Thanks For Asking

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.

Episodes

June 30, 2026 61 mins
Adoption is often viewed as a happy ending, and sometimes it is! But for Thenedra, her experiences as a child in the foster care system and later as a trans-racial adoptee were — and still are — much more complicated than that. This is an episode about what can happen when trans-racial foster and adoptive parents are not just unprepared to raise traumatized children, but also unprepared to raise Black children in a pred...
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If you’ve been feeling like life is throwing everything at you all at once – burnout, exhaustion, chaos – today’s episode is for you. Today, Nora is joined by author and friend of the pod Courtney Maum, who brought OK things from weird Zillow listings in Florida to fancy gifts from very classy ladies. And, despite their love for each other, they very nearly have a friendship-ending fight – over whether...
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In 2011, it was impossible to escape the “Friday” music video. September 16, 2011 changed the trajectory of pop culture – and of 13-year-old Rebecca Black’s life – forever. What started as a harmless, fun music video (with yes, some questionable lyrics) turned into a vitriolic mob obsessed with bullying a teenage girl. Even now, every few months the song will resurface on TikTok. But what happens to th...
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Father's Day can be complicated. In this special mini-episode, we hear an essay from writer Hannah Diaz titled No One Sent Flowers for the First Loss. Then, podcaster and former Vanderpump Rules actor Dayna Kathan talks about how loving her dad from a distance is an act of self-love. Happy Complicated Father's Day. Hannah's IG: @hannah_d1az Dayna's IG: @daynakathan Watch us on YouTube here! Get this episode ad-free here! ...
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June 12, 2026 53 mins
Today’s IGTBO episode is a spiritual hug – as previous guest and friend of the pod Kelly Corrigon called it – with guest Nadia Bolz-Weber, a beautiful writer, a fellow griever, and a pastor. Don't be frightened away from this episode if you are not a religious person – there won’t be any lecturing here. Nadia is not that kind of religious person. She’s the kind of religious person that, at the ve...
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Nicole was 21 years old and had an alien growing inside her chest.  Well, no, not really. But it WAS an extremely large tumor growing inside of her that very much FELT like an alien — an alien that doctors had told her multiple times was just weight gain. After dismissal time after time again, Nicole finally meets a surgeon who tells her that she has a massive cyst on her fallopian tube that was 32 centimeters wide. Th...
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Summer is coming, and you know what that means – beach days (or days spent inside with the AC blasting, no judgment) with your favorite books. Today, Nora and friend of the pod and special guest Kate Baer get together to give you the Ultimate Summer Reading List for 2026, including Lena Dunham’s new memoir, a creepy novel that’s like if the Hunger Games and Love Island had a baby, and many more (seriously, you may...
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It has been 10 years since Nora’s first book, “It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying Is Cool Too)” was published. A lot has changed since – she got remarried, had another child, and started this podcast to carve a space in the world for conversations that really matter. In honor of IOTL’s 10th birthday, today Nora is reading the two chapters out loud and live annotating – connecting with the person sh...
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Burnout seems like the biggest thing all of us have in common right now. It’s hard NOT to get burnt out when the world is rife with injustice and horror and you’re expected to carry on as normal. Here’s the thing: you don’t have to carry on as normal. But you do have to reach out and find joy – it’s going to keep you alive. It’s going to keep you going. It’s going to remind you that y...
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On this episode of IGTBO, Nora is joined by her favorite living novelist, Catherine Newman, to put a little more OK in your day. They talk about celebrating sobriety and not drinking, Artemis II, how to unwind with the Bear Valley Eagle Cam, and the importance of family (and highly intense family card games). If your anxious heart needs a break from the whirlwind of Bad outside (and need to feel validated in how lame grocery shoppi...
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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 Angel of Death – until she survived the death march. For many years after, Edith struggled with ...
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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, you’re a widow forever. You will never not have a dead spouse. You will never stop wishing you could talk to them again. You will never replace that love. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find love – or yourself ...
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Here on IGTBO, we're not about toxic positivity -- we're about finding things that are good even when the world is dark. Today's guest, Sharon McMahon -- a fellow tall woman -- brought her OK things, including geese, being in a goose-forward household, and the acts of kindness that can change the trajectory of your life.  For any long-time fans of IGTBO, this is a classic bird episode, and we couldn’t be happier. Sharo...
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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 inboxes always open, with our operator (Nora) standing by to take your calls and texts. So that’s what today’s episode is about: your struggles, your vents, your anxieties.  If you need to v...
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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 drink to stop your cravings" or "patches that help you drop two sizes," and the endless comments on teenage girls' appearances. In the world we live in, skinny equals good -- and all women are subjected to those standards. Today's...
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April 17, 2026 50 mins
This week on It's Going To Be OK: a 13-year-old boy tries to convince his mother that he should be allowed to have a Baja Blast at 7pm on a school night, sings the praises of Wetzel's Pretzels and asks whether or not he can become CEO of McDonald's if he drops out of 8th grade...It's the return of Ralph! You can share your okay things with us at ☎️502-388-OKAY (6529) or 📧 IGTBO@feelingsand.co  To support our show, you ...
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April 14, 2026 70 mins
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 doesn’t mean that the expectations are any more attainable. Any choice a mom makes is immediately subject to scrutiny or ridicule. Anything she does is under a microscope. She can’t miss...
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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 of remission, Josie is there for him every step of the way … until there are no more steps to take.  _ Find Nora’s weekly newsletter ⁠here⁠! Also, check...
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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 by a grief tsunami and losing your ambition Feeling like a horrible mother for being disappointed by a gender reveal (we have THOUGHTS!) The secondhand embarrassment of your b...
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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 is Tell Me More). Today, Kelly and Nora dig through a treasure trove of (more than) okay things, including unexpected gratitude from an adult child (CALL YOUR MOM!), a book about a possible alien encounter, slow but steady civic progress and much more.  You can share your okay th...
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