verde Associates, Laura Sanchez-Greenberg. She's the kind of coach whose name gets passed quietly from founder to founder, with a simple message: “If you can get time with her, do it.” Laura has worked with some of the most respec...

Behavioral scientist and bestselling author Jon Levy joins us to explore the science behind trust, connection, and influence. Jon is known for hosting the now-famous Influencers Dinner , a secret dining experience where strangers cook a meal together before discovering they’re sitting with Olympians, astronauts, Nobel laureates, and cultural leaders. The twist? No one is allowed to share their las...

In this capsule conversation, Rachel Gillman Rischall and Jeana Anderson Cohen explore one of the most tender and rarely discussed relationship topics: friendship breakups and estrangement . Inspired by Hillary Duff and her recent reflections on estrangement in an interview with Anthony Mason , Rachel and Jeana unpack what it means to lose someone close to you — and not know how, or whether, to re...