Cruel Summer Book Club

In April 2025, I asked Decision Coach and former journalist Nell Wulfhart a big question: Should I quit my job to travel? Spoiler alert: I did! I'm traveling right now! Listen to this episode to hear us discuss: What kind of questions do people use decision coaches for? Should I quit my job even if it's super scary? Am I financially safe to do so? And what do I actually want my one preciou...

Writer and digital creator Lola Kolade manifested every single detail about the life she’s living now — and she wants to teach you how to do it, too. Host Jillian Anthony (author of the Cruel Summer Book Club newsletter) talks to the inventor of Rat Girl Summer about her success on TikTok, embracing her identity as a writer, the quantum fields and the science behind manifestation, and how every si...

After a health scare at 24, writer, photographer, and artist Tatiana Gallardo decided to spend a year facing all of her fears. So she left the country, quit her job to go freelance, and decided to chronicle all her courageous endeavors in a newsletter called BrazenFace . Host Jillian Anthony (freelancer writer and author of the Cruel Summer Book Club newsletter) asks Tatiana about her experience b...

Can you hear that? It’s your creative routine calling. In this episode, host Jillian Anthony (writer and author of the Cruel Summer Book Club newsletter) talks about swapping the hectic mornings of her former corporate life for a grounding routine that kickstarts her day with creativity. Jillian shares her sacred creative morning routine and how much it’s improved her daily workflow and state of m...

It's Get Sh*t Done September! Host Jillian Anthony has been a writer for 13 years, and she's gathered a lot of tools and resources along the way. In this episode, she shares her ultimate tech stack, aka all the apps, programs, online communities, financial tools, and more that she uses to stay productive, get her work done, and create her art. Plus, she shares her Sunday routine that helps...

It's August, our annual reminder to stop and smell the wildflowers. Host Jillian Anthony (freelance writer and author of the Cruel Summer Book Club newsletter) takes that literally. This is her third summer taking a monthlong sojourn away from her home base of Austin and spending August with friends, family, and nature. Jillian discusses how she has intentionally made August a month to say no...

Comedian Zach Zimmerman knows a lot about success, and even more about rejection. The author of the essay collection Is It Hot in Here (or Am I Suffering for All Eternity for the Sins I Committed on Earth)? shares how he cold-pitched his way into the New Yorker and how he handles unruly audience members as a standup comedian. He and host Jillian Anthony (freelancer writer and author of the Cruel S...

A friend gifted host Jillian Anthony (freelance writer and author of the Cruel Summer Book Club newsletter) her first Tarot deck when she was 31 — and it changed her life. Today, it’s her most nourishing personal and creative habit. She shares how Tarot helped her move through heartbreak, get to know her highest self, and tap into her intuition. She explains the basics of Tarot, shares some beginn...

On the first edition of Dear Jilla, an advice column about art, life, and love, host Jillian Anthony (freelance writer and author of the Cruel Summer Book Club newsletter) answers a reader’s question about overcoming her fear of Cringe. Jillian talks through her own experiences with pushing past Cringe and offers concrete ways to get to know your deepest fears, befriend them, and eventually use th...

Host Jillian Anthony (author of the Cruel Summer Book Club newsletter) interviews author and podcast host Madeleine Dore about her many creative pursuits over the past decade. Dore takes us through the winding path of pursuing journalism, interviewing creatives for her newsletter, Extraordinary Routines, then writing her own book, I Didn’t Do the Thing Today . They discuss the tensions between pro...

The Cruel Summer Book Club podcast is BACK, baby!  Host Jillian Anthony talks about the evolution of her thinking around work, money, and success as she’s built a career as a freelance writer and editor since 2020. After reclaiming her creativity for four years, she’s ready to share what she’s learned so far. She discusses the new focus of CSBC — making space for your art and yourself — and what t...

On this solo episode, host Jillian Anthony (writer, editor, and author of the Cruel Summer Book Club newsletter ) shares her favorite ways to intentionally usher in the new year. She shares her experience with Year Compass, the free workbook she fills out every January, and how it’s helped her make real change — and identify which things she fails to change year after year. She also shares some ot...

Casey Johnston is the author of the long-running column Ask a Swole Woman , which now lives on her newsletter, She’s a Beast . She also wrote a book for beginner strength trainers called Liftoff: Couch to Barbell , which outlines a 12-week program on the basics of lifting, and fosters an online community for women strength trainers (and everyone else who might not fit into the gym bro stereotype)....

