Big Mood, Little Mood with Daniel M. Lavery

Rocky returns! The aspiring poker player writes back to make the case for quitting his day job (and if this makes no sense, check out the 11/29 “Anger Management” show). We’re rooting for you, man. Then, Mallory and comedian Avery Edison tackle your questions: A friend made a cruel comment at a party, I made a scene, and no one will let it go — how do I shut this down? I love my boyfriend, but he’...

Mallory and guest Andrea Silenzi of Slate podcast “Why Oh Why” take on big issues, starting with the weighty question of how long you should wait to move on when someone you’re dating goes missing at sea. Then to your letters: I was ready to forgive my mom for how badly she handled my coming-out, but I just learned she also outed me to my whole family — what now? I set a goal to start a relationsh...

A soon-to-be bride wants to buck a patriarchal wedding tradition. A wife wants her husband to buck up and tell his father he can’t come over every weekend. A man wants to leave a longterm relationship, but he’ll leave his partner without any bucks. Mallory is joined by Anna Sale, host of the WNYC podcast Death, Sex & Money , to tackle these problems. Plus, some genuine life advice from Mallory...

Mallory and guest Samantha Powell come to you live from the Now Hear This festival in LA. And a warning: things get rowdy! An American man wonders if he can divorce his non-English-speaking wife … because he’s bored explaining things to her. Then, the reverse: a woman moved to her husband’s home country to care for his mom — now mom’s dead, and she’s stuck there. Plus, an elopement throws an alrea...

Mallory’s dad v. William Shatner. Then your questions: first, how do I relate to a dad who was absent and abusive while I was growing up, and now demands regular, personalized gifts? Then: I had an affair with my pastor, and just met the daughter I gave up for adoption. Now she wants to meet him, too — should I tell and ruin his life, or stay silent and hurt her? Finally, let’s get serious: how do...

If you see dirty pictures on someone else’s phone, that’s your problem. And a reminder: Dear Prudence is not a tax attorney, and neither is her guest, Toast co-founder Nicole Cliffe. Your questions today revolve around missing the mark. I’m always the one chasing down my sometime lover — am I being a stalker? My friend’s husband asked me to donate towards a surprise luxury car I know she doesn’t w...

A note on the election and the limits of civility. Then, religion, inheritance, sibling rivalry: Prudie and guest Noah Kulwin discuss binaries. If you’re not close with your nephew, should you give him your old car instead of gifting it to your goddaughter? Should your live-in boyfriend take your side against your crazy landlord— and help you bear the financial burden of her craziness? What do you...

Queer women, Carly Rae Jepsen, and what’s up with people confessing crimes on Facebook? Prudence and guests Jaya Saxena and Matt Lubchansky take on your problems of timing, including: do you have to let your fiancé’s ill mother live with you indefinitely? What if you want to quit your job — which you only started two days ago? How long should you stay with a husband who disappeared from your life...

A listener offers her guide to figuring out if the white guy she’s dating has an Asian fetish. Then, Prudence and writer Brook Shelley get to your letters. First up, a mixed-race letter writer is dismayed to wake up to chain of racist texts — sent by her close friends. Then, the case of the Ambien Zombie Husband, a rent-based roommate Cold War, and an Eartha Kitt fantasy. Hear more Prudence by joi...

Nancy Ortberg, AKA Mallory’s mom, joins us for questions today. How do you to talk to a stepdad who tries to boost your confidence by making borderline-creepy remarks about your appearance? What do you say to stop your parents from complaining to you about their marriage? Plus: Anti-vaxxers, handling disappointment, and how to keep the peace when you get the better office at work. Hear more Pruden...

Carvell and Mallory jump right back in. A letter-writer complains that her brother is a “man whore” — but first, we need to talk about who’s throwing glass at your family events. Then, should I tell my fiancé that I’m pretty sure I once slept with his best man? And finally: a knock-down, drag-out fight over whether a letter-writer should humor her father’s insistence that her boyfriend ask permiss...

Just say no to the “Don’t Tread On Me” snake. Mallory and returning listener favorite Carvell Wallace tackle and disagree over thorny questions like: should you intervene when your sister invites your mom to her wedding — but not your stepdad? When your adult sister is a cheater, how do you support her through her divorce? And finally, how do you break it to your white friend that she’s not as “wo...

