Sisters Cracking Up

We love Steven Petrow for many reasons: he's funny, he's smart, he's a kickass writer, and he's tirelessly devoted to his beloved family. 

Sadly, Steven lost his younger sister, Julie Petrow Cohen, to ovarian cancer in June 2023. From all accounts, Julie led a life that priortized joy, professionalism, social justice, and family. In essence, she lived her life in full throttle.

At the end of her life, Julie chose when to die, acces...

Hey, Sisters. If you're a believer in astrology or you're simply interested in what's behind the science of it, this is the episode for you.

We've both experienced some pretty amazing insights since we found Omar Senior. What we absolutely love about his readings (and him!) is his vast knowledge of astrology and the science behind it. In other words, we're sold!

Omar Senior is a dedicated astrologer who has immersed himself in the ...

Hey, Sisters. We can't seem to take a breath these days without hearing some new thing about narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder. How 'bout you?

Enter social media's The Nameless Narcissist, Jacob Skidmore. He's all over your feeds talking about his own diagnosis of NPD -- and helping millions of people in the process understand the narcissists in their lives.

Our conversation ...

This is NOT your mother's menopause, Sisters! Yes, it is the time of life when you can no longer procreate (Hallelujah to that!), but it's also the time of life to start creating the life YOU want. Don't believe it? Our guest, Julie Gordon White, will surely change your mind. 

Julie Gordon White is an award-winning entrepreneur focused on improving suppportive nutrition and building community for women in midlife and menopause. She...

Hey, Sisters, could this be YOU? (It's us, that's for sure!)

Another day, another misdiagnosis of a disorder that plagues so many women. It's common for symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) to be overlooked or "explained away" by professionals as depression, anxiety, or overwhelm when it shows up in women. 

Chances are, if you suspect you have this diagnosis, it's gone undi...

Hey, Sisters. Ever wonder what's actually going on in your body during menopause? And why we can have some really uncomfortable symptoms when we're going through it?

Hot flashes, crankiness, and exhaustion are just some of the things you might experience. Did you know these are all caused by the hormonal changes that accompany this time of life? And that symptoms can show up as early as your 30s?

It's THAT time of life, Sisters. The time when we can choose to live truer to our own selves, or just slog through life telling ourselves the same, tired stories and never making the changes necessary to live more authentically.

Enter Dr. Carolyn Kurle, author of The Guidance Groove: Escape Unproductive Habits, Trust Your Intuition, and Be True. Lucky for us, she has a lot of brilliance to share on what we can do to shift our think...

It's time to talk about menopause, Sisters! And, yes, this means you. Whether you're 35 or 65, you're going to learn a lot about how to manage this inevitable life change with none other than the extraordinary Clarissa Kristjansson.

We found Clarissa through her amazing, top-rated podcast, Thriving Through Menopause, and we knew we'd learn a thing or two about menopause from her. She's devoted her career to helping menopausal women...

Yes, Sisters. It's already THAT time of the year. For some, back-to-school simply means the kiddos are heading back to the classroom. But for others, it may mean that your kid (or kiddos) is launching. Where they're headed (college, job, military, gap year, or simply moving out of the family home), isn't as important as the fact that your kid-centric life is now coming to a seemingly abrupt end.

The empty nest can be an emotional t...

Sisters, if we've lived long enough, we already know trauma (and healing from it) can be a stubborn beast. We also know that our body stores our trauma until we do the work to release it.

Enter Laura Khoudari, author of Lifting Heavy Things: Healing Trauma One Rep at a Time. She is a trauma practitioner, certified personal trainer, and corrective exercise specialist. 

Khoudari found that strength training was a modality that worked...

Hey, Sisters. Got trauma? You, too?  We've all had some. Question is, have you dealt with yours effectively? Or, have you tried different approaches and modalities to heal from trauma which either don't help or even make matters worse?

So many of us tell ourselves that our trauma doesn't "count" because there's always someone with a more tragic tale. This attitude does so much to increase our stress and impede our healing. It can p...

Are you a people-pleaser? Are you your own worst critic? Do you sometimes feel like an imposter? Are you a perfectionist? You're not alone. So many women engage in these self-destructive (and unconscious) habits and Andrea Owen is on the show today to talk about how to kick them to the curb and live your happiest life. 

As Andrea says, "The cycle never stops when you don’t know any other way." 

In this episode, we interview Andrea ...

We're all so much better-educated these days about narcissism and narcissists -- especially when we suspect we have partner who displays narcissistic tendencies and behaviors.

But what if your experience with narcissism began long before you can even remember? And what if the narcissist in your life was/is YOUR MOTHER?!

Dr. Stephanie Kriesberg joins Sisters Cracking Up in this episode to discuss her book, Adult Daughters of Narciss...

It's happened to the best of us, Sisters -- and certainly by midlife. Both of us have experienced this unceremonious and cruel "dumping" by people we thought were close, dear friends.

If you have experienced this, you know how confusing and painful it can be. Many women describe the experience as being as painful and heartbreaking as a romantic breakup -- and sometimes worse!

Luckily, we have Liz Pryor on the show to talk about why...

Hey, Sisters. Yes, you already know and love New York Times bestselling author, Laurie Notaro. She's the funny, irreverent, modern-day Erma Bombeck. And she's on Sisters Cracking Up with more hilarity than ever.

Notaro's book, Excuse Me While I Disappear: Tales of Midlife Mayhem, is loaded with important food for thought like, "Why is my ass where my belly used to be?" and "What's the deal with my eyebrows?"

She also dives into her...

Hey, Sisters. Interested in a new way to think yourself to a more peaceful and joyful life? We were, too. So, when Julie found the book, Don't Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking is the Beginning and End of Suffering, we knew we had to get Joseph Nguyen on the pod.

Joseph Nguyen's groundbreaking book outlines a radical way to approach the countless thoughts we have every day. We can't control our thoughts, but we CAN ch...

If we're being honest, this happens to all parents at one point or another: Our grown kids disappoint us. But it remains one of the toughest things to talk about openly as we still believe (somewhere deep inside) that the poor/unpopular decisions our kids make reflects badly on who we are as parents.

Whether we judge ourselves for their choices -- or we fear being judged by others -- we often remain selective about what we share wh...

Dry January is here! Are you partaking...or maybe finding the challenge a little too, well, challenging? Lucky for all of us, Clare Pooley, author of The Sober Diaries, has joined us just in time for this episode of Sisters Cracking Up.

Clare Pooley discovered that her personal journey to sobriety really didn't differ all that much from the hundreds of thousands of people who logged on to read her blog, Mummy was a Secret Drinker, ...

Hey, Sisters. Most of us know there's no time like the holidays to highlight all the good (and not-so-good) parts of being in a family.

Although Hallmark (and its minions) would like us to believe that all of our close family relationships are intact, this is indeed not the case.

Author Fern Schumer Chapman (Brothers, Sisters, Strangers: Sibling Estrangement and the Road to Reconciliation) is on Sisters Cracking Up talking about he...