Author Jessica Dore combines the wisdom of ancient storytelling, the mysticism of Tarot, and the teachings of psychology in her book, Tarot for Change: Using the Cards for Self-care, Acceptance, and Growth . A licensed social worker, she writes regular offerings to readers online, using the images of the 78 cards of the Tarot deck and the characters she studies in folklore to weave affecting stori...

What if you approached money from a place of abundance, rather than restriction? Stella Gold will show you the way. Stella is a certified, trauma-informed financial wellness educator — and host Jillian Anthony’s former financial advisor. Their business, My Gold Standard , helps people understand the emotions, experiences, and desires behind how they spend money, and build wealth along the way. Ste...

Nicole Cardoza practices radical imagination, and wants you to as well. She may be best known as the creator of the Anti-Racism Daily newsletter , which began shortly after the murder of George Floyd and now reaches hundreds of thousands of subscribers. But Nicole also manages Reclamation Ventures, which invests in projects committed to health and racial equity; runs the Banned Books Book Club ; a...

Writer, actor, and podcast host Dylan Marron has made a career out of doing something few of us will ever do: talking to internet strangers who said unkind things to him online. When Dylan began publishing video series to a large online audience, he started taking screenshots of the hateful comments people left and saved them in a “hate folder” on his computer. One Facebook chat with an 18-year-ol...

Figuring out who to vote for, where and when to donate, and why it all matters can be so confusing. Democratic political strategist Brian Derrick wants to help change that. You may know him from Instagram , where he demystifies upcoming political races and shares how you can actually make a difference, either with donations or through actions. Last year he founded Oath, a site that helps Democrats...

Tiffany Philippou (author of the newsletter The Tiff Weekly ) joins the podcast all the way from the United Kingdom. Tiffany’s first book, the memoir Totally Fine (and Other Lies I’ve Told Myself) , chronicles the tumultuous decade she experienced after her university boyfriend died by suicide when Tiffany was 20 years old. She and host Jillian Anthony (author of the Cruel Summer Book Club newslet...

Writer Samantha Stallard (and Jillian’s bestie) returns to the pod! She and host Jillian Anthony (author of the Cruel Summer Book Club newsletter and the former Editor of Time Out New York ) discuss the complications of friendships between heterosexual men and women, and what it’s like to date as a woman in your 30s who doesn’t want to get married or have kids. Plus, Samantha talks about the power...

Host Jillian Anthony (author of the Cruel Summer Book Club newsletter and former Editor of Time Out New York) ushers in the second season of the podcast with a solo episode. She discusses the three biggest changes in her life over the past year: 1. She deprioritized work, while building a freelance writing and editing career. 2. She spent the first 167 days of the year sober. 3. She felt the heavy...

Artist and author Adam J. Kurtz was supposed to turn in the manuscript for his fourth book in April 2020. Instead, he and his husband weathered the worst of the pandemic in Brooklyn, and as most of Adam’s creative work disappeared, he was forced to transform. Host Jillian Anthony (author of the Cruel Summer Book Club newsletter and former Editor of Time Out New York ) talks with Adam about his upc...

Author Ashley C. Ford worked on her memoir, Somebody’s Daughter , for ten years before it was released this summer and instantly shot to the New York Times bestseller list. Ashley talks with host Jillian Anthony (author of the Cruel Summer Book Club newsletter and former Editor of Time Out New York ) about releasing herself from secrets and shame through writing her family’s story, how therapy hel...

Francesca Hogi lovingly calls herself the biggest loser in Survivor history—she was the first one voted off the island, twice—but her big losses motivated her to change her entire life. Host Jillian Anthony (author of the Cruel Summer Book Club newsletter and former Editor of Time Out New York ) talks to the host of the Dear Franny podcast about dealing with the fallout of Survivor , quitting her...

At age 29, Dr. Susie Bannon got her fourth DWI and went to prison for 11 months. The injustices she witnessed there changed the course of her life, inspiring her to earn her Ph. D. in communication and become an activist for prison abolition. Now 12 years sober, Dr. Bannon tells host Jillian Anthony (author of the Cruel Summer Book Club newsletter and former editor of Time Out New York ) about gro...