This week, your questions discussed in the cozy setting of Prudie’s literal bedroom. That might sound overly-intimate, but it’s not as intimate as going to a sweat lodge with your coworkers! Our guest is writer Lauren O’Neal, and together she and Prudie tackle how to set boundaries when your boyfriend’s family comes over every day without knocking, what to say to a mother who’s shunting her paid n...

Ann M. Martin and the gay Baby-Sitters Club, plus some unsolicited advice to a letter-writer who’d like to ruin his sons’ lives from beyond the grave and can’t find a lawyer to help him do it. SkyMall nostalgia. Then, Prudence and guest Rebeca Sanchez answer your questions as creatively as they’re able: how to talk to in-laws so obsessed with death they may as well be funeral crashers? How to repa...

The great lie that is, “they don’t really mean it.” Mallory and her sister, writer Laura Turner, bring some family wisdom to this week’s show. First: is it alright to ask your family to stop texting you the news of relatives’ deaths? What about when your family expects you to take in five young children — indefinitely? Then: how do you talk to a friend who’s always been your creative companion, bu...

End the tyranny of the snooze button. Prudie and writer Mikki Kendall answer your questions, and let’s just get one thing out of the way right now: don’t try to attempted-murder Mikki by turning on an electric fence while she’s touching it; that won’t go over any better than writing your adopted daughter completely out of your will, then asking her to host Thanksgiving for 50 people. Plus: killing...

Comedians W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu of the podcast  Politically Re-Active  join Prudie to dispense advice — sometimes in song! — about how to get a needy ex out of your house, how best to deal with a deadbeat husband, and how to figure out if your boyfriend is only into you because you’re Asian. Plus, Ayn Rand and the true identity of Chuck E. Cheese. Hear more Prudence by joining Slate Plu...

Prudence and guest Lisa McIntire on when you should rock the boat, why people feel entitled to be rude to their friends, and how time passing does not equal an apology. First though, you should go see Bad Moms… the audience, that is. More thoughts on HR and how capitalism is a hellscape, with apologies to the robber barons among our listeners.  Now to your questions: A parent is allowing their 18-...

A woman dropped family, friends, and job to move across the country for a relationship that didn’t work out — and things got worse from there. Is she doomed to make poor decisions for the rest of her life? A man dies, and his obituary lists a woman who barely remembers him as “the love of his life.” Should she try to find out what happened, or let him take his secret to the grave? A daughter menti...

Prudence flies solo and argues with — or against — her better angels. She anoints the Worst Commercial of the Year and advises a woman wondering if she has to let a family member with money trouble live in her empty investment apartment. But Prudie loves it when you send her letters that  don’t  have to do with someone possibly getting put out on the street, and vastly prefers questions about thin...

Does HR really work for employees — or is it just there for the company? Prudence shares a listener perspective. Then, Prudie and friend of the show Jos Lavery counsel a woman who’s essentially written in just to say how great her life is. A listener asks how to restrain their financially irresponsible fiancé before they both end up broke. Continuing the theme: a husband won’t stop smoking even th...

Jasmine Guillory is back in the studio with Prudie to talk about how to handle a partner who doesn’t believe in antidepressants, counsel a woman in an emotionally abusive relationship with a physically disabled man, and, for a bit of relief, adjudicate a parking-space dispute. Plus: do you, or do you not, have to go see the new Ghostbusters movie?  Hear the most Prudie you can by joining Slate Plu...

Today’s questions are about life’s unfairness and the meaning of unconditional love; Dear Prudence and writer Carvell Wallace roll up their sleeves and get tough. A woman writes with a question about what she owes her troubled, and now-adult, adopted daughter; and an aunt wonders whether she must spend her savings on a treatment that might -- or might not -- save her terminally-ill nephew’s life....

Mallory and Slate’s Aisha Harris talk about butting in where you don’t belong. Should you call Child Protective Services because you think someone’s kids aren’t learning enough algebra? How do you deal with a colleague making inappropriate remarks about your employees’ personal lives? And as always, there’s more of everything at Slate Plus -- visit slate.com/prudiepod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.c...

Dear Prudence and  Slate ’s Christina Cauterucci take on behavior that goes from bad to worse: a “toxic friend” who uses her mental health issues to get away with abusing her friends; a man trying to shame his wife into having a “regret baby” seven years after they both agreed to an abortion; and a father who wants to tell his preteen sons how much he doesn’t love their mother. Plus, Prudie advise...