We Can Do Hard Things
Episodes
185. Should We Stay & Fight, Leave, or Do Nothing? with Sarah Polley
02 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We saw the film WOMEN TALKING and we couldn’t rest until we had the chance to speak with the genius who wrote, directed, and is nominated for an Osc...
184. When You’re Glad Your Mom Died with Jennette McCurdy
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
1. Why no one talks about the complicated feelings of freedom after the death of a toxic loved one. 2. How Jennette’s mom enforced extreme calorie r...
183. How to Love Our People Bigger & Better with Bozoma Saint John
23 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
1. Hard-won, joyful, practical wisdom from Bozoma’s exuberant life, and her lessons on how to overcome after enduring excruciating loss. 2. How big ...
182. Glennon Update: Lessons from Therapy
21 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Glennon shares what she’s learning in therapy and what she feels we all could benefit from knowing – especially about wanting, yearning, fixing, a...
181. Hypervigilance & Loss Without Closure
17 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this Bonus episode, Amanda answers your follow-up questions: 1. How do you take care of the person who takes care of everyone else? 2. How do you f...
180. The Secret to Making & Keeping Friends with Dr. Marisa G. Franco
16 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
1. Practical ways to make a friend and become what Dr. Franco calls a “Super-friend.” 2. How to address issues with a friend even if you hate conf...
179. How to Fix Our Loneliness with Dr. Marisa G. Franco
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
1. How your attachment style determines how you make – or don’t make – friends and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. 2. How Dr. Franco’s wor...
178. Five Criticism Survival Strategies
10 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this bonus episode, Glennon shares her “Sort Your Mail” rules for dealing with the inevitable criticisms you will receive from daring to say an...
177. How to Face Your Biggest Fear with Amanda Doyle
09 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Glennon and Abby interview their favorite person and co-host: Amanda Doyle! Examining the relationships, decisions, and travels that led her to today...
176. How to Find Good Love After Bad with Lily Collins
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re talking about how to build healthy relationships — with ourselves and others — after enduring toxic relationships with both. 1. Sig...
175. Life Hacks: Strategies to Suffer Less
02 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We can do hard things, and yet, sometimes we can try easier. Glennon, Abby, Amanda – and the Pod Squad! — share the strategies they’ve used to s...
174. How to Finally Let Things Go
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
1. Big and small ideas for what to let go of — so that we can all live freer this year. 2. The thinking trap that prevents us from creating new habi...
173. How to be Sexually Confident with Mae Martin
26 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
1. Mae, Glennon, Abby, and Amanda each explore their sexuality by delving into what sexually attracts each of them. 2. The sex-positive way Mae’s ...
172. How Glennon Knew She Needed Help: Recovery Update
24 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Glennon shares more from the messy middle about how she knew she needed help and what we can all learn from her early recovery. If talk about eating ...
171. VP Kamala Harris: Our Post-Roe World & What’s Next
22 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Before delivering her speech to mark today’s 50th anniversary of Roe, Vice President Kamala Harris decided to sit down with one community—The We C...
170. The Most Radical Way to Heal: Internal Family Systems with Dr. Becky Kennedy
19 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
1. How to make peace inside your own head by getting to know your “parts.” 2. Why our “manager,” “firefighter,” and “exile” parts are ...
169. Why We Love the Way We Love: Attachment Styles with Dr. Becky Kennedy
17 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Becky Kennedy is back to help us understand Attachment Styles, how our past comes alive in our present – and how to free ourselves and raise fre...
168. Sonya Renee Taylor: What If You Loved Your Body?
12 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Following Glennon’s diagnosis, she, Abby, and Amanda go deep with Sonya Renee Taylor - author of The Body is Not an Apology – exploring the person...
167. Tracee Ellis Ross: How to Make Peace in Your Own Head
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This moving conversation delving inside the “wonderful, dangerous” mind of Tracee Ellis Ross covers: 1. Tracee’s go-to strategies to stop quest...
166. We’re On Some New Sh*t: 2023
05 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Glennon, Abby, and Amanda each share a No they are leaving behind – and a new Yes they’re bringing into their lives this year. To learn more abo...
