The world doesn’t make a lot of sense right now, including other people and why they think the things they think and do the things they do. So I’m tapping in Steven J. Heine, professor of Social and Cultural Psychology and the author of Start Making Sense: How Existential Psychology Can Help Us Build Meaningful Lives in Absurd Times to talk about: -How these times are actually kind of precedented by the Age of Anxiety -How we make meaning -How our stories drive our choices, and our choices make ...
May 20, 2025•1 hr 14 min
Last week’s pep talk episode (https://noraborealis.substack.com/p/stop-being-mean-to-yourself) was such a hit we’re back with more (and I’m making some phone calls today because WOW WE ARE ALL GOING THROUGH IT RIGHT NOW!!!) Today we have two callers: a 32-year-old who feels lost after losing both of her parents and receiving a tough diagnosis, and a 23-year-old who is a little too wise beyond her years because of a traumatic childhood. If you, too, are Going Through It, I promise you that your b...
May 13, 2025•59 min
Sharing an episode of “What It’s Like to Be…” from author Dan Heath. On the podcast, Dan explores the world of work, one profession at a time, and interviews people who love what they do. He finds out: What does a couples therapist think when a friend asks for relationship advice? Is a Secret Service Agent supposed to pretend like they’re not there when they’re around the president? What are the 3 clocks that govern the life of a long-haul truck driver? If you’ve ever met someone whose work you ...
May 08, 2025•53 min
Estrangement is one of those hot button topic that everyone has an opinion about, and here’s mine: you have one job as a parent1, and that’s to love your children. To show up for them. To support them. To not ditch out on their wedding LIKE A TOTAL WEIRDO. Are things more complicated than that? Sure, people are complicated. But on this show I let you call in and talk about your life and your feelings and, most importantly: I will never claim to be an unbiased host, because I am deeply biased per...
May 06, 2025•51 min
Every once in a while, we all need a little bit of solicited motivation from someone totally unqualified to give it. In this episode, Nora shells out loads of love and support in the first of our series of TFA Pep Talks. For full episodes, the full back catalog and a listener community, you can join us here. Want to be on the show? Call or text 612.568.4441 or book a call here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apr 29, 2025•1 hr 7 min
What if your doctor prescribed you a hiking group? A ceramics class? Not in place of whatever medication or treatment you may need, but as a complement to it? It’s called Social Prescribing, and journalist Julia Hotz traveled to some 30 countries to talk to patients and professionals who are at the forefront of this approach to wellness. I loved her book, and loved this conversation (and regret we didn’t have time to talk about AI chatbots!). You can buy Julia’s book here to support her, indepen...
Apr 22, 2025•55 min
In this episode, we discuss the defining moments in our lives that forever branded us with shame. For full episodes, the full back catalog and a listener community, you can join us here. Want to be on the show? Call or text 612.568.4441 or book a call here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apr 15, 2025•1 hr 3 min
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Apr 08, 2025•36 min
Of all the stages of grief, anger has to be the ugliest one. The one that feels the ickiest no matter what side of it you’re on. So today we’re talking about it. For full episodes, the full back catalog and a listener community, you can join us here. Want to be on the show? Call or text 612.568.4441 or book a call here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apr 01, 2025•1 hr
Sharing a new show from my friends at Higher Ground, hosted by Michelle Obama, called IMO. You know on Thanks for Asking, we keep it real and help each other through some of our hardest times. Similarly on IMO, Michelle and her big brother Craig Robinson tackle real questions from real folks just like you, offering practical advice, personal storytelling, and plenty of laughs. Each week, they’re joined by a guest to bring candid perspectives to the everyday questions shaping our lives, relations...
Mar 27, 2025•1 hr 8 min
In this episode, we get an update from widower David Cherson. This is the first part of a two-part series called Life of a Lonely Widower. For Life of a Lonely Widower (Part 2) and other full episodes, the full back catalog and a listener community, you can join us here. Want to be on the show? Call or text 612.568.4441 or book a call here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 25, 2025•1 hr 4 min
Take a break from the doom and disaster and reset your psyche with some okay things. We won’t ever say “everything is going to be okay” but we will do our best to find and focus on even the littlest okay things around us that aren’t the very worst. Keep the bar low and your head up. For full episodes, the full back catalog and a listener community, you can join us here. Want to be on the show? Call or text 612.568.4441 or book a call here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.c...
