We Can Do Hard Things

1. The inspiring pep talk Bozoma gives herself in the mirror – and why we might all want to start using it to rally ourselves.   2. How to navigate the tightrope of corporate expectations for women: to be both self-assured and humble; both hard and soft.  3. The revolutionary realization that you don’t have to be the savior of others – you can save yourself, too.  4. How to know when to dig deep,...

1. Content warning: Discussion of suicide. 2. Jenny puts words to her experience of ADD – "being a kitten on cocaine" – and her anxiety – seeing "rainbow fire.”  3. How Jenny felt guilty for years about a way her mental illness impacted her mothering – only to later learn it was her child’s favorite memory. 4. The moment she decided to be honest about her struggles – and how sharing our awkwardnes...

1. Why guns are now the leading cause of death for American children and teens, and who is profiting from America’s suffering. 2. What to say today when your child leaves the house to help protect them from gun violence. 3. The lie our leaders are selling us about why they won’t pass the reforms that 90% of Americans want, and how one mom became the NRA’s biggest nightmare. 4. How to safeguard our...

1. What Alua has learned about living well from the many people she’s helped walk home as a death doula.  2. The “deathbed test” that guides her toward what is important and helps her stay present. 3. Alua eases Abby’s immense fear of death by sharing her glitter-wave vision. 4. The most surprising thing she wants us to know about death. 5. Concrete steps we can take now to help prepare ourselves–...

1. How we are each haunted by our family’s secrets and trauma–whether we know them or not–and how to break the cycle for future generations.  2. The astounding new research on generational trauma showing that our personal trauma is passed down genetically to our children and grandchildren.   3. Our unconscious need to heal what our parents could not–and how to mourn what we cannot control.   4. Wh...

Glennon and Abby welcome their dear friend Cameron Esposito to discuss: 1. Cameron’s brutiful relationship with her body–and how it feels playing a sexy TV role. 2. The way Cameron grew up using humor as self-defense and to become socially “valuable”–and the moment she wondered if comedy was no longer working for her.  3. Why Cameron says she’s able to cry for the first time in 35 years.  4. How a...

Part Two of our gorgeous conversation with Elizabeth Gilbert: 1. Liz describes Rayya’s death as “a fist fight”–and how Rayya went out swinging. 2. In the wake of Rayya’s death, how Liz grieved, and what helped. 3. Liz’s spiritual practices: communing with a higher power, her recovery community, and starting over. About Elizabeth:  Elizabeth Gilbert is author of the international bestseller, EAT PR...

Part One of our intimate conversation with Elizabeth Gilbert: 1. When Glennon called Liz about Abby–and Liz then told Glennon about Rayya. 2. The moment Liz imploded her life as she knew it. 3. How, after a decade of friendship, Liz finally told Rayya that she was in love with her. 4. The brutal chaos of Rayya’s addiction at the end of her life–and what Liz had to do and say to protect herself. Ab...

1. With everything going on in the world, and in our lives, is “Burnout” the reason we all feel like zombies?  2. Why stress is like trash: You have to get rid of it often or your life starts to stink.   3. Emily and Amelia Nagoski – the authors of Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle – answer our Pod Squad’s burning questions about how to bounce back from burnout.  About Emily:  EMIL...

1. Thinking of depression as a way of seeing the world … through toilet paper roll binoculars.  2. Why healing might actually just be permission to go.  3. Chanel’s definition of success: refusing to succumb to perfection or exhaustion–and showing up as herself in every moment. 4. The healing moment when Chanel returned to Stanford and was held in sound–which set her free.   About Chanel:  Chanel...

1. How to get your orgasm back. 2. Dr. Jen Gunter’s advice–and personal mantra–for surviving hot flushes. 3. How to differentiate between mental health challenges and menopause. 4. The one easy thing you can do at the doctor’s office to ensure better care. 5. Is menopause a reboot of the brain and an opportunity to reallocate mental resources? Resource: North American Menopause Society (NAMS)    A...

1. Hot flushes, night sweats, sleep disturbances, vaginal dryness, and the less common, frequently-missed symptoms of menopause.  2. A strategy and script for how to talk to your doctor without being dismissed. 3. The lies and truth about menopause hormone therapy. 4. Why our culture is fixated on investing to ensure men never lose their erection, but is fine with women losing their quality of lif...

