Kelly Collette is a comedian, writer, artist, and an avid listener of the podcast. She opens up about going low contact with both of her parents and how she’s worked to set boundaries after a childhood filled with abuse and abandonment.
Why, oh why would you choose to go on vacation with your family when every other time it’s been a train wreck? Rich, one of Paul’s support group friends (and previous guest), wanted to talk through his trouble accepting that his family won’t change, the issues he’s been having from it, and he and Paul decided to record the conversation. They discuss validation seeking, unhealthy dating patterns, and how it all circles back to his family. Oh and the date he went on that redefines WTF.
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Yes Bill W. is his real name and he has been helping Paul for 19 years; inspiring him, helping him, making him laugh and giving him the truth when he needs to hear it. They talk about surrendering to things we’re powerless over, developing good habits -especially human connection- to battle our demons and his lingering “shoulda-coulda-wouldas” on a professional baseball career that was cut short. Oh and of course a little talk about staying up for 3 nights doing cocaine.
Kathleen Hammond is a mother who lost her 11-year-old daughter, Nelly, to suicide. She sits down with Paul to talk about childhood bullying, a parent’s perspective on losing a child to suicide, and how she manages to survive after this immense loss.
Dr. Alex Wills is a psychiatrist & therapist who focuses on the importance of ‘radical emotional acceptance’. He discusses how we can accept our emotions and what happens when we ignore them. Be sure to check out his new book Give a Fuck, Actually.
Dr. Robert Waldinger is a psychiatrist & a professor at Harvard Medical School who worked on an 85-year long study on what it takes to have a good life. His new book The Good Life expands on the results of that study and the science of relationships.
Paul’s friend (@Evan_Schad) shares about being the black sheep of the family (and having a “perfect” sibling) and eventually being sent to boarding school where he began to dissociate. He talks about bottoming out with a felony DUI and a trip to jail before finally asking for help. He also shares about learning to overcome his numbness, identify his emotions and eventually express them, especially in group therapy.
Originally recorded in 2011, the critically-acclaimed author of 6 books (most recently The Problem With Everything), columnist and blogger (@Meghan_Daum) talks with Paul about growing up and later rebelling in a household where music and academia were everything. She talks about the pressure of starting a writing career in Manhattan and living a real-life Devil Wears Prada nightmare, where the idea of even living in a rundown building in a bohemian neighborhood became unattainable. They talk about the epiphany of realizing her dreams were shallow, materialistic and unattainable, her move to Nebraska and the perspective and novel (The Quality of Life Report) that resulted. A great episode for people who have a critical inner voice that never shuts up. Meghan has written for The New Yorker, Harper’s and Vogue and has contributed to This American Life. She also hosts the podcast The Unspeakable and is a co-host on another called A Special Place In Hell. She recently launched a new project, creating an intellectual community for freethinking women called The Unspeakeasy.
Originally recorded in 2012 and voted a listener favorite, Kerri (@KerriKenneySilver @KerriKenney) is a comedian/actor/musician. She opens up about her childhood, the impact of her parents’ divorce, her obsessive worrying, her aborted engagement to a crack addict and what she learned about herself. People know Kerri from Reno 911, MTV’s The State, Bob’s Burgers, and the indie rock band Cake Like.