Thanks For Asking
Episodes
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
07 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 Fa...
A Daily Dose of Wonder with Kelly Corrigan
03 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
You know what makes things feel more okay? Kelly Corrigan, the host of Kelly Corrigan Wonders and the author of so many wonderful books (my favorite i...
AI Deadbots Want To Cure Your Grief
31 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As long as people have been grieving, we have found a way to memorialize our dead people. We grievers keep voicemails, photos, letters, clothes – wh...
I Can’t Have Kids and My Friends Are Pregnant
24 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 desp...
Middle School Divorcee | It's Going to be OK with Elise Loehnen
20 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We would never tell you that everything is going to be OK, but we will tell you that something will be. Today, Nora and guest Elise Loehnen share the ...
Wind Phone (Part 3)
17 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Dead Sibling Society (Part 1)
10 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 – you...
Under a Cloud of Loss
03 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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, wh...
There’s Someone Dying Upstairs (Part 2)
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
“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...
There’s Someone Dying Upstairs (Part 1)
24 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
“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, ...
Wind Phone (Part 2)
17 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 m...
Okay Boomers
11 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
“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 d...
The Return of Ralph: It’s Going to be OK
06 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 No...
Update: The Fat Guy with the Alcohol
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 re...
How Do You Grieve Someone Who Isn’t Dead with the Antlers
27 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Weird Things Your Kids Have Said with Kate Kennedy
20 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Normalize “bad women” with Rebecca Woolf
13 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 gri...
IGTBO: Widow Weddings, Sleepovers, and My Dead Uncle’s Sweater
09 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 goi...
The Wind Phone: Part 1
06 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
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 abou...
Happyish Holidays 2025
23 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 holid...
Goodbye, 2025
16 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 a...
Baby Wants a Gas Mask
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kids ask for the darndest things, and this year, Nora’s youngest asked for… a gas mask. An old-timey gas mask. So, she asked for the weirdest thin...
Shoplifter to Shopping Influencer with Caroline Moss
09 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The holiday season can be tough – so we’re taking a break to (anonymously) celebrate some petty crimes. Nora is joined by fan favorite Caroline ...
The Grief Album of the Year with Will Anderson
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you know love and loss, you know how music can transport us to a moment that time stole from us. And if you know grief, you know how simultaneous...
AITA: I Want to Leave My Dying Boyfriend
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Her boyfriend is dying… What should she do? When you’re faced with the possibility of joining the Hot Young Widows Club, you get slammed with a mi...
THANKS-giving
21 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The holiday season is hard for most people. Maybe you’re feeling a fresh loss, maybe you’re dealing with an annoying relative, maybe you’re just...
How to Con a Catfish
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do you get back into dating after being widowed? It’s something we’ve talked about before on Thanks for Asking, but never quite like this – ...
Talking to My Dead Husband with Psychic Medium Laura Lynne Jackson
11 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last year, Laura Lynne Jackson changed Nora’s life forever – she helped Nora talk to Aaron ten years after his death. Today, they reunite to talk ...
Digitally Crushed by Grief
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There are times we expect grief to hit us: death anniversaries, birthdays, holidays. But when grief attacks us out of nowhere, what do we do? How do w...
Help, My Parents Are Hoarders!
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What is it like to have hoarders for parents? Today, Nora and guest Jane Marie are telling you about it with audience submissions and real-life storie...
Should I Go Back to Work? with Kate Kennedy
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today, Nora and guest host Kate Kennedy discuss the least controversial topic ever: motherhood and work. When a listener wrote about the anxiety she w...
I’m Getting in the Casket With You w/Caroline Moss
17 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We loved the stories about your adult friendships so much we had to make a part two featuring your voicemails! Join Nora and Caroline Moss of Gee Than...
The IBS in Me Recognizes the IBS in You w/Caroline Moss
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is a PSA: you’re not too old to make a best friend. Just because you no longer have assigned seating in a classroom or a playground or playdate...
From The Archives: October 8, 1988
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Suffering can feel like such a singular experience -- like there’s no one else in the world who understands what we’re going through. But sometime...
