Dear Prudence - podcast cover

Dear Prudence

Slate Podcastsslate.com
Slate's premier advice column, featuring Jenée Desmond-Harris, helps you navigate the thorniest questions of relationships, work, and life. Want more Dear Prudence? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive advice. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Dear Prudence show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/prudie-plus to get access wherever you listen.
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Episodes

I’m Sick of Hearing My Friend Cry About Her Job. Help!

Guest Prudie Kristen Meinzer is joined by journalist and host of Vox’s Explain It To Me podcast JQ Hill. Together, they answer letters wondering when is the right time to start dating in a new city, how to let your friend know you’re tired of listening to them complain about their job, and what’s the best way to tell your boyfriend that you’d prefer alone time when you’re sick. Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-fr...

Nov 08, 202440 min

My Wife Won’t Stop Correcting My Grammar. Help!

Guest Prudie Ashley C. Ford is joined by entertainment writer and comedian H. Alan Scott. Together, they answer letters from a sibling who’s trying to understand a boundary, a parent worried about how their spouse speaks to them in front of their child, and someone feeling deep regret about a lost friendship. Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on...

Nov 01, 202444 min

My Husband Wants More Sympathy Than I Can Give. Help!

Guest Prudie Kristen Meinzer is joined by Care and Feeding co-host Lucy Lopez. Together, they answer letters from a wife whose husband is always looking for sympathy, someone who regrets the way they treated colleagues when pursuing a career promotion, and a person who can not move on after being dumped. Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Appl...

Oct 25, 202454 min

I Love My Family. My Husband Doesn’t. Help!

Guest Prudie Nadira Goffe is joined by actress and comedian Sasheer Zamata. Together, they answer letters about a neighbor-turned-last-minute-babysitter whose work has gone unappreciated, a widower whose family won’t stop judging his new girlfriend, and a reader struggling to balance time with their husband and extended family. Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcast...

Oct 18, 202448 min

I Spread A Rumor That Alienated My Friends and Mentor. Help!

In this episode, Sam Sanders (host of The Sam Sanders Show from KCRW) sits in as Guest Prudie with Slate’s own Nadira Goffe to answer letters from readers about making amends after spreading gossip, trying to forgive your mother after years of rejection, managing social invitations when a couple in the friend group breaks up. Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts....

Oct 11, 202456 min

My Widowed Dad Is Now The “Other Woman.” Help!

In this episode, it’s a Slate three-for-one as Cheyna Roth and Candice Lim join our Guest Prudie (Nadira Goffe) to answer letters from readers about what to do when your partner keeps spontaneously changing your dinner plans, how you should handle the fact that your father is the “other woman” in his new relationship, and how to handle your brother’s incredibly insecure fiancee. Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-f...

Oct 04, 202449 min

My Friend Keeps Disappearing and it Hurts! Help!

In this episode, Rachel Bloom (The CW musical comedy-drama series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Netflix’s Death, Let Me Do My Special) joins our Guest Prudie (Cheyna Roth) to answer letters from readers about how to handle a newly sober (and vegan) friend getting super judgy, what to do when you become friends with an ex-boyfriend and then that boyfriend gets a jealous girlfriend, and whether not wanting to listen to your friend group’s constant griping constitutes an intervention. Want more Dear Prud...

Sep 27, 202438 min

I Didn’t Wish My Sister a Happy Birthday—Now She’s Pissed! Help!

In this episode, Akilah Hughes (host of a new podcast from iHeart, Rebel Spirit) joins our Guest Prudie (Ashley C. Ford) to answer letters from readers about how to be a supportive long-distance friend to someone in an unhappy marriage, what to do when your friend is great at being a friend but a terrible colleague, and whether birthday texts are really necessary. Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening a...

Sep 20, 202438 min

Revisiting Advice from Ashley C. Ford

Today, we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes from October 2023 with Ashley C. Ford, author of the bestselling memoir Somebody’s Daughter, and one of our guest Prudies, while our regular Prudie, Jenée Desmond-Harris, will be on parental leave. In this episode, Ashley C. Ford joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about whether conflicting ideas about children should end a relationship between two twenty-somethings, what to do when a friend is obsessed with her ...

Sep 13, 202447 min

My Wife Thinks I Had an Emotional Affair With My Best Friend. Help!

In this episode, Lizzie O’Leary (the host of Slate’s What Next: TBD) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about what to do when your mother backed out of pre-arranged babysitting duties to go on a cruise, whether or not you’re being emotionally unfaithful to your partner, and what to do with a friend who’s great one-on-one but not-so-great in groups. Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-...

Sep 06, 202442 min

I Found My Happily Married Mom’s Profile on a BDSM Dating Site. Help!

