Death, Sex & Money: Recent Episodes
Slate Podcasts
Anna Sale explores the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation.
Peter Santenello has been documenting his world travels on YouTube for nearly two decades, but it wasn’t until he moved in with a family in the Ukrainian countryside that he really began to hone his storytelling approach. There were no flashy edits or celebrities, just visits with locals talking about their home, and his Ukraine series quickly gained an online following in that country.
When the pandemic hit, Peter moved home to the United States and wondered if his formula could work there too – and that’s when his audience really exploded. Now with more than 4 million subscribers, Peter travels around the country chronicling all sorts of micro-cultures that “the media fails to capture,” showcasing places at various points of the economic cycle, some booming, and others left out of prosperity and struggling to hold on.
He joins Anna to talk about transitioning to US-based videos, what makes his approach unique, and why curiosity beats expertise.
You can watch all of Peter’s videos on his YouTube channel @PeterSantenello, and his new bookYour Fellow Americans: Dispatches from Across the Country We Call Homeis out now.
This episode was produced by Andrew Dunn.
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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Caroline started going to therapy as a teenager because of depression. After a couple of years working together, she expressed a fantasy. “I had a vision of us dancing to Pachelbel's Canon” she told him. Caroline's therapist was 45-years-old and married, but they soon started a romantic relationship.
In this episode, Anna hears from Caroline and other listeners about when romantic feelings come up in therapy and unpacks it all with Sally Openshaw, a psychologist and expert who studies erotic transference.
Podcast production by Zoe Azulay
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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The man behind artful and goofy comedies like The Righteous Gemstones and Eastbound and Down talks about finding his people at an upstart public film program in North Carolina, crafting characters that are nothing like himself, and nurturing a community of like-minded filmmaker friends far away from Hollywood.
He also discusses his new short story collection Thrilling Tales of Modern Men.
Podcast production by Cameron Drews.
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In the mid-1970’s, a small college radio station created an evening program catering to a new socioeconomic group referred to as the “new Black middle class.” The show was called “The Quiet Storm” and it grew so popular that an entire genre of music would spring up alongside it. Artists like Anita Baker, Luther Vandross, and many more would find massive success in the genre, performing smooth and sexy songs you could turn on after a long day.
Audio producer Christopher Johnson made a piece about The Quiet Storm for the legendary podcast about design 99% Invisible and he joins Anna to talk about why Quiet Storm music will always feel like home to him.
You can listen to The Quiet Storm playlist from 99% Invisible here and check out the seasons of Slow Burn that Christopher worked on here: Season 3 - Biggie and Tupac and Season 4 - David Duke.
This episode was produced for DSM by Andrew Dunn.
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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Jim Tierney, pet tracker, has worked on more than 250 lost pet cases around New York City. Jim says once a dog is lost, their behavior changes. “They become less like your pet, and more like a wild animal.” In this episode Jim talks with Zoe Azulay about his tracking method, what it’s like to work with distressed pet owners, and why he didn’t become an animal lover until after his divorce.
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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This week, listeners share what it’s like to plan a dream wedding when money and family relationships lead to conflict and compromise. We hear from couples with vastly different ideas of what they wanted to spend, about opinionated parents and in-laws, and tips from people who managed to spend less. This episode first ran in 2023 and includes new updates from some of the happy couples.
Podcast production by Zoe Azulay with help from Cameron Drews.
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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A lot has happened in Jeff Hiller’s life since he was last on the show in 2024. Last year he won an Emmy for his role on the HBO show Somebody Somewhere and then went viral for his sincere and funny acceptance speech. He’s had featured roles in the AppleTV hits Pluribus and Widow’s Bay and joined the revolving cast of the Broadway show Celebrity Autobiography. And his memoir Actress of a Certain Age is out in paperback.
This week, Jeff returns to tell Anna about all the ways his life has changed – and hasn’t – since that surprise awards win, including the internet’s curiosity about his body, facing the financial realities of a changing Hollywood, and how we can all remember to seek joy by avoiding the fate of Margaret Atwood’s rooster.
Podcast production by Cameron Drews and Andrew Dunn
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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Growing up, whenever Anna Konkle's parents fought–which was frequently–she usually sided with her dad. As she got older, she started to see those memories differently. Was her dad actually the bad guy? This week on Death, Sex & Money, Konkle talks about her new memoir, The Sane One, and the challenges of unpacking morally ambiguous memories. She also narrows in on her relationship with her dad, their estrangement, and their reconciliation shortly before his death.
Konkle is an actor and writer who was the co-creator and star of PEN15, the tween comedy series where she starred as a middle schooler and reenacted many of these confusing scenes from growing up. She appeared most recently in the final season of HBO’s Hacks.
Podcast production by Cameron Drews.
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Actor Peter Dinklage and playwright Erica Schmidt have been married for two decades, and even though they’ve collaborated on projects, it’s rare for them to do an interview together. That’s why we were so excited when they agreed to join Anna on stage at the Tribeca Festival to discuss how they balance privacy and family, why they wish interviewers would stop fixating on Game of Thrones, and how they met on a romantic evening when elephants walked through Manhattan.
This episode was produced by Cameron Drews. Extra thanks to Alexandra Cohl and Katie Rayford, who helped with the live event, and Davy Gardner and Allyson Morgan, our talented friends at the Tribeca Festival.
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Theo Baker was seventeen when he enrolled at Stanford and stumbled into one of the biggest stories on campus: academic misconduct allegations against the university's president. His reporting eventually forced the president out. In this episode, Theo talks about breaking that story, navigating backlash from classmates and faculty, and what he's learned about the ways Silicon Valley's culture of ambition and power shapes college life.
Theo’s book is How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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Romy Holland is a Berkeley mom whose meet-cute happened at a raucous sex party. That night she had sex with dozens of men, one of which would become her husband. In this episode, Romy talks about the party in question, from the sexy aspects to the much more awkward ones. Plus she talks about what new motherhood does to desire, and the unexpected emotional toll of an abortion that didn't go as planned.
Read Romy’s essay “What Nobody Told Me About Abortion“
And we first heard about Romy in the San Francisco Standard’s story “When A Gang Bang Becomes a Love Story“
Podcast production by Zoe Azulay
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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Anna talks to Alexis, a parent whose 8 year old son has an anxiety disorder, about what it was like attending a therapy program designed for parents of anxious children. Plus, Anna talks to the founder of the program, Dr. Eli Lebowitz, Director of the Program for Anxiety Disorders at the Yale Child Study Center, and author of Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD: A Scientifically Proven Program for Parents.
Podcast production by Zoe Azulay
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The actor and travel writer Andrew McCarthy used to be a member of one of pop culture’s most famous friend groups: The Brat Pack. He starred in movies like Pretty in Pink and St. Elmo’s Fire and palled around with actors like Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez.
Four decades later, in middle age, he found himself nearly friendless and set out on a cross-country road trip to reunite with the buddies he missed the most. This week on DSM, he tells Anna about the awkward conversations and tender moments that led to his new book Who Needs Friends: An Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America.
This episode was produced by Cameron Drews.
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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Tim Friede grew up in a strict, religious household with an obsession for science and a knack for breaking rules. He became fixated on a particular problem: roughly 120,000 people die from venomous snakebites every year worldwide.
He developed a theory that if he could become immune to snakebites, then his blood could be used to develop a better antivenom. So, he got to work. Over nearly two decades, while working odd jobs in factories and as a window washer, he allowed himself to be bitten over 200 times by the world's deadliest snakes, which he kept in his basement. Many of the people closest to him thought he was crazy, until his scheme worked.
Podcast production by Zoe Azulay.
More episodes around risk and self-experimentation:
Why Jeb Corliss Jumps Off Cliffs
Hard: Little Pill, Big Pharma
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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Kara Swisher has built an impressive career reporting on–and forcefully critiquing–the world of tech, especially the ultra-wealthy power players increasingly calling the shots. Since Steve Job’s death in 2011, she’s noticed a sharp uptick amongst those Silicon Valley elite doing all sorts of “wacky shit” to try and defy aging, extend their lifespan, and possibly even stop death itself.
On her new CNN series Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever, Kara cracks jokes and tries out some of the buzziest longevity trends, but she takes very seriously the inequality of it all – how these unproven, but potentially ground-breaking treatments remain squarely out of reach for most of us, while proven medical care continues to get more expensive with worse outcomes.
Listen to our 2024 interview with Kara at the Tribeca Festival here.
Join us on June 10 for our 2026 Tribeca Festival live event with Peter Dinklage and Erica Schmidt. Get your tickets here.
Podcast production by Andrew Dunn
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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When musician Chris Dowd was 19, shortly after graduating from high school, his band Fishbone got signed to Columbia Records. The group was made up of Black teenagers in Los Angeles, who combined several musical genres—funk, punk, ska, metal, reggae—into a new exciting sound in the late 70’s. They influenced countless other bands but struggled to find lasting commercial success.
This week on the show, Chris talks to Anna Sale about being a teenage rock pioneer who stepped away from the group in 1994. He also discusses his close friendship with the late Jeff Buckley, his trouble with alcoholism after Jeff's death, and what it's been like to rejoin Fishbone and go on tour.
Fishbone songs featured in this episode:
Skankin’ to the Beat
Ugly
Adolescent Regressive Behavior
Party at Ground Zero
Cubicle
Love is Love
Last Call in America (feat. George Clinton)
Housework
Watch Fishbone’s 1991 performance on SNL: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xl7e88
This episode was produced by Cameron Drews and Daisy Rosario.
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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In 2008, travel writer Rick Steves thought the U.S. might be on the verge of war with Iran. So he took a TV crew there to document the people and places who might soon be at risk. “You should know people before you bomb them,” he told Anna Sale.
In this episode, Rick talks about his multiple visits to Iran (the first was in 1978) and how travel in general can challenge our beliefs and broaden our perspectives. He also explains how he manages his money and why he gives so much of it away.
You can find Rick’s most recent book On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer on his website.
His 2009 TV special from Iran is available on YouTube.
And here’s NPR’s story by Rebecca Rosman about Rick purchasing the hygiene center.
This episode was produced by Cameron Drews.
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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Margo’s Got Money Troubles is a novel that follows a young college student who starts a flirtation, and then affair, with a college professor who ends up getting her pregnant. Author Rufi Thorpe takes us through what happens next, as Margo decides to keep the baby and then joins OnlyFans in the earliest days of the site.
The novel is now a TV show on AppleTV starring Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicole Kidman, and our friend at Death, Sex & Money, Nick Offerman, who plays Margo’s father who’s in recovery from opioid addiction after working as a professional wrestler.
Rufi Thorpe joins Anna for a funny and personal conversation about how single motherhood and loving people in addiction recovery have both shaped her life. And the plot details about sex work? For that, Rufi had to become an Only Fans consumer herself and figure out how to convince some of its high-earning stars to tell her how they did it.
Podcast production by Andrew Dunn
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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When Doree Shafrir started fertility treatments in her late thirties, she thought it would be relatively simple. It ended up taking multiple rounds and sinking her family into debt.
Doree and her husband host the podcast Matt and Doree's Eggcellent Adventure: An IVF Journey. She also co-hosts Forever 35, and writes the work advice column for Slate, Good Job.
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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A listener we're calling Natalie received over a million dollars after being sexually abused by her university gynecologist in one of the largest abuse settlements in American history. She talks about the strange math of converting a bad experience into a dollar amount, and why she’s barely spent any of it.
*This episode includes descriptions of abuse. Please take care while listening.
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Career pivots can be terrifying. How do you know when the time is right? Is it ever too late to switch jobs? What if the next thing is worse?
This week, we’ve assembled a panel of career change experts to answer your questions about whether and when to make big moves. Sophia Chang is a former hip-hop talent agent who started a mentorship nonprofit. Ed Zitron launched his own PR firm but then branched out and started writing and podcasting about the tech industry. Luke Peterson is a Minnesota farmer, who pivoted to agriculture even though he didn’t own any equipment or land.
This episode was produced by Zoe Azulay and Cameron Drews.
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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Soon after his wife started experimenting with ChatGPT last summer, Rob* says her demeanor began to change. He says she started using mystical speech, running all communication through AI, and filed for divorce. Now, Rob is left to wonder how much he’s to blame for the end of their marriage and how much can be explained by “AI-induced psychosis.”
Also in this episode, Anna talks to psychologist Dr. Zak Stein, director of the AI Psychological Harms Research Coalition, about his theory of chatbots and “attachment hacking.”
*name changed for privacy
If you or a loved one had an experience with an AI spiral and want to check out Rob’s discord, send a message through https://thehumanlineproject.org/
Podcast production by Zoe Azulay
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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This week and next, we’re talking to listeners about how chatbots are impacting their personal lives. Anna talks to a parent getting tips on how to raise a teenager, an American abroad who turned to ChatGPT for grief counseling, a therapist who says Claude is better than a lot of her peers, and a husband who says AI broke up their marriage.
Podcast production by Zoe Azulay
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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Graham Platner has never run for elected office before. He’s a war veteran, an oyster farmer, and now he’s running in a Democratic primary to eventually unseat Senator Susan Collins of Maine. He’s ahead in the polls, but he’s also been criticized for Reddit comments from his past and recently covered up a tattoo that looks suspiciously like a Nazi symbol (a connection he denies knowing about).
Last week, before the recent attacks on Iran, Anna sat down with Graham to discuss his unlikely outsider campaign. They also talk about his upbringing in rural Maine, his military experience (and current anti-war stance), and what politicians need to do to actually help working people today.
This episode was produced by Cameron Drews and Daisy Rosario. You can see a longer, video version of this interview at youtube.com/slate.
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If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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When Helena de Groot got married she didn't want children, but her husband did. For eight years, love was enough to paper over their differences. Then an unplanned pregnancy forced them to finally choose.
Listen to her terrific new podcast Creation Myth, out now from the CBC.
This episode was produced by Andrew Dunn.
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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Here at DSM, we’ve been enjoying Heated Rivalry, the HBO series about two pro hockey players who begin a secret love affair. The show is steamy, but it also highlights some persistent problems in male sports culture, namely, that same-sex relationships are still extremely taboo.
But one TikTok account is trying to change that culture for the better. Sex Ed for Guys was started by athletes at Colby College in Maine, and their videos promote emotional vulnerability and openness, strong male friendships, safe sex, and lots more. This week, Anna talks to three of those athletes (Chris Maichin, Jack Gatjanis, and Mitch Humphrey) and to Adam Howard, their faculty mentor.
This episode was produced by Cameron Drews.
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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On the air, Yesi Ortiz is a warm, flirty host for a popular L.A. hip hop station. Off the air, she’s a single mother of six adopted kids. Managing both roles, plus romance, is a challenge.
This episode originally aired in 2015.
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
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Growing up, George Saunders was the eldest boy with younger sisters, in a family full of women who gave him praise and special treatment. That created the confidence that fueled his ambition to become a great writer.
In this lively interview, George talks about why that dream took decades to realize and what was essential to making it happen – including a karmic, three-week romance, a pivotal trip to the Afghanistan border during the Soviet war, and witnessing a “colossal fuck up” working in the oil fields of Indonesia.
George’s newest novel, “Vigil,” is out now and his substack is called Story Club.
Podcast production by Andrew Dunn.
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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Comedian Maria Bamford discusses her separation after a decade of marriage, the wildfires that destroyed her Altadena neighborhood, and starting over in a new apartment.
Check out if Maria is coming to your city on her comedy tour: https://mariabamford.com/tourdates
Listen to our previous Death, Sex & Money interviews with Maria:
Anna and Maria talk in 2023 about her memoir Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult
Anna and Maria talk in 2020 about growing up and her special Weakness Is The Brand
Podcast production by Andrew Dunn and Zoe Azulay
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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Anna talks to Jonathan Goldstein, host of the Pushkin podcast Heavyweight, about the show getting a second chance after a long period of uncertainty, and how that time helped some of the stories they had been working on find a proper conclusion.
Then we share one of our favorite episodes of Heavyweight, their recent season finale titled “Deborah.” At 101 years old, Deborah discovered a box she'd stashed away a lifetime ago. What was inside reignited an old love and turned her life upside down.
Heavyweight production by Phoebe Flanigan and Jonathan Goldstein.
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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In the 1950s, about 50% of patients who died in a hospital in the U.S. received an autopsy. Today, that figure is in the single digits, which is a big loss according to two people who care a lot about this topic:
One is Dr. Alex Williamson, an forensic and pediatric pathologist who performs autopsies and talks to families of the deceased about what he learned in the process. The other is Sam Ashworth, a novelist who went looking for a storytelling device and found an obsession. This week, both men explain why autopsies are important and what they can teach us about living.
Sam Ashworth’s novel The Death and Life of August Sweeny is available now.
This episode was produced by Cameron Drews.
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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Anna hosted Selected Shorts, an evening where professional actors read short stories in front of a live studio audience at Symphony Space in New York. The theme for the night? Death, sex, and money.
Stories performed:
- Cat Owner by Alissa Nutting performed by Phoebe Robinson
- The Model Millionaireby Oscar Wilde performed by Peter Francis James
- You Again by Seth Fried performed by Amy Ryan
Hear more readings on the Selected Shorts podcast.
There’s still time to join our “low-stakes” 30-day creativity challenge, listen here.
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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Your stories about inheritance: Gwynn wrestles with her mother's will that would cut out her sister; Trevor inherited money from his father and questions about whether his death was planned; and Anna talks to two young people giving away their inherited wealth despite some family opposition.
Podcast production by Zoe Azulay
Sign up for a full year of Slate Plus for 50% off by using the code DSM50 at checkout: slate.com/dsmplus (offer available until Jan 1).
My Father is Worth $70 Million. I Disinherited Myself.