Prescription for a Widow
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When can a widow date again? Would you believe it if we told you that the answer lies in the Real Housewives of New York? Today, that’s what Nora’...
22 & Struggling (is it just me??)
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Even if you have not been 22 with an abusive ex-boyfriend, broke, homesick, and friendless in a new city, you have, at one point or another, felt like...
You’re Not Too Old, It’s Not Too Late Part 2(with Cheryl Sparks)
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, Nora set out to prove that no one is ever too old and it's never too late to try something entirely new. The mailbox was so full of amazi...
You're Not Too Old, It's Not Too Late(with Jamie Golden)
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nora recently got a question that asked, “Is 31 too old to pivot into a new career?” The short answer: NO! You’re not too old and it’s not too...
Gen Z Dating is Weird: Your Calls
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What matters to you matters to me. That’s why I make sure to take time to do live calls and answer your questions. In this episode, we talk Gen Z da...
Dead People Lore
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever heard something really weird about someone… but at their funeral? I found out that allegedly my dad RODE A MOTORCYCLE. I wanted to h...
Patients Over Profits
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nurses are the backbone of healthcare. From tending to patients to dealing with doctors, nurses do all the things. In honor of Labor Day, our favorite...
TFA x IMO: Michelle Obama Told Me I'm Not a Loser!
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this brief episode, Nora poses a question to Craig Robinson and Michelle Obama. And boy do they deliver! Watch us on YouTube here! Get this epi...
The Widower (Girl, run)
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Every once and a while, we get an email that Nora just can’t resist making an entire episode about. This week’s subject is dating a widower – bu...
Hysterectomies, Health Insurance, and Husbands: TFA Live-Call In #1
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nora started this show because she wants to talk to YOU, the listener, about what matters to you. So today, she talks to listeners about it all : gett...
Giving Away the Farm
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kathy Barker isn’t just the founder of Barker Farm – she’s a mother, an advocate for mental health awareness and breaking the stigma of food ins...
Update: How to Lose Your Name with Hayley Paige (Cheval)
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's been a few years since we last spoke with Hayley Paige about the legal battle that took her ideas, her job and her identity. In this episode, we ...
Tales of a Type B
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever looked at Nora and wondered, what is going on inside her head? Today, you’re going to learn. This episode is for the ADHD, messy, care...
Pull over on the freeway, it's a PowerPoint Emergency! | Corporate Horror Stories Pt. 2 with Becca Platsky of Corporate Gossip
29 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this second installment of corporate horror stories, Nora is joined by Becca Platsky of Corporate Gossip to hear all of your work horror stories –...
Health Insurance Horror Stories
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
America has a healthcare problem. One of those problems is Health Insurance, which I have said before and will say again, loudly and with my whole ent...
Everyone is Lying To You: influencer culture with Jo Piazza
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Influencers are the people (women!) that people (women!) love to hate. But they also have a huge cultural and economic impact. It’s tangly, and Auth...
Signs from the Other Side
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I believe that our people never truly leave us. They stay with us. They live in us, always. If you need a sign that you’re not alone, let this – t...
I Was the Other Woman... And He Died
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As a widow, I get a lot of grief emails. But this one stopped me right in my tracks with the subject line, “I was the other woman… and he died.”...
How Do I Trust in Love When My Heart Has Been Broken?
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nora talks with Jess, a struggling caller who has found herself in a relationship with someone she desperately wants to trust. But after a string of u...
UnWorld with Jayson Greene
17 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we catch back up with Jayson Greene, author of the memoir Once More We Saw Stars and learn about his new book and first novel, UnWorl...
What Do People Do All Day?
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this first episode of the newest installment of Thanks for Asking, Nora hears from three callers who explain what they actually do all day at work....
S3: I've Made a Huge Mistake
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is an episode from the new season of TTFA Anthologies, go to Apple Podcasts and Spotify to listen to the full season(and past seasons...
S3: Emergency! Banner Ads!
