Big Mood, Little Mood with Daniel M. Lavery

Danny Lavery welcomes Jules Gill-Peterson, author of Histories of the Transgender Child and a co-host of Outward on Slate. Lavery and Gill-Peterson take on two letters. First, from someone who is feeling pressured to commit to a relationship from their entire friend group. Another letter writer is worried that they are going to drive their partner away by relying on them too much. Slate Plus membe...

Danny Lavery welcomes Bridget Todd, the host of the iHeart Radio podcast, There Are No Girls On The Internet , and the founder of Unbossed Creative, a media company that makes podcasts and other digital content to push the needle on social change.  Lavery and Todd tackle two letters. First, from someone who doesn’t know how to live a life beyond working. Another letter writer has a partner who can...

Danny Lavery welcomes Helen Rosner, a staff writer at the New Yorker, where she covers all things culture, though most of it is about food.  Lavery and Rosner take on two letters. First, from someone who’s upset that their friend is going to college with the goal of finding a husband. Another letter writer is struggling with a new perspective on how her husband courted her.  Slate Plus members get...

Danny Lavery welcomes Luisa Beck, a writer, reporter, and producer based out of Berlin, Germany. She’s the creator and host of the Audible Original Dear Poetry . Lavery and Beck tackle two letters. First, from someone who’s attracted to someone, except when they tell stories. Another letter writer is wondering how to become estranged from one single relative. Plus, behind the scenes of Beck’s podc...

Danny Lavery welcomes R.O. Kwon, the nationally bestselling author of T he Incendiaries and the co-editor of Kink . Lavery and Kwon take on three letters. First, from someone who’s missing a former bestie. Another letter writer is wondering if they should bring her ailing mother Buddist swastika symbols for comfort. Finally, a letter from someone who is wondering if they should stop doing particul...

Danny Lavery welcomes Noah Zazanis, an epidemiologist, writer, and prison abolitionist living in Queens, NY. His writing can be found in The New Inquiry, Pluto Press' Transgender Marxism anthology, and Obstetrics & Gynecology ("The Green Journal"). Lavery and Zazanis tackle two letters. First, from someone hesitating on coming out for fear of never being called the correct pronouns. Another le...

Danny Lavery welcomes Kashana Cauley, writer for The Great North and the author of the forthcoming novel, The Survivalists . Lavery and Cauley take on two letters. First, from someone who is witnessing their coworkers play a potentially dangerous prank on their supervisor. Another letter writer is uncomfortable with the subject matter of their friend’s novel. Plus, a sneak peek at Cauley’s forthco...

Danny Lavery welcomes Sasha Geffen, author of the book Glitter Up the Dark: How Pop Music Broke the Binary. Lavery and Geffen tackle two letters. First, from someone who is tired of being the only person holding that her friend came out to in their friend group. Another letter writer is trying to make sense of a hurtful breakup. Slate Plus members get another episode of Big Mood, Little Mood every...

Danny Lavery welcomes Miles Klee, a senior staff writer for MEL magazine, and the author of the novel Ivyland. Lavery and Klee take on three letters. First, from someone who wants to tell her friend to stop paying for everything when they hang out. Another letter writer has upset their partner due to her tendency to offer unsolicited pet advice. Finally, Lavery responds to a letter writer who is w...

Danny Lavery welcomes Jackie Keliiaa , a stand-up comedian, writer, and actor based in Oakland, California. She currently produces Good Medicine , a live comedy show featuring all Native comedians. Lavery and Keliiaa tackle two letters. First, from someone wondering about polyamorous etiquette, relative to his partner’s partner’s partner. Another letter writer is wondering if he should cut his los...

Danny Lavery welcomes Lindsay Kyle and Robyn O’Donnell, hosts of the podcast, Maladapted, in which they discuss books that have been adapted into movies.  Lavery, Kyle, and O’Donnell tackle two letters. First, from a letter writer being asked to delay their transition because their wife wants to have a baby. Another letter writer wants her mom to stop insulting her ailing dad. Plus, behind the sce...

Danny Lavery welcomes Jane Rice, a civil servant, and Edward Szekely, a radiographer, who live in Edinburgh, Scotland with their 3 year old daughter and 6 year old cat.  Lavery, Rice, and Szekely take on two letters. First, from a young adult who wants to know why he can’t help lying to his parents. Another letter writer is trying to break their habit of using their dead name at work.  Slate Plus...

