Thanks for Asking
A call-in show from author Nora McInerny that lets real people get real honest about how they’re
really doing. Operators(me) are standing by to take your calls.
Latest Episode
Dancing for the Devil: Dr. Edith Eger on Surviving the Holocaust and Turning Trauma Into Purpose
Edith Eger was only 16 years old when the Nazis invaded Hungary during World War II. Her future was ripped from her when she and her family were imprisoned at Auschwitz concentration camp. Edith’s parents were sent to the gas chambers immediately – but Edith survived, forced to entertain Dr Mengele – known as the…
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Dancing for the Devil: Dr. Edith Eger on Surviving the Holocaust and Turning Trauma Into Purpose
Edith Eger was only 16 years old when the Nazis invaded Hungary during World War II. Her future was ripped from her when she and her family were imprisoned at Auschwitz concentration camp. Edith’s parents were sent to the gas...
May 12, 2026
Getting Married Again Doesn’t Make You A Bad Widow with Leslie Harter-Berg
I get questions all the time about being a remarried widow. How did I do it? How did I know? Is Matthew jealous of Aaron? How can you love two people at the same time? When you become a widow,...
May 5, 2026
Advice-cast: The Worst Thing to Say When Someone’s Grieving, Feeling like a Loser at Work, and Trying to Love Your Body When No One Else Loves Theirs
Thanks for Asking is a group project – we could not make this show without you. You’re not just a listener. You’re a participant. We want to make a show about what matters to you. That’s why we have our...
April 28, 2026
Food, Forgiveness and the Cost of Being Thin: A Conversation with Geneen Roth
Every woman in the world has shared one feeling: that their body is wrong. We like to say that we've come "so far," but just open any social media app and see the body warping, the products marketed as "a...
April 21, 2026
Honest Motherhood with Libby Ward
What makes a good mom? Is it adhering to the perfectly packaged image of a shiny, happy woman cooking lavish meals with her 2.5 children, always cleaning, never complaining, and never NOT grateful, doting, and happy? No – but that...
April 14, 2026
Friends To The End: Cancer, Friendship and Grief
Listen to TTFA Anthologies on Spotify, Apple, or anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts. _ It’s rare to have a friendship that actually lasts forever, but that’s what Josie and Miles have. When Miles’s cancer comes back after years...
April 9, 2026
How you {really} are: Aging parents, falling out of love with your work, disappointing gender reveals, secondhand embarrassment and being the worst mom in the world
Today, we're giving validation, pep talks and space to vent for listeners struggling with: Aging parents who don't take care of their health Falling out of love with your work and feeling like you're totally ineffective (you aren't!) Being hit...
April 7, 2026
AI Deadbots Want To Cure Your Grief
As long as people have been grieving, we have found a way to memorialize our dead people. We grievers keep voicemails, photos, letters, clothes – whatever we can to remember our people. With the rise of AI, it’s no wonder...
March 31, 2026
I Can’t Have Kids and My Friends Are Pregnant
On today’s episode, we hear from Cora Danielson, a comic who has been wrestling with something many women do – her inability to have children despite wanting them very, very much. Her outlet? Improv comedy and the community that came...
March 24, 2026
Wind Phone (Part 3)
What would you say to your dead person? We’re listening in on the Wind Phone. You can find a wind phone near you here, or call us to leave your message for a future episode: 612.568.4441 Watch us on YouTube...
March 17, 2026
Dead Sibling Society (Part 1)
If you lose a spouse, you’re a widow. If you lose your parents, an orphan. But we don’t have the language for someone who lost a sibling – your first friend, your first ally, your first enemy (probably, at least...
March 10, 2026
Under a Cloud of Loss
This episode originally ran in 2016, and we pulled it out of the archives to share with you here, and to kick off a new season of TTFA Anthologies, where we pull together a themed season of some of our...
March 3, 2026
There’s Someone Dying Upstairs (Part 2)
“Can I move in with you?” Laurel Louise Anderson (lovingly called Miss Ma’am) posed the question to our producer and her son, Marcel Malekebu, in the summer of 2024. After nearly a year of Marcel asking and a year of...
February 26, 2026
There’s Someone Dying Upstairs (Part 1)
“Can I move in with you?” Laurel Louise Anderson (lovingly called Miss Ma’am) posed the question to our producer and her son, Marcel Malekebu, in the summer of 2024. After nearly a year of Marcel asking and a year of...
February 24, 2026
Wind Phone (Part 2)
What would you say to your dead person? We’re listening in on the Wind Phone. You can find a wind phone near you here, or call us to leave your message for a future episode: 612.568.4441 Watch us on YouTube...
February 17, 2026
Okay Boomers
“Okay, boomer” will go down in history as one of the funniest (and truest) ways to shut down a boomer whining about younger generations who just don’t get it. But this episode is not about what boomers don’t understand. This...
February 11, 2026
The Return of Ralph: It’s Going to be OK
Things are not good in the world right now, and you don’t need us to tell you that. But despair is also not good. Having no hope is not good. And Nora believes that the antidote to despair is action...
February 6, 2026
Update: The Fat Guy with the Alcohol
It’s been a year and a half since we aired an episode where we spoke with Evan about his past and his current health journey of losing weight and reclaiming his life. In this episode, Evan tells us what he’s...
February 3, 2026
How Do You Grieve Someone Who Isn’t Dead with the Antlers
Today, Nora interviews Peter Silberman of the Antlers, a band whose album Hospice changed her life twice: first in 2010, after a horrible breakup, and then in 2011, when her husband was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Over a decade...
January 27, 2026
Weird Things Your Kids Have Said with Kate Kennedy
The world is not especially great right now. In the midst of all the chaos and nightmare fuel, today’s episode of Thanks for Asking is an emotional palate cleanser. Nora and friend of the pod Kate Kennedy are here to...
January 20, 2026
Normalize “bad women” with Rebecca Woolf
Being a widow is complicated. On top of the earth-shattering grief you experience, there’s a huge societal pressure to be the perfect image of a grieving partner, missing the love of your life. But what if the person who died...
January 13, 2026
IGTBO: Widow Weddings, Sleepovers, and My Dead Uncle’s Sweater
You’ve seen the headlines. You’ve looked at the world. You know, like we do, that not everything is going to be OK. But to start 2026, we’re going to look at some of the things that make us feel like...
January 9, 2026
The Wind Phone: Part 1
If you have known loss, you know how it feels to pick up the phone to call your person only to realize they won’t answer. This episode is all about your calls – the things you wish you could tell...
January 6, 2026
Happyish Holidays 2025
It’s time for Happyish Holidays, 2025 edition! Though we might not see you in person this year, Nora’s still here to listen to and tell your holiday stories gone awry. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll remember that the holidays...
December 23, 2025
Goodbye, 2025
2025 is coming to a close, if you can believe it. If you’re feeling stressed (and maybe a little relieved) that the end of the year is here, you aren’t alone. This week, Nora’s sharing her strategies for finishing out...
December 16, 2025