Anna and Husband Arthur Play the Not-So-Newlywed Game
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When screenwriter Russell Hainline first moved to L.A., his goal was to write high-budget monster movies and thrillers. Then one day, he was prompted to write a Hallmark holiday rom-com, and something clicked.
In this special holiday episode, Russell talks about his breakout Netflix hit Hot Frosty and how he found his groove writing movies for the Hallmark Channel. He also gets to the heart of why people connect to these movies and explains how he’s able to convey steamy sexual tension between chaste TV movie characters.
This episode was produced by Cameron Drews.
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus. Use the promo code DSM50 for half off through the end of the year!
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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After the blockbuster success of her first book, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, Samin Nosrat felt pressure to follow it up with something big. But when depression and grief hit, she was forced to slow down and accept help (and cooking) from people around her.
In this episode, Samin talks about getting "chef 911" texts from friends on Thanksgiving, new romance, and finding happiness outside of success.
Samin’s new cookbook is Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share with People You Love
Listen to How to Face Your Fears With Steve-O, Laurel Braitman, and Rev. angel
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus. Use the promo code DSM50 for half off through the end of the year!
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com/DSM
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The British poet Raymond Antrobus was six years old when his parents and doctors realized that his ears couldn’t recognize a whole range of sounds. He was fitted with hearing aids and began a life of straddling the Deaf and hearing worlds, going to speech therapy and reading lips, learning British sign language, and attending both Deaf and hearing schools. By necessity, Raymond became an expert in communication and miscommunication, which are recurring themes in his poetry.
This week, Anna talks to Raymond about his memoir The Quiet Ear: An Investigation of Missing Sound and what it was like growing up with a “panicky sensitivity to misunderstandings.”
This episode was produced by Cameron Drews.
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Go to slate.com/dsmplus and use the promo code DSM50.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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Sarah Amos says the best way to describe her childhood is as a “nepo-baby fever dream.” She grew up in a pink mansion in Hawaii where celebrities often dropped by, and the fridge was always stocked with cookie dough made from her father’s famous recipe.
Wally Amos founded Famous Amos cookies in 1975, but by the time Sarah was in middle school, he had sold the company and their house was in foreclosure. As Sarah grew up, her father never stopped chasing the success he’d once had with Famous Amos, a pursuit that pushed them apart.
Listen to Sarah’s new podcast about her father from Vanity Fair: Tough Cookie: The Wally “Famous” Amos Story
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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When the Metropolitan Community Church was founded in the late sixties, it was one of the first gay positive churches in America. When AIDS hit, it became a refuge for people who were sick and those who were mourning them.
In this episode, Anna talks to researcher Lynne Gerber, about finding boxes of cassettes under the church floor in an MCC church in San Francisco, and how those recordings of sermons and songs became a podcast about finding community and comfort during a crisis.
Lynne Gerber is the host of the 10-episode series When We All Get to Heaven.
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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Even though the documentary Tig Notaro produced won the Festival Favorite Award at Sundance, she did not spend the festival hobnobbing with industry types. Instead she stayed holed up at the Airbnb she rented with friends and the film's crew. "We were calling it Snuggle Down because we were all sitting around the fire and having tea and just laughing so hard." Among the people at Snuggle Down was the subject of the documentary, poet Andrea Gibson, who was dying of ovarian cancer.
In this episode, Tig describes meeting Andrea, what made them click creatively, and how making a documentary about the end of Andrea's life brought an already tight-knit group of friends closer together.
Watch: Come See Me In the Good Light
And we also want to acknowledge the passing of disability activist Alice Wong. She died on Friday in San Francisco at age 51. Alice and Anna first talked in 2020.
Listen here: Alice Wong On Ruckuses, Rage And Medicaid
Podcast production by Andrew Dunn
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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In a new, very special Death, Sex & Money and Slate Money crossover, Felix Salmon and Anna Sale are once again joined by Felix’s financial advisor Adrianna Adams from Domain Money to talk about…parents. They dig into the emotions of trying to take care of your aging parents while also growing your own wealth, the importance of setting goals, and how to deal with aging children AND aging parents at the same time.
For a visual experience, you can watch this episode on YouTube.
Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Video production by Micah Phillips.
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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Country musician Luke Bell had swagger, talent, and a career on the rise, opening for Willie Nelson and Dwight Yoakam. Then mental illness took over. His mother Carol shares what it was like raising Luke, the fine line between his bold personality and paranoid delusions, and navigating his years of homelessness and psychosis before his death at 32.
Listen to his posthumous album, The King Is Back. Proceeds go towards mental health treatment for people in Wyoming who can't afford it.
Song List:
The Great Pretender
Rattlesnake Man
Where Ya Been (Music Video)
Guitar Man
Sometimes
On Our Own
The Bullfighter
River
The King Is Back (Music Video)
Podcast production by Zoe Azulay
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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In a new, very special Death, Sex & Money and Slate Money crossover, Felix Salmon and Anna Sale dig into the stressful world of financial advice and planning for retirement. How do you know if you’re set up financially to retire? Is it possible to think about retirement without having a panic attack? How much should you track your 401k? They’re joined by Felix’s financial advisor Adrianna Adams from Domain Money, to dig into these questions and so much more.
For a visual experience, you can watch this episode on YouTube.
Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Video production by Micah Phillips.
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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This September when SNL announced its season 51 cast, Ego Nwodim made the cut. Then, just days later, she announced on social media that she was leaving the show. "The hardest part of a great party is knowing when to say goodnight," she wrote.
In this episode, she talks about learning to trust her body when making big decisions, growing up in a family of workaholics, and her 3 AM post-show ritual of eating an entire cake while FaceTiming her best friend. Plus, why her phone has been on silent for 11 years.
Listen: Ego’s podcast Thanks Dad where she talks about growing up without a father, and talks to other comedians about their dads, and gets their dad-like advice.
See: Ego perform at Lincoln Center’s The Comedy Series, November 19 through November 23.
Podcast production by Andrew Dunn and Zoe Azulay
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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In a new, very special Death, Sex & Money and Slate Money crossover, Felix Salmon and Anna Sale dig into the difficult decision of whether or not to have kids.
Child care? School? New vehicle? All the baby gadgets? Kids are expensive! Anna has two kids, and Felix is famously childless. Between the two of them they dig into their decisions to have and not have kids, the budgeting and balancing of all the emotional and financial costs of kids, how kids can be a benefit later in life, and more.
For a visual experience, you can watch this episode on YouTube.
Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Video production by Micah Phillips.
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If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In the early-morning hours of October 2, 2023, progressive activist and organizer Ryan Carson was stabbed and killed by a stranger on a Brooklyn sidewalk. His girlfriend Claudia Morales—who witnessed the crime, attempted CPR, and dialed 911—quickly became the target of sensationalist online posting. Internet trolls falsely claimed that she didn’t cooperate with law enforcement and suggested that she and Ryan were, first and foremost, anti-police activists.
This week, Claudia talks to Anna about what it’s like to become a flattened character in the online culture wars, and she explains what the online provocateurs get wrong about who she is and who Ryan was.
This episode was produced by Cameron Drews.
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Christine Brown Woolley grew up in Utah with a dad and two moms, in a polygamist community called the Apostolic United Brethren. When she became an adult, she joined a polygamist marriage as a third wife, helped raise more than a dozen kids, and became co-star of the TLC reality show Sister Wives.
Fast forward to 2025, and she has left her marriage and her polygamist faith. This week, she talks to Anna about the pros and cons of her former lifestyle, how being on a reality show helped her family to confront and process conflicts, and why she’s so happy being re-married and monogamous. Her new memoir is Sister Wife: A Memoir of Faith, Family, and Finding Freedom.
This episode was produced by Cameron Drews.
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com/DSM
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In the new movie Sovereign, actor Nick Offerman plays an extremist who doesn’t believe in the legitimacy of the Federal government. In real life, Nick comes from a small-town political family. His father is the mayor of Minooka, Illinois, and his uncle is on the village board. In this episode Nick talks about choosing roles, how he’s different from his family, his love of teaching woodworking and the profound influence of poet Wendell Berry.
Listen to our 2018 interview: Nick Offerman Can Take Directions
Podcast production by Andrew Dunn
Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.
And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
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When Sarah Short was pregnant with her first child, her health insurance didn’t cover it. She was 19, and by the time she found that out, it was also too late to apply for Medicaid. Her hospital bill for her daughter’s birth was around $10,000 — a figure that felt insurmountable. At first, the envelopes were something she tried to ignore. “I just threw them away,” she told Anna. “And then they turned red. And they kept showing up.”
Sarah was newly married at the time, and was afraid of how the rising debt would affect her family’s future. So she looked for ways to pay it off. And when she chose to become a surrogate, the impact of that decision transformed her relationship with her body, money, debt, and her confidence.
Anna and Sarah first spoke in a 2017 episode, and in this update, Sarah tells Anna about getting divorced and starting over in her 30s, launching her own business, and why this chapter of her life feels “freeing.”
Lawrence Bartley was first on the show in 2014 while he was still in prison. In this new episode, he talks about becoming an award-winning journalist and the negative impact of a headline from our show.
Watch Inside Story here: https://www.themarshallproject.org/inside-story
Listen to Lawrence's previous DSM episodes here: https://www.wnyc.org/people/lawrence-bartley/
Get tickets for Anna’s October 14th conversation with Maria Bamford here: https://www.cityarts.net/events/
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
The New York Times journalist Ezra Klein thinks a lot about the impacts of policy and systems on our personal lives. On his podcast, The Ezra Klein Show, he recently mentioned how American society insufficiently supports families of young kids, and wondered why living in community is so hard, and the isolation that it can breed as a result.
Ezra’s thinking about all of these issues in his own life as well: he’s married to fellow journalist Annie Lowery, and they have two young kids. The family moved to California before the pandemic, and after a health crisis they struggled to find the support they needed for their family. They eventually decide to move back to the East Coast, and as they settle into their lives in New York, Ezra’s thinking a lot about the tradeoffs of two-parent households. “I don't believe people are meant to do this. You know, two parents plus kids, it's too few people,” he said.
Ezra and Anna talk about the beloved communal spaces of his 20s and 30s, the tension between autonomy and community, and why he believes our emphasis on two-parent families is “a cultural mistake.”
Want more from Ezra on the topics in today’s episode? We recommend the following:
This episode of The Ezra Klein Show with scholar Kristen Ghodsee on communes and intentional communities, a conversation with The Atlantic’s Jerusalem Demsas about homelessness and the origins of our current housing crisis, an interview with writer Sheila Liming on loneliness in America, and two interviews he’s done with child psychologist Alison Gopnik. Finally, you can read Annie Lowery’s piece about her experiences with pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting here.
Beverly Glenn-Copeland was in his 20s when he left a classical singing career to create experimental music. And at the time, making that change didn’t feel scary. “I felt totally free,” he told Anna. “I wasn't afraid of it. It was just like, this is what it is. I'm free to explore this.”
But it took decades for that gamble to pay off, and 2020 was supposed to be Glenn’s breakthrough year. At 76 years old, he was going to go on an international tour, and move into a new home with his wife, Elizabeth. But then the pandemic hit, his tour was canceled and he lost his housing.
When Anna and Glenn first spoke in 2020, he talked about his complex relationship with his parents growing, quietly releasing his music for years, and how his newer fans supported him during the precarity of the early months of the pandemic. This year, Glenn’s releasing a new album, and he’s finally going on tour. And even with the success he’s found, there are still moments of uncertainty. Glenn and Elizabeth told Anna about what’s changed—and what hasn’t.
Listen to the music in this episode from Glenn’s album, "Transmissions," here, and you can stream his new album, “The Ones Ahead,” here.
In 2016, a listener we’re calling James sent us a voice memo. He described himself as a recovering porn addict, and was struggling to stay away from it while his wife was away. So we wanted to know more about your relationships with porn, and over 100 of you shared how you first learned about it, your likes and dislikes, and why some of you stopped using it completely.
Some of you are fairly open about how you use porn. Jennifer likes to ask dates about their porn tastes. “You can have a better sex life when all the cards are out on the table,” she said to Anna. Michael has watched it since he was a teenager, and found it a helpful way to learn more about his sexuality. “Why is it not accepted to be attracted to beautiful images?” he asked.
But some of you have had to cut porn out entirely. Daniel* hasn’t watched porn in years, and after seeing how it negatively affected his relationship and mental health, he won’t go back. “It gives me a really intense feeling,” he told Anna. “But it’s also usually followed by a lot of shame too.”
We’re revisiting our most popular episode: featuring your stories about porn.
*Names changed for privacy reasons.
“I assumed we would have the most incredible celebration of our dreams,” a listener we’re calling Maya told Anna. Maya’s mother died in 2020 and unexpectedly left Maya $50,000 for a wedding celebration. It was a lot to think about a big party while also grieving a parent, and soon Maya learned that the money she thought would easily cover everything was coming up short. “I had no idea how much a wedding cost, and I was wrong. I was terribly wrong.”
In this episode we asked listeners if they were currently planning a wedding, and if money had become a sticking point. We heard from couples with vastly different ideas of what they wanted to spend, about opinionated parents and in-laws, tips from people who managed to spend less, and one Icelandic wedding planner’s mission to give the gift of a free wedding to a lucky, deserving couple.
Want to learn more about Pink Iceland’s Queer Wedding Giveaway? Visit their webpage here.
This week we’re sharing an episode from This is Uncomfortable from Marketplace, a podcast about life and how money messes with it (you know that’s our bag) hosted by Reema Khrais.
To give you a taste of the show, we’re playing an episode from their latest season, featuring Canadian comics artist Kate Beaton. When Kate graduated college, she had exactly one goal: get rid of her student debt as fast as possible. The goal took priority over everything else in her life, including the dream of trying to make it as an artist. But when she decided to take a job in the oil sands of Alberta, Canada, she didn’t know she would be entering a workplace that was a world of its own, where the ordinary rules of society would not always apply.
You can find a more detailed episode description here. This episode was produced by Camila Kerwin.
When writer Brandon Taylor was growing up in Alabama in the early 2000s, he didn’t quite fit in with the rest of his family or his classmates at school. And these days, he still prefers his own company. “I never feel more myself than when I am by myself feeling just like a little lonely,” he told Anna. “That is like my optimal state of being.”
But Brandon found community online in chat rooms, roleplaying communities, and on message boards for the books and TV shows he loved as a teenager, like the anime show Dragon Ball Z, Pokémon, or the Harry Potter series. And as an adult, the Real Life and The Late Americans author is figuring out how to share his excitement of literature and popular culture on and offline, which doesn’t always resonate with people in real life. In this episode, Brandon tells Anna about managing money on his own, what he likes about being single, and his evolving relationship with the Internet.
In 2021, a listener we’re calling Jack wrote to us about a conversation he wanted to have with his dad about guns.
Jack grew up in West Virginia, in a family that loved to hunt and shoot. His dad has a large collection of firearms—and, for years, he loved to talk about them with his son. But overtime, Jack’s views on guns shifted, and he didn’t want to be around them anymore. But telling that to his dad felt heavy. "I know he'll hear that as rejection because that's what it is, it's a rejection,” Jack told Anna at the time.
Almost two years later, Anna called Jack back for an update on how his relationship with his dad has shifted since, and why his desired conversation now feels “cringey.”
Alexis’s 8 year old son didn’t like to be out of sight from his mother for even for five minutes. “I would always be like, okay, I'm going right upstairs, I'm just switching the load of laundry – I'll be right back! He knew where I was every minute of the day.” Then, with the help of a therapist, Alexis and her husband wrote their son a letter, explaining to him that they would no longer allow him to accompany them to the bathroom. It didn’t go great. “He was visibly upset and crying and he shredded it immediately."
But things did start to change as Alexis and her husband continued to implement a therapy program designed to help parents change how they respond to their children’s distress.
Anna also talks to the founder of that program, Dr. Eli Lebowitz, director of the Program for Anxiety Disorders at the Yale Child Study Center, and author of Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD: A Scientifically Proven Program for Parents. In therapy, parents are asked to think about the accommodations they do for their children, and to slowly eliminate them. “If you're a kid and what you're growing up learning about yourself through your parents is, I can't handle anxiety, well, you're gonna have a lot of anxiety in your life.”
In the summer of 2022, Anna spoke with Laurie Bertram Roberts, co-founder of the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund in the weeks after the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, ending almost 50 years of the Constitutional right to abortion in the United States. Laurie has spent much of their adult life in Mississippi working around abortion access, and has been clear-eyed – and frustrated – about the policy failures that led to this moment.
Almost a year later, Anna called Laurie back to hear how their work has continued to shift, what they’re hearing from callers, and the policy changes they see on the horizon. This episode also features an excerpt from our WNYC Studios colleagues at More Perfect, about two legal scholars’ attempt to rewrite abortion law in the wake of Dobbs.
You can hear Anna’s original conversation with Laurie here, and subscribe to More Perfect here.
Ocean Vuong is one of the most beloved and acclaimed contemporary writers – his 2016 award-winning first poetry collection, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, was published before he finished his MFA. But his sudden success has come with some pitfalls, and has illuminated some practical skills he hasn’t learned. “In some ways, I feel kind of like a child actor,” he said to Anna. Ocean’s partner and his younger half brother drive him places and accompany him on trips. “I tell my family, if it wasn't for you guys, if it was just me, I would be in a studio with just a single mattress surrounded by books stacked from the floor up,” he said.
But sharing the benefits of his professional accomplishments is a big part of how Ocean lives with his family and shows up for his friends. He talks about falling in love with poetry – and his partner – in his 20s in New York, what he loves about living in the country, and his surprising love of the New York Knicks.
In the final episode of Hold On, a national call-in show about our mental health, Anna talks to organizational psychologist Melissa Doman, author of Yes, You Can Talk About Mental Health at Work...Here's Why (And How To Do It Really Well), about how and when to address mental health issues in the workplace, and listeners call in with questions, success stories, and times disclosing a diagnosis to a boss did not go so well.
