Solo – The Single Person’s Guide to a Remarkable Life

This episode starts a series on conventional and unconventional relationships. Peter McGraw's return guests, a sociologist and a stand-up comedian, revisit the topic of a popular episode on the Relationship Escalator to discuss the hallmarks of this common, conventional relationship that receives so much attention and special treatment in society. The discussion identifies why these criteria (e.g....

Academic, author, and happy solo, Federico Castigliano, joins Peter McGraw to discuss Federico's book, Flâneur: The Art of Wandering the Streets of Paris . A flâneur practices wandering without destination in order to take in the sights, sounds, and smells of the cityscape. Peter and Federico discuss the origins of the flâneur, some best practice for flâneuring, and – like many of the topics on So...

Coinciding with Valentine's Day, Peter McGraw talks to Lisa Bonos, a journalist who writes the relationship column for the Washington Post. They talk about ghosting, why it happens, how to deal with it, and how to properly break up. Love the show?  Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the Solo community today: petermcgraw.org Peter McGraw Twitter Peter McGraw LinkedIn

This week, Peter McGraw repeats one of his favorite Solo episodes, “ Dating Friends and Sleeping with Strangers ,” as a fitting close to his series on making remarkable friends. The episode reveals some of his early thinking about what makes a good friend. He and his guests, Josh Gray-Emmer and Lily Rains, present tips for developing friendships and building a community. You will learn: 1) how anc...

The Solo series on making remarkable friends continues with today’s episode featuring Ryan Malcolm-Campbell, professionally known as  MR. KOA , and Zamour Johnson, known in the world of media as  TOPB0Y , two friends who are living remarkable lives. Besides learning about the origins of their monikers, Peter McGraw talks to them about their transition from athletes to artists and entrepr...

Do you have a friendship that is more important than your romantic relationship? In this episode, Peter McGraw is joined by Rhaina Cohen, a writer and NPR producer, to talk about her emerging work on friendship. They discuss how some people are elevating the status of a friendship to the level of exclusive romantic relationships. Notably, Rhaina notes the lack of good role models for this style of...

Welcome back to the Solo series on making remarkable friends. In this episode, Peter McGraw and Mary Dahm interview a scholar, Ruth Abbey, who has written about an unlikely expert on friendship: Friedrich Nietzsche. They discuss Ruth’s analysis of Nietzsche’s focus on the value of friends. In short, friends make us better people through their honesty and insights. Whereas previous philosophers saw...

Peter McGraw invites back his good friend, Julie Nirvelli , to kick off a mini-series on how to make remarkable friends. They define what a friend is and what makes one remarkable. They also discuss some tips on how to make and maintain friends--including when to move fast and when to move slow.  Love the show?  Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the Solo community tod...

Welcome back. This is the final episode in a series on Reinvention, which coincides with the start of a new year. Regardless of the date, it is a good idea to take time to assess making changes in your life. After three episodes featuring experts, Peter McGraw concludes with a remarkable single and contributor to the podcast, Kym Terribile . Kym is a fascinating case study. She has been on a three...

Enjoy this third of a four-episode series on reinvention. Peter McGraw and guest co-host Lily Rains talk to Rolonda Watts , a reinventionist (a term she invented). Rolonda's approach to reinvention focuses on pursuing the positive – and asks to follow your dreams. If you are looking for a wake-up call, this episode is it. Love the show?  Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join t...

This is the second episode in a series that examines reinventing yourself as a single person. Peter McGraw talks to Kimmy Seltzer , a professional who helps people develop confidence and charisma. Kimmy takes an "outside-in" approach, where she helps people improve their look first and then move onto more social, emotional, and psychological issues. In particular, look out for her "Red Dress momen...

This episode is part of a mini-series designed to look at reinvention (i.e., making your single life more remarkable). Peter McGraw welcomes Scott Barry Kaufman , a psychologist and author, to talk about Scott's revision of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Scott debunks some of the mythology around the hierarchy, including that Maslow never drew the pyramid that many of you are so familiar with. Keep...

