Tell Me Something True with Laura McKowen

Melissa Urban is one of the few people we’ve asked back to the show and there’s a reason for that. She’s got such a unique, magnetic energy and this strong, no-nonsense, yet compassionate way of showing up in the world. 

And now, she’s written The Book of Boundaries: Set the Limits That Will Set You Free and, can we get a hell yes? We need this in our lives.

Melissa walks us through why boundaries are one of the most important life s...

Tell the truth - how many times does the phrase “I’m so burned out?” show up around you?

Burnout is both more than we think it is, and much more insidious. Burnout has been defined by the World Health Organization as a workplace-centered phenomenon, and they calculate that it’s killing +750,000 people a year!

Jennifer Moss has dedicated a large part of her career to researching, writing about, and educating people on burnout. She...

Ali Shapiro arrives with a mountain of good news!

We don't have to evade our relationship with food.  We don't have to be ruled by stories that shame us and keep us stuck. Most importantly, those stories don't have to contribute to hating ourselves.

Ali is the creator of the Truce with Food Program, which combines how we think - and feel about - food and the stories we tell ourselves. She’s bridging psychology and behavio...

On TMST we’ve been open about our conflicted relationship with technology and social media. And you’ve heard many of our guests recount their mixed feelings, as well.

Today’s guest takes all of that and turns it up to 11.

In 2018, Larissa May (who goes by Larz) spoke out about her struggle with depression on social media. The post and hashtag that emerged around it was called #HalfTheStory - and it sparked a global conversation about...

We don’t like to admit it, but there are a hell of a lot of scripts that run us. They’re the “shoulds” - ideas so woven into our lives that we don’t even know they exist.

For virtually all women - the scripts around motherhood are the most pernicious. They load us down with self-doubt, bake in unattainable expectations, and set us up for a life where we’re always defined in relationship to others, our kids, or lack of kids.

Erin Lane...

It’s a familiar, but true, saying: recovery is about breaking cycles. 

Jeff and Debra Jay know this better than most. Together, they’ve been doing pioneering work in the areas of family recovery and intervention for decades. 

Their book, Love First is the essential work on the family recovery dynamic. It’s now in its third printing and it’s a powerful roadmap for harnessing the power of family and friends to help a loved one accept t...

“Rachel Hollis is a manifestation of a larger ideology about women's place in society. That if you just try hard enough, all of these structural issues that are making your life really, really hard can be solved if you just wash your face. .” - Anne Helen Petersen

Anne Helen Petersen is one of our most essential cultural observers. Her work at Buzzfeed culminated in her 2020 book, Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burno...

It’s great to love books and the written word and seeing new worlds open up through a writer’s work is thrilling. We know our lives can be transformed through a good book.

Friends - meet Branden Collinsworth, someone who has taken those ideas, and turned them up to eleven. 

Branden Collinsworth is a Nike Master Trainer, Yoga Teacher, Human Performance Coach and Humanitarian. He describes his life as a journey “from the streets to the...

People tell Mary Laura Philpott that her writing is like having a conversation with her. 

We can say that is 100% true. She’s an utterly captivating writer AND conversationalist.

You may have first heard about Mary Laura Philpott through her first book, “I Miss You When I Blink.” Her new memoir in essays is “Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives.” It was named an Editor’s Choice by the New York Times Book Review and one of t...

Being human means sometimes we feel deeply alone. Cut off from other people. For most people, it passes quickly.

For others, especially those who also suffer from addiction, that feeling of isolation is persistent. It’s a low hum that follows a person everywhere. Part of the reason why some drink is to numb that feeling and turn down the voices that whisper why we’re alone.

Chris Marshall knows these feelings well and he’s here today...

HANDS UP if knowing what you want, and standing up for it, has not always been welcome.

Imagine being hit with that - and you’re America’s top-selling female group of all time!

Marissa Moss has a lot to say about powerful women, making their own rules, and finding solidarity when the world is pitting them against each other. This TMST is a  conversation about how women are being true to themselves and reshaping culture, while buildin...

When was the last time you got real about jealousy or envy?

In this episode, Laura brings the heat, digging into how jealousy and envy have shown up in her life. She explores the ways they’re different and the ways we use them to blow ourselves up.

This is no trail of tears, though! We’ll take a look at what social psychologists and researchers have identified as the purpose of these emotions. And then we explore ways to help work th...

We are never more than one connection away from a veteran or first responder.

They are the ULTRA helping professions. During the pandemic, many were the first line of protection and care. Over 20 years of The Global War of Terror, many have experienced repeated deployments with an anodyne “thank you for your service” and a bad country music song as their only Thank You.

But how many of us have asked how we can be part of THEIR soluti...

Rollercoasters are a fun diversion, but they’re no way to live. That’s why the whipsaw experience of being on an emotional rollercoaster is one of the things folks are most happy to see leave their life. Those radical highs and lows aren’t confined to the times when people are using - they often extend well into sobriety. Usually driven by hyper-sensitivity and, to be honest, a lot of self-absorption.

And that’s where today’s guest ...