Find resources here, and our whole Hold On series of live call-ins here: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/deathsexmoney/articles/hold-mental-health-resources
Also out this week is On the Media's companion piece to the episode we did together about Tasha Adams, the ex-wife of Oath Keepers' founder Stewart Rhodes. Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Listen to On the Media's story here.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
In this episode of Hold On, our live national call-in series about mental health, we asked listeners to call in if the idea of getting therapy was something they felt excluded from, either because of how they were raised, what they looked like, or expectations around masculinity and what it means to be strong. Dr. Avi Klein, psychotherapist, and Danielle Muñoz, director of Basic Needs at California State University, Long Beach, talked about their experiences helping people who were reluctant or nervous to get started.
Find resources here, and our whole Hold On series of live call-ins here: (https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/deathsexmoney/articles/hold-mental-health-resources).
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
1 in 5 American adults are taking medication to treat their mental health, that’s more than the number of people in therapy. Anna talks to sociologist Daniel Tadmon, and psychiatrist Dr. Kali Cyrus, about how the field of psychiatry is changing. Plus listeners call in about the drugs they’re on, the ones they’re trying to get off, and the prescription process.
Find resources here, and our whole Hold On series of live call-ins here: (https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/deathsexmoney/articles/hold-mental-health-resources).
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Anna talks to psychology professor and researcher Dr. Craig Rodriguez-Seijas, about his work studying bias in mental health diagnostics, and takes listener calls about how a diagnosis has shaped their sense of identity, for better or worse. Plus, Aneri Pattani, Senior Correspondent at Kaiser Health News, explains what investments the Biden administration is making toward mental health.
Find resources here (https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/deathsexmoney/articles/hold-mental-health-resources).
Hold On will be in your podcast feeds all month long, but you can also listen live on your local public radio station or stream it at wnyc.org/radio on Thursday, May 18th at 8p ET.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Anna takes calls from teenagers, and people who love teenagers, about adolescent mental health, along with psychologist Dr. Lisa Damour.
Find resources here (https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/deathsexmoney/articles/hold-mental-health-resources).
Hold On will be in your podcast feeds all month long, but you can also listen live on your local public radio station on Thursdays at 8p ET.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Anna takes calls from mental health professionals along with psychiatrist Dr. Kali Cyrus, and you offer your tips for accessing care.
Find resources here (https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/deathsexmoney/articles/hold-mental-health-resources).
Hold On will be in your podcast feeds all month long, but you can also listen live on your local public radio station or stream it at wnyc.org/radio on Thursday, May 11th and Thursday, May 18th starting at 8p ET.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
The CDC recently reported that the number of teenage girls who described “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” spiked from 36% to 57% over the last decade, and headlines have been popping up about the mental health crisis in teens. But a certain amount of angst (even extreme angst) in teens is normal, so when is it a cause for concern, and how can parents know the difference and help teens navigate? Dr. Lisa Damour, author of The Emotional Lives of Teenagers, takes listener calls and talks about when to worry and what helps.
Dr. Kali Cyrus, practicing community psychiatrist, Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins Medicine, kicks off the first episode of Hold On by talking about the basics: how to find a therapist that fits. Plus therapists call in about what the mental health crisis in America looks like from their vantage points, and from
Listeners and Dr. Cyrus also weigh in on the life cycle of therapy – finding a therapist (where did you look?), building a relationship (how did you know it was the right fit, or the wrong one?), and knowing when or if to end it or move on to someone new.
Anna and Micah Loewinger, correspondent for On the Media, travel to Montana to talk to Tasha Adams about her decades-long marriage with Stewart Rhodes, founder of the far-right Oath Keepers.
Plus, Tasha sits down with Kelly Jones, ex-wife of far-right radio host Alex Jones, and they compare notes on their marriages, and reflect on their secret text exchanges from 2018, when Tasha was plotting her escape from Stewart with her six kids.
Subscribe to On the Media to hear Micah's episode about testifying in the Stewart Rhodes criminal trial. That's out later this month.
And for more Tasha, check out the podcast This is Uncomfortable from Marketplace. They did a series with Tasha, and her oldest child Dakota, that dropped last fall.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Voiceover artist and journalist Bernie Wagenblast shares her journey to coming out as a trans woman.
Listen to our episode with Jane Fonda here: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/deathsexmoney/episodes/death-and-divorce-gave-jane-fonda-strength
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
The writer talks about longing to fall in love, his life with mental illness, and why adulthood is underrated.
This episode originally aired in 2018, and contains a description of suicidal ideation. If you find yourself in a moment of crisis like John did and need to talk with someone, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 988. They're open 24/7—please ask for help.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Your stories about the beloved – and complicated – movies you saw that taught you about sex.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Anna first talked with disability rights activist Alice Wong in 2020 about self-advocacy, as well as how she manages money, Medicaid, and her and her parents' futures. But after a health crisis, Alice shared an update.
You can read more of Alice’s recent essays in Teen Vogue (https://www.teenvogue.com/story/alice-wong-hospitalization-crowdfunding-community), for CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/22/opinions/caregiver-advocacy-legislation-wong-ctrp/index.html), and on the Disability Visibility Project’s website (https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2022/08/07/my-icu-summer-a-photo-essay/).
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
The professor and Everything Happens podcast host talks about growing up in a Mennonite community, living with chronic pain, and the small things that bring her joy.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
We asked you to tell us about the fears in your life that are holding you back. In this episode, we share your stories and questions with Steve-O, Laurel Braitman, and Rev. angel Kyodo williams. Each of them, in one way or another, had fear and bravery inform their work and their lives. They offer advice and insights on what’s worked for them, and what they’ve learned from navigating fear.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Anna first talked with Liam and Marisa about their love story back in 2014. Nine years later, we hear about the next chapter of their relationship: becoming parents.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Erick Adame was a TV weatherman. Then someone sent pictures to his employer, his mother, and his boyfriend of him performing sex acts on a webcam.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Anna talks with La Brega host Alana Casanova-Burgess about the new season of her dual-language podcast that explores the culture, history and spirit of Puerto Rico through its iconic music
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Your stories of loving—and losing—your beloved animal companions. Plus, an end-of-life veterinarian offers advice on knowing when to say goodbye.
Some of you also shared resources for dealing with the loss of a pet. Here are a few of those suggestions:
Sara recommended a TEDx talk by veterinarian Dr. Sarah Hoggan on the lingering impact of pet euthanasia.
Looking for books to read? Margaret recommended “Good Grief” by E.B. Bartels, Flora shared “Lifetimes” by Bryan Mellonie, Sophia offered Mary Oliver’s book of poems “Dog Songs,” and for more poetry, Jeni suggested Lynne Schimdt’s “Dead Dog Poems.”
A listener named David told us about the Jimmy Stewart interview on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson where Jimmy reads a tearjerker of a poem about his late dog, Beau. Watch it here.
Aileen shared an episode of Encyclopodia podcast where Dr. Allison Bergin discussed end-of-life care for pets.
A listener named Ali told us about Dr. Amanda Stronza (@amandastronza on Instagram), an anthropologist and conservationist who writes about her experiences with pet loss online.
And finally, another listener shared a CBS Sunday Morning story about Dog Mountain in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Learn more about it here.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Today, we're celebrating the very short-term romance: the one night stand. Those moments in life when someone appeared in a flash, you connected, and then you went your separate ways.
*This episode originally ran in 2021.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
The actor talks about having agency over her body, her relationships and her career, even as she lives with the trauma of sexual assault and infertility.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
The country musician talks candidly about loss—of a generational family farm and the death of her newborn—and coping with infidelity and an abusive relationship with alcohol.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
This week, we bring our estrangement series to an end with a live call-in show co-hosted by Anna Sale and WNYC’s Kai Wright, host of the Notes from America podcast. Kai and Anna heard from listeners all around the country about how stark disagreements — particularly around politics and key values — led to estrangement with families, long-time friends and also long-time romantic relationships. Plus, Rebecca Martinez Fitzgerald, a therapist based in Durham, North Carolina, offered advice on how to move forward.
If you’re living with estrangement, check out some of our listener recommendations on what’s helped, and listen to Kai’s show, Notes from America, wherever you get podcasts or on WNYC's YouTube channel.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Whether you've recently cut ties with someone close, or haven't spoken them in decades, navigating estrangement can be difficult. During our three-part series, we asked listeners about what's helped. You told us about books that helped clarify the decision to pull away, support groups that helped ease the pain, and about finding creative ways to fill the space that estrangement leaves. Here are a few listener submissions.
My daughter and I have struggled since I divorced her step dad twenty years ago. Sadly, I think she felt she had to take sides and she chose him for several complicated reasons, one being I was an active alcoholic in those days. Her step dad, unbeknownst to my daughter, had cheated on me and I held anger about the betrayal.
I have been sober for five years. I wish and hope my daughter could start anew. At the same time, I do best when I am accepting that my daughter and I may never heal (radical acceptance). It’s a fine line, holding hope and acceptance in the same hand.
When I first became estranged I searched the internet for any resources available. Here are a few that I discovered:
• When Parents Hurt and Rules of Estrangement by Dr. Joshua Coleman. I had a few sessions with Dr. Coleman. He reached out to my daughter via email proposing that we work on healing. He never heard back from her. He also has a Facebook group. Member stories are unique yet hold many similar themes; adult children diagnosing their parent with narcissism or borderline personality disorder, many cut off their parents abruptly and block all forms of communication.
• The book Done with Crying: Help and Healing for Mothers of Estranged Adult Children by Sheri McGregor. She has a newsletter and member forum.
• Family Support Resources offers support for those who chose to estrange and those who had no choice in the estrangement.
Yes, connecting with others who are estranged has helped to not feel so all alone. Maintaining strong friendships, hobbies such as photography, writing and volunteering has helped me to not be all consumed by my estrangement but a mother never quits loving their child.
– Frances, age 63 living in Missoula, MT
Earlier this year I cut off contact with my mother after seeing she was unable to participate in my life the way I need. Shortly after I read Shadow Daughter: A Memoir of Estrangement by Harriot Brown. Half the book is a memoir about her abusive mother and the rest is a sociological study of estrangement. I had to skip over most of the memoir bits and some of the other individual narratives to avoid feeling someone else's trauma, but reading the book made me feel less guilty about the choice I made. Reading diverse stories of estrangement made me realize I didn't need to have lived through some horrible abuse to justify the decision I made. I'm able to choose the life I want.
The most interesting part of the book was the author's research on communities of parents whose children chose to be estranged from them. A theme of these parents' discourse was that they couldn't understand why their children chose estrangement, even when their children had provided explanations. That inability to hear what their children have said is in itself a reason for estrangement.
I heard about this book from Unladylike podcast's "How to Break up With Mom" episode which includes an interview with Harriet Brown about her research and personal experience with estrangement. I highly recommend a listen to get a taste of the book.
– Roquel, 32 in San Francisco, CA
My parents have lived in Panama, where my dad is from and where I have dual citizenship, since 2010. The last time I went back to visit was 2017.
I stopped talking to my dad in 2018 after I got a divorce and came out to my parents as queer. We attempted one more conversation in 2019, and that gave me some closure and confidence in the need for the rupture. The grief is ongoing, and fluctuates, but here are some of the things that have helped me heal:
• Listening to Bad Bunny's ""Estamos Bien", almost as a spell.• The queer comrades of Central American Twitter (rip Twitter 🥺).• This video of a 70-year-old Panamanian lesbian: she says in the video that for her grandchildren, having a lesbian grandma is "a gift."• Rethinking how I introduce myself so that I can do so on my own terms and not be constantly referring to my parents. • Feeling affirmed and authentic to myself.• Cooking foods that feel like home.
I am getting ready to go back to Panama this February and have gone through a cycle of anxiety over it, but now am starting to find reasons, independent of family, to be excited for the return.
– Amy
When [my mom] kept calling me drunk and crying during my third pregnancy (which had a few borderline medical issues with it that never tipped into crisis) saying how concerned she was for me, I stopped answering the phone. I just could not do it anymore without completely unravelling myself. Then she started calling my in-laws and other people, drunk and crying to them. So I wrote to her and said I didn’t want to hear from her (and by extension at that point, my dad) again. That I couldn’t handle it any more, but more, that I couldn’t expose my children to it. Within a day or two, I was in the hospital with a C-section for what turned out to be a breach baby, and all that time I got poisonous emails from her gaslighting me, saying the things I said she did during my childhood never happened and I needed to see a psychiatrist (I’ve been in therapy for years!!). My dad left heart-broken phone messages too. My sister sent horrible Facebook messages. She has tried to sneak in with times of crisis around my dad (he was arrested for beating her), and a few other occasions when things were really wrong. When COVID first happened, I sent her a message hoping she was well and taking care of herself. I’ve been supportive during those times, but each time, she’s stepped too far or done something that makes my skin crawl, and I’ve had to shut it down. The last time this happened, she sent me a collection of photos from my childhood “for my birthday” — many of which were me with my grandparents, who I loved and was allowed to grow close to until she told me when I was 17 that she had been sexually abused by them as a child. She also apologized for the things “you think I’ve done to you,” which is a start, but not the same as an actual apology. I wrote her back and said I can absolutely forgive her and wish her well, but still not invite her in because I won’t ever really know if she’s changed. I haven’t heard back from her since.My dad and I text or email once in a while, and he sends me books because we both love to read.
Over the past 10 years, I’ve felt so hard-hearted and abhorrent. Everyone else around me seemed to have normal relationships with their parents. I do still believe in my body that something must be wrong with me and I caused all of this, even though I cognitively know otherwise and I know I made the best decision for my kids. And I still feel the pull to open the door wider.
You asked for what has helped. For me, a huge strobe light went on when I read the books Will I Ever Be Good Enough?: Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers and The Body Keeps the Score.
– Reese, 45, Canada
For me, the hardest part as the years pass isn't guilt or regrets – I have never regretted my choice, which allowed me to heal and break the curse of generational trauma. The hardest thing is dealing with [my mother’s] "flying monkeys” who insist I must talk to her because she is my mother. The cost I bear is being the villain in their narratives when they never bother asking why I did it, or for my side of the story. Mostly these are people that are not a part of my life and ultimately their uninformed opinions about me do not matter. But I am only human after all, so sometimes it hurts anyway.
There are two subreddits that have helped me process this experience and find resources, r/EstrangedAdultChild and r/EstrangedAdultKids. One resource often shared in those groups is the Missing Missing Reasons.
– Amy, 32, California
I have been estranged from my family for seven years. I am also estranged from our hometown because of it.
Our parents were idolized in our community. My dad was loved by everyone. His funeral was packed. Our mom was known as the best math teacher for 50 years. The abuse we suffered was our dirty secret. I was beaten with horse reins, coat hangers, water hoses, hair brushes, and belts. Our parents were the epitome of community leaders; deacons at the church, taught Sunday school, teacher and administrator to the local school, and civic leaders.
Some of the best advice I received was the concept of emotional cutting and the saying "you can't control your first thought, but you can control your second." Emotional cutting is the idea you can't heal in the same environment that hurt you. A wound can't heal if you keep opening it.
I can see the fruits of my work in my children and my marriage. The example I set for them is what keeps me going when I get sad or miss my family. The holidays are still hard for me. Having good boundaries is what keeps you healthy. The advice I would give is, it gets better. Once you are removed from the toxicity for long enough the idea of going back will make you sick.
– L, 43, OK
A listener named Erica was struck by Siobhan’s story from our third estrangement episode. Siobhan was estranged from her children after an acrimonious divorce. She says the children’s father turned them against her, a strategy psychologists call “parental alienation.”
I wanted to provide a few resources for parents like Siobhan. The first and most important, the one that saved me and countless others like us, is the work of Karen Woodall, a British therapist and researcher. Karen is an active blogger on the subject and also hosts regular listening circles for alienated parents.
The second is a related but separate group called ISNAF (International Support Network of Alienated Families). They are also an amazing resource.
– Erica, 51, NYC
Pico Iyer, author of "The Half-Known Life," reflects on deliberately walking away from his dream job, his decades-long friendship with Leonard Cohen, and surrendering to the unknown.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, known as Daniels, on their friendship, learning to play to their strengths, and making their hit film Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
The co-creators of Marcel the Shell with Shoes On talk about collaborating while getting divorced, navigating grief, and finding joy in the everyday.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
The former host of The Daily Show sometimes struggles to get out of bed. But he's comfortable saying that with a smile.
*This episode originally ran in 2019.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Anna talks with Terrestrials host and creator Lulu Miller about becoming a parent and being inspired by her kids’ curiosities. Plus, a clip from Terrestrials’ “The Water Walker.” We recommend you check out the whole incredible series here.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
In our last episode, we look at how estrangement changes shape over the course of a life: how it can bend or harden, and how it affects new relationships, old memories, and the idea of family.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
When we first asked for your stories on estrangement, we wondered if it was like a slow pulling away, or like a flipped switch? In episode two of our three-part series, we talk to four listeners for whom estrangement might have been a long time coming, but the choice to cut ties was recent and abrupt.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Brian is on the fence. On the one hand, he no longer believes in the religion he was raised in. “It’s high control,” he told us, “rules on everything from what to watch on TV [...] to what you do in the bedroom.” On the other hand, leaving the religion would mean losing contact with his parents and wife. “If I told my mom and my dad where I was, the phone would simply go dead.”
In our first episode of Estrangement, we talk through the stakes—what could you gain by cutting ties, and what feels impossible to lose?
Earlier this year, Anna interviewed writer and humorist Fran Lebowitz onstage at the Berkeley Repertory Theater in California. But for most of her adult life, Fran’s lived in New York City, where she found early success with her first two books, Metropolitan Life and Social Studies, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the years since, she hasn’t published much, citing a decades-long writer’s block. So she’s become a professional talker, which you may recognize from Martin Scorsese’s multi-part Netflix series, Pretend It’s A City, and which you’ll definitely hear in this conversation as Fran never misses an opportunity to make her audience laugh.