Danny Lavery welcomes writer, comedian Dani Faith Leonard, who recently produced the film, Coast. Lavery and Faith Leonard tackle two letters. First, from a letter writer whose name change is ruffling feathers in her family. Another letter writer is worried about making small talk at their brother's wedding. Faith Leonard shares about producing the films Coast , Lez Bomb , and her live comedy show...

Danny Lavery welcomes Dylan Marron, author of the book Conversations with People Who Hate Me , and the host and creator of the critically acclaimed podcast by the same name. Marron recently joined the writing staff of the Emmy-winning hit television series Ted Lasso. Lavery and Marron take on two letters. First, from a letter writer who doesn’t want to give up on his once supportive dad. Another l...

Danny Lavery welcomes Maud Newton, author of Ancestor Trouble: A Reckoning and a Reconciliation. Lavery and Newton tackle two letters. First, from a letter writer who doesn’t want to tell her new boyfriend about her cancer diagnosis. Another letter writer is worried that her favorite aunt can’t stop talking about her political organization. Plus, a deep dive into Newton’s new book, Ancestor Troubl...

Danny Lavery welcomes Jessica Nordell, a science journalist and the author of the book The End of Bias: A Beginning. Lavery and Nordell take on two letters. First, from a letter writer who’s at her wits end with her friend’s racist comments. Another letter writer has caught her friend faking the symptoms of autism. Plus a deep dive into Nordell’s book, The End of Bias: A Beginning. Slate Plus memb...

Danny Lavery welcomes June Thomas, co-host of the Slate podcast “Working”, which explores the creative process. Lavery and Thomas take on two letters. First, from a letter writer who is wondering how to be comfortable in their own body when their sense of self is constantly changing. Another letter writer is wondering if they should tell their friend that they saw their date committing domestic ab...

Danny Lavery welcomes Marissa Gouverne, a documentary and commercial editor living in New York City. Lavery and Gouverne tackle two letters. First, from a letter writer who’s wondering how to avoid the same mistakes when dating. Another letter writer is asking how to maintain extended family relationships after cutting off their parents. Plus, Lavery and Gouverne talk about Steve Allen, Fred Astai...

Danny Lavery welcomes Daniel Shannon, a senior software engineer and technical lead at Vox Media, where he works on digital editorial content. Lavery and Shannon take on two letters. First, from a letter writer who’s wondering if her cousin is “love bombing” their girlfriend, and if she should say something about it. Another letter writer is asking what to do now that they realize they don’t respe...

Danny Lavery welcomes Esther Jaffee, a marine microbiologist who specializes in algal biochemistry. Lavery and Jaffee tackle two letters. First, from a letter writer who caught her boyfriend lying about his plans to move away with her. Another letter writer is wondering if it’s time to tell off their boss. Plus, Jaffee shares the latest and greatest from the world of algae. Slate Plus members get...

Danny Lavery welcomes author Heather Havrilesky, who recently published the book, Foreverland: On the Divine Tedium of Marriage . She also writes the Ask Polly advice column . Lavery and Havrilesky take on two letters. First, from someone who feels resentment over a former lover’s new relationship. Another letter writer is wondering whether sharing an old family memory will be helpful or harmful....

Danny Lavery welcomes Kyle Turner, a queer freelance writer based in Brooklyn, NY. Turner is a contributor to Paste Magazine, and his writing on film and culture has been featured in The Village Voice , GQ , Slate , Vanity Fair , and the New York Times . Lavery and Turner tackle two letters. First, from someone who's not sure if they should identify as a lesbian give their history. Another letter...

Danny Lavery welcomes Laura Leigh Abby, a writer and star and subject of a new documentary podcast series from Paradiso Media called Seventeen: Conversations with My Teenage Self .  Lavery and Abby take on two letters. First, from someone who's worried that her wife will discover her bullying past. Another letter writer is wondering how to get her husband to stop suggesting that she tries polyamor...

Danny Lavery welcomes comedian, author and host of the Emmy® Award-winning docu-series United Shades of America , W. Kamau Bell . Bell is also the director of the new Showtime docu-series called We Need To Talk About Cosby , which wrestles with the conversations of the #MeToo movement.  Lavery and Bell tackle two letters. First, from someone who was taken aback to find out that their team consider...

Danny Lavery welcomes Sarah Marshall, and a writer, media critic, and host of the modern history podcast, You’re Wrong About . She is also the co-host of the “feelings podcast about movies” You Are Good with Alex Steed.   Lavery and Marshall take on two letters. First, from someone wanting to approach their neighbor about their barking dogs. Another letter writer is concerned about scaring off a r...