165. Glennon’s Diagnosis & What’s Next
03 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Glennon shares from the messy middle about her new diagnosis and what’s next for her recovery. If talk about eating disorders and mental illness he...
164. What Anxiety Feels Like
29 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
At the end of our first full year together, Glennon, Abby, and Amanda reflect on We Can Do Hard Things, this community, some of their favorite episode...
163. How to Make Wrongs Right with Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg
27 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Why we should stop expecting people to forgive. 2. Rabbi Danya’s five step-by-step process for repairing a relationship. 3. What makes a good –...
162. Your Hilarious (& Heartwarming) Holiday Stories!
22 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Glennon, Abby, Amanda and the Pod Squad share their most brutiful and hilarious holiday stories. To learn more about listener data and our privacy p...
161. How to Let Go of Perfection this Holiday
20 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Holiday Expectations are the joy robbers. Here’s how to leave room for yourself, and be sturdy this holiday season (and always). 1. How in our prep...
160. Fortune Feimster: A Queer Debutante Walks Into a Hooters . . .
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Fortune’s life as a debutante without a couch and her first coming out party. 2. Fortune’s 21st birthday, and her family’s complicated rela...
FRIENDSHIP GEMS: Best of Friendship Advice
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Featuring Luvvie, Reese, Ash+Ali, Sam & Cam. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-po...
159. Family Estrangement: Should You Repair or Run? with Dr. Galit Atlas
13 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Cutting off contact with family is on a dramatic rise – how to know if there’s hope of repair, or if self-preservation requires distance. 2...
158. CULTS Part 2: How Intuition Can Save Us with Sarah Edmondson
08 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Glennon, Abby, Amanda, and Sarah Edmondson continue their conversation: 1. “Love bombing” and other red flag strategies used by cults to reel pe...
157. CULTS: How NXIVM Controlled Women & How Sarah Edmondson Helped Take It Down
06 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. How attending a personal development training at a Holiday Inn led to Sarah being branded in a sex "secret sisterhood" initiation ceremony. 2. Her ...
156. JANE F-ING FONDA
01 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Why she left her body as a child and how she finally reintegrated 50 years later. 2. How, even as a public warrior for the highest ideals of de...
155. When Should We Quit? with Abbi Jacobson
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. How to know when it’s time to get out or stick it out – and the quit that set Abbi on course to meet Ilana and create Broad City. 2. The life l...
154. HAPPYISH HOLIDAYS: Our Top 3 Hacks for Hard Holidays
24 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. How to eliminate walking on eggshells around family, and avoid feeling badly about ourselves or our people. 2. Amanda shares the first time she b...
153. More Embarrassing Stories!
22 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Back by popular demand, it’s more mortifying stories! Glennon, Abby, and Amanda share more of their most embarrassing moments – and cry-laugh in s...
152. EASY FRIDAYS: How (NOT) to Party
18 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
No digging deep. No paradigm shifts to be found. It’s Easy Fridays. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www...
151. WTF with The Five Love Languages?
17 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. The good, the bad, and the ugly of Gary Chapman’s The Five Love Languages. 2. How expressing the way we give and receive love can identify misali...
150. Couples Therapy: The Tools You Need with Dr. Orna Guralnik
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. What we are really fighting about when we’re fighting about the dishwasher. 2. We can stop asking whether what’s missing is a “want” or a “...
149. How to Heal with Alex Elle
10 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Alex’s four most effective healing techniques that you can start today. 2. How it affects us to grow up never seeing our mothers have joy. 3....
15-MIN MIDTERM REVIEW: WTH Happened!? with Jessica Yellin
09 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
By popular demand, Jessica Yellin, founder of News Not Noise, returns to update us on the top takeaways from the midterm election yesterday. About ...
148. WHAT’S AT STAKE TODAY: Election Takeaways with Jessica Yellin
08 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Make this podcast part of your VOTING PLAN TODAY! A clear, digestible explanation of what this Election means for you – and why your vote matters...
147. The Episode That Wasn’t
03 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this behind-the-scenes episode, Glennon, Abby, and Amanda react immediately after dramatically ending an interview because the guest was disrespect...
