Sisters Cracking Up

If you liked  The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, you're going to love Gail Brenner Nastasia's memoir, The Fruit You'll Never See . Now a criminal defense attorney in Massachusetts, Nastasia grew up in the fishing town of Gloucester, Mass. where she was introduced at a very young age to the underbelly of adult addictions and perversions. Growing up in a family riddled by mental illness and drug a...

Sisters, if you've ever wondered if you might be a perfectionist, chances are you may be. And, according to author Katherine Morgan Schafler , that's more than okay. Schafler, author of The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control: A Path ot Peace and Power , encourages us to look at perfectionism in a more positive light and to discard the pathologizing of it. You can be a perfectionist and, yes,...

As the youngest daughter of crime boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante, Rita Gigante has a unique perspective on mob life. Her dad was the notorious leader of the Genovese crime clan and head of all five New York mob families for decades. Chin Gigante is often remembered for strolling the streets of New York City in his bathrobe, feigning mental illness in an attempt to distract the FBI from his underworld...

Hey, Sisters. Ever wondered what it might be like to parent an Olympic gold medal champion?  On this episode, we interview Olympic mom Allison Douglass. Allison's daughter, swimmer Kate Douglass, won two gold, two silver, and one bronze medal in last summer's Paris Olympics. Allison talks frankly about their family's journey, culminating in Kate's impressive showing at the 2024 Summer Olympics.  I...

Dr. Kerry McAvoy was a busy mom, wife, and psychologist when her world was devasted by the death of her first husand. When she was finally able to come up for air, she met a new man who was everything she wanted in a partner.  Just months after the wedding, she woke up to a text from a woman she didn't know: "I guess the joke is not just on me but on you, too. I've been dating your husband."  Her...

Sisters, let's talk booze. Most of us have some relationship with it whether it's front and center in our lives, on the periphery, or even in the rearview. But there's no escaping alcohol's prevalence in our society. Happy? Celebrating? Grab a glass or two or five. Sad? Grieving? Lonely? Do exactly the same. Shockingly, alcohol use disorder in women has increased 87% in the last 30 years . Yup, yo...

Sisters, if you have any interest in Tarot, you've gotta take a listen to this episode. If you have any interest in Tarot explained by a witch, go no further. Why? Because we have Rebecca Auman on the show today and she's the GOAT.  In Rebecca's own words:  "For as long as I can remember, I've been able to read energy and vibration. Sometimes it was just a sparkle surrounding something to which I...

Hey, Sisters. Seems wherever we turn these days, we're being told to cut ties with the people in our lives who no longer serve us in a healthy way. In some families, this means that adult children are choosing to cut off communcation with their parents. Sheri McGregor, author of Done With The Crying: Help and Healing for Mothers of Estranged Adult Children, is not only an expert on this topic, she...

Hey, Sisters. Dangerous personalities like narcissists and sociopaths are all around us. Some estimates show that up to 5% of the population exhibits traits of these deviant disorders. That's 5 out of every 100 people, people! Luckily, we have FBI profiler Joe Navarro on the pod to shed more light on who these people are and how to identify them. Personally approached at the tender age of 23 to jo...

It's summah, Sisters! Time for some straight talk...and a good laugh or 20. Luckily, we've got veteran comic Jackie Kashian on the show to help with both. Jackie Kashian is a stand-up comedian who has been seen on After Midnight, Conan, Corden, HBO, Netflix, and Comedy Central. She's been heard on NPR and Audible. Touring 45 weeks a year, the tour is just called her career. Her 5 comedy albums and...

Happy Mother's Day, Sisters! We hope it will be a joyful one for you and your families. As we know well, our relationships with our moms can run the emotional gamut over the lifespan. We also know that some moms are made for mothering (or work really hard at it!), while some simply fall short because of circumstances they can't (or don't know how to) control.  In Liz Scheier's beautiful, honest me...

We love Steven Petrow for many reasons: he's funny, he's smart, he's a kickass writer, and he's tirelessly devoted to his beloved family.  Sadly, Steven lost his younger sister, Julie Petrow Cohen, to ovarian cancer in June 2023. From all accounts, Julie led a life that priortized joy, professionalism, social justice, and family. In essence, she lived her life in full throttle. At the end of her l...