In front of a live audience in Berkeley, Anna and Fran talk about her early years in New York, her strategies for navigating all types of parties, and why her 40+ year old sofa is her favorite place to read.
In Death, Sex & Money’s new three-part series about estrangement, we talk to listeners about cutting family ties, leaving religion, and ending friendships. We also talk to listeners on the other side of estrangement, still desperately wishing for contact, and about what happens after the break.
In January 2020, we released an episode with our listeners’ stories about when race became a flashpoint in their friendships. Today, we’re holding a reunion of sorts – checking back in with those same listeners about the way race, identity, and racism have impacted their friendships since.
Antoinette told us she would have handled an interaction with a white coworker much differently today. “It's kind of like with kids… when they're upset with each other, you want them to talk it out and then hug it out and then everything's okay,” she said. “And I think I'm making more peace with the fact that everything might not be okay."”
Since 2020, Matt has met other people who share his background as a Korean adoptee, and a new diverse group of work friends has also made him feel more comfortable. Chrishana and Sarah have grown even closer, despite changes in their personal lives that could have pulled them apart. And Devan, like Antoinette, told us he’s more quick to disengage with people who don’t share his values.
Check out Matt’s photo series of other Korean adoptees, Where are you really from?. And Chrishana and Sarah talked about reading Big Friendship, Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman’s book – we recorded an episode with them in the summer of 2020. Plus, the Pandemic Toolkit we mentioned, full of activities and coping mechanisms for stress and isolation, still lives here.
*This episode originally ran in 2020
A text message gone wrong. A bachelorette party exclusion. A racist comment during the 2016 debates.
When we asked you all about moments when race became a flashpoint in your friendships, we heard about awkward, funny, and deeply painful moments. "The fact that she could drop me so easily really stung," one listener, Ashley, told us about a childhood friendship that suddenly ended because her friend's parents didn't want her "hanging out with Black kids." Another listener, who we're calling Kathleen, wrote in about the regret she felt about not confronting an ex-friend who posted a racist comment on Facebook. "I don't know if I could have changed her mind," she told us. "But at least [I could have] let her know that what I thought was so wrong about what she was saying, instead of just quietly clicking 'unfriend.'"
Today, we're sharing your stories about how race, identity, and racism have impacted your friendships. And listen to the episode from our partners at the NPR podcast Code Switch, featuring expert advice on navigating those flashpoint moments around race—and explaining why it's so hard to make, and maintain, cross-racial friendships.
*This episode originally ran in 2015, with an update recorded in 2017.
Anna first talked with a woman we're calling Emma in 2015. At the time, Emma was supporting her family as a sex worker and wrote Anna an email – she wanted to share her story about how she got into sensual massage and why she didn't feel any guilt about working with married clients. Am I facilitating cheating? “I guess so," she wrote. "Can I sleep at night? Mostly."
After Anna spoke with Emma that first time, Emma called her back, saying their interview made her realize how much she needed to get away from her job. She canceled her appointments and took some time off. She also asked us not to use her interview. But after a few months, she started seeing clients again – and told Anna that she wanted to talk. She said she was trying to figure out a way to go back to school and put sex work behind her, but wasn't sure how she'd pull it off.
Then, in 2017, Anna reached back out to Emma to check-in and hear about what had happened in Emma’s life since they talked. As it turns out, a lot had changed.
Sandra Cisneros is one of America’s most celebrated coming of age writers. Her book The House on Mango Street is a staple in American classrooms and has been translated into more than 20 languages. Her latest book is a collection of poetry called Woman Without Shame. Sandra brought that same shameless spirit to this conversation, including everything from finding birth control and a mode of sexual freedom that worked for her as a working-class Mexican American in the 1970s, to her questionable taste in romantic partners and her decision to move across the border in her late 50s to start a new life for herself and her dogs in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
A powerful intuitive sense has guided all of these choices, Sandra told Anna. She says she’s been sensitive to the world around her since she was a kid – it’s something her mother saw as a weakness. But as Sandra puts it, “I just have a big radar disc.” Over the years, that radar disc has helped her translate natural beauty into poems and receive spiritual messages. It’s been a little less helpful in pointing her away from disastrous relationships, but she’s taken those in stride. “When I was young, it was more like, ‘Where is that other half? Where is he?’” Sandra says, “[But now] I feel a sense of joy and completeness that I didn't feel when I was younger.”
Hrishikesh Hirway is a musician and the host of one of Anna’s favorite podcasts, “Song Exploder,” which describes how a song is built track by track by the artists who made it. Music has always been at the heart of Hrishikesh’s life as his mother, Kanta, loved to sing (and to hear Hrishikesh sing). Kanta married his father when she was 24 and they moved to the US from India that same year.
Hrishikesh remembers his mother as the bubbly, social center of her friends and family, but towards the end of her life Kanta developed a degenerative neurological condition – PSP, which stands for progressive supranuclear palsy – that limited her mobility, and eventually, her ability to communicate. Kanta died in the fall of 2020 and Hrishikesh has been releasing new solo music this year about the grief of losing his mother when she was in her early 70s, and in the years leading up to her death. Anna talks to Hrishikesh about Kanta, about the eight years it took to get her a diagnosis, and about her life before her illness.
Elaine Mitchell came of age in the counterculture of second wave feminism. When she was diagnosed with likely curable rectal cancer at age 66, she decided to exclusively pursue alternative cures, instead of conventional medicine. Rachel, Elaine’s kid, was 30 at the time, and they spent years trying to convince her to get surgery. But Elaine never wavered. Despite all their painful disagreements, Rachel became Elaine’s primary caretaker as she was dying.
Rachel and Elaine’s dynamic never followed a typical mother-child script (if there is such a thing). Elaine modeled independence and self-reliance for Rachel, always letting Rachel make their own decisions – including when Rachel dropped out of high school to become a traveling hippie. Eventually, Rachel started working as a radio producer for the CBC. There, they created an award-winning audio piece called, “Dead Mom Talking,” which first aired on The Sunday Edition (and which is excerpted in our conversation). Rachel also released a memoir, Dead Mom Walking: A Memoir of Miracle Cures and Other Disasters, which was just published in the U.S..
In this episode, Rachel talks about the ways autonomy drove both of their lives, and about the humor at the heart of their relationship, even as they argued about Elaine’s end of life choices. “Our relationship wasn’t perfect,” Rachel says, “but it was great.”
*This episode originally ran in 2019.
Andrea grew up attending an evangelical church in Texas, where she was taught to abstain from sex until marriage and keep herself sexually "pure." That early sex education—and her decision to have premarital sex anyway—had long-lasting impact, well into her adulthood.
This episode was part of our month-long series called Our Sex (Mis)Educations. Find the entire series here.
*This episode originally ran in 2019.
Andrea grew up attending an evangelical church in Texas, where she was taught to abstain from sex until marriage and keep herself sexually "pure." That early sex education—and her decision to have premarital sex anyway—had long-lasting impact, well into her adulthood.
This episode was part of our month-long series called Our Sex (Mis)Educations. Find the entire series here.
India Walton grew up in Buffalo, New York, a starkly segregated city, where 85 percent of the city's Black residents live on the East Side. She started a family there at 14 and then a career as a nurse in her 20s. In her 30s, she left a violent marriage, became a neighborhood organizer, and decided to run for mayor.
In June 2021, India shocked the political establishment and won the Democratic primary, beating the four-term incumbent mayor. She was shocked, too, and the jubilant video of her calling her mom that night went viral. But, the mayor did not concede, and he won the general election after he launched a write-in campaign.
Five months after India lost that election, a gunman shot up a grocery store on Buffalo's East Side and killed 10 people in a racially motivated attack.
In this episode, we talk about when government helped India and let her down, and how growing up poor and Black in Buffalo fueled her drive to change systems – in healthcare, education and housing politics.
Want to hear more of DSM's past episodes with political leaders and public officials? Listen to Anna chat with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, current Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, and way back, in one of the show’s very first episodes, former Wyoming Senator Al Simpson.
India Walton grew up in Buffalo, New York, a starkly segregated city, where 85 percent of the city's Black residents live on the East Side. She started a family there at 14 and then a career as a nurse in her 20s. In her 30s, she left a violent marriage, became a neighborhood organizer, and decided to run for mayor.
In June 2021, India shocked the political establishment and won the Democratic primary, beating the four-term incumbent mayor. She was shocked, too, and the jubilant video of her calling her mom that night went viral. But, the mayor did not concede, and he won the general election after he launched a write-in campaign.
Five months after India lost that election, a gunman shot up a grocery store on Buffalo's East Side and killed 10 people in a racially motivated attack.
In this episode, we talk about when government helped India and let her down, and how growing up poor and Black in Buffalo fueled her drive to change systems – in healthcare, education and housing politics.
Want to hear more of DSM's past episodes with political leaders and public officials? Listen to Anna chat with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, current Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, and way back, in one of the show’s very first episodes, former Wyoming Senator Al Simpson.
John Waters is the writer and director of such cult classics like Pink Flamingos, Serial Mom, and his biggest mainstream success, Hairspray. He’s been making movies since the 1960s and this year he released his debut novel, Liarmouth: A Feel Bad Romance.
The novel is an incredibly dirty romp filled with the kind of taboo storytelling that John Waters revels in. In his work, he shines a light on the worst of us but rarely to ridicule, more as a reminder of how gloriously sinful we can be, as we discussed when I spoke with him in his Manhattan home. His interest in the carnal, though, has its limits. “When I got a colonoscopy, they said, do you wanna watch? No!” he told us. “Why do I wanna go on a fantastic voyage up my a–hole?”
We also talked about money management, aging, and his secret to maintaining his many long friendships. “I do stay in touch and if anything bad happens to you, I call. If you get a bad review, I call. If you go to jail, I definitely am your first visit,” he laughed. “I never don't come visit you if you're in jail.”
John Waters is the writer and director of such cult classics like Pink Flamingos, Serial Mom, and his biggest mainstream success, Hairspray. He’s been making movies since the 1960s and this year he released his debut novel, Liarmouth: A Feel Bad Romance.
The novel is an incredibly dirty romp filled with the kind of taboo storytelling that John Waters revels in. In his work, he shines a light on the worst of us but rarely to ridicule, more as a reminder of how gloriously sinful we can be, as we discussed when I spoke with him in his Manhattan home. His interest in the carnal, though, has its limits. “When I got a colonoscopy, they said, do you wanna watch? No!” he told us. “Why do I wanna go on a fantastic voyage up my a–hole?”
We also talked about money management, aging, and his secret to maintaining his many long friendships. “I do stay in touch and if anything bad happens to you, I call. If you get a bad review, I call. If you go to jail, I definitely am your first visit,” he laughed. “I never don't come visit you if you're in jail.”
For many of us, the last few years of the pandemic has given us time to reflect on different aspects of our identities and how we show up in the world. That's meant more room to explore what silhouettes, colors, and textures feel good, what haircuts work or don't, and what you love—and what you hate—about getting dressed up in the first place.
And for a couple of listeners, ruminating on their personal style has also meant thinking about community, and how clothes fit us into social spaces. A listener named Stephen told me he can remember what he wore in most social interactions. "The clothing in all of these memories is like the set of extras that don't have any lines." For another listener, Bill, fashion allows him to recognize himself as a trans man, and who he wants to attract… or avoid. "I think about what I wear a lot," he told me. "It takes up space in my brain that doesn't always feel good." This week, your personal style transformations: the good, the bad, and everything in between.
For many of us, the last few years of the pandemic has given us time to reflect on different aspects of our identities and how we show up in the world. That's meant more room to explore what silhouettes, colors, and textures feel good, what haircuts work or don't, and what you love—and what you hate—about getting dressed up in the first place.
And for a couple of listeners, ruminating on their personal style has also meant thinking about community, and how clothes fit us into social spaces. A listener named Stephen told me he can remember what he wore in most social interactions. "The clothing in all of these memories is like the set of extras that don't have any lines." For another listener, Bill, fashion allows him to recognize himself as a trans man, and who he wants to attract… or avoid. "I think about what I wear a lot," he told me. "It takes up space in my brain that doesn't always feel good." This week, your personal style transformations: the good, the bad, and everything in between.
*This episode originally ran in 2016.
When Lucinda Williams was in elementary school, all the other kids brought rock collections and other standard fare to show-and-tell. But she brought a folder. "I put this notebook together of seven poems and a short story by Cindy Williams," she remembers. Decades later, she's still documenting her impressions of the world, now in raw, often mournful songs that explore death, heartbreak, abandonment, and love. Many of her them are based in the American south, where Lucinda grew up—including those on the album The Ghosts of Highway 20. "I know these roads like the back of my hand," she sings on the title track.
Lucinda was close to her father, poet Miller Willams, throughout her life. He encouraged her interest in words and writing, even taking her to visit Flannery O'Connor when she was a little girl. So it was especially hard for her to see him go through Alzheimer's disease. He died a year before our conversation, less than six months after the summer day when he told Lucinda he couldn't write poetry anymore. "I just sat there and just cried," she remembers. "That was when I lost him."
In her sixties, Lucinda says she's more successful than ever, selling out shows on the road and happily in love with her manager Tom Overby, whom she married on stage during an encore in 2009. But, she told me, getting older can still feel like a drag. "I don't like the aging process. I don't like getting older because of all the loss. It just gets harder and harder."
See the video on Lucinda's Facebook page of her performance of "Compassion" at her father's home before he died. Miller Williams reads his poem, and Lucinda follows by singing her musical interpretation.
*This episode originally ran in 2016.
When Lucinda Williams was in elementary school, all the other kids brought rock collections and other standard fare to show-and-tell. But she brought a folder. "I put this notebook together of seven poems and a short story by Cindy Williams," she remembers. Decades later, she's still documenting her impressions of the world, now in raw, often mournful songs that explore death, heartbreak, abandonment, and love. Many of her them are based in the American south, where Lucinda grew up—including those on the album The Ghosts of Highway 20. "I know these roads like the back of my hand," she sings on the title track.
Lucinda was close to her father, poet Miller Willams, throughout her life. He encouraged her interest in words and writing, even taking her to visit Flannery O'Connor when she was a little girl. So it was especially hard for her to see him go through Alzheimer's disease. He died a year before our conversation, less than six months after the summer day when he told Lucinda he couldn't write poetry anymore. "I just sat there and just cried," she remembers. "That was when I lost him."
In her sixties, Lucinda says she's more successful than ever, selling out shows on the road and happily in love with her manager Tom Overby, whom she married on stage during an encore in 2009. But, she told me, getting older can still feel like a drag. "I don't like the aging process. I don't like getting older because of all the loss. It just gets harder and harder."
See the video on Lucinda's Facebook page of her performance of "Compassion" at her father's home before he died. Miller Williams reads his poem, and Lucinda follows by singing her musical interpretation.
Even before becoming Big Freedia, Freddie Ross was known around New Orleans. Her "signature call"—an operatic bellow that she lets out when I ask to hear it—was legendary in the city. "They'd be like, 'Oh that's Freddie in the club'.... The signature call comes very loud. And proud."
Freedia came out to her mom as gay when she was 13, and soon came out to her classmates as well. She tells me she "had to do what every other gay kid had to do: fight for their life, and let people know that you are not no joke." She eventually started performing as part of New Orleans' queer bounce music scene, and became a local celebrity.
Then, in 2005, Freedia got shot. "What the motive was, I don’t know to this day still," she says. After finally mustering the courage to start performing again, Freedia also moved into a new place, to get a fresh start. Hurricane Katrina hit about a week later. She and her family were together at her duplex during the storm, where the water rose to the second floor. They cut a hole in the roof to signal for help. Days after being evacuated, Freedia made her way to Houston, where she lived for two years.
In Houston, Freedia met her boyfriend, Devon. After years of dating men who weren't openly gay, Freedia says Devon's openness about their relationship has made a difference. "When your love grows for somebody and y’all get closer you wanna...feel more appreciated, and you wanna feel loved," she says.
Freedia eventually returned to New Orleans, where her career continues to expand. “A lot was happening after Katrina. I mean money was slinging everywhere,” Freedia tells me. “You know everybody had FEMA checks, girl!” I talk with Freedia about what's happened in her life in the years since she returned to her hometown: publishing a memoir, starring in a reality TV series, and losing her beloved mother to cancer.
- This interview is from 2015 and part of a series about New Orleans on the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Big Freedia in New Orleans, holding her high school graduation photo. (Rush Jagoe)
The lot where Big Freedia's house stood, before Hurricane Katrina. (Emily Botein)
Sitting on the porch swing with Big Freedia. (Katie Bishop)
Big Freedia performs her song "Excuse" before she and over 300 dancers set the Guinness World Record for most people twerking simultaneously:
Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce Season 4 Trailer:
Even before becoming Big Freedia, Freddie Ross was known around New Orleans. Her "signature call"—an operatic bellow that she lets out when I ask to hear it—was legendary in the city. "They'd be like, 'Oh that's Freddie in the club'.... The signature call comes very loud. And proud."
Freedia came out to her mom as gay when she was 13, and soon came out to her classmates as well. She tells me she "had to do what every other gay kid had to do: fight for their life, and let people know that you are not no joke." She eventually started performing as part of New Orleans' queer bounce music scene, and became a local celebrity.
Then, in 2005, Freedia got shot. "What the motive was, I don’t know to this day still," she says. After finally mustering the courage to start performing again, Freedia also moved into a new place, to get a fresh start. Hurricane Katrina hit about a week later. She and her family were together at her duplex during the storm, where the water rose to the second floor. They cut a hole in the roof to signal for help. Days after being evacuated, Freedia made her way to Houston, where she lived for two years.
