Big Mood, Little Mood with Daniel M. Lavery

Prudence is joined this week by Phil Surkis, an Oakland based podcast producer, whose shows include Dear Prudence , and the upcoming Alicia Garza podcast, Lady Don’t Take No . He’s the co-host of the podcast, o.k. land , along with comedian Abas Idris. Prudie and Surkis tackle letters about how to keep your spirits up while social distancing without social media, what to do when you live far from...

Prudence is joined this week by Calvin Kasulke, a writer, podcast producer and transsexual living in Brooklyn. His work has been featured in outlets including MEL Magazine, Vice, Electric Literature and BuzzFeed. Prudie and Kasulke dig into letters about what to consider about getting a breast lift as a reward for achieving a weight goal, how to get people to use your full name without sounding li...

Prudence is joined this week by Kaitlyn Greenidge, the author of the novel We Love You, Charlie Freeman. Greenidge has written for the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Glamour, Elle, Virginia Quarterly Review and other places.  Prudie and Greenidge tackle letters about what to do when you can’t accept that your sister is dating a felon who’s fighting a heroin addiction, what to cons...

Prudence is joined this week by New York City based writer, Jaya Saxena. She's currently on staff at Eater.com, and her essay collection Crystal Clear is forthcoming from Quirk Books this year. Prudie and Saxena dig into letters about what to do when you discover a coworker has been tracking your attendance, actions and wardrobe, should you fake a baptism to appease your grandmother, what to consi...

Prudence is joined this week by Faran Krentcil, the editorial director of The Newsette and editor-at-large for ELLE.com. She lives in New York City with her life partner, a vintage leopard print coat from Paris.  Prudie and Krentcil tackle letters about what to do when your boyfriend casually reveals he wore blackface in college, how to act around your sister after seeing her presence in a porn fi...

Prudence is joined this week by Molly Woodstock, a biracial journalist, audio producer, and equity consultant based in Portland, Oregon. They produce and host an award-winning weekly podcast called Gender Reveal , and have been featured as a gender expert in the New York Times, NPR, and Washington Post, among other publications. Prudie and Woodstock dig into letters about what to do when you notic...

Prudence is joined this week by Lane Moore, the creator of the hit comedy show Tinder Live! Moore is also the author of the bestselling book How To Be Alone: If You Want To And Even If You Don't , and the front-person in the band It Was Romance . Prudie and Moore tackle letters about how to ask a roommate to keep an ever-listening Alexa-type speaker out of the common areas, what to consider when a...

Prudence is joined this week by Josh Gondelman, a comedian who has written for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and now writes for Desus & Mero . His debut essay collection Nice Try: Stories of Best Intentions and Mixed Results is available now.  Prudie and Gondelman dig into letters about if you should allow guests to speak kindly of your extremely unkind father-in-law at his funeral, how t...

Prudence is joined this week by Jason Carini, an attorney who works in recruiting for the legal industry in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Prudie and Carini tackle letters about what to do when you can’t help snooping for dirt on a job you left acrimoniously, how to deal with a coworker’s frequent incoming personal calls, what actions to take when the temperature at work gets so hot that you feel il...

Prudence is joined this week by Hari Kondabolu, the star of the Netflix standup special Warn Your Relatives, and the critically acclaimed documentary The Problem with Apu . In 2018, he was named one of Variety’s “Comedians to Watch.” He will be in New York City headlining Carolines on Broadway from January 23rd through the 25th. Prudie and Kondabolu dig into letters about what to do when your frie...

Prudence is joined this week by Grace Lavery, an Associate Professor in the Department of English at UC Berkeley.  Prudie and Lavery tackle letters about how to decide if you should you let your best friend raise your troubled daughter, what to do when neither you nor your girlfriend have living situations where you both can hang out in, how to know if you are gender nonbinary, should you apologiz...

Prudence is joined this week by Jordan Blok, a queer non-binary science communicator, research administrator, and hoop earring enthusiast based out of LA, and Prudie regular, Grace Lavery, an Associate Professor in the Department of English at UC Berkeley.  Prudie, Blok, and Lavery dig into letters about what to do when new friends who are a couple may be coming on to you, what to consider with a...