146. Esther Perel: Love in War
02 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this deeply intimate collaboration with beloved therapist Esther Perel, she dives deep in a couples therapy session with a Ukrainian couple torn ap...
145. Geena Davis: How to Thelma & Louise Your Life
01 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. The politeness curse – and how it almost killed Geena. 2. Geena’s brilliant “Oops…” strategy to get folks to act decent. 3. Abb...
144. EASY FRIDAYS: Trick or Treat
28 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
No digging deep. No paradigm shifts to be found. Welcome to Easy Fridays. P.S. Thanks to @ohnochels & @dmc1138 for the haunted house laughs. To lea...
143. How to Set & Hold Boundaries with Melissa Urban
27 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. The top (surprising) signs that tell you it’s time to set a boundary. 2. Paying attention to “energy leakage” – when you’re giving out mo...
142. Codependence: How to Stop Controlling Others with Melody Beattie
25 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. The Mother of Codependence shares the difference between healthy and unhealthy helping. 2. The daily practice that helps Melody stop controlling ...
141. Sara Bareilles: How to Remember Yourself
20 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Abby shares with Sara the great personal impact Sara’s music has made on her life. 2. Sara and Glennon bond over the joy of solitude, the underra...
140. Alex Morgan: Believe in Your Own Greatness
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. How the Abby+Alex sisterhood began, how hard it was for Alex to watch Abby suffer at the end of her career, and how friends can build each other up...
139. No More Grind: How to Finally Rest with Tricia Hersey
13 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. The Nap Ministry’s Nap Bishop shares small, concrete ways to bring rest into our own lives – especially when rest seems impossible. 2. Why so...
138. Melissa McCarthy: Sex, Nuns & Ghosts
11 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. What Melissa’s parents said when she told them about her dream – and how those magic words set the course of Melissa’s life. 2. The green and...
137. Celeste Ng: Why You Feel Stuck
06 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. What to do when you’ve done everything you were supposed to do and ended up in a place you don’t want to be. 2. Why the question “What do y...
136. CARE-FRONTATIONS: Three Keys for Giving & Receiving Criticism
04 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. What happens inside us when we receive criticism–and how our brains ensure we’re always in the right (even when we’re not). 2. The three-ingr...
Introducing: It Was Said Season 2
03 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It Was Said, the 2021 Webby Award winner for Best Podcast Series, returns with a new season to look back on some of the most powerful, impactful, and ...
135. Letting Go of How It’s “Supposed to Be”
29 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. The twinge of loneliness that comes with searching for what it *seems* like everyone else has. 2. A Varsity-level question from Christie that cha...
134. HELP: How to Ask for the Help You Need
27 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Why sharing your messy middle with someone is a gift and connection builder, not a burden. 2. The reasons why we don’t ask for the help we desper...
133. Indigo Girls: Sexuality, Sobriety, Faith & Freedom
22 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Why Emily couldn’t stop crying (and it wasn’t because she was emotional). 2. The intervention that got Emily sober – and why Amy wasn’t the...
132. Christen Press: How to Get Your Bliss Back
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. The moment Abby – as Christen’s USWNT roommate – walked into their hotel room and knew Christen was very different than any soccer player sh...
131. How to Raise Untamed Kids with Dr. Becky Kennedy
15 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. How to embody your authority while also validating your kid’s experience. 2. The #1 strategy for building resilience. 3. Why consequences and pun...
130. Breaking Cycles & Reparenting Yourself with Dr. Becky Kennedy
13 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. The 3 most important things to say to your kids and partners every day. 2. Why our kids trigger us – and a fail-proof strategy to use when you’...
129. What Your Sign Says About How You Love: Chani Nicholas
08 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. How to recognize when you’re dysregulated – so you can slow down and help yourself. 2. The beauty and wisdom in being judgmental, and how that ...
128. HOW GLENNON LOST HER MIND
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. “Weird Glennon” comes back to the pod and shares her #1 sanity strategy. 2. The rule Glennon and Abby set for their wedding week that made ever...