What is the story of your life? Peter McGraw presents an alternative narrative for singles that features his new 3R model: Recognize - Rebel - Reinvent. Love the show?  Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the Solo community today: petermcgraw.org Peter McGraw Twitter Peter McGraw LinkedIn

This episode is related to the recent series on Singles in the Marketplace. Peter McGraw speaks to a journalist – Ann Babe  – about a group of Korean singles, Honjoks, who are rebelling against the strong cultural norms in South Korea to marry and have children. Besides going solo, this group is also opting out of the typical high-pressure corporate or service jobs that are highly valued in t...

This week's episode features a remarkable single, Gala Darling . Gala is a “for now” single who is unapologetic about how she lives her life (so get ready for some F-bombs). A speaker, author, and coach, she helps women live their best lives through radical self-love. Love the show?  Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the Solo community today: petermcgraw.org Peter McGraw T...

Welcome to the last episode of a three-episode series that examines Singles in the Marketplace. Peter McGraw invites Shane Mauss  to talk about the best innovations for singles. No spoilers here, but you will see a theme emerge where the innovation they discuss are related to freedom, mobility, and an escape from the family unit. Moreover, what becomes evident is that these innovations also h...

Peter McGraw hosts the second episode of a three-episode series that examines Singles in the Marketplace. He talks to  Julie Nirvelli  about Selling to Singles. They each present three ideas related to the topic, and Julie shares very exciting news about her solo-inspired small business that she is launching. As always, thank you for spreading the word – and if you want to get involved i...

The first of a three-part series that looks at singles in the marketplace, this episode examines the rise of singles. Peter invites a return guest, sociologist and demographer Kris Marsh , to talk about the demographic and cultural changes behind the steep rise of singles and singles living alone – not only in the US, but abroad. They conclude by discussing the implications of these changes for a...

This week, we celebrate the 50th episode of Solo. To do so, Peter McGraw invites back Julie Nirvelli and Kym Terribile, who joined him on Episode 1 – an Introduction to Solo. He starts by presenting how far the project has come, from its exponential listener growth, fueled by listener word of mouth, to the new Instagram account @unapologetically_unattached. They revisit the themes he set out for t...

This episode welcomes Michael Buckley , a remarkable solo, former YouTube star and now life coach who coaches humanness, not happiness. Michael talks about his process of realizing that being single is an amazing choice, but he had to get past the nagging thought that “it would be nice to have someone.” Peter and Michael talk about his breakthrough and how it changed how he subsequently thought an...

One of the benefits of being solo is optionality. You can do more with your life than the standard Monday through Friday 9-to-5 (or these days 8-to-6). This week’s episode explores an intriguing idea: give up your residence and head out on the road to live and work. The rise of the digital nomad lifestyle has been fueled by the rise of remote work, Airbnb, and other technological advances. Peter M...

In this episode, comedian Alonzo Bodden joins Peter McGraw to talk to Craig Wynne, the author of a new book called The Happy Bachelor. They discuss how the book is different than other books in the single living space, what the term masculinity means to them, and present some tips for being a happy bachelor. Love the show?  Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the Solo commun...

In this episode, Peter McGraw speaks to  Dr. Kris Marsh , a sociologist who researches alternative paths to becoming middle-class for Black Americans. She identifies a group that goes against the assumption that marriage is the path to middle-class living, and she invented a new term SaLA to describe this group: Single and Living Alone. They discuss how TV and Film shed light on this trend be...

In this episode, Peter McGraw and his guest co-host talks to a singles advocate about the differential benefits that married people receive over single people. They discuss common anti-singles rhetoric and how the questions that singles are asked typically fail simple tests of logic. Recognizing the prejudice against singles is largely overlooked or even accepted, they also talk about ways that no...

Want to dress better? In this episode, Peter McGraw has a far-ranging conversation about fashion with Rachel Lefort , a stylist with more than 20 years of fashion experience. In a previous episode, The Solo’s Promise, Peter explores an alternative story structure to the Hero’s journey. The Virgin’s Promise is a good metaphor for the single person resisting human domestication, embracing solo livin...