In this episode, Nadira Goffe (Slate culture writer) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about what to do when your girlfriend refuses to return library books in the name of self-love, whether it’s worth admitting to your partner that you sometimes break your not-so-strict vegan diet for convenience sake, if you need to tell your dad that you caught your mom on a BDSM dating site, and how to prepare for a visit from parents you are sure will body-shame you. Want mo...

Aug 30, 202451 min

I’m Dating My Former Professor and It’s Affecting My Relationship With My Sisters. Help!

In this episode, Samantha Bee (Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and Choice Words with Samantha Bee) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about what to do when your relationship with an older man is compromising your living situation, how to respond when your children’s disagreements are threatening your relationship with a close neighbor, and whether it’s fair to move internationally when you’re sure your parents will destabilize their social lives to follow you. Want...

Aug 23, 202435 min

My Husband and I Divorced Amicably. Nine Months Later, He Wants Me Back. Help!

In this episode, Rod and Karen Morrow (co-hosts of the podcast The Black Guy Who Tips) join Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about what to do when your fiance asks you to open up your relationship but becomes obsessed with identifying your hook-up partners, how to support your friend’s widow when you’re still grieving their death, and whether it’s worth taking your ex-husband back only nine months into your divorce. Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to ...

Aug 16, 202445 min

Politics Is Ruining My Family. Help!

In this episode, David Roth and Drew Magary (the hosts of Defector Media’s The Distraction) join Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about what to do when your parents are cosigning your brothers’ political values just because he’s the favorite, how to be an optimistic dater after a near-decade of failed dating, and how to react when you’re sure that your husband’s step-son is trying to hustle you for money. Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately...

Aug 09, 202436 min

My Friend Told Our Friend Group That My Boyfriend Sexually Assaulted Me. He Didn’t. Help!

In this episode, Scaachi Koul (Slate’s senior writer and co-host of Wondery’s Scamfluencers) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about relationship dilemmas like what to do when your husband keeps confronting you about your supposed snoring habits, what to do when your partner uses colloquialisms that come across as mocking or offensive, and how to approach your friend group whose spreading an unforgivable rumor about your boyfriend. Want more Dear Prudence? Subscr...

Aug 02, 202437 min

My Brother-In-Law’s Girlfriend Wore A Transparent Dress To My Wedding. Help!

In this episode, Arionne Nettles (author of We Are the Culture: Black Chicago’s Influence on Everything) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about how to keep composure when your soon-to-be sister-in-law shows up to your wedding in a thong, how to react when your husband’s comments oversexualize your teenage daughters’ friends, and ways to handle a sister-in-law whose unwanted body criticisms keep ruining family vacations. Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slat...

Jul 26, 202441 min

I Am Swamped With Plans and I Hate It. Help!

In this episode, Carvell Wallace (author of Another Word for Love and host of Slate’s How To!) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about how to cancel on family vacation plans that sound horrible to you, how to break it to your butch lesbian girlfriend that her friends might be misogynists, and how to convince your parents to let you go to a high school in a not so great neighborhood. Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bon...

Jul 19, 202443 min

My BFF Bullied Her Husband Into Allowing Her to Sleep With Other Men. Help!

In this episode, Ronald Young Jr. (host of Weight For It and Slate’s Working) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about what to do when your fatphobic in-laws are overstaying their welcome and whether to interfere when your best friend is pressuring her husband into an open marriage. Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe n...

Jul 12, 202438 min

How’s Your Sex Life?: How Do I Get Over My Ex? with Brandon Kyle Goodman

How do I navigate casual dating? How do I get over my ex? How can I approach sex and dating when I’m asexual? On today’s episode brought to us by KCRW’s How’s Your Sex Life?, host Myisha Battle is joined by actor Brandon Kyle Goodman, who dishes advice alongside Myisha, talks about embracing the messiness of dating, and plays a game of ‘Would You Rather.’ Read the full transcript here. Need advice about dating, sex, or relationships? Send Myisha an email or voice memo at sexlife@kcrw.org. Your m...

Jul 05, 202441 min

My In-Laws Disrespected My Daughter, So I Kicked Them Out. Help!

In this episode, Mina Kimes (ESPN NFL analyst and host of The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about what to do when your in-laws insult your daughter in a language they think you don’t understand, how to decide whether to have a second child later in life, and whether it’s okay to reject your husband’s calls when you’ve had a long day and want to drive home in peaceful silence. Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to...

Jun 28, 202440 min

Revisiting Advice from Dr. Orna Guralnik

Today, we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes from September 2023 with Dr. Orna Guralnik (host of Showtime’s Couples Therapy). In this episode, Dr. Orna Guralnik joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about what to do when a friend is obsessed with misogynistic love and relationship podcasts, when your husband just can’t figure out birthday gifts, and when you’re wondering “Does therapy just not work for me?” If you want more Dear Prudence, join Slate Plus, Sla...