127. Are you a Feeler or a Thinker? Either Way, Genius!
01 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. An Advocate, Commander, and Entertainer walk into a podcast – and each share how they feel about their labels. 2. Do personality types make you f...
126. WHAT’S YOUR TYPE? How Personality Shapes Your Life
30 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Our desperate desire to figure out: Why are we the way we are? 2. Why Abby once believed she was 100% extroverted, and the fear she uncovered that ...
125. WHY ARE THERE NO PICTURES OF US?!?
25 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Deep dive into how it feels to not be in any of your family photos, why it happens, and how to change it. 2. A call-in question from a husband th...
124. How to Say No: Boundaries with Nedra Glover Tawwab
23 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Five signs that you might have a boundary problem. 2. Why each of us should stop pretending we’re not a needy person. 3. How to stop arguing like...
123. Find Your Towanda with Tig Notaro & Stephanie Allynne
18 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Tig and Stephanie’s highly effective and hilarious ways to diffuse their marital feuds. 2. Stephanie’s experience figuring out her sexuality (y...
122. Why We Should Stop Doing Our Best
16 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Abby’s new nightly ritual of 80’s parties and Amanda’s wild adventure at a crawfish boil. 2. Glennon’s transition out of depression, and ho...
121. Martha Beck & Rowan Mangan: Polyamory & Throuple Life
11 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. What is Polyamory – and how Martha, Rowan, and Karen make their relationship work. 2. How Martha felt – after years of marriage to Karen – ...
120. Jen Hatmaker’s Back! Forgiveness & the Audacity to Rebuild
09 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Why Jen believes none of us is safe from betrayal – but how she knows with certainty it will never happen to her again. 2. The useful part of unf...
119. It’s OK to Want What You Want: Cheryl Strayed as Dear Sugar
04 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Pod Squad Qs about co-parenting after infidelity, setting boundaries with friends, and reconciling an estranged parent relationship. 2. How to know...
118. Cheryl Strayed: Don’t Let Your Dreams Ruin Your Life
02 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Why Cheryl chose Strayed as her last name – the only one not given to her by a man. 2. How she ruined her life when her mom died, and how we ...
117. How to Love Your Body Now with Carson Tueller
28 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. The question Carson’s sister asked that made him radically reimagine his life. 2. Why Carson is having the best sex of his life. 3. How Carso...
116. Our Most Embarrassing Stories
26 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Glennon, Abby, and Amanda share the most mortifying moments of their lives. 2. Pod Squaders’ hilarious voicemail confessions, which had Glennon, ...
115. Chelsea Handler: On Breaking Up & Being Unbreakable
21 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Chelsea Handler comes to We Can Do Hard Things to talk for the first time about her breakup with Jo Koy, her definition of real love, and her commitme...
114. Reese Witherspoon on Friendship: What, Like It’s Hard?
19 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. How to make the first friendship move – and how to move on from a friendship with kindness and clarity. 2. The advice Reese passes down to her ...
113. The Time Glennon & Abby Called It Off – and Live Pod Squad Q&A!
14 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. How horrifying advice from a therapist led Glennon to end things with Abby–and how they reconnected. 2. The moments from past episodes that chang...
112. Abby’s First Love, G Restarts Recovery, and Amanda Tries Meds: Live Event
12 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Over 15,000 Pod Squaders joined live to celebrate One Year of the Pod and discuss: 1. Why Amanda started taking meds, Glennon keeps taking meds–and ...
111. Natalie Portman: How to Know When to Say YES
07 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. The moment Natalie called Abby to invite her to be part of Angel City FC–the first majority, women-owned soccer franchise. 2. How to stop people-...
110. Why Grief – like Love – is Forever with Marisa Renee Lee
05 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Practical tips for guiding friends and family through your grief–and the permission slips to give yourself. 2. Why there is no such thing as gri...
109. How to Survive This Absurd Life with Samantha Irby
30 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Sam’s life-changing strategies for (reluctantly) interacting with humans. 2. How we use humor to hide the lava of rage churning beneath our surfa...
108. ABORTION: Family Meeting on Four Things to Do Next
28 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Pod Squad Family Meeting! To see each other’s rage and grief, talk about how we got here, renew our resolve to fight forward and to take tender care...