Prudence is joined this week by Grace Lavery, an Associate Professor in the Department of English at UC Berkeley, who occasionally feels like she has an alien in her throat.  Prudie and Lavery go back and look at some of the many memorable letters of 2019 that were addressed with the help of Francesca Fiorentini, Justine D’Souza, Connor Goldsmith, Helen Rosner, Clementine Ford, Nichole Perkins, Bi...

Prudence is joined this week by Mistress Justine Cross, a lifestyle dominatrix and BDSM consultant based in Los Angeles. She also owns and operates Dungeon East, a minimal, modern paradise, and Dungeon West, its atmospheric West LA counterpart. She is the boss of everyone except her cat. No one is the boss of cats. Prudie and Cross tackle letters about what to do when your friend’s husband threate...

This a preview of this week's Dear Prudence mini-episode: The Tattoo Anxiety Edition. Prudence is joined this week by Glynn Washington, the host of Snap Judgment, which is heard on over 400 NPR stations every week. He also hosts the podcasts Heaven’s Gate and Spooked.  Slate Plus members receive an additional mini-episode of Dear Prudence every Friday. Sign up now to listen. Hosted on Acast. See a...

Prudence is joined this week by Glynn Washington, the host of Snap Judgment, which is heard on over 400 NPR stations every week. He also hosts the podcasts Heaven’s Gate and Spooked.  Prudie and Washington dig into letters about what to do when one of your roommates replaces your plush toilet paper with a more economy brand, how to handle a colleague who has a memory of hooking up with you decades...

Prudence is joined this week by Ella Baker, a trans lesbian writer and the host of How to Be Trans, a platform celebrating thriving transgender lives.  Prudie and Baker tackle letters about what to do when your girlfriend allows a strange coworker to live in your apartment while you’re away traveling, how to know if you quit your volunteer job for the right reasons, what to know when you discover...

Prudence is joined this week by Peyton Thomas, a freelance journalist and video game writer based in Toronto. His writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, Billboard, and Pitchfork. Prudie and Thomas dig into letters about how to handle feeling not non-binary enough for your trans boyfriend, what to do when your friend in recovery comes to your bar and orders a drink, what actions to take if you feel y...

Prudence is joined this week by Aric McBay, an organizer, a farmer, and an author. He lives near Kingston, Ontario. His latest book is Full Spectrum Resistance, which explores how to build more effective movements. Prudie and McBay tackle letters about how to handle not being taken seriously because you look young, should you, as a straight man, speak up when you hear a woman objectifying another...

Prudence is joined this week by Dr. Ghazaleh Samandari, an integral development coach. Samandari has spent the last 15 years researching and advocating for women's health and rights around the world.  Prudie and Samandari dig into letters about how to handle a friend who accepts a job that you’re against politically, what actions to take when social anxiety in school has you skipping lunch every d...

Prudence is joined this week by Alexandra Petri, a humor columnist for the Washington Post, author of A Field Guide To Awkward Silences, and also working assiduously on a new book! Prudie and Petri tackle letters about how to handle that you’re husband of 30 years may have given you an STI, what to do when you keep catching your mother having affairs, should you confront your friend who’s about to...

Prudence is joined this week by Elizabeth Freeman, a Professor of English at the University of California, Davis, specializing in, among other things, Gender/Sexuality Studies.  Prudie and Freeman dig into letters about what to do when you feel like your bisexuality alienates you from most relationships, how to know if it’s safe to come out to your historically homophobic, but now mellowed parents...

Prudence is joined this week by Jae Bearhat, a Seattle-based writer, zinester, and known Internet presence. Their work includes the Czap Books published comic Little Teeth, the Youtube critique series Film Critters, and over dozens of posts on Twitter under the name fussybabybitch. Prudie and Bearhat tackle letters about how to decide how much to financially support a stepdaughter that you see squ...

Prudence is joined this week by Matt Martin, who recently launched TILT, a new brand of public media by and for young people to help them navigate an out-of-balance economy. Martin has worked in public radio for many years, including a long stint as a station manager of KALW-FM San Francisco. Prudie and Martin dig into letters about how to handle an annoying coworker that you ghosted but now have...

Prudence is joined this week by Molly Priddy, a writer and editor living in Minnesota. She likes Diet Coke, her dog, and talking about feelings because feelings are the worst. Prudie and Priddy tackle letters about how to admit to your date that you’re a recovering alcoholic and you’d rather not meet in a bar, what actions to take when your best friend has joined a cult, what to do when you’re exh...