In Houston, Freedia met her boyfriend, Devon. After years of dating men who weren't openly gay, Freedia says Devon's openness about their relationship has made a difference. "When your love grows for somebody and y’all get closer you wanna...feel more appreciated, and you wanna feel loved," she says.
Freedia eventually returned to New Orleans, where her career continues to expand. “A lot was happening after Katrina. I mean money was slinging everywhere,” Freedia tells me. “You know everybody had FEMA checks, girl!” I talk with Freedia about what's happened in her life in the years since she returned to her hometown: publishing a memoir, starring in a reality TV series, and losing her beloved mother to cancer.
- This interview is from 2015 and part of a series about New Orleans on the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Big Freedia in New Orleans, holding her high school graduation photo. (Rush Jagoe)
The lot where Big Freedia's house stood, before Hurricane Katrina. (Emily Botein)
Sitting on the porch swing with Big Freedia. (Katie Bishop)
Big Freedia performs her song "Excuse" before she and over 300 dancers set the Guinness World Record for most people twerking simultaneously:
Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce Season 4 Trailer:
When talking about the death of his husband, Terry Kaelber doesn't use the word suicide, "I tend to say he took his own life out of deep distress about the environment through self-immolation." Terry says it's out of respect for David that he chooses his words carefully — "It was a rational decision on his part."
In 2018, David Buckel doused himself in gasoline and lit himself on fire in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. Minutes before, he sent a note to prominent media outlets. He wrote, “Most humans on the planet now breathe air made unhealthy by fossil fuels, and many die early deaths as a result—my early death by fossil fuel reflects what we are doing to ourselves.” David was 60, an environmentalist, and former LGBTQ rights lawyer.
In this episode I talk to Terry about how he thinks about David's death now, and how grief still connects them. "I would never want the grief to go away," he says, "It's always a reminder of how important we were to each other." We also talk about moving on and finding new adventure and joy — "If somebody had said to me within the first year of David's death, that this would happen, I would've said you're crazy."
David Buckel ran one of the country's largest compost sites operating without heavy machinery (Terry Kaelber )
A memorial for David in Prospect Park (Terry Kaelber )
For more Terry, listen to him on Vox’s Today Explained, along with Tim DeChristopher who was imprisoned for his climate activism, and if you are experiencing climate grief, we encourage you to go back and listen to our episode with researcher Britt Wray about our emotional reactions to the reality of climate change where we also link to resources.
When talking about the death of his husband, Terry Kaelber doesn't use the word suicide, "I tend to say he took his own life out of deep distress about the environment through self-immolation." Terry says it's out of respect for David that he chooses his words carefully — "It was a rational decision on his part."
In 2018, David Buckel doused himself in gasoline and lit himself on fire in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. Minutes before, he sent a note to prominent media outlets. He wrote, “Most humans on the planet now breathe air made unhealthy by fossil fuels, and many die early deaths as a result—my early death by fossil fuel reflects what we are doing to ourselves.” David was 60, an environmentalist, and former LGBTQ rights lawyer.
In this episode I talk to Terry about how he thinks about David's death now, and how grief still connects them. "I would never want the grief to go away," he says, "It's always a reminder of how important we were to each other." We also talk about moving on and finding new adventure and joy — "If somebody had said to me within the first year of David's death, that this would happen, I would've said you're crazy."
David Buckel ran one of the country's largest compost sites operating without heavy machinery (Terry Kaelber )
A memorial for David in Prospect Park (Terry Kaelber )
For more Terry, listen to him on Vox’s Today Explained, along with Tim DeChristopher who was imprisoned for his climate activism, and if you are experiencing climate grief, we encourage you to go back and listen to our episode with researcher Britt Wray about our emotional reactions to the reality of climate change where we also link to resources.
If you lived in Columbus, Georgia in the 90s, you might have spent time in a queer club called Sensations. But Bob the Drag Queen knew Sensations by day, not night – she was in elementary school when her mom owned the place. As a kid, Bob would try to help clean or bust a move on the dance floor.
A couple years into college, Bob left the South for New York City. She performed in drag for the first time, turned her big ideas into iconic side hustles, and auditioned for, and eventually won, season 8 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. But, that schedule didn’t leave her a lot of room for romance. Bob and I talked about making time for her first boyfriend in her 30s, trying to move her family into a bigger home, and supporting and collaborating with queer and trans people in small U.S. towns as a co-host of the HBO reality show We’re Here.
If you lived in Columbus, Georgia in the 90s, you might have spent time in a queer club called Sensations. But Bob the Drag Queen knew Sensations by day, not night – she was in elementary school when her mom owned the place. As a kid, Bob would try to help clean or bust a move on the dance floor.
A couple years into college, Bob left the South for New York City. She performed in drag for the first time, turned her big ideas into iconic side hustles, and auditioned for, and eventually won, season 8 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. But, that schedule didn’t leave her a lot of room for romance. Bob and I talked about making time for her first boyfriend in her 30s, trying to move her family into a bigger home, and supporting and collaborating with queer and trans people in small U.S. towns as a co-host of the HBO reality show We’re Here.
Here we are again: Just weeks before the federal pause on student loans is set to expire, with indications that the pause will be extended, and hints at debt forgiveness, but no concrete course of action as of recording this episode in early August.
With so much uncertainty, we decided to invite our favorite expert on the topic, Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, to take some of your questions. Maybe not surprisingly, we got a lot of them. Some of you dreaded budgeting back in loan payments after the pause ends (for that Betsy suggests trying a loan simulator), and many of you had questions about Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), and whether the changes the Biden administration made to the program are here to stay. Betsy says, "I have researched the Higher Education Act back to the seventies, and Congress has never, ever retroactively removed a benefit from existing student loans. There is practically as close to zero of a risk of PSLF going away."
If you have a question that was not answered in this episode, you can contact Betsy by going to her website where you can also find all sorts of helpful resources, like a guide to forgiveness, and where to start when thinking about a repayment plan.
In the weeks leading up to and after the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, which ended almost 50 years of the constitutional right to abortion in the United States, we asked you to tell us how you’re feeling, and how you’re thinking and talking about family planning and access to reproductive care. Some of you told us about your anger, your fears, and we also heard stories about difficult conversations with loved ones, or a sense of clarity about the options in front of you.
And as the post-Roe landscape continues to shift state by state, we wanted to hear from someone in Mississippi, the state at the center of this landmark Supreme Court case. "There's no getting around that the impact is on everyone," said Laurie Bertram Roberts, co-founder and executive director of the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund. I spoke with Laurie about the ways this moment was expected, how their work has changed post-Roe, and why they feel both rage—and a sense of hope—about what's to come.
It can sometimes feel like alcohol—whether you're drinking it or not—is an intrinsic element of navigating adulthood. After all, over 70 percent of American adults drink. We take drinking so much for granted that we often fail to really engage with the role it's playing in our lives. "It’s been a piece of everything since we’ve turned 21, or 18," a listener named Cari told us. "We've always had a drink or been drinking when we’ve been at parties. And it’s so funny that I’m 34, and that is a worry: that if I weren’t drinking, maybe the party would move to someone else’s house."
We asked you to share your experiences with alcohol—why you drink or don't, the strategies you use to manage your consumption, and what alcohol brings you besides a buzz. And we learned that our feelings about alcohol are much more complicated than we tend to acknowledge.
If you or someone you know is struggling with alcohol or seeking more information about alcohol consumption, check out these resources.
When we called Jacob Lawson, a 23-year-old Starbucks worker from Utah, he was on his way to another Starbucks store in Idaho to help them start a union. "It’s not too far from Utah. It's 150 miles, but I’ve driven further to help a store unionize," he told us.
By now, you've probably heard that the Starbucks union is having a moment. Since the first store successfully voted to form a union in 2021, more than 175 stores in 30 states have followed suit. The reasons for the union's success are varied — support from the established union, Workers United, and small store sizes make getting a majority vote simpler — but the Starbucks unionizing drive is also extremely collaborative, made up of mostly young people who talk to each other from stores across the country and share tips. For this episode, we invited a few of these workers to tell us what their experience has been like. I met Jacob Lawson, 20-year-old Laila Dalton from Phoenix, Arizona, and 33-year-old Benjamin South from Ithaca, New York over Zoom. When we talked on a Friday in early June, they were all experiencing different turns in the unionizing story, some victories, some defeats, and some very real consequences of going up against a multi-billion dollar company.
On July 16, 2022, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline becomes a 3-digit number: 988. This switch means that many local call centers across the country are preparing for a higher volume of calls. And for someone in crisis, it means a lot to hear someone on the line who knows the community they're calling from.
In Wyoming, that sort of knowledge can be helpful, and also a deterrent to accessing mental health services. "We’re very rural. Everybody knows your business," Karen Sylvester told me. She's the director of training and fundraising for the Wyoming Lifeline, one of two new call centers in the state that began operating in 2020. "And so when it comes to somebody struggling, the last place that they want to have their car parked is outside the mental health office. So that everybody in town can whisper or try to decide what they think is going on with so-and-so."
Wyoming had the highest suicide rate per capita in the US in 2020, and while that impacts people across all demographics, white men 25 and older account for most of the deaths by suicide in the state. I talk to suicide prevention advocates, as well as a suicide attempt survivor, about the changes ahead in the state.
When actress Niecy Nash and R&B singer-songwriter Jessica Betts first met in 2015, they struck up a deep friendship. So when they began to fall in love a few years later, they were both caught off-guard. Niecy was newly divorced and had never been in a relationship with a woman before, and Jessica didn't think she could find love again. But they took the plunge, and when they announced their relationship and marriage publicly in the summer of 2020, they didn't expect the outpouring of love and support.
Almost two years into their marriage, they're still learning about each other's habits and quirks, and are just as in love and hot for each other as ever. They joined me from their Los Angeles home to tell me about their love story, how they learned to live together during the pandemic, their faith, and the surprising ways their age difference shows up in their marriage.
Want to hear more Niecy? Listen to our 2017 episode, "Life in Our 20s: Advice from Niecy Nash, Alia Shawkat & Terri Coleman," or my 2015 interview with her for NPR's Fresh Air.
When Nan Bauer-Maglin was 60 years old, her husband left her for his 25-year-old student. "I thought about suicide. You know, there’s a great feeling of rejection especially if you’re older," she told me. "You just feel ugly and invisible and sad and quite gray."
Nan wrote a book inspired by their breakup and called it Cut Loose. "First I was gonna call it 'Dumped.' But that’s so negative," she told me. "Cut Loose is also about freedom."
Nan is one of hundreds of listeners who shared their breakup stories with us, after we asked for them last year. And she's not the only one who mentioned a potent mix of rejection, liberation, and confusion at the end of a relationship.
A listener named Drew remembers when his boyfriend went on a trip, left his dog at Drew's house, and never came back. Thomas*, who got married right out of college, is 25 and unsure of what his life will look like after his impending divorce. Mia sent in a voice memo about leaving her boyfriend behind, and struggling with the decision years later. Identical twins Matthew and Peter Slutsky realized they needed to break up after years of living parallel lives: attending the same college, working the same jobs, living with their families in the same neighborhood. Creating some distance was part of growing up, but that doesn't mean it wasn't hurtful.
In your breakup stories, you also described how hard it can be to know when it's over. Steve* knows he's not happy right now, but isn't sure if the problem is him or his long-term boyfriend. "I love him and I don’t want to hurt him," he told me. "This just seems like kind of a way to wipe the slate clean and start over."
Sometimes, though, breaking up can also feel like a long overdue exhale. Beth, a listener in Philadelphia, recalls the day when she was riding her bike on her commute and choked out the words, "I don't want to be married!" She was divorced within a year, and looking back now, wishes she hadn't waited so long to be honest about her feelings.
Whether you're in the middle of a breakup or you've been through one in the past, check out breakupsurvival.guide, a website our listener Emily Theis built from your best suggestions about what to read, watch, listen to and do after a split.
*Name changed for privacy reasons
We're re-airing this episode from 2017. Listen to the end for some relationship and life updates.
One of the first things Mary Gundel told us about her childhood was that the Florida foster care system left her with a persistent sense that she was invisible. "Nobody cared, nobody wanted me," she said. Pregnant at 16, then again at 18, and with a third child diagnosed with autism a little while after that, Mary and her husband worked many low wage jobs on opposite schedules so someone could always be home with the kids. But despite feeling unseen, Mary told me story after story about how she changed the lives of her coworkers and loved ones, from taking in a friend's kid, to staying late at the register when a coworker called out, no questions asked.
These sorts of stories might have stayed confined to Mary's small Tampa network had she not become an overnight TikTok celebrity. Her viral moment? A 6-part series documenting her day-to-day frustrations managing a Dollar General, one of America's largest convenience stores, where she worked for three and half years. We talked about what led her to speak out about working conditions on social media, getting fired, and igniting a national workers’ movement. Invisible no more, Mary concedes, “They’re listening to me now!”
When Tony Award-winning actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein was growing up in New York City in the 60s, he was surrounded by the beginnings of the gay rights movement, and protest art and avant-garde theater was the norm. "I didn't know that being gay was sad until I got out into the world and they told me that," he said in our interview. "All the gay people I know are really kind of happy."
And writing from that lens has informed his work ever since. In his new memoir, I Was Better Last Night, Harvey shares the six year journey to get his breakthrough play, Torch Song Trilogy, on Broadway, and shares other behind the scenes stories from hit Broadway plays like Hairspray, Fiddler on the Roof, and La Cage aux Folles. He also told me about his relationship with his younger brother turned business manager, why he's happily single and sober, and how he thinks he'll be remembered.
At the beginning of the calendar year, when Omicron was surging across much of the country, we asked those of you that are educators to tell us what led to your profession in the midst of another difficult pandemic school year, and how you were coping with it all. You told us about burnout, navigating confusing and changing rules about safety and politics in the classroom, feeling undervalued as workers, and why some of you were leaving education altogether.
As the end of the school year approached, I followed up with four teachers in school districts across the country, from a middle school librarian in rural Wyoming, to a teacher navigating their first year of in-person teaching in New York. They told me about how the year has gone, the effects on their personal life, and what they're most excited about for this summer.
Journalist Maria Hinojosa and the staffs of Futuro Media and PRX recently won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Audio Reporting for the podcast "Suave." For Maria, winning this accolade took years of hard work.
Maria is best known as the host of the public radio program Latino USA, a role she's occupied for over 25 years. But before then, she had to navigate newsrooms at CBS, NPR, CNN, and PBS at a time where she was often the first and the only Latina journalist there. As she wrote in her memoir, Once I Was You, that meant having to walk with confidence and believing in her work when, she says, her mostly white colleagues didn't.
But, as Maria told me when we spoke back in 2020, the confidence she built while working in media didn't totally translate to other parts of her life. "You know, my marriage almost broke up because of my ego," she said. And as her career became more successful, she told me about the times she says she didn't prioritize her husband and her kids, about the crisis point that led her to reevaluate her role in her relationship and as a mother, and about how, these days, she is practicing listening and self-love. Plus, I catch up with Maria and she tells me about the significance of the award for her.
If you're like me, you might have a hard time getting to the end of articles that predict climate catastrophe. You might put a lot of faith in technology to save us, and you certainly don't want to think about an unsafe climate future for any young children in your life. If you're more like my guest for this episode, Britt Wray, you may have had periods of time where you can't stop thinking about climate catastrophe, times when your climate anxiety became so unbearable you couldn't function.
Britt’s new book is all about our emotional reactions to climate change. She says, "these abilities to sit with the emotions and allow them to be there is actually really crucial to climate action at all." We met for a hike through the Santa Cruz mountains and we talked about how she emerged from debilitating climate dread, and how she grappled with the question of whether or not to have a child. "In the end the decision to not have a child felt like a commitment to fear. And then on the flip side, deciding to have a child felt like a commitment to joy."
A photo from my hike with Britt Wray in the Santa Cruz Mountains
Do you want to lessen your climate anxiety while also helping the planet? Britt says, "It's a crucial step to find community with others who can stand in the fire with you, who get it, who will mirror and validate the concerns and will never say you're overreacting." Here are some resources she suggests:
The Good Grief Network, modeled off of a 12-step program, hosts in-person meetings around climate anxiety and climate action. Conceivable Future hosts parties for people to talk about family planning in a warming world, and The All We Can Save Project offers a how-to guide on starting your own community talking group. Subscribe to Britt Wray's news letter Gen Dread, which is all about staying sane in the climate crisis.
Britt Wray is a Human and Planetary Health Fellow at Stanford University and author of the new book Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis
I talk with a listener named Fey about her deteriorating vision, how and when to disclose her disability, and she gets a pep talk from EDM singer Lachi.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
EVENT: Come sing along with me at a special sing-a-long karaoke party in honor of the paperback release of my book, Let's Talk About Hard Things. We'll drink, talk and SING about hard things in NYC on May 6, at 7pm at The Greene Space.
Anna talks with her WNYC colleague Nancy Solomon about her new podcast, Dead End: A New Jersey Political Murder Mystery.
New Jersey politics is not for the faint of heart. But the brutal killing of John and Joyce Sheridan, a prominent couple with personal ties to three governors, shocks even the most cynical operatives. The mystery surrounding the crime sends their son on a quest for truth. Dead End is a story of crime and corruption at the highest levels of society in the Garden State.
EVENT: Come sing along with me at a special sing-a-long karaoke party in honor of the paperback release of my book, Let's Talk About Hard Things. We'll drink, talk and SING about hard things.
In San Francisco: on May 3rd, at 6:30pm at Manny's. Tickets HERE.
In NYC: On May 6, at 7pm at The Greene Space. Tickets HERE.
