Thanks For Asking

Latest Episodes:

What Do People Do All Day? Jun 10, 2025

Show notes

In this first episode of the newest installment of Thanks for Asking, Nora hears from three callers who explain what they actually do all day at work. And even though they’re wildly different – a regenerative agriculture performance and data reporting manager, an oncology nurse working with phase one clinical trials for cancer patients, and someone who works at a yarn store – each one brings a unique and interesting story.

For our full back catalog and a listener community, you can join us here.

Want to be on the show? Call or text 612.568.4441 or book a call here.

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S3: I've Made a Huge Mistake Jun 05, 2025

Show notes

This is an episode from the new season of TTFA Anthologies, go to ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ and ⁠Spotify⁠ to listen to the full season(and past seasons)!

Eva Hagberg is young, ambitious and about to get her Big Break — a byline in the New York Times! And then, she publishes an error. A big factual error. In the New York freaking Times! Cue the breakdown.

If you've ever laid in bed replaying your missteps, this episode is for you.

Originally published 12/5/2016

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Work is, to most of us, an important part of our lives. We spend something like a third of our lives at work, and even if we’re not working our “dream job” our work gives us a sense of purpose, accomplishment…and – oh, yeah – money to survive. But work – finding it, doing it, losing it – can also be a huge source of stress. This season, we’re exploring what happens when work goes wrong. These are real stories from real people sharing the reality of work, brought to you by Fordham University’s Master of Social Work program.

Big thanks to our sponsor, Fordham University’s Master of Social Work program.

Fordham University’s Master of Social Work program is ranked among the nation's top 8% of graduate social work programs by the U.S. News & World Report. With three New York campuses, plus hybrid and fully online options, Fordham’s flexible program works with your schedule to help you earn a degree on your timeline. Our evening and weekend part-time study plan is ideal for working adults, with most students maintaining employment throughout their education.

Learn more about Fordham University’s Master of Social Work program at:fordham.edu/TTFA.

Find Nora’s weekly newsletter here! Also, check out Nora on YouTube.

The Feelings & Co. team is Nora McInerny, Marcel Malekebu and Grace Barry.

Find all our shows at www.feelingsand.co.

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S3: Emergency! Banner Ads! Jun 05, 2025

Show notes

This is an episode from the new season of TTFA Anthologies, go to Apple Podcasts and Spotify to listen to the full season(and past seasons)!

Big thanks to our sponsor, Fordham University’s Master of Social Work program.

Learn more about Fordham University’s Master of Social Work program at:fordham.edu/TTFA.

For full episodes, the full back catalog and a listener community, you can join us here.

Want to be on the show? Call or text 612.568.4441 or book a call here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Corporate Horror Stories Jun 03, 2025

Show notes

Work is not your life. Your life is not your work. We try really hard to separate them.

But, hey! We live in a world where that’s not possible all the time. As a former corporate girlboss who was once chained to her laptop panicking over the dimensions of banner ads and now a podcaster and writer full-time, I get it. Work is a massive part of our lives – we spend a third of our lives working. It becomes part of our identity, for better or for worse, from our email addresses from how we budget our time.

If you find your work meaningful and fulfilling, YAY!

But sometimes, you don’t.

Sometimes, you have a The Shining level experience.

If this has ever been you, this episode’s for you.

P.S. You get bonus points for listening to this episode on company time, baby.

For full ad-free episodes, the full back catalog and a listener community, you can join us here.

Want to be on the show? Call or text 612.568.4441 or book a call here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Help, I Said the Wrong Thing! May 27, 2025

Show notes

Breaking news: humans make mistakes. This is not a bad thing! Our mistakes are how we learn and grow, and we have to get comfy with accepting that mistakes are an uncomfortable part of the human experience.

But what happens when we say the wrong thing at the wrong time to someone that we love during the worst time of their life? And what happens when they can’t forgive you right away? What happens when your best try just… doesn’t land?

This listener reached out because they tried to comfort a friend whose child had just died and it…did not go well. .