Mar 18, 2025•1 hr 6 min
I cannot trust anyone who says No Regrets. Because really…you don’t have ANY? NONE?! Are you sure about that? I can tend towards the opposite mentality myself, but in between No Regrets and All Regrets is a safe middle ground of self-reflection and accountability without self-flagellation and rumination, and that is where we met today’s callers, who bravely dialed in to share their regrets - big and small. For full episodes, the full back catalog and a listener community, you can join us here. W...
Mar 11, 2025•30 min
Rise and Grind, Girlbosses! It’s time to GROWTH HACK your way to your BEST SELF and make this the ULTIMATE year. If you don’t have time, you can make time, because excuses are no excuse. Just kidding! Like so many of us, author Maria Bowler found herself caught up in the Productivity Machine, which demands we do more and more and more for the sake of…what, exactly? For the sake of more, of course! Maria’s new book, Making Time: A New Vision for Crafting A Life Beyond Productivity is not a book o...
Mar 04, 2025•52 min
Do you say something? Do you shut up? I’m just one woman with an opinion, so I took your calls and texts to answer this listener question: do you say something when your friend is in a relationship with someone you hate? This is a preview of Thanks for Asking, a call-in show about what matters to you. You can get the full episode on my Substack. Have something you want to talk about? You can call or text us any time at 612.568.4441 or email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices....
Feb 25, 2025•28 min
If it’s Tuesday, the phone lines are open and operators (me) are standing by. Today we’re talk to callers from Honolulu to North Carolina about everything from worrying to working as an extra on Hallmark movies to existential crises. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 18, 2025•1 hr 6 min
As a widow, I get many emails from other widows. But this one – from a man who created an AI version of his dead wife – was definitely a first. And I knew I had to talk to him. For full episodes, the full back catalog and a listener community, you can join us here. Want to be on the show? Call or text 612.568.4441 or book a call here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 11, 2025•32 min
Sharing a podcast we can’t get enough of: Your Mama’s Kitchen. It’s a show about cuisine and culture, ingredients and identities, and the meals and memories that make us who we are. Host Michele Norris talks to Michelle Obama, Glennon Doyle, José Andrés and so many other guests about the complexities of family life and how their earliest culinary experiences helped shape their personal and professional lives. And of course, each guest shares a recipe for a favorite dish from their youth so you c...
Feb 04, 2025•51 min
Loneliness is, according to people who know about these things, an epidemic on par with smoking and obesity. It affects our physical and mental health…and it seems like it’s affecting everyone. Today’s callers are experiencing loneliness in many different ways and for many different reasons, and if you are also feeling lonely…you’re definitely not alone. Take a listen, then call someone (anyone!). Make a plan to hang out, and follow through. Let’s find and nurture connections wherever and howeve...
Jan 28, 2025•35 min
THINGS ARE DEFINITELY NOT OK RIGHT NOW! We know it. You know it. Your dog knows it (who told her??). But even when things are terrible, there’s something out there — however small — that is at least okay. Today’s episode is an exercise in finding (and sharing) the ok, with stories of the ways strangers have shown up for us in our times of need. Thanks to everyone who called (or texted!) in. Call or text us at 612.568.4441 any time. If you’d like to support the show (and get more of it) join us h...
Jan 23, 2025•38 min
The first episode of our new call-in show is here, and we have two callers who seemed to be totally unrelated: a new rancher in Texas, and a Swiftie with Cerebral Palsy in New York. But (get your red string and your tinfoil hat) everything is connected! Especially us. That’s easy to forget when we’re constantly pushed to see each other as the enemy, and something we need to remember now more than ever. For full episodes, the full back catalog and a listener community, you can join us here. Want ...