After hearing from more than 200 listeners about their siblings, it's clear that the people we spend our childhoods with aren't the easiest ones to act like adults toward. This episode first aired in 2015.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
EVENT: Come sing along with me at a special sing-a-long karaoke party in honor of the paperback release of my book, Let's Talk About Hard Things. We'll drink, talk and SING about hard things.
In San Francisco: on May 3rd, at 6:30pm at Manny's.
In NYC: On May 6, at 7pm at The Greene Space.
"Sex is a much more copacetic and enjoyable experience when it is about the experience rather than results."
This is the third episode of a three-part series about ED and Viagra. If you missed the previous episodes, about relationships impacted by ED and the origin story of Viagra, go back and take a listen.
Are you new here? Make sure to subscribe to Death, Sex & Money so you don't miss any new episodes.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
How Welsh coal miners and a pants-dropping presentation eventually led to the invention of Viagra.
If you missed the first episode in our Hard series, go back and take a listen. And look out for the finale next week, when we meet people for whom Viagra opened up a deeper conversation about their bodies and what it means to have good sex.
Are you new here? Make sure to subscribe to Death, Sex & Money so you don't miss any new episodes.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
In the first episode of a three part series, we focus in on people’s intimate lives and relationships that have been impacted by both erectile dysfunction—and Viagra—in ways that the cheeky public conversation about the drug has never quite captured.
Come back next week for the wild story of how Viagra came to be, as we go back in time to tell the story of how medicine, science, money and marketing collided to create a Viagra explosion.
Are you new here? Make sure to subscribe to Death, Sex & Money so you don't miss any new episodes.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
The acclaimed playwright tells me why she left theater for a few years, and how quitting her day job and making an investment in herself helped her return.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Struggling to make a decision about your relationship? Panelists Heather Havrilesky, George Civeris and Tuck Woodstock take on your questions about everything from infidelity to gender transitions to getting married.
Listen to the Straightiolab episode on cheating here, and the Live in NYC episode of Gender Reveal here.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
I talk with producer Ian Coss about the many divorces in his family, and how learning about them inspired his podcast Forever is a Long Time.
Listen to Forever is a Long Time here, and find The Experiment's SPAM series here.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
You've heard Lisa Fischer singing backup vocals for everyone from the Rolling Stones to Beyoncé. But after decades of touring with rock stars, Fischer lives in a far more humble reality.
Find our Breakup Survival Guide here.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Elvis impersonator Brendan Paul marries as many as 75 people a day in the Las Vegas wedding chapel he owns. But while his portrayal of Elvis generally leans into kitsch, his view on The King's life goes deeper. "A lot people go, 'I bet you wish you were Elvis,'" he told me. "And I always go, 'Not really.'"
This episode is a collaboration with Condé Nast Traveler and their new love and travel series. Read more about Brendan and find other essays about love and travel here.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
André De Shields shares his wisdom from 50 years on the stage, and 76 years on this earth.
You can find our original conversation from our Opportunity Costs series with Ramal Johnson here. Find out more at deathsexmoney.org/class.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Jaimie Seaton got used to a lavish upper class lifestyle while married to her banker husband and living overseas. Then she got divorced, and her financial picture totally changed.
This episode was part of our 2018 series Opportunity Costs: Money and Class in America. Find out more at deathsexmoney.org/class. Read Jaimie's essay for BuzzFeed here.
Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter.
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The author and popular Peloton instructor tells me about running through trauma, changing careers, and how motherhood has changed how she values her time.
Listen to our "Anthems of Change" playlist on Spotify.
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"I want it, so I take it." A serial shoplifter explains why she steals, and how—and we hear about what's happened in her life since we first talked four years ago.
Thanks to Tasbeeh Herwees for her help with this story. You can find Tasbeeh's article for GOOD Magazine about the shoplifting community on Tumblr here. To listen to our 2017 episode featuring your responses to Alice's story, click here.
We have big fundraising goals to hit by the end of the year! Support Death, Sex & Money today and get your Savor Action Pack (our Death, Sex & Money tote bag and mug).
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I share some of the advice, tools, movies, and TV shows that I savored in 2021.
Looking for The Favorites File from Kendra Adachi? Find it here at The Lazy Genius Collective.
If you're thinking about year-end giving, please consider donating to Death, Sex & Money. You'll be supporting the work we do here at the show, and the community we're building together. Donate now at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
Sign up for our newsletter at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and every Wednesday we'll send you podcast listening recommendations, listener letters from our inbox and updates from the show.
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Your stories about how navigating weight and body size inside a relationship has sometimes made your partnerships stronger...and sometimes broken them apart.
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The Scottish actor and I talk about body image, celebrating aging, why he isn't in a monogamous marriage, and the joys of taking ecstasy.
If you or a loved one needs support around an eating disorder, you can call or text the National Eating Disorders Association's helpline at (800) 931-2237.
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On the air, Yesi Ortiz is a warm, flirty host for a popular L.A. hip hop station. Off the air, she's a single parent of six adopted kids. Managing both roles is more than a challenge.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, sign up! Every Wednesday, we send out podcast listening recommendations, your stories from our inbox, and behind-the-scenes updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter.
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In the U.S., nearly 200,000 people die every year from accidental injuries. But what happens when you cause one of those accidents—and you survive?
We're looking for our next intern! Is it you? To find out more about eligibility and to apply, go to wnyc.org/careers.
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A listener we're calling Jack wants to tell his dad that a passion for firearms is no longer something they share.
We're looking for our next intern! Is it you? To find out more about eligibility and to apply, go to wnyc.org/careers.
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Five current and former food service workers reflect on their career changes and the future of their industry since the start of the pandemic.
For more from Cara, Lesely, and on navigating child care in the pandemic, listen to last year's episode here.
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I talk with the Successionactor over egg creams and omelets in New York City.
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Amanda's husband Sam had a lot of secrets, most of which she discovered after his death. That made grieving, and moving on, a lot more complicated.
We're putting together an audio survival kit for listeners going through infertility. If you've struggled with infertility, tell us—what's helped you through it? Tell us about the things you've listened to, read, done or thought to yourself in a voice memo (please keep it to under a minute) and send it in to deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
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What happens when you hit speed bumps on the road to having kids? Today, your stories of IVF, IUI, adoption, choosing to not have kids and managing your expectations through it all.
We're putting together an audio survival kit for listeners going through infertility. If you've struggled with infertility, tell us—what's helped you through it? Tell us about the things you've listened to, read, done or thought to yourself in a voice memo (please keep it to under a minute) and send it in to deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
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Last year, a listener named Chloe had an unusual opportunity: to get on a Zoom call with the man who she says sexually assaulted her 10 years ago.
If you or someone you know is a sexual assault survivor and you're looking for resources, we've compiled some helpful ones here: https://bit.ly/3EEC91h
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Sister Josephine Garrett grew up Baptist and worked her way up the corporate ladder—only to realize in her late 20s that she wanted to convert to Catholicism and become a nun.
Watch Anna's check-in with Sister Josephine earlier this year on our Instagram feed @deathsexmoney.
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Panelists Tayari Jones, John Paul Brammer, and Tara Ilsley share advice for listeners struggling with decision fatigue and weighing big moves, going back to school, caretaking, and more.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, sign up! Every Wednesday, we send out podcast listening recommendations, your stories from our inbox, and behind-the-scenes updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org. And don't forget to follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
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In Cora and Garrett's final financial therapy session with Amanda Clayman, they talk about seeing a financial advisor, and what they want to model for their child when it comes to money.
Are you struggling to see eye to eye about money in your relationship? Text "financial therapy" to 70101 to learn about five principles of financial intimacy—qualities that can help build healthier relationships when it comes to money. You can also hear Amanda talk more about financial intimacy—and ways to build it in your own relationships—on the NPR podcast Life Kit. It's available wherever you listen, and at npr.org/lifekit.
Financial Therapy with Amanda Clayman is a special series from Death, Sex & Money. Listen to past episodes at deathsexmoney.org/financialtherapy.
If you or a loved one is in crisis, please reach out to the Crisis Text Line (Text TALK to 741741) or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK to talk to someone who can help. If you're struggling with debt or a gambling addiction, go to deathsexmoney.org/financialtherapy for additional resources.
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Tell us your reactions to our Financial Therapy series, or share your stories with us. Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
In their second session with financial therapist Amanda Clayman, a couple we're calling Cora and Garrett talk about their financial strengths and weaknesses, and the wall between them.
Are you struggling to see eye to eye about money in your relationship? Text "financial therapy" to 70101 to learn about five components of financial intimacy—qualities that can help build healthier relationships when it comes to money.
Financial Therapy with Amanda Clayman is a special series from Death, Sex & Money. Listen to past episodes at deathsexmoney.org/financialtherapy.
If you or a loved one is in crisis, please reach out to the Crisis Text Line (Text TALK to 741741) or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK to talk to someone who can help. If you're struggling with debt or a gambling addiction, go to deathsexmoney.org/financialtherapy for additional resources.
Sign up for our weekly Death, Sex & Money newsletter. Every Wednesday, we send out podcast listening recommendations, your stories from our inbox, and behind-the-scenes updates from the show. Sign up a deathsexmoney.org.
Tell us your reactions to our Financial Therapy series, or share your stories with us. Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
In the first of three financial therapy sessions, a couple we're calling Cora and Garrett talk with therapist Amanda Clayman about the events that led to a breakdown of financial trust between them.
Financial Therapy with Amanda Clayman is a special series from Death, Sex & Money. Listen to past episodes at deathsexmoney.org/financialtherapy.
If you or a loved one is in crisis, please reach out to the Crisis Text Line (Text TALK to 741741) or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK to talk to someone who can help. If you're struggling with debt or a gambling addiction, go to deathsexmoney.org/financialtherapy for additional resources.
Sign up for our weekly Death, Sex & Money newsletter. Every Wednesday, we send out podcast listening recommendations, your stories from our inbox, and behind-the-scenes updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org.
Follow Death, Sex & Money on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Tell us your reactions to our Financial Therapy series, or share your stories with us. Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Radiolab producer Rachael Cusick talks together with her grandmother about their shared loss, and about their experiences with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's five stages of grief.
Listen to Rachael's Radiolab episode "The Queen of Dying," about the story and legacy of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.
And read Rachael Cusick's Modern Love essay for The New York Times, about her relationship with her grandmother.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, sign up! Every Wednesday, we send out podcast listening recommendations, your stories from our inbox, and behind-the-scenes updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org. And don't forget to follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
I talk with the writer about going through fertility treatments in her late 30s, and why being "on the IVF train" made her get more comfortable with situations out of her control.
Have you had to jump through medical or legal hoops to start a family? Tell us the moment you realized that becoming a parent was going to be more difficult than you expected. Send in an email or voice memo to deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, sign up! Every Wednesday, we send out podcast listening recommendations, your stories from our inbox, and behind-the-scenes updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org. And don't forget to follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
When musician Johnny Solomon hit rock bottom, he turned to his mom for help. As his mom's health declines, he and his wife—and bandmate—move in with her to reciprocate.
Check out our podcast playlist roundup of recent audio recommendations from our newsletter here. And if you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, sign up! Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org.
And follow the show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Miguel Llapa's mother was told her son wouldn't live past age 2 because of a health condition. Now, he's going to college — and yearns for independence on his own terms.
Support Death, Sex & Money today at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
Check out our Game Changer series conversation with BMX rider Chelsea Wolfe here.
If you're new here, check out our starter kit of some of our favorite episodes. And subscribe to our weekly email newsletter! Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org.
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Talking with kids about death. Telling family that you've fallen in love with a man in prison. Breaking up with a longtime friend. Today: the hardest conversations you've ever had.
If you've got a hard conversation that you've been waiting to have, and need a push to do it, we want to hear about it for an upcoming series we're working on. Send a voice memo or an email to deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Support Death, Sex & Money today at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
If you're new here, check out our starter kit of some of our favorite episodes. And subscribe to our weekly email newsletter! Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org.
Follow the show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
The Japanese Breakfast musician talks about writing her memoir, Crying in H Mart, why she's moving on from making art about grief and loss, and what's bringing her joy these days.
Listen to Japanese Breakfast's latest album, "Jubilee," here, and check out her Crying in H Mart Spotify playlist here.
Are you new to our show? Check out our starter kit of some of our favorite episodes. And subscribe to our weekly email newsletter! Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org.
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Follow the show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
In this guest hosted episode, the Oscar-winning actor interviews the Blindspotting co-creator about growing up a "knucklehead," finding a creative partner, and avoiding jealousy.
This episode was part of our 2019 Maternity Leave Lineup. Find all of our past guest hosted episodes at deathsexmoney.org.
Are you new to our show? Check out our starter kit of some of our favorite episodes. And subscribe to our weekly email newsletter! Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org.
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The graphic novelist on hot flashes and self-loathing, loss and grief, and one painful punching bag.
Are you new to our show? Welcome! Make sure you subscribe in your podcast player, and check out our Starter Kit. It's filled with our favorite episodes and with information about how to join our community.
Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate. And sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Subscribe today.
Former pro rock climber Mason Earle's career ended in 2018, when he was diagnosed with the chronic illness ME/CFS. He now spends most of his time in bed, and in a series of three phone calls, he reflects on his career and adjusting to life with a disability.
Are you new to our show? Welcome! Make sure you subscribe in your podcast player, and check out our Starter Kit. It's filled with our favorite episodes and with information about how to join our community.
Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate. And sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Subscribe today.
A self-described "fiery ball of ambition," Avery Trufelman of The Cut podcast wonders how she'll know whether or not she wants to have a kid.
Are you new to our show? Welcome! Make sure you subscribe in your podcast player, and check out our Starter Kit. It's filled with our favorite episodes and with information about how to join our community.
Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate. And sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Subscribe today.
I talk with my friend and colleague Noel King about getting comfortable with uncomfortable conversations in my personal life, and why she thinks my brain is a "little bit different."
Are you new to our show? Welcome! Make sure you subscribe in your podcast player, and check out our Starter Kit. It's filled with our favorite episodes and with information about how to join our community.
Hear more from Noel King on Death, Sex & Money, in the episode she reported about reparations to Chicago police torture victims, and in our conversation together about workplace harassment, including at WNYC.
We're still collecting your stories about the hardest conversations you've ever had. Send us a a voice memo or an email: deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
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Making a guest mad about money. Getting called out. Digging into my own beliefs about monogamy. These are the hardest conversations I've had here on the show, as a podcast host, parent and partner.
Hear more of the interviews we excerpted in today's episode:
My Awkward Money Talk With Sallie Krawcheck
Why She Steals: Your Reactions
The Sex Worker Next Door
Chaz Ebert On Life Without Roger
A Son and His Mom Laugh Through Darkness (featuring Bex Montz and Katie Ryan)
A Son, A Mother And Two Gun Crimes (featuring Dwayne Betts and Gloria Hill)
Dan Savage Says Cheating Happens. And That's OK.
We're still collecting your stories about the hardest conversations you've ever had. Send us a a voice memo or an email: deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate. And sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
A few years ago, I asked you to share your near-death experiences. You told us about car accidents...plane crashes...illness...suicide. And, you told us what happened after, when you didn't die. Today: your stories about life after near death.
You can hear more of my conversation with Elizabeth Caplice, who died in July 2016, here.
We're still collecting your stories about the hardest conversations you've ever had. Send us a voice memo or an email: deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate. And sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
What happened when a 27-year-old listener deep in credit card debt asked their older sister for financial help.
If you're struggling with consumer debt, check out these resources.
Support Death, Sex & Money by becoming a sustaining member today. Sign up to donate $10 a month, and we'll send you Anna's upcoming book, Let's Talk About Hard Things, and invite you to join us for a special book club discussion. Most importantly, your donation will support our work and help keep this community strong. If you can, please give today at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
We want to hear about the hardest conversations you've ever had. Send us a voice memo or an email: deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
The poet reflects on growing up in largely white spaces in the Bronx during the 1970s, and how conversations about race with her husband have evolved over 20 years together.
Support Death, Sex & Money by becoming a sustaining member today. Sign up to donate $10 a month, and we'll send you Anna's upcoming book, Let's Talk About Hard Things, and invite you to join us for a special book club discussion. Most importantly, your donation will support our work and help keep this community strong. If you can, please give today at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
A man steps up to participate in an American process that he doesn’t agree with: the death penalty. Today, we bring you a story about duty, faith and humanity, from the new podcast The Experiment.
This Friday is our first-ever "Pick Up The Phone And Call Day." Text "call day" to 70101 and we'll remind you to pick up the phone and reach out to someone in your life this Friday, March 26.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
Donna Perry has experienced tremendous loss this last year. But as she told producer Yasmeen Khan, the year has also brought "blessings," and reinforced the need to pick up the phone and call people.
Picking up the phone is what Death, Sex & Money is inviting people to do together on Friday, March 26. In fact, we've declared this day the first-ever "Pick Up the Phone and Call Day." If there's someone you've been meaning to call this past year, get on it. Text "call day" to 70101 and we’ll send you text reminders and tips leading up to our newly-declared holiday.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
Strip clubs are struggling with shutdowns, slow business and federal aid ineligibility. We hear from one Texas club's owner, and a dancer and customer there, about COVID's impact.
Send us your stories about asking for money—or lending it—during the past year. Record a voice memo or write an email and send it to us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And if you're looking for The Double Shift episode about Jenna, you can find it here.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
Your stories about the struggles of dating right now, and a pep talk from dating expert and How To Not Die Alone author Logan Ury.
For more on Anna's upcoming book, "Let's Talk About Hard Things," listen to her conversations with writers Kelly Corrigan and Anna Quindlen on the podcast Kelly Corrigan Wonders all month long. Here's the first episode.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. Support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate. And please make sure you're subscribed to our show in your favorite podcast player!
Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox, and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
A listener named Tony wrote to us about his deep love for his daughter, and what it was like to discover that he wasn't her biological father.