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is an episode from the new season of TTFA Anthologies, go to Apple Podcasts and Spotify to listen to the full season(and past seasons)! _ Work ...
Corporate Horror Stories
03 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Work is not your life. Your life is not your work. We try really hard to separate them. But, hey! We live in a world where that’s not possible all ...
Help, I Said the Wrong Thing!
27 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Breaking news: humans make mistakes. This is not a bad thing! Our mistakes are how we learn and grow, and we have to get comfy with accepting that mis...
Finding Meaning In The New Age of Anxiety
20 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Pep Talks 2
13 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 maki...
What It’s Like to Be a Brain Surgeon, with Dan Heath
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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,...
Her Parents Skipped Her Wedding(Estrangement)
06 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 lo...
Pep Talks
29 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
You’re Lonely: What’s the prescription? An Interview with author Julia Hotz, author of The Connection Cure
22 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 complemen...
Embarrassing Stories
15 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 list...
How Do You Care for Yourself?
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Angry and Grieving
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ta...
Issa Rae on Friendships That Need to Go, from IMO
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 eac...
Out of The Void, Into The Dating Pool
25 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
IGTBO, TFA (Part 2)
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Some Regrets
11 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ment...
Creativity, Burnout and Life Beyond Productivity with Maria Bowler
04 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 m...
I Hate My Friend’s Partner…What Do I Do About It?
25 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 sa...
Worrying, Fresh Retirement and Movie Extras
18 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ev...
AI Wife
11 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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. An...
Your Mama's Kitchen: John Legend
04 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Are You Lonely?
28 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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...
The Kindness of Strangers
23 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 some...
Interdependence, Trump Flags, and Taylor Swift
14 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 w...
The Year of Less: Vision Boards, Awards, What’s Next in 2025
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 w...
You're Not Lazy, You're Overwhelmed (feat. Kendra Adachi, The Lazy Genius)
26 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 lit...
I Will Do Better feat. Charles Bock
19 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 lit...
Update: Behind The Scammer feat. Celisia Stanton
17 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 lit...
Am I grieving right? With Dr. Katherine Shear
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 lit...
Happyish Holidays: The Worst Thanksgiving Ever?
14 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Subscribe to TTFA Anthologies here. Two days after Nora’s husband Aaron died, she celebrated Thanksgiving with her family. Well... maybe not “cel...
AITA: Happyish Holidays Edition
14 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
“Seahorse Dad” from Refamulating
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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...
You don’t talk about telescopes? And other questions to distract yourself from Election Day anxiety (with Kate Kennedy!)
05 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ide...
Forces Of Nature: A Conversation On Childhood Trauma with Gina Demillo Wagner
29 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 lit...
Interview: Making and keeping friends as a grown-up with Marisa Franco
15 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 lit...
More (More, More!) Obituaries
01 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 lit...
TTFA Anthologies: Two Letters- A Widow Remembers Her Husband With Two Letters
03 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Subscribe to TTFA Anthologies here. This is an episode about two letters. One of those is the letter Jim left for his wife, Annie, before he died by ...
TTFA Anthologies: Stories of Suicide & Loss
03 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Subscribe to TTFA Anthologies here. Terrible, Thanks for Asking tells the real stories of real people who have lived through the terrible things in l...
The Resilience Myth with Soraya Chemaly
18 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - Years ago, when Nora was in the worst phase...
Now
18 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When Nora was about to marry her first husband Aaron, they were in the thick of his cancer treatment. So the day before the wedding, she got a small t...
Becoming Fairy Godmother: Egg Donation and Creating A New Kind of Family
02 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Two years ago Julia Winston was asked to help a gay couple start a family by donating her eggs. At the time, she was 38, single, and had no idea if sh...
Your Favorite Obituaries
25 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - As we prepare for our indefinite hiatus, we...
More Than A Survivor: Rape, Activism and what comes next with Sarah Super
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! _ In 2015, Sarah Super was raped by her ex-bo...
Terrible, Thanks For Everything!!
04 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In case you didn't know, we're still making episodes that are available exclusively on Nora's Substack! - We have a big update about the future of TT...