Hey, Sisters. If you're a believer in astrology or you're simply interested in what's behind the science of it, this is the episode for you. We've both experienced some pretty amazing insights since we found Omar Senior. What we absolutely love about his readings (and him!) is his vast knowledge of astrology and the science behind it. In other words, we're sold! Omar Senior is a dedicated astrolog...

Hey, Sisters. We can't seem to take a breath these days without hearing some new thing about narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder. How 'bout you? Enter social media's The Nameless Narcissist, Jacob Skidmore. He's all over your feeds talking about his own diagnosis of NPD -- and helping millions of people in the process understand the narcissists in their lives. Our conversation with Ja...

This is NOT your mother's menopause, Sisters! Yes, it is the time of life when you can no longer procreate (Hallelujah to that!), but it's also the time of life to start creating the life YOU want. Don't believe it? Our guest, Julie Gordon White, will surely change your mind.  Julie Gordon White is an award-winning entrepreneur focused on improving suppportive nutrition and building community for...

Hey, Sisters, could this be YOU? (It's us, that's for sure!) Another day, another misdiagnosis of a disorder that plagues so many women. It's common for symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) to be overlooked or "explained away" by professionals as depression, anxiety, or overwhelm when it shows up in women.  Chances are, if you suspect you...

Hey, Sisters. Ever wonder what's actually going on in your body during menopause? And why we can have some really uncomfortable symptoms when we're going through it? Hot flashes, crankiness, and exhaustion are just some of the things you might experience. Did you know these are all caused by the hormonal changes that accompany this time of life? And that symptoms can show up as early as your 30s?...

It's THAT time of life, Sisters. The time when we can choose to live truer to our own selves, or just slog through life telling ourselves the same, tired stories and never making the changes necessary to live more authentically. Enter Dr. Carolyn Kurle, author of The Guidance Groove: Escape Unproductive Habits, Trust Your Intuition, and Be True . Lucky for us, she has a lot of brilliance to share...

It's time to talk about menopause, Sisters! And, yes, this means you. Whether you're 35 or 65, you're going to learn a lot about how to manage this inevitable life change with none other than the extraordinary Clarissa Kristjansson. We found Clarissa through her amazing, top-rated podcast, Thriving Through Menopause , and we knew we'd learn a thing or two about menopause from her. She's devoted he...

Yes, Sisters. It's already THAT time of the year. For some, back-to-school simply means the kiddos are heading back to the classroom. But for others, it may mean that your kid (or kiddos) is launching. Where they're headed (college, job, military, gap year, or simply moving out of the family home), isn't as important as the fact that your kid-centric life is now coming to a seemingly abrupt end. T...

Sisters, if we've lived long enough, we already know trauma (and healing from it) can be a stubborn beast. We also know that our body stores our trauma until we do the work to release it. Enter Laura Khoudari, author of Lifting Heavy Things: Healing Trauma One Rep at a Time. She is a trauma practitioner, certified personal trainer, and corrective exercise specialist.  Khoudari found that strength...

Hey, Sisters. Got trauma? You, too?  We've all had some. Question is, have you dealt with yours effectively? Or, have you tried different approaches and modalities to heal from trauma which either don't help or even make matters worse? So many of us tell ourselves that our trauma doesn't "count" because there's always someone with a more tragic tale. This attitude does so much to increase our stre...

Are you a people-pleaser? Are you your own worst critic? Do you sometimes feel like an imposter? Are you a perfectionist? You're not alone. So many women engage in these self-destructive (and unconscious) habits and Andrea Owen is on the show today to talk about how to kick them to the curb and live your happiest life.  As Andrea says, "The cycle never stops when you don't know any other way."  In...

We're all so much better-educated these days about narcissism and narcissists -- especially when we suspect we have partner who displays narcissistic tendencies and behaviors. But what if your experience with narcissism began long before you can even remember? And what if the narcissist in your life was/is YOUR MOTHER?! Dr. Stephanie Kriesberg joins Sisters Cracking Up in this episode to discuss h...

It's happened to the best of us, Sisters -- and certainly by midlife. Both of us have experienced this unceremonious and cruel "dumping" by people we thought were close, dear friends. If you have experienced this, you know how confusing and painful it can be. Many women describe the experience as being as painful and heartbreaking as a romantic breakup -- and sometimes worse! Luckily, we have Liz...