1. What is your Enneagram number–and how does this ancient wisdom explain WHY you do what you do?  2. Why Glennon *really* didn’t want to accept her Enneagram number, and how she finally saw herself clearly in it.  3. How the Enneagram helps Amanda have much more compassion for herself–and how she uses it to understand common patterns in her marriage.  4. Glennon and Amanda use the Enneagram to di...

1. Brené and Barrett share their parenting strategy that Brené calls “the opposite of raising a child that’s full of shame.” 2. The family of origin roles that Brené (the Protector) and Barrett (the Peacekeeper) had to adjust in order to work together–and the two keys to working well with family.   3. The ways in which a child who grows up living on eggshells becomes an adult who is fearful–and ho...

Jen Hatmaker is back with the new man in her life–actor, author, and activist Tyler Merritt–for a double date with Glennon and Abby discussing:   1. How Jen and Tyler met, what first attracted Jen and Tyler to each other–and who made the first move.   2. How not knowing any “dating rules” led Jen to jumpstart the “define the relationship” step.   3. The triggers for Jen that led to an early relati...

1. Jen describes the shock of losing her 26-year marriage overnight.  2. How, looking back, Jen sees that she knew something was wrong in her relationship well before she “knew” something was wrong–and the moment she reached out to Glennon to share it for the first time.   3. Why Jen’s friends told her she was a “human spotlight” and “cleanup crew” in her marriage–and the pain of realizing she was...

1. How to know if you are a “Bittersweet” type. 2. On “stabs of joy”—and why our joy is often accompanied by dread. 3. How to complete the cycle of sadness, in order to live with more joy. 4. Susan and Sister’s best relationship advice: That our longing for the perfect partner is not really about our partner. 5. Why Glennon thinks those who feel the ache are often those who fall into addiction. Ab...

Glennon’s son, Chase, joins Glennon for a special conversation with his hero, author Ocean Vuong, to discuss: 1. Chase shares with Ocean the impact his work has had in his life–and Glennon thanks Ocean for helping mother her son. 2. What Ocean learned from his mother about how to navigate being an Asian boy in America–and Glennon’s recognition that she did not prepare Chase for the same realities....

1. How to know when to dig deep–and when to quit digging.  2. The greatest blocker of connection–and how to remove it. 3. How to handle our fear (without obsessively controlling our people and our environment). 4. Why we all deserve a standing ovation for navigating relationships over the past two years.   About Brené:  Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston where she...

1. Why Hannah describes her later-in-life Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis as “an exfoliation of shame.” 2. How neurodiversity affects Hannah’s relationships–and how she connects to the world through what’s “interesting” instead of what’s “important.” 3. Hannah’s revolutionary commitment to stop using self-deprecating humor about her body, sexuality, and gender–and why we might all consider the...

1. Why we’ve been sold a lie–and the truth that we actually get happier the older we get! 2. The two most important–and shocking–predictors of aging well. 3. Busting the most prevalent misconceptions and about getting older. 4. How believing the myths about aging literally harms our health and makes us more vulnerable to the fears we hold about aging. 5. Glennon paints a mental picture of her olde...

1. How Glennon is using her 46th birthday as an intermission–to slow down and decide what to bring with her into Act 2. 2. The counterculture power of knowing what is enough, and letting ourselves go. 3. The way to transition from Role Living to Soul Living–and why Glennon has Joni Mitchell on repeat. 4. The real meaning of “crisis”–and the idea that living well now means reimagining everything we...

1. Why the construct of beauty is oppressive, but the essence of beauty is freedom.  2. What living with integrity looks like. 3. Why Dr. Blay doesn’t need any more allies—and what she really wants from an accomplice. 4. How “Karens” have been around for centuries—and the direct line from “Miss Anne to Karen.” 5. Dr. Blay’s greatest hope for her granddaughters—even if she doesn’t like it.

1. Amanda shares the biggest regret of her life: the one that still wakes her up in the middle of the night. 2. The five biggest regrets of the dying—and how to make the necessary changes to avoid them. 3. Why we should reframe regret as proof of a life well-lived.

In this hilarious and heartwarming in-person double date with Abby and Glennon—and their dear friends and brilliant artists Brandi and Catherine Carlile—we learn: 1. Why Brandi was completely dismayed the first time she met Catherine; 2. Who made the first move—and why it made Catherine sweat; 3. All about the Carlile family compound—where they are raising their girls surrounded by family, band me...