Support Death, Sex & Money by becoming a monthly sustaining member. Sign up now.
Like our show? Leave us a review on iTunes! Plus, follow us on Twitter @deathsexmoney and Facebook at facebook.com/deathsexmoney.
Sign up for the Death, Sex & Money weekly newsletter at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter. Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Today, we're celebrating the very short-term romance: the one night stand. Those moments in life when someone appeared in a flash, you connected, and then you went your separate ways.
Looking for more Death, Sex & Money episodes about sex and relationships? Here are just a few:
Real Love: A Valentine's Special from Death, Sex & Money
Margaret Cho's Sex Education
Cheating Happens
The Sex Worker Next Door
Why You're Not Having Sex
Danielle Brooks Is Ready To Talk About Sex
Dating Was So Hard, Until It Wasn't
Cut Loose: Your Breakup Stories
Sexually Transmitted Secrets
I Wanted To Be A "Good Girl"
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox, and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
We opened the phones for a national radio call-in, to hear from you about life after 60 right now.
We've been sharing stories from listeners and guests over 60 all month long. Check out our previous episodes featuring Marlo Thomas, Beverly Glenn Copeland, Norma Elia Cantú, and guest host Jo Ann Allen in conversation with older listeners at deathsexmoney.org/aging. You'll also find some of our favorite reading and listening about people over 60 and a playlist of some of our favorite past Death, Sex & Money episodes with older guests.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox, and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
The 74-year-old writer on growing up in Laredo, Texas, and the three family deaths that changed her.
Our national live call-in show, Getting Real About Getting Older, is tonight! (Wednesday, February 3, at 8 pm Eastern) Anna and co-host Jo Ann Allen will be be taking calls from listeners over 60 about getting older right now—if that's you, call in, and listen on your local public radio station or via The Greene Space.
We've been sharing stories from listeners and guests over 60 all month long. Check out our previous episodes featuring Marlo Thomas, and guest host Jo Ann Allen in conversation with older listeners about unexpected health challenges and financial instability; feelings of isolation, invisibility and freedom; and shifting relationships with friends and loved ones at deathsexmoney.org/aging. You'll also find some of our favorite reading and listening about people over 60 and a playlist of some of our favorite past Death, Sex & Money episodes with older guests.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox, and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
The 76-year-old musician reflects on his complex relationship with his parents growing up, finding new audiences late in life, and why he loves "being cared for" by his younger bandmates. Listen to his latest album, "Transmissions," here.
Mark your calendars for our upcoming national live call-in show, Getting Real About Getting Older, on Wednesday, February 3, at 8 pm Eastern! Anna and co-host Jo Ann Allen will be be taking calls from listeners over 60 about getting older right now—if that's you, call in, and listen on your local public radio station or via The Greene Space.
We've been sharing stories from listeners and guests over 60 all month long. Check out our previous episodes featuring Marlo Thomas, and guest host Jo Ann Allen in conversation with older listeners about unexpected health challenges and financial instability; feelings of isolation, invisibility and freedom; and shifting relationships with friends and loved ones at deathsexmoney.org/aging. You'll also find some of our favorite reading and listening about people over 60 and a playlist of some of our favorite past Death, Sex & Money episodes with older guests.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox, and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
Marlo Thomas thought marriage was "nothing that I wanted to be a part of" after watching her mother give up her singing career for her father's acting dreams. But then, at 42 years old, she changed her mind.
All this month, we're sharing stories from listeners and guests over 60. If you missed it, check out our last episode, featuring guest host Jo Ann Allen in conversation with older listeners about unexpected health challenges and financial instability; feelings of isolation, invisibility and freedom; and shifting relationships with friends and loved ones. Find it at deathsexmoney.org/aging, as well as some of our favorite reading and listening about people over 60 and a playlist of some of our favorite past Death, Sex & Money episodes featuring older guests.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
We asked our listeners to get real about getting older. This is what you told us.
Tune in and call in to our live show about aging next Wednesday, January 13, from 8-10 pm Eastern. Check your local public radio listings, or RSVP here to stream it live on the web. Text "aging" to 70101 to get a reminder about the show!
Go to deathsexmoney.org/aging to send this episode to someone in your life, find some of our favorite reading and listening about people over 60, and listen to a playlist of some of our favorite past Death, Sex & Money episodes featuring older guests.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
The Death, Sex & Money team looks back on a year none of us expected.
Want to revisit some of our favorite episodes this year? Check out our essential workers episode, our Financial Therapy conversation with Frenchie, the live conversations with Back Issue hosts Tracy Clayton and Josh Gwynn and author Akwaeke Emezi, our episode on conversations in immigrant families, part one of our Skin Hunger collaboration, our update with Sharron, and our Game Changer episode featuring Shelby Harris. Find our Pandemic Tool Kit here.
If you're thinking about year-end giving, please consider donating to Death, Sex & Money. You'll be supporting the work we do here at the show, and the community we're building together. Donate now at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
Sign up for our newsletter at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and every Wednesday we'll send you podcast listening recommendations, listener letters from our inbox and updates from the show.
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"I guess 2020 just cost me hope."
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
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51 years after they went to prom together, a couple reconnects and falls in love during the pandemic. But despite being 15 minutes apart, they're waiting to see each other in person.
Thanks to our friends at NPR's It's Been A Minute With Sam Sanders for collaborating with us on this week's episode. Check out their episode, about being stuck together during the pandemic, by finding them wherever you get your podcasts.
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During a time when a lot of us are feeling isolated, we revisit your stories about living alone—with all its perks and drawbacks.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
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The choreographer talks about losing income during the pandemic, the precarity of the performing arts field in general, and how getting sober helped him get out of debt.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
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A former police officer talks about shooting someone, and how it led him to study why and how often police killings happen.
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We remember Sissy Goodwin, the Wyoming man who believed in and fought for gender independence.
Sign up for our newsletter at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and every Wednesday we'll send you podcast listening recommendations, listener letters from our inbox and updates from the show.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Support Death, Sex & Money today at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
Producer Afi Yellow-Duke hears from listeners from immigrant families about how they're talking with their relatives about identity, race, racism, and politics in an unprecedented year.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
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The disability rights activist talks with me about facing discrimination as a teenager, managing her finances, and planning for her and her parents' futures.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
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Our weeklong audio celebration wraps up with a conversation between a mother and son about immigrating, building a home, and appreciating Los Angeles.
Subscribe to California Love from LAist Studios wherever you get your podcasts. Then tune in tomorrow, October 16th, at 7 pm ET, as we end the festival week with a live Zoom show with Tracy Clayton and Josh Gwynn, hosts of one of our favorite new podcasts, Back Issue. Josh and Tracy are going to tell me about some of the things they're turning to for joy in a year when that's hard to come by—it's going to be a really good time. More info here.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter.
Our weeklong festival continues with a story about isolation, faith, and community from producer Bianca Giaever and The Believer Magazine.
Subscribe to Constellation Prize from The Believer Magazine wherever you get your podcasts. They've also offered a special 20% discount to our listeners. Just enter the code "DSM" at checkout. Then tune in on Friday, October 16th, as we end the festival week with a live Zoom show with Tracy Clayton and Josh Gwynn, hosts of one of our favorite new podcasts, Back Issue. Josh and Tracy are going to tell me about some of the things they're turning to for joy in a year when that's hard to come by—it's going to be a really good time. More info at www.thegreenespace.org/event/death-sex-moneys-audio-we-love-fest-back-issue.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter.
We kick off our first ever Audio We Love Festival with a brand new show about loss, love and moving forward.
Subscribe to Goodbye To All This from the BBC World Service wherever you get your podcasts. Then tune in on Friday, October 16th, as we end the festival week with a live Zoom show with Tracy Clayton and Josh Gwynn, hosts of one of our favorite new podcasts, Back Issue. Josh and Tracy are going to tell me about some of the things they're turning to for joy in a year when that's hard to come by—it's going to be a really good time. More info here.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
I don’t think that as a culture, we talk enough about getting older, and when we do, we don’t often do it well. It's time to have better conversations about aging—and we're going to do it with the help of veteran public radio anchor Jo Ann Allen.
Jo Ann is the host of the podcast Been There Done that, a show about and for the Baby Boom generation. As she tells me, "I am 67 years old, and I am really into older people! [...] I love, without a doubt, up and down, over and under, in and out, being an older person and getting older." Over the next few weeks, Jo Ann is going to be stepping into the host chair and recording some interviews with older listeners in our audience about what it's like to be aging, and what questions are coming up for you—especially in this moment. I can't wait for you to meet her.
Are you over 60? We want to hear from you! What's your life look like right now? How are you feeling your age differently this year compared to last year? You can send an email to us, at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. You can call us and leave a message, at (917) 740-6549. Or you can record a voice memo on your phone, and email it as an attachment to deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And if you're not over 60, you can still help us by spreading the word, and sending this episode to someone in your life who is.
And make sure to check out Jo Ann's podcast, Been There Done That. We particularly like the episode "Betty," in which she talks to her older sister about surviving coronavirus.
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Chelsea Wolfe has dedicated the last four years to becoming one of the first BMX freestyle riders at the Olympics. The games' postponement has made her reevaluate everything.
Want to see Chelsea in action? Watch her competing at the BMX Freestyle Park World Cup in Japan last year.
This episode is part of our Game Changer series, about how the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the lives and livelihoods of athletes. Make sure to check out the previous two episodes, about a high-risk NFL player's decision to participate in this year's season, and a Minor League Baseball player who's dealing with the fallout of a cancelled season and contract.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. Support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
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"Once you're done with football, you're done with football."
Look out for more in our Game Changer series, about the ways athletes' lives and livelihoods have been upended by COVID-19, next week.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. Support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
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2020 was supposed to be the year Mitch Horacek made his Major League Baseball debut. Instead, he ended up throwing baseballs into a net by himself, and learning to code.
Look out for more in our Game Changer series, about the ways athletes' lives and livelihoods have been upended by COVID-19, on Friday.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. Support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
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The journalist talks about building up her confidence in the world of media, and reaching a breaking point in her marriage that led her to reevaluate her priorities.
This episode includes a description of a rape.
Want to check out or add to our Pandemic Tool Kit? Visit deathsexmoney.org/pandemictoolkit.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
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Our listener Bill Army was acting on Broadway until March 12. Since then, he's been taking care of his two daughters—and bringing the world indoors to them—while his wife works in a Queens emergency room.
Check out photos of Bill's amazing indoor scenes on our Instagram page. And make sure you follow us while you're there!
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Longtime Sesame Street actor Sonia Manzano and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor talk about leaving their childhood homes in the Bronx, facing their insecurities, and coming to understand the power of the written word.
This episode is part of our 2016 Great Guest Takeover series, when several past Death, Sex & Money guests took a turn in the host chair during Anna's maternity leave. Check out Sonia Manzano's 2015 interview with Anna on Death, Sex & Money here.
To listen to our 2016 "Other Americans" call-in special, click here. And to add to and browse our Pandemic Tool Kit, click here.
Support Death, Sex & Money by becoming a monthly sustaining member. Follow the show on Twitter @deathsexmoney and Facebook at facebook.com/deathsexmoney. Sign up for the Death, Sex & Money newsletter at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter.
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"I have to keep coming until we've exhausted everything, and we definitely have to shut the door."
Are you a new listener? Welcome! Check out our starter kit, which includes some of our favorite episodes of the show. It includes profiles of people like Bill Withers and Ellen Burstyn, stories about how race and class come up in our relationships, and some of our past series — like In New Orleans, which profiled five people who lived in the city during and after Hurricane Katrina.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
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Writer and artist Akwaeke Emezi talks with me about their childhood in Nigeria, their brief stint in veterinary school, and how, these days, they've deemed themself "worthy of extravagance."
Watch the video of this live conversation here, thanks to our friends at The Greene Space. For the first two conversations in this series, you can watch or listen to Michael Arceneaux here, and watch or listen to Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman here. And be sure to check out Akwaeke's home on Instagram.
To find out about the next conversation in our series, and to get more recommendations from the Death, Sex & Money team, subscribe to our newsletter.
As the USPS finds itself at the center of a political divide, we check in with a mail carrier who wrote to us earlier this year about being an essential worker at the height of the pandemic.
Are you a new listener? Welcome! Check out our starter kit, which includes some of our favorite episodes of the show.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
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A story about what Alan Simpson, an expert on the federal deficit, taught me about love—and how it changed everything.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
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While spending the pandemic with his 95-year-old father in New Orleans, the actor is thinking hard about family and parenthood.
Are you a new listener? Welcome! Check out our starter kit, which includes some of our favorite episodes of the show. It includes profiles of people like Bill Withers and Ellen Burstyn, stories about how race and class come up in our relationships, and some of our past series — like In New Orleans, which profiled five people who lived in the city during and after Hurricane Katrina.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
Today is July 31st—which means that for many people, rent is due tomorrow. But we know from watching recent data that a lot of people won't be able to pay by that deadline. According to a recent survey, nearly a third of Americans were late on their housing payments in July—or missed them altogether. And other research suggests that as many as 23 million renting families are at risk of losing their housing by October. That's 20% of all renters in the U.S.
So if you’re worrying about how and if you're going to be able to stay in your place, we want to hear from you. If you’re managing to make rent, but it’s tight, what tradeoffs are you making to be able to pay? And if you think you might need to leave your place because of money, where do you think you might go? Tell us what’s going on for you by the end of the weekend. Record a voice memo and send it to us by Sunday night, at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Authors, podcasters and longtime friends Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow on friendship therapists, awkward spa weekends and why the word "bestie" just doesn't cut it.
You can watch the video of this live conversation here, thanks to our friends at The Greene Space. And don't miss the first conversation in this series, featuring writer Michael Arceneaux. You can watch it here or listen to it here.
To find out about the next conversation in our "Books We Love" series, and to get more recommendations from the Death, Sex & Money team, subscribe to our newsletter.
"I failed a lot, you know, I made a lot of wrong decisions. I just, I never let my failures end it."
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
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"My therapist told me that it was okay to be mad at him for dying, whether or not it's rational. Because nothing about this is logical or makes sense."
Looking for more Death, Sex & Money conversations about grief and loss? Check out our playlist here.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
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The writer joined me live on Zoom to talk student loan debt, luxury CBD drinks, and why he's not going to "pimp out [his] trauma."
Tune in this Tuesday, July 14th, at 4 PM Eastern for the second in this series of live book interviews! I'll be talking with authors, podcasters, and best friends Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow (Call Your Girlfriend) about their new book, "Big Friendship," and how they've weathered the storms of adult friendship. Watch live here.
A confession is tortured out of a suspect. He goes to prison. Back in 2016, he got a check for what he endured. But forgiveness is not part of the bargain.
NPR's Planet Money collaborated with us on this episode. Listen to their version with an update from Darrell here. And to view the online archive of documents from the Invisible Institute's Police Torture Archive referenced in this episode, click here.
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In this collaboration with the podcast Love + Radio, we hear from listeners whose relationships ended right before the pandemic—or because of it.
Thanks to the team at Love + Radio for their work on this collaboration.
Subscribe to the Death, Sex & Money newsletter here. And email us anytime at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Along with the podcast Love + Radio, we've been asking you about how you're coping with a lack of physical touch in your lives due to the pandemic. This is what you told us.
Thanks to the team at Love + Radio for their work on this collaboration. Look out for the second episode in this series later this week.
Subscribe to the Death, Sex & Money newsletter here. And email us anytime at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Two stories on incarceration and coronavirus: an update from Lawrence Bartley, whose time sheltering in place has him reflecting on his time in prison, and a woman who wrote to him, worried about her incarcerated husband's safety.
For more conversations with Lawrence, here is our first one from 2014, a follow-up with his wife Ronnine from 2017, and our check-in with both of them a few months after he was released in 2018, and read his essay for The Marshall Project here.
You can find our WNYC colleagues' work here: "Dispatches from People Stranded in Place," "Inside the Prison Pandemic," and "Keeping Released Prisoners Safe and Sane." And don't forget to check out the latest season of Ear Hustle.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
A conversation with Sharron, a certified nursing assistant in Virginia, who we first met in our essential workers episode this spring.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
From budgeting blue books to a $60,000 engagement ring: your stories about love and money.
Follow our show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @deathsexmoney. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And support our work at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
We asked you what you needed to say in this moment of reckoning with police brutality, structural racism, and grief. Here's what you told us.
We want to keep talking with you about this. Send us a voice memo about what's on your mind right now, to deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
"It's difficult to sometimes separate myself from being the one that always has to have it together."
This episode is part of a special Financial Therapy series here on Death, Sex & Money, hosted by Amanda Clayman. If you have a money anxiety weighing you down, send an email or a voice memo to financialtherapy@wnyc.org. Find the entire series at deathsexmoney.org/financialtherapy. We'd also love to know what you thought of this series. Give us your feedback at deathsexmoney.org/ftsurvey.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
What do you need to say right now?
As we take in the anguish that's surfacing today—about the fact that COVID19 is disproportionately impacting communities of color, about the violence of police brutality against Black people, and about all the different ways that white people are not stepping up to say those things are wrong—we want to hear from you. Record your thoughts and send them to us, at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
Two years ago, Mathew* quit an executive job and struck out on his own to found an independent consulting firm. After months of bringing in "90% less than what [he] used to," business was finally starting to pick up earlier this year—and then the pandemic hit. With clients pulling contracts and invoices being paid late, Mathew is back to square one, wondering if the risks he took were worth it—and whether the need for control that served him so well in his business career is as helpful in this crisis.
*Name changed
This episode is part of a special Financial Therapy series here on Death, Sex & Money, hosted by Amanda Clayman. If you have a money anxiety weighing you down, send an email or a voice memo to financialtherapy@wnyc.org. Find the entire series at deathsexmoney.org/financialtherapy.
