The Real Question

Beloved co-host of Harry Potter and the Sacred Text , Matt Potts, released his book Forgiveness: An Alternative Account a few weeks ago and it is so! good!! We're very excited to bring you an exclusive excerpt from the book - read by Matt himself. You can find the book wherever books are sold, or snag a signed copy from our website ! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vanessa and Ariana reflect on how the show's going and whether Vanessa's thoughts about quitting have changed since starting the season. We're taking a short break for the holidays but we'll be back January 9th with our next episode! -- We are so grateful to our supporters on Patreon who make this show possible. If you can, please considering chipping in ! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy fo...

Emily has always been passionate about decorating her home. It’s a big creative outlet for her! But the online culture around interior design has started to bother her – it's all focused around buying more stuff in order to feel good. And that actually doesn't feel good at all. This week on Should I Quit? Vanessa and Emily discuss how social media and the forces of capitalism intersect in the worl...

Hannah calls her parents…a lot. Like four times a day. She loves talking to them, but all her friends think it’s weird. So she’s started to wonder: am I being too clingy?  This week on Should I Quit? Vanessa and Hannah discuss what makes for a healthy parent/child relationship and how to adapt to aging parents. -- We are so grateful to our supporters on Patreon who make this show possible. If...

Since the start of the pandemic, Shannon’s confectionary business has really been struggling. Now she’s getting kicked out of her shop space and she's wondering: is it worth it to move somewhere more expensive? Or should she just cut her loses and end the business?  This Week on Should I Quit? Vanessa and Shannon explore when to accept failure and when to go all in. -- Please help us support...

Casper spends a lot of time scrolling through YouTube videos. He feels like he should have a better evening routine, but the algorithm always pulls him in! Is it time to just go cold turkey?  This week on Should I Quit? Vanessa and Casper ter Kuile explore what rest and self care look like in our day to day lives.  -- We are so grateful to our supporters on Patreon who make this show pos...

Our guest this week has a hard relationship with her dad. After years of hoping it would get better, she’s starting to feel like it might be time to quit.  This week on Should I Quit? Vanessa and our guest explore the question: How do you love someone when they continue to hurt you?  CW: This episode addresses addiction and includes reference to abuse.  -- We are so grateful to our...

Mae lives in Texas. She grew up there, her whole family is there, there are a lot of things she loves about her life there. But now that she's raising two small kids, she's beginning to think: Is this really the environment I want my kids to grow up in?  This week on Should I Quit? Vanessa and Mae explore the questions: What does it means to make a home in a hostile place? And at what point d...

When Eleanor got married, she took her husband’s last name. Now, nineteen years and three kids later, she’s working on a PhD. The PhD feels separate from her family life, something she’s doing just for herself. And so she’s started to wonder: Do I want to get this PhD under my married name? Or would it feel more ‘me’ to get it under my maiden name?  This week on Should I Quit? Vanessa and Ele...

Is there something in your life that's making you miserable, but you feel like you need to just put your head down and get through it? Have you considered... just not doing it instead? This week, Vanessa starts our new season of The Real Question with a thesis on why we should all be quitting more. Next week, you'll hear from our first guest who is considering quitting. And if you'd like to be on...

Our first episode of Should I Quit is coming October 24th! If you'd like to be on the show, you can submit a question here . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With help from Gilmore Girls and the song Closing Time from Semisonic , Vanessa and Casper explore the grief of endings and share about their upcoming projects.  -- You can find out more about The Nearness at https://www.thenearness.coop/ .  Should I Quit will premiere in late October. If you’d like to be on the show, you can submit here .  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

Casper recently joined The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos for a special episode on overcoming loneliness–a feeling many of us are all too familiar with. On The Happiness Lab, Laurie shares the latest scientific research and inspiring stories that will change the way you think about happiness. In this episode, Casper speaks to the benefits of belonging to like-minded communities and how they...

Casper grew up with a lot of confidence. And as he’s gotten older, that confidence has only been encouraged and solidified by the various privileged identities that he inhabits. Knowing that, he wants to intentionally cultivate a practice of humility. But how do you temper confidence, without crumbing into self doubt?  With help from the TV show Julia and The Methodist Quadrilateral , Casper...

Vanessa has always had very good instincts about people. But recently she's started to wonder: where does that gut instinct come from inside of her? And how can she make sure her 'gut' is reflecting her wisdom, instead of her prejudices? With help from Into the Woods and Gilmore Girls , Vanessa and Casper explore how to give people the benefit of the doubt while still being able to trust your inst...

Lily has a boyfriend who she loves. But you know who she doesn’t love? Her boyfriend’s brother. He makes Lily feel small and hurt and honestly angry every time they see each other. But Lily wants to have a good relationship with her boyfriend’s family. So how does she deal with him?  With help from Sara Bareilles and a scene from Fleabag , Lily, Vanessa, and Casper explore our relationships w...

Hima’s parents moved to the United States when she was two years old. Her first language was Telugu, but her early teachers encouraged her parents to speak English at home. Now, she’s not entirely fluent. Hima knows that learning the language would probably make her feel closer to her family and her cultural identity – but it feels embarrassing to try, and trying comes with a lot of family ba...

When Rachel was working on her PhD, she always thought she would graduate and work at a science museum. But the pandemic changed her plans, no museums were hiring. But now she’s wondering, was that change forever? Or should she try to work her way back to her passion?  With help from the show All Creatures Great and Small and the book Ammonite by Nicola Griffith , Rachel, Casper and Vanessa e...

Mariah has filled her life with meaningful friendships. In fact, she bought a house with her best friend and is helping to raise her friend’s kid. Now she’s starting to think about what role a romantic relationship might have in her life, and she’s getting nervous. She knows a romantic partner would take up space in her life, space she doesn’t really have right now. If she wants a romantic partner...

We're cross-posting this special episode of Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, which we've released today. This year in commemoration of Juneteenth, Not Sorry is spotlighting The Final 5 Campaign , a coalition working to close the final five youth prisons in Illinois. Vanessa is joined in conversation by one of their leaders, Alicia Brown, who tells us about what it means to be a prison abolitionis...

Anna had her first child during the pandemic and she found her maternity leave to be really isolating and depressing. It was only once she was able to go back to school and work that she felt like herself again. But now she’s pregnant again and starting to get worried about her next maternity leave. What if she feels the same way?  With help from the The Bright Field  by R.S. Thomas &nbs...

Sarah Steinberg is passionate about making stop motion animation. It’s so satisfying, she could easily spend hours at a time working a single project. But Sarah also lives with rheumatoid arthritis, which makes her art practice difficult and often quite painful. This worries a lot of her friends, they don’t understand why she insists on having a hobby that’s so hard on her body. How does Sara...

Marie-Hélène is the kind of person who changed her major a million times during college. But after a while, this habit started to feel embarrassing. So she made a promise to herself: “I am going to become the kind of person who commits to things and sees them through.” Now she’s been at the same job for seven years and is starting to feel antsy. But she can’t tell - is it because her old habit is...

Dani has always wanted to live alone. Now, at 28, she’s living the dream. She owns her condo and doesn’t foresee needing a roommate. But looking ahead at the rest of her life, she’s a little worried about what she sees. If she lives alone forever, is she closing the door on an important kind of intimacy and support?  With help from a song from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and a scene from Friends , Da...

A few years ago, Lindsay left an abusive relationship. Since then she has almost completely cut her abuser out of her life. But there’s one friend they still share - and that friend is getting married. Lindsay has never talked to her friend about the abuse. But now, with her ex likely invited to the wedding, questions are coming up: Should she tell her friend about the abuse? What if he doesn’t be...