Finding the Throughline with Kate Hanley

Latest Episodes:

[Jo-Ann Finkelstein: What’s coming up]: The joy of trying a new genre Ep 1295 Nov 06, 2026

Show notes

In this final installment of my interview with clinical psychologist Dr. Jo-Ann Finkelstein, author of “Sexism and Sensibility: Raising Empowered Resilient Girls in the Modern World” we get a peek at where her throughline is leading her next and get her answers to my final fast five questions.
We covered:
- How writing middle grade fiction is so much more fun than writing non-fiction
- The feminist podcast she’s currently hooked on
- Why she’s drawn to writing middle grade fiction
- So many great book recommendations!
- Pondering life with an empty nest
- Acting on those middle-of-the-night ideas
- How she discovered she has a cult following
- The song she always, always has to sing along t0
Connect with Jo-Ann on Instagram @Joannfinkelstein.PhD
Thank you for listening!

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[Jo-Ann Finkelstein, inner stuff]: Dealing with a “very bitchy inner critic” Ep 1294 Nov 04, 2026

Show notes

This is part two of my interview with Dr. Jo-Ann Finkelstein, clinical psychologist, author of “Sexism and Sensibility, Raising Empowered, Resilient Girls in the Modern World,” and creator of the Raising Her Voice Substack newsletter, which is a smart cocktail of feminism, psychology, and research backed insight for raising strong girls and navigating womanhood.
We covered:
- How promoting her work on social media gives her the heebie jeebies
- How she’s still reckoning with being the youngest–and only girl–in a family of four siblings
- Escaping a very traditional, conservative upbringing
- Resisting the urge to compare your progress and trajectory to others’
- Embracing your own timeline
- How our subconscious ideas about gender can influence our paths
- The modality she’s recently tried that makes her feel like she’s gotten a reset
Connect with Jo-Ann on Instagram @Joannfinkelstein.PhD
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
Thank you for listening!

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[Jo-Ann Finkelstein, practical matters]: When your writing tests you Ep 1293 Nov 02, 2026

Show notes

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[Deesha Philyaw: What’s coming up]: Giving yourself the support you need to take bigger swings with your work Ep 1292 Oct 16, 2026

Show notes

In part three of my interview with Deesha Philyaw–author of the brand-new novel “Confessions of First Lady Freeman,” and the National Book Award-finally story collection “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies”--we talk about what’s getting her creative juices flowing, the shifts she’s making as she starts writing her most ambitious work yet, and the shows, writers, and songs that are keeping her inspired.
We covered:
- The upcoming debut novels by other authors that are blowing her mind and inspiring her to take more risks in her writing
- The Black women directors and show runners she admires
- Why the novel she’s currently writing is “the most ambitious book I’ve ever written”
- The changes she’s making in order to be able to keep writing her next novel while she’s out on tour for her “First Lady Freeman”
- Why she’s looking to move abroad in the next few years
- The series she just finished watching that she calls “22 episodes of WTF??”
- Her love-hate relationship with matcha
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss visit katehanley.substack.com.
Thank you for listening!

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[Deesha Philyaw, inner stuff]: The formula for caring less about other people’s reactions to your work Ep 1291 Oct 14, 2026

Show notes

In the second part of our conversation, Deesha Philyaw, whose hot off-the-presses novel “The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman” is a funny, juicy, sexy, and delicious peak behind the pulpit of a black megachurch, shares her insights on the beliefs, fears, and concerns she’s had to re-write, including:
- Why she stopped focusing on getting published
- The editing trick she swears by–although she absolutely hates doing it
- How she reminds herself that not everybody needs to like what she writes
- What she learned from seeing her stories about Southern, Black church ladies be warmly received by people outside that demographic
- Getting past the evangelical teaching that says everything you write has to be for the glory of God
- Caring less and less about other people’s reactions to her writing
- Getting bolder with age
- The self-help book she calls “so healing and so freeing” and the spiritual readings that have helped her feel more supported
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss visit katehanley.substack.com.
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[Deesha Philyaw, practical matters]: Making the leap from writing as a hobby, to a way to pay the bills, to a major career Ep 1290 Oct 12, 2026

Show notes

This week my guest is Deesha Philyaw, who has been called “a bonafide literary treasure” by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Deesha's short story collection, “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies,” was a 2020 National Book Award finalist, a Penn Faulkner Award for Fiction winner, and an LA Times Book Prize winner.
Now, her highly anticipated novel, “The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman,” has just come out. It follows Sharice Freeman, wife of the pastor of one of the largest black megachurches in America, as her hopes of winning the First Lady USA pageant are threatened when secrets from her previous life are revealed.
In this lively conversation where we dug into her creative path and process, we covered:
- Growing up in the evangelical church
- Doing all the “right” things and still being unhappy
- Starting writing as a hobby, then getting serious about making money as a writer post-divorce
- How she first started writing her brand-new novel over twenty years ago
- Her forthright–and funny–motivation for continuing to write
- Meeting her agent via a neighborhood potluck
- Why writers need to leave the house
- The $200 she and her writer friends kept loaning to each other when they were all trying to make ends meet
- How she went from a $5000 advance for her first book to a seven-figure two-book deal
- The financial realities of a seven-figure deal
- Her hard-won time-management strategies
- The gadget that prevents her from losing precious hours to social media
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
Thank you for listening!