And stay in touch with us! Sign up for our newsletter and we'll keep you up to date about what's happening behind the scenes at Death, Sex & Money. Plus, we'll send you audio recommendations, letters from our inbox and a note from Anna. Join the Death, Sex & Money community and subscribe today.
Before the pandemic, Dale ran an event space in Knoxville, Tennessee. After cancelling every booking this month—which was set to be their busiest ever—she finds herself wondering how to share the burden of her financial anxiety with her husband—and how to square the fact that after years of hustling to make her business a reality, she's really enjoying having some time alone.
This episode is part of a special Financial Therapy series here on Death, Sex & Money, hosted by Amanda Clayman. If you have a money anxiety weighing you down, send an email or a voice memo to financialtherapy@wnyc.org. Find the entire series at deathsexmoney.org/financialtherapy.
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Many of our financial situations have changed drastically in the past two months. We're calling on a financial therapist to help us sort through all of the emotions those shifts are bringing up. Listen out for our special series with Amanda Clayman, starting this Wednesday, May 20, in the Death, Sex & Money podcast feed.
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The former secretary of state reflects on how now, in her 80s, she's re-experiencing a feeling she had in her 20s—after graduating from college and putting her career aside for family.
We're collecting your memories and stories about people you've lost to COVID-19. What's something you'll never forget about them? What were they passionate about? What's a memory about them that makes you smile? Record a voice memo and send it to remembering@wnyc.org.
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A listener named Lindsay, who works as a nurse in an ICU, is struggling with the way her patients are dying from COVID-19.
Have thoughts to share with Lindsay? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
The bestselling writer reflects on her sense of pride, and why she's got no problem going back to an hourly job "the minute it feels like this is over."
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A lot has changed in the student loan landscape since the pandemic hit. In this special collaboration with NPR's Life Kit, student loan expert Betsy Mayotte answers your questions about who is covered under the CARES Act, how private loan borrowers can get relief, and what this all means for you if you're enrolled in Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
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Listener Diane Davis and author John Green have spent years learning tools to manage their obsessive thoughts and fears of contamination. But COVID-19 is putting all of them to the test.
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We check in with Alana Duran, who has lupus and received a donor kidney several years ago from her new girlfriend at the time, Lori Interlicchio.
What are you noticing about physical touch and intimacy right now? Whether you're partnered or single, we want to know how touch—or a lack of it—is making you think about your romantic life. Tell us about it at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
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One of the things writer Tayari Jones has learned in isolation is mastering different forms of connection, from re-learning how to teach her college students over Zoom to sending money to friends in need. The simplest way she's connecting? Greeting cards! "People love to receive cards and I have so many of them and I just imagined that if people are at home alone feeling isolated, wouldn't it be nice to get a card even if it's the wrong holiday?"
In that spirit, this weekend we're asking you to send a greeting card to someone in your life. Send us pictures, record a voice memo and email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org by Monday morning.
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Songwriting icon Bill Withers died this week at 81 years old. Today, we revisit my conversation with him—from the very first episode of Death, Sex & Money.
A few weeks back, we created a Pandemic Tool Kit for those of us who are staying home during the COVID-19 crisis. But we also wanted to hear from those of you who can't stay home right now because your jobs have been deemed essential—about what's on your mind right now, and what's helping you cope. These are your stories.
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We asked essential workers to write in about what they need, and what they're thinking about. Here's what one surgical nurse in Ohio told us.
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If you’re an essential worker who isn't able to stay home, we want to know what’s on your mind right now and what’s helping you. Record a voice memo and send it to deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. And if you are staying at home right now—we have an assignment for you too.
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Jason Isbell was a restless guitarist. Amanda Shires was a fiddler who turned his life around. In 2014, they were a year into marriage, and discovering that sobriety and success come with new challenges.
Want more? Here are a few other conversations from our archive featuring Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires:
Live from the Internet: Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires & You: The couple took listener calls along with Anna about relationships, faith and music.
Jason Isbell & Will Welch: Somebody Needs Me: Jason guest hosts Death, Sex & Money, and talks with his best friend and GQ Editor in Chief Will Welch about sobriety and mental health.
What Rockstars And Sober People Already Know About Quarantine: Jason talks with Anna from his home in Nashville during the COVID-19 pandemic, about how coming on and off of tours has helped prepare him for sobriety in quarantine, and about the music he and Amanda are listening to right now.
And if you're looking for our Jason Isbell-inspired quarantine Spotify playlist, here it is.
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"It's bringing me back to early recovery....I have to think about the things that keep me sober for right now, because we have no idea what tomorrow is going to look like."
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And here's that Spotify playlist we promised you in the episode, with some of the songs Jason mentioned that he and Amanda are listening to during their self-quarantine.
This week, you've been helping us build a Pandemic Tool Kit. Now we want to see it in action! Pick something to do from the kit this weekend and send in your field reports from your activities of choice—pictures, voices memos, emails, whatever—to deathsexmoney@wnyc.org by Monday morning. We’ll share how we're all putting this tool kit to use in our newsletter.
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The High Maintenance star reflects on his childhood, what he's learned from his divorce, and why he's starting to smoke less weed.
Looking for some TV recs? Here are five of my favorite High Maintenance episodes. I only picked from the last four seasons of HBO for ease in finding. The whole web series is amazing, which you can find here.
"Dongle" (Season 3, Episode 7): A Puerto Rican man who just arrived in New York starts work on a road crew and starts a flirtation with his bodega guy.
"Googie" (Season 2, Episode 6): The Guy is recovering home after a bike injury after smoking a lot of pot and streaming a lot of television, he goes out for a walk.
"M.A.S.H." (Season 3, Episode 1): A wake brings together a collection of people upstate, who join together in an inspired music jam.
"Adelante" (Season 4, Episode 6): An encounter with ex in an Uber pool, and a dental hygienist goes on a date with a patient and then returns to her home in the Bronx.
"Scromple" (Season 2, Episode 5): The Guy and his ex-wife run into each other in a hospital.
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Anna and Kai Wright, host of WNYC's The United States of Anxiety podcast, take your calls about how the coronavirus is impacting your life, your relationships, and your plans—and how you're coping with it all.
You can find coronavirus tips and resources that we've compiled at deathsexmoney.org/coronavirus, and you can listen to The United States of Anxiety wherever you get your podcasts, or at wnyc.org/anxiety.
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We asked you why you're not having sex—right now, or ever. These are your stories.
How is the coronavirus impacting your life? How is it changing the way you think about your relationship to other people? Anna is taking your live calls this Friday, March 13, from 3-4pm Eastern (12-1pm Pacific) along with United States of Anxiety host Kai Wright. Call them up during that time at 844-745-8255.
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A listener talks about why he thought hiring sex workers could save his marriage—while also knowing it could destroy it.
We're looking for your stories about climate change, and about what happens when you take a minute to slow down and force yourself to focus on it. What do you think about? How do you feel? And then, what happens next? Send a voice memo to deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
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The comedian talks with me about what mental illness has taught her about managing money and allowing herself to be loved.
Maria's new comedy special is called Weakness Is The Brand. Listen to This American Life episode 261to hear more about the Gottmans, the husband and wife psychologists Maria has turned to for marriage advice.
If you or someone you love is at risk of suicide, please go to https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ to find resources and someone to talk to.
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After years of working as a physician, Ken Jeong quit to pursue acting. Then his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, and he found himself needing to think like a doctor again.
This episode was originally broadcast in 2015.
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I talk with the dancer and choreographer about the low-budget beginning of her prolific career, and about dealing with new physical limitations while creating new works in her late 70s.
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The writer reflects on her first relationship with a woman, finding the words to talk about experiencing abuse, and the process of writing it all down in her memoir.
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A conversation with a psychologist about the importance of friends who cross racial lines—and those who don't.
Want to reflect on how race has factored into your friendships? Take our survey at deathsexmoney.org/friendship. Afterward, you can see how other people have responded to the survey questions, and we'll also send you a recommended reading list.
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Your stories about race and friendship brought up a lot of questions. Our friends at NPR's Code Switch podcast have some answers.
And if you missed it, make sure you check out our episode right before this one, called "Between Friends: Your Stories About Race and Friendship." Plus, take our survey to examine how race plays into your own friendships, at deathsexmoney.org/friendship.
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"Your white friend can just make one comment and it feels like a trap door has opened up from underneath," one listener told us when we asked for stories about race and friendship. "And I’m thrust back into the realities of living in a racist America."
Today: Your stories about when race became a flashpoint in your friendships. Tomorrow, we'll share an episode from our partners at the NPR podcast Code Switch, featuring expert advice on navigating those flashpoint moments around race—and explaining why it's so hard to make, and maintain, cross-racial friendships.
Want to reflect on your own friendship patterns? Take our survey at deathsexmoney.org/friendship. Afterward, you can see how other people have responded to the survey questions, and we'll also send you a recommended reading list.
And, as always, you can sign up for our newsletter by going to deathsexmoney.org/newsletter. Every Wednesday we'll send you behind-the-scenes updates, podcast listening recommendations, and some pretty incredible listener letters from our inbox.
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What happens inside Planned Parenthood has long been at the center of a raging political debate in the U.S. But we don't often hear from the patients who rely on their clinics for care.
This episode was originally broadcast in 2016.
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The writer reads an essay about his mom, and explains why she always made New Year's "determinations" instead of "resolutions."
We want to hear YOUR determinations! Record a voice memo telling us what you "will" do in 2020, and send it to us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. We'll share them back with the entire Death, Sex & Money community soon.
Here's one determination for you: You WILL sign up for our newsletter this year! Do it now by going to deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and every Wednesday we'll send you behind-the-scenes updates, podcast listening recommendations, and some pretty incredible listener letters from our inbox.
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The team reflects together on the best Death, Sex & Money moments of 2019—things you heard on the show, and things you didn't.
Donate to Death, Sex & Money before the end of the year, and we'll send you one of our fabulous Maternity Leave Lineup posters, signed by Anna Sale! Plus, you'll be supporting the work we do here at the show, and the community we're building together. Give now at deathsexmoney.org/donate.
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The musician on her "run and gun" days in the early '90s, and the two affairs that shaped her adult life.
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At an annual pilgrimage back to a former Japanese American incarceration site, we hear from people reliving complicated childhood memories, and descendants looking for answers.
For more about Japanese American incarceration and the language we use to talk about it now, check out this episode from the NPR podcast Code Switch, called "America's Concentration Camps?"
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There's the cliche: someone cheats, crockery is thrown, lawyers are called. But your stories about cheating were much more varied, with some unpredictable conclusions.
If you like this episode, check out this week's episode of the Aria Code podcast, from our friends at WQXR. It's all about "Dove sono," the aria about infidelity from The Marriage of Figaro, and includes a conversation with sex advice columnist Dan Savage.
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"Your life will be greatly enhanced by spending time with dying people," Anne Lamott says. "Death is not the enemy. Snakes are."
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Hasan Minhaj was drawn to comedy because of its "radical honesty." But that hasn't always translated well to his personal life.
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Domestic violence. The ripples of the financial crisis. A new immigrant's dashed hopes. This is what we heard about two years ago after we asked, "Why'd you start driving for Uber?"
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Angela worked in the collections industry for 15 years. Now, she's banned from the industry for life—and is getting collection calls after falling behind on her own bills.
We're still collecting your stories about the moments where race became a flashpoint in a friendship. Is there a conversation you had that you’re still thinking about? Something you couldn’t work through with a friend? Write us an email or record a quick voice memo and send it to deathsexmoney@wnyc.org
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After a breast cancer diagnosis at 35, author Kate Pickert reflects on maintaining normalcy during treatment, why she didn't tell her daughter she was sick, and how she thinks about mortality now.
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In comedian Chris Garcia's new podcast, Scattered, he sets out to uncover the truth about his dad—a man who survived Castro’s labor camps only to lose his way in search of the American dream.
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The writer and poet traces the joy and shame of learning about sex, mourning his mother, and finally feeling financially comfortable.
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Betsy Mayotte knows that the student loan system is overcomplicated—she worked inside of it for 20 years. Now she's tackling borrowers' problems, one email at a time.
Explore more than 4,000 of your stories about student loans, find out where you fit in the student loan landscape and get resources for dealing with your debt at deathsexmoney.org/studentloans.
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Hundreds of you told us about feeling duped, overwhelmed, and ashamed of your student debt. But we also heard stories about how some of you took back control. Here's how you did it.
Explore more than 4,000 of your stories about student loans, find out where you fit in the student loan landscape and get resources for dealing with your debt at deathsexmoney.org/studentloans.
This week's newsletter includes updates on some of the people featured in today's episode. Subscribe at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter and we'll send you weekly audio picks, behind the scenes updates and letters from our listener inbox.
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More Americans are taking out more student loan debt and taking longer to pay it back. But we don't often talk about the impact that it has on our lives.
Explore more than 4,000 of your stories about student loans, find out where you fit in the student loan landscape and get resources for dealing with your debt at deathsexmoney.org/studentloans.
This week's newsletter includes updates on some of the people featured in today's episode. Subscribe at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter and we'll send you weekly audio picks, behind the scenes updates and letters from our listener inbox.
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At 75, E. Jean Carroll is calling out the men who've sexually assaulted her—including, she says, the president. But talk to a therapist about it? No thanks.
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Vickie Goodwin tried to raise her husband's self esteem early in their marriage. But when he started cross dressing publicly, she struggled to accept that it was part of who he was.
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Musical icon Raphael Saadiq talks to us about using music to cope with loss, reflecting on love, and creating light in darkness.
Listen to Anna's Spotify playlist of her favorite Raphael Saadiq songs and collaborations here.
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We hear from you often about pregnancy loss, and the grief that accompanies it. Here is one listener's story.
And if you've been through pregnancy or infant loss, check out our collaborative spreadsheet. It's a place where you can suggest the books, podcasts, songs and other things that have helped you grieve, and read through other listeners' suggestions as well.
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This month, we've been talking about drinking, and asking you what you do when the impulse to drink hits—and you don't want to indulge.
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The writer talks about how alcohol has helped him let go of his inhibitions and embrace his sexuality—after growing up in a house where drinking often led to violence.
In our last episode, we asked you about what you do when you're trying to cut back on drinking—and the desire for a drink hits. What do you do instead? Record a voice memo and send it in to deathsexmoney@wnyc.org.
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We asked you about your relationships with alcohol—why you drink, or don't, the strategies you use to manage your consumption, and what alcohol brings you besides a buzz. Here's what you told us.
If you or someone you know is struggling with alcohol or seeking more information about alcohol consumption, check out these resources.
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Rashema Melson recently got her college degree. Leading up to graduation day, she cracked open the "time capsules" we recorded with her, right before she dropped out of Georgetown—and right before she came back.
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Two siblings open up to each other about eating and mental health, and why it took them so long to be honest about it with each other.
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As I return from maternity leave, I'm thinking a lot about work and identity. So is Uma Kondabolu, who recently retired from the place where she worked for almost 30 years.
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In the final installment of our maternity leave lineup, bestselling author Tayari Jones sits down with artist Carrie Mae Weems to talk about independence, art, relationships, and one very fabulous white silk dress worn for a spur-of-the-moment wedding.
This episode is part of our 2019 Maternity Leave Lineup of guest hosted shows while our regular host, Anna Sale, is out on leave. Are you new to Death, Sex & Money? Check out our starter kit of some of our favorite episodes. And subscribe to our weekly email newsletter! Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter.
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The bestselling author and Kansan talks with her dad about what happens when you grow up believing the hard way is the best way, and then cross over into a different class.
This episode is part of our 2019 Maternity Leave Lineup of guest hosted shows while our regular host, Anna Sale, is out on leave. Are you new to Death, Sex & Money? Check out our starter kit of some of our favorite episodes. And subscribe to our weekly email newsletter! Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter.
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The Oscar-winning actor interviews the co-creator of one of his favorite movies of 2018, Blindspotting, about his childhood as a "knucklehead" in the Bay Area, finding a creative partner, and avoiding jealousy.
This episode is part of our 2019 Maternity Leave Lineup of guest hosted shows while our regular host, Anna Sale, is out on leave. Are you new to Death, Sex & Money? Check out our starter kit of some of our favorite episodes. And subscribe to our weekly email newsletter! Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter.
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The last time Alia Shawkat was on the show, she was offering advice about being in your 20s. Now she's back, this time, getting advice about her 30s from therapist Esther Perel.
This episode is part of our 2019 Maternity Leave Lineup of guest hosted shows while our regular host, Anna Sale, is out on leave. Are you new to Death, Sex & Money? Check out our starter kit of some of our favorite episodes. And subscribe to our weekly email newsletter! Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter.
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The Daily Show host says he sometimes struggles to get out of bed. But he's comfortable saying that with a smile.
This episode is part of our 2019 Maternity Leave Lineup of guest hosted shows while our regular host, Anna Sale, is out on leave. Are you new to Death, Sex & Money? Check out our starter kit of some of our favorite episodes. And subscribe to our weekly email newsletter! Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter.
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Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones self-describes as "super sensitive." But that's not the same thing as being scared.
This episode is part of our 2019 Maternity Leave Lineup of guest hosted shows while our regular host, Anna Sale, is out on leave. Are you new to Death, Sex & Money? Check out our starter kit of some of our favorite episodes. And subscribe to our weekly email newsletter! Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter.
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The Nashville singer-songwriter and the editor-in-chief of GQ Magazine sit down together to talk about their close friendship, Will's recent cancer diagnosis, expensive risk-taking, and their shared sobriety.
This episode is part of our 2019 Maternity Leave Lineup of guest hosted shows while our regular host, Anna Sale, is out on leave. Are you new to Death, Sex & Money? Check out our starter kit of some of our favorite episodes. And subscribe to our weekly email newsletter! Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter.
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The writers on why the label covers a multitude of sins.
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