Jun 21, 202442 min

I’m Sick of Feeling Like I’m Always the One Doing All The Work in Dating. Help!

In this episode, Erika Ettin (founder of A Little Nudge, an online dating coaching service) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about how to fix a lackluster, long-distance relationship, when it is — and isn’t — a good idea to date a person who’s recently divorced, and whether a Type A person can stop doing all the work when it comes to dating. If you want more Dear Prudence, join Slate Plus, Slate’s membership program. Jenée answers an extra question every week, j...

Jun 14, 202441 min

I Bailed on a Family Trip Because My Plane Seat Didn’t Have Enough Legroom—Am I a Monster? Help!

In this episode, Farhad Manjoo (author of Slate’s r/Farhad column) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about how a 72-year-old introvert can become more social, when it’s okay to pop up unannounced at a romantic partner’s house and expect to have dinner, and whether you’re being unreasonable for not attending a family vacation because you didn’t get the upgrade you requested. If you want more Dear Prudence, join Slate Plus, Slate’s membership program. Jenée answers...

Jun 07, 202427 min

I’m 39 and in Love With a 67-year-old. I’m Concerned About Judgment From Others. Help!

In this episode, Emily McCombs (the Deputy Editor of HuffPost Personal) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about when to confront someone who’s been consistently flaky, how to navigate dating across a 28-year age difference, and whether to tell a friend it appears they peed their pants. If you want more Dear Prudence, join Slate Plus, Slate’s membership program. Jenée answers an extra question every week, just for members. Go to Slate.com/prudieplus to sign up. It...

May 31, 202439 min

My Nonreligious Boyfriend Is Meeting My Ultra-Religious Parents. Help!

In this episode, Dear Prudence editors Paola de Varona and Bryan Lowder join Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about how to deal with a spouse who says he needs friends but has already alienated yours, how to introduce a partner to religious parents, and why guests who spent a free weekend at a lake house would feel entitled to pack up all the leftovers and take them home. If you want more Dear Prudence, join Slate Plus, Slate’s membership program. Jenée answers an ext...

May 24, 202440 min

My Mom Forgot to Take Her Medicine and “Accidentally” Made Racist Remarks. Help!

In this episode, Kiese Laymon (author of Long Division, How to Slowly Kill Yourself in America, and Heavy: An American Memoir) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about how to convince your strict religious parents to let you go to an out-of-state college, whether to report a coworker’s insensitive gym behavior to HR, and how to deal with a mom who forgets to take her medication and immediately uses a racial slur. If you want more Dear Prudence, join Slate Plus, Sl...

May 17, 202432 min

I’m Queer and Here—Just Not to My Parents. Help!

In this episode, Dan Savage (of the Savage Love sex advice column and Savage Lovecast) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about how to approach a serious relationship with someone who lets her pre-teens sleep in her bed, how to share with your parents you’re omnisexual, and how to tell your sibling you think they’re in an emotionally abusive marriage. If you want more Dear Prudence, join Slate Plus, Slate’s membership program. Jenée answers an extra question every...

May 10, 202433 min

My Brother Is a Budding Alex Jones. Help!

In this episode, Heben Nigatu (HBO’s Game Theory with Bomani Jones and BuzzFeed podcast Another Round) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about what to do when a group chat explodes over allegations about offensive humor, when to cut a narcissistic stepsister from the wedding guest list, and how to relate to a little brother who’s openly sharing his wild conspiracy theories and alt-right views across social media. If you want more Dear Prudence, join Slate Plus, S...

May 03, 202435 min

My love language with friends is touch, but it makes my partner jealous. Help!

In this episode, Gina Cherelus (New York Times’ weekly dating column Third Wheel) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about how much physical affection is appropriate with people who aren’t your partner, believing you are with your partner because you are more attractive than them, and more. If you want more Dear Prudence, join Slate Plus, Slate’s membership program. Jenée answers an extra question every week, just for members. Go to Slate.com/prudieplus to sign up...

Apr 26, 202443 min

My Wife’s Bipolar Diagnosis Is Creating A Rift in Our Marriage. Help!

In this episode, Bassey Ikpi (New York Times bestselling essay collection, I’m Telling the Truth but I’m Lying) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about an international sisters’ trip gone awry, a husband’s struggle to live with his wife’s mental health issues, and an uncomfortable situation between coworkers. If you want more Dear Prudence, join Slate Plus, Slate’s membership program. Jenée answers an extra question every week, just for members. Go to Slate.com/p...

Apr 19, 202436 min
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