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Six writers share how they get their writing done Ep 1289 Sep 21, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to our third and final compilation episode where I share answers from six different writers to just one of my questions from the Finding the Throughline questionnaire. This week that question is: How do you get your writing done?
Let's find out how the sausage gets made!
Allegra Goodman, Octavia Randolph, Eric J. Dolan, Sheree L. Greer, Susan Scarf Merrell, and Daisy Florin give us a peel at both the practical side of whether they write every day, what tools they use, where they are, what time it is, as well as the mindset side of how they think about themselves and their work that helps them be both creative and productive.
I hope hearing these answers will make you want to crack open that notebook or create a brand new document and get going. Or that they help you appreciate a little more the labor that goes into the books, articles, and essays you love to read.
The writers you’ll hear from today are a mix of novelists, essayists, historians, and writing mentors. One thing that jumped out at me listening to what they had to say is that everyone’s approach is so individual… which says to me that there’s no one way to get your writing done, and if you have the desire to write, there’s a way for you to be able to do it, no matter your working style, preferences, or tendencies.

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Six writers share how they stay inspired Ep 1288 Aug 31, 2026

Show notes

This week I've got another compilation episode for you to enjoy while I take the rest of the summer off from producing new episodes.
In today’s episode, I’m sharing answers from six different writers to the question: What is your favorite part of the writing process? What really lights you up and keeps you going?
The writers you’ll hear from today are a mix of journalists, novelists, essayists, memoirists, and historians–and sometimes they tick multiple of these boxes. They include Christine Chitnis, Christopher Castellani, Elizabeth Gonzalez-James, Minda Honey, Kenneth C. Davis, and Lisa See, and I selected this group not just because I loved our conversations and know you will too, and not only because they’re a diverse mix of genres, ages, genders, and races, but also because they were really eloquent about the parts of being a writer that really light them up.
As important as I believe it is to talk about the hard things–like dealing with doubt, and finding a way to make money–it’s equally important to focus on the parts you love so much it makes the hard parts easier to handle.
Hope you're enjoying the last bits of summer--it lasts until September 21st, despite what the school calendar may say!

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Producing creative work while holding down a day job Ep 1287 Aug 17, 2026

Show notes

I’m taking a little hiatus during the month of August, but I didn’t want to leave you with nothing new to listen to. So my editor and I have pulled some highlights from some our most-loved conversations that we know you'll enjoy.
Something I ask everyone is: How do you make money??
Not because I'm a tacky person (although maybe I am, a little) but because one of the biggest things that stops people from pursuing writing more seriously is the fear that they'll never make money.
This week, we’re revisiting interviews with writers who also have day jobs. Their insights on how they make their finances work and how they balance their jobs and their writing are equal parts practical and inspiring. Like they say, where there’s a will, there’s a way.
In this compilation episode, you'll hear about the realities of holding down a day job while also building a career as a writer from Amy Shearn, Nancy Johnson, John Glynn, Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Beth Macy, and Jenna Blum.

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[Allegra Goodman: What’s coming up]: Encouraging your reader to think more deeply + a perfect snack Ep 1286 Aug 07, 2026

Show notes

In this final installment of my talk with Allegra Goodman, author of "This Is Not About Us," "Isola," and "Katterskill Falls", among many other books, she shares how she's aiming to use her work to get people to engage their brains a little more--in a most delightful way. And she also dishes on the books she's been loving and the food that's been fueling her.
We talked about:
- The nonfiction book she currently stayed up too late reading
- An amazing story about how her mother stood up for herself in the 1970s–and how that example inspires Allegra to this day
- A sneak peek at her next book, which is currently in the copy editing phase
- Her dreams for her work in the next ten years (super inspiring!)
- The historical novel she carried around with her so she could read whenever she had a few quiet minutes
- The very specific snack that keeps her going
- The Maggie Rogers song that she feels captures the essence of her novel "Isola"
Connect with Allegra on Instagram @allegragoodmanwriter.
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit ⁠katehanley.substack.com⁠.

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