Jan 14, 2025•31 min
It’s been awhile since we’ve been in your feed, probably because we took a hiatus in March of 2024. Nearly a year later, we have some clarity on what’s next (it’s exciting!). The new show will launch on January 14, but on Sunday I shared that 2025 is The Year of Less and at least 5 people said they were interested in hearing more about what that means and I couldn’t wait ANOTHER week because I simply don’t have the brain storage space. In this episode, we cover: What practices led me to this new...
Jan 10, 2025•1 hr 2 min
In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! We wanted to give all of our listeners a little preview of our most recent episode! Consider joining Nora's Substack to listen to the rest of the episode, get additional bonus episodes, and ad-free episodes! _ Most people I know are feeling overwhelmed, to put it lightly. Between the stuff you have to do (work, paying your bills, getting your kid new shoes, or vacuuming up the dog hair before ...
Dec 26, 2024•26 min
In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! We wanted to give all of our listeners a little preview of our most recent episode! Consider joining Nora's Substack to listen to the rest of the episode, get additional bonus episodes, and ad-free episodes! _ Charles Bock was not interested in parenthood. He moved to New York to be a writer, not to change diapers. But when he met his wife Diana, all she wanted was to be a mom. So he said yes,...
Dec 19, 2024•26 min
In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! We wanted to give all of our listeners a little preview of our most recent episode! Consider joining Nora's Substack to listen to the rest of the episode, get additional bonus episodes, and ad-free episodes! _ In June 2021, Isaiah Goodman, a financial adviser, was sentenced to 7 years in prison for defrauding clients out of $2.3 million dollars. One of the clients he stole from was Celisia Sta...
Dec 17, 2024•28 min
In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! We wanted to give all of our listeners a little preview of our most recent episode! Consider joining Nora's Substack to listen to the rest of the episode, get additional bonus episodes, and ad-free episodes! _ In 2022, Prolonged Grief Disorder was added to the DSM-V. A new mental health disorder tied to grief ruffled a lot of feathers, including Nora’s. She talked about it on TTFA (including s...
Nov 26, 2024•32 min
Subscribe to TTFA Anthologies here. Two days after Nora’s husband Aaron died, she celebrated Thanksgiving with her family. Well... maybe not “celebrated.” Every year, millions of people do the same thing during the holidays. In this episode, we talk with some of those folks, including Dr. Lucy Kalanithi and comedian Amber Tozer. We also spend some time with some of the women of the Hot Young Widows Club, talking about their hopes and dreams for the upcoming year. Plus, stories of some of the wor...
Nov 14, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Subscribe to TTFA Anthologies here. If the holidays make you want to tear your hair out or cry on the bathroom floor, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. It's a hard time for a lot of people, and still we have to force a smile and say through gritted teeth, "Happy Holidays!" But the holidays aren't always happy. Most of the time, all we can ask for is HappyISH Holidays. In this episode, Nora McInerny and producer Marcel Malekebu dive into AITA stories of holidays gone wrong. You can play judge, jury, and executi...
Nov 14, 2024•1 hr 3 min
In case you didn't know, we're still making two episodes a month for our Patreon and Apple Plus subscribers. We wanted to give all of our listeners a little preview of our most recent episode! Consider joining our Patreon to listen to the rest of the episode(or watch the episode!), get additional bonus episodes, ad-free episodes, and join a community of Terribles. (Or, if you’re an Apple Podcast listener, you can sign up for TTFA Premium right in the app!) _ Refamulating, one of our other shows ...
Nov 12, 2024•53 min
Today is Election Day in the U.S. and for many of us that means…getting through the day is going to feel like watching water boil. So we have an idea: delete the news apps off your phone today, don’t check social media, and press play on this multi-hour, politics free chat between Nora and Kate Kennedy. When you finish this episode, don’t worry, THERE’S MORE. Head over to Kate Kennedy’s Patreon to get more of this conversation. And if you need MORE distractions, we got you: Listen to our It’s Go...
Nov 05, 2024•1 hr 17 min