If you’ve ever made a mistake and wanted to slam your head into the wall because of it – or maybe were on the receiving end of a mistake? – this episode is for you.

Call or text me with your mistake at 612.568.441.

For full episodes, the full back catalog and a listener community, you can join us ⁠here⁠.

Want to be on the show? Call or text 612.568.4441 or book a call ⁠here⁠.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Finding Meaning In The New Age of Anxiety May 20, 2025

Show notes

The world doesn’t make a lot of sense right now, including other people and why they think the things they think and do the things they do. So I’m tapping in Steven J. Heine, professor of Social and Cultural Psychology and the author of Start Making Sense: How Existential Psychology Can Help Us Build Meaningful Lives in Absurd Times to talk about:

-How these times are actually kind of precedented by the Age of Anxiety

-How we make meaning

-How our stories drive our choices, and our choices make our stories

-A million other things.

You can buy Steven’s book here to support her, independent bookstores, and this podcast.

You can support this show and get ad-free episodes of our entire back catalog (and more!) on my substack.

Have something you want to talk about? You can call or text us any time at 612.568.4441 or email thanks@feelingsand.co

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pep Talks 2 May 13, 2025

Show notes

Last week’s pep talk episode (https://noraborealis.substack.com/p/stop-being-mean-to-yourself) was such a hit we’re back with more (and I’m making some phone calls today because WOW WE ARE ALL GOING THROUGH IT RIGHT NOW!!!)

Today we have two callers: a 32-year-old who feels lost after losing both of her parents and receiving a tough diagnosis, and a 23-year-old who is a little too wise beyond her years because of a traumatic childhood.

If you, too, are Going Through It, I promise you that your best is good enough and the problems you’re experiencing are not a personal failing but a symptom of a world that really just doesn’t do a great job of taking care of each other.

And, as a deeply biased podcast host, I am on your side.

☎️ 612.568.4441

You can call or text that number, tell me what you need a little pep talk for, and then stay glued to your phone for when I call you, okay?

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Her Parents Skipped Her Wedding(Estrangement) May 06, 2025

Show notes

Estrangement is one of those hot button topic that everyone has an opinion about, and here’s mine: you have one job as a parent1, and that’s to love your children. To show up for them. To support them. To not ditch out on their wedding LIKE A TOTAL WEIRDO.

Are things more complicated than that? Sure, people are complicated. But on this show I let you call in and talk about your life and your feelings and, most importantly:

I will never claim to be an unbiased host, because I am deeply biased person and if we are on the phone, chances are that I am on your side!

Big thanks to Chelsey for being brave enough to move through this world without the people who brought her into it, and to share her story with all of us.

For full episodes, the full back catalog and a listener community, you can join us ⁠here⁠.

Want to be on the show? Call or text 612.568.4441 or book a call ⁠here⁠.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pep Talks Apr 29, 2025

Show notes

Every once in a while, we all need a little bit of solicited motivation from someone totally unqualified to give it. In this episode, Nora shells out loads of love and support in the first of our series of TFA Pep Talks.

For full episodes, the full back catalog and a listener community, you can join us here.

Want to be on the show? Call or text 612.568.4441 or book a call here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’re Lonely: What’s the prescription? An Interview with author Julia Hotz, author of The Connection Cure Apr 22, 2025

Show notes

What if your doctor prescribed you a hiking group? A ceramics class? Not in place of whatever medication or treatment you may need, but as a complement to it? It’s called Social Prescribing, and journalist Julia Hotz traveled to some 30 countries to talk to patients and professionals who are at the forefront of this approach to wellness. I loved her book, and loved this conversation (and regret we didn’t have time to talk about AI chatbots!).

You can buy Julia’s book here to support her, independent bookstores, and this podcast.

This is a preview of Thanks for Asking, a call-in show about what matters to you. You can get the full episode on my Substack.

Have something you want to talk about? You can call or text us any time at 612.568.4441 or email thanks@feelingsand.co

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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