107. Billie Jean King: Abby’s Hero Shares Her Hardest Battle
23 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. How Billie Jean could not live as her full authentic self until age 51. 2. The moment Billie Jean knew that Abby was not okay after her USWNT retir...
106. Astrology: Your Sign’s Secrets with Heidi Rose Robbins
21 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. How Heidi ruined Glennon’s life with a jarring new identity–and why it’s a powerful moment for G to embrace her newfound sign. 2. How we each...
105. Restart Your Sex Life with Dr. Lori Brotto
16 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Answers to fascinating sex questions from Pod Squaders–including how to get real in the bedroom after regularly faking orgasm. 2. Concrete mindfu...
104. Orgasm: Pleasure is the Final Frontier with Dr. Lori Brotto2
14 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. The shocking revelation that many women experience physical arousal but can’t reach orgasm because we are so “stuck” in our heads that we don...
103. How to Be More Alive with Cole Arthur Riley
09 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this beautiful conversation–in which Glennon names Cole’s book “This Here Flesh” the Next Right Book–we discuss: 1. What we learned fro...
102. Ashlyn Harris & Ali Krieger Double Date!
07 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Abby’s former USWNT teammates–and dear friends–Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger are here for a double date discussing: 1. Ashlyn and Ali’s weddi...
101. How to Be the Boss of Yourself with Bozoma Saint John
02 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. The inspiring pep talk Bozoma gives herself in the mirror – and why we might all want to start using it to rally ourselves. 2. How to navigat...
100. Jenny Lawson is Broken (in the Best Possible Way)
31 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Content warning: Discussion of suicide. 2. Jenny puts words to her experience of ADD – "being a kitten on cocaine" – and her anxiety – seein...
99. How We’ll Save Our Kids From the Gun Lobby’s Greed with Shannon Watts
26 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Why guns are now the leading cause of death for American children and teens, and who is profiting from America’s suffering. 2. What to say today ...
98. How to Live So We Can Die Peacefully with Death Doula Alua Arthur
24 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. What Alua has learned about living well from the many people she’s helped walk home as a death doula. 2. The “deathbed test” that guides he...
97. How Family Secrets Shape Us: Emotional Inheritance with Dr. Galit Atlas
19 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. How we are each haunted by our family’s secrets and trauma–whether we know them or not–and how to break the cycle for future generations. 2...
96. Cameron Esposito: How to Save Your Damn Self
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Glennon and Abby welcome their dear friend Cameron Esposito to discuss: 1. Cameron’s brutiful relationship with her body–and how it feels playing ...
95. Why Elizabeth Gilbert Disappeared & What She Came Back to Say
12 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Part Two of our gorgeous conversation with Elizabeth Gilbert: 1. Liz describes Rayya’s death as “a fist fight”–and how Rayya went out swinging...
94. Liz Gilbert Shares the Whole Story for the First Time
10 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Part One of our intimate conversation with Elizabeth Gilbert: 1. When Glennon called Liz about Abby–and Liz then told Glennon about Rayya. 2. The mo...
93. BURNOUT: Do You Feel Half Alive?
05 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. With everything going on in the world, and in our lives, is “Burnout” the reason we all feel like zombies? 2. Why stress is like trash: You h...
92. Chanel Miller Promises: We are Never Stuck
03 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Thinking of depression as a way of seeing the world … through toilet paper roll binoculars. 2. Why healing might actually just be permission to...
91. Better Sex & Lives in Menopause with Dr. Jen Gunter
28 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. How to get your orgasm back. 2. Dr. Jen Gunter’s advice–and personal mantra–for surviving hot flushes. 3. How to differentiate between mental...
90. Menopause: What We Deserve to Know with Dr. Jen Gunter
26 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. Hot flushes, night sweats, sleep disturbances, vaginal dryness, and the less common, frequently-missed symptoms of menopause. 2. A strategy and s...
89. Enneagram: What does your number say about you? with Ashton Whitmoyer-Ober
21 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
1. What is your Enneagram number–and how does this ancient wisdom explain WHY you do what you do? 2. Why Glennon *really* didn’t want to accept ...