Permission To Be Human

125: We Loved It Enough to Let It End: Andrea & Janelle's Conscious Final Episode This final episode is less a goodbye and more a mic drop on three years of evolution, experimentation, and radical honesty. Andrea and Janelle close out Permission to Be Human NOT because they ran out of things to say—but because the podcast served its purpose, teaching them how to figure out what they want and ask f...

REPEAT: 2: Question Everything, Especially Your Mothers' Advice What have you questioned lately? In this episode, we cover how questioning everything--including formats for marriage, religion, birth, parenthood and  matching outfits  has led to aha moments. You'll even hear some Billy Joel.  Some key points in this episode:  -A review of our mother's advice! -The power of social conditioning -How...

124: Part 8/8, Relationship Death Doulas Talk Repair, Intimacy & Rebirth: Designing a Relationship that Works Series What if the problem isn't your relationship… it's that you won't let it die? In this episode, Andrea & Janelle interview relationship death doulas Yana Rumi and Cari Caldwell, who don't just "work on" their relationship—they burn it down on purpose. No catastrophe required. Just a w...

123: Part 7/8, Legally Married, Personally Single: A Radical Family Experiment: Designing a Relationship that Works Series In this episode, Andrea and Janelle sit down with Nitsan Mesika , a wilderness therapist and psychedelic practitioner who has spent 25 years legally married to her partner… while both consider themselves single. Instead of divorce, they designed something new: a shared home, s...

122: Part 6/8, Polyamory, Parenting, and the Art of Staying Yourself: Designing a Relationship that Works Series What if the real secret to a lasting relationship isn't the structure — monogamy, polyamory, swinging, or anything else — but the willingness to approach with love? In this episode, Andrea and Janelle sit down with John Holle and Katie Wise, a Boulder-based couple married for 17 years w...

121: Part 5/8, Why Clean Devotion & DS  Dynamics = Orgasms and Freedom: How to Design a Relationship that Works   In this episode, Andrea and Janelle sit down with Adam and Emily, partners in their 50s who are crafting love with intention instead of default settings. After marriages, monogamy, and open relating, they've chosen a dynamic they call monogamous with a dominant/submissive current. They...

120: 4/8, Ali Katz Married Herself: Why We Should Stop Waiting to be Chosen; How to Design a Relationship That Works Series Andrea sits down with Ali Katz — entrepreneur, community builder, mother, and self-marriage pioneer — to explore her journey of box-checking success, internal disconnection, discovery of the warring selves within and the need for identity death before birthing a new soul. If...

119: Part 3/8: Monogamous, Sleeping Apart & Growing Together: How to Design a Relationship that Works Series Twenty-four years, one marriage, separate bedrooms, and zero regrets—meet Jonathan and Angela, the monogamous couple proving that "traditional" doesn't have to mean boring AF. From their "let's put all cards on the table" first date where they basically arranged their own marriage, to their...

118: Ep 2/8, Andrea & Kevin's Blueprint for Modern Love: Saturday CheckIns are So Hot Right Now! : How To Design a Relationship That Works Series Hey Bravehearts, curious how to start a romantic relationship at 50? After divorce, polyamory, therapy, personal growth and years of unlearning cultural BS, Andrea and Kevin share the actual tools, conversations, rituals, and agreements they use to creat...

117: Part 1/8: Janelle's Evolution from Catholic Monogamy to Solo Poly, D/s and Unicorn: How To Design a Relationship That Works Series Holy shit, are you ready to have your relationship rulebook completely obliterated? In this season six premiere, Janelle pulls back the curtain on her unconventional love life that includes being solo poly, in a DOM/sub container, a unicorn, AND a comet relationsh...

Season 6 Announcement: How to Design a Relationship that Works -------------- We're Andrea and Janelle--two midlife mavericks sharing openly about our own experiences--messy AF and no regrets----with marriage, divorce, polyamory and pleasure. You'll hear from relationship experts, meet real life Bravehearts and get intimacy skills.  Truth: When we're brave enough to ask for what we want, honor our...

116: Janelle and Her Dad's Journey into a Death Portal... and Came Out Thriving! Honey, buckle up. This isn't your typical "aww, aging parent" story. This episode is a wild ride through the liminal space between worlds, where Janelle's 95-year-old dad Jack decided to take the scenic route through death's waiting room—and then said "nah, I'm good" and came back thriving. What started as Uncle Jim's...

115: Andrea's Update: Letting Go, Falling In Love, and Realizing the Answer Is  Not in Your Phone What if everything you thought defined you… dissolved? Your marriage. Your business. Your income. Your identity. And instead of panicking — you felt more alive ? In this raw, funny, deeply human episode, Andrea talks about what happens after you burn the old blueprint to the ground--at age 50! This is...

114: Janelle's Update: "It's selfish if I don't ask for my desires." Janelle shares personal updates and insights on her lift at the moment; she discusses her new living arrangements and the impact of her housemate, Arianna, on her creative expression. She discusses the significance of homeopathy and her experiences with ancestral connections during Samhain. The conversation also touches on grief,...

REPEAT: 32: Your Evil Twin vs. Your Inner Witch: Who Do You Listen To? Janelle interviews Andrea about the five ways to discern the voice of your Ego (what Andrea calls her Evil Twin) from the voice of your Calling (what she calls her Inner Witch). So juicy. You'll hear why your Evil Twin is all about anxiety, attainment, doing and burnout, while your Inner Witch is all about silence, journey, bei...

REPEAT: 21: How to Ask for What We Want: Consent, Courage & AirBnB Checkouts What if you could ask for exactly what you wanted? What if you could trust and value your own yeses and nos? What if you could articulate exactly how you wanted to be touched? Andrea interviews Janelle on a framework that has helped her give and receive everything (compliments, apples, touch, rides to the airport! ) from...

REPEAT: 49: Art is Our Favorite Thing: Museums, Meaning & Freedom Janelle and Andrea love art--especially mixed meda. They live within it, they travel to see it and it makes them feel free and alive. From pussy willow branch curtain rods to birthing chairs and Indonesian doors to dramatic outdoor murals, they give permission to love what you love, and create with wild abandon. So many nods! Everyt...

113: Part 13/12: Derik Says "Turn Down the Volume": How to Build a Relationship with God Series Janelle and Andrea interview Derik, a yoga instructor who offers a majorly meta-view on spirituality. They discuss the difference between religion and spirituality, why "we're only human" is a phrase with the wrong idea, the concept of "Pancha Kosha," the five layers of human existence and the paradox o...

  112: Part 12/12: What if God Sounded Like Music? Bibles, Motorcycles & Love with Keith Major: How to Build a Relationship with God Series In this episode, Andrea and Janelle drop into a soul-level conversation with Keith Major — once a pastor, now a happiness coach who traded doctrine for embodied joy. Keith shares the gritty truth of his spiritual evolution: the music that was his connection to...

111: Part 11/12: Tantra After Mormonism: A Late-Life Awakening with Rich Priddis: How to Build a Relationship with God Series In this provocative episode, Janelle and Andrea sit down with Rich Priddis—a conscious intimacy guide and sexual healing coach whose life story reads like a sacred jailbreak. Raised inside the rule-bound, externally dependent world of Mormonism, Rich didn't begin reclaiming...

110: Part 10/12: Greg Kelly Says Grace is a Springboard for Transformation: How to Build a Relationship with God Series In this episode of Permission to Be Human , hosts Janelle Orion and Andrea Enright sit down with investor Greg Kelly for a conversation that refuses to play small. They dive into the messy, mystical, utterly human process of building a relationship with God—one that's less about...

109: Part 9/12: Crafting Christianity Your Own Way with Dani: How to Build A Relationship with God Series Janelle and Andrea sit down with psychotherapist, Ashkenazi and spiritual fire-starter Dani Grace to unravel the tender, tangled, and often taboo terrain of faith, godliness, and what it means to rebuild Christianity on your own terms--no culture war rhetoric included. This conversation dives...

108: Part 8/12: A Brandi-Carlisle-Loving Jewish Mom on Community, Guilt, Rabbis & the Superbowl: How to Build a Relationship with God Series In this episode of Permission to Be Human , Andrea Enright and Janelle Orion sit down with dedicated mom, wife and Jewish-born Denverite Tara Zucker for a dear and down-to-earth conversation about modern-day Jewish life and what that means for a spiritual rel...

107: Part 7/12: Ancestral Magic and Modern Devotion with Sorceress Juliana: How to Build a Relationship with God Series In this episode, Janelle Orion and Andrea Enright sit down with Juliana Luna — self-proclaimed sorceress — to explore what it really means to live in devotion. Luna invites us into her Afro-Brazilian lineage, where spirit and ancestry aren't abstract ideas — they're living, breat...

106: Part 6/12: Losing Yourself & Finding Spirit: Devotion over Discipline with Breath-worker Claudia Nanino: How to Build a Relationship with God Series In this episode of Permission to Be Human , hosts Andrea Enright and Janelle Orion sit down with Claudia Nanino , a master breathwork facilitator who's learned to make peace with change by breathing straight through it. Claudia opens up about a c...