Girls Can Tell Podcast

You never actually meet your partner's friends for the first time, not really. By the time you sit down at that table, they already know how you met, what you do, your baggage, and probably things you haven't told them yourself. This week, the strange evaluation nobody admits is happening, why your friends' approval carries more weight than it should, the information you never agreed to hand over,...

Everybody says the honeymoon phase eventually ends. But what exactly is supposed to end? The uncertainty? Good. The idealized version of someone you barely know? Probably good to lose that too. But somewhere along the way, we also seem to accept that the excitement, curiosity, attention and desire we have for someone at the beginning are supposed to fade right along with everything else. Why? In t...

No new episode this week, but I promise I haven't disappeared. Some genuinely good stuff has been happening, and I'll tell you all about it soon. In the meantime, here's a look back at some of the best moments from the show so far. Audio only this week, new episodes return soon on Spotify and YouTube.

No new episode this week, instead, a look back at some of the sharp, funny, and most honest moments from the last 30. New episodes return next Tuesday.

This week I’m doing something a little different. This is an episode of my other podcast, Usefulish, which is a completely different kind of show from Girls Can Tell. So consider this a little detour from our regularly scheduled programming. I hope you enjoy it.

I still have tons of old, dead conversations I've had on the app. This week I went back and reread the ones that went nowhere, some I ended on purpose, and some just sort of ended themselves. Horses, maple syrup urine disease, and a woman who compared a relationship to a newborn baby all show up. See if you recognize yourself or someone you've talked to in any of these.

Five hundred conversations. Zero dates. Two weeks ago, I was ready to delete the app for good. Then something happened this week that made me stop and ask if I quit one week too early. I don't know how this ends yet, but here's what almost walking away taught me.

This isn't really about concerts. It's about what people choose to put at the center of their identity, and what that secretly tells you about compatibility. After decades in radio, playing in bands, working backstage, standing onstage, and watching live music from every possible angle, I've come to a conclusion that surprises almost everyone. It's also one of the fastest reasons I'll swipe left o...

Two calls in, before we'd even met, she told me something about her ex-husband that should've ended things on the spot. I almost let it slide anyway. Here's why I didn't, and what I've learned about believing people the first time. Video versions of the weekly podcast are available on: YouTube Spotify And check us out on: Tiktok Instagram Facebook X Make sure to follow us while you’re there. Go to...

I share a building with 500+ people and can't remember the last time a stranger there turned into anything. Not a date, not a friend, not even a regular conversation. This week I figured out why, and it's not the building, it's not the city, it's not even really about being single. It's the same reason dating apps had to exist in the first place, and once you see it, you can't stop noticing it eve...

My ex contacts me every three or four months. The message is always the same formula, she has something to tell me, but she never says what it is. This episode breaks down textbook avoidant behavior, why she vanished the last time I responded warmly, why she'll never acknowledge what ended us, and the uncomfortable part about why her three-month cycle is perfectly timed to the exact moment my memo...

Politics has become one of the biggest filters in modern dating—but I don't think politics is actually the real issue. Over the last year, I've noticed something changing on dating apps. People aren't just telling you what they believe anymore. They're telling you who they refuse to date before you even say hello. So when did politics stop being something we discussed and start becoming part of ou...

A conversation that should have never happened made me realize something I hadn't connected before. Dating apps and matchmaking services are trying to accomplish the same thing, but they're built on completely different incentives. One depends on engagement. The other depends on successful introductions. Once you notice that difference, it's hard to stop seeing it. It's why so many people are givi...

I did sixty episodes of this podcast without ever showing my face. Then I turned on a camera and everything changed overnight. Comments, DMs, strangers feeling like they knew me — none of it happened for fourteen months and then all of it happened at once. This episode is about why presence does something that photos and audio never can, what it means for your dating profile, and why the thirty se...

I've finally had it. This one's a little different. Shirtless showdowns, pickleball pansies, Wimbledon-level tennis jags on a public court, scooter shits, absurdly loud cars, and industrial-strength playground blunts. Tune in for a completely reasonable and measured discussion. Obviously. Video versions of the weekly podcast are always available on: YouTube Spotify And often on: Tiktok Instagram F...

Most people on dating apps can answer a question. Almost nobody can actually play. This episode is about the difference and why it's the only thing I'm still looking for. Video versions of the weekly podcast are always available on: YouTube Spotify And often on: Tiktok Instagram Facebook X Make sure to follow us while you’re there. Go to the website and leave us a voicemail Click the microphone bu...

She was smart, funny, attractive, and easy to talk to. Days of genuine connection that felt like something real. And then she mentioned something that changed everything. This episode is about the information people strategically withhold in early dating, the specific details that would change everything for the other person if disclosed upfront. Some of it is serious, some of it is ridiculous, an...

In this episode, I get uncomfortably honest about my high standards and how often they’re just an excuse. I talk about fast dismissals on the apps, the fear that no one would actually want the full version of me, and the difference between protecting your time and protecting yourself from judgement. If you’ve ever wondered if you’re picky, or just afraid to find out, this one’s for you. Video vers...

What would you do if a stranger on a dark empty street started telling you what you had for breakfast, your sister's name, your favorite color, things they have no business knowing? That feeling is a version of something happening in dating right now. Someone already has a file on you before you've said a word. They've googled you, stalked your socials, or got the full briefing from a mutual frien...

Dating profiles are full of women who've been to 44 countries, have eight trips booked this year, mention travel in their bio four times, and have a detailed list of demands for a partner. Loyalty, presence, consistency, and someone who shows up. This episode is about that contradiction, what travel obsession says in a dating profile, what the relationship you'd be signing up for looks like, and w...

Most people believe that jealousy indicates something is wrong with them, that secure, emotionally healthy individuals don't experience it, and the goal is to move past it entirely. This episode argues the other side. Jealousy isn't some character flaw, and dismissing it because someone convinced you that the feeling itself was the problem might be the most costly mistake you make in a relationshi...

We start with a listener voicemail about something she couldn't stop doing even though she could see it happening. She'd been telling herself she'd get serious about dating again once she reached a goal. Then, when she reached it, instead of dating, she just set another goal. Sound familiar? This episode explains why some of us keep moving the finish line and how to stop doing it. 

A few months ago, I ran an episode of this podcast that was, let's say, different...and nobody noticed. This episode is about what technology means for dating, podcasts, and the voicemail sitting on your phone right now. Do you think you can tell what's real and what isn't? 

The profiles have gotten worse. Not slightly, significantly. The Instagram handle in the serious relationship bio. The wrong age that somehow always gets entered younger. The AI bio with the em dashes in it. The skyline that doesn't exist. The woman who liked you first and spent the conversation taking shots at you. This episode is about what all of it actually signals, because someone is always p...

In this episode, I share the conversation that almost never happened: a rematch with a clear political filter that put me in the ‘no’ category. She pushed past it anyway, and what unfolded forced me to confront my own label-based shortcuts, like the flight attendant rule and almost swiping left on someone 20 miles away in Chicago’s brutal traffic. We